chapter four!
004. ghosts vs. spectres

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    THERE WERE many things Peter Parker planned to ask Nina Hart once this was over. Question one: What was going on in her head? Was she out of her mind considering that it was a safe, okay and perfectly sane idea to come here? Question two: How did she expect to get out of here▬how did she even get in here? Question three: Did she realise that if Yuri didn't feel wary about that silent alarm, Spider-Man wouldn't have investigated▬would Peter Parker be seeing her again under completely different circumstances? Upsetting circumstances? And four: Did she change her perfume?

    (He needed to focus).

    These masked gunmen were in almost every room. And now, Spider-Man had more on his mind. Not only did he have to worry about Rosemann's frantic exclaims and cries a few rooms away, nor whatever this file meant▬or why these guys wanted it▬but the thought of Nina hiding in that stairwell made him rigid and tense. If something were to happen and here was out here? She had the file▬she was who these guys were looking for. Would they hold back? Peter had to fight the urge to go back the way he came and get her out of here before anything else. If he did, he was sure the hairs on the back of his neck would start to settle▬he wouldn't hear each creak in the vents, feel each shift in the draft▬hear each footstep and wonder: Is that heading in her direction? 

    He couldn't think about that. Rosemann was in danger. He had to stop them from harming her and anyone else▬as soon as possible, and then he can worry about this file, Nina (and her dangerous antics) later.

    Spider-Man started to make his way back to the main exhibit room with a newfound urgency. 

    He dropped down from the roof onto the rigs across the room; the dim display lights were great during the day, but at night they turned the building into a dark, shadowy maze where the only safe haven became the circles of light under the looming gaze of tapestries, paintings and antique warrior armour. If anyone looked upwards, their eyes would glaze across the moving shadow that was Spider-Man. Almost completely covered in the darkness, he crept up towards the masked gunmen that were spread out across the multiple rooms until he hovered right above them▬and could not even blink before he tugged them upwards into a spinning web, caging them, dangling from the light rigs. He webbed their mouths, so they couldn't call out for help. 

    It wasn't too long before a phone call connected to his suit. Peter crawled across the lightning rig and then down the wall, slowly making his way under the threshold and into the next room▬crawling up to the roof like that annoying spider in the corner of your bedroom. There was some relief in his chest when he heard Nina whispering: "Hey, it's me, Nina▬" as if he still didn't have her contact favourited on his phone, "▬I ... I'm hiding near the front. Give me the word and I'll make a break for it."

    And Peter's relief twisted back to tense worry. "What?" he whispered under his breath, shooting a web at a nearby coffee cart to try and separate this group of gunmen from each other. "That▬that was not the plan we agreed upon."

    "Yeah, I know, but I just thought that way, I can get the file out of here and you don't need to worry about me▬"

    "Worrying about you is sort of inescapable right now," Spider-Man snapped at her under his breath before webbing up one of the men once he was away from all his friends. "Can't you just▬stay where I told you to stay? I know I took care of all the bad guys in that area."

    He touched down onto the lighting rig and continued to follow it, finding his next victim and thwipping him up by his feet. He heard Nina huff over the phone. "Well ... I just thought..."

    Peter sighed and leapt over to the next lightning rig. He tried not to get frustrated (seems as though some things haven't changed). "Look, are you in a safe hiding place?"

    "As safe as any."

    He didn't know what that meant▬and for his own good, he decided to not ask. "All right, just stay there, okay? I'll find you when this is all over. Have you had a look at that file? What's in it that these guys want so bad?"

    "It's these notes," murmured Nina quietly. "Something called 'Devil's Breath'. Fisk was hired to build a secret research lab for it. Whatever it was, it scared even Fisk. He compares it to: 'Pandora's Box.'" There was a moment of silence▬Peter knew she was thinking. "If Mayor Osborn is linked to this ... the only thing I could think it might be is some sort of biological experiment?" He heard her sigh. There was the sound of shuffling of papers as if she was trying to search for more in the file. "Whatever it was, he didn't want anybody finding out about it."

    Peter spun one guy up like some ballerina, muffing his startled exclaims before he even realised something was happening. "Not much shook Fisk..." he murmured, admittedly a little troubled. Fisk was many things▬a murderer, a crime boss and an art enthusiast, but for all of his faults (terrible faults), Fisk loved the city of New York. If something troubled King Pin, it couldn't be good. And whatever it was, Nina was now holding information on it in her hands, and it seemed these guys were prepared to do anything to get their hands on it▬which meant that right now, she was in a lot of danger. 

