chapter forty-eight
the beginning of the fall

    NINA DIDN'T leave her room. She didn't lock her window. She kept staring outside of it into the night. Her suitcase sat open on the motel bed━but she had barely packed everything back in. She was worried; so worried that she could barely breathe. Nina had started to get used to waiting for Spider-Man to return to her window ... but she supposed that after tonight, it was different. It was even different from when things started to change when he first got bitten. Now, she knew. Now, she understood. Now, she couldn't stop imagining the danger he was forced into, and the thought of how she knew he would return, bruised and broken━in pain and trying to stay strong for her ... she knew she had to wait, and she could do nothing to help. 

     Somehow, she wondered whether it had been better when he let her go without her knowing. The blissful ignorance she held, not knowing what was happening to him ... to help Spider-Man without knowing who was behind the mask━to know that it was her best friend ... that it was Peter. 

     But now ... now it was different. It was very different. 

     Nina glanced away from the window when she heard someone lightly knock on her open door. She pursed her lips when she met MJ's hesitant gaze. Ashamed and sheepish, she looked away and down at her scuffed shoes. She was still in her dress from the Opera. 

     Michelle Jones stood there in silence for a very awkward moment. Then, she stepped inside and closed the door. "Are ... you all right?"

     Nina nodded. Then, she shook her head. She took a deep breath━she still wouldn't meet her gaze again. "I━I'm sorry," she mumbled, upset. "I'm sorry you didn't know ... I just ... I didn't━I wanted you to know ... but it wasn't ..."

     "It wasn't your secret to tell," her friend nodded. 

     MJ swung her arms. Then, with a sigh she shuffled over and sat down on the edge of the bed beside her. There was another breath of silence. "I'm sorry, too," then said Michelle eventually. "I shouldn't ... it's not your fault. I just ..." 

      Nina nodded, "I know."

     Michelle took a deep breath. She fiddled with her slender fingers. Even though she hid it under loose-hanging curls and tried to deny it, Michelle Jones was very beautiful. She pursed her lips and shyly glanced at Nina at the same time she did. "I ... uh ..." she cleared her throat, linking her fingers and clutching them tight. "I didn't like not having friends."

     Nina stayed quiet, listening gently. MJ continued, muttering to her fingers: "I started high school, a━and my parents just divorced ... I didn't know anyone, and━and I told myself I didn't want to know anyone. But ... but you and Cia━you always sat near me in Literature. You guys were so close, and you would joke and whisper when the teacher told you to be quiet ... I remember thinking ... I wanted to be your friend so bad...

     "And ... and Felicia, she━" MJ flushed at the cheeks, "━she was super pretty. I thought she was super pretty... I just ... I wanted her to notice me. But I thought━I'm so weird. I'm so annoying and━and so me ... and she was so cool..."

     Nina realised slowly. Her brows lifted and a soft breath escaped her lips, "You ... you had a crush on Cia?"

     "When I figured it out..." mumbled Michelle Jones, pained. "When I figured out that she blipped, and that she was the Black Cat━when she found me in Venice and she saved my life, I thought ... I hoped that ... that ..."

     "That she was still the same," understood Nina Hart. She nodded, feeling rather numb. "Yeah ... I think ... deep down, I think I knew ... I think I hoped, too."

     Michelle shook her head, closing her eyes, "What━what I am trying to say, is ..." she locked her stare with Nina, vulnerable. "I liked Felicia, but ... but you are my friend. You're the best friend I have ever had━the ... the first real friend I've ever had. And ... and I was scared that you wouldn't like me. That━that you'd━I don't know ..." she bit at her bottom lip, forcing back her oncoming tears, "... hate me like everyone else. So when I realised you, Pete and Ned knew something I didn't ... I thought ... I got scared to think that ..."

     Nina shook her head. She shuffled closer to MJ and took her clasped hands into her own. "Michelle," she whispered, her voice cracking with her own tears. "MJ, I━" she took a deep breath and nodded, making a promise. "I would never hate you. You━you are one of my best friends ... after Cia left, I━I was scared, I was upset ... I was alone. I was alone even surrounded by Pete, and by Ned━around my own family. But ... but the only person who I didn't feel alone around ... who I felt happy with ... was you." Nina sniffled. Tears fell down MJ's cheeks. "You never left me ... and I will never leave you. We're gonna be best friends for life, okay? That's a promise not even Thanos could turn into dust."

