"Hey, what was that all about?" Michelle asked as soon as J.D returned. J.D forced a smile.

"I was just asking him what his problem was." She lied, though the slight wobble of her voice only convinced a few of them.

Her friends could all see that she didn't want to share any more, so they politely nodded and went back to eating their food. Peter nudged her once a conversation began, and she looked up at him.

Peter's eyes searched her face for a moment, and he was concerned at how drained she suddenly seemed. "Do you want to take a walk with me?"

J.D glanced at the group before back at Peter, then nodded. Peter stood up and reached out his hand to her, and though she was more than capable to stand up herself, J.D took it and let him pull her up.

"Where are you two going?" Mason asked when he noticed them starting to walk away.

"I wanna see the penguins again." J.D said and Mason pursed his lips, nodding slightly, before turning back to his conversation with Gwen.

Peter still held onto her hand as they wandered away from the group and towards the Arctic enclosures. He glanced down at her, and sighed softly. "Are you okay?"

J.D bit the inside of her cheek, not knowing how to answer. Was she supposed to be up front with him? Or was it safer to keep him sheltered from the truth that was nipping at her heels?

She forced a smile and looked forward. "I'm fine."

Peter scoffed. "When people say they're fine, they aren't."

J.D rolled her eyes and huffed quietly as they drew nearer the penguin habitat. "You don't need to worry about me, Parker, I'm more than capable of taking care of myself."

"You're missing the point." Peter squeezed her hand, pulling her to a stop. Peter exhaled nervously, before looking down at her. "You don't have to face all your problems on your own."

J.D smiled sadly. "You don't get it, Pete."

"Then explain it to me." He tried to reason, and J.D ran a hand through her hair, looking down at the ground.

With the love Peter showed for her in that moment, J.D almost wanted to tell him. Staring into his brown eyes made butterflies raise in her stomach and she couldn't deny how much she truly cared for him. But she couldn't share. It would only get him hurt. She didn't know what to do, she only pushed herself onto her tippy toes and wrapped her arms around his neck embracing him tightly. "I'm sorry Pete, I-I-I can't, I want to, it's just hard."

Peter sighed and kissed the side of her head softly. "I don't want to push you, J.D, but you have to open up to someone. I really care about you, you know."

"I know." J.D whispered, and wished she could melt into his arms. She felt comforted when she was with him. It had been almost two weeks, and she had finally accepted that Peter was Spider-Man, and had acknowledged the feelings she had for him. "I love you, you get that, right?"

Peter's smile was so wide his lips could have fallen off his face. He squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in her hair. "I love you too."

He didn't think that meant much to J.D, but it really did. She was genuinely smiling too, and she felt her spirits lifted slightly.

Fuck.

Now wasn't the time to be falling for Peter Parker.

+++

J.D walked through the streets in costume, her arms folded over her chest and her dagger swinging at her side. She knew her friends were seeing a film that night, and though she was invited, she denied the request as she had no interest in Dave Franco (she preferred the older one).

She watched them from the other side of the street, looking back and forth for any potential threats towards them. She wasn't taking any chances since the threat she had received the day before. She was never going to risk their lives for her own safety.

She tilted her head when she noticed a black car heading down the road. The windows were tinted, and there was no licence plate. J.D ran across the road and held her hands at the ready, but quietly sighed in relief when it passed without trouble.

"It's a shame J.D couldn't come." Gwen said, adjusting her bag on her shoulder.

"Is she okay, Mase?" Harry glanced back at Mason, who shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I honestly don't know." He muttered. "Ever since she came back it's like she a different person. She never talks to me about her problems anymore."

"Do you think she's depressed?" Gwen queried, and J.D looked at Mason, her heart breaking at his expression.

"I hope not." Mason mumbled. "I love her so much, but it's like she doesn't trust me anymore. I miss the old her. She wasn't so serious and boring all the time. The new J.D is different...like she's always on a mission or trying to protect herself from things. I just want her to be normal again."

To say J.D was upset was an understatement. Did her brother really feel that way about her? Had she changed that much since Sokovia?

She was almost too distracted to notice two men dressed in dark trench coats approaching the group. Looking up through her watery vision, she gasped and ran through her group of friends. They gasped as they were all shoved aside by an invisible force. Peter looked up and walked forward a bit, but he was thrown back by a force field.

Michelle inhaled sharply as she realised what was going on. "Uh oh."

"Uh oh?" Harry repeated. "What's the 'uh oh' for?"

Michelle didn't get time to reply, as one of the men pulled back his coat, revealing a gun. J.D turned around and threw her hands in the air as the first shot sounded. The bullet bounced off the force field surrounding her friends and hit the lamppost. J.D cried out as another pierced her leg.

