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It was when they were hanging out, laughing and talking about another visit to the Empire State Building, this time just the two of them, that it all started. The schedule was later than last time, which allowed them to better avoid agitated fans and inconvenient photographers. Emma and Andrew really loved their fans, but they were still human, and there were times when they just wanted to get home and rest to continue shooting The Amazing Spider-Man the next day. And they tended to get along relatively well with the spy photographers, even calling some of them to chat sometimes or taking advantage of the sudden attention to upraise signs indicating charities that deserved attention and help.
They were somewhat disguised, intending to go as far as their glasses, bonnets and coats would allow before being noticed. They walked arm in arm to a more deserted spot to locate a taxi.
“You're crazy,” Emma said laughing. “Taking pictures from a height like that... Again.”
He laughed along with her.
“I am Spider-Man. It makes perfect sense to take a picture from the top of the Empire State Building pretending I'm suspended in a web like Peter would.”
“I think I'd be dizzy without the security cables.”
“Good point. That's why I asked you and the guide to hold my legs just in case. None of us want to wake up to Spider-Man's death making the front page of the New York Times because he was out of launchers in a photo.
“Andrew!” Emma exclaimed laughing along with him.
He reached out to hail one of the two taxis that appeared between the cars, still a little way off, receiving a nod from one of the drivers through the window.
“I'll drop you home first.”
“Your house is closer to here.”
“Doesn’t matter. I'll just sleep soundly with my girl properly safe at home.”
She smiled and kissed him on the lips, breaking contact when she heard Andrew take a deep breath, and from the sound that escaped his throat, he looked like he was in pain.
“Are you okay?” She asked as she walked away from him, who had his eyes half wide, between shock and confusion.
“Oh!” Andrew exclaimed, taking his hand to the right side of his neck as if he wanted to capture an insect. “But what was that?” He asked himself, opening his hand to see that he had captured a small black and reddish brown spider, unlike any he had ever seen in his life.
“Oh, my God! Did she hurt you?!”
Emma let go of his arm and walked to the other side, tugging at the collar of her coat to try to see the skin of his neck through the night shadows cast by the lights around them.
“I don't know, but it hurts.”
“It died?”
“Yes, it's not moving.”
Looking at the supposed bite site, Emma saw a raised red mark and ran her fingers over it, causing Andrew to instinctively jump away from the touch, which normally he would never do to her.
“Sorry, Em. It hurts.”
“Don't get rid of the spider, keep it.”
“But...”
“If it makes you sick, it will be useful to know what animal it was. Forget our well-deserved night's rest, we'd better go to a hospital.”
“Em, I'm fine. It just hurts.”
“You’re fine now. And later? What if you die in your sleep?”
“Just as well you said your worst habit is freaking out over nothing.”
“Nothing? Andrew Russell Garfield! It's your life we're talking about. And I'm not even going to talk about a movie that millions of people are waiting for and many more are working hard for it, because your life is still more important than those other two things.”
He smiled at her as he watched Emma retrieve an empty plastic wrapper from her bag and take the spider out of his hand to put it away. And whether they would even go home or a hospital would have to be decided now, as the taxi had just pulled up in front of them.
“Hospital!” Emma spoke as she pushed him into the taxi, and asked the driver to urgently take them to the nearest health center.
Between traffic lights and some streets half full of cars, they managed to have fun when the driver immediately identified them, being him and his children longtime fans of Spider-Man, being calm and cheerful, and asking if they were okay. Knowing what had just happened, he did his best to get as quickly, and safely, as possible to Mount Sinai Beth Israel. The two took a smiling photo with the man before thanking him, paying the fare and heading to their destination.
******
“Did you see? Medication and hot compress. I'll be fine, they didn't find anything wrong with the blood test either.”
“But you might not. How would we know which spider this is and what it might do?”
“I cannot disagree. I know next to nothing about spiders in real life.”
He didn't insist on the contrary when Emma decreed that she would spend the night with him and tend to the injury, still letting the film crew know what had happened, that Andrew was fine, and they probably wouldn't have any more problems.
Hospital staff had had a hard time identifying the spider when Emma showed it, and they suggested some compatible species, directing both to return immediately if anything happened.
“Take off that pile of clothes, we need to take care of that,” she said getting rid of her cap, glasses, coat, bag, leaving everything on the table and heading to the kitchen, where Andrew heard her take a pan from the cupboards and fill it with water.
