"Deep inside me, I'm fading to black, I'm fading
Took an oath by the blood of my hand, won't break it"
- Imagine Dragons

  "We just need to pick up my bag before we leave. It's in my closet."

  Peter let out a sigh. Were they really about to leave ? Although he would never let Harper go there on her own, he still doubted whether it was a good idea. If Tony Stark and the other Avengers hadn't told them anything, they must have had their reasons.

  "You're still sure about this ?" Peter asked once more.

  "Yes," she answered. She almost sounded exasperated. "I know the answers are there. I want to know what happened to me, Peter, I want to know why I can hear people's thoughts and why fire comes out of my hands but also who's behind all this and..."

  She ran a hand through her hair and touched her forehead. Peter stopped asking : questioning her idea didn't seem like a good call. He picked up his backpack and both of them made their way out of school during a break. Harper knew her father would be told about her absence ; that's why she wanted to be as fast as possible. When they got to Harper's balcony, Peter gave her a leg up so she could reach the door. Peter only had to jump. 

  "Alright. You need to be extra quiet," she whispered as she opened her closet. "But you also need to change. We can't really go out there and risk being recognised."

  "And what am I supposed to wear ?" he asked, genuinely oblivious.

  "Your suit, you dork. No one knows Spider-Man's true identity so let's count on that."

  "Okay. W-where can I go ?"

  Harper couldn't help but blush a little all while searching through her wardrobe for an eventual disguise.

  "I'm afraid you'll have to change in here," she admitted.

  "Oh, so, hum..."

  "We don't have all day, Peter !"

  Stressed out for a totally different reason now, Peter took off his clothes extremely slowly. As to Harper, she tried not to turn around despite the fact she had found what she needed. She put on a long red leather coat, the one with a hood and that she had already worn to go from the house to the headquarters. Red wasn't the most discreet colour, obviously, but the hood could hide her long red hair and most of her face. She turned around and regretted it instantly when she saw that Peter – who was being decidedly slow – still hadn't put on the upper part of his suit. Without even noticing, Harper let her eyes check out his bare chest. How could he hide her those abs for so long ?

  "Are you done ?" he asked, stuck somewhere between funny and awkward.

  "Not quite."

  She pulled him in and as she let her hands run on his chest, she kissed him passionately. Peter placed his hand on her neck to deepen the kiss but when he felt her lips opening up, he knew it was time to stop.

  "You said we had to hurry up, right ?" he said with a smile.

  "Oh well, look who decided to hurry up, now !"

  "You motivated me," he added, laughing softly.

  He finished putting on his suit and, with his mask in his hand, he asked her if she was ready.

  "Almost."

  She picked her bag of ammo, put her gun in there and put her bow around her.

  "Now we can go. You remember the way ?"

  "I think so. C'mon, climb up," he said as he showed her his back.

  He put on his mask and she jumped on his back. She had to grip his shoulders and link her legs around his hips so he could move freely as he jumped on a roof, far enough from Stark manor.

  "You think you can run, now ?"

  "Hell yeah. Cardio training with Steve reminded me why I run so regularly," she joked. "Last one to get there's a chicken !"

  Peter laughed like a child before running after her and jumping from roof to roof, street to street. Had she known then what she would find out by the end of this sunny day, Harper might not have been so confident about diving into the unknown. She was too reckless and she believed nothing bad could happen. She thought she had everything under control. Peter would've followed her to the edge of the world if she'd asked him. There's nothing he wouldn't have done for the girl on fire that made his heart burn with affection. When they got to the edge of the city, they had to make do with what they had in front of them. They chose a boat to cross water (made sense) and they managed to sneak in a rather small cargo's hold. They sat between two boxes of fruit and vegetables and the room that was available was incredibly tiny. Peter wasn't one to complain : Harper had to sit between his legs and to rest her head on his chest. The cross took at least thirty minutes so he wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her on the top of her head.

  "We do look like Jack and Rose, don't you think ?" she said, partly joking.

  "As long as we don't end up like them..."

  "Hey, don't say that !" she retorted as if she was worried.

  "I can't believe it," he whispered. "You're scared of boats ?"

  "I'm not scared," she corrected. "But this place is the first to take on water if anything goes wrong."

  "Well you're not wrong."

  "But if something does go wrong, I promise I'll let you climb on my door !"

  She tried not to laugh. Peter, behind her, closed his eyes and let the waves rock his body. Once they stopped, they sneaked out of the boat : it was almost too easy and Harper saw it as a good sign for the rest of their mission. Their adventure was indeed far from over and they realised that soon enough when they found the well hidden bunker. Guards patrolling all around it made finding the bunker a lot easier, though. Hidden in the bushes, they analysed their options. The only entrance they could see was an iron trap under the yellow grass. Two men were guarding it. The bunker wasn't completely underground, judging by the small mound that didn't fit with the flat landscape. Other men were circling it : they were heavily armed. Getting around them wouldn't be easy ; they'd most likely have to fight.

  "There are eight of them. You think we can do this ?" Peter asked.

  "Taking eight men down should be easy if you silence them with your webs," Harper explained. "We must choose which one to attack first. That one, for instance." Harper pointed to the most isolated man. "He's far from the others. We start with him then we go around the bunker as fast and as efficiently as we can. Ready ?"

  "Ready if you are."

  She smiled at him warmly before they crawled on the ground. Peter jumped in front of their first target. With quick and precise moves, he muzzled him with his web and stuck him to the ground. Harper quickly took his gun and saw it came with a silencer. The second guard was easy to take down as well and the third one, even more. When the fourth guy came around, things got harsh. The man saw them and called everyone through his talkie walkie. His four teammates came after them. This time, Harper didn't hesitate. She hooked the gun to her belt and drew her bow. She took an arrow and as she breathed out, she shoot it right at one the men's throat. It all lasted about a second and she did the exact same thing once again while Peter was fighting hand-to-hand with his opponent. The man was quite clever and did his best to prevent him from using his web-shooters. The young archer saw Peter struggling, which only made her work harder : she shoot an arrow through her second opponent's heart and didn't pay much attention to the last one as she turned towards Peter and jumped on the guy's back after putting back her bow around herself. She gripped his face and he screamed in pain as he felt his skin burning under Harper's hands. Still stunned, the man buried his face in his own hands as soon as Harper let him go. There was only one man left to fight and Peter hadn't forgotten about him. Harper had. He picked up Harper's weapon : jumping on the guy's back had made it fall from her belt.

  "Harper !"

  He threw the gun at her and she caught it right away. Her leather cape flowed majestically behind her as she turned around. Just like her opponent, she was holding her gun with both hands. The blast was so sudden that Peter felt disoriented for a second. He got ready to leave and run to the bunker with Harper when the man pinned him down to the ground. A few kicks later, Peter neutralised the guy.

  "Harper, let's go !"

  No answer. He looked at the man who had attacked him one last time : he didn't show any sign of bullet wound.