With great power comes great responsibility.
It was a saying that she heard Ben say often. Usually when she and Ned were excitedly discussing the newest events surrounding the Avengers and other superheroes. Payton had always taken the words at face value however. She just figured that Ben was saying that, since the Avengers had power, they had the responsibility to use that power for good. While true; Payton now understands that it goes deeper than that. It clicked shortly after she returned to the hideout. Her adrenaline from saving a man from being mugged, or worse, was fading away and her mind had wandered to thinking about what could have happened if she just ignored it.
The smarter decision would have been to just call the police, and then carry on. Risking revealing her location, even to a random stranger, could have drastic consequences if news spreads that she was currently in New Jersey. But she had powers now, and she had some training from the Punisher of all people in how to fight. If she had just let the assault continue, the fate of that man would have been on her hands. The connection between power and responsibility is not just about using your power for good, but for accepting the fact that if you have the power to help, and choose not to, you are still morally responsible for the outcome.
Iron Man didn't have to fight the Ten Rings. He could have lived comfortably knowing that he built a weapon to help him escape and left the people of Gulmira to their fate. But he didn't. Same goes for the actions all the Avengers took over the years. It was a sobering thought, comparing her life to those of the Avengers now. Ultimately though, the only difference between her and them was scale. She had the ability to go out there and help people in the city in the same way the Avengers had the ability to go out and help people around the world. So how could she continue to just sit in this hideout for days on end when she could be doing something?
As such, after the first night of peaceful sleep she had in over a week, Payton found herself sitting in front of her claimed workbench, the chemical supplies and web fluid put away for the time being as she looked at the collection of protective equipment and clothing she'd gathered. She'd gotten lucky last night in that the man she saved hadn't seen her face underneath her hood, but she couldn't expect that luck to continue if she was going to go out more (which she was). So far, she had selected the gas mask that she had used during her freakout the previous day, as the tinted circular lenses would help prevent any further eye strain from her enhanced vision, and the smallest kevlar vest she could find, which was one of the very few that didn't already have a white-skull sprayed onto it.
The former of those two items would also serve to hide her identity, while the vest would obviously serve as extra protection. Pair those with her web shooters, and she figured she had the necessary equipment figured out, all she needed now was to complete the ensemble. Looking over the gathered clothes, Payton picked out the same red hoodie she wore the previous night, enjoying the extra layer the hood added, as well as the warmth of it (turns out her thermoregulation issues were far worse than she had thought). Add a pair of athletic leggings to that to avoid restricting her mobility as well as her usual shoes (she only had the one pair) to complete the outfit and Payton figured she was good. If she needed anything else she would likely figure it out tonight.
Taking her collection of items over to her cot, Payton wrapped them up in her blankets. She didn't want Castle getting curious about what she was doing. Much as she appreciated the man's help,she was not going to let him keep her locked up in here for the foreseeable future. Risky as it was, she much preferred the option of going out herself at night and at least doing something , even if ultimately it didn't help with finding out who hired Taskmaster.
With that all said and done, she now just had to wait for the evening. Castle would leave to fight his own battles, David would return home to his family, and she would take the opportunity to explore the city and help out wherever she could. Of course, that time wouldn't come for another few hours yet, and Payton instead grabbed one of Castle's books off the table where he kept them. The first book she saw was Moby Dick which she quickly picked up. Her English teacher mentioned the book earlier in the semester, but she hadn't actually read it; only knowing bits and pieces of its story from references she'd heard or seen in other media. Kick her feet up onto the table, Payton opened the book and began to read.
As time went on, and Payton delved further into the book she couldn't help but notice similarities between the story of the book and Frank Castle's life. At least in themes anyway. Revenge quests are a tale as old as time of course, but a man hellbent on revenge against something that wronged him? Well, she wouldn't pretend to be an expert on Castle's life, but from what had been made public? Castle reading a story that mirrored his own life in such a way was something that Payton wouldn't have really expected from the man. She'd anticipated more Tom Clancy action/thriller over retrospective tales.
She'd ended up getting hooked on the book though, and completely missed David and Castle showing up with dinner up until the point the latter dropped the bag of food directly next to her feet on the table, startling her and sending her tipping backwards, her precarious balance on the back two legs of the chair working against her now.
With a crash and a frankly embarrassing shriek, Payton hit the floor, opening her eyes to look up into the amused face of Frank Castle. With a pounding heart, Payton felt the sudden return of the mouth pain she'd been assaulted with in class, quickly followed by a sudden urge to leap up and bite ! It wasn't until she saw the look on Castle and David's face's change from the previous amusement to confusion that she realized that she was also hissing (actually hissing!) at them. Yelping, Payton's hands shot up to cover her mouth and heat crept into her cheeks as they flushed scarlett. Behind her hands, Payton's tongue was trailing over fangs that had descended from her gum line, pushing her human canines to angle back into her mouth to make room for themselves.
What the hell? She knew that the spider bite had given her powers, but that was where she thought it had been left at. Payton was stronger, faster, healthier (she really didn't miss asthma or needing glasses), but apparently she also grew fangs, and, apparently, was having behavioral changes. But thinking about it, she probably should have realized something was different about her behaviorally as well. Over the past week she'd felt safer in the corners and on the walls. Heck, her first instinct upon waking up and seeing the Punisher for the first time last week had been to scuttle up the wall into a dark corner. And scuttling! Never in her life had she ever scuttled before! It was a lot to take in, knowing that she has changed in so many ways, most of which she was still unfamiliar with, or completely in the dark about. Maybe that would be her task tonight? Figure out just what the hell changed with her.
"What the hell was that kid?" Castle questioned, still looking down at her.
"I'm sorry! It just slipped out! I have no idea why I did that!" Embarrassment morphed into horror as she took in their still confused, slightly worried faces. They probably thought she was some freak now! More so than previously. The wall climbing and stuff was weird, sure, but those were just powers. Hissing wasn't a power! It was an animalistic reaction!