    Spider-Man continued his way through the exhibit room, getting closer and closer to Rosemann's frantic cries. "We need to get you and that file out of here. Hang tight▬don't▬" he added with a slight stern breath, "▬move anywhere else, okay?"

     "All right, fine. Promise."

     "Good," he quickly double-checked how much web fluid he had left in his shooters. "I won't be long."

    "Okay, stay safe."

     She ended the call, and Peter thought for a moment that he had gone back in time when he expected her to add a 'Tiger' at the end of that sentence. He had a jolting reminder of where he was, and what had happened when she didn't▬of all that has changed. 

    With a little taste of bitterness on his tongue, Peter flung up the next masked gunman with a little more ferocity than before. He winced when his forehead hit the lightning rig, knocking him out cold. No others seemed to have heard in the next room▬Spider-Man just hoped that mask was thick. "Sorry, dude..." he whispered to the guy. "Wait▬actually, not sorry▬armed robberies are not cool."

    The entry to the next room was closed by large, double doors. Peter sighed and dropped down carefully to the tiled floor. He probably would have to find another vent to crawl through to continue. Spider-Man glanced around, eying his work as the many masked gunmen struggled and hung down like cocoons from trees. He swung his arms, stretching them out a little bit. He stared, a little dubious at the collection around him. "Man..." he murmured to himself. "Fisk had a lot of stuff..."

    He grabbed one of his canisters and refilled his web shooters, taking this moment to make sure he was all set. One of these days, he'll come up with some way to make the refill automatic ... one day ... (and that day is not today...).

    "HEY! NO▬LET ME GO▬!"

    Spider-Man shot up at her screams. He spun to the doors, his heart starting to race. His spider senses heightened to almost a painful amount. He heard Nina's cries▬heard the way her shoes were dragged on the tiles; the way she was struggling and he heard the thud of her body hitting the ground. Spider-Man heard the sound of the gun shifting in the man's grip▬and he knew it was pointed at her. "No!" she cried out. "Stop▬!"

    He didn't care about stealth anymore. Spider-Man started off at a run to the doors▬he leapt up and kicked them right off their hinges. They flew over their heads, landing crumpled on the tiles. And there he saw her, dazed and holding her hand up▬flinching under the barrel of a gun. 

    "Hey▬!" Spider-Man flung both of his hands out, striking the guns pointed at Nina and Rosemann▬he tugged them out of the men's grasps, "▬didn't they ever teach you to never point a gun at a lady at Criminal School?"

    The gunman that had been hovering over Nina then broke off at a run for the exit, and Peter noticed the file clutched in his other hand. He couldn't worry about that now▬more men were surrounding the group of them. Spider-Man gestured at Nina. "Run▬!" 

    She managed to get to her feet and he quickly webbed the nearest gunman at his feet, tripping him over to make sure she could get away. Rosemann had enough sense to follow her, and Peter could focus on the gunmen in front of him▬more gathered around, trying to surround him.

    He tugged the nearest guy close by his web, landing a mighty punch on his jaw. The masked man crumpled at Spider-Man's feet and he quickly ducked the next man's swing. Peter's eyes widened at the strange powers that manifested from his fists. It twisted and it morphed▬a mixture of blinding, white light and bubbling dark matter. 

    "Whoa!" he let out, flipping away. He quickly kicked him in the back and he stumbled into a display case of old tea sets. "I have no idea how you just did that▬But so not cool with the hostage-taking, guys." Spider-Man twisted his body into the air, kicking the gunman back into the display and the glass shattered when he hit it; he slumped amongst a small mat of broken shards. 

    "What is up with that glowy stuff on your hands?" Spider-Man asked, dodging gunfire and quickly webbing the man's mask as he flung backwards; the masked gunman stumbled back, dropping his weapon. Spider-Man launched himself back over, not really giving him much chance to answer. 

    He webbed the next guy's gun and spun it around, smacking a few masked gunmen at once. "Are you guys ... ghosts?!" he continued as he did. He threw the gun at one brute and made him fall onto his back. He spun out of the way of another punch, frowning at the strange matter that seemed to twist the very air around him and make it hard to breathe. "Never fought a ghost before ..." 

    Spider-Man struck a web to the man's fist and tugged it sideways, sending him stumbling and he twisted his body, landing a winding kick to his chest. He flew backwards into his friend and they both went crashing into the display case. He somersaulted out of the way of some bullets and pushed himself off the wall, using the momentum to throw himself at the gunman and punch him across the face. He caught himself in a roll and webbed the next against the wall. He struggled, shouting curses in Mandarin. 

