COPYCAT - Billie Eilish

"Aw, c'mon, Lila, it's not like that-"

"Nope," Lila smiled teasingly, "It's too l-late. I'm offended."

The pair waved to Luca before Peter followed Lila up the metal staircase. "It's not that I don't trust your opinion..."

"It's just that you d-doubt my taste in science fiction."

Just like Peter had promised, there was a next time for the two of them to walk over to Delmar's after school. The plan was to grab the sandwiches, head over to the shop, and eat them in the greenhouse before Peter headed out in his Spider-Man suit. His aunt asked him to promote the work she'd been doing over at the homeless shelter helping the people displaced by the Blip. On the way over to Delmar's, the pair had an easygoing conversation about science fiction books. Peter quickly grew skeptical of Lila's taste, however, especially after-

"You said your favorite science fiction novel was The Martian, Lila."

"He's a botanist stranded on Mars, I really don't know wh-what you expected from me." Peter let out a genuine laugh as they reached the back room and walked towards the last staircase. The floorboards creaked underneath them as they walked, and Lila huffed. "Well, at least I can say that I don't think that D-Dune is the holy grail of film-"

"Hey, I never said that," Peter defended, "I just said the truth: that Dune is a largely underrated movie."

Lila, though Peter didn't see it, rolled her eyes as she grabbed for the door handle. "I think you mean a 'purposely forgotten' m-movie. It's not... g-good..." Lila trailed off as she swung the door to her greenhouse open. Or at least, it was supposed to be to her greenhouse.

Instead, the two opened the door to find a long hallway on the other side, its rich wood-paneled floors coupled with dark colors made Lila think she was in a museum hallway. But she looked behind her, and Peter was on the stairs in her dad's shop. Her mouth remained slightly agape as she stepped forward. "P-Peter?" She asked quietly, staring around at the various objects that were protected by glass cases. By the time she had turned around again to her friend, he had stepped through the door, too. He was looking around the space they occupied, every bit as confused as she was. "You're seeing this t-too, right?"

"Yeah," Peter said, eyes on the ceiling. A loud bang could be heard down the hall, and both sets of eyes landed on a door they hadn't seen previously. Peter stepped forward, shrugging the sleeves of his shirt up. Lila saw the metal bracelet he hadn't taken off since they returned from the Blip. She watched tentatively as he tapped his wrists together and the nanotechnology sprawled out across his wrists and hands to reveal his web-shooters. Lila looked up a bit to see the tension in his shoulders, and the weary expression on his face. "Stay close."

Lila, nerves already shot, did as Peter asked and stayed close behind. As the pair started creeping forward, she removed her backpack from her shoulders and opened the front pocket, hand wrapping around her mace spray. In one swift motion, she gripped her mace tightly and put her backpack back around her shoulders. Peter looked behind him, eyebrows raised in confusion at the mace can. Lila shrugged and whispered, "I'm g-going to help if I can."

The two of them, tense and silent, crept closer to the door, which upon closer inspection was cracked open. Lila looked behind her and saw the door to her greenhouse was gone, replaced by an empty stretch of hallway. The room they entered kept with the academic setting, arrays of artifact-type objects all organized in neat rows, papers scattered on random tables, and bookshelves filled with odd-looking books filled the room. The ceiling arched over them, and a large circular window that could've once easily held a clock housed a strange symbol instead, and seemed to be the only source of light that the room had to offer.

The sunlight filtered through the cases of artifacts and bookshelves, scattering visibility. Lila did as she was asked, and kept close to Peter as he entered further into the room. Directly opposite the window was a staircase, which Peter was headed to. Out of the corner of her eye, though, Lila swore she saw something flutter in between bookshelves. She inhaled sharply, gripping her pepper spray so tight that her hand started sweating. Lila was so skittish that she jumped when she accidentally ran into Peter, who had stopped walking and opted to stare at the symbol that the dark lines created in the window.

"What's w-wrong?" Lila asked quietly, almost wishing they were still moving. At least they weren't sitting ducks while they were moving.

