chapter forty one
honest

    "WHAT are you gonna do about the water monster?"

    Peter frowned at Ned from the corner of his eye. He jiggled the key they were given for their hotel room into the lock━desperately trying to get the damned thing to work. Chatter still echoed up the staircase from the lobby below and in the hallways that seemed to just tilt ever-so-slightly forward as if the building was rocking on the canals itself. Peter grew tense at each groan and each moan the foundations seemed to make━he was prepared for this whole building to collapse beneath his feet. 

     "Nothing," he said to his friend, giving his key another harsh jolt. Their non disturbano sign fell off onto the carpet and he sighed as he went to pick it up. "It's dead. And besides," he chucked it to Ned who barely caught it, giving him an estranged look, "that Mysterio guy's all over it."

     He gave the key another final shove and it turned. Though he was sure he broke the lock itself in his attempt to do so. Peter turned it━not really paying attention to how he twisted it so harshly the knob became ajar from its screw, dangling from the hole. Peter didn't realise and stepped into their hotel room. It smelt like canal water━like everything else in this hotel. The walls were a dark musty blue and the floorboards creaked under his feet. Peter walked up to his toiletry bag he had left on the single sink in the centre of their room, grabbing his toothbrush. 

     He wasn't thinking much about anything else other than the conversation he had with Nina at the stairs. It made his heart race and feel as if he could leap to the height of Saint Mark's Basilica━she smiled at him, and she leant against his shoulder (and apparently she liked his abs? That was enough of a compliment from the girl he had a super huge crush on━). But while he was ecstatic from such a great conversation with his closest friend and his ex-girlfriend who he hoped would become his girlfriend once more, there was a dreadful worry in the pit of his stomach at the way she had left ... after what he said, joking that she'd fall off the Eiffel Tower, she looked pale; terrified as if she saw her whole life flash right before her eyes. 

    Peter didn't want to think about it, because the look on her face scared him as well━he was scared to ask her about it, for a reason he couldn't quite comprehend, but it made him unsettled. And so he focused on everything else. 

     "Look," he squeezed the toothpaste onto his brush he had bought from the supermarket back in New York the day before they left, "I just wanna spend time with Nina━we were talking and joking around and I think she still really likes me."

     Ned made a face that said, no shit. "Dude━did you hear her? She likes your abs. She said you're strong." Peter shrugged to tell him, added bonus. 

     "Yeah, but she likes me as me," he told him, not completely dismissing the thought that yeah, he really did like the idea she thought he was strong (which then led into hot). "She likes me for being both Spider-Man and Peter Parker━she doesn't want me to be anything more, or anything less," Peter smiled to himself, his voice growing muffled as he began to brush his teeth. "Unlike the rest of the world."

     "That's nice," said Ned. "Reminds me of when Betty and I first fell in love," he closed the door behind him as he entered the hotel room. I had just finished my fruit cobbler, and..."

      It took Peter a moment to realise Ned hadn't finished, too busy contemplating on the fact that he only had a fruit cobbler this evening━

     The thud of Ned's body hitting his bed made Peter jump. He spun around, and his heart leapt into his throat to see something sharp and thin poke out the side of his best friend's neck: a dart. Peter's eyes widened. His breath hitched━something sparked; the hairs on the back of his neck stood up ...

      A low, mysterious voice spoke from the shadows, "You're a very difficult person to contact, Spider-Man."

     Peter slowly turned to the sound. His jaw dropped so low his toothbrush slipped from his lips and fell onto the floorboards by his toes. The man sitting in the arm chair in the corner of their hotel room sighed, looking very disappointed. Peter quickly crouched down to pick it up, holding his toothbrush close to his chest. 

     There, sitting in that armchair, was a man of the greatest mystery━the coolest, the most craziest, the most awesome person in existence. Peter recognised him immediately and he thought he was imagining it; and yet here he sat. In a long, black trench coat, black army pants, boots and a zipped-up black turtleneck jacket━he looked like every coolest super secret agent in every comic book; a single, black eye-patch over his eye. 

     Nick Fury pointed his tranquilliser gun at Peter, eyes dark and threatening. He had knocked out Ned onto his bed, he had snuck into Peter's room and now sat in the chair as if they were in some dramatic espionage movie ... 