    "I mean ..." Peter bent back and leapt onto his feet again, kicking another masked bad guy in the process, "... I've fought spectres, but, you know, technically▬" he blocked a punch and sent a few of his own in reply, "▬spectres aren't ghosts. All ghosts are spectres, but not all spectres are ghosts, you know what I mean?"

    The battle raged on in Fisk's estate sale. Shattered glass was scattered across the floor, bullet holes dented in the plastered walls and Spider-Man quickly realised that nothing was made with quality over quantity in mind anymore because those Japanese tea sets were still in tip-top shape no matter what gunman he threw at them. 

    But these strange powers they had ... Peter didn't know what they were. He has faced very weird things. He has fought a magician with a fishbowl for a head! But he has never seen matter controlled in such a way at these guys' disposal. And each time Peter even let himself dodge a bit too late he was cutting it very close, he felt the entire air around him twist and collapse▬he felt like he had just dipped his head underwater, and his ears were blocked. 

    "Seems like this is an energy thing," Spider-Man voiced his thoughts to the men as he continued to fight more and more▬all of them that had decided to join the fun, "not a host thing." He backflipped over the destroyed display case to avoid gunfire and quickly webbed the barrel of his gun. "All good. 'Fight a ghost' stays on the old bucket list."

    He webbed two strands against the tiled floor and leapt up. He brought both feet down onto the last guy's face; and he hit the ground, unconscious.

    Spider-Man stepped back, letting out a short breath. "Wow, daily cardio▬check..."

    He shook his arms out and refilled his web shooters, frowning as he walked up to the last guy. Peter stared at the unsettling mask he wore▬just like the others. It smiled at him with painted white teeth in midnight black gums; with sharp fangs and horns. Like a demon. He took a deep breath and bent down to take it off the man's face. He seemed like any other guy▬a little bruised up, of course, but nothing about him that would make it seem like he had these crazy powers like the rest of his friends. 

    Spider-Man turned the mask around in his hands, feeling the wood and staring at the Chinese characters etched into the inside. It seemed antique▬but he didn't know what it could be. But he knew that if he found out, it might give him an idea of where these guys came from, who lead them, what gave them their powers ... and how to stop them. And he knew of a guy who could do exactly that. 

    Though when he heard the distant sirens▬blaring outside of the estate sale, Spider-Man sighed. It was going to have to be a job for later, he needed to get Nina out of here. 

    Peter took another deep breath, somehow finding the thought of talking to Nina even scarier than crazy, energy-bending mask guys. 

    But he rushed in the direction of where she had gone to hide. Almost at the same time, when she heard no more sounds of fighting, the door to the woman's restroom opened up. She glanced out of it, meeting his gaze with a deep, flushed breath. 

    "Is it over?" she asked him softly. 

    "It's over," Spider-Man stopped in front of her, and even with the sirens outside and the police close, there was a moment where neither of them said a word. They just stared at each other. 

    Peter Parker couldn't believe that she was here. He couldn't believe she had just thrown herself back into danger after everything she had told him ... or didn't tell him, he still wasn't quite sure. Six months, and he had not heard a word from her▬she really had become a ghost of his past, and now, all of a sudden, she had reappeared, almost like she had never left in the first place. 

    He wanted to be angry. He wanted to be upset. He wanted to ask her why▬Why is she here? Why did she really leave? What was she thinking? But all questions ran dry off his mouth and he was pretty sure he forgot how to speak. 

    Until he saw her reach a tender hand to the back of her head and winced, still in pain. Peter stepped closer, his own hand resting on her shoulder before he even thought better. "You okay?"

    She stared up at him, and he always felt as though she could see right through the lenses of his mask▬right to the man behind it. Nina pursed her lips and nodded. She pulled her hand away. "I'll be fine," she muttered. "But ... they got away with the file."

    Peter pulled his hand away, too. "Uh▬yeah▬" he shuffled his feet, the air between them growing very awkward. "I'm sorry about that. I▬I'll make it up to you▬" he didn't know what he was saying as he gestured to her. He watched her brows knit together, confused. "I▬uh▬Dinner? At Mick's?"

    Nina continued to frown at him, almost in disbelief. "Mick's?" She echoed and Peter went red behind his mask. 