Peter's eyes furrowed in concentration, "I've seen that before..."

"Where?" Lila kept her head on a swivel, feeling her stomach drop as she saw some papers slowly floating to the ground. She couldn't shake the feeling that someone was in the room with them. "Peter-"

She felt a tap on her shoulder, and Lila wheeled around at a rate that surely would give her whiplash, and came face-to-face with a floating cape. "AHH!" Lila yelled, spraying her mace as she stumbled backwards. The polished floors made it nearly impossible for her to keep her balance, and she was almost sent tumbling down the stairs had it not been for the webbing that hit her wrist and pulled her back. Dodging the levitating fabric, she made her way back to Peter, who reached for her hand. Undoing the webbing, he eyed the cape suspiciously before understanding quickly dawned on him.

"Oh, I know where we are."

"Peter Parker," Came a voice from further in the room. A tall man appeared, his stride confident and had an underlying power to it. When he got close enough, the man looked over to Lila and raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting her to be there. "And friend." He turned to Peter. "Can I have a word?"

"Th-That cape is - um - how is it doing that?" Lila asked, unable to help herself. She felt more at ease knowing that they were no longer under threat, but there were plenty of things she couldn't explain. Like how the cape still floating in front of her was able to tap her on the shoulder and scare her half to death.

"The Cloak of Levitation is a relic, it has a will of its own," The man answered curtly. Under his breath, he added, "Sometimes too much."

"Lila, this is Doctor Strange," Peter re-introduced her, and memories resurfaced of briefly meeting him at Tony's funeral. But just from the look on Peter's face, she could tell he was someone Peter admired greatly. And from what Lila remembered Peter had told her, he went along with Peter and Tony to space. "He's a wizard."

"Master of the Mystic Arts," Doctor Strange corrected.

Lila's heart did a somersault, "You - You can do m-magic."

The doctor was not amused, but he answered her question anyway. "Yes."

"L-Like real, bona fide magic? Spells and everything?"

"It's a lot more complicated than that, but yes. The Mystic Arts are a way of life, accessed through the mind in ways most humankind really has yet to understand."

"Woah," Was the most eloquent thing to come to Lila's mind. A small twitch of a smile was all the reaction Lila got from Doctor Strange. Mouth still slightly open, Lila looked around, her eyes falling back on the floating cloak. "Um - I-I have a Tide Pen somewhere that might - uh - h-help get the pepper spray off." She started looking through her backpack and pulled out the stain remover.

The cloak, which so fluid in its motion that Lila could've sworn it was woven from air, darted around her, knocking the pen out of her hand and gently ran over her skin, tickling her arms. She couldn't help the laugh that escaped her as it almost seemed to look at her before diving back in and tugged playfully at her hair.

"Alright, quit showing off," Doctor Strange said, and the cloak floated over to him, fastening itself around Strange's neck. "Peter, I need to talk to you."

Peter, who had been smiling teasingly at Lila as she tried to fix her hair, turned back to face the sorcerer. "What do you need?"

"I need you to keep an eye on things," Was the answer given, and Doctor Strange turned on his heel. He seemed to beckon the two teenagers to follow him without actually asking. So, as they went into the adjacent room (which happened to be a library), they formed a sort of line: Doctor Strange at the front, followed by Peter, and then Lila, who was glancing around in awe of the books.

"Oh," Was what Peter had to say in response. "Um - okay. Keep an eye out for what exactly?"

A large table was centered in the library, and seemed to be the central hub of the room. All bookshelves and walkways seemed to connect back to the one circular table, where a stout Asian man sat quietly reading a book that had pages older than him. He glanced up briefly when he saw Strange walk in, but took almost no notice of the two teenagers following behind him.

Strange reached his own part of the table, where several books were cracked open. He opted not to take the chair that was sitting in front of them, but instead lean over and study them with intense scrutiny. "I'm not sure."

"You don't hear that every day," The man across the table interjected, a flash of a teasing smile appeared before he settled back into stoicism. Lila curiously peered over at what he was reading, or more like staring at. It was a large picture of a tree, and it seemed to perplex him.