     (It was so cool!).

     "You're ..." Peter swallowed his tongue, unable to think properly. "You're Director Nick Fury."

     "Just Nick Fury," grumbled the once greatest S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the entire world, "unfortunately, Director Alphonso Mackenzie is otherwise detained with a morning tea with an old friend and his goddaughter in Perthshire."

      Peter frowned, a little weirded out by the information. "O━okay ..." he pointed his toothbrush to his best friend out cold on his bed. "You just shot Ned."

     "It's just a mind tranquilliser," said Nick Fury, quite stoic and emotionless, "he'll be all right." He crossed one leg over the other, continuing to stare down Peter in a way that made his shoulders hunch up. "So good to finally meet you." He didn't sound pleased by this encounter, for some reason, he sounded rather sarcastic. Peter swallowed back his sudden fear. "I saw you at the funeral, but I didn't think that was a good time to exchange numbers."

    Peter chuckled nervously. He hadn't moved an inch from the sink. "N━no, that would've been really inappropriate."

    "That's what I just said."

    "... Right."

    "The important thing is," went on Nick Fury, "you're here. I tried to bring you here. You avoided me, and now━you're here. What a coincidence."

    Peter frowned at the wording, rather suspicious. The way he said it, the way he was looking at him ... Peter shuffled awkwardly on his feet. Did he ... did he plan this trip? Was he━was he mind controlling Mr. Harrington (or something?). "Wait." He pointed his toothbrush at Fury as he spoke in a hushed whisper━as if they were sharing some secret. "Was this a coincidence?"

     "I used to know everything," said Nick Fury. He hadn't changed his aim of his tranquilliser gun. Peter eyed the barrel warily. "Then I come back five years later and now I know nothing. No intel, no team. And a high school kid is dodging my calls!"

     Peter tried to say something but he thought better of it, especially when Nick Fury spoke again. He shifted in his seat, leaning forward━Peter was still sort of trying to take in the fact that he was talking to Nick Fury! "Here's what I do know━"

     He set something small onto the glass coffee table in front of him. When his fingers moved away, the device lit up in a glow of gold and bronze━spinning together to create a holographic image of the Earth. A watermark at the bottom of it said the name: Fitz-Roy-Simmons. 

     Peter's brows knitted together with growing interest. He found enough courage to wander forward, trying to read all the information hovering under the Earth's shadow━he watched the image shift and change, showcasing random tectonic uproars, unnatural heat spikes and volcanic eruptions, and flooding from sudden river bursts ... much like the canal here today.

     "A week ago," began Fury, "a village in Mexico was wiped out by a cyclone. Witnesses say that cyclone had a face."

     From Mexico, two video clips extended out for Peter to see. A churn growled in his stomach as he watched people scream and run from a twisting, ferocious force of wind with two fists that brought themselves down onto a nearby home. 

     Just as the house shattered into nothing, the tense air was split between them━a long, loud snore erupted from Ned. Peter jumped, startled and almost forgetting he was there. "Dude," he whispered at him, rather incredulous. "Don't cut Nick Fury off." His best friend just snored in reply. 

    "Three days later," continued Nick Fury, his jaw setting at the interruption, "a similar event in Morocco. A village was━"

     Knock. Knock.

     Nick Fury's aim of his gun switched so fast Peter barely had time to see it past his blinking eye. His breath hitched, startled as Fury readied himself to shoot whoever walked through that door and as soon as he heard her voice, Peter threw a hand out to stop him. 

     Nina ducked her head inside the room. She completely missed Nick Fury and instead met his gaze, her own toothbrush in her fingers; a pretty pink one. Peter stared back at her, hoping he didn't look too suspicious (or breath-taken? How can she look so nice in hot chocolate pyjamas). "Hey, Pete, sorry to━" she heard Ned snore and went flushed at the cheeks. She awkwardly glanced over and winced. She met his gaze again and went on in a whisper, "━sorry to bother you, I just ... I may have━it's embarrassing, sort of. But I forgot my toothpaste? Can━can I borrow yours?"

