Web of Deception: The Webbed Avenger

Chapter Twenty-seven: To Catch a Spider

Stiles launched out of the window upon finishing his threat to Norman, flying down towards the street like a bullet.  He was disoriented by the rush of wind in his face, but after a moment he regained focus, and with a flick of his wrist, shot a web onto the wall, and pulled himself to the surface where he ran all the way down to the street, jumping into an alley so nobody would see him.  He turned back to the window he had jumped out of, and he snarled angrily.  So, it was true, Norman had killed Claudia.  He couldn't tell Stilinski this, it would make things a lot worse than what it already was.

He made his way to Queens, where he collapsed into bed with tears in his eyes, knowing his mother could have been alive today, if Norman hadn't released the X-94.  That was harder to accept than anything else.  The powers he had, they were easier to accept than the idea his best friend's father was responsible for Claudia's death.

That was probably the one thing he couldn't accept to be completely honest.  How do you get over that, every time you see your friend knowing that their father was a monster?  It was hard to think about, and Stiles knew he had only a little bit of time left before he would lose this fight with Norman.  For Norman's sake, Stiles just hoped to god that he left his friends and family alone.

Jackson stared at the necklace in his hand as he heard a knock on his door, startling him as he threw the accessory underneath his pillow.  "C-come in."

Opening the door was Harry, who looked almost... disappointed to have to come in here.  "Were you sleeping?"

"No, just uh... couldn't sleep.  You need something?"

"So, Dad dragged me to the Tower earlier tonight to ask me something, regarding the two of us."  Harry sighed, sitting down against the wall.  Jackson eyed him curiously as he sat up, wiping the sweat off of his face.

"What about us?"

"He asked me i I'd be willing to run the company with you, if something happens in the next few years, like he wants to step down, or..."

"Or he dies?" Jackson's voice was cold and weak as he finished the thought.  Harry looked at him with surprise at Jackson's statement.  "Look, I don't need verbal confirmation to know he's not doing that well, Harry.  I've seen it, late at nights when he falls asleep in the study.  He's sick, isn't he?"

"He doesn't want anyone knowing.  I think he's afraid he'll be seen as weak if it's revealed.  It might get him kicked off the board, or it could make him seem vulnerable.  There's a lot of reasons he might not want people to know..."

"He's that sick huh?"

"Yeah, I've seen it myself.  The other morning he was trying to put a shirt on and he looked bad."

"I can't believe it.  What did you say to him?" Jackson asked, watching as Harry shrugged.

"I told him that I guess... but there was one catch."

"Oh, and what's that?"

"You drop this rivalry crap we have going on.  That's the catch.  I wanted to see if you would be willing to at least make an attempt to have us work as a team a slight possibility.  Do you think that could happen?  Or am I wasting my time?"

Jackson stood up, hoping the necklace was well hidden underneath his pillow as he held his hand out to Harry, which the young Osborn grabbed onto gingerly.  He pulled Harry to his feet and nodded.  "Yeah, I'll drop it.  I'm tired of being the bad guy, Harry..."

"Good.  So, was Danny here earlier?"

Jackson raised an eyebrow to the question.  "What?  No, Danny wasn't here.  I didn't have any of my friends over, why?"