Castle, of course, was the first one to shake off the awkwardness that permeated the room, reaching down to help her off the floor, which was assistance she accepted, albeit slowly as Payton was doing her best to look anywhere but the other two people with her.
"I guess that's another thing to add to the list of weird shit going on." David commented, turning back to the food and thus missing the flinch that Payton gave.
The rest of dinner was a quiet affair, Payton choosing to continue reading rather than face the others, who were focused on their own things as well. In fact, the rest of the night was much the same, only broken up by the occasional grumble from David as he hit another wall, or a clang from the armory as whatever Castle was working on was placed down a bit harder than was probably necessary.
Before she knew it (probably because she was so invested in the book at this point), David was packing up his stuff and heading for his car, and Castle was, once again, sliding his vest on and loading his van up with weapons. Watching from the corner of her eye, Payton eagerly waited for the two men to leave, so she could slip out herself. She didn't have to wait long, as a few minutes later, the rumbling of Frank Castle's van echoed through the room, and he began to drive away. Payton made sure to wait an extra ten minutes, just in case he forgot something and decided to come back.
Once those ten minutes were up, she quickly grabbed the rolled up blanket that hid her makeshift suit, and rushed off to the bathroom to change. As soon as she was done, she turned to appraise herself in the mirror, and smiled at the sight that was reflected back to her. She loved the mix of black and red, with her leggings, the kevlar vest, and her mask all being black, and the sweatshirt being a nice deep red. Underneath the hood of her sweatshirt, the eyes of the gas mask seemed like giant bug eyes, and the two filters on either side of her mouth almost gave the appearance of pincers. If though, with her spider thing going on, it might be more topical to think of them as chelicerae. The only things not red or black were her gray shoes, and the dirty silver web shooters that were clamped around her wrists.
Fully suited up, Payton ran back out to the main room, grabbed a few extra capsules of web fluid, and then began to run down the driveway towards the exit of the old warehouse, but after a few steps she stopped, an idea popping into her head. Turning around, Payton made her way back over to the armory, taking off her protective vest as she did so. Pulling open a drawer, she grabbed one of the cans of white spray paint, and laid the vest out on a table. Giving the can a few shakes, Payton got to work, her hand moving quickly as she moved the spray of paint over the vest.
One minute later a crude rendition of a spider was drawn onto the vest. The form of it was broken and uneven, with small splotches of paint resulting from the spray making the edges appear hazy. But it was still a spider, and just looking at the symbol she made on her chest put another smile on her face.
Taking the newly painted vest and pulling it back over her head, Payton finally left the building, taking in a deep breath of the cool air as she stepped outside for the second night in a row. She knew from experience over the past week that Castle wouldn't return until closer to dawn, giving her plenty of time to go out and experiment with her powers, and more importantly, check on May. Thanks to a conversation she had with Mr Lieberman a few days ago regarding her Aunt had led to the man hacking the hospital system to read off May's condition to her, as well as her Aunt's location. Of course, to reach the hospital where May is staying she would have to cross two rivers, and a significant chunk of New York City; an intimidating, but not impossible task.
Payton began to lightly jog through the city streets towards the nearest crossing over to Manhattan, cutting through alleys, and leaping over fences or walls that would've normally blocked her path. Every now and again she even scaled the walls of buildings, taking the rooftops instead of the streets. All in all, it took her about twenty minutes to reach the Lincoln Tunnel. She would have preferred the bridge, but the George Washington Bridge was way too far out of the way from where she needed to be.
She waited on a nearby sidewalk until the first large truck approached the entrance, and then silently dropped on top of the trailer, laying down flat on her stomach to hide from any other potential onlookers. She could have taken the sidewalk that existed in the tunnel, but she didn't need any passing cars asking questions, so this was the best option. The ride didn't take too long, with night traffic low enough that the truck moved smoothly through the tunnel, and once it reached the open world again, Payton leapt off the roof, launching herself up and across the street before sticking to the side of the nearest building. She cringed slightly as she looked back at the truck and noticed a sizable dent in its trailer. She'd wanted to test her jumping range, and well, it's great, but the force she put onto the thin roof of the vehicle was too much to keep it completely intact.
Mouthing a quiet apology to the driver who hadn't noticed anything wrong, Payton scrambled up the wall until she was standing on the roof and overlooking the general area of the city. She knew that she was somewhere on the border between Midtown West and Hell's Kitchen, and, by looking south-east, she could see the shining beacon that was Avenger's Tower.
From where she was standing, Payton could hear gunshots coming from Hell's Kitchen, and while part of her wanted to rush in there and help, she figured Daredevil would have it handled far better than she could, and she wanted to see May before going around to help people out. Turning away from the sounds of violence, Payton began to vault from roof to roof, running on the walls of buildings that stood too tall to reach the top of in a single jump, whooping and laughing with each leap as she crossed Manhattan Island.
Payton had never felt so free as she felt right now, using her new powers to gross massive gaps between buildings and run perpendicular on the walls. Her legs ached with being used far more intensely than she ever had before, but she knew that she could keep going. She might regret it and be super sore tomorrow, but for tonight she would enjoy it.
Another short while later, Payton was approaching the Queensboro Bridge and her breath caught in her throat as, for the first time since this whole nightmare began, she saw Queens, her home , with her own two eyes. Somewhere over the river was the hotel where May slept, alone and probably in constant danger from whoever was hunting her down. As much as she enjoyed the abilities she had now, especially since they had healed her lungs and her eyes, she would take any of those defects back if it meant Ben would still be alive and May was safe.
