230. Lines That Cannot Be Crossed. (Patreon)

Mary Parker POV:

A mother is supposed to shape her child with love, guidance and patience.

I did none of those things for Peter. He came out of my womb and that was my only undeniable contribution to his life.

Even that felt hollow when weighed against everything else.

Richard and I had always been good at finding information. Old habits from the CIA die hard.

We used our contacts, burned favors and pulled strings that should have remained untouched. All to keep tabs on a son we had abandoned.

We knew everything.

His transformation into the Lizard, his body broken, shattered beyond repair and the spine-mounted prosthesis that brought him back from the brink and the nanomachines flowing through his blood like liquid salvation.

The founding of Parker Industries, his marriage, his war against the impossible and his… saving of the multiverse.

We knew as we watched him from a distance. We were like ghosts haunting a life we had no right to be part of.

“To say I’m proud…” I whispered under my breath, following Melina and Alexei through the corridor, “feels like an insult to what he’s become.”

Teresa walked beside me and she was so much like him and unlike me she hadn't given up hope.

The corridor ahead looked like a battlefield where violence was an expression of precision.

Bodies lay scattered across the floor. They were all dead due to clean cuts.

There wasn't any gore or blood pooling as the cuts were also cauterized.

It was death that was delivered with surgical efficiency.

Melina exhaled slowly. “Plasma weaponry.” She muttered.

Alexei, however, seemed almost… impressed.

“Titanium-A battle plate shield” he said while pointing at his red shield while nudging one of the fallen soldiers with his boot. “Very nice, da?”

Teresa forced a polite smile while I said nothing.

Because all I could see was what it meant.

This wasn’t a fight, this was a message aimed at everyone who might oppose him.

Then suddenly Peter arrived. He moved so fast the air itself seemed to protest.

His body shimmered slightly and then I realized why.

He was steaming.

Teresa blinked. “Uh… Peter?” she said cautiously. “You’re… steaming?”

He smiled.

“Lil sis,” he said lightly, “did you really think running at twice the speed of sound doesn’t come with drawbacks?”

Teresa’s eyes widened.

My heart… my heart broke. Because he called Teresa lil sis so easily.

It was a connection in which I had no part in.

He didn’t look at me. Not once, not even accidentally.

His gaze stayed on Teresa's eyes.

“Alright,” he continued, all business now. “Spartan IV squads will breach through the runway. Winter-class Prowler will extract you both.”

He gestured towards me and Teresa. “You’ll be taken to Parker Industries Moscow Branch. From there teleported to New York.”

“Medical scans will confirm you’re not…” he paused briefly, “…American Dad-level CIA clones.”

Teresa let out a soft huff of amusement. I didn’t because he made it clear, he isn't interested in us.

“And after that,” he finished, “you’ll be reunited with Richard Laurence Parker.”

Not dad instead a designation for stranger.

“Peter…” Teresa said softly.

He turned to her instantly. “Yes?”

She hesitated then gently said, “You can call them mom and dad, you know.”

“Sorry, lil sis,” he said. “My mom is Maybelle Reilly Parker… and my dad is Benjamin Franklin Parker.”

Each word landed like a blade.

It was a line drawn so clearly, so absolutely that there was no room for misunderstanding.

I felt my knees weaken but I didn’t fall because I didn’t deserve the luxury.

In that moment I understood that we weren’t rejected. We were just irrelevant.

And that was worse.

So much worse.

At that moment I decided no more running or hiding behind regret.

I missed his wedding, his childhood. I missed Peter's everything.

Maybe just maybe I didn’t have to miss everything else.

“I’ll earn it,” I whispered to myself. “I’ll earn the right… to be part of his life. To hold his child… to stand beside him… even if it takes the rest of my life.”

Because this was the consequence of our choices and I would face it.

The hangar doors opened while cold air rushed in.

“Point defense systems disabled,” came a voice over the intercomms. “Dreykov’s master control is locked out.”

Right on cue, a Winter-class Prowler descended alongside another craft.

From inside of the other craft came out Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, War Machine and then... Spider-Woman.

No.

That wasn’t enough to describe her. She wasn’t just Spider-Woman right now. She was something more, something divine and something terrifyingly beautiful.

The Archangel of the Web.

Her armor shimmered with impossible elegance. Art and science fused into something beyond comprehension.

Her mask began to retract aand Peter moved instantly to cover her face.

“Careful,” he said seriously. “There’s a CIA star employee here.”

Another blade that didn't miss my heart.

Teresa stepped forward. “Come on, big bro,” she said gently. “Cut mom some slack. Do you really think she’d expose Gwen?”

Peter didn’t even hesitate.

“To make that assessment,” he said evenly, “I would need sufficient knowledge of them. I have no knowledge of Richard Laurence Parker… and Mary Fitzpatrick Parker beyond what the government databases have on them.”

The tears came, I couldn’t stop them and didn’t try to because I deserved every single word, every single ounce of pain and every single consequence.

Teresa pulled me toward the Prowler. Guided me inside and held me together when I couldn’t.

I realized that we didn’t come back for Peter. We came back because we needed him to save Teresa, to fix our mistakes and that was the cruelest truth of all.

Yelena Belova POV:

Pain is the first thing I felt and pain meant I was alive.

My eyes snapped open and I saw metal ceiling and felt restraints biting into my wrists.

I was strapped to a medical table around me were a bunch of Russian voices. “Subject shows no residual compliance markers, cranial examination required without any anesthesia.”

Idiots. They thought I was helpless, they thought I was broken and unfortunately they thought wrong.

“Let’s open her up,” One of them said casually.

"And see what Parker’s little miracle did.”

Another chuckled. “Careful. Wouldn’t want to damage the brain.”

They leaned closer and my suit responded instantly.

Blades emerged from my morphed suit.

The restraints fell away like paper and before they could react a clean line appeared across the first doctor’s throat, the second tried to scream and a blade through the neck.

For the third, I didn’t even bother with finesse as I slammed his head into the table until he stopped moving.

“Disgrace,” I muttered, stepping over the bodies. “To the medical field.”

Inside the storage room sat rows of containers containing Mist. Samples that Melina supposedly turned in.

I grabbed everything I could carry, strapped them to my suit, secured them tight and the next stop.

I made my way to the server room. There were four guards fully armed and are fully armed.

I moved through them like a ghost and after a few moments they were defeated.

I was in the nervous system of Dreykov’s empire.

I plugged in the data worm nanobots. They were Peter’s little gift to Dreykov.

“Let’s see how you like losing control.” I whispered.

Upload of data started and the progress bar kept climbing.

10%.

30%.

60%.

90%.

100%.

Done.

“Congratulations,” I murmured to the empty room. “This rustbucket is now officially… my bitch.”

“Landing zone clear,” I said calmly to the Comms. “Bring in the tin men.”

I grabbed the Mist canisters, turned toward the corridor and toward the heart of the Red Room.

“Alright,” I said softly. “Let’s set you all free.”