just breathe ⇒ peter parker

C H A P T E R T H R E E

The next day I went out as Tempest earlier than usual. School had been boring, and Antonia couldn't pick me up again so there was nothing else I could do besides go out. The subway system still scared me a bit, as I never really figured out how to get where I was going- flying was much faster. And if I went flying, why not stay out?

Most criminals didn't go out at 3:30 in the afternoon on a Thursday, and the streets of Forest Hills were bustling with locals and tourists instead of crime. I didn't have the energy to fly all the way over to Manhattan, and Spider-Man began patrol way later so I knew I was safe.

I was sitting on the roof of one of the taller buildings in the neighborhood, which was much shorter than the buildings in Midtown, where I normally patrolled. Every vigilante had their own section that they protected; Daredevil had Hell's Kitchen, Spider-Man had Forest Hills and the surrounding areas, the list goes on. Surprisingly no one had taken on the mantle of Midtown before me, even though that's where most of the bigger crimes happened, like bank robberies, hostage situations, car chases...or maybe that's why no one had before. The overall layout of the city was confusing anyways, so I kind of just stuck to a general area and hoped that the Devil of Hell's Kitchen wouldn't kill me.

Queens wasn't to prettiest part of New York, but I still liked it. It had a gorgeous view of the Manhattan skyline, and it kind of reminded me of the northern area of San Francisco. Just way bigger. New York City was ginormous in general, so I had my police scanner on in order for me to know if anything was going on. I couldn't exactly hear a mugging on the other end of the city, so I had to rely on things besides myself in order to help people. It was kind of annoying.

The police scanner hadn't come to life the whole time I'd been sitting on top of the building. I had started dozing off after the first twenty minutes, and by 4:00 I was basically taking a nap. The ground underneath me wasn't all that comfortable but I was so tired that I couldn't find it within me to complain.

I was daydreaming about flying over the Golden Gate Bridge when somebody grabbed my shoulder.

It was all animalistic instinct as I flipped the person attached to the hand over and landed on their chest with my knife pressed to their throat. I was very good at unsheathing it by now. The person grunted as I slammed them to the ground, and I was so out of it that I still hadn't fully comprehended that I probably just took out a random citizen wondering why a girl dressed in spandex was sleeping on their roof. My breathing was ragged as I opened my eyes, and it took me a few seconds to focus.

I came face to face with Spider-Man's mask.

My eyes widened when I realized what was happening, and I scrambled off the hero's chest, jamming my knife back in my belt. I could feel my face turning bright red as he sat up slowly. His eye lenses were squinted, probably at me. I was trying to school my expression into one of normality- y'know, casually nearly stabbing Spider-Man, as you do- when he spoke. "Was that necessary?" he asked, sounding more robotic than I remembered. Last time I met him he was still in those pajamas, so he had probably upgraded and come up with a voice modifier. Now that would be a good idea...

After a few seconds of silence he coughed. "Oh! Uh, sorry about that, I wasn't expecting somebody to grab me," I said. "Are you- are you okay?"

I could basically see him roll his eyes through the mask. "Why are you in Queens?" Spider-Man ignored my question and stood up, getting straight to business. Well, he was being friendlier than the other time we crossed paths. So far.

"No reason," I muttered, standing up too and crossing my arms over my chest. "I wasn't aware that you owned all of it." he narrowed his eyes even more. Okay, not a fan of sarcasm.