Shaking her head to rid herself of the building tears, Payton crawled down the side of the building she was currently on, and approached the side of the bridge, choosing to walk along the maintenance catwalks that ran underneath the bridge. Much like the tunnel an hour or so ago, she didn't need people passing by and noticing her right now. Each car that rolled overhead she could both hear and feel their vibration through the concrete and steel, leading to a somewhat uncomfortable walk, but also uneventful, and before Payton knew it she was back in Queens.
Just standing in her hometown was enough for Payton to feel like a weight had come off her shoulders. There was still plenty weighing her down, but missing Queens was, at this point, no longer one of them. The streets here were far more familiar to her as traversed the rooftops again, smiling as she saw businesses she'd been to, and parks she had played at in the past. After around an hour, with the help of her enhanced vision, she could make out the hospital where May was staying in the distance.
Without thinking, she began to pick up the pace, running across the Queens skyline and her heart began to pound in anticipation of seeing her Aunt again. She knew that she couldn't risk going inside, but she didn't have to. Her conversation with David had led to her finding out that May was currently housed in a room with a window, and so all she had to do was hope the curtains were open so that she could look in from the outside. May's coma meant that she wouldn't be missing out on speaking to her at least.
"Alright Payton… Floor six, Room 611." She mumbled to herself a few minutes later, crawling up the wall of the hospital. While getting to the sixth floor was relatively easy, now she had to play the guessing game of finding out which room was 611. She had no idea what the floor plan was, and they didn't list the room numbers on the outside of the building. That would be dumb. Thus, Payton spent the next twenty minutes crawling around the perimeter of the hospital's sixth floor, the process sped up a little bit by her being able to easily ignore the rooms with the curtains closed.
Eventually though, she found it. Peeking in through the window, her breath hitched as she spotted May laying in a hospital bed. She was surrounded by balloons, flowers and cards from her coworkers and friends, and looked really, really bad. Her Aunt was buried in blankets, with a feeding tube stuck down her throat and a whole collection of other tubes and instruments that she couldn't even begin to identify were plastered all over. Payton's heart ached at the sight.
"I am so sorry May." She whispered. "I'll make this right. I promise ."
She was slightly comforted by the fact that she could hear her Aunt's heartbeat, both the heart itself and the monitor tracking it for the hospital's staff. It sounded strong at least. Any further observations were then cut short as the door opened, forcing Payton to pull herself back from the window, barely peeking in from the corner now rather than having her whole upper torso visible.
Two nurses walked into the room, the first one was normal, walking around her Aunt's bedside and doing check-ups. But the second? She made Payton's danger sense start screaming . She couldn't even tell why from a glance. The woman seemed normal, even if she did have a face that screamed indifference, unlike the first nurse who seemed kind. But the more she watched, the more she began to realize that her danger sense was right. The nurse walked a lot like Frank Castle did. When the Punisher walked, he moved like he was ready and willing to bowl over anyone who didn't get out of the way, and kill anyone who tried to stop him. This nurse was similar, if having a more feminine grace to it. Another side of Payton, the spidery side that had been growing within her, recognized the nurse for what she was.
A predator.
The first nurse finished her tasks, speaking idly to the dangerous one as she did so. Apparently this was the mean one's final duty for the night before leaving, and the nice nurse waved goodbye as she left the room, leaving May alone with someone who was likely there to kill her once Payton was captured.
Payton began to hiss again, as she felt her fangs begin to drop down from their sheathes. But before she could do something stupid, the object of her ire turned, forcing Payton to pull her head back from the window to avoid being seen. Moments later, the light from the room was cut off as the curtains were closed, and Payton could hear as the nurse left the room.
Whispering a silent goodbye to her Aunt through the wall, Payton crawled down from the building and ran through the darkness to find a place to hide and wait for the nurse to leave. If she was as dangerous as her spider-senses seemed to indicate, the 'nurse' could lead Payton back to the others, and she would have a legitimate lead to follow.
Thirty minutes passed before Payton's senses flared up again, and her eyes were drawn to the employee's entrance of the hospital, and the nurse who was leaving through the doors. Narrowing her eyes, Payton waited for the woman to get into her car and start driving away before she gave chase. Much of the area surrounding the hospital was residential, so rather than having to climb to the roofs, she managed to make the distance from the ground in a single leap.
Rooftop to rooftop Payton tracked the car, watching as it made its way towards the bridge she had crossed just a few hours ago. She knew she couldn't cross the bridge the same way she had earlier, as the last thing she wanted to do was lose line of sight on the best chance she's had all week to end this. So she had to take a risk. Instead of climbing down to the catwalks below the bridge, Payton ran up the trusses instead, using her feet to stick to, and release from the metal to help her keep her balance. Her heart pounded and leapt into her throat as she rose higher into the air, sprinting up the first pylon, all the while keeping her eyes on her target. Interestingly, Payton wasn't finding herself having any actual problems with her balance, which she figured was probably another aspect of her abilities, but she really couldn't spend time thinking about it right now.
Unfortunately, her perfect balance didn't help against her being stupid. With her attention completely focused on the car she was following, Payton completely missed a ledge appearing in front of her, and she tripped over it, falling over the side of the bridge. Releasing a terrified shriek, she reached her hand out to try and catch herself, but missed. Plummeting towards the water, Payton, in a last ditch effort, reached her arm out and activated her web shooter on her right wrist.
Thwip!
The webbing caught onto the side of the bridge, pulling taut and swinging Payton back into the air like a pendulum. Flailing around as she soared through the air, Payton released that line, before shooting another one, swinging once again along the length of the bridge until she was back at the top and landing back on the trusses. Adrenaline rushed through her as she bent over, hands on her knees as she laughed, the sheer stress of the situation going right past terror and tears and back around to shocked, adrenaline fueled laughter.
Getting a hold of herself, Payton took a moment to relocate the car, which was just beginning to near the end of the bridge, and she was still a quarter of the bridge away. She could run. But her near-death experience just showed her a faster way. Riskier for sure, but sometimes risks had to be taken in order to succeed. So Payton jumped.