"Give it up, Bladerunner!" She heard the yell of Krüger from behind the shooter. "Give it up and we won't hurt your friends!"

J.D felt another bullet fly through her side, and she fell to her knees, though she forced the power through her hands. She was visible now, and she could see the frightened gazes of her friends on her.

All but Harry had tears running down their cheeks, both in shock and in fear. Michelle was holding a trembling Gwen, and Mason was shouting into his cellphone.

Each time the gun was fired and J.D was hit, Gwen and Michelle screamed. Neither girl had seen anything as monstrous as this, but Michelle knew the identity of the hero saving them.

J.D felt her power weaken, and she turned to Krüger, blood seeping from the corners of her mouth. She made eye contact with him and she squeezed her eyes shut, before nodding her head ever so weakly.

Just like that, the firing stopped and she felt two arms wrap around her waist. She let out a pained cry and had no choice but to drop her hands, though she tried to force her protective barrier around her friends with her mind.

"Bladerunner!" She heard someone yell, but she couldn't respond. She just lay limply in the arms of Krüger, bleeding out profusely. The last thing she felt was her back on a cold seat and a sharp needle in her arm, then she couldn't feel anything at all.

+++

Michelle collapsed to the ground as the car took off down the street. Bullet casings were discarded on the ground, as well as blood stains from the broken hero.

"Oh my god." Harry gasped out, and Peter furiously wiped his eyes. "She just sacrificed herself for us. She doesn't even know us."

Gwen stifled her sobs with her hand, her breathing quick and heavy. She was clearly suffering from an anxiety attack. Michelle rubbed her back and tried to calm her down, but she herself was on the verge of one herself. Mason clutched his phone in his hand, his eyes watery. "We have to find her."

"No, we have to go home." Harry snapped, and helped Gwen up, before looking for a taxi.

"I called the police." Mason said and ran a hand through his hair. "They should be here any second."

Sure enough, an NYPD car showed up at the street corner, and the two police officers stared at the scene in shock. It wasn't an everyday situation: a group of five teenagers, all of them severely shaken up, standing behind a puddle of blood and ten bullet shells. "Someone explain to me what just happened."

As Harry was the only one able to talk, he began briefing the cops of what happened, and from there, they were all given blankets and a ride home.

Before Mason got into the car, Michelle grabbed onto his arm and pulled him to the side. "Mason, I-I...I need to tell you something."

Mason furrowed his eyebrows. "Can't you tell me in the car? I need to get back to J.D and Herb."

Michelle almost burst into tears at the name. "It's about J.D."

"What's wrong?" Mason immediately asked, his voice sharp. He was extremely on edge now, his mind was all over the place, all he knew was that he needed to be with his family.

Michelle didn't know what to say other than the truth. "It's her."

"What's her?" Mason demanded, and Michelle broke, her fingers tugging at her hair. "Michelle, what are you trying to say?"

"J.D's her." She choked out. "She's the bladerunner."

Mason stared blankly at her for a second, letting the sentence process in his mind. Then, all of a sudden, he turned and threw up into the street. His knees buckled and he felt his world tumble down around him. It suddenly all made sense. The late nights, the endless secrets, the lies he had been fed.

"What's happened?" One of the policemen asked. "Is he okay?"

Tears rushed down Mason's face as he began to sob, his chest contracting. He had just seen his sister shot down in front of him. He had just witnessed his sister stolen away from him.

It felt like his heart had just been ripped out of his chest.

He released a strangled yell and forced himself up, before clenching his fist and punching the streetlamp next to him. He barely felt it, he was so built up on rage he could only see red.

He had to find her.

I'M SO SORRY WTF IS THIS CHAPTER

EVERYTHING WAS OK AND THEN BOOM

EVERYONE IS CRYING AND SAD AND OH SHIT J.D IS HURT AND GONE AND MASON HAS FINALLY FOUND OUT AND HE IS DEAD INSIDE AND THEN PETER IS WORRIED AS FUCK AND MICHELLE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO AND HARRY IS IN SHOCK AND POOR GWEN JUST NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED NONE OF THEM DESERVED THIS

also

do you know how much i love mason purnell

like i actually love him so much

i wrote a chapter about him on 'absolute trash' go read it or maybe i'll just post it on here

i want to marry him

he is so precious

and sad

i was supposed to give him a puppy but i had his sister get shot instead i hate myself and its alright if you hate me too

fuck im so pissed off at how sad this story has become

hopefully everything turns out okay