Chapter Twenty Two: Reconciliation
"Do you have a moment to talk?" Jean asked appraising the attire Ben was wearing. He donned a pair of faded blue jeans and an old T-shirt with the sleeves cut out. Jean couldn't help but notice his muscular arms, it was apparent that besides the training Ben had been doing at the institute he was also very active otherwise.
"Well, a friend is coming by he wants some help with a project…" He was feeling weirded out by the conversation, Ben was under the impression there was a barrier between them. He was okay with that, he didn't really expect to jump into a relationship with a girl he barely knew. Add on the fact that she had a boyfriend and he had kissed that girl, well he didn't have to be a chef to know that was a recipe for a disaster.
"Umm, look I just wanted to get this out in the open… When we kissed the other day I was a little freaked out…" she paused and Ben took over before she had a chance to say everything.
"I'm sorry about that if I had known…"
"Wait let me finish!" She said a little exasperated
Nodding his head she continued, "I I was inside your head, and how my power works is unpredictable at times. For a time I lived your life, and I didn't know which emotion was my own or which was yours… It's a little complex, but I reached out to a friend hoping to understand my own emotions…"
"Scott…?" He felt a little ridiculous, he wouldn't have pegged Scott as the go-to guy for emotional advice. He seemed like such a stick in the mud. But Jean nodded looking guilty.
"Scott's not a bad guy, I'm not really sure what got into him then… I can only guess that was his attempt at protecting me…?"
"Jean...? Are you saying you don't understand what happened the other day?"
At her blank look, he slapped his forehead. "You've got to be kidding me, Jean! Look, I am not sure what your relationship has been in the past but he obviously likes you."
Jean's eyes widened at his statement and she started to stutter as she spoke, "B Ben, I I only think of him… a as a brot…brother. And h how he's treated yyou its sn not right and…"
"Okay, Jean I understand but maybe you should be telling that to him." Ben didn't know what to do with stuttering confused Jean he was used to the confident and in control team leader. It gave him a smile on his face as he imagined the way she reacted after he kissed her, she had turned beat red and ran out of the room like a scared mouse. His mood improved dramatically, it was nice to know that she only saw Scott as a family. Although he can't say he has the same feelings he shared with MJ he had grown to like this other redhead. Still, she had a boyfriend and he couldn't be any more than a friend for now.
"I I will. Thank you... So are we friends again?"
"I always considered you a friend it was just a little awkward... ya know?" Jean nodded as they walked towards the entrance of the mansion.
"So what are you doing later?"
"I'm not sure, Mr. Brown wanted to do a project and then have dinner..." Hesitantly he continued, "But afterward do you want to do something?"
"Actually yes. You need some serious training and our team needs to learn to work together. Since our training time was cut short I was thinking about having some additional time in the Danger Room."
"Ok. That sounds good to me!" to be honest he was a little disappointed that she didn't just want to hang out but training was probably better anyway. As they left the massive doorway Ben found Mr. Brown had already arrived in his old Plymouth Roadrunner and was patiently waiting for him. Giving him a wave he turned back to Jean with a smile.
"Well that's my ride, I'll see you tonight?"
Jean nodded and watched the blond run to the red car and drive away.
"So, that didn't seem too hard now was it?" A voice said behind her. Turning around she found the girl that had been encouraging her since she spilled her secrets to her on Thursday.
"Were you watching the whole time?" Jean asked embarrassingly
Shaking her head Rogue replied, "Just the tail end… So are you guys like an item or what?"
Blushing Jean shook her head, "No we are friends."
"Right. And I didn't just catch you checking out his butt as he got into the car." Rogue said matter of factly.
Blushing harder she swatted her friend's shoulder in jest.
"You would only know if you were looking too!" Jean said with an embarrassed smile.
Wiggling her eyebrows she said, "I can't touch but damned if I can't look!" Laughing they retreated into the institute.
RED ROOSTER JUNKYARD
"So wha do ya think?" William Brown said as they approached a GTO that was missing the hood and an obvious empty space where the engine would normally be seen. Mr. Brown was wearing a flannel shirt and blue jeans his larger form made Ben think of a lumberjack.
Peering inside the window Ben looked at the interior it seemed mostly intact except for a missing seat and dashboard.
"Well, I can't say it won't be fun to put it together… but it's a large project." He replied.
"Ain't it though! Alright, let's get this baby on the trailer."
Ben smiled at the older man's enthusiasm it had been a long time since he just felt like a normal guy, even if he has never worked on cars before he had the mechanical knowledge to hot-wire a Sentinel. It shouldn't be too hard to piece together a 1970 Pontiac GTO, he was thinking about the improvements he could secretly apply.
BAYVILLE DOWNTOWN
Peter had been swinging through the city streets for days and the only spider that has been crawling around these walls had been himself. He was beginning to think that it was a fluke maybe some guy had put on a costume and paraded around town… It wouldn't have been the first time, or the second, or the third. But he knew that wasn't the truth this time however much he wanted it to be.
He wasn't sure if the new Spider fellow had found out he was here or if this was all a plan to lure him to Bayville for an awaiting trap. Truth was, at this point if it was a trap then he should have at least found a single lead or something, but he hadn't it's was quiet. It wasn't too quiet just normal everyday quiet.
Sighing he jumped from the perch he had been squatting on, and he swung out into the city. One thing about Bayville although it was similar it also was definitely different than New York. the endless amounts of buildings to attach a web onto was lacking in Bayville, it wasn't really a bad thing it just required more jumping than swinging.
Landing on a four-story building Peter thought he heard something from the ground in a back alley. Deciding to investigate anything that could be a lead he dropped down to the street level.
Suddenly his spider senses went crazy telling him danger was coming, he looked up to see the large form of a dumpster blotting out the sun as it was flying through the air directly towards him. Jumping out of the way the rocketing metal sailed end over end until it smacked into the brick wall he had just been standing beside. Peter followed where the projectile had come from, only see a glimpse of what appeared to be a crawling figure escaping into the rooftop.
'The clone!' Peter internally said he kept across the remaining distance to the building the clone had escaped and scaled upward as fast as he could.
This was going to be tricky, it seemed they shared the same abilities. But he had defeated his clone before all he had to do was think smarter than himself... well yeah that seemed hard but not impossible. Quickly chasing after the indistinct figure he jumped to the building than topped the railing above. Thankfully he hadn't lost him but just barely. The clone had sent a web-line out and was now escaping to another cluster of buildings.
Time and time again he would nearly catch up only to lose the dark figure once again. After a while it started to occurred to him... this is totally a trap!
No sooner had he thought those words when he heard a hissing sound and the area around him started to fill up with gas. 'Yeah just out-think yourself... idiot!' was Peter's final thoughts as he lost consciousness.
Watching Peter fall asleep on the floor Kaine's scarred face smiled, "One down... and a little brother to go!" His menacing gasp reverberated out into the air.