Controlling her descent this time, and ignoring her base instincts to flail in terror, Payton again shot out a line of webbing, and once again soared. Releasing her web at the end of each swing and sending out another one.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
Payton was flying through the city now. While her movement was still awkward (she was absolutely practicing this more later), she knew her physics, and used that to help herself along. Her spider-senses helped too, occasionally leading to her hesitating in shooting a web as part of her just knew that a certain section of building was loose, and wouldn't hold up under the force of her swinging. At certain points, Payton had to slow herself down to stop from overtaking her target.
About fifteen minutes of tracking through Manhattan, and the nurse's vehicle pulled into a condemned building's parking garage in Chelsea. The building was clearly heavily damaged during the Battle of New York, but the Government hadn't gotten around to tearing it down yet. Plenty of higher priority demolitions and repairs to be done elsewhere. Bringing herself down to ground level again, Payton leapt onto the ceiling of the parking garage, tracking the woman by the sound of her vehicle now that she couldn't see it.
Within a few minutes she spotted the woman again and, keeping to the darkness, followed her deeper into the ruined apartments. Payton followed her down to the storage and service floors, where the sounds of computers, and talking, began to make their way to her sensitive ears. The further she went, the more her senses were screaming danger, but she had to continue. She had to find answers. And finally, it seems she might have some.
The 'nurse' she'd been following stopped at a door that was clearly a recent installment, and knocked. A few moments later Payton could hear the sound of boots scraping against concrete as someone on the other side approached the door. Goosebumps popped up all over her skin as her mind just frantically yelled 'DANGER DANGER DANGER' . When the door opened, her heart, and breathing, stopped. Standing in the doorway was a man wearing Blue, white, and orange armor with a white skull planted atop his head.
Taskmaster was here.
Payton didn't dare to breathe. Pressed tightly against the ceiling, graciously in the dark, she stared at Taskmaster, her mind replaying that awful night on repeat. May and Ben getting shot. Her terrified flight through the city. It all rushed through and flashed in her mind's eye as her heart tried to pound its way out of her chest. The mercenary who'd been haunting her for what has felt like much longer than a week was right there . She shouldn't have followed the 'nurse'. She should have just gone right back to the hideout and stayed there.
But she didn't. For better or worse, Payton was here, and, despite her fear, she had an advantage. Taskmaster didn't know that his base of operations had been located. She could go back, tell Mister Castle about this place and let him do his work… yet that wouldn't solve the ultimate problem of who hired the mercenary. If she stuck around, who knew what she might overhear?
Gulping silently as she forced her fear into the back of her mind, Payton stalked across the ceiling, keeping to the shadowy corner between the wall and roof. Taskmaster, after opening the door, stepped aside, allowing the fake-nurse inside before sealing the entrance again. She couldn't enter through the front door, but she wouldn't have to. Halfway down the hall was a grate that acted as a vent for the HVAC air ducts that ran through the building. She was small enough that she should be able to force herself through the gap. Unfortunately, once she reached the vent, Payton realized what she'd forgotten. While she would normally be able to fit into the ducts, her mask and vest weren't nearly as flexible as she was. As such, she had to remove her two most protective accessories.
Keeping her feet stuck to the ceiling, Payton lowered herself until she was completely upside down, quickly pulling the gas mask and vest off before returning to all fours on the ceiling. A quick patchwork of webbing had the two protective articles secured safely until she returned. Turning back to the vent, Payton stuck one hand to the metal, and slowly applied more and more force until the grate popped off the wall and allowed access to the ducts beyond.
Squeezing into the gap was slow-going and uncomfortable to start, but soon enough Payton started to realize that her body could contort in ways it had never been able to before; and in ways that no human should be able to. Adapting to her newfound flexibility quickly, Payton skittered into the air ducts, the metal of them was cool against her fingertips, and the build-up of dust was bad enough that she pulled the tee-shirt she had on under the sweatshirt up until it covered her nose. Last thing she needed was to sneeze and blow her cover.
Slowly but surely Payton shimmied through the narrow space, turning a few corners through the ducts as she approached the room that Taskmaster had disappeared into. Luckily, all she had to do was follow her ears, as the muffled noises she'd heard earlier slowly started to clear up. Focusing on the noise she was able to make out overlapping conversations between multiple people, as well as the regular humming of computer fans. Contorting around one final corner, Payton found herself staring out of the narrow gaps of a vent into what had once been the apartment building's maintenance shop.
The worn-down space had been converted into an operations center far better equipped than Micro's. Dozens of monitors, spread across multiple walls lit up the space, each showing camera footage of different areas of New York City. The movement on each monitor gave away the fact that the footage was coming from drones scattered across the city, rather than stationary cameras that these people might have hacked into. The room was also stocked with an armory that put Castle's to shame, a makeshift kitchen/dining area, and a dozen or so cots.
Inhabiting the room, besides Taskmaster and the 'nurse', were about 5 men in gray and red fatigues, each with an easily recognizable red hourglass emblazoned on their shoulders. Why were these guys wearing the Black Widow's symbol? Regardless, Payton watched silently as four of the men were talking and playing cards around one of the dining tables, while the fifth was standing separately with Taskmaster and the 'nurse'. Seeing as that was the important conversation, Payton turned her full attention towards the trio, tuning out the rest of the noise to the best of her ability as the unknown man began to address the newcomer to this base.
"Widow, I demand a report." His gruff, distinctly Russian, voice growled, prompting the 'nurse' (Widow? Like Black Widow? What did she have to do with this!? She's a hero isn't she!?) to have a subtle posture shift. Payton couldn't put her finger on it, but the woman went from 'at attention' to… something else.
"May Parker is still in her coma. The Doctors believe she won't wake up for a few more weeks at the least." The Widow droned emotionlessly.