     "U━uh, yeah!" he said in a very embarrassing high-pitched noise. He held out his hand, sudden and jolting. Nina frowned, startled, but slowly, she reached out and took his toothpaste from his fingers. "Uh━how━how are you feeling? You ... you seemed upset before?"

     He felt super awkward asking her that question with Nick Fury just behind the open door, but Nina smiled softly and fiddled with his toothpaste cap. "I'm okay," she said. He could tell she was lying, and it sort of hurt him she didn't feel like she could say what was going on in her mind, but he didn't push her. "Just━you know━a long day ... canal's exploding, evil canal monsters wreaking havoc ..." she chuckled and Peter matched it, his heart light. "But ... uh━Paris tomorrow, so," she waved goodbye with the tube, a little shy, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

     "Yeah," he nodded, breathless.

     Nina smiled. "Thanks for the toothpaste, Tiger."

     "A━anytime."

    She left━not before giving him another shy, awkward and yet pretty smile over her shoulder━and rushed back down the hallway to her's and MJ's room across the staircase. 

     Peter could feel Nick Fury's gaze on him. He broke out into another set of chuckles. He explained himself. "That━that's Nina. She━she knows I'm Spider-Man. She's cool."

     Nick Fury stared blankly at him, not amused. When a short pause followed, and he was sure no one else would interrupt, he started up again, "This village was━"

     Another set of knocks. 

    Nick Fury aimed the gun. Peter cursed under his breath.

     His teacher, Mr. Harrington kept knocking on the door with an uncomfortable hesitance as he shuffled slightly into the room. "Uh━" he nodded at Peter standing there, "━just making the rounds. See if anyone needs any emotional counselling after today's traumatic events."

    "No," squeaked Peter in a rush. He cleared his throat and nodded, purposefully lowering his voice this time. "No, we━we'll be okay. We're fine. Thank you."

     Mr. Harrington nodded, and he breathed a smile of relief, "Great because I'm━I'm not qualified to actually━" Ned broke out into another verse of snores and their teacher flinched apologetically. "Oh! Oh, he's passed out." Quiet and tentative, he started to close the door again. As he did, he finished his sentence in a whisper: "I'm not really qualified to do it anyway, so good night."

    When the door closed, Peter awkwardly gestured his toothbrush where Mr. Harrington had been, a little tense and intimidated under Nick Fury's scowl. "That was my teacher. S━sorry about that. You were saying?"

     He gritted his teeth. "A village was destroyed by what may well be another world-threatening━"

     Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

     "Babe, you still awake?" came a tentative voice from the other end of the door. "You're not answering any of my texts."

     Peter sighed, shooting his gaze up to the ceiling. "Um, he━he's asleep, Betty."

     "Oh ... already?"

     "Mm━hmm. Yeah."

     "Oh. Okay."

     Her footsteps shuffled away. Nick Fury continued once again. "That's why it's imperative━"

     "Hey, boys!" Mr. Dell's knock was far more swifter than the rest that had interrupted Nick Fury's intense recollection of the destruction of random villages. Though Peter was sure he was ready to burst that door down himself and jab the tranquilliser into something else that wasn't Mr. Dell's neck. "So, that canal water today was filled with dangerous bacteria ..."

     Nick Fury clenched his hands around the handle of his gun, "Another person touches that door," he threatened, "you and I are going to attend another funeral." He grabbed the device from the table and the holographic Earth disappeared. "Suit up."

     "... Let me know if either of you develop vomiting! Or ... or any sort of gastro problems ..."

*ೃ༄

    CONSTRUCTION for the clean up around the Great Canal was still happening late into the night. Even with curfew imposed, Nina found herself sneaking out to the roof. There was a rickety old ladder that led her out through the ceiling and on top of the old, sinking hotel that was definitely not safe, but it didn't stop her. As long as it wasn't an elevator, Nina could handle rickety old ladders and dipping ceilings. 

    She had had another dream. 

    Once, a long time ago━that wasn't long ago at the same time━she joked about them. She laughed about the ridiculous scenarios her mind conspired: men with metal arms, villains in rhino suits and scorpion tales. She told herself they weren't real. She laughed each time Peter appeared in them, different in each but she always knew it was him. But now, it had changed from ridiculous to scary. Nina woke up in sweats, her heart hammered each time she felt as if she hit the bed━sinking through to the other side and she'd wake up, terrified that she would be dead just as she was in her dream. That the ground had snapped her back and cracked her skull, that her stomach was bleeding with a gunshot wound, that Peter didn't catch her in time. 

