Thea quickly jumped off the building in order to find and possibly save Peter. She thought it was strange how Peter mysteriously vanished from his apartment, but right now she didn't have the luxury of having time to think about it. Thea had to find Peter, and fast. Thea continued to form her powers to be able to fly for at least a couple more minutes. Desperately Thea looked down to the restless city below, trying to find any glimpse of the wispy-haired boy.

Out of the corner of her eye, Thea managed to see something, not Peter, but Spider-Man. He was whizzing by on his webs to the lower end of Queens it seemed like. Thea argued with herself internally for a moment before she realized two sets of eyes are better than one. Thea poured out more mist to her palms and shot out, quickly following behind Spider-Man.

Spider-Man was surprisingly fast on those webs when he wanted to be, this made it difficult to catch up to him while he was still swinging. When Thea did catch up to him, he was already done swinging and on the ground. Thea landed softly in a nearby alley beside a jewelry store, her powers quickly dissipating into her palms. Thea strode out from her hiding spot once she spotted Spider-Man standing in front of the store. Spider-Man looked over at the moment to his side and immediately noticed Dark Matter, strutting over to him. Spidey, with confusion in his voice, said, "Dark Matter... what are you doing here?" He fully turned to face her.

Thea crossed her arms, hoping to intimidate him even by the tiniest amount. "I need your help Spider," Thea said, her eye contact with him never breaking.

"Could it wait," Spider-Man inquired. "I kinda need to help out this store first." He said this while gesturing to the closed store with one arm. Her eyebrows furrowed deeper as she asked, "What help? It doesn't seem to be in trouble." Right as Thea said this an alarm went off inside the said jewelry store.

Spider-Man looked at her in satisfaction and pride before saying, "You were saying?" He then began to make his way to the store. Thea rolled her eyes in disbelief, "Go on then Spidey, save the day."

Spider-Man paused his steps to the store. "What about you? You just follow me here and you're not even going to help?" He prodded her. Shaking her head and pointing to the store being robbed, Thea said, "Nah, you don't need little old me. You're a big boy now, you can handle this yourself."

Spider-Man looked at her then at the store then at Thea again before starting to speak again, "I-" Thea stopped him before he could speak by saying, "Go on! Time is of the essence."

He shook his head at Thea then began to sprint to the store being robbed. Outside the store, Thea could still hear the occasional grunt and groan from someone inside the store. She could also hear glass breaking and objects falling too. In the distance, the sound of sirens could be heard. Knowing that the addition of police into this equation would be trouble, Thea immediately ran over to the store. She noticed a group of men webbed up against a wall next to her. Thea wasn't able to locate Spider-Man inside the store. She walked behind the counter and looked around but still couldn't find him. Thea's search was cut short by the sound of a flush coming from a back room. Suddenly, Spider-Man appeared from the room, a piece of toilet paper was stuck to his feet and he was fidgeting with his hands.

Thea scoffed at him before she said, "Really? You used the restroom here?"

He jumped at the sound of her voice and looked into her eyes. "Yeah, I never got the chance to go home because, you know, Queens needed saving."

Thea rolled her eyes once more at him but what he said reminded her of the reason she was here with him. Thea rapidly grabbed him by his forearm, which was quite beefy. His arms could put Captains to shame. Thea shook those thoughts from her head and said, "Come on, I heard sirens coming here. We both know we don't want to deal with the police tonight."

Thea pulled him out the door with him not hesitating. The sirens got louder and louder the closer we got to the door, and the lights were brighter too. "Shit," She hissed looking out the window of the store.

Over a large speakerphone, they heard a voice say, "Come out with your hands up! Put any weapons down and don't resist!"

"Shit, shit, shit," Thea panicked, she paced around the store, looking around the store at any possible exit they could use. Spider-Man, who was silent for the time being, said, "Calm down, we just need to explain what happened here and we should be off the hook right?"

