Dr. Morgan Michaels quietly slipped out of the room, leaving Spider-Man alone. He was trying to hide it, but Morgan could tell he was quickly falling apart under that mask. The man deserved a moment
"What if we use it to cure someone right now?"
"Then there won't be enough for the others"
If it had been anyone else, Morgan would have insisted on keeping the antiserum, but if Spider-Man wasn't trustworthy, no one was. That woman...
'It's nothing. It's always hard seeing someone die' May Parker was something of a local celebrity around here. Losing her was going to be devastating to everyone. This wasn't something worth noting.
Morgan didn't want to disturb Spider-Man, but he couldn't stay away forever. After several minutes, he knocked on the door to May's office and slowly entered. Spider-Man was kneeling next to the bed holding May's hand. The antiserum was on the shelf nearby. A steady tone confirmed it. May had died.
There was someone else in the room, gently comforting Spider-Man as he cried. She was quiet, but firm in her attempts to get him to leave. Unfortunately, it was the right call SABLE would still be looking for him and FEAST was one of the last places Spider-Man could have taken the cure to, especially since they knew Morgan was here.
But... he was bleeding. Morgan knew from watching the news exactly what had happened. Blood was still running down the suit.
"That wound is bad, let me take a look"
Spider-Man shook his head, slowly getting up. He opened the window and without a word, and crawled out. Morgan let him go, not like he could stop him anyways. He took the antiserum, he would need to call his team- anyone who could still work- to bring materials and equipment to start producing the stuff. The lab was severely damaged and moving the cure had proven to be far too risky.
Morgan didn't look at the woman, quietly leaving the room again. Spider-Man had saved everyone. Who knows how far Devil's Breath would spread? He wasn't going to look for clues.
Morgan called his team and they were now working on bringing things to FEAST. With any luck, the equipment they needed was still usable. With the demons and escaped convicts running loose, it was going to take some time. Even SABLE was getting in the way, blocking off major roads. Frustratingly, all Morgan would do was wait- again
Morgan went to find Miles, the 16-year-old who was pretty much running this place himself. He should know a cure was on the way so he could inform others. When he got to the bottom of the stairs, there was a lot of commotion, Several people were taking, a tone of anxiety in the air
"Who did this to him?"
"Peter! What happened?"
"Was he stabbed?"
A man was being carried in, blood soaking into his shirt. He was shaking, either from the cold or blood loss- maybe both. People rushed to him, but as soon as he got his footing, he shook off the hands holding him and stumbled to the stairs
Morgan moved to stop him "You need medical attention"
The man was strong, pushing past Morgan as he pulled himself up the stairs along the railing. Morgan followed the crowd, even uncoordinated, the man outpaced those who chased him. He went straight to May's office, falling to his knees beside her bed.
There were gasps and cries from the group as they realized she'd passed. 'Someone must have called him about this. Let him know about May' This wasn't worth noting.
The group gave him space, hovering just outside the office. Morgan wondered if he checked, would he see a woman comforting him the same way she comforted Spider-Man? Morgan didn't check. He wasn't going to look for clues
After several minutes, Miles and Cam entered the room cautiously. After some hushed words, the wounded man was guided out by Miles. The blood had soaked down his entire shirt
Cam approached him "Hate to ask doc, but that wound is worse than anything we can handle. You mind helpin' out?"
"Of course!" Morgan led the way to the cafeteria, a makeshift medical room. Miles and Cam practically carried the man to one of the cots, helping him sit at the end of it. Miles moved around to gather supplies, glancing over to the man
"You okay Pete?"
The man didn't answer, shaking as shock set in. Morgan looked at the group that had trailed in behind them. They watched and hovered quietly, obviously concerned, but the man deserved privacy
"I'll need some space," Morgan said
"Alright, clear out!" There were some protests but Cam was firm "No, you heard me, give the doctor some space to work, none of ya are helpin"
Miles and Cam worked to guide any stragglers out of the room. Miles looked back at the man again before waving the last few people out, promising to sit with them in the other room
When Morgan got closer to the wound, he found that the shirt had been torn, and only on one side. Once the shirt was off, Morgan confirmed it went through his whole body 'It's impossible to tell if it matches the wound Spider-Man got from Octavious' Morgan told himself as he pressed gauze to both sides.