Doctor Strange seemed to pick up on this. "At least I'm not struggling to figure out what kind of plant someone once drew, Wong."

"Look," Wong replied, "Given the context, I'm sure it's an olive tree, but whoever drew this apparently had never seen one-"

"It's a pomegranate tree," Lila corrected, not even thinking twice about it. "In G-Greek mythology it's a kind of warning, or a s-symbol of deception." Three sets of eyes landed on her and she blushed deeply. "We j-just got some in for the Ball."

Strange nodded, and didn't press it. "Right. So now that that's... sorted, we should get back to the topic at hand." Peter and Lila nodded, both giving him their utmost attention. "I don't know how to explain this fully, but something in the universe has shifted."

"Shifted," Peter repeated, not grasping the meaning.

"No, more like stirred. I've got a feeling that something is moving closer to us, or is closer to being here than it has before."

"And you don't know wh-what it is?" Lila asked.

Doctor Strange's lip twitched into a scowl. "No. There are so many forces in the universe and in other realms that it's impossible to keep track or even pinpoint. But whatever I felt was closer to us than others have gotten." He was met with silence. "I realize it's not much to go on."

"It's nothing to go on," Peter commented, but one look had him back-pedaling, "But - um - you know, I'm sure there's validity. You would know more about it than I would..."

"No. All I know is that it's getting close, and..."

He trailed off, like he didn't want to finish. Peter leaned forward. "And? And what?"

"It felt threatening. It felt evil."

Peter glanced at Lila, who had a look of deep thought on her face. He turned back to Strange. "You need me to keep an eye out?"

Doctor Strange nodded. "I wish I had more, but I don't. If I'm right about this, and it comes to Earth, it could be disastrous. So just... keep an eye out and keep me posted."

"Why me?" Peter asked. "You know? You've - You know all the other Avengers, I mean - surely you've got better contacts...?" Peter fell silent at Doctor Strange's face.

"Your senses put you at an advantage, more so than any other Avenger. Plus, I didn't fight with them, I fought with you. I trust you."

Peter felt a little taken aback, all his memories of Doctor Strange on the spaceship with Tony weren't fond. He wasn't a particularly trusting person, and came across as rude and uncaring. But for some reason, he trusted Peter. And he hadn't been wrong before about the way things work out, so if something was coming, Peter was keen to listen.

He nodded. "Okay, I'll keep an eye out. How do I reach you?"

Doctor Strange dug out a small business card out of his pocket. He handed it over to Peter, who could tell that he didn't give out cards very often. In neat penmanship, the address 177a Bleecker Street was written out, and the other side held the same symbol that was in the large window. It was slightly smudged, like Strange hastily wrote it down before giving it away.

As soon as Peter took the card, Doctor Strange turned and waved his hands in a clockwise motion. An orange spark emitted, growing into a large circle that touched the floor. On the other side was Lila's greenhouse, waiting for them. Doctor Strange looked back to them. "Impressive array. Did you grow it yourself?"

Lila's cheeks darkened. "Thank you, yes, I did." She stepped through the portal and turned back. "Did you want something?"

"Are those clementines?"

As Peter stepped through the portal, he watched Lila pluck a bright orange clementine and toss it through. Strange caught it, and with a wink, disappeared. The portal fizzed out, and the two of them stood in the greenhouse like they had been there the entire time.

Lila's delight at having witnessed magic firsthand faded, and the same look of intense concentration reappeared on her face. Peter noticed, and turned to her. "What is it?"

She looked over at him, snapping out of her reverie, and she shook her head. "It's stupid."

"No, come on, what is it?"

"It's j-just-" Lila sighed, taking her backpack off and setting down on the desk. She turned around and leaned against it, facing Peter once again. "Say Doctor Strange is r-right. And I h-have no reason to believe he - he isn't, I can't help but f-feel like - like maybe this is all happening at once?"

