15

Chapter 15: dire situations and the grey area

If he wanted to be brutally honest with himself, he didn't have the best record against Shocker.

Bearing in mind he had fought the man in his flimsy homemade suit with only a few month's experience of being Spider-Man, he had literally been thrown against the side of and inside of a school bus before Ned had saved his ass by distracting Shocker.

He hadn't really thought of a strategy to fight him even though he'd had a few months to plan -he didn't use his time from before to think of a strategy because who thought they would go back in time to save the universe?- and it was coming back to bite him in the ass.

Hovering with one arm out in front of Martha to protect her in case Shocker decided to shoot at her, he searched his mind for ways to beat his opponent. Shocker utilised shock emissions that basically threw him across the school parking lot and, based off of the dents left on the bus, the gauntlet gave him a strength boost.

How could someone use such a powerful weapon and not break a bone? There had to be some sort of power dampening device or Shocker had natural physical strength that stopped the shockwave emissions from breaking his bones.

"Always meddling with other people's lives, aren't you?" Shocker sneered as he pushed himself away from the railings. The river sloshed against the foundation a few metres below as the street lamps kept the street well lit. "First you interfere with Toomes and encourage more crimes. You know, you would've saved yourself a lot of trouble if you had let him take the plane. We would've been rich and stopped selling the weapons."

"No offence dude, but I 100% doubt that. You would've wanted to carry on earning cash," he replied, relaxing slightly when he realised Martha had started to back away. Anyone with common sense would know to run away from potential danger and having lived in New York and settled with a business, Martha would know to leave rather than try and protect him.

"Whatever you believe," Shocker replied as he waved his gauntlet around dismissively. "But someone has been taking down my weapons rings and I'm willing to bet you're involved."

He shrugged, throwing his hands up exaggeratively as if he had been judged as guilty of something. "Sure, I'll admit to interfering with that. Must've been a shocking discovery." He grinned underneath his mask when Schultz realised he had made a terrible pun. His dumb jokes distracted his foes from realising he was setting up traps more often than not.

A red dot showed up on his map in the corner of his HUD which showed one of his web bombs was active a few metres to his left. It would explode if an item or human fell on it, potentially capturing it. Hopefully he would catch Shocker out with that.

"You have a lotta nerve by coming here and disrupting my final operation. Run away while you can-" Shocker raised his arm menacingly, "-or face the consequences."

"I think we both know the answer to that," he replied back as his Spidey-sense buzzed and he leapt out of the way as an energy blast shot towards him.

"Karen, analyse the components of Shocker's gauntlet. See if there's any weaknesses in the structure or if there's something I can get rid of to destroy it."

He barely had a few seconds to stand before he dodged another blast, wincing when a car alarm blared out from behind him. Someone better hope they had insurance otherwise they would need to buy another car.

"I'm unable to get a clear image of Shocker's weapon to analyse." Well shit.

"Working on it." He grunted as he threw himself to the ground to avoid another blast before rolling forwards and kicking Shocker's legs out from under him and avoiding the punch that followed. Grabbing Shocker's other arm and twisting it, he ignored the man's yelp as he briefly pinned him to the ground and managed to get a clear view of the gauntlet before stumbling backwards when it flew towards him.

Barely managing to dodge Shocker's punch, he let go of his arm and backflipped to the side to avoid another blast, somehow managing to avoid getting a concussion before shooting webs at his legs and almost making him trip over.

He needed a more efficient strategy than what he was doing. Meaningless punches would do little if he wanted to win.

He needed to get the gauntlet.

His Spidey-sense overwhelmed everything else as he automatically dodged another blast. He hissed as the blast scraped the side of his suit, leaving the area stinging as he stumbled forwards. Being distracted wasn't an option in a life or death situation!

"It seems Shocker's gauntlet has a power dampener in the component connected to his wrist. If you overload the vulnerable part located here-" Karen pulled up a small diagram in the corner of his HUD, "-with web combination 47 then Shocker may be forced to choose between continuing to fight or shattering his forearm."

Shattering his forearm? That had to be one of the most powerful weapons enhanced by alien technology he had ever faced. The power dampener must be crucial to keeping the weapon functioning for human use. The shockwaves must be incredibly powerful – well, that was obvious considering the holes in the concrete on the road.

Yeah…not his finest damage control ever.

Okay, using taser webs to overload the dampener's charge and force Shocker into choosing between giving up the fight or potentially suffering from permanent damage in his forearm. That had to be the biggest ultimatum in a fight, right?