     She remembered falling from the top of the Washington Monument━how the clock ticked over and chimed, and there she was, stuck in the terrors of her dreams; unable to escape. 

     They weren't real. She knew they weren't real. Dreams couldn't be real━until she went insane and saw herself in the school corridors speaking with the same Peter in her dreams; locking her gaze and looking just as surprised as she━as if she was staring right into a mirror. 

      And then ... for a horrifying moment ... Nina choked and wondered whether in some strange, scientific way, they were real?

      And if then ... what does that mean? 

      If she always died in those dreams ... where was she to end up here? Or was this just another crazy dream━if it was, she knew exactly where she ended up. Falling, and falling, and falling━

      Nina found it insane━she found it crazy; scientifically impossible. And yet, was there an explanation? Could she be somehow looking through different dimensions━?

     And that was where she should emit herself into a psychiatric ward. 

     She glanced down at her phone, scrolling through Instagram as she hung her legs over the side of the building. She liked Liz's story━her old classmate was now making her way through Law School. It felt strange to see her over five years older than she had been when Nina last saw her; living a life. She decided to take her own story━capturing Venice at night, but her heart wasn't really in it. Posting it, she sighed and returned to her home screen, aimlessly scrolling here and there. She brought up her messages with Peter and saw that he hadn't seen her last one asking for him to join her at the rooftop━he was probably asleep. He deserved to be asleep. 

     "Sneaking out at night, that's rebellious."

     Nina jumped. She glanced around and she gasped━frozen, she watched a slender silhouette emerge from the shadows. The glow of platinum blonde hair made her realise who it was. She was still hesitant. She did not relax. For a moment, she believed it to be someone else━but that was impossible. "You," she greeted. "What are you doing here?"

     "Rude," said the strange, new vigilante. She stepped onto the edge of the building, balancing elegantly on a thin ledge of stone without care. She still wore her suit of tight black with white gauntlets, and a cat's eye-mask over her face to mask her identity. "I expected something a little more appreciative."

      Nina Hart frowned, perplexed. She felt as if those words━the tone to her voice; she should know it. She was supposed to know it, like a doorway to a piece of her that seemed guarded far away. But she refused to listen to it; she kept it guarded, and wouldn't let herself remember. 

     The mind often forced away memories; kept them behind locked doors to protect the subconscious. Severe forms of trauma held a symptom of amnesia of the event, for the memory was too horrible to live with. Nina felt like her mind was protecting her from something. Something not severely traumatic, but something achingly painful still. 

      "Who are you?" Nina asked the stranger, watching her balance back and forth; a smirk on her lips and her arms spread out. 

      "Sorry," the vigilante chided her, shooting her a side-eye, "I'm not really the one for personal questions."

      "What do you call yourself?" she changed her words and the vigilante's side-eye glinted with mischief. "You're a superhero━all superhero's have a name."

      She let out a bitter scoff at this━like Nina had said something hilarious. "I am not a superhero," said the vigilante. "I am far from that━I like to think myself sort of more like a ..." she stopped, balancing on one leg as she trailed off in her thought. Nina was scared she'd fall off the edge. She didn't. She did not lose her footing once. The smirk returned. The steel gaze behind her mask fixed back onto Nina, "... Black Cat."

     "Black Cat," Nina murmured, curious. 

     Black Cat grinned. Sly, mysterious━and a little scary. She was stunning behind the mask, Nina could tell━the stunning that captured the eye and left them breathless. Perfection, even; the embodiment of the perfect model, the perfect star, the perfect woman in the mind of every single piece of man's ignorant objective. And Nina had a feeling she did that on purpose; used it to her advantage. "Yes," she said. "Black cats ... not only do they have nine lives, extraordinary curiosity and always land on their feet ... they bring bad luck. All the witches have a black cat. Maybe I might even be a witch."

     "So ... you're a villain?"

