A New Hero - Peter Parker (BOOK 1) | Spider-Man: Far From Home

Chapter Twenty-One - The Europol Headquarters

"Excuse me, do you know where..." Peter asked a lady, who in turn ran screaming at the sight of him. "No, wait! I didn't... Oh, man."

Clara stifled a laugh next to him, her hands stuffed into her pockets to subdue the glowing as best she could. She looked Peter up and down. "I don't think this suit is doing Night-Monkey any favours in public rela-"

"Watch out!" Clara's words were cut off as Peter pulled her into him, a car zooming in front of them, missing Clara by an inch. Her heart pounded in her chest as saw the car stop before them.

"Thanks." She let out a breath, moving off of Peter to turn to the black car. The front passenger-side window rolled down, revealing the driver behind it.

"Get in." Nick Fury ordered.

Clara and Peter instantly moved to follow his order, though Clara couldn't help but let out a snide remark. "Maybe watch where you're going next time?" She muttered, climbing into the back seat behind Peter as he dropped into the seat next to Fury.

In hindsight, Fury ignoring her comment should have been the first sign that something was wrong. Clara didn't question his lack of reaction however; from his rushed introduction, it seemed the man had much bigger issues on his plate. Fury held out a bottle of water and a small glass container for Clara to take. "What is it?" She asked, plucking it from his grasp.

"It's from S.H.I.E.L.D. – Don't worry, they don't know anything." He reassured her. "It should suppress any interfering frequencies until you're in the building and away from public eye."

Clara inspected the pills in the glass container, looking at the code stamped into it. She wasn't sure what it was she was looking for - maybe a skull and crossbones marking the surface, but she didn't see anything that should arouse suspicion. Besides, she knew she could trust Fury. She twisted the cap off the plastic water bottle and swallowed both tablets with a mouthful of water.

"Mr. Fury-" Peter started, pulling his mask off once the car was in motion.

Fury interrupted him, his voice firm. "You've got a lot of explaining to do."

"No, no, no. Listen-" Peter tried again.

He held a finger up. "Wait until we're secure."

"Okay." Peter huffed, trying to steady his breathing. Nick looked over at him, clearing his throat and giving him a pointed look, a steady beeping sounding in the vehicle. Peter frowned, and Fury gestured for him to put his seat belt on. "Right."

Clara watched as he yanked at the seat belt, letting out a yawn as she did. She wasn't surprised she was so tired, she hadn't slept at all the night before. Peter struggled to get the retractor reels out of their locking position. With Fury watching him too, Peter's face flushed a rosy pink and he thought he'd try pulling harder - that just resulted in the seat belt disconnecting from the side of the car all together, clattering to the ground as it did. Peter offered a brief apologetic smile, turning to face the front of the car to avoid eye contact with the man.

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the Europol Headquarters, tall glass buildings either side of them stretching into the sky. Fury pulled the car into a parking garage and, once Peter had placed his mask back on, they began to make their way up a dozen staircases.

After a few minutes of walking, Clara stopped half-way along a balcony that linked two staircases. She grit her teeth, feeling a wave of nausea pass through her. "You okay?" Peter asked, stopping a few steps higher and watching her lean against the railing.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little dizzy." She replied, closing her eyes for a long second. Peter jogged the few paces back to her. Her stomach twisted again, but she ignored it. I'm just nervous, she told herself, nervous and sleep deprived.

"You sure you're okay?" He asked in a hushed tone. Clara glanced up to Fury, then set her eyes on Peter. Peter caught the look of worry in her eyes, the exchange telling Peter that Clara was keeping something from him. He dipped his head down to be at her eye-level, placing a hand gently on her arm. Clara imagined that behind his mask was a look of deep concern. "Clara, what is it?"

She frowned, her expression full of concentration as she tried to find a label for the feeling inside her. What is it? "This doesn't feel right." She whispered back thoughtfully; it wasn't the usual feeling of tiredness she had experienced before, nor was it travel sickness, that she was sure of. Looking down to her hands to see no sign of a violet hue.

Clara jolted at the sound of a voice filling the walkway. "Come on, we can't waste any time." Fury called down to them in a voice louder than it needed to be, only looking to Peter as he spoke.

Peter hooked an arm around Clara's waist, offering a little bit of support as they climbed the rest of the way up. Clara's hands were shaking as they continued into a secluded room, something that she herself didn't seem to notice.

In the large room sat a glass table, white chairs surrounding it. Clara and Peter stood at the end of the table nearest to the door, Hill waiting at the other side for Fury to join her.

Clara eased off of Peter, forcing herself to stand alone as she blinked away a blur growing in her eyes. She eyed up the nearest chair, wondering if she should sit on it. With everyone else standing, she thought it wouldn't be the best impression to make. "So, is there anything you want to tell us about your girlfriend?" Fury asked Peter.

"He's talking about E.D.I.T.H." Hill stated coolly.

"Look, I know I made a mistake, and I'm sorry - but he is not who you think he is." Peter told them. "Beck is a liar. Mysterio, the Elementals, it's all fake. He has some sort of illusion tech, and that's how he tricked you guys and how he tricked me into giving him E.D.I.T.H."

He placed the metal object they had been carrying onto the table in front of them, sliding it across the surface. At the sight of the device, Clara looked down at her trembling hands, watching as the purple glow began to return. It was as if it was fighting to be seen. It must be the drugs Fury gave me, she thought, though it seemed the tablet had really done barely anything to quell the luminosity, only lasting for fifteen minutes at best.

"It's a projector." Peter continued. "I pulled it off the fire monster in Prague."

Still staring at her hands, she watched her fingers morph in and out of a blur, seemingly multiplying in number as the purple hue spread across them. "P-Peter..." Clara's voice was a whisper, barely audible and it didn't reach the student standing next to her. She had realised why her body was reacting this way - what it was trying to tell her.

"So, all that death and destruction we witnessed was created by this?" Fury asked dubiously, Clara struggling to her his words over the sound of blood pumping in her ears.

Peter explained, Clara's head swimming as the purple continued to grow, breaking into view as it fought against the medication she had taken. "No, not just this. I think he's using drones."

"Well, if this is true then Beck's very dangerous and we need to be smart." Nick Fury looked from Peter to Maria.

"Peter?" Clara said, slightly louder than before. Peter turned to her, his eyes widening as they locked onto her. The energy was spreading quickly, enveloping her as she looked up at him. The warm feeling didn't feel quite so welcoming anymore. "Something... Something's wrong." She told him, hear words slurring as her vision moved in and out of focus.

"Who else did you tell about this?" Fury interrupted, seeming to have not noticed the light being expelled by the girl. Frustrated with being ignored by the boy, he raised his voice. "Parker? What's wrong?"

Peter pulled his eyes away from Clara as she began to sway on the spot. He looked at Fury with a puzzled frown – could he not see what was happening to Clara? Was he blind? No, he shook his head naively, he must've known this would happen, it must be a side effect from the drugs. He knew he was wrong though, because a second later a faint whirring sound drifted into his ears. "The drones – it's Beck, he's here."

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