He had to get to the stage where he forced Shocker to make a choice, even if it involved being more brutal than before. Killing Schultz wasn't an option, not when it wasn't necessary. Spider-Man didn't kill.

Panting as he continued to avoid Shocker's blasts, he shot a web at a broken slab of concrete and spin around until it gained enough momentum for him to throw as a near-lethal projectile. Releasing it, he gave himself a second to reorientate himself before he threw another concrete slab at Shocker.

Without a second to lose, he sprinted at Shocker and punched him in the jaw before ducking to avoid the incoming gauntlet, staggering backwards when it struck him in the stomach.

"Ow man, that really Hertz!" He hissed, dodging another punch before catching the other hand, his eyes widening when he realised he was holding the gauntlet.

Without thinking, he switched to the combination with his taser webs and shot one at the vulnerable component with the power dampener, hoping the vibranium wouldn't block the electrical current before activating his webs.

Shocker opened his mouth to yelp but didn't get any further than that as he activated his taser webs on the highest setting, electricity sizzling in the air as he tried to fry the power dampener. Squinting as the light from the electricity nearly blinded him, he heard a quiet but definite crack before his taser webs as well as something metal dropped on the concrete.

He grinned for all of three seconds before something with bone-breaking force punched his stomach, kicking the air out of his lungs as he collapsed on the pavement by the railings. He shakily raised a hand to his diaphragm as he wheezed, trying and failing to regain his breath.

"What the fuck have you done?" Schultz yelled, raising the gauntlet to his eyes to examine the damage.

The power dampener lay on the concrete in between them, the metal cracked in the middle to reveal a tangle of fried wires.

Silence reigned for what seemed like eternity before Shocker raised the gauntlet and aimed it at his face, his glare merciless as he cocked it like a gun about to go off.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he wheezed, using his hand to support him as he weakly tried to stand up.

"Why the hell should I listen to you?" Shocker hissed.

"The power dampener is fried and the gauntlet will shatter your forearm."

Schultz's jaw dropped slightly. "Why…you sly little bug! Toomes should've killed you when he had the chance."

"Oh, he tried." He chuckled, squeezing his eyes shut as he repressed the memories of the damp warehouse with stone pillars crushing him and breaking off what little air circulation he had.

'No, stop, stop! Stop, please!' He forced the memories away, shakily breathing out.

He had more pressing problems like dying by head trauma if Shocker blasted him. He wouldn't escape considering he was at point blank range.

Huh, it was a bit like when Beck had nearly shot him in the head but his Spidey-sense had saved him just in time.

He was way too desensitised to the near death experiences he endured, wasn't he?

"But I don't think you want to shatter your forearm, do you?" He calmly asked, offering a placating arm out despite knowing the futility of the gesture. A cornered criminal was a dangerous person with few moral boundaries.

"I'll manage if it means you end up dead. It'll save me and thousands of others a lot of hassle." Well that wasn't the response he was hoping for.

"Yeah, I'd rather not die." He grunted as he shot a web at the gauntlet, yanking it downwards so that it didn't shoot as his head.

Unfortunately, he hadn't realised Schultz had activated the gauntlet at the same time he had shot a web, leading to both of them being blinded by the blast.

His yelp caught in his throat as the concrete at his feet exploded with the force and he flew backwards as if he was flying through the air, soaring above the railings and into the river as his ears rang with a deafening high pitched sound.

Gasping for a last whole breath before he hit the water like a ragdoll, he flailed aimlessly as the water pulled him down, soaking him to the bone as his suit heater conked out and left him defenceless to the icy claws of the river. His breath froze in the cavity in his chest as darkness consumed his vision.

Instinctually, he blindly sought out whichever direction felt lighter as he swam towards what he thought was the surface as pressure built in his chest, crushing him just like the warehouse had as he fought for his life.

Pure terror seized his mind as he reached upwards, up, up, up-

His hand burst out of the water to meet what felt like sub-zero air. His head followed as he blinked rapidly, fighting the primal urge to tear his mask off to take a clean breath of air.

Panting as oxygen fuelled his system again, he lifted the mask above his mouth to breathe deeply and savour the fresh air -well, as fresh as polluted New York air could get- and floated for a minute, batting away the dizziness plaguing him.

Scratch dying by energy blast, he almost died by drowning again.

He reorientated himself, blinking away as much water as he could before swimming to the shore and climbing up the foundation to dry land. The concrete practically radiated heat to him as he moved his stiff fingers as he tried to keep the circulation in his hands going. The last thing he needed was the flu or hypothermia.