He followed the gesture of his beloved, removing his warm clothes, glasses, and opening the first buttons of his shirt, to facilitate access to the sting on his neck. Going to the bathroom mirror, he pulled his clothes off to observe the injury. It was starting to lighten, perhaps from the medication received at the hospital, but still with some swelling and pain. He regretted it immediately as he touched the place and felt the pain rush through his head.
“And, where are you?”
He went back to the bedroom when he heard her call, seeing Emma holding the thermos bag wrapped in a towel to protect her hands and his skin from the high temperature.
“Sit down, we'll take care of it soon.”
Andrew kicked off his shoes and crept to her side on the bed. Emma undid the rest of the buttons on his shirt and pulled the fabric away from his neck, gently applying the compress there. He groaned quickly in pain at the contact, and turned his face to look at her, who was smiling at him as she held the compress in place.
“What a thing, no, bug boy?”
Andrew laughed.
“I think this is a sign, I was born to be Spider-Man, even the spiders themselves know that.”
“Yes, you are amazing!”
The two laughed together and intertwined the fingers of one hand.
“Is it hurting a lot?”
“Any less. Don't you intend to spend all night watching me, do you? We need to sleep, although tomorrow we'll only resume recording in the afternoon.”
“Do you expect me to lie down and sleep peacefully after this?”
“If it was dangerous they would have left me hospitalized. You have to have hope, Gwen.”
She smiled again, and Andrew smiled back. Her smile was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen, and one of the things he loved the most.
“Do you want to do anything other than take care of me? We haven't had dinner yet, and we could watch something.”
“Let's order food from that wonderful restaurant, I don't have the courage to cook today.”
“Neither do I,” he replied. “I accept the suggestion.”
Half an hour later the two of them were sitting on the bed, eating and talking about random topics, the movie idea and the compress forgotten for the moment.
“No matter how many times you tell me this story about how you convinced your parents to move to Los Angeles,” he laughed along with her. “I love hearing it again.”
“Glad they agreed with me. It could be someone else taking care of you right now.”
“Don't even play with it! It had to be you.”
He would never get tired of seeing her smile. He was thinking about it that he kissed her for a long time.
“Are you sure you're better?” Emma asked after taking a deep breath with the end of the kiss.
“Yes, Em,” he assured, kissing his girlfriend's temple.
Andrew took everything they were using into the kitchen, sorting what would go to the trash and recycling, while Emma showered for them to sleep soon. They left belongings at each other's houses just for occasions like this. Seeing her return to the bedroom, wearing a sleeveless T-shirt and shorts, he kissed her and headed for the bathroom, taking advantage of the hot water to soothe the bruise on his neck. When she returned to the bedroom, wearing only her pajama shorts, Emma was packing the pillows and had a new compress for him.
“Lay down here.”
Andrew obeyed, and saw her turn off the light, leaving only the dim light of the lamp on a small table in the corner of the bedroom, so neither of them would walk blindly if them woke up in the middle of the night, then lie down beside him, pulling the sheet up over the two of them and replacing the thermal bag around his neck while giving his a kiss.
“You have to promise to wake me up if you feel anything,” she said firmly.
“I promise, honey. Trust your friendly neighborhood.”
Emma chuckled softly and the two chatted until the compress had cooled and they had set it aside on the nightstand.
“You need sleep too,” Andrew said. “Please don't keep an eye on me.”
“I know.”
The two embraced and he stroked the golden hair of his beloved until he recognized the calm breathing that let him know that she was really asleep, to finally also close his eyes and rest.
******
“Andrew...?” Emma's worried voice reached her ears far away, but he couldn't concentrate on answering her.
His mind was racing and flashes of the spider that had attacked him the night before flashed across his vision. Vibrant colors seemed to flash around him, and he felt something coursing through his veins, sometimes making him feel cold inside, sometimes setting him on fire. He felt himself shudder and Emma's worried hand found his chest as she shook him. For a moment she didn't say anything, and kept her hand there, as if trying to feel his heart. He knew this because he heard her breathing synchronize with his as she listened and felt. Emma spoke again, and her voice was starting to get panicky, but Andrew couldn't open his eyes as the strange images continued to process through his mind. Perhaps he should have paid more attention to his girlfriend's fears the night before. Was it still dawn? He couldn't see.