"Good." The Russian remarked. "As soon as we find the girl, terminate Parker. No loose ends."
Payton choked back a gasp hearing that order, clamping a hand over her mouth just to stop from making any noise. In the back of her mind she always knew May was in danger so long as these people were hunting her, but to hear it said so blatantly was something else entirely. Her personal fright had her missing the Widow being dismissed, but she watched as the apparent assassin wordlessly walked over to the cots, pulled out a pair of handcuffs, and attached herself to one of them before laying down. It was unnerving, seeing someone so easily confine themselves like that. Shaking her head, Payton turned her attention back towards Taskmaster and the Russian.
"All these drones, and all this manpower, and you still haven't fulfilled your obligation. Dreykov is growing restless." The Russian berated, though his words seemed to have no effect on the mercenary they were directed at.
"Well if the good General had told me that the girl was enhanced at the start we wouldn't be in this mess right now. Instead he chose to keep his hand close to his chest, and it bit him in the ass." Taskmaster shot back, clearly unimpressed with the other man.
"That shouldn't have mattered! You are supposed to be the best and let you let a child get away from you! Your arrogance is betrayed by your incompetence!" The Russian snarled, his intimidation tactic falling a bit short due to the Taskmaster being larger, and overall more imposing. Regardless, Payton could tell that this little spat had been building up for some time. "The General should have just left this job to us!"
Taskmaster scoffed. "And how would that have worked out? Less than half of the operatives he did send even showed up. And I doubt the twelve of you and a single Widow would do better than I did." The mercenary paused for a moment before speaking up again, a sneer evident in his tone. "What did happen in Bucharest anyway? I heard that there was quite a commotion."
She didn't understand what the masked man was referencing, but she saw how the Russian's face paled, and his expression morphed into shock. He schooled his features quickly, but it was enough, and Taskmaster barked out a laugh. "How?" The Russian demanded.
"I've got my own sources. It's a necessity in my line of work, but I've proved my point. Dreykov hired me because he knew he needed me. It's his own fault I wasn't adequately prepared the first time around. I won't make the same mistake a second time."
The seriousness of his voice sent chills down Payton's spine. As the two men split up from their argument, Payton figured she had heard enough. She had a name to give David tomorrow night, which might just be enough to finally figure out how to fight back. Plus she could give Frank the address for this place… then again maybe not. Despite everything, she really didn't feel comfortable signing their death warrants. But Castle wasn't the only option was he?
Even as Payton began to back out the way she came she began to plot a route back to base, one that would take her into Hell's Kitchen. Daredevil was a far more palatable option than the Punisher in this case, and this place wasn't too far out of his usual stomping grounds. Plus, Castle told her the first day that she could trust him, so it couldn't be that bad of an idea. The worst thing the guy could say was no right?
Getting back to an intersection in the ducts, Payton turned around so that she wouldn't have to continue crawling backwards all the way out. Soon enough she found herself back in the entrance hallway, her gear still webbed to the ceiling. A few sharp tugs, and a quick change later, Payton was running out of the apartment and back into the night, leaving a few strands of webbing unnoticed behind her.
Leaping over the fence that separated the condemned building from the rest of the street, Payton fired another web and pulled herself awkwardly into the air. It took a few swings before she started getting back into the groove she was in while following the Widow. In the back of her mind, Payton's intellectual side was marveling at the forces she must be putting on her shoulders with each swing, and the fact that she didn't feel any more strain than she imagined somebody would on their average jog. Of course, she didn't actually know what that was like, as her asthma and other lung issues had prevented her from actually being able to run.
The city passed by quickly below her, a patchwork of colors all blurring together as she picked up speed on each swing, flying through the air after each release with a whoop of joy. Out here, practically flying through the city, Payton could just ignore all the problems plaguing her. She could feel what seemed like the weight of the world slipping off her shoulders, left behind in the dark. Once she stopped, they would all catch up to her, but here in this moment; she was free.
That freedom carried with her all the way to the edge of Hell's Kitchen and beyond. She'd never been in the rundown neighborhood of Manhattan before. She'd never had a reason to go there, and things had only been getting worse after the Invasion until Daredevil showed up. And even with the vigilante patrolling the streets, Hell's Kitchen was a hot spot for crime of every variety. But tonight that fact just meant that it shouldn't be too difficult to find the man she was looking for. From what she'd read online; Daredevil was particularly zealous with crime fighting, probably (almost certainly) being beaten out in terms of ferocity by only the Punisher.
Slowing down in her swings, Payton released her last web as she reached an apex, arcing up onto the ledge of a building. She closed her eyes to try and simply listen to the surrounding city. So far she'd been pretty good when it came to directing her enhanced senses, but she'd yet to try it when surrounded by the cacophony of input that was the whole city. As such, when she put more attention to her ears, essentially forgoing whatever subconscious filters existed, she was assailed by the sounds of the city, enough so that she physically flinched and withdrew her focus.
"I really need to learn how to control that." She mumbled, making a mental note.
Tossing aside that plan, Payton replaced her wed cartridges with fresh ones. She wasn't sure how much was left in them and she really didn't want to run out while swinging a dozen stories above concrete. Once done, she once again leapt into the open air, choosing to simply swing around the neighborhood until something came up, or she found Daredevil.
She'd gotten a couple of blocks closer to the docks that lined the Hudson when her spider-sense prickled, drawing her attention towards a couple of guys surrounding a car that was parked on the side of the road. Its hood was propped open with two of the guys digging around the engine block, while a pair of shoes indicated one man was lying underneath the vehicle. Another two were standing around keeping watch. If Payton was a betting girl, she'd put money that they were scavenging parts from the car.
Lengthening her webs to swing closer to the ground, Payton's feet latched onto a burnt-out streetlight across the street from the thieves. Much like she had found when running up the bridge earlier in the evening, Payton had no trouble balancing on the narrow space, though it helped that she was crouched down like a gargoyle.