     Michelle tried to keep everything in. But she couldn't. Her bottom lip trembled and then she broke into tears. Nina followed not soon after, rushing forward to hug her friend as tight as possible. MJ held her just the same, hiding her head into Nina's shoulder. The two friends embraced each other, and in this world that has been terrible to them━just kids barely even sixteen━they knew that they will always have each other. 

     They stayed there for a short while, and even when MJ spoke again, they did not pull away. She set her chin up against Nina's shoulder and mumbled, "Do you think Felicia will ever come back?"

     Nina didn't know. But if there was one thing she has learnt━one thing that Peter has told her: was to never give up. She rubbed MJ's back and murmured: "We only gotta try. If ... if she's anything like the Cia we knew ... she might stray in the night, she might disappear and go off on her own, but ... but cat's always find their way back home, eventually. So ... so by theory, she should, too..."

     MJ nodded, "And I guess we'll be here waiting."

    Nina sighed a small, bittersweet smile, "Yeah ... believe me, you get used to it."

     Understanding, Michelle pulled away and squeezed Nina's shoulders, "Peter's gonna be all right. He's Spider-Man."

     She nodded, wanting to believe her━and some part of her did. In a soft, trembling voice that ending up breaking away, Nina Hart said: "I know..."

     She didn't know. None of them knew. They could only hope ... could only wait. 

     After that, Nina found the courage to step towards her window once MJ was gone. She pursed her lips and pulled the curtains back. She peered back out and gazed around━slowly, her stare lifted ... and even if she saw nothing but the brick in the night, Nina knew ...

     "Felicia," she called out into the night carefully. "I know it's you ... and I know you're here."

     When no one replied, there was a moment where Nina thought she was mistaken. But she forced herself to stay determined. She stepped back and kept the window wide open. And then, after exactly five seconds, a cat prowled her way inside. 

     Her glinting claws grasped the window sill. A slender body ducked underneath and stepped onto the carpet. A platinum blonde ponytail fell down the back of a vigilante who was nothing if not a girl just as broken as the rest of them. Her glinting gaze narrowed at Nina through her mask ... then, she pulled it away.

     She knew it was her, but still, Nina hitched her breath. Her heart jolted and ached━her stomach twisted and a lump formed in her throat once more. She knew it was her ... but still ... still it hurt as if she did not. 

     Felicia was the same, and yet she looked different. Even if she did not age five years, she looked so exhausted and weighed-down as if she had. She had lied and played her game━played others for long enough that her lie may as well become the truth. 

     Nina clenched her hands, forcing herself to stay standing in front of her old best friend. She took a deep breath and nodded, "So, it's true ... it's all true?"

     Felicia Hardy looked down at her mask. She folded it with a careful touch━she tried to act as if she did not care, but she didn't have anything to hide behind now. Nina could see. "I guess it is."

     Admittedly, Nina felt a surge of fury. She set her jaw and furrowed her brows into a scowl, "You left me."

     The Black Cat matched it. She tugged the curtains closed, "I kept you safe," she rebutted. 

     Nina scoffed at this. For someone who said to her that she hated superheroes━and Spider-Man especially, they sure had many similarities. "You know what?" she let out, growing frustrated. "I am so over people trying to protect me! Who do you think I am?" Nina flung her hands out, "Do━do you think I'm just some girl who can't handle herself? That━that I'm not capable? Why do people always make choices thinking they know what's best for me? I am my own person! I protect myself and I swear to God I make my own decisions!"

     Felicia marched up to her and pointed a deadly claw. "Sometimes you don't have a choice!" she snapped at Nina. "Sometimes people will do something for you━and you have to deal with it! Because it is what's best no matter what you think!"

     "You left me!" Nina cried, her anger turning into furious desperation. Her old friend faltered, and for someone who was always so confident, she was rendered silent. "I searched for you! I called your mother! I━I asked the teachers and I asked students━I looked at every F.E.A.S.T. shelter in New York I━I━I━" she slumped, something more than upset. "I called police stations, I called support groups ... support groups that help find family because that's what you were, Cia! You were my family and I thought I had lost you!"

     She bit at the inside of her cheek, not even able to look the Black Cat in the eye who just let her speak ... she did not say anything. She had nothing to say━and Nina hated her for that. "And all this time," went on Nina Hart, voice cracked and hurt, "you were━you were this━!" she gestured to the suit she wore. "The Black Cat, and that was more important to you than our friendship. You left me ... and you don't even care."