Peter's eyes narrowed in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"This e-evil that's stirring, Jason Macendale getting f-fired... with it all happening so cl-close to the gala I just feel like something is going to happen. And it's not good."

Peter didn't even have the chance to reply, for Lila's phone buzzed in her pocket. She jumped a little before pulling it out and checking it. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise, and Peter asked her who it was.

She showed him the screen. "It's H-Harry." Peter still looked confused so she elaborated. "He never calls me. If he wants to talk he - he has me call him. I don't-"

"Answer it," Peter urged.

Lila complied, putting it on speakerphone. "Harry?"

"Hey, Iris, you've got a minute?"

Peter didn't know Harry well enough to understand that he rarely got to the point so quickly. But the worry on Lila's face must've given him a clue. He listened harder. "What's up?"

"I can't talk long, my dad's got a security team on me 'round the clock now."

The look of incredulity deepened, and Lila gripped the phone fractionally tighter. "A s-security team? Why - what-?"

"I'll explain more when I see you on Friday," Harry interrupted, his tone sounding rushed. "Listen, my dad doesn't want anyone knowing about this, but I can't have you walking in blind here. We've got a situation on our hands."

Lila had never heard him sound so serious. It made her heart rate increase and nerves start to dance in her stomach. "Harry, what's g-going on?"

"I was right about Macendale." That sentence alone made Lila's posture stiffen, something Peter picked up on. The name Macendale grabbed both of their attention.

"You were?"

"Don't sound too surprised, Begonia, I'm right all the time," A shuffling noise came from his end, and Harry spoke at a quieter volume. "Macendale went for my dad's personal collection. He got away with some pretty high-value stuff."

Lila looked to Peter, unsure of what to think. "Okay, wh-what-"

"My dad had some inventions that, if in the wrong hands, can be weaponized," Was all the response Lila got. "My dad wants nobody to know, he only sent out the word to be on high alert. I just... I wanted to let you know. I can't believe he's trying to cover this all up, people should get the chance to-"

"Harry," Lila stopped his rambling. Her voice was firm, but high-pitched, no doubt she was reigning in her nerves. "Y-You don't think Macendale is going to try and - and use your dad's technology to hurt him, do you?"

Harry paused. It grew almost agonizing until he finally said, "I'll be the first person in line to say my dad's a real asshole, yet untouchable. But yeah, I think he might try. And Friday would be the perfect time to do it." That was all the answer Lila needed. This was really freaking Harry out, he felt genuine fear for his father, a man he cared for despite his resentment. "Look, I've gotta go, I'll see you on Friday. Don't worry, okay? I'll let you know about extra security as soon as I do." He hung up.

A thick silence coated the greenhouse, stuffy and nearly unbearable. Lila felt waves of stress come at her from all sides, and the influx of information to come in the past hour alone gave her the need to sit down. She practically collapsed into the chair by the desk, and began gnawing on her lip in worry as Peter started to pace the floor in front of her.

"What are y-you thinking?" Lila asked after a minute, the information finally sitting with her.

Peter stopped pacing and shook his head. He looked over to Lila and said, "I'm thinking you're right. I'm definitely coming with you on Friday."

                      *****

"What are you staring at everybody for? You're clearly the best-looking one here."

Harry snuck up on Lila, who jumped in her place. He interrupted her staring around at all the people in the room to come and talk to her. What he didn't grasp was that she wasn't just observing the finely dressed people, she was looking for somebody. Her eyes were cycling through all the entrances and exits, darting in between people in search of one. Someone who wasn't supposed to be there.

Lila scoffed, "Y-You have some nerve saying that when - when Meryl Streep is in the same room."

"What? It's true. Just stating facts, Marigold." His words were slightly slurred, and he shamelessly eyed Lila up and down, taking in her yellow dress.

"You're drunk, Harry," She said, her expression looking unimpressed.

Harry held his hands up in defense, "I would never. And I like your dress, it's got pockets."

"Where's your date?"

"He's getting a selfie with Anna Wintour somewhere, where's yours?"