"You know, if you're having car trouble, I'm pretty sure I saw a tow truck a few streets over!" She hadn't of course, but the lie had startled the men into a choir of curses as they turned towards where her voice came from. She must have made quite the in the dim light judging by their increased heart rates and pale faces.
"Who the fuck are you! You ain't the Devil!" One of them shouted back, recovering faster than the others. Though his friends shook off their own shock shortly thereafter. The realization that she was, in fact, not Daredevil was enough for them to regain some confidence it seemed.
"Just a concerned citizen." She replied. "I'd hate it if you guys couldn't get your car somewhere safe and somebody decided to tear pieces from it."
"Why don't you just fuck off squirt! This don't concern you!" The guy who'd been underneath the car shot back, a catalytic converter held within his hands.
She chuckled. "No can do. I feel it's my civic duty to inform you that stealing is wrong. Now I know I'm not as scary as Daredevil, but I'd still put those tools down if I were you."
"Or what? You'll come down here and stop us?" A third taunted, pointing a tire iron in his hands towards her threateningly. The other guys laughed, far more confident than they had been previously.
She shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean I could , but wouldn't you rather talk it out instead of ending up with bruised faces and egos?" The offer was genuine, even if she already knew they weren't going to accept it, judging by their laughs growing louder.
"Go home kid. It's a school night." The first guy to speak told her, turning his back to end the car.
"Fine, you all were poor conversationalists anyway." She muttered as she was sticking her arms out and shooting two lines of webbing to the tire iron in the third guy's grip and ripping it from his hands and back towards her. The force of the action led to the man stumbling forward into the street, tripping off the curb and falling face first into the concrete. "Oof, I told you. Bruises." She quipped, throwing the rod of metal far down the street, the clang of it hitting the ground sounding a few moments later.
"What the fuck !" One of the thieves who hadn't spoken yet cried, a mere second before another web latched onto his leg, pulling it out from under him and sending him tumbling onto his back with a thud.
Taking advantage of their confusion, Payton launched off the light pole, across the street, and over the heads of the thieves, a couple of webs fired from her shooters adhering the two prone men to the ground. The others hadn't even seen her move until she was stuck to the wall of the building their target car was parked next to. Their faces were pale again. Two of their five were down and she hadn't even gotten within arms reach yet. These web shooters were awesome!
"I told you, words are better than bruises. Come on, put the tools down and we can talk about this!" Payton called down to the three thieves who could still actually move. The other two gave muffled shouts, the first stuck head first against the ground and the other's mouth was covered by some of her webs.
"Fuck you!"
Well, she tried. Releasing her grip on the wall, Payton shot two webs onto the car and pulled . The force she exerted on the vehicle dragged it closer to her, its body swinging into the back of the ringleader's legs, sending him to the group in a heap. Before he could recover, Payton let her feet release the wall as well, pushing off ever so slightly that she fell forwards, landing on the ground, her feet on either side of the thief. One quick punch turned off the lights for him, and he remained in his heap. Two left, both of whom were now obviously questioning their decision making skills.
In the end, their conclusions were very different. The one still holding the catalytic converter decided to cut his losses, and began to run away. The other charged, throwing a few punches that Payton's reflexes dodged easily, up until a knee came up during one of her dodges and impacted her side. Most of the blow was stopped by the vest she was wearing, but it was still enough to force some wind out of her. Annoyed, Payton grabbed the next fist as it came flying at her, twirling around just as Frank taught her, and threw the thief into the brick wall of the building. A few more webs meant that only the runner was left.
Before she could give chase however, a blurry projectile flew out of a nearby alley and knocked the man out cold, before it bounced back into the darkness. Payton squinted her eyes in the direction of the alley, before they shot wide open as Daredevil stepped out of the darkness. The man wasn't looking at her, but from the way her spine was tingling, she could just tell he was watching her.
"Who are you?" The demand smashed through the air like a cudgel, his tone giving no room for argument.
"Hi! Uh Mister Daredevil… sir." Her greeting started out polite and energetic, but it quickly faded into an awkward mumble.
The horned mask across from her tilted in a way that reminded her of dogs when they heard a new or unexpected sound. It was an odd look for a man with a reputation like his. His frown deepened as he began to approach.
"I asked who you were. What are you doing in my neighborhood?" The vigilante demanded again.
"Nobody important! And looking for you!" Payton quickly answered, not wanting to piss off the guy she was going to ask for help.
"Go home. You're too young to be doing this." Daredevil turned to leave.
What? She was not going to be dismissed like that! "Hey!" Payton cried out, taking a few steps in chase before the Devil of Hell's Kitchen turned to look at her again. "I came here to give you a tip on something I discovered. It's too big for me to handle and I figured someone like you would have a better shot." She explained, her voice pleading.
Sirens sounded in the distance, getting closer. Daredevil's head twitched before he motioned for the alley. "Come on, you can explain once we get out of here. Then you are going home."
Following him into the alley, Payton watched as the man parkoured up the fire escapes to reach the roof. It took her a few moments to climb up the wall after him, but when she reached the top she pulled herself over the edge and back onto her feet. Daredevil didn't seem too shocked at that, so he must have seen her sticking to the wall earlier.
"Talk."
"Okay, so, well, I was in Queens and I ended up seeing this suspicious person who really triggered my spider-sense…"
A hand shot up, halting the words that were tumbling out of her mouth in their tracks.
"Spider-sense?"
"Oh! Yeah! It's what I call this danger sense thing I have! I don't know how it works exactly, but it tends to warn me if somebody is about to attack me, or if somebody is really dangerous or something…"
"Slow down! Breathe."
Payton stopped again at the interruption, sucking in a breath at the order. She knew she was rambling, but she was worried that the man might grow bored and she would lose her shot.
"Right, sorry. Where was I?" She apologized.