The world swayed as he used the railings to help him stand up and for a few seconds he was grateful the area had been evacuated. New potholes created by Shocker's blasts decorated the pavement and road as well as glass from a car's windshield on the other side of the street.

What a mess.

"Incoming call from You Know Who I Am," Karen announced.

'Oh, this is gonna be great,' he thought sarcastically as he bit back a groan and accepted Tony's call. Incoming lecture in three…two…one…

"So, how do you think I found out about you interfering with a major police operation?" Tony asked, his face appearing in the bottom right corner of hid HUD.

Tiredness laced his features as he took in his darker eyebags and his tightly pressed lips. Hopefully he hadn't pissed Tony off; he didn't think he had done anything wrong by going after Shocker. Chasing after criminals was the whole point of being Spider-Man!

"I don't know. The news?" He asked tiredly, his adrenaline crashing as he started to process his near-death experience.

"Thaddeus Ross called me and questioned me about you traipsing around Midtown and dealing with a high-level police operation. Then I get an alert saying your oxygen levels and temperature have dropped to the point it would kill you. Care to explain?"

His heart skipped a beat. Why the fuck was Ross asking about him?! He thought he was protected!

"Wait, why the hell is Ross asking about me? You said I was safe from him!" He exclaimed.

"You answer my question first. What the hell happened?"

"Shocker blasted me into the river and I just climbed out. Now about Ross-"

"I didn't give him any answers, don't worry. You're safe as long as I'm around." He sighed with relief, relaxing slightly. The last thing he needed was Ross chasing after him to find out his identity. "Don't think you're getting away with giving me such a short answer. Who's this Shocker guy and why are you chasing after him at 10?"

"He's part of Toomes's gang. I didn't capture him immediately after Toomes's arrest and the police operation is basically him getting back at me for taking down his leader."

"How'd you find out about it in the first place? The police were only tipped a few hours ago."

"I have a contact who knows stuff." He shrugged. "Wait, how do you know about the police operation?"

"I have my own sources," Tony replied smoothly. "Tell me your suit heater is working. I don't want a frozen spider arriving on May's doorstep."

"It was working before." Frowning, he asked Karen to activate it to no avail, his stiffening fingers starting to hinder him from doing much. His lack of thermoregulation had come to kick him at the worst time possible. "Aw man, I'm gonna have to fix this tomorrow," he muttered.

"Do you have a plan B for that?" Tony asked.

"Nothing except swinging around to keep my body temperature up." He yawned, fighting the urge to sink to the ground and sleep. "It should keep me awake as well."

"Well stay awake. I don't want to scrape a bloody pancake off of some random street," Tony joked and he huffed in amusement. It was dark humour but at least it kept him awake. "How successful have you been so far?"

"I…I stopped the first crime a bit too late." He blinked away the image of a man with bloody hands and crimson on a cream carpet and wooden walls. "He's not dead, just injured. Stopped anything from happening at three other jewellery shops, the police have four others covered. I intercepted Shocker at the one by the river -you know the one?- before we fought and he blasted me into the river."

"Yeah, I know the one. Martha Atwell own it?" He nodded. "So what's your plan? Or do I need to intervene?"

"Nope, I have this under control. There's one other location and then I'll-"

"Sorry to interrupt Peter, but an alert has come from Waldorf-Astoria in central Midtown. Multiple security cameras have caught Shocker arriving with his gauntlet and a suspicious bag containing unidentified objects," Karen announced.

"I thought breaking the power dampener would've been a good enough incentive," he groaned.

"I'll leave you to it Underoos. But if it gets out of hand…"

"I know, I know. Bye Mr Stark."

The call cut off but Tony's warning lingered in his mind as he started swinging towards the hotel Shocker had decided to attack. If things started going as badly as they had with the ferry then he would intervene immediately, whether he was in the suit or not. They had developed a good level of trust over the past couple of months and Tony had seen how efficiently he had taken down the other criminals with alien technology.

He had faced threats much worse than the likes of Toomes and Shocker, he wasn't going to let himself fail now!

Why did Shocker have to choose the places that would be most likely to sue him for property damage?

Seriously, a 5-star hotel with several tourists around and literal gold decoration on the outside! Waldorf-Astoria had the name plated in gold on the front entrance and some of the fanciest window patterns he had seen in a good while. The area was softly lit up by lights underneath the large American flags held up by poles.