     Felicia shook her head, "I didn't leave you," she stated. "I kept my distance because it was the right thing to do━to protect you━"

    "You kept your distance because you knew you're doing the wrong thing!" Nina broke through her lies. "You kept your distance because you know what you're doing is wrong, and you know that I wouldn't agree with it, but you don't do anything about it because you like it. You don't want to change." She sat on the edge of the bed again, not even able to look at her old friend. Bitter and angry, Nina Hart muttered, "Maybe you are right. Maybe you are a villain after all."

     She didn't see how much those words struck a painful blow to Felicia Hardy. 

     "After everything," breathed Nina, finding the situation suddenly so ironic, "... after all you said and you preached ... here you are, no different than your father."

     The Black Cat clenched her jaw. She bit back a venomous response, knowing that Nina Hart was very much right. In the end, she realised all she could do was admit the truth, "I do like it..." muttered Felicia. "I like ... the Black Cat, it's ... she's this confident, infamous thief who can never be caught ... she's ... she doesn't have to face the problems I do."

     "Yes she does," Nina muttered, bitter. "You can't use that mask to hide and run away. You can steal and thief all you want to fill the hole your father left, Felicia━to fill that five-year-gap ... believe me, I know ... you can try everything but it doesn't go away. It happened. And even with that mask on, you're still Felicia Hardy as well as the Black Cat. Those aren't two lives, they're just one."

     Felicia scoffed, trying to hide her pain━that hasn't changed. "Did Spider-Man tell you that?" she grumbled.

     "No," Nina said sternly. She glowered at her friend. "I did. And I'm telling you now, you can hide and you can run━you can thief and call yourself some horrible villain, but one day, you're going to realise that you're still in the same position you were when your father first went to prison. It's going to catch up with you━no matter how many lives you think you have. And when it does, it's going to send you falling, and you might not have anyone there to catch you. But instead, you can understand that, now. You can make a decision━the right decision to do something about it. By putting on that mask, Felicia, you have taken on a responsibility you can't ever let go of, now. Out there, the world is in danger. A single man has the power of Stark level tech━he has the control of drones, smoke and mirrors. He is prepared to destroy so many lives and right now, Spider-Man is prepared to fight him alone. Because that's who he is. He has power, and he has responsibility━he doesn't shy away from it, he does something about it. He's a hero. Now, the choice is yours━are you going to be run and hide, Black Cat, or are you going to shoulder your responsibility and actually protect somebody who can't protect themselves?"

*ೃ༄

    NINA HUGGED Gwen as tight as possible. Even when she knew she should let go, she did not. She squeezed her best friend and bit back tears, taking so much time that the cab driver was starting to get annoyed. The day had come━it was finally here. The day where Nina knew she had to say goodbye to Gwen Stacy. Her best friend squeezed her just as tight. They knew that it wasn't the end of the world. They knew that they could call each other, and send each other messages. They knew that even if they were in different countries, they still would have each other's back. They knew that no matter the cost, they would travel the skies to visit each other whenever they could. They knew that this was going to be the best chance Gwen Stacy will ever have at her future.

    But the thought of not being able to meet up at a cafe for a hot chocolate, or to just arrive at the door of each other's apartments ... to not be there for every moment of their lives right beside one another ... that was what hurt. That was what Nina will miss, and she knew Gwen will, too. That was what was going to change drastically━that was why it truly did feel as if the world was ending. 

     "I'm gonna miss you," choked Gwen.

     Nina whimpered, squeezing her even tighter. "I'm gonna miss you, too."

     "I'll call," then offered her best friend. "You know I'll call━like every day. I'll tell you everything that happens every single day."

     "I know you will," Nina Hart blinked back tears. "You're━you're going to do great. They're━they won't know what's coming."

    Gwen chuckled and finally pulled away, sniffling. "You better call me if I don't call you."

     Nina nodded. "Every day," she promised. "Just ... look after yourself."

     Her best friend nodded, too. She took a deep breath, "You, too."

     Nina sighed. A tear fell and she quickly wiped it away. She nodded to the cab waiting. "You better catch that flight."

     Gwen glanced over. She did not move. "Yeah," she muttered. 

    Realising that her friend did not take the step, Nina gathered her courage and nudged her forwards, "Go," she muttered, supportive. She gave her best smile━a smile to tell Gwen that she'll be okay. "You gotta go."

     Gwen pursed her lips. She took a step down off the curb and closer to the car. She turned to face Nina again, "You'll visit?"

     Nina nodded, "You'll visit me?"

     Her friend smiled, "You know I will."

    Nina chuckled through the pain━because no matter what, she was happy. She was happy for Gwen. "Then go."

     Gwen took a final deep breath. She knew what Nina had promised━and it made her feel better. She had promised that no matter what, deep down, nothing will change between them. Deep down, they will always still have each other no matter what ocean stands between. "Okay."