"Suspicious person in Queens."
"Oh, yeah. Anyway, I followed this person from Queens all the way to Chelsea, as any person who set off that many warning bells can't be good right? She ended up going into that condemned apartment building on the eastside of Colombia… Darnnit, I forgot to get the address! Shoot!" Her summary was interrupted again by her own forgetfulness, thankfully, Daredevil stopped her before she fell apart too much.
"I know the one."
"You do?"
"A lot of people moved to the Kitchen from that building shortly after the Invasion. I've heard about it from them."
"Oh. That makes sense." She said dumbly, before her counterpart motioned for her to carry on. "Anyway, this group of mercenaries set up camp in the old maintenance room in one of the sublevels. Not everyone was home, but I think there was room for over like, a dozen bad guys in there. The head honcho was home, a mercenary named Taskmaster. And he was speaking to another guy about some person called "General Dreykov."
Payton paused, this time to give Daredevil a chance to digest everything she said, and ask any questions he might have. The vigilante didn't disappoint.
"I don't recognize the names. Did you hear anything about what they were planning?"
This was the hard part. Frank said she could trust Daredevil, but she didn't really want him to know exactly who she was. The less people who knew she had powers, the better, in her mind. Plus if the worst happened, and Taskmaster captured Daredevil, then the vigilante wouldn't be lying when he said he didn't know her. It was for the best really.
"I overheard them asking the woman I followed for a report on May Parker. I think they were behind the attack on the Parker family last week." She explained, holding her breath to see what the Devil said next. Frank said he would know if she was lying, but technically she wasn't lying , just… omitting.
Thankfully, it seems that was enough to get her through. The man had been in deep thought for a concerning amount of time. "Okay, I'll look into it. But I don't want to catch you out at night again. This life isn't for you."
Flinching at the chastisement, Payton nodded her head. "Okay… okay I will. Thank you." She lied through her teeth there, and judging by the even deeper frown that grew on Daredevil's face he knew it too.
She couldn't stop. From the guy she helped last night, and the theft she stopped today, she was helping people. That's what people with abilities like her's should do! Giving a final wave to the Devil, Payton jumped off the roof, her hearing enough to hear the intact of breath from the guy before he sighed in relief as she swung back into the air.
There were still a few hours left before Frank would be heading back, so who knows what other people she could help in that time? Heart set, Payton swung deeper into Manhattan, but she made sure to leave Hell's Kitchen well behind her.
The kid was hiding something. Her heartbeat and hesitations had told him as much. She knew far more than she was letting on about the scenario, and that worried him. Matt may have not been able to see her, but her voice was enough to tell him that she was young. Way too young to be out fighting crime on the streets and tracking mercenaries back to their hideouts.
But she gave him a lead, and that was worth something, despite her lying about going home. Ever since he encountered Frank interrogating the gangbanger last week, he'd kept his ear out for any news on the missing Parker girl. He hadn't actually expected to find anything, as the crime occurred far out of his self-defined jurisdiction. Yet here he was, getting a lead that could very well lead to the missing girl just dropping into his lap just by responding to a commotion he heard from a few blocks away. Had he not heard the sincerity in her voice, he might've assumed it was a trap.
Matt spent a few extra minutes listening to the sounds of cheers as she flew through the air. He didn't know exactly what she was using to swing from building to building, but the newcomer clearly enjoyed it. Below him, back down on street level, he could hear the cops arresting the thieves, or trying to, in the case of the ones that the girl had somehow adhered to the ground. Matt listened for a moment to the confusion in their voices as they tried to pull the criminals free, only for one rookie to get stuck themselves as their hand got tangled up.
Turning away from the commotion, Matt began to run across the rooftops, knowing that this detour would make him late to the very meeting that had him skipping a night with Karen and Foggy at Josie's. From roof to roof Matt made his way east. The closer he got to the designated meeting point, the more clearly he heard the heartbeats of the two individuals who'd managed to leave a message for him the previous night. Based on their tone in their current conversation, they were beginning to believe he wasn't going to show. They'd continued this belief up until he pulled himself over the edge of the rooftop, and the two spies who'd tracked him down went silent.
"Was starting to think you weren't going to show." Hawkeye spoke up first, shuffling off the wall.
Matt gave a small smirk. "I know."
"What, you just wanted to make us sweat a bit?" The archer shot back, clearly irritated.
"No, I had to take a detour, but I'm here now." He replied 'looking' between the two Avengers standing opposite him, waiting for them to tell him what they wanted. The message they left near one of his usual patrols only said they wanted a meeting. He hoped this wasn't a recruitment attempt. That would be a waste of all of their time.
"We need your help." The Black Widow spoke up for the first time, all business.
"Why?"
"We are looking into the disappearance of Payton Parker. All the leads we've followed have led nowhere, and we are hoping you, or one of the other vigilantes have heard something. We know the Punisher was in the area around the time she disappeared, but we don't know how to find him." Romanoff explained, and Matt couldn't believe it.
Had he not gone on that detour, he'd have very little to tell them. But he wanted to know more before he went into divulging the information he just gained. This didn't seem like an Avenger's level threat, and he told them as much.
"We got a letter from somebody connected to us asking us to find her, we chose to oblige them."
While the Avenger didn't lie, she was definitely being purposely vague, but who was he to get upset over secrets?
"Castle is likely a dead end. He'd been hunting for her too for a while, but he's gone back to his usual routine after wiping out the primary group of traffickers in the city." He informed them, arms crossed over his chest.
"The cannery massacre was him right?" Hawkeye asked, which Matt affirmed with a nod. "Damn. If the Punisher isn't protecting her, who is?"
"Protecting her? I thought she was kidnapped?" This was a shift that he hadn't anticipated.