The view would have been enjoyable if it wasn't for the dozen police cars swarming the area, red and blue lights flashing against the pale brick wall as people fled the building with whatever belongings they had in their arms. Several people were hysterical, some were gesturing to the building in disbelief, others sat on the ground numbly.

"Everybody remain calm, we are searching the building and you can go back inside once we have finished," a police officer with a loudspeaker shouted. His partner -a lady in what might be her mid-thirties with short black hair- shook her head disapprovingly before turning around, her lips tightening when she saw him.

She strolled away from her partner to the tree he was perched on, gesturing for him to come down. He didn't particularly like police officers but something about her screamed I'm-so-done-with-this-shit that he decided he would listen for once. What was the worst that could happen?

"Ma'am?" He asked.

"Spider-Man," she replied coldly. "How are you associated with Herman Schultz?"

His eyes widened. He hadn't expected such a straightforward approach but he probably deserved that. He had been dealing with police stuff as well so he may as well fill her in.

"By proximity of Vulture before Schultz decided to pull of one big heist. I didn't know a hotel was on his agenda." He grimaced at his lack of knowledge. Letting himself fully trust Aaron had made him a bit more complacent and he had forgotten to research a bit more into what potential targets Schultz could have. Maybe Schultz had changed his plans after he realised the cops and Spider-Man were on his back?

"Neither did we. I would suggest you would stay out of this but…"

"I'm not going to listen and if I'm honest, I have more experience with the tech."

The police officer half-glared at him. "If you stuck around the crime scenes long enough then we could have talked and figured out strategies to deal with the technology while working together."

"If you haven't noticed, Officer…?"

"Watanabe."

"…Officer Watanabe, most cops hate me and the minority leave me alone. I don't trust many of them and a lot of them don't trust me. It was highly unlikely I would stick around with a relationship like that."

She sighed. "We'll deal with that later. Schultz is in there and, unfortunately, you're one of the few people capable of dealing with this type of threat. The FBI are going to be here in twenty minutes as well as a couple of people from the DDOC."

He took that as a silent warning. Deal with it before the superior forces come in with guns blazing and less mercy.

"Right, I'll get on with it."

Waving at Officer Watanabe before swinging away, he started to formulate a plan. The front of the hotel was filled to the brim with police officers and there was no chance of him entering through there. However, the vents were a viable option. Hotel vents were always larger than vents in other buildings and he could crawl through them with ease.

Landing on the side of the hotel, he looked around before finding what he was looking for: a side vent that led to the main vent. It would be big enough for a human to crawl through and considering he was fairly small; he would be fine. He shot a web at the cover and yanked it off, sticking it to the side before he crawled in and pulled the grate back in place.

"Hey Karen, please could you bring up the hotel floor plan?" He asked as he crawled on his hands and knees as cold air rushed around him.

He bit his tongue, tensing to stop shivering. Most of the water from the river had been shaken off whilst he had swung to the hotel but the aftermath left him chilled to the bone. The extra physical activity had done little but keep him awake since his suit heater was broken.

"Here you go." A mini-map was brought up on his HUD.

"No fucking way!" He murmured. "47 floors? How am I meant to scale that?" He quickly worked out a route to the 7th floor. From there he could scan each floor and try to capture Schultz if he kept the element of surprise on his side. All he could do was hope Schultz hadn't done something insane and bring another destructive gun with him but he wouldn't underestimate the man.

Luckily he had entered somewhere between the 20th floor and didn't have far to go considering there was a main vent that dropped down like the garbage chute in WALL-E that went from the 47th to 30th floor. However, there was an air vent that he could crawl through before dropping down an adjacent chute that had an exit on the 7th floor.

After another minute of navigating his way through the vents -ha, he was the imposter- he stopped near a grate on the 7th floor, forcing himself to process the floor design as a headache pulsed in his forehead. Who the hell decided using a black and white tile pattern was a good idea?

Decadent chandeliers were spread every 20 metres along the corridor, the fluorescent lights highlighting the slightly dizzying pattern of black and white tiles. Mirrors lined the walls, giving the corridor a parallel on whichever side he looked at.

"I hope I don't have to fight in here," he muttered. "Imagine getting sued for property damage in a 5-star hotel. Jameson would have a field day!"

Dropping down onto the tiled floor, he crouched for a couple of seconds, muscles tensed in case Shocker somehow happened to turn into the corridor. After a few seconds of silence he stood up and asked Karen to scan the whole floor for people, sagging slightly when she said there was no one.

He repeated the process for the next few floors, finally arriving at the bottom floor 5 minutes later. Cursing as he sprinted through the foyer -he doubted swinging through the entrance would be taken kindly to by the hotel owners and he wanted to save his webs for fighting Shocker- he entered the main dining room, hesitating as he passed through a metal arch with intricate designs.

His Spidey-sense started to buzz as he took in his surroundings, noticing how the ceiling couldn't be more than four metres tall which didn't allow for much swinging. There were several tables with white tablecloths and chairs stacked on top. A circular chandelier softly illuminated the room and reflected against the marble floor. Certain areas of the room were secluded by pillars with black metal arches similar to the one he had just passed through connecting each one.

His Spidey-sense rang like when he had hit his head on the bell in Europe before his vision exploded into a bunch of violet and magenta dots.

He couldn't really explain what had happened: one minute he was standing in the entrance of the dining hall, the next he was lying on the floor, his ribs aching like Hulk had punched him like he was an enemy.

Eyes fluttering open, he turned his head to the side to see a pair of black boots on the far side of the room. Groaning, he flopped onto his side before propping himself up. He wheezed, forcing himself to breathe properly as he used the edge of the table to help him stand up.

Shocker stood on the opposite side of the room, a large black duffle bag behind him and a large gun with a Chitauri core in one hand, his gauntlet still on the other. The gun looked like it had been spray-painted white despite how expensive it was and the core glowed violet in the dim artificial light.

"What the fuck was that?" He hissed, clutching his side as it ached fiercely. It was like placing a heavy weight on a bruise! His ears rang as he reorientated himself, somehow starting to process what had just happened.

"My systems are compromised. All weapons systems except for web combinations 1 and 47 are temporarily disabled. It seems you have been hit with a LEMP blast," Karen reported.

"A LEMP?" He cursed. How did Shocker have access to a gun that could shoot lightning electromagnetic pulse? How did they manipulate the Chitauri core to do that? It was insane! "What other systems are affected?"

"Communication is compromised; you cannot make or receive any calls." Amazing. "Most weapons including instant kill mode are disabled." Fantastic. "HUD map is disabled." Wow. "However, the suit heater is back online." What the fuck?

He had barely processed Karen's final statement before a burst of warmth surrounded him and he bit back a sigh. Wait, how was it working? Forcing himself to keep calm so he didn't start laughing at the fact nearly everything important was offline and, ironically, the suit heater had started to work.

"You can't run from me, Spider-Man!" Shocker exclaimed, aiming his gun as his Spidey-sense lowly buzzed.

"Who said I was running?" He asked, hiding his trembling as he tensed. "You're the one who's been caught. The police are outside and I'm here. How could you escape?"

"A lot of ways."

He jumped to the side as a magenta blast powered towards him, wincing when a chair clattered to the ground in splinters before dodging another blast and shooting webs as Shocker's gun. One connected and he yanked it towards him, eyes widening when Shocker shot at him.

He dropped down too late, unwillingly letting out a shout when the blast hit him in the chest and he collapsed to the ground panting through the pain.

Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe- oh shit!

He rolled onto his other side as a chair smashed on the floor where he had been a few seconds before. Shooting a web at one of the broken chair legs, he tensed his core and threw himself forward so he was standing up as he threw the leg at Shocker before shooting another web at his gun.

Having fended off the chair leg with an accurate blast, Shocker yelled as the web smacked him in the face, having no time to recover when another web latched onto the gun and pulled. They had a mini tug of war, each of them pulling as hard as they could before Shocker raised his gauntlet and fired at him.

His breath caught in his throat as a blue ray shot at him, throwing him across the dining hall and into one of the white walls. Sharp pain cut across his back as he smacked into the wall, punching all the breath from his body as he dazedly looked around.

The room spun as he staggered up, taking in a choked breath before he coughed and tasted something coppery in his mouth. Blood.

Dodging as another blue ray came towards him, he winced when a sizeable dent appeared in the wall as plaster crumbled onto the marble floor. So much for no property damage.

"C'mon man," he wheezed, shooting a taser web at the gauntlet. "That's a shockingly bad way to act in a hotel!"

Activating the electric web, he watched as Shocker shouted in pain before he sprinted forwards and punched him in the stomach, barely waiting for Shocker to double-over before attacking him again. His ruthlessness wasn't what he had expected to use at the beginning of the day but he couldn't afford to take a more passive method.

"Fuck off you annoying arachnid!"

His Spidey-sense rang out like a siren but he was too late: a magenta blast shot him in the face at the same time Shocker shot him with the gauntlet.

The room spun as he was launched across the room and hit the chandelier before he tumbled to the ground. Spots swarmed his vision and almost rendered him blind as his blood roared in his ears. The coppery taste dominated his mouth and everything either stung like fire or ached. Something trickled down his back and despite his probably concussed condition, he could tell there were a multitude of cuts on his shoulders.

"K-Karen?" He stammered, his hands shaking as he tried to figure out why the hell he couldn't see. Had the suit malfunctioned and stopped the eyes from working? Had his concussion temporarily blinded him? Had the blast blinded him?

"It seems you have lacerations on your shoulders and back and a moderate concussion which has damaged your sight. I am currently unable to contact Tony via the Don't Be A Dumbass protocol. I recommend seeing a medical professional as soon as possible."

He was so screwed.

'No sight or amazing sound. Great. Okay Peter, you defeated Beck with your Spidey-sense, you can do it now,' he thought, desperately reassuring himself in his dire situation. As long as he dodged more of the blasts -speaking of which, how was Shocker able to use his gauntlet when the power dampener had been destroyed? He must've had a back up or found a way to repair it- he would survive.

The FBI would be at the hotel within minutes and he needed to wrap everything up before they arrived. He didn't want to answer any awkward questions about why he was helping when the police had only been tipped a few hours before the whole mess occurred.

'You can do this.' He breathed in deeply, calming himself down and listening to his instincts.

Crouching down, he trusted his Spidey-sense to tell him where the danger was and where it would strike. In, out, in out. In-

A tingle ran throughout his body and he threw himself to the side, the air vibrating around him as the chair to his left shattered into splinters. Sprinting forwards, his Spidey-sense buzzed and he slid under a table to avoid another blast before rolling forwards and grabbing whatever object was in front of him.

His hearing came back in waves, sounds ebbing towards him like waves on a beach. The click of a trigger being pulled, the air whooshing around the blast; his exhaled breath as he leaped over a table before ducking, the clash of a chair clattering against the floor.

His Spidey-sense vibrated and he dodged a blast from the gauntlet, white flashing in his peripheral vision as Shocker shot from his gauntlet, a table smashing against a wall on the other side of the dining room. The pop of webs leaving his web shooters and latching onto Shocker's gun.

He grunted as he viciously pulled the gun away from Shocker and threw it away from him as his sight returned to him. Everything was a blurry haze but it was enough; Shocker's gaping mouth as he started to shout but he didn't give him time to make a sound.

A swift kick to Shocker's head silenced him for a couple of seconds as he collapsed to the ground, limbs limp as he fell against a table. Without hesitation, he shot webs at Shocker's arms and legs to keep him pinned to the ground before he crouched in front of the criminal to see if he had knocked him out or he was too weak to do anything.

He grimaced when he realised it was the former. Schultz was out cold, his breathing heavy from overexertion.

Neither his sight nor hearing had returned fully, both resembling what someone would feel if they were underwater, but he didn't have much time to worry about that. He needed to go before the FBI entered the hotel and decided to arrest him for something that wasn't his fault.

"All systems online."

"You have to be kidding me," he groaned, stretching as he stood up. "Right after the fight?"

"Sorry for the delay. You have multiple missed calls from Tony. Do you want me to call him back?"

"Not right now." The last thing he needed was a lecture when his head was pounding and his body ached like he had been thrown through a ton of walls. "Let me get outside and then I'll call him."

"Are you going to swing home?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I would not recommend swinging with a concussion."

"Then what would you recommend?"

"Seeing a doctor." He snorted at Karen's deadpan suggestion as he limped towards the foyer, already planning to escape once the FBI barged through. It was glaringly obvious that he needed to see a doctor but it didn't mean he would do it.

Luckily his escape didn't take too long. All he had to do was wait until the FBI had swarmed the foyer and gone to the main dining hall before he snuck out of the hotel and slipped past the police barricade before he started swinging, albeit his dizziness didn't make anything easier.

In his concussed haze he didn't notice a man wearing a leather jacket and, more notably, a blank white mask with eyes cut out, sneak out behind him with the same black duffle bag Shocker had gone into the hotel with. Unfortunately, he wouldn't realise his mistake until much later.

Notes:

Who did you want to die at Vormir and the final battle instead of Natasha and Tony? Cos I have a few ideas...