    But before she could sit in that car and close the door, Nina blurted out, "Gwen."

    Her friend spun around so fast she was momentarily a blur. "Yeah?"

    Nina sighed and smiled. That smile soon turned into a proud beam. "Good luck," she whispered. 

     Gwen seemed to relax. The corner of her lips quirked upwards, "You too. I'll see you when I see you?"

     "Always."

     Gwen Stacy hesitated. Not able to resist the urge, she rushed forward to pull her best friend into one, final hug. Nina slumped and appreciated it, holding onto Gwen for what felt like the last time ... and it hung heavy over both of them. 

     "Goodbye," murmured Nina.

    "Goodbye," replied Gwen. 

     She pulled away. With one, final smile, Gwen Stacy slipped inside the cab and closed the door. Nina pursed her lips━she bit the inside of her cheek ... but as the car started down the street and she had to watch her friend go ... Nina Hart shed her tears. 

     She stayed there until the cab turned the corner. And even once it was gone, there she stood, still ... there, Nina will always stand. 

     At last, she wiped away her tears and turned away from the road. Nina hugged her chest, missing Gwen Stacy already in such a heart aching way. 

     An elderly man who was passing her by in the street suddenly stopped. He glanced upwards to the street before them and his eyes widened. He breathed a gasp of awe, "It's Spider-Man!"

     Nina's eyes widened herself. She swivelled around on her toes. She searched for him, her heart starting to pound with this breath of hope ... and then she saw it.

     The heavy feeling in her chest lifted. Her shoulders rose━the pound of her heart turned into a shocked, fluttery jolt. It grew wings and it went up her throat, and Nina found herself ready to burst into tears.

     A piece of artwork━of wonderful, beautiful artwork━had been weaved across the busy street. A stunning interlocking promise that was out there for the entire world to see. All around her, people had stopped going about their days ... they huddled together, they gaped upwards ... they all stared at the sight with glorious amazement ... but none like her.

     Webs twisted, they were sewn, they wrapped up and they wrapped down━again and again overhead towards the other side until they spelt out three words that made Nina smile amongst her tears:

     I LOVE YOU.

    She chuckled. She shook her head━she couldn't believe him. And yet, she did not expect anything less. Peter Parker had made his decision, and he shouted it out to the world through the mask of the person he had been terrified would be the end of them. 

    As Spider-Man, Peter Parker chose her. 

    A blur descended down from the skyscrapers. Nina watched him get closer and closer, swinging low with his arm spread out. She grinned and held out her own━Spider-Man caught Nina Hart and pulled her up into the sky with him ... sweeping her, quite literally, right off her feet. 

    She held on, laughing and squealing as they dipped low and they swooped fast━they took a sharp right in the setting sun, swinging far away from the bustling city. Peter Parker took Nina Hart away from them all. He held on, never wanting to ever let her go as they landed. Her feet touched metal and she glanced around them, her breath hitching in awe as she saw the view of this city━of her home━from the heights of the Manhattan Bridge. She grinned, gazing at the way the sun gleamed down on the skyscrapers, down onto the streets filled with cars ... it had basked the island in a raw, bronze glow. 

     And it was beautiful.

     Spider-Man tugged off his mask and Nina turned to him, a little breathless. She had not stopped smiling. "Hi," he said, just as breathless to her. His hair rippled in the wind, she felt her own fly wind behind her. 

     Nina giggled, "Hi."

    Peter Parker smiled. He held her close━flushed against his chest; their feet locked together, standing on a space barely big enough for the both of them ... but they made it work. "Did you get my message?"

     She frowned at him and tilted her head. Her smile turning coy, she said, "What message?"

    "The message just over there━" he nodded back to the city.

    Her brows shot up in surprise, "Oh! That? Was that you?"

     He pulled her even closer and she laughed, "Don't play with me, Nina Hart." 

    She laughed, her arms slung over his shoulders and around his neck. He beamed brighter than the sun as he gazed at the only woman he knew he will love: Nina Hart. "I will always play with you, Peter Parker." The gleam in his eyes turned gentle ... turned loving. "What does it say?"

     Peter Parker squeezed her around the waist, "I'll tell you what it says. It says 'I love you'."

    Nina shuffled even closer, not wanting any space to keep the two of them apart. Her smile brightened her eyes, and to him, she was more beautiful than any view of New York━not even from the highest tower. Peter Parker shook her and she laughed yet again, "Because I love you. I love you more than anything, Nina Hart. As myself, as Spider-Man━no matter where you are, no matter where I am ... in any universe, I love you."

