EYEWITNESS ↝ P. PARKER [1] [ON HOLD]

[4]

"Come on, come on, come on," Wren huffed impatiently as she turned the key in the ignition, the vehicle roaring to life as she peeled out of her parking spot, desperate to get away from the other cars lining Liz's street and further in the direction the now-masked webslinger had gone off to.

Wren scanned the dark night around her as she drove, desperate for any sort of sign to tell her which way Peter might have gone, of whatever he was rushing off to find. However, her trail soon ran cold as she lost sight of him, most likely halfway across Queens by now. She sat at a stop light, waiting to decide her next move, when a flash of blue sounded in the distance in a quick rolling plume of smoke that vanished as quickly as it had arrived.

The logical part of Lauren Davies's brain told her to turn around, park the car, and go back inside Liz's party as if nothing had happened. But the air of mystery sang in her blood, pleading for the case to be solved, and she knew in that moment, there was no way she was setting foot back in that house again without answers.

Wren turned right, in the direction of the blue cloud, driving past the golf course her father frequently played at with members of his campaign team and venturing into some of the less populated areas the more upscale outskirts of Queens had to offer. The blue flashes sounded a couple more times in the distance, lighting her path, but she'd lost sight of Peter, and was beginning to question if she was going the right way, or if he'd even be there when she arrived at wherever the destination lie. 

She rounded a corner, suddenly slamming on her brakes as she realized this street wasn't vacant like the others. Instead, a car lay parked next to a white van on the side of the road with its doors thrown open, revealing a pile of weapons lining the floor, the blue clouds of smoke courtesy of the one nestled in the arms of one of three men on the street under an overhead bridge. As she forced the car to a stop, weapons aimed in her direction, both the blue cloud gun and a pistol, an expression of surprise equal to the one she wore written on the face of the man holding the latter.

"Shit," Wren murmured, her hand frozen over the gear shaft, struggling to put the car into reverse, "Shit, shit, shit."

As she struggled, the figure clad in blue and red that she'd been tailing for the past ten minutes jumped from the bridge above, now standing between Wren in the car and the men under the bridge. 

"Hey!" Peter yelled from under the suit. "Come on, if you're going to shoot at somebody, shoot at me!"

The man with the pistol turned in Peter's direction, but a web came slinging back at the man, taking the gun and pulling it out of his hands. Peter jumped back up onto the bridge, another web shooting from the suit and attaching to the top of Wren's car with a dull thud as he jumped up towards a nearby building, taking her with him.

Wren let out a scream of surprise as the car left the ground, the webs dragging the vehicle up and over the bridge, away from where the men piled back into the white van, driving off in the other direction. On the other side, Peter set the car back down, the vehicle bouncing slightly on its tires from the force of hitting the pavement, and he was gone, swinging off in the direction they came.

She attempted to catch her breath, but a sharp knocking at the window startled her, pulling her attention to where James stood on the other side of the glass, watching her with an alarmed expression, blue eyes wide.

"What the hell are you doing?" James's muffled shout sounded through the glass as the young supersoldier pulled the driver's side door open, pushing her in the direction of the passenger seat before he hopped behind the wheel, speeding off through the side streets back in the direction of Queens. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"I-" Wren found herself at a loss for words as she attempted to catch her breath, the houses outside the window passing in a swift blur. "I couldn't find you at the party, but I saw Peter on the roof, and he flew off, and I just wanted to know where he was going."

"Lauren, what the hell?" James sighed, hands tightening on the wheel.

"Hang on," she said. "What were you doing there? Who were those guys?"

"Peter devised a plan for Spider-Man to show up at the party and prove they were friends." James explained. "I was attempting to help him pull that off, wait outside so I can let him in and introduce him to everyone when there was some explosion in the distance. We tracked it there. Those weapons match the ATM robbery Spider-Man foiled last night, so they're connected, we just don't know how yet."

Wren's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as James took a left turn. "My house is that way," she pointed out, gesturing in the opposite direction.

"I know," James said simply, his eyes still trained on the road with brief flashes to the rearview mirror to see behind them. "I don't think they're following us, I'm pretty sure he chased them off, but I want to make sure before I take you home."

The air grew quiet in the car between them, James's eyes on the road and Wren's focused out the window at the passing scenery, before the car turned in the direction of the Davies family home.

"So," she said, breaking the silence. "Peter's Spider-Man."

"It's not my business to tell," James said simply, "But seeing as you've already figured that out, this would be the Stark internship Peter talks about."

At James's words, everything clicked into place for Wren. Peter did intern for Tony Stark, had met all the superheroes that Flash claimed was bullshit. Except, Peter wasn't interning for him on the scientific side, he worked for Tony Stark on the superhero side.

The avenging side.

After what seemed like an eternity, James pulled the car back into the garage, killing the engine. Wren hopped out, anxious to see any damage the swing had left to the car, knowing her dad was sure to find out, but it didn't look like any had occurred, aside from a tiny dent near one of the wheels.

"New rule," James said as he walked her back to the front door, where his motorcycle was waiting. "No more chasing after Spider-Man. You know you could've been killed tonight, if we weren't there?"

"I know," she said. "It was stupid, I'm sorry."

"We'll talk about it tomorrow," he said. "I'm sure you've got a thousand questions only he can answer, and he's going to want to know he can trust you to keep it safe. You can't tell anyone about this, Wren. It could be dangerous. The world may know my identity, but he keeps his a secret."

"I won't tell," she swore. "I promise."

"Not even Flash?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "He loves Spider-Man."

"Not even Flash." she promised. "My lips are sealed."

"Alright," he said. "Good night, Trouble."

Wren bid James goodnight, sneaking back inside to where Holden and Owen lay asleep on the couch, Damien sitting at the kitchen table.

"You're back early," he said. "How was the party?"

"It was alright," she said simply with a shrug. "But I'm feeling kind of tired, so I'm just going to head to bed I think."

"Okay," he said, "Just remember, you're driving him to soccer practices for the next two weeks."

"I know, I know," she said, making her way up the stairs and shutting her bedroom door behind her, finally allowing herself to let out a deep breath as her brain began to replay the events of the evening.

She'd solved the mystery of who was behind the spider in the mask, that was for sure, but with it, a whole new one had been unlocked. Who were the people on the bridge? What information, if any, did Peter secure after he'd parted ways with Wren and James?

She promised James she wouldn't go looking for any more trouble, but it seemed the trouble in question had already found her.