“You have a fever,” she said in a tone that sounded like crying. “We have to go back to the hospital!”
“Em...”
“I'm here” she replied holding his hand firmly.
“Don't cry,” Andrew finally managed to say as his mind began to reorganize and he opened his eyes, being dazzled by the light from the open window, and having the urge to flee when the light seemed much stronger than usual.
Before either of them had time to register what was happening, his body seemed to react on its own, and in a split second he leapt from the bed to the ceiling. Yes, the ceiling!! Not even understanding how he managed to get stuck there, and instantly remembering the subway scene he'd filmed days ago.
“And...” Emma said shocked in a thin voice looking at him, some tears still leaving her eyes.
“Em...” he whispered, looking at his own members and seeing that he was trapped exactly like Peter Parker in the subway scene, his hands and feet were glued to the ceiling. “How...?”
The first thing he feared was scaring her enough that she ran and didn't want to be around him anymore.
“I don't know,” she replied, drying her face with her hands. “Are you ok? Do you feel any pain?”
Andrew felt his heart burn with love for her one more time of so many times. He should have terrified her by now, but she was worried about him.
“Can you get down from there?”
“I don't know... I'm sorry, Em.”
“For what reason?”
“For scaring you. I have no idea now...”
“I know. I know, love. Get down from there, and we'll take care of this together.”
“I don't know how to get down.”
Emma seemed to think for a moment before speaking.
“Try walking across the ceiling until you reach the wall.”
Andrew looked once more at the hands stuck there and tried to move them, but without moving, only after several attempts managed to move one of them to another point on the ceiling.
“Without webs you'll get hurt...” Emma tried to reflect, and without even realizing it, entering the perfect reasoning of the hero played by her boyfriend. “Good thing you're right on top of the bed. You're nervous... Peter always says in the stories that in this situation just calm down. Try doing this. Carefully.”
Andrew nodded, and closed his eyes for a moment, breathing deeply for a few minutes, starting to feel the pressure of his feet and hands on the ceiling ease. He released his feet first, then one of his hands, managing to aim for the bed and land on top of it when he let go of the other. Emma immediately ran to hug him tightly and stroke his hair. Andrew shrank his hands and feet, trying to avoid touching her.
“It's ok,” she said kissing his forehead. “It's ok.”
Andrew closed his eyes as Emma still hugged him to her chest and stroked his back, her other hand still tangled in his hair.
“I thought you were dying” she spoke in a thin voice.
“Me too.”
The two stayed like that, hugging and silent for several minutes that seemed like an eternity.
“What was that?” He finally asked. “Did I die and end up in a parallel universe? Breaking the fourth wall like Deadpool talks about in his movies?”
“I don't know... You... Got bitten by an unidentified weird spider, and... You literally became Spider-Man. Like...? If anyone broke the fourth wall, it was that spider.”
“I think we would get more answers by asking Stan Lee or Steve Ditko.”
“How would they know that?”
“They created him.”
“But... Andrew... I don't even know what to think.”
“Neither do I.”
“Could some crazy fanatic have created this spider? And left it like that? Or have let it slip? That is very dangerous.”
“Emma, we're not going to find answers here. And we can't go around asking just anyone. You saved the spider's corpse, let's try to find someone reliable to analyze it. And no, let's not go back to the hospital, I would be detained as a living experiment, or by the police, that's one thing in movies and series that's not so untrue. And if I was going to die I think it'd have happened during the night.”
“I don't know what to do... Maybe it's even a good idea to talk to Stan Lee, he's going to show up to record on set these days. Who knows? It's a starting point anyway.”
“Have you ever heard those real stories of people who went through accidents or illness and when they recovered they developed some superhuman ability? Maybe it was just that.”
“Just that?! You stuck to the ceiling!”
“There are people who stick to metal, or the metal sticks to them.”
She looked at him thoughtfully for a while, shrugging her shoulders, having no idea what to really do.
“Let's do what we can now. You've got a little fever, let's take care of it, and let me see the place of the bite.”
Andrew lowered his head to expose his neck to her, and Emma's eyes widened to see that there was absolutely nothing there.
“Em... What was it? Don't tell me my skin is starting to look like a spider like the Lizard does.”