    The giddy smile fell, and her brows lifted. Her chest swelled with this warmth that told her that she felt the same. That she loved him just as much. She knew, and she didn't care how whimsical and far from science it was, that they were meant to be together. If there were an infinite amount of universes, an infinite amount of possibilities, she knew no matter how many infinite variants there could be, in each and every one, Peter Parker and Nina Hart were meant to be together. 

    "And no offence, but you're wrong," went on Peter Parker.

    Nina quirked a brow, "About what? Wrong about what?"

   "You're wrong about us being on different paths. We're not on different paths━you are my path." Peter Parker leaned in and rested his forehead against hers. She locked his gaze, overwhelmed with this feeling she knew she could never describe ... she just knew that she was home, in his arms. "You're always going to be my path, Nina."

    "And I know there's a million reasons why we shouldn't be together," he kissed the corner of her mouth and she breathed a sweet smile, tender and loved. "I know that. But I don't care. I'm tired of them. I'm tired of every single one of them. You told me to make up my mind? Well, I've made up my mind. You don't have to wait anymore Nina because I will be there. No matter the dangers, I will be there, because you are worth it all. You are worth everything to me, Nina Hart."

     She knew she was crying. She did not care. She realised that she may have said goodbye to Gwen, but while her best friend was starting her life, Nina Hart had been gifted with the start of her own. They were growing up, they were following their paths, and Nina's path always led back to Peter Parker. She sniffled and closed her eyes, leaning into his touch.

     Peter bushed her hair out of her face and her eyes open to meet his again, "So..." he went on, "... here's my thought. You and me, your apartment. Our apartment."

     Her eyes widened. The smile returned to her lips, "Really?" she whispered. 

    He nodded, "I'm following you now," promised Peter Parker. He broke out into a grin. "I'm just gonna follow you everywhere! I'm just gonna follow you for the rest of my life. Where you go, I go, yeah?"

    Nina nodded, too. "Where you go, I go," she agreed, soft and full of love. 

   Then she leaned in and she kissed him. She pulled him as close as she possibly could, pressing her lips against his hard and passionate━sealing this promise for the rest of her life, too. He dipped her down, kissing her and kissing her even more━Nina Hart was it for Peter Parker. And she was it for him. Even if there were so many reasons why they were destined to fall apart, there was every reason why they weren't. There were galaxies, there were exploding stars and there was infinity ... but she had Peter Parker, and that was all that mattered to her. 

    Anything could have happened, and she wouldn't have cared.

    But when the entire city exploded into a black and dark night━when the sun set and New York became a maze of lifeless shadows, they had no choice but to pull away. They glanced over, startled and confused. Nina frowned, her hands falling to Peter's chest as the entire city went into a complete blackout.

    Peter narrowed his eyes at something over her shoulder, "What the hell is that?"

    She followed his gaze. Her frown deepened. In a city without lights, there was only one patch still standing━and it was brighter than anything Nina had seen. She blinked and she squinted, recognising the OSCORP power grid. Unlike the rest of the city, it was very much alive and working. It sparked━burst of electricity exploded into the evening sky with so much power, it set her hair on end even all the way from where she stood.     

     There was a sudden pulse━an entire wave of yellow forks of pure lightning that lit up the dark sky; a forcefield that expanded until it flung back inwards ... and there, in the midst of it all, hovered a figure that pulsed with the golden power surrounding him━made of it. 

    A horrible feeling dropped into Nina's stomach. Her heart began to race as she realised what had happened━who that figure was. "Max..." she breathed, finding her throat closing in with fear. "He ..." she shook her head, "... he must have cut the power to the whole city."

    And he had. Not just the main city, but as Nina glanced around, where she knew Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island were, there was nothing but a Black Sea. The Bronx, Upstate, New Jersey ... there was no sign of any light━not even a single streetlamp. 

     "There's ..." Peter was so stunned, he didn't react, "... there's gotta be some kind of blackout plan, right? Some kind of backup?"

     Nina blinked━it took her a moment to think. She stammered and she shook her head until the information reached her, "Uh, y━yeah, there's━uh━There's an emergency reset at the power plant." Another horrible thought struck her. She slumped, "Oh no..." she muttered. "If he cuts the transmission lines, they're never gonna get this back up..."

    Peter met her gaze, "How am I gonna stop him?" he shrugged. "Every time I get close to him, he fries my web shooters."

    "Have you tried grounding them?"

    "Yes, I tried everything. Rubber, plastic ... but I can't exactly shoot through rubber gloves."

