Chapter Text
Roier dropped onto the roof of, what seemed to be, an abandoned warehouse. The dim light of the moon left enough shadows to obscure his movements from anyone who would decide to look up at the roofs of the city at this time of night. Not that many people would be walking around or looking in the middle of the night. Even if they were looking up they would only see Spiderman lurking on a random rooftop and hopefully think he was keeping an eye out for crime and not breaking into a probably abandoned building.
Normally Roier wasn't one to follow vague instructions to go to an unknown location by an unknown source. Following mysterious people to secondary locations is how people go missing. Despite how he felt about going to a mysterious location, Roier had to follow the instructions. Gato Verde was missing and the instructions were left at the spot where he normally meets up with Gato Verde. He wishes he could have ignored the instructions but the address being left where he meets Gato Verde three days after the other man went missing felt more like a clue to where the man had gone than just a coincidence and Roier couldn't let the other man disappear without attempting to find him.
Roier didn't want to assume anything had happened to his partner but it wasn't reassuring that a note was left for him when the other man had been missing for days. The only thing that would have been worse is if the note had been left with some sign that the person who left the note had kidnapped Gato Verde. Roier didn’t want to assume the worst but all the clues pointed to the one leaving the note being the reason Gato Verde was missing. If the other man was safe Roier is sure he would have found a way to let him know.
Now here Roier was, figuring out how to quietly break into a,probably abandoned, warehouse; if the broken windows and plants that had taken up root on the roof were anything to go by. If the warehouse was actually as abandoned as it looked, Roier was sure one of the ground-level doors would have been an easier entrance. The locks on the doors could have rusted away or been picked by some people looking for a place to explore or to hide out in.
Unfortunately, the doors would be easier for someone to keep an eye on and would take away the element of surprise and put him at risk for being attacked. The only option left for Roier was to enter the building through one of the various broken windows on the upper-levels of the warehouse and hope that those entrances weren't being watched.
With how the various windows were broken, shards of glass were poking out as if threatening to cut Roier if he dared to attempt to enter the building. Luckily, Roier found a window that didn't have as many sharp glass edges sticking out ready to cut him. Roier leaned in the window and carefully stuck his hand to the inside wall. Once his hand was securely stuck to the inside wall, he pulled himself fully into the warehouse.
As he was clinging to the wall Roier took a moment to look around the warehouse. For a moment he thought it might have been used for some sort of storage with as many boxes were piled around the room but before he could decide to leave his eyes found Gato Verde and someone he didn't want to see with his partner.
Cucurucho had his back turned away from where Roier had climbed in but it was obvious that he was the one standing next to where Gato Verde was sitting. Roier should have suspected that the hero was the reason Gato Verde was missing but it didn’t make sense for the hero to use Gato Verde to lure him there. Cucurucho should know there is no guarantee that Spiderman would appear even if it was to find Gato Verde despite the fact that Roier knows he would always try to find the other man.
Roier knows he can't leave here and leave Gato Verde with Cucurucho. He would practically be condemning the other man to death. Roier also knows that attempting to rescue Gato Verde is just as bad of an idea. They could both end up trapped by Cucurucho with no one who could save them. Despite how unsafe it is Roier can't leave his partner behind.
Roier reaches out and attaches a web to the roof of the warehouse before he swings himself across the room and lands on the ground in the middle of an empty section of the warehouse. His feet make a quiet thunk as he lands and he sees Gato Verde look up at him. Gato Verde's face is covered by his mask and goggles but Roier knows the other man is silently begging him to leave.
Now that he is closer to Gato Verde, Roier can't help but look him over for any visible injuries. With how much his suit covers his skin, Roier can't see any injuries on Gato Verde but that doesn't mean the man is uninjured. Roier does happen to notice the fact that Gato Verde's signature cat ears are missing. Roier would be concerned if didn't know the man could pick up animals abilities from shifting part of his form to mimic that animal but, instead he was curious what animal Gato Verde had chosen.
"Let him go." Roier commanded, causing Cucurucho to turn around and stop whatever work it was doing on the device in its hands.
"Oh, welcome Spiderman." The bear masked man's robotic voice crackled.
"Just go, Guapito." Gato Verde begged, his voice horse either from a lack of talking or from screaming, Roier was unsure which it was..
"Maybe you should listen to him." Cucurucho taunted its voice crackling once again. "Just go and stop being a vigilante."
"I said let him go." Roier growled, ignoring Cucurucho's comment and Cellbit’s plea.
"I think you know I can't do that."
"Awfully heroic to hold someone as a captive." Roier taunted.
"What do you know about heroics when you yourself are going against the law and are yourself a criminal?" Cucurucho asked as it moved to stand directly behind Gato Verde, its shadow falling ominously over the other man.
"It's saving people, not this." Roier gestured to Cucurucho.
"You say when you are putting more people in danger by being vigilantes. You are something for criminals to test themselves against."
"You are exactly the same. Maybe this is why Blue Bird stopped being a hero." Roier taunted knowing that the loss of its partner was a sore spot for Cucurucho.
Roier knew Blue Bird didn't stop being a hero because of the fact that heroes and vigilantes were doing the same job. Roier also knew that how the heroes dealt with vigilantes wasn't why Blue Bird stopped being a hero. Roier knew that the reason Blue Bird was no longer a hero was the same reason Roier became Spiderman.
When Bobby died it had changed both Jaiden and him but in opposite ways. Jaiden had started to wear the Blue Bird mask thinking that with it she could protect the city and Bobby and if she couldn't protect Bobby from dying how could she protect the city. She became a lawyer instead to prevent what happened to Bobby from happening to anyone else.
After Bobby's death, Roier couldn't just work at the law firm anymore. He had to see the change he was making with his own two hands and know he was making a difference. He still helped Jaiden out in the office when he could but he also focused his times on being out in the streets when he could. It was as if the two switched roles.
“Maybe I should unmask him to teach you both a lesson?” Cucurucho taunted in its echoing robotic voice, running its hand along the straps that held Gato Verde’s mask to his face. “What do you say Spiderman? Do you want to see what your partner has been hiding underneath his mask?”
Roier saw Gato Verde go stiff in fear as he tried to move his face away from Cucurucho's claws. Cucurucho still kept his claws in position, ready to remove the mask at any moment.
“Don’t.” Roier commanded.
Sure, he wanted to know what Gato Verde looked like under the mask but not like this. He wanted the other to choose to tell him. He didn't want that choice to be taken away from the other. Even if it never happened, he would be content as long as it was what the other wanted.
Cucurucho once again slid its hand towards the straps of Gato Verde’s goggles. Roier would have sworn that the smile on Cucurucho's mask got bigger every time it traced its fingers back and forth between the two straps. It was almost as if the other was deciding which would be worse for it to remove first.
“Just go, Guapito.” Gato Verde begged.
“Maybe you should listen to him, Spiderman.” Cucurucho taunted as Roier clenched his fist and stared