Peter wasn't particularly surprised that Cindy knew he had arrived. After all, she could sense his presence at any given time. While this perception generally wasn't perfectly clear, Cindy definitely knew how close or far away he was.
He was just a bit puzzled as to why Cindy wasn't resting properly in bed, or what exactly she had knocked over. Consequently, after walking upstairs, he knocked on the door, only to find that it hadn't been fully closed.
Could it be that the sound from earlier was Cindy trying to open the door for him?
Muttering an "Excuse me," Peter pushed the door open and saw Cindy lying in bed, tightly covered by her blanket. The latter clearly looked a bit flustered, appearing as though she hadn't known Peter was coming at all. Her gaze darted around evasively: "Uh, I'm sorry, I'm feeling a little under the weather..."
"I'm not here to scold you, I just came to check on you. Fury said you were sick—or maybe it was Coulson, I'm not entirely sure whose number that was."
As Peter spoke, he placed a fruit basket and a box of cookies on Cindy's desk. The room was unexpectedly tidy. There was no extra wallpaper on the walls, and the furniture was... well, it consisted of standard white furniture that looked like it hadn't been chosen with any particular theme in mind, and even the curtains were a plain beige.
Peter felt that the rooms of the girls he knew were all relatively simple, but he wasn't entirely sure if all girls' rooms were like this. After all, he hadn't been to many girls' rooms before. Gwen, Felicia, and now Cindy... that didn't exactly count as many.
"I'm fine, just a little dizzy, and my temperature is slightly elevated. It's just under thirty-nine degrees. I'll be fine after a couple days of rest."
Just under thirty-nine degrees... Sister, do you even hear what you're saying?
"Alright, make sure to get some proper rest. I heard a doctor came to see you. If you feel... well, it's best to just follow the doctor's orders."
Peter hesitated for a brief moment before pulling out the books he had bought for Cindy: "I brought you a couple of books, I think you'll like them. The Masque of the Red Death and The Dark Tower... Do you need me to pour you a glass of water? Or do something else? Want me to peel an apple for you?"
Cindy shook her head at first, but then she poked her head completely out from under the blanket, looking at Peter as she asked with some hesitation, "Could you read to me? From those novels you bought..."
"Uh, sure, no problem. It just so happens I haven't read these two books either."
To be precise, Peter hadn't paid much attention to Edgar Allan Poe or Stephen King, so he opened a book and began to read aloud.
Time drifted by bit by bit. After Peter had read to Cindy for a while, stopping right at the end of a chapter, he suddenly turned his gaze toward the doorway. The doorknob turned, and then Cindy's "mother" walked in holding two glasses of milk: "I thought you two might be thirsty, so I came to check on you. Also, Cindy, remember to get some rest."
Once the door closed again, Peter confirmed that there were no bugs in the room while using nanobots to reinforce the soundproofing of the space. Then, he looked at Cindy: "Is your family doing okay?"
"They are very safe, and they come back to visit often. This was Fury's arrangement, it's just..."
Cindy shook her head as she spoke. For her, separating from her family was certainly not something she wanted, but the events of last time had been a bit too terrifying, which was why she eventually accepted Fury's LMD project.
But that wasn't what Peter was worried about.
The LMDs Fury provided for Cindy's family were older models. With just a bit of standard scanning, people could easily figure out they were technological creations, and LMDs of this level were common knowledge within S.H.I.E.L.D. In other words, S.H.I.E.L.D. knew Cindy's current family was fake, and Hydra knew it too.
Having just been played by Strange yesterday, Peter was starting to instinctively suspect whether Cindy was being used as bait by Fury. After pondering for a short moment, he decided to shelve this thought for now; at worst, he could just ask Fury later. Then, he questioned Cindy again: "How did you suddenly end up with a cold and a fever? Did you catch a chill? Did you wash your hair at night and let the wind hit it before it dried?"
"No, nothing like that. I was perfectly fine during training a few days ago, nothing felt wrong at all. I just went to sleep that night, and the next day I woke up feeling unwell..."
Peter suddenly grew tense: "When exactly did this happen?"
The reason he became so anxious was because he worried whether he had caused Cindy's fever. After all, around this time last night, he seemed to be making a mess in Limbo, using the Web of Destiny to summon the Spider-Deities. It would be terrible if that event had caused Cindy to fall ill.
However, Cindy's answer caught Peter somewhat by surprise, because the timing was a full day earlier than he thought.
"Alright, let's move on to the next chapter then."
——
A few hours later, Peter walked out of Cindy's house. School had let out around three, and now it was already past six. He let out a sigh and was about to put on his suit to go on patrol when he spotted a black premium SUV parked by the curb. The window rolled down, revealing a certain bald man with an eyepatch.
Peter walked over to the side of the vehicle, opened the door, and slid inside. Fury seemed to be chewing on some gum or something similar: "You should be sixteen by now, right? Have you considered getting a driver's license? It would be very convenient."
"Maybe eventually, but given the traffic conditions in New York, driving might not be as convenient as swinging on webs."
Fury simply nodded, then looked toward Cindy's house: "The doctor I found through my personal connections came via Strange's channels. He used to be a surgeon and knows some people in the field. So if she just has a normal cold, you don't need to worry."
Peter immediately locked his eyes onto Fury: "If? Meaning what?"
"She is sick, and her illness is far from ordinary. Don't you find it strange? I've checked the surrounding conditions as well as the surveillance, and I can confirm that all her actions have been perfectly normal. Given her physical constitution, she shouldn't be catching minor illnesses like this."
Peter looked at Fury, then shook his head: "Maybe it's just a pure accident or a stroke of bad luck that made her end up like this?"
"I've considered that possibility as well, which is why I'm waiting here, Peter Parker."
"Waiting for me?"
Fury merely shook his head, then lowered the window further. A person was standing by the curb outside the car—someone Peter hadn't seen in a very long time: Madame Web, Julia Carpenter.
"Do you still think this is just an accident, a simple minor cold?"
Fury looked at Peter. After taking a deep breath, Peter opened the car door, intending to go have a proper chat with Madame Web.