     The word villain seemed to bring a thrill to Black Cat's being, "Some might say," she said coyly. 

      Nina frowned at her. She didn't believe that. Villains didn't save people they supposedly didn't know from falling scaffolding━they don't go searching for the person they saved's friend amongst danger and chaos. They don't hug them out of relief and seem about to cry. They don't follow them to their hotel and speak to them on the rooftop at night. She might not be a superhero━but Nina was sure that Black Cat wasn't a villain either, even if she wanted to be. 

      "And others?" she asked. "What do others say?"

     Black Cat cheekily shrugged, trying to seem shy when she was quite the opposite. "I don't know, usually they lose the ability to talk when my claws find their neck━" she extended the steel out and Nina gulped, eyeing the glint warily. 

      "So ... why did you save me?"

      Black Cat stopped balancing on the edge of the building and decided to sit down as well. Close, and yet very far away━Nina could reach out and touch her shoulder if she wanted to, and yet felt as if her fingers would pass right through, like she was talking to a ghost. "Maybe I found you pitiful━screaming as you were to die? Maybe there's a slither of goodness━" she said this word as if it was a joke, "━in my stone, cold heart?"

      Nina continued to frown━she was intrigued by Black Cat. She wasn't scared, nor was she intimidated. But perhaps that was scary in itself. "Do you always speak in rhetorical questions?"

     Surprisingly, the stranger pursed her lips, meeting her gaze with a sheepish glance. "It's amusing," she admitted. 

     To her own surprise, Nina breathed a chuckle, shaking her head. "Well, whatever you think it was, thank you for saving me. And thank you for finding MJ, too."

     "Well, sometimes the villain has to save the idiots that run into the flames."

      "I'm usually running after someone."

      "Courageous," said Black Cat sarcastically. 

     Nina grew miffed, "What would you call it, then? If you cared about someone, wouldn't you do the same?"

     Black Cat scowled back at her, "The last time I ran after someone I cared about, it was me who was hurt for it and all that mattered to them was somebody else."

     She chewed on the inside of her cheek. Nina looked away and fiddled with her fingers. Under her breath, she muttered, "I always believe that if you think you can do something about something, you have the responsibility to do it."

      "And which superhero told you that?"

     Nina linked her fingers together and clenched them, "The best one."

     Black Cat watched her carefully. She hummed, as if she saw the truth to something she expected all along━Nina couldn't grasp what it could have been. "Run after superheroes and you'll get yourself killed. Believe yourself to be the same as a superhero and you're just arrogant. Trusting that a superhero will always save you is worse: it's naive."

*ೃ༄

    THE NEXT morning, Nina realised why Peter didn't answer her texts. She had thought he was asleep━sort of hoped it, in the end━but Spider-Man never sleeps. He told her everything that happened while they were getting ready to go to Paris━about Fury, about the glasses Tony Stark left him, about Mysterio and━worst of all━about the Elementals. 

    Nina's words about her meeting with Black Cat last night completely left her tongue, replaced with breathless astonishment as she realised, "I was in the room with Nick Fury?!" 

    "Shhh!" Peter told her, hands flying up as if that was supposed to try and calm her down. Nina couldn't quite comprehend she had been in the room with the Nick Fury and didn't know about it. The two of them were talking in hushed whispers by the canal outside in the early morning as everyone gathered their bags and suitcases near the door. 

     "I asked for your toothpaste," went on Nina, softer this time in a rushed whisper as she stood toe-to-toe with Peter, "with Nick Fury in the room━how embarrassing is that?! What does that make me look like?"

      Peter frowned at her, confused━but also not surprised━that this was the point she focused on. "Nina ... I━I really don't think Nick Fury cared. I don't think he even remembers you after like five seconds. You borrowing my toothpaste is the last thing on his hierarchy of things to worry about now."

     She just sent him a look that said, are you sure? 

     He shook his head, incredulous, "Yes! I'm sure."

    Nina pursed her lips, not entirely convinced. But she let it be and nodded to his bag slung over his shoulder. Peter was wearing the same flannel as he wore the day they arrived over a graphic shirt that said: If you believe in telekinesis, then please raise my hand. She reached out and raised his hand just for the sake of it━he pulled away, exasperated with her, "What?"