    It was too much. He knew he had offered something a bit too much▬too much, too soon. Six months they had not spoken, let alone seen each other, and now he was offering to take her out to dinner? To do what? Reconnect? As what? Friends? It ... it had always been complicated between them. "U▬Uh, yeah. O▬Only if you want to, I mean ..." he gestured to the sirens, quickly making up some excuse as if the words hadn't blurted out of his mouth without the rest of his mind agreeing with them. "We should get out of here, anyway ..."

    Nina pursed her lips. She shuffled around on her feet, too. She glanced out towards the door where the sirens had gotten louder. Then, with a deep breath, she nodded. "Okay."

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    IT WAS PAINFULLY awkward. 

    Nina didn't know what to say to him, or what to do. She sat across from Peter Parker under the dim glow of the fairy lights that hung over the window booth in Mick's restaurant▬and for most of it, she just stared at her fingers. She had a pounding headache from being hit in the back of it, but she didn't say anything about it. She wasn't sure whether it was because she didn't want him to be worried ... or because she didn't want to see the disappointment and desperate attempt to hide his frustration again. 

    She felt like a chided kid▬not from him, but to herself. Nina had told herself that she was going to step away from all of this. And yet, it was her that threw herself right back into it. And now, she sat across from Peter Parker, six months since she walked away, and it was like she was sitting in front of a stranger. 

    He didn't know the real reason she left▬only a part of it, and Nina knew he wanted to know the truth; wanted to know why ... But she didn't have the courage to tell him. 

    She glanced at him again, not having eaten much out of the small tray of fries. He hadn't changed much▬not at all. He was still wearing his tee-shirts, his flannels and his jeans with those dirty sneakers▬but his hair was longer. She could see his honey-brown curls, messy off his gentle brows and his sheepish smile. He had always had this handsome look about him: a sharp jaw and pointed nose, but the sweet look in his eyes always softened it. As did his light chuckles and the little faces he made, always a little shy until you got to know him. 

    Nina tucked some of her hair behind her ears and reached out for a chip. She ate it in silence▬and could barely breathe as the tension between them grew almost suffocating. 

    In the end, she supposed she needed to say something. Nina took a deep breath and forced a small smile on her face. "So..." she began, her leg bouncing underneath the table. She glanced around the small restaurant. "Mick's is Italian now, is it? Since when?"

    Peter shrugged. "No idea," he seemed glad that she had said something. He met her awkward smile with a little one of his own. Then he reached out and grabbed some fries as well. "But I'm glad he still makes these fries."

    Nina nodded. She chuckled and scratched at her nose, looking back down. She was very nervous. They had not spoken in so long, and now here they were, again. She was very careful▬very anxious. She didn't know what he thought ... if he hated her, she wouldn't blame him. "Yeah," she mumbled. 

    "So ..." Peter watched her as she did, sounding just as careful▬hesitant to not overstep. "How ... how're things at OSCORP?"

    Nina pursed her lips and picked at her fries with a sudden glumness about her. "Could be better..." she admitted softly. "My meeting with the Board keeps getting pushed back ... every time I think that I have the chance to stop them from closing Harry's substations around the city ... I just end up falling back to where I started."

    She picked up her hot chocolate and felt the warmth of it▬welcoming it in the palm of her hands. She didn't meet Peter's gaze, knowing it was watching her with a sad breath. "They all just think I'm some silly biochemist with no idea what I'm doing..."

    "Yeah, well ..." Peter tilted his head, making a small face, "... you'll show 'em. You're smarter than half of those Board members, I'm sure of it. They'll see the good you and Harry were doing with those substations▬You'll make them see it."

    Nina shook her head. She took a sip before murmuring: "At this rate, they're going to end up closing them down. I can't work all of them by myself, and since Harry isn't answering any of my texts or calls..."

    She realised her mistake the moment she saw the slight fall of Peter's face. Nina pursed her lips, but she couldn't take it back. 

    Pete tried not to show how much her words hurt him. He shuffled in his seat and frowned, clearing his throat. "You ... You stayed in contact with Harry?"

    Nina didn't know what to tell him. She stammered on her words, feeling a sudden guilt eat up in her chest. "I ... Well, I mean ... we're working together on these stations, it's not like I couldn't..." Her words fell away and she looked down, brows knitting together and a lump forming in her throat as she realised she had just made the suffocating air between them worse. 

    She swallowed the lump in her throat and murmured. "Have ... have you heard from Harry, at all?"

    Peter watched her▬his gaze a little less gentle. She could feel his frustration and confusion fester into a bitter hurt, but he did not let his words hold any of it. It only made her feel worse. "No ... No, not really."

