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" This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. "

William Shakespeare, Hamlet

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Gotham City

January 9, 2011

It was nearing midnight, and Faith couldn't make herself fall asleep. She pulled the covers tighter around her as she rolled over facing the window. She stuck her hand out from under the cover, moving the curtain a little bit away so that she could see the night sky. Faith sucked in her breath when she saw the Bat-Signal appear in the sky. She let go of the curtains and rolled flat onto her back so that she was now staring at the ceiling.

After half an hour of staring at the ceiling, Faith finally fell asleep. However, she wasn't asleep for long. Faith glanced over at the digital clock that was on the nightstand beside her bed only to groan and pull the covers back over her head. She had been asleep for only two hours. It was still dark outside with no signs of the sun rising until a couple of hours later.

Faith peeked her head out from under covers and looked outside the window again. The Bat-Signal was gone. Batman and Robin must've dealt with the threat during the short time that Faith was asleep.

A crashing noise from the other side of her door caught her attention. Faith held her breath, listening for a few seconds, hoping that it was just her imagination making the noise. Faith's eyes widen when a loud thump sounded.

Quickly, moving out from the safety of her bed, Faith walked over to her dresser, grabbing her curling iron off of it. With the curling iron in her hand as her makeshift weapon, Faith carefully opened her bedroom door and tiptoed into the living room.

Her breath got caught in her throat when she saw the intruder. Faith slid her hand up against the wall, her fingers hitting the light switch, turning on the living room light which blinded the intruder momentarily causing the intruder to bring his arm up blocking the sudden light.

With the lights on, Faith could make out the intruder who was wearing a purple suit that covers his face. As Faith inched closer to the intruder, raising her curling iron above her head ready to swing it down on the intruder when he reach out grabbing her arm before she could harm him. Faith let out an ear piercing scream before the guy's hand covered her mouth, muffling the scream as the curling iron dropped to the ground.

"Faith, be quiet will you," hissed the guy in the purple suit.

Faith's eyes widen as she recognized the intruder's voice. Once the intruder knew that Faith wasn't going to scream again, he removed his hand from her mouth.

"Eric?" asked Faith as she took a step back, eyes wide. "What the hell!"

"I can explain, Faith," said Eric as held his arms up in surrender. Faith continued to stare at Eric as if to say continue. Eric reached up towards his head and pulled off the mask, tossing it to the ground. Eric took a step closer to Faith who retaliated by taking another step back.

"Faith," begged Eric, hoping that she would stop backing away from him. Eric stood still in his place as he watched Faith turn around and run to her bedroom. His shoulder slumped in defeat when he heard her lock of her door.

Eric picked up the curling iron that was on the floor and placed it on the coffee table before picking up his mask. He cursed at himself as he walked back to his room for not sneaking back through the kitchen window a lot more quietly. For all he knew, he just ruined his friendship - possibly more - with Faith.

Eric was already up sitting in the living room when Faith walked out. Eric quickly got up off of the couch and followed Faith into the kitchen. Faith continued to ignore Eric as she poured herself a bowl of cereal before heading back to her room to eat her breakfast. Before Faith could grab her bowl and leave, Eric grabbed it and dumped it down the sink causing Faith to glare at him.

"Faith, please let me explain."

"You get ten seconds."

"I'm Black Spider. I'm an assassin- I won't harm you. I-"

"That's ten seconds," said Faith cutting of Eric's explanation. "You know what? I'm leaving."

Eric swiftly moved in front of Faith blocking her from being able to leave the kitchen. "Please, Faith. Just give me another chance. Please."

"Why should I?" huffed Faith as she glared back at the older teen.

"Because- because I think I've fallen for you, Faith."

"You- You . . . what?" stuttered Faith, staring at Eric in disbelief thinking that something was wrong with her ears.

Eric took a breath before speaking, "I think I love you, Faith."

The two stood in the kitchen staring at each other. Eric afraid that if he'll talk, he'll cause Faith to run off again. Faith was still trying to process everything.

She was trying to process the facts that the guy standing in front of her admitted his love for her. The guy that was standing in front of her who lied to her. The guy who was a villain.

"You don't have to say anything back, Faith," spoke Eric quietly as he watched Faith's emotions flicker across her face in deep thought.

"I- I . . . need to think," whispered Faith as she pushed past Eric avoid his gaze. Eric let Faith walk away from him. She needed space at the moment and that's what's Eric's going to give to her. Space.

As soon as Faith walked into her room, she locked her bedroom doors. Just a week ago, she had run into Dick at the aquarium. Technically, she saw him at the aquarium. She didn't physically go up to him and had a conversation with Dick. At the aquarium, Faith had made a rash decision of kissing Eric to avoid talking to Dick.

It wasn't that she didn't want to reconnect with Dick. She truly did want them to become friends again. It was just that he had broken their promise, and Faith took her promises seriously. She had everything planned out in her head. Scenarios for Dick calling or texting her, scenarios if Dick had visited the circus, but she was not prepared for running into Dick at a public place.

And then, there was Eric on the other hand.

Eric was a nice guy. He took her in without much complaint. They became friends quickly. Maybe more than friends according to Eric. Faith had to admit that Eric was a good looking guy and that she was slowly developing feelings for him, but she still cared about Dick. There was also the fact that Eric had lied to her. He lied about who he truly was. And that terrified Faith.

Either way, Faith should be terrified. She's been living with an assassin all this time. Someone who kills people because it was their job. Faith shuddered at the fact.

But what if he wasn't the bad guy. What truly makes a person bad? When do one's motives slowly shift from trying to do something good to doing something bad in another person's perspective? For all Faith could know, maybe Eric was the good guy.

Making up her mind, Faith unlocked the door to her room and walked out into the living room. When she saw that Eric wasn't in the living nor the kitchen, she began to walk towards his bedroom. She stopped in front of the door and brought her fist up, knocking against the wooden.

The door open to reveal Eric. His hair plainly was messed up from his fingers running through it. It was a nervous habit that Faith had caught onto.

"Hey," whispered Faith, starting the conversation for the first time.

"Hello," responded Eric as he opened his bedroom door, allowing Faith to walk in.

Surprisingly, this was the first time that Faith had ever set foot into Eric's room. He had always kept it locked, and Faith respected his privacy. But now Faith knew why it was always locked. Eric's room was fairly normal if you didn't count the weapons in that were in the corner of his room.

"I won't tell anyone," began Faith as she took a seat on his bed. "If you let me join."

"No."

The two teenagers stared at each, waiting for the other to look away first. They were so focused on each other that they didn't notice the creak of the window opening nor the door quietly squeaking open. They didn't notice the woman dressed in a green kimono and Cheshire mask until she spoke.

"Come on, Spidey. Why won't you let the girl join us? For all you could know, she could be a wonderful addition . . . Or she could die within her first mission."

The two teenagers in the room jumped at the voice.

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word count: 1486