    "Well, did you try magnetising them?"

    Peter went to argue. "I━" Then, he stopped. He closed his mouth and pursed his lips. "I ... didn't try magnetising them..."

    She made a face, "But that was like eighth-grade science class. You magnetise a nail with a battery━"

    "It holds an electric charge, yeah, yeah, okay, okay," he nodded, rolling his eyes. 

     "This is why I was top in the class," Nina told him.

     Peter gaped at her, "I was━" he stopped and shook his head. "We'll have this discussion later, hold on━"

    And just like that, he leapt off the side of the Manhattan Bridge with her right at his side. 

*ೃ༄

    SHE KEPT CHECKING the time on her watch. Nina pursed her lips, glancing upwards and out through the window from where she sat alone at a two-seated table. It was five minutes to eleven, and here she waited for Peter Parker ... maybe for the final time. She checked the streets and those walking it, waiting to see him. When she didn't, she took a deep breath and looked back down at the paper she was reading. SPIDER-MAN: NO MORE, the headline declared. She frowned at the picture of his suit, taken by the hand of J. Jonah Jameson ... and she felt alone in these streets without her friendly neighbourhood superhero. 

    Nina folded it over and set it aside. She had to trust Peter Parker as much as she trust Spider-Man, and so it goes the other way around, as well. She had to trust herself━her instincts. She had to trust all that they have gone through together. 

    She turned her hot chocolate around on the table, already finished. Around her, the cafe was bustling with late morning traffic. Outside, the city was as alive as it always has been━way too large for one, single person. 

    Nina checked the time again. There was one minute left. She watched the clock tick away ... the seconds pass. She held her breath, hoping━begging━that he would prove her wrong ... or maybe prove her right. She frowned, trying not to get upset as the hand ticked over right to eleven━

    The bell to the door opened and Nina glanced up. Her slump lifted in her seat, and she smiled━there he was, stepping through into the cafe right on time. Her heart fluttered, unable to believe it ... and yet filled with such happiness to see him walk towards her and fill the empty seat opposite Nina Hart.

     "You made it," she said softly, delighted. 

    Peter took his jacket off and slung it over the back of the chair as he sat down, "Eleven o'clock sharp, you said, didn't you?"

     Nina sat up, happy. She pulled her seat closer and clasped her fingers together on the table edge. "Yes," she nodded, smiling. "I did."

    "I was in the neighbourhood," he joked lightly and her smile turned gentle and knowing. "I mean━" Peter back-tracked, "━I took a train and two cabs to get in the neighbourhood, but here I am..."

     "On time," she finished. 

     He nodded, "Yeah..."

     Nina pursed her lips and fixed her hair a little bit; she had let it fall over a sweet and pretty floral dress. Her eyes fixed briefly on the newspaper again, and then back at Peter. Suddenly, she wasn't so sure about how happy she felt ... to think that Peter Parker was here on time, just like he said he would be ... but at what cost? Her heart swelled to think that she finally meant more to him than everything else ... and yet ... was that selfish? 

    Was she even correct in her theory━in her assumption? She gazed upon Peter Parker in his sweater and his glasses and tried to imagine him behind the same suit pictured in the newspaper photo ... and started to wonder, yet again, whether she truly was crazy to think it was Spider-Man she gazed upon. 

     He noticed. His brows furrowed, "Everything okay?" he asked her.

     Nina blinked and she quickly nodded, "Oh, uh ... yeah! Yeah, you might say so."

     Peter raised his brows gently, asking her a silent question━letting her know that he will listen. She found herself chuckling, rather anxious. She shook her head and looked back down at her fingers, "This is ... um ... well this is━you might think I'm crazy. I━I'm not even sure how to begin, but ... I just ... I have this question, and━and I just━" she huffed out, slumping a little and going rosy at the cheeks as she tried to form all the questions in her mind out into a sentence. "Sorry," Nina rolled her eyes a little at herself. 

     But when she noticed Peter only smiling at her, she realised that the same man who had promised he would always be there for her was sitting in front of her━had returned. And she realised that no matter what, if there was a mask or a pair of glasses, that Peter Parker will never leave. And she truly did love him for it. "Um ... look, I've realised something. I don't know whether I━I am right ... but ..." she took a breath and tried to start over: "Look, you ... you know how our minds play tricks on us?"

     Peter nodded. He breathed a quick chuckle, "Tell me about it."