    Nina nodded. She went back to fiddling with her mug of hot chocolate. She turned it around on the table rather than taking a sip. 

    In the end, he couldn't stop himself. Peter Parker shook his head. "Six months, Nina. Six months ... and after you tell me you don't want anything to do with▬" he glanced around briefly at the diner around them before leaning forward and lowering his breath, "▬you know ... Now, you show up? Not a single text, not a single call? And you just throw yourself into danger trying to steal a file off Fisk?"

    "I didn't expect those mask guys to show up!" she whispered back in her defence, frowning at his switch in tone▬but also expecting it. "I just▬I couldn't just do nothing when I heard▬"

    "You could have messaged me," Peter cut her off, incredulous. "You could have called or▬"

    "▬I was going to!" she closed her eyes and slumped in the booth seat. She sighed and placed her head in her hands for a moment. Then, she let them fall gently onto the table and Nina met his gaze again, a little upset. "I just▬"

    "What?"

    She hung her head, ashamed. "Well ... I just thought you wouldn't want to hear from me after what happened ..."

    He looked down, too, when she said that. The two of them fell into a pained silence. 

    Nina forced herself to drink more of her hot chocolate▬she wasn't in the mood, but she also didn't want her money to go to waste. She glanced at Peter over the brim and when she set it back down, she decided to change the subject. 

    "Um, so," she shifted in her seat and rested her elbows on the edge of the table. "Creepy mask guys. What do you think about it?"

    He thought about it for a second and then shrugged. He leaned forward, too. "Just another night in the city. What about you?"

    Nina tilted her head. She watched the movement outside on the street through the window for a second before deciding. "Don't know ... But it seems like it's something more ..." At the small nod he gave, still not quite over what they had just spoken about, Nina closed her eyes again and shook her head. "I▬I'm sorry ... I▬let's not make this just about Spider-stuff, I ... H▬How are you? How is everything going? That promotion, did ... did you get it?"

     "Uh..." he hesitated. He pulled at the ends of his flannel sleeves. "O▬Okay. I mean ... No, I didn't get the promotion, but we're on the cusp of something really big."

    Nina frowned. "You do know OSCORP would hire you in a heartbeat, right? They're always looking for someone with your qualifications I▬I mean, I could talk to Vinnie▬"

    But Peter shook his head. He held his hands up and her words cut off, taken aback. "Sure," he said, trying hard to not make it seem like being hired by OSCORP was the last thing he wanted. "But Dr. Octavius' work will help millions. I▬I▬I'm right where I want to be▬right where I should be."

    Nina's frown started to turn into something gentle; curious, even. She watched Peter▬watched the way he smiled at the mention of the work he was doing at Octavius Industries, a small little place that had not even the slightest amount of equipment and funding OSCORP does ... and yet he did not even care. All he cared about was making a difference▬all he cared about was doing the right thing with science and his genius. It almost made Nina envious if she wasn't so taken by his little smile. 

    (He was always the better person, in everything). 

    "It almost sounds like it's more important than your other job..." she murmured in the end. Then, Nina realised she had been staring and looked down, trying to hide the sudden blush on her cheeks. "I ... I just never have heard you talk like that before..."

    "Well, a lot can change in six months."

     "Yeah," she made a soft, bitter chuckle. "I know..."

    They fell into another silence, but ... this one seemed a little more breathable this time. Something lifted between the two of them, enough for a little bit of the tension to break. 

    Nina pushed aside her hot chocolate, finished and decided to ask. "Why did you ask me here, Pete?"

    He seemed surprised by her question. At first, he looked as though he didn't know how to answer. "I▬You know, just..." he sat back slightly. "Dinner between friends."

    Her brows shot up. "Friends?" she echoed, surprised. Her words became a little less sure after that. "Is ... is that what we are?" 

    Peter blinked. "I▬well▬I mean we could be. You know, I▬If that's what you wanted, I▬"

    "You still want to be my friend?" her voice was soft and broken. "After everything?"

    "Well, I ... Do you?" He watched her carefully. 

    Yes, her heart cried out. But I shouldn't, her mind reasoned. Instead, Nina murmured. "There's ... there's a lot of baggage here..." It was a strange way to put it, but there was no other way she could describe it. There were a lot of things she was carrying▬that both of them were carrying, even if they differed from the other. Nina, her secrets and her feelings that she knew hadn't gone away, and Pete ... well, there were a lot of things that came with knowing Peter Parker (a lot of dangerous things).