“No... There's nothing else, it's perfect, completely healed,” she said sliding her fingers over the spot, confirming the healing when Andrew didn't show any sign of pain.
“What madness...”
“It's... Let me see your hands.”
He sat across from her and looked down at his hands before opening them, pulling them back when Emma tried to touch.
“That hurts?”
“No. I just feel a tingling, but it's going away. It's just... I don't want to risk hurting you if my hand gets caught in yours.”
Emma caught his wrists before he could pull back again.
“You won't hurt me. Stay calm, as you were to get down from the ceiling.”
Andrew nodded and allowed, still warily, for her to slide her fingers through the palm of his right hand, feeling the rough texture of the microstructures that allowed him to cling to the walls and ceiling. She did this a few times, until Andrew was so distracted watching her, that his heart calmed down, and Emma felt his skin become smooth again when the new ability was deactivated.
“See? We can handle this together,” she smiled. “At least until we find out what's going on, or go crazy trying.”
Saying that, she brought his hand to her face, and Andrew couldn't resist caressing her skin, starting to feel confident again and pulling her into a hug. Emma pressed him against her, returning to stroking his hair. Oh, she loved his hair, and Andrew knew Emma could spend hours playing with the brown strands when they had time to be alone.
“I would be lost without you.”
“Every hero needs support from my point of view. Me and Gwen agreed on that.”
He smiled against his beloved's neck and kissed her there.
“I really want to write a book about how I feel about you.”
Emma laughed, making her beloved's heart swell with relief and joy at having her with him, especially now.
“You again with this story.”
“It's a good idea, Em. I write volume 1, then you write volume 2 as a rejoinder, and we can write volume 3 together, like pieces of a literary puzzle. If one day our careers in Hollywood and Broadway don't work out anymore, we'll already have an extra profession.”
Emma laughed as she hugged him tighter.
“Only you can come up with this.”
Andrew smiled before returning to the main subject of their concerns.
“What are we doing today? We have to record this afternoon. What if they notice something? Everything will stop.”
“Easy, bug boy,” the blonde spoke in the sweetest voice he'd ever heard from her. “First let's get up, shower and take care of this fever. So let's, with all the care in the world, test these skills of yours for you to get used to them. It's still seven in the morning, we have time until two in the afternoon.”
For the next hour, they had breakfast together and got ready for the day. The warm water in the shower helped reduce the fever by nearly 100%, and Emma watched her boyfriend test out his new skills by climbing up one of the bedroom walls, and smiled to see that he was no longer trapped as he began to enjoy it.
“I'm starting to like this.”
“I see.”
“Am I supposed to go out and thwart some crime attempted before we go on set?”
“No! No way, Garfield!” She replied firmly. “This is not what you were born for, you'll continue to preserve your life while we understand what happened, and whether or not this is permanent.”
“It was a joke, Em,” he said as he appeared beside her on the wall, upside down, and stole a kiss when the blonde turned her face to face him.
“You are incorrigible,” she said seeing him laugh before taking his face in her hands and kissing him back. “Spider dream come true?” She asked as she saw him return to the ground and stand.
“I was always curious to know what it was like.”
“And what did you think?”
“It's not the most comfortable angle, but kissing you is perfect either way.”
Her smile widened, and Andrew let her put her arms around his neck and kiss him once more.
A cell phone sound interrupted them and they looked at the device lying on the bed. Emma picked it up and looked at the message.
“It's the set people, wanting to know if you're alive.”
“Did they literally ask like this?”
“Yes,” she laughed as she replied to the message. “I'll say don't worry. We go as previously agreed.
Andrew nodded and decided to check out what they were going to pack when they left for work later. He was looking for his cell phone inside his backpack when he found it in the most unusual way possible, and took a deep breath before looking, already trying to get his mind used to this inexplicable situation, and instantly remembering Spider-Man starring Tobey Maguire.
“Em...”
“What?” She asked, apprehensive by the tone of his voice. “And, what do you have?”
He held up his hand in response, seeing Emma's eyes widen at the sight of the cell phone strapped to his wrist.
“This is...”
Andrew grabbed the device and pulled it away, revealing a tangle of cobwebs connecting the cell phone to his wrist.
Emma sat beside him on the bed, now really not knowing what to say.
“Did this also happen to Tobey? And he hid it from the world for all these years?” Andrew asked himself, making his girlfriend come out of her trance.