     "Can I see them?" she asked him carefully, glancing over his shoulder at everyone else. Betty was fussing over Ned a few paces away, checking his temperature at his cheeks and telling him she'll get him water and a vitamin 'c' pill. MJ was trying to read, leant against the wall. She was ready to go━the first out of them all to be waiting with everything neatly packed away. 

     "See what?" Peter moved away her hand that tried to raise his again. 

     She stared at him, "The glasses?"

    "I━" Peter glanced around them, too, a little more apprehensive than she was. "Nina, no━they're packed away and━" he dropped his voice into a whisper. She hunched up at how close he suddenly was. She found herself focusing on his lips rather than listening to what he was saying. She grew hot at the cheeks, "━I really don't want to show you the glasses in front of the noisiest classmates in the entire world."

      Nina hummed, her cheeks growing brighter. She wondered what would happen if she just kissed him now━and that made her nervous. She remembered what happened last time they were together, and now that she knew who he was, the fear of him pushing her away again grew only stronger. Black Cat's words whispered in the back of her mind: Running after superheroes will get you killed. 

     But she couldn't mean Peter━obviously, she didn't know what superhero Nina had been talking about. Peter would never let her get hurt. Wherever the one went, the other followed; that was who they were. She had always been running after him, ever since they were kids. And he had always been running after her. 

     Trusting that a superhero will always save you is worse: it's naive. 

     Nina swallowed harshly. Her dreams flashed before her eyes━all of them ending in the worst way possible. 

     But they were just dreams. Peter always said he'd catch her━and he always has. She was here, alive, because of him. 

     "Pete?" she found herself saying. 

     He hummed, brows raising at her voice. 

     Nina took a deep breath, last night repeating over and over in her head. "The ... what you said ... where Mysterio is from ... is the Multiverse really a thing?"

      He tilted his head, noticing the way her eyes watched him with a flicker of fear. "Yeah," he said with hesitance, "it's━it's pretty cool, right?"

      "But ..." she chose her words carefully, suddenly feeling rather sick like she had drunk canal water. Her heart pounded━that night at Homecoming surfaced, and she felt as if she was staring back at herself all over again. Nina glanced over and frowned at her reflection in the mirror. "There's ... there's a lot of things that ... I mean ... there's a lot of concerning theories about the Multiverse ... How would that even work? How could he travel from his to ours?"

       Peter shrugged, "I mean━Mr. Stark invented time travel and brought all of us back ... so, maybe his universe was even more scientifically than ours?"

     "Would there be another version of him, then?" Nina met his gaze again, finding herself short of breath. She's never told Peter about her dreams. She's never told anyone save Felicia━scared everyone would think her just as crazy as she did to worry about them. "Here. In our universe?"

     Peter thought about it. He didn't realise how sick Nina suddenly looked. "I mean, if you think about it, yeah━I guess. Almost everything would be the same aside from a few distinct things: events, decisions ... maybe he might have a different hairstyle. Maybe he'd have a different job━probably isn't a superhero with green mist or I'm sure we would have heard about him before now." He chuckled. Nina didn't follow. 

     She felt she was falling again. Falling, and falling and falling━

    Nina grasped Peter's hand before she'd reach the end━and she'd hear that crack, again and again. She held on tight; super tight. Not that Peter could feel her strength in comparison to his, but he now knew something wasn't quite right. 

     "Hey?" Peter ignored the flutter in his chest at her holding his hand and instead checked whether she was okay. "What's up? What happened?" Nina watched him, startled. "It can't be just the Elemental, right?" When she didn't say anything, his brows lifted. He dropped his voice to a soft, gentle whisper, "Nina, you can tell me. I'm here for you." He smiled that sweet, awkward smile, "Like you're always here for me. Nina and the Bug Boy." She still couldn't utter a word. Peter pursed his lips. He squeezed her hand. "Nina, what is it?"

      Before Nina could lie and say she was okay, she was interrupted by Ned racing over with an excited, "Dude━!"

     She jumped and tugged her hand away from Peter's before he got the chance to hold on. He spun around, and while upset he couldn't see what was bothering Nina, he immediately reached out and took his best friend's arm.

