PENANCE PART 2

Peter walks into the precinct, soon met by Commissioner Stacy.

"Is anyone hurt?" Peter asks.

"No, luckily the bullet didn't hit anyone."

Stacy soon sees the the injuries caused by the explosion from the grenade.

"Are you ok?" Stacy asks.

"I'll heal, don't worry about me. Where's Mandragora?" Peter asks.

Stacy stays silent for a moment.

"He's gone. Must have left during the commotion."

"I don't like this. Mandragora is gonna tear this city apart looking for her. Then he'll kill her himself." Peter says as he walks away.

"Where are you going?" Stacy asks.

"To find answers." Peter replies.

Meanwhile, Mandragora stands before his men.

"The woman we're looking for a woman in all black and skull on her chest. This woman put most of our business partners in the ground. I want her brought to me by tonight. Alive, so I can teach this girl a lesson." Mandragora orders.

His men agree, quickly run into the streets.

In the Batcave, while Ben wraps up Peter's arm, he's looking for the identity of the mysterious woman.

"You know you don't have to do that, Ben. I'll heal in a few minutes." Peter says.

"Nonsense sir, I won't just let this injury go untreated. Just stay still." Ben says.

Peter smiles and continues to search through his face recognition software, taking a photo of her face with his high-tech lenses on his suit. He soon gets a match, surprised by what he finds.

"Helena Castle. Her father was the head of the Castle Crime Family, Franco Castle. She was a former marine, two tours, multiple awards. Because of her father's connection, she was targeted and- killed by a mob hit."

Ben looks at Peter in shock.

"I beg your pardon, sir?" Ben says.

"Helena Castle was declared dead after getting gunned down by a suspected rival gang. I'm guessing it didn't stick."

At that moment, Peter sees Andrea at the front door through the camera.

"Seems Ms. Watson wants to talk sir." Ben says with a grin

Peter sighs with a smile on his face.

"Don't look at me like that." Peter says.

Soon Peter makes it to the door and the two smile at each other.

"Hey." Andrea says.

"Hey." Peter replies.

The two stare at each other for a moment.

"Sorry, um- come in." Peter says.

Andrea chuckles.

"Thanks."

As Andrea walks in, she notices the bandages over his arm.

"Jesus, Peter. Are you ok?"

"Huh? Oh- yeah, I'm fine. This was just an accident in the lab last night." Peter says.

"But- Jill said you had to help Ben with something last night." Andrea says.

Peter rubs the back of his neck, noticing the worried look on Andrea's face.

"This is not what it looks like." He says.

"What does it look like?" Andrea asks.

An awkward silence passes between the two.

"Sorry. I don't mean to pry." Andrea says.

"I do- appreciate it, Andrea. But there's no need to worry." Peter tells her.

Andrea chuckles.

"Yeah, you know that doesn't help, right?"

Peter smirks as Andrea steps closer to him.

"How bout- when, or if, you ever feel like... you can tell me what's going on with you."

She puts her hand on the side of Peter's face.

"I promise that I'm here. Deal?" She says.

Peter smiles, holding her hand.

"Deal."

Andrea grins.

"Good." She replies.

She slowly pulls away from him.

"I gotta go Tiger. But I'm glad I stopped by."

Peter smiles.

"So am I." Peter replies.

Andrea then leaves as Peter takes a long sigh. He then looks up at the hidden cameras.

"Ben, were you watching that?"

A silence passes.

"Yes sir, I was."

Peter laughs and walks back into the cave.

That night Helena Castle sits on a bench, staring at an empty carousel while hearing children's laughter and then gunfire that silenced the laughter. She then looks over and sees a man sitting on the bench across from her with a smile.

"Nice night." He says.

Helena doesn't answer.

"I'm not alone." The man says, revealing a gun.

Multiple men, hired by Mandragora surround Helena.

"Just come with us. I'd hate to make a mess of a pretty thing like you." The man says.

Helena stands up and slowly walks over to the man. The man jumps up to his feet and aims his gun straight at her face. Helena quickly snatches the gun away, and lands a headbutt. The man quickly sticks a syringe into her neck, but she answers back with a right hook, putting him in a choke hold and pressing the gun against his head. The many men quickly draw their guns on her, but the man stops them.

"Don't shoot! We want her alive!"

Helena tightens her grip.

"Drop it!" Another man demands.

At that moment, Helena shoots everyone around her but starts to loose her balance. She quickly snatches the syringe from her neck and throws it to the ground.

"I appreciate you thinning out the herd." A voice says.

Helena quickly turns around and sees Mandragora walking with more men with taser guns. Helena tries to steady her aim, but she can't focus as her vision blurs.

"You're surrounded. Now be a good girl and drop the gun." Mandragora says with a grin.

Helena continues to stumble and feel dazed, as red dots appear on her chest. She is then shocked with multiple tasers. Helena drops to her knee, but grits her teeth and aims her gun at Mandragora again but can't pull the trigger and slowly falls to the ground.

Meanwhile as Spider-Bat is on the roof top, he gets a call from Jill.

"Hey, this isn't a good time." Peter says.