“What...? Andrew, it's been years,one would at least suspect.”
“Only four years, Em. It's not that long.”
“I'm not going to freak out right now deciding who to talk to about this first, and it doesn't hurt to remember that you're absolutely forbidden to go out hunting bad guys, leave that to Peter and Gwen. We'll find a way for you to learn how to deal with these webs by two o'clock. For now, that's what we can do.”
Andrew nodded, breaking the webs to free his cell phone and looking down at his wrist, seeing the webs running through his skin. He got up with ideas in mind and tried to fling the webs to the floor, searching his mind for memories of how Peter had reacted to this in Tobey's movies. He fixed the idea in his head, of simply casting the webs, like breathing, you only breathe, and in this way he managed to cast them to the ground with both hands at once, smiling at his achievement.
“I think I'll get the hang of it fast.”
Emma smiled.
“It's really good.”
Without warning, Andrew snapped the webs he'd just cast and released another, catching it in his girlfriend's clothes and pulling her to him, just as Peter had done with Gwen, and hugging her when she crashed into him.
Emma laughed in surprise and amused at the same time.
“Wow... Are you Spider-Man?” She joked with him.
“Shut up,” Andrew replied before kissing her.
At that moment the two allowed themselves to forget about their spider problem and surrender to that affection until their hearts felt lighter, and with no one to interrupt saying that they needed to go somewhere else. Andrew kissed her forehead as Emma hugged him, and they stood there looking through the half-open shutters of the window. The weather was happier than the day before, and there was sunshine outside. Emma glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand before making her suggestion.
“Shall we go to a park? Or walk around a bit? It's still nine-thirty in the morning, we have time.”
“My favorite pastime is being with you.”
“Mine too, love. But I think that, given your new conditions, walking around among other people can help you get used to it, feel it, understand it, find in yourself a way to deal with it in public while we find out what's going on. You'll be safer on set this afternoon, and we'll be able to pretend nothing happened more easily.”
Andrew looked out the window, seeming to reflect.
“The day is beautiful today. I like hanging out with you, especially on days like this.”
“Do you want another half hour to train with the webs?”
“I think it's prudent.”
Emma packed what they would take to the set, in case they decided to head there straight from their tour, while she was amused by watching Andrew try to make the bed by pulling the sheets back into place with the webs, and doing quite well, though not so much at the time of loosen them.
Surprisingly half an hour was enough for him to gain enough confidence that they would at least survive this day. And their impromptu training ended with him surprising her again by hugging her and leaving the two of them suspended by a strong web attached to the ceiling.
“I won't fly through buildings with you.”
Andrew laughed.
“I have no intentions of putting you at risk like that,” he assured kissing her and lowering them to the floor.
Emma took his hand as they were about to leave, and faced him.
“Take a deep breath, remember everything we talked about, focus on keeping your emotions calm, especially if we find agitated fans and hidden photographers, especially with photographers.”
He nodded in agreement.
“If something happens, we'll use one of the excuses we've agreed to discreetly leave the scene by fleeing to the nearest establishment.”
Andrew nodded again as they left and locked the door.
“What I always say, I would be lost without you. You are my path, Em.”
“And you mine,” she smiled at him before kissing him and the two of them going on their walk.
The taxi took them to a wooded park farther from the city, where there were people, but few, and it would be ideal for Andrew to relax and test how he would handle his new, secret, skills in public. They found some fans, including kids crazy about Peter and Gwen, even sat on the grass with the little ones to talk, take pictures and play with them, making this one of the happiest moments of the day, in which luckily none of the spider skills were gone accidentally activated. When they walked again, they noticed a hidden photographer following them, and Andrew called him to talk when the young man tried to run away. The two reassured him and even let him take a picture, since they would soon be leaving for lunch, also taking the opportunity to show the signs they always carried in support of the charities that the two accompanied.
While waiting for their transport to go to lunch, the couple didn't notice that an elderly man, smiling and wearing sunglasses, was watching them from afar.
“That wasn't in the plans...” the old man said to himself. “But just as I helped your brother to deal with it, I'm going to help you too, son.”
Deciding that interrupting their ride wasn't the best time to bring up the subject, and that they would soon meet on set, Excelsior smiled as he watched them get into the taxi and drive away.
