𝐝𝐞𝐣𝐚 𝐯𝐮, peter parker

lxix. go get 'em, tiger ii

chapter sixty-nine
go get 'em, tiger, part two

THEY FELT like they were working against time. None of them knew what the Green Goblin, Electro, Sandman and the Lizard were planning on doing▬and none of them knew where Doc Ock was either. From what Peter told Nina, was that he managed to cure Otto Octavius, but hasn't seen him since the fight at Happy's condo. She didn't want to ask more, knowing that he wanted to keep his head forward and focus on ending this once and for all▬for Aunt May and for the world. As they all continued to work, Nina tried to move around without an awkward breath, but she couldn't help it.

She didn't know how to explain to the other Peter Parkers that she knew them, and yet she didn't. She didn't know how to explain that she remembered memories that weren't even her own, and yet deep down felt as though she lived through every single one. How does she say that she remembered falling, and she remembered Peter desperately trying to catch her▬how does she explain that she knew exactly what Nina was feeling before she died; her last thoughts ... and yet wasn't the same person?

How does she ask the older Peter Parker what happened to her in his world? How does she ask how she died? Did Nina Hart really want to know?

All of her friends were helping out in their own way. Felicia hovered over MJ's shoulder as the both of them worked with Nina's Peter, rebuilding the broken pieces. Ned was pushing his chair back and forth from his computer running diagnostics and checking every other serum out with a curious eye. He had so many questions and unlike Nina, wasn't scared to ask them.

"So ... do you have a best friend, too?" he asked the eldest Peter Parker as he fixed his goggles over his work.

"I did," answered this Peter Parker, concentrating on passing the right amount of concentration between beakers.

Ned faltered at his choice of words. He swallowed hard and frowned. "You ... did?"

"He died in my arms after he tried to kill me." He squeezed the drops into the serum with a distant look on his face. "It was heartbreaking."

Ned didn't know exactly how to react to that. He heard the other Peter Parker whisper a soft, "Dude," as if he knew exactly what his variant was talking about. Ned glanced at him and a horrible realisation hit him. He went pale.

He slowly rolled his chair away from them, a bit blank of thoughts▬he was absolutely scarred by what he heard. He wandered back towards his laptop, barely comprehending his best friend, Peter Parker, look away from the anti-serums he was constructing with MJ and Felicia.

"Hey," murmured Peter, a little confused by his best friend's face. "Will you run a diagnostic?"

"Yeah," mumbled Ned in a small voice. He started the diagnostic and then quickly shuffled away without a word.

Peter, MJ and Felicia all watched him go with confused looks. He passed Nina who went to say something, only to arch a brow when she was met with silence. The friends all locked gazes across the room. Nina shrugged, bewildered.

Nina frowned at Ned one final time, wondering what had happened before she let it be and slowly walked over to the Peter Parker working on Dr. Connor's antidote. She pursed her lips and swung her arms at her side awkwardly, the school-issued lab coat a bit too big for her. Noticing her make her way over, the Amazing Spider-Man looked up, surprised to see her so close▬and had a moment where he thought it was his Nina ... and that struck a horrible bullet to his heart.

He pushed it away and tilted his head. "You okay? You need something?"

Nina pursed her lips again, finding it hard to look away from this Peter Parker's face. She remembered him so well, and yet they weren't her memories, and yet she experienced them in her dreams all the same▬so did that make them her own memories, too?