"I just wanted to tell you that Uncle George got a call about shots being fired at the carousel."

Peter quickly swings towards the carousel.

"Got it. Thanks Jill."

"Anytime, partner."

Soon, Peter lands infront of the carousel and sees multiple dead mobsters. He walks through the area, soon seeing someone trying to crawl away. He quickly grabs him and throws him against the metal fence. The injured man quickly draws his gun and shoots but Peter quickly grabs his wrist and twists it.

"Who did this?" Peter asks.

The man grits his teeth out of pain.

"People... you don't mess with."

"You're bleeding out. And I got all night." Peter replies.

"Go to hell!" The man yells back.

Peter twists his wrist even more.

"Who did it?" Peter asks one more time.

The man stays silent for a moment.

"The woman that's been causing problems."

"Where is she?"

The man starts to laugh.

"It doesn't matter. Cause when we're done with her, she's as good as dead."

"That's helpful-"

Peter starts to twist his wrist even more.

"-but that's not what I asked." Peter says.

While that's happening, Helena is strapped to a chair, severely beaten while Mandragora wipes the blood from his fist.

"You can really take a beating. Just like your old man." He says.

Helena doesn't say anything, barely conscious. Mandragora then pulls up a chair infront of her.

"I knew your killing spree had all the signs of someone looking for retribution."

Helena doesn't answer.

"Look. It was nothing personal when I had you and your father killed. It was just business. He knew the risks of getting involved with this life. You can't hold that against me."

Helena then starts to laugh.

"Did I say something funny?" Mandragora asks.

Helena continues to laugh.

"Come on, I would like to hear a joke. Tell me." Mandragora says, leaning in close.

At that moment Helena lands a headbutt, breaking his nose.

"I don't give a damn about my father! he was a bastard, just like you whose probably burning in hell right now!"

Mandragora gets angry.

"Good to know you'll have company." He replies.

He then grabs her by the back of her head and starts punching her in the stomach over and over again.

While that's happening the lights in the hallway, where three guards are watching the door, suddenly turn off.

"The hell? Must be something wrong with the breaker. Tony, go check it out."

As Tony starts walking, he is swept up and quickly taken away.

"Tony? Tony!?" One of them yells.

The second man slowly walks down the hall, turning on the flash light that is on his gun. As looks around for what happened to Tony. He soon sees Tony, knocked out on the ground, at the end of the hallway.

"What the-"

He then gets laid out with a punch to the jaw. The last man left standing hesitantly walks through the hall. As he continues to walk, Peter appears behind him.

Inside the room, Helena is beaten unconscious.

"Alright. She's had enough. Finish it."

As one of Mandragora's men aims a gun at Helena's head, she secretly keeps cutting the rope around her wrist with a secret razor blade to free herself. At that moment, everyone gets distracted by a gun shot heard from the hallway. While everyone is distracted, Helena cuts through the rope and grabs the gun, jamming the razor blade into his throat. Mandragora quickly runs out of the room, getting shot in the leg by Helena. A mobster is thrown through the door and Spider-Bat walks through, coming face to face with Helena.

"He doesn't get to walk away from this."

Peter stares at her for a moment, then they both hear footsteps nearby.

"He's not going to. But he will if we get ourselves killed. Move."

They quickly get behind cover, ready to ambush the men.

"One batch, two batch. Penny and a dime." Helena whispers to herself.

Multiple men with guns quickly rush into the room. Helena ram's into one of the men, knocking him into a wall. She then grabs another one by the head, knees him in the chest and throws him into the wall, taking his gun from him. Peter quickly spinkicks one of them in the face, and lands an uppercut to another one.

Helena tries to shoot one of the men, but Peter throws a batarang that knocks the gun out of her hand.

"No killing." Peter says.

Helena scoffs.

"Boy scout." She says, kicking one of the men in the face.

At that moment, more men come in and attack Peter. While Peter easily drops one man after another, Helena quickly grabs another gun and limps out of the room.

Meanwhile, Mandragora hobble's on one leg. At that moment, he is shot in the side and drops to the ground. Mandragora looks up at Helena aiming a gun at his head.

"This wasn't about my father. This was about my family."

"Your family? Who c-"

Before Mandragora could finish his sentence, Helena shoots him in the face and falls to the ground. Peter then shows up, and sees Mandragora dead on the ground and Helena almost dead on the ground. Peter sighs, helping Helena up to her feet and carries her out.

Soon the two walk through a graveyard, while Helena is struggling to stay on her feet.

"Put me down here, web-head." Helena says.

Peter nods, slowly putting her down near the tombstone.

"Hey... not bad." Helena says with a smirk.

Peter chuckles.

"Thanks."

"Guess I was wrong." She says.

"About?"

"About you being a pussy. You would've made a hell of a marine."

Peter smirks.

"Don't get soft on me now, Helena."

Helena looks up at Peter.

"You know my name?"

Peter stays silent for a moment, kneeling down infront of her.

"Yeah. And I know what happened to your family. To your wife... and kids." Peter says.

Helena doesn't say anything, staring off into the distance.