Lila's face grew warm. "He's n-not my date, he's just a friend."

"Chill, Hydrangea, I was talking about your dad. But speaking of, where is your loverboy?"

She swallowed nervously. It wasn't like Lila could say that Peter was scoping out the room, checking for anybody who wasn't supposed to be lurking around. Instead, she opted for, "My dad s-slipped outside to take a phone call, and P-Peter wanted to find the restroom."

Harry nodded, "Bold of him to assume celebrities need bathrooms." His gaze went over her shoulder and landed on something behind her. "Alas, it seems he was unsuccessful. Hey, Pete. Enjoying your taste of the fame and glamour?"

Peter, who looked beyond uncomfortable as he came to a stop next to Lila, smiled tightly in response. "Hi, Harry." He watched as waiter walked by with glasses of champagne, and Harry grabbed one, drinking half in one go. "I see you're having a nice evening."

"On the contrary, dear Peter," His words were thick and extra sarcastic. "I am still woeful that you aren't in love with me, or have the remotest semblance of good will towards my humble self."

"Wh-Why are you talking like that?" Lila asked, amused despite the circumstance.

"It's the champagne," Harry glanced down at his glass in distaste. "Either that or I'm just dramatic. But my best - best guess is the champagne. Anyways, I should really go find my date-"

The sound of a table falling over pierced through the hum of conversation. Then a shriek rang through the air, followed by a gunshot. Faster than she could blink, the people around her went into motion.

A security team Lila had no idea was so close emerged from the shadows, and grabbed hold of Harry. He was dragged away, but not without a struggle, and he turned back, his eyes wide as he shouted Lila's name. Peter was just as fast on the draw, grabbing hold of Lila's hand firmly while the crowd around them scrambled for the exits. Another gunshot rang out, and Lila flinched. Peter only let go to tap his wrists together quickly before he took her hand once more, weaving through the people scampering for the doors and elevators. About halfway across the room, Lila saw what she had been looking for all night.

A tall figure strode calmly through the herd of panicked people, imparting a clear path with one arm high in the air holding a gun. He donned an orange jacket, heavily protected by matching body armor that was also shielding his legs. He had weapons strapped to his arms, hips, and legs, and the hood of his jacket effectively obscured his face.

But Lila knew who he was. And she also knew exactly whom he came for.

Almost like it was for dramatic effect, the windows that exposed a beautiful view of Manhattan were shattered, and in soared a large hovercraft. Then, like a loyal pet, the hovercraft flew over to Macendale and settled in front of his feet. He stepped on board, and rose into the air, circling the panicked mob. "I'm only going to ask this once," He commanded loudly, "Where is Norman Osborn?"

Lila tightened her grip on Peter's hand as they both watched Macendale. He circled once and, unsatisfied, fired another shot into the ceiling. More screams ensued, and he lowered the gun. "Don't make me ask again."

"Peter," Lila whispered, not taking her eyes off of the man hovering over them.

Peter tugged on her arm, and together they crept behind the closest shelter, which happened to be the bar. It was luckily empty, and nobody would be paying the pair any attention due to the threat at hand. He waited until Macendale's back was to them, and then Peter shot his webbing at him. It hit one part of the engine right as another gunshot sounded. Someone, no doubt a member of Osborn's security team, had fired at Macendale, who returned fire. The webbing hit his engine as soon as he shot at the unknown defender, and the webbing made quick work.

The hovercraft tilted dangerously, and Macendale fought to keep his balance. The security team took note of his struggle, and began firing their weapons at him. Blindly firing back while still trying to remain airborne, Macendale had no choice but to leave. He soared quickly and unsteadily into the night.

As people were calling the police, Lila breathed a sigh of relief, looking over at Peter with wide eyes. He returned her stare, and both of them knew that whatever happened was only the beginning.

I guess I just really needed a bit of fluff before things take a turn down a pretty dark road. Whoops.

Hug your loved ones tonight, and if you don't have anyone close to you, I'm sending you a big fucking hug. All the love.

Unedited. Xx.