At the very edge of the park, she stopped and dropped to one knee. Instantly, she was swarmed as five of the eight squirrels that she'd been visiting with scampered up and over her to perch on her shoulders, head and in the case of two of them, on her knee. Monkey Joe sat just off to one side, taking in the sight.
ʆ"It was great seeing you all again,"ʆ she said, stroking the fur of one while shifting her head about to take them all in. ʆ"I'll try to visit again tomorrow or if not then, then definitely the day after"ʆ
A flash of movement caught her attention and she looked up.
Her eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped open at the pair of superheroes passing just a block away from where she was – one swinging up and down on his webs, the other flying through the air on what she knew was a magic broom.
Mage and Spider-Man.
Doreen's eyes tracked the two, taking in every detail that she could. This was the closest that she'd ever been to any of the heroes that she'd come to New York to meet. And while these two weren't the big one, the one that she was desperate to meet, they knew him.
Iron Man.
She'd nearly dropped the tray of plates and cups that she'd been carrying when the news had reported that he'd been supposedly killed. And her relief when he'd turned back up again, alive and well and kicking ass had had her jumping all over her room in her excitement.
As her eyes tracked the movements of the two superheroes, she tried to guess where they were going. And then she turned her head slightly and knew. Avengers Tower. They were on a direct route to Avengers Tower. Where Iron Man was now supposed to be living.
ʆ"Gotta go, guys. I'll see you later,"ʆ she said. ʆ"Come on, Monkey Joe."ʆ
Doreen paused just long enough for the squirrels to change places – her new friends back on the ground and Monkey Joe up on her shoulder – before she took off.
Her enhanced, squirrel-like abilities enabled her to run faster than almost anyone. But she was a long way behind Spider-Man and Mage and had a fair bit of work to do if she wanted to meet them and get them to introduce her to Iron Man.
ooo00ooo
The doors slamming open alerted Wilson to someone entering his domain.
Upon seeing the short, angry man clad in his now trademark black trench coat, his bald head displaying the scarred target on his forehead, he raised his hand. Instantly, the two guards stilled. They, too, knew how dangerous the man was in this particular mood.
"I take it that your hunt did not go well tonight?" Wilson asked.
"No. It did not," Bullseye grouched before flopping himself into the chair facing the desk.
"You weren't able to find him?" Wilson asked.
"Oh, no, I saw him right enough," Bullseye groused. "It were those other two. Hovering around and keeping me from getting close enough."
"Surely the presence of two individuals, no matter how enhanced they may be, offer no threat to you," Wilson cajoled.
Instantly, Bullseye's feet swung down from where they rested on Wilson's desk and he leant forward, a mad, intense look on his face.
"They …made … me … miss!" he growled.
"So, you missed," Wilson said, waving away the problem. "Just don't miss next time."
"You don't understand," Bullseye retorted. "I never miss. And they made me."
"If it has you that perturbed, then do something about it," Wilson suggested. "Aim for them, too."
A slow grin steadily spread across the mercenary's face.
"Aye. I will. And I won't even charge you for it. This I'll do for free. It's a matter of honour, now."
ooo00ooo
"A quiet night," Harry noted as he pushed off the hood of his cloak.
"Yeah, well, not every night can be a barrel of laughs. I mean, sure it would've been nice to beat up a few bad guys. But if the crooks are having a night in, what can you do?" Peter replied, shrugging his red shoulders with the distinctive webbing design.
"A quiet night is good, Peter," Harry counted. "It means that we're making a difference, making the criminals rethink their decisions.
Once again, the younger man shrugged. "Or that we were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Harry nodded. He had to give the give his partner that one.
And it had been a quiet night. In the entirety of their four-hour patrol, they hadn't seen one single criminal act being committed. Not even Daredevil, who they'd shadowed for part of that night, had had any criminal activity to combat.
Two heads, suddenly and simultaneously, snapped to the left and down, as though they could see through part of the roof of Harry's building.
Harry knew what'd caught his attention – the wards that he'd placed around the alley had been tripped by someone entering it. He assumed that it was Peter's famous spider-sense that had alerted him to the same information.
Quickly, Harry pulled up the hood of his cloak. At the same time, he snapped his wrist, bringing his wand ready for use. A quick notice-me-not charm on the two of them later, and they approached the edge of the building and looked down.
The figure down there seemed to flit from shadow to shadow, but it was as they passed a lighted patch that Harry noted the small shape on their shoulder.
"It's just Doreen," he noted, relaxing slightly. "Although I would have thought that it was a bit late for her to be out."
"Like we're ones to talk," Peter snorted quietly.
Any retort on Harry's lips was instantly forgotten as Doreen took one last look around before crouching slightly and jumping up – straight up to the window of her third-floor bedroom.
Harry and Peter could only stare at each other, both wondering if what they'd just seen had really happened.
.
.
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