"That rhyme. What does it mean?" Peter asks.

"What did you say?" Helena asks.

"The thing you said before those thugs rushed in. Before you pull the trigger."

"You heard that?"

"Yeah I did."

Helena stays silent for a moment.

"One batch, two batch. Penny and a dime. It was her favorite book. When…you gotta cross the ocean…and go fight. You see…whole time you're thinking you're gonna be scared, right? But then, you're not. See, that part of it was always easy for me. Killing. Even watching the people beside me die, it just…it didn't mean nothing. The first time I got scared was on a plane on the way home. I kept thinking God was gonna pull the rug out from under us, you know? That's his kind of funny. But the plane landed safely and we were home."

Helena starts to cough up blood.

"Driving through traffic. Passing fast food and donut shops and all that greasy shit. It's the shit you fought to protect. Then the car stops. We were outside her school. I get to her classroom. She's in there, but she's got no idea. She's got no idea that her other mommy's home. I walk in, these kids, they're not even studying, they're doing some kind of yoga. And She's there. She's doing her poses, you know. She's bending...she's moving. She looks like a flower. And you know you can't even understand it, you know, how does something like that have…How does something that beautiful…How does that... come from me, a mobsters daughter?"

Tears start falling down Helena's face.

"And she looks up and she sees me. I see her. By God, that's real. In an instant she's across that classroom floor, she's in my arms. She's squeezing me so tight, I swear I was gonna bust a rib. We just stayed there like that, we're holding each other. Teacher, she's filming the whole thing on her phone, you know, she's gonna put it on YouTube or something. She can't hold the thing steady because, you know, she's…she's bawling so hard, and the kids are all wailing, you know, they're screaming. And me? Hell, I'm the worst of all. I'm a…I'm a rubber-face clown, you know. I cried so hard. But not my baby. Not my girl. You know, she's my girl. She's…She's not crying, she's holding me up. My girl, she's keeping me on my feet. She says, I knew it, momma. I knew it."

Helena smiles while still crying.

"And then we go home. Wife, the boy. Place is the exact same. It's like it's just holding its breath waiting for me to get back, you know? Then it hit me. All of it, you know. The first time I felt how tired I was. I was just…tired, you know? You…you ever been tired, Spider?"

"Yeah. I have." Peter answers.

"So you know. It's just, I couldn't do nothing, you know? All the things…I couldn't take my wife to bed. Ball with the boy, hell…I was so tired, I couldn't even drink a damn beer, you know. But not her. My girl was up. See, she wanted me to tuck her in. She outgrew it, she knew it but she didn't care. She wanted it. She had that book. Her favorite book was out on her pillows. One Batch, Two Batch…Penny and Dime. Yeah. I read her that book every night before this shit. I read it every single night, but, see, that was over now because Mommy's home now. She looked at me and she begged me, Spider. She begged. She begged. I said, No. Mommy's too tired, see. But I'll…I'll read it to you tomorrow night. I'll read to you tomorrow night, I promise."

Helena starts to cry even more.

"I would have never thought that…for her there was not gonna be any tomorrow, see. The last time I'd see her, I'd be holding her lifeless body in my arms. Meat was spilling out of her, Spider. The place where her face used to be. Yeah. I think I'm done... I think I'm done."

At that moment, multiple police cars and a ambulance soon arrive. Commissioner Stacy steps out of the car and approaches them.

"Is that her?" Stacy asks.

"Yeah, she needs medical attention fast." Peter says.

Stacy quickly waves over a paramedic to check on Helena.

"Nice work." Stacy says to Peter.

Peter nods and swings away on a web.

Later that night Peter, Jill, and Andrea sit at a table at the bar, sharing a laugh.

"I'm gonna go get us another round. Hope you two saved room for shots." Jill says.

Peter and Andrea laugh, then smile at each other.

"Hey. You ok?" Peter asks.

Andrea smiles.

"Yeah. It's just, days like these remind me of how precious life is." Andrea says.

Peter smiles, holding Andrea's hand. Jill sees the two smiling at each other from the bar, with a grin. Later, Peter steps outside and takes a deep breath. Soon Jill joins him with a smile on her face.

"Careful Pete. You keep going like this, you just might end up happy."

Peter smirks, as Andrea steps out.

"So, where next?" Andrea asks.

"Home. I'm gonna sleep for a week, someone had an awful idea to do shots. Think I've had enough excitement for one night."

Jill then walks into a cab, leaving Peter and Andrea alone under the moonlight. Peter steps in close to her and offers his hand.

"Walk with me." Peter says with a smile.

Andrea grins, taking Peter's hand and walking with him. After awhile of walking, Peter stops and pulls her in close. He brushes her hair back behind her ear and puts hand on the side of her face. The two then share a passionate kiss with each other.

"Can I take to dinner?" Peter asks.

Andrea smiles.

"Yes. It's about damn time."

Peter smiles.

"Goodnight Andrea."

Andrea kisses Peter again.

"Goodnight Peter."

She then walks away and catches a cab, while Peter stands on the curb, allowing himself to be happy.