Thea said, "We both know that as soon as they see me they will not hesitate to open fire. Therefore you too will be shot at." Her face was smeared with fear and panic. Spider-Man faltered, his voice cracking slightly. "I-um well I could- um...I don't know." He gave up, his arms loosened and his shoulders shrunk.

Thea gripped Spider-Man by both forearms and shook him, trying to get him to focus. "I have an idea...but you'll have to trust me. Can you do that?" She asked him.

"I-I...sure," he finally said.

"Good."

Thea walked over to the door, which was now broken beyond repair, her hand still on Spider-Man's arm gripping tightly. The pair reached the edge of the door, outside over 6 cop cars lined up and their police behind them armed and ready to fire. "On the count of three be ready. One...Two...Three!" Thea belted out.

As soon as Thea uttered the word 'three', she picked Spider-Man under his legs and bolted outside, with her powers already formed in her hands. By the time the pair hit the cold air, the police never got the chance to react because Thea pushed her powers down, Spider-Man and Thea taking off into the air. Spider-Man didn't seem prepared for this little trip and began to scream as soon as they left the ground. When Thea believed that we were far away enough from the danger of the police, she spoke. "Oh quit being a cry-baby. You are a superhero, aren't you? Don't you swing from buildings every day? This isn't any different." Thea stated to him.

Spider-Man, who had stopped screaming by now, said to her, "T-this is a little different from that." He looked down at the open-air beneath them and then quickly looked back up. He croaked back to Thea, "You-you can put me down now, I don't want to cause an inconvenience to you."

"Fine," Thea breathed out and landed gently on top of a nearby building. She was still holding onto Spider-Man however, just trying to prove that she wasn't weak. Spider-Man squirmed in her grasp, obviously thinking that she would put him down.

Spider-Man quit squirming and sighed in defeat. He asked, "I-um okay okay so I underestimated you and your strength. S-so could-could you please put me down?" Even with the mask on Thea could tell he was blushing under it. Taking his embarrassment as a prize, Thea put him down on the ground. He hit the ground with force and hissed on impact.

"What was that for?!" He yelled at her.

"For underestimating me," Thea said back to him calmly.

"So what did you need me for?" He stood up, dusting off the dust that was on his outfit. Thea looked at him for a moment before her eyes widened and said, "Oh- yeah, I need help finding someone who went missing about an hour ago."

He looked at her with his goggles, crossed his arms and questioned her, "Alright, who is this person?" Thea looked him right back in his eyes, "His name is Peter, Peter Parker."

At this bit of information, he seemed frazzled. His eyes grew wide and he took a step back. "M-missing? Why do we need to find this kid?" He asked nervously. "He-he's only been gone an hour right? Maybe he's just gone to a friends house?"

"No time for questions, will you help me or not," Thea asked him, taking a step closer to him with her arms making a questioning gesture. He took another step back, this time toward the edge of the building, "I-You know what, I just realized I heard another robbery. I better get going." He stuttered. Thea reached an arm out, trying to stop him from leaving but he shrugged it off and jumped off the side of the building, shooting out a web while doing so.

Thea looked down the side of the building and yelled at him, "Some superhero you are! You won't even help me find a kid!" He was already gone by the time she said the next sentence, "You won't help me find my friend...."

I'll just have to do it all by myself, Thea

thought. Just like everything else.

~~~~

Peter swung away from Dark Matter, leaving her alone on the building. He swung through the air, the wind blowing against his mask, cooling him down. With one final swing, Peter landed in an alley. Peter took off his outfit and stuffed it into a nearby trash can, and shut the lid with a bang.

~ Author's Note ~

All rights to Spider-Man and original plot goes to the Marvel franchise and their fantastic movies and comics. I own new story lines and new characters, like Thea Quinton.

Next chapter is going to be emotional in the beginning. Just warning you! We'll get to see a vulnerable side of Thea, which we have never fully seen before and neither has Peter. He has really only seen her as a strong, funny and sarcastic girl.

How are you liking the story so far? What are your theories? I would like to know.