     "Hey, man!" he said, apologetic. "A━are you sure you're good?"

      Whatever Ned had been coming over to talk about completely slipped his mind. He made a face, bright and happy in his floral shirt, bag and cap. "Oh, dude━I'm fine!"

     Peter nodded━he wasn't convinced, but he nodded. "Okay. Nice."

     "Okay? Don't worry━Seriously," went on Ned, "getting tranq'd in the neck by Nick Fury? Probably the coolest thing to ever happen to me anyway."

      "What about when we took down the Shocker?" asked Nina, a little offended their adventure had lost first place on his 'Coolest Things' list.

     "Sorry," Ned told her, she crossed her arms, "but being knocked out by Fury totally beats knocking out the Shocker. It's Nick Fury. He has an eyepatch."

     Peter reluctantly agreed with him, "He's right━it sounds pretty awesome." Ned grinned, and the two shared their secret handshake without a second thought. Nina's shoulders dropped, exasperated with both of them. "I'm just happy I don't have to go to Prague."

    "Yeah, seriously━"

    "━Yeah, exactly, dude━"

     "Good news!"

     Mr. Harrington burst out of the hotel door and the two boys' handshake fell to pieces as their teacher marched towards the group and announced: "We're going to Prague!"

     Everyone's jaws dropped. Nina frowned, sharing a glance with Peter and Ned that no one else caught━suspicious and very confused. Amongst all the mutters and complaints from their classmates about the change of plans, Peter threw his head back and grumbled, "I swear━"

     Nina felt her heart drop a little as Mr. Harrington continued amongst all of the whines from his students. He didn't care━he was over the moon! "Yeah! Tour company called. They upgraded us. You should've heard me on the phone with them. I really gave them hell."

     Mr. Dell propped his hands on his hips with a frown, "All I heard was crying."

     They grabbed their bags and followed the teachers back towards a square; squeezing through narrow buildings away from the canals and towards the streets. As they did, Nina glanced at Peter with nothing more than sheer disappointment. She was looking forward to Paris. She was looking forward to the Eiffel Tower despite it all. She was looking forward to spending it with him and maybe ... just maybe ... figuring out what was between them: whether they could make it work this time. 

      But that all flew out the window as they stopped in front of the bus. Everyone awed and gasped at the long, sleek black vehicle━impressed and suddenly excited. No one cared about Paris anymore. Not when they got to spend the trip in that. 

     Yet Nina cared. She cared very much. She, Peter and Ned all came to a slow stop behind the group. None saw MJ shoot a suspicious glance over her shoulder, eyes narrowed at their reluctance from where she stood with everyone else.

     Mr. Harrington approached their driver standing out the front of the bus with a small sign that said: MIDTOWN HIGH. He looked nothing like a driver in tight leather and black jeans. Polished and quite menacing. 

     Peter seemed to recognise him; immediately. "Oh, come on..." he grumbled. 

     Ned turned to him, confused, "Peter, what━? What's going on?"

     Spider-Man sighed, annoyed. "I think Nick Fury just hijacked our summer vacation."

      Ned nodded. He frowned. Then, slowly, a grin formed on his face, "Awesome!"

*ೃ༄

     a/n: I'm in front in my flash back chapters - like almost halfway through both movies and still at only the start of far from home. so there's gonna be more far from home focused chapters for a small bit just so I can catch up with the inclusion of my addition plots (*cough* felicia *cough*) 

     also, no one:

     nina: *interrupts nick fury to be super domestic with peter* *like lets ask for his toothpaste like a friken married couple* 

     yet again, no one:

    peter: *tells nick fury about nina* *she's so awesome* *she's cool* *look it's nina* *you don't know who she is but she's cool* 

    nick fury: >:/ *teenagers*

    (tho technically not nick fury fuk i was so confused by that end credits scene but I guess secret invasion will explain it all ... probably, I dunno it's the mcu nothing completely makes sense. i'm just still here cos of spider-man and waiting for the fantastic 4 so) 

     (waiting for spider-man/human torch shenanigans like what they have in the comics)

     (spider-man: dude, imma steal ur girlfriend

     the human torch: dude wtf this is my party get tf out)    

     (literal bros tho like-)