    Peter's brows furrowed. "I mean ... Yeah, sure but ... is that so bad? I mean baggage can carry good things, too. Like, uh▬like money and uh, keys ... and raspberry lip balm..."

     Nina chuckled. She couldn't help herself. (Only Peter would respond with something like that...). She went to tap her cheek with a pen that wasn't there. "If only you could fit hot chocolate in there," she tried to joke. Some part of her chest swelled when she heard Peter chuckle as well. 

    His chuckle softened to a smile she didn't see. And perhaps it was best she did not, because, after a moment, it weighed down once more. But, Peter quickly hid it, pursing his lips and shuffling forward, again. "So ... what do you say? Start over?"

    She considered it. She really did. And she didn't know how much that scared her, just yet. After six months, was she prepared to disregard everything and throw herself back into the dangerous thrill? The dangerous trap his webs held on her, even if he never realised? (Had she already?). 

    Nina had this feeling that no matter how hard she tried to run away from Peter Parker▬and all that came along with him▬, she was always dragged right back to him. Pulled, even, by some invisible force she could not describe. 

    (She was falling▬always seemed to be falling ... she just wondered if, this time, she'd hit the ground ... or at last, finally, he'd catch her just in time).

    Nina couldn't tell him about everything. About how she felt or what had made her so scared▬what changed all she once was so sure of. But ... she missed him, too. She had missed Peter Parker more than she wanted to admit.

    Maybe, with this file and those masked gunmen, she had no choice but to take his offer. Nina Hart would never admit it ... but she had done all she had told herself she would never do again, and now, she couldn't walk away from it, either. 

    This meant ... if there was anybody who could help figure out what was going on with these mask gunmen, and their connection to Fisk, Norman Osborn and this ... Nina might be heading to her college reunion a little bit too early.

    Her eyes wandered to where a Daily Bugle newspaper was folded on the edge of the table. As if reading her thoughts, coincidentally, the article that it showed was written by someone else from her past. Someone who she knew was the very person that could help them. Signed off: Mary Jane Watson. 

    Nina set her jaw with determination and met Peter's gaze. She took a sharp breath through her nose and relaxed enough to give him one last little smile. "Okay. Back to the start."

    Peter held out his hand jokingly. "I'm Peter Parker, biophysicist. It's nice to meet you."

    Nina Hart chuckled. She took his hand in hers and gave it a dramatic shake. "Nina Hart. Biochemist. It's very nice to meet you, too, Peter Parker."

    His smile▬a true, kind and genuine smile▬made her cheeks blossom a pretty colour. 

    Until the swirl of red and blue glared through the window of the diner. They let go of their hands, glancing out as they heard the police sirens▬cars dashed past.

    Their little dinner had come to an end. 

    Nina turned back to Peter, smiling. "That's your cue."

    A little apologetic, his voice dropped to a soft whisper. "Talk to you later?"

    She just nodded to the door. "Go," she told him, understanding. 

     Peter flashed her a quick, thankful smile before standing up and rushing out of the door. Nina watched him go, and that smile she held started to fall▬as did her heart. The scene was so familiar, and yet, so different ... and she wasn't sure how she felt about it, not anymore. 

    Nina took a deep breath and rubbed at her forehead, the aching pain returning; almost like a dull reminder of what she was getting into▬and Nina knew she had not learnt from her mistakes, at all.

    She glanced over at the counter where Mick was standing. Getting along in his years, but still, worked this place with every breath of his heart. Nina gave him a thankful smile and set down her money for the food▬as well as a generous tip. 

    She then stood up, grabbed her things and went to leave.

    But before she could, Mick stopped her with a smile▬and his whole face lit up, and despite his elderly age, he seemed to have gone back in time in years. Nina stopped for a second at the sight of it ... almost feeling as if she has seen him ... sometime ... somewhere else. 

    Mick waved at her. "Love seeing you two together again!" he decided to say. "You two fit so well."

    Nina chuckled before waving goodbye. Then, she, too, left; stepping out into the cool New York night. 

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    a/n: if you didn't know, mick is a stan lee cameo. god, it makes me sad every time i see it though ... r.i.p stan lee.

     nina and peter are being cute, they got shit going on, need to sort stuff out ... we're back in the swing of things guys.

    also, posting this because i just saw into the spider-verse 2 today and OH MY GOD i was like a CHILD AT CHRISTMAS-

    as always, !SPOILER THREAD HERE - ONLY COMMENT SPOILERS HERE!:

   (if you have not seen the film, do NOT look at the comments above ^^).