    "Well, I suppose recently, mine did a real number on me. Or, I guess, for a few years now." Nina shuffled to the edge of her seat, leaning forward until their conversation was something secret between only the two of them. "I realised something last night, and ... and I suppose I wanted to double check it here, this morning. Not just that you were different ... but something else, and━and it's crazy, and I'm not sure what it means━I wasn't sure whether I could trust you ... but ... but Pete, I━I've been thinking about it, and━"

     "Listen..." her words were cut off abruptly as Peter pursed his lips and hung his gaze. Her smile started to fall, confused. "I ... uh ... Nina ... there's more for me to say. I ..." he took a nervous breath and fiddled with his fingers, unable to look her in the eye, "I maybe ... rushed ... into things. I thought━"

    Nina's shoulders dropped. "What?" she stopped him, taken aback. "Hang on━" she couldn't help but get a little angry. No matter who Peter Parker was, whether he held a mask or he did not, she found this loop painfully frustrating. Some moments, he pulled her back in, and then, just like that, he changed his mind and let her drop back out. And just when she was prepared to let him go, he lured her back into his web━and here she was, falling for his trap every single time. "What━what are you saying?"

     He sighed, understanding the tone of her voice. "I'm saying ... I ... uh ..." slowly, the hope and delight Nina held disappeared. Her shoulders sagged and her stare weighed down with it. "I thought I could be there for you, Nina. But ... but I can't." He took a deep breath and met her hurt stare. "I guess ... I guess my mind was playing tricks, too..."

     Nina wanted to shout at him. She wanted to throw a drink and storm out of here and never look at him in the face ever again. But something made her stop. She took a long breath to calm herself, and as she did, her eyes found the newspaper again. SPIDER-MAN: NO MORE. 

     And she knew. She knew she wasn't crazy. She knew she wasn't wrong. She set her jaw. She realised she started to know why, and while it hurt, Nina knew who Peter Parker was. And she also realised she was done having someone make decisions for her━to try and protect her without letting her have any say, any choice. 

     And her choice? Her decision? It was him, no matter what mask he wore. Because Peter Parker, despite all of his faults, and all of his problems ... no matter how angry he made her ... those blue eyes behind those glasses━behind any lens, was worth it.

     She clenched her linked fingers tight and set a strong, stubborn scowl onto him. "No," she told him. 

    Peter Parker blinked, startled. "What?"

    Nina leaned forward again, refusing to let him push her away, "I said no. You have always made a decision here, Peter Parker, but what about what I think? What about what I want? I am over you deciding what I should feel, and what we should be for the last time. I want you to tell me, right now: Do you love me or not?"

     He stared at her, as if not sure what she meant━or how to comprehend what she said. He stammered, he looked away. He clenched his jaw and she saw him hold back tears. He took a sharp breath through his nose. After a painful silence, he mumbled, "I ... I don't."

    "No," she said again. "Look me in the eye, Tiger. Do you love me or not?"

     Peter held his breath. She waited for his response. He did not look in her eye.

     Nina nodded to herself. And his silence━his rigid response━that was enough of an answer to tell her all she needed to know. She was done waiting. This was her last battle, her last fight━and she was going to put every ounce of strength and power to try and make sure she won. 

     She leaned in even closer. His breath hitched and he met her gaze, anxious. In a whisper, but very sure, Nina Hart said: "Kiss me."

     Peter Parker frowned, bewildered. "Kiss you?"

    "Yeah," she challenged. "Kiss me."

     He did not say anything else. He did not lean into her, but he did not move away, either. She saw his eyes wander down to her lips, and she took it as a sign to take the chance. Nina pursed her lips and slowly moved forward. He still did not pull away. Her heart raced and her nerves sky-rocketed, but she merely closed her eyes and waited for the moment her lips would meet his ... but they never did. 

     CRASH━!

    Nina gasped and her eyes flung open. She barely had a moment to react before she felt arms wrap around her. The chair was kicked out from beneath her━people were screaming, they were running, they were diving for cover. Shattered glass cascaded around her and she cried out, horrified to see the car wheel spin just inches above her. It overpassed them━it shattered tables and sent chairs flying; the black sedan rolled and it rolled, landing with a strength so harsh, the vehicle crumpled at the impact against the cafe back wall.

     Nina screamed when glass continued to shower over them, landing painfully on the tiled ground in Peter's arms. She clenched her eyes shut, trembling━it all happened so quickly, she wondered whether any of it was even real. 

    But then Peter was helping her back onto her feet and she gasped, pale and shaking with shock. His glasses were askew━but he wasn't hurt. It took her a moment to realise she hadn't been, either. She glanced over where the car had crushed the kitchen, and Nina realised he had just saved her life. 