"We've found evidence that whoever attacked the Parkers didn't manage to abduct Payton. They are still looking for her, and have members of law enforcement in their pocket. Our hope was that either the Punisher rescued her, or she made her way through the city and ran into one of the other vigilantes. Of course that was always a bit of a long shot, but we've been running out of ideas. The girl has practically vanished." Romanoff mentioned, her annoyance clear.
While Matt didn't know the full details of their investigation, he could tell how it was bothering the two of them, and decided that giving them the tip he received earlier wouldn't hurt. He'd been planning to investigate anyway, and a little back-up could go a long way when in unfamiliar territory.
"Do the names 'Taskmaster' and 'Dreykov' mean anything to you?" He asked, though his answer came from how quickly their heart rates sped up, and how the Black Widow just stopped breathing. He'd clearly struck a nerve. It took a few awkward moments of quiet before Hawkeye spoke again, his fellow Avenger still rendered speechless.
"Where'd you hear that name?!" The archer asked, voice coated in stress.
"Which one?"
"Dreykov."
Matt sighed, and summarized the information he received from the new vigilante. He hadn't honestly expected the names to mean much to the two Avengers, guessing that they were just a random mercenary with a codename, and some trafficking ringleader.
"And where is this vigilante now?" Black Widow managed to choke out, getting over the shock of whatever that name meant to her.
"Somewhere in the city. She came to me because she knew it was above her weight class. I told her to go home."
"Damn. Alright, but that is the best lead we've gotten all week. I'll call Tony and ask him to keep an eye out for her while we head to this address to scope it out." Hawkeye concluded, picking his bow up from where it rested beside him.
Romanoff nodded her head in agreement. "Scope it out tonight, make a plan of attack to hit it tomorrow."
"I'll come with you, this is something I want to see through." Matt told them. He wasn't one for working with others very often, but in a case like this? He could manage.
The three of them headed out into the city, heading south for Chelsea. Over the noise of the city and their own boots hitting the ground, Matt didn't hear the drone buzzing far overhead.
"They are heading this way, Taskmaster. Our position has been compromised!" Dimitri complained.
The Red Room enforcer had been getting on his nerves ever since his employer had sent the damn man to the city to "assist". All he had been doing though is complain and deride his capabilities. Now the man was working himself up into a frenzy that was completely unnecessary. Honestly, Anthony Masters couldn't wait until this op was done. It was the best paying gig he'd ever had, but the help was almost useless. The Widow played her role well, but from what he'd gathered, the woman was completely incapable of doing anything different than what she was told.
"We will be fine. They won't attack with just the three of them, especially when they have no idea what is waiting for them inside." He soothed, eyes still watching the monitor that displayed footage from the drone that stalked the three so-called heroes. It'd taken some time for him to work out the Devil's range of hearing, and it was honestly disconcerting just how far out of audio range the drones had to be in order to not be heard in return. He was glad that Dimitri had agreed to use one of his own agents to test the Devil, rather than the drones themselves. Had the vigilante been made aware of the drones, his paranoia would have made it far more difficult to track him.
"But where do we plan to go? We will need another base, and it will be far harder to operate in the city with the Avengers on our trail." The Russian agent retorted.
"Simple. We will be out of the city tomorrow."
Dimitri gaped like a fish for a second before sputtering; "Wh-what? We can't leave without the target!"
Anthony scoffed. "We won't. Had you not been… playing with your Widow for the past hour, you would've known that I found her." Taskmaster was many things; a rapist was not one of them. Of course, the money was enough to make him ignore the fact that Dimitri enjoyed ordering the Widow to follow him to a separate room every night, but in the end it still disgusted him. Maybe he could find a way to get the Russian killed before the mission was complete. Dreykov probably wouldn't complain so long as he got his prize, and his Widow back.
"Well? Where is she!" The obvious follow-up demand came.
Flipping the monitor to display a still image from a different drone, a picture of Payton Parker in her new… uniform… popped up. "With the Punisher. Her outfit is very disorganized, but the Kevlar vest with white spray paint is a pretty good giveaway." The screen flickered again, and this time it displayed live footage from a drone in Harlem, following a matte black van. "The kid managed to evade the drone, might be that sixth sense I noted after she got away the first time helped her know she was being followed. Castle doesn't have that advantage. Once he heads back to his nest we will know exactly where to strike."
From the corner of his visor, Anthony could see Dimitri nodding along. "I will recall the rest of the agents. We can hit the Punisher's hideout as soon as we locate it."
"Recall them, but we won't be attacking tonight." He corrected. "With the Avengers in play, we have to be careful. Castle won't be an easy man to defeat, and if word of a massive firefight in the city reached the tower, the Avengers will come."
He continued to watch as the Punisher drove through the city, probably patrolling for anybody to put down. It was a slower night up in Harlem though. Castle probably wasn't aware of the fact that Cage had been seen out and about, and most criminals decided to lay low after that. It meant that the murderous vigilante would probably be giving up and heading home sooner, if he didn't choose to travel to a different borough instead.
It had been a stroke of luck when he'd stepped outside for a moment and saw the strands of webs dangling from the ceiling. At first he had been confused, but it didn't take a genius to connect the dots between a person who'd been bitten by a spider and given spider-like abilities, to the webs he saw in the hallway. A normal person might've been fooled, but the webs were clearly not natural. A quick check of some of their hidden external cameras had shown the girl following the Widow in, and then leaving a short while later. Her build and gait matched exactly to what he had memorized during his original surveillance of the girl before he tried to nab her the first time. Parker had led him on a fine chase, but now the jig was up, and his trap was closing in around the girl, and she would never even see it coming.
Smiling menacingly underneath his helmet, Taskmaster brought up the last screen of his little presentation, a map of New York, with red circles surrounding multiple areas throughout the city. It was going to be a busy night and day, but by tomorrow evening, the Avengers would be far too distracted to even realize anything else was going on. By the time they figured it out… Payton would be far out of their reach.
Checkmate.