It was ironic. After years of study, research, and even tracking, Morgan never found a solid lead on who Spider-Man was. Now, after deciding he wasn't going to help Norman- with anything- he had more clues than he could have ever hoped for
'You're seeing connections that aren't there. Old habits die hard, it's nothing
Morgan was still pressing gauze to the wound when a red-haired woman slipped into the room, sitting next to his patient. She held his hand but didn't say anything. Morgan decided to leave her be as long as she didn't get in the way. Was she... familiar? 'No, you don't know her' The man hadn't reacted to her, still silent and shaking. Morgan would need to treat the wound before he could focus on the shock
The bleeding had slowed enough and Morgan carefully removed the fabric preparing to stitch the wound
"How bad is it?" The woman asked, not daring to look herself
Morgan inspected it now that he could take a clear look, The placement was strange. It was bad- whoever had done this clearly was intending to kill- but it hadn't hit anything major. Almost like it had been carefully guided to avoid major organs and hadn't even scraped any bones. Morgan couldn't help but think back to how he'd seen Spider-Man hold the robotic arm back before letting go to take Octavious down
'You're being ridiculous- let it go'
"It's bad" Morgan finally answered "I'd be sending him to a hospital if they had people to take care of him."
She didn't respond and Morgan kept working, trying to ignore the distinct patterns taking shape in the bruising spreading across the man's chest. The boy had several broken ribs at the very least.
After the stitches were in place on both sides, Morgan went to check on his ribs to make sure they were in place and would heal correctly. Something caught his attention. Something much harder to ignore or deny- solid evidence. Suddenly the mental game of plausible deniability was shattered. There was a wound on his side, right below his ribs, stitched up with precision although a little sloppy from being years out of practice. Morgan recognized the pattern as his own, he'd stitched this wound just a few hours ago. Morgan wanted to turn away, deny he'd seen it- but some of the stitches had torn and needed to be redone. Morgan quietly got to work.
Unfortunately, there was only so much Morgan could ignore or deny. After 8 years of searching, he'd found Spider-Man. In the middle of a homeless shelter that Norman had insisted they not bother looking at. How ironic
But, just because he knew who Spider-Man was, didn't mean he knew who he was. He had a face with no name- and he intended to keep it that way. He hadn't heard his name.
Norman would ask, but Morgan silently promised that no matter what, he would not give Norman- or anyone- anything. He hadn't found Spider-Man'
"He qualifies as a mutant Morgan! Even if anyone were to find out, we're in the clear. Spider-Man isn't human. Not legally"
Morgan shook his head. The man sitting here was absolutely human. Saying he'd saved New York was an understatement. He'd risked himself trying to fix the mess that Norman and Morgan had caused.
Even without the hero stuff, he was a human being. He bled, jumped at the needle Morgan was using to restitch the wound- shook from the aftermath of the battle, and losing someone close to him.
Morgan bandaged the wound. The symptoms of shock hadn't increased, but he still wanted to get him lying down. He really needed rest.
"I need you to lay down and get some rest if you can," Morgan said, pulling him to lay against the pillows. "Don't lay on your wounds if you can help it"
The woman covered him with blankets and Morgan propped his feet up under some pillows
"He's in shock, so keep him covered and his feet elevated," Morgan told the woman "I'll come to check on him later, I need to call my team, see how close they are"
Morgan left the room, the crowd had dispersed, but Miles was still hovering not so discreetly by the door
"Is he okay? Did he tell you what happened?"
"He needs rest, he hasn't spoken yet. I'll check on him later"
Morgan let Miles into the room and made his way to an empty counseling room nearby. He'd need an area for the equipment and this room seemed perfect. He pulled tables together and set up the room, checking occasionally on his now sleeping patient. His team should be there any minute
-----
"Did you find anything?"
Morgan was meeting with Norman. He didn't want to, but he didn't want Norman around FEAST. In the time he'd spent there, Morgan had grown protective of it.
"No" Morgan spoke carefully "He brought the antiserum and left. I barely spoke to him."
"SABLE has informed me that you tended to his wounds. You must have seen his face"
"I left his mask on. With everything he was doing, it was the least I could do"
Norman's face twisted in anger "You had the perfect opportunity and you WASTED it?"
"He saved the city! He even caught y-"
"If we got our hands on him, we could complete GR-27! I need to know who he is. Think carefully, your job is on the line"
"Interesting choice of words Norman." Morgan knew he had to be absolute with his words "There is no 'we' anymore. We never should have created the stuff. Spider-Man was the only one trying to do the right thing. Ask all you like- threaten me even. It won't change the fact that I don't know who Spider-Man is. I didn't even bother to look"
Morgan walked to the door "I expect to see you in court"
Behind him, Norman swore, throwing things against the wall of his office
Morgan wondered if he should bother getting a new job if the two of them were headed to prison.