    THUD. 

    Nina spun back around. A scream hitched in the back of her throat. She grasped Peter's arm, flushed against him at the horrible sound. The chatter and life outside came to a haunting stop ... there was a confused silence.

     THUD. 

     The ground shuddered.

    People began to murmur. They glanced around, hunched up at the tremor.

    THUD!

    Nina felt the tremor in her bones. She stumbled; rubble fell from above the shattered window outside. Beside her, Peter had gone stiff━eyes wide and alert ... he stared out through the gaping hole in the cafe wall, like an animal predicting a natural disaster right before it happened ... he seemed to know exactly what would appear. 

    THUD!

    She jumped as the entire cafe trembled around them. Others started to yelp and scream. There were a few who had started off at a run, scrambling away out side. More followed. Soon, an entire stampede of terrified screams cascaded away from the street. 

    Nina hunched up at the next ear-shattering stomp, like a giant was marching its way right towards them. The screams grew louder. "What━" her voice was lost in the noise, "━what's happening?"

    Clang! 

    Her eyes widened when she saw something crash onto the street outside from above. A long, slender metal twist with gaping, iron claws. It bended and then it straightened, moving with ease. A second followed it. A third. A fourth. 

     Iron arms crawled its way to the cafe. They scraped the tar and left horror-like claw marks behind. The ground shuddered at each step; the rubble around them jumped and trembled. One step, two steps, three steps and then four━these metal arms moved with the speed of a sea creature: an octopus under the command of the man who hovered at their centre. 

     She gaped, petrified at the terrifying grin of a mad scientist draped in a long, dark brown trench coat. His metal arms carried him over the shattered window and into the cafe. Nina could not move as she stared into the crazed eyes of Otto Octavius ... of the horrible, malicious and terrifying: Doc Ock.

     He leered over them. They were basked in his deadly shadow. The Doc Ock had a sinister grin, "Peter Parker," he greeted. His stare behind dark-tinted sunglasses landed onto Nina. She shook under it. "And the girlfriend."

     Peter stood in front of her. "What do you want?" he demanded bravely. 

    In the blink of an eye, one of the metal arms flung out and latched a deathly grip around Peter's neck. Nina screamed his name, lurching forward as if to try and drag him back down, but she was too slow. Peter was dragged up and towards Octavius until he struggled, mid-air, face-to-face with the mad scientist. Peter struggled. He fought. He kicked his legs. But he was trapped. 

    "I want you to find your friend, Spider-Man," sneered Doc Ock. "Tell him to meet me at the Westside Tower at three o'clock."

    Peter took a shaky breath through his nose. His glasses hung at the edge of his nose, cracked. "I don't know where he is."

    One arm lifted and carefully pulled the sunglasses off Doc Ock's long nose. "Find him," he ordered. Then, his devilish stare found Nina once again. 

     There was an inhumane screech from behind her. She cried out, spinning to find the remaining two arms hovering behind her. Their iron claws spread out, and as if they had a mind of their own, those red lights blinked at her like monstrous eyes ... those claws like the venomous pincers of a snake. 

     "Or I'll peel the flesh off her bones."

    The claws snapped together to prove his point. 

    Peter struggled furiously. He cried out in frustration when he could not get himself free. Seething through clenched teeth, he growled, "If you lay one finger on her━"

     "You'll do what?" Doc Ock chuckled. 

    Then he threw Peter Parker across the room. Nina sobbed his name, screaming when he landed in the rubble. Bricks fell down; plaster, stone and wooden support beams━Peter disappeared underneath piles and piles of debris ... and she knew that no man could ever emerge from that alive. 

    "No!" She cried out. "Peter━" she tried to run to him, but before she could, something tight wrapped around her waist. Her words were cut off into a terrified shriek as she launched up into the air. Nina kicked and she fought, she tugged at the iron grip━but there was nothing she could do as she was dragged away, like a rag doll, in the grasp of Doc Ock's arms.

*ೃ༄     

    a/n: *gasps* *whispers* aCTION!

    Nina and Felicia had their very much needed fall out I oop-

    also I apologise for the super cringy and terrible gwen/Nina scene, I am so disappointed in myself. it is so bad and I wish I had the ability to come up with something better.

    btw don't mind me I am currently sobbing at the Peter 3/Nina scene goodbye-

    andrew's Peter isn't going to handle ... he's just ... when he sees her in nwh I just ... 

    'I'm gonna follow u for the rest of my life ...' it just ... it hurts SO MUCH

    (limited editing)