Chapter 19: Success Again

                                    

                                          
You woke up suddenly, almost falling out of your chair. You grabbed the desk in front of you for support and saved your fall, but in the process knocked a stack of paper off the desk. 
                          
You had been poring over every scientific report on the properties of teleportation you could find for the past three hours... until you fell asleep, apparently. 
                          
The second teleportation machine worked, you and Peter had tested it that morning with a granola bar- it went off without a hitch. Now that you had everything you needed though, it was time to try and figure out how to track TelePro. 
                          
It was time for the hard part.
                          
Peter and you had printed out everything you could find- scientific research papers, conspiracy theories, sci-fi explanations... and gotten through a quarter of them before he'd had to leave. You had only meant to stay down in the basement for a half hour more at most, but you checked the time and - 11:45. Wonderful. 
                          
You picked up the stacks of paper you'd knocked off the desk and grabbed your phone, trudging upstairs. Lee and Laurie were passed out on the couch, wrapped around each other as the TV showed the 'are you still watching screen'. 
                          
You snuck past them and up to your room, sliding into bed and flicking off the light. Your brain didn't want to shut off though, and your little nap had made you wide awake. 
                          
Grumbling to yourself, you rolled over in bed. Your mind kept drifting between the task at hand and Peter. You had been sure he was going to ask you... something related to feelings. And, sure, asking if you were doing okay was technically feelings, but that wasn't what you were looking for. 
                          
Honestly, you weren't even sure that he liked you. He might just be an affectionate person, hell, you'd had plenty of friends who would randomly hold your hand all the time. Maybe you were just projecting...
                          
Your window slid open. 
                          
You sat bolt upright in bed, switching on the light and grabbing the Norton Anthology of Poetry Laurie kept to use as a weapon. 
                          
Peter climbed into the window, seeing you and raising his hands in a sign of peace. "It's just me."
                          
You dropped the book, your heart hammering in your chest. "You can't just do that Peter I thought I was going to die."
                          
He smiled, concerned. "Sorry... I probably should have knocked, but it's kind of urgent."
                          
You looked him over. "You're not hurt or anything are you?"
                          
"No, no." Peter said. "I just had a thought while I was out patrolling, about how to maybe track this guy... do you have any paper?"
                          
You crossed the room quickly, pulling Laurie's desk drawer open and grabbing a notebook. You opened it to an empty page and grabbed a pen, handing them to Peter. "Here."
                          
He started scribbling quickly, balancing the pad against his knee. You peered over his shoulder to read his messy scrawl. 
                          
"Magnetic pulse tracker?" You read aloud. "Wait... that's actually genius! If we can pinpoint what kind of magnetic pulse it generates and then scan the area for a copy..."
                          
Peter finished his thought in the notebook, handing it back to you. "We can figure out the logistics of that tomorrow, but... I just didn't want to forget." He said. 
                          
"Oh this wasn't just an elaborate plan to come see me in the middle of the night?" You joked, taking the notebook and stowing it on your bedside table. 
                          
Peter awkwardly laughed. "I mean... kind of."
                          
You paused. "Oh."
                          
He suddenly flushed, turning back to the window. "Um... I should get back to patrolling." He said. "Crime never stops and all that... yeah."
                          
"Right." You said. "Uh, good luck with that. And good night I guess."
                          
Peter perched on the windowsill. "I'll see you tomorrow." He said. "We can start on that."
                          
"Right. Tomorrow." 
                          
You watched Peter launch a web into the distance, gracefully falling out of the window until it pulled taught and swung him forward. He flew off into the distance, and you watched him go, just gazing out the window after him. 
                          
"Was that Peter?"
                          
You whipped around, seeing a groggy Lee holding a sleeping Laurie in his arms. "No." You said. 
                          
Lee shuffled over to Laurie's bed, laying her down gently. "I'm pretty sure that was Peter. And that he was wearing Spider-Mans outfit. And that he jumped out the window."
                          
"You're still asleep." You tried. "This is a dream."
                          
Lee just blinked at you. "Right... I had a dream that I carried my girlfriend up to bed and walked in on you and Spider-Man- who happens to be Peter- having a conversation about working on the machine tomorrow."
                          
You flopped on your own bed. "You can't tell anybody, okay?"
                          
"Is this why you wanted him to help?" Lee asked. "Because he's... experienced, I guess?"
                          
"Yeah." You said. "I was just worried. And he's helping with the building and the research too, so..."
                          
Lee nodded. "It was a good call."
                          
You just looked at him for a moment. "I just didn't want her rushing into a fight alone... if this works."
                          
Lee glanced down at Laurie, peacefully sleeping. "I know. And knowing now... I'm glad he's with us."
                          
You nodded. "You really can't tell anyone. Even his aunt doesn't know."
                          
"Don't worry about it." Lee said. "I hardly talk to anybody anyway." He joked. 
                          
"Not even Laurie." You said. 
                          
"I won't tell her," Lee said. "But she'll find out on her own eventually."
                          
"I know." You said. 
                          
"I guess... thank you." Lee said. "For getting Spider-Man on our team."
                          
"Oh, well it's not really me you should be thanking." You said. 
                          
"Yeah, but Peter doesn't know that I know yet." Lee said. "I don't want to just drop that on him."
                          
"Well... how are you planning on telling him?" You asked. 
                          
Lee glanced down at his phone. "Dunno. I'll figure it out." He said. "I'm going to run home, but I'll be back tomorrow."
                          
"Night." You said. 
                          
Lee turned back in the doorway, muttering a quick 'gnight' before disappearing down the hall. You flopped back on your bed, finally feeling sleepy enough to fall asleep. 
                          
You listened to Laurie's peaceful breathing lull you into your own sleep, thinking about magnetism and radar scanning and Peter. Sweet, dorky, kind Peter. Peter who was Spider-Man. Peter who stopped trains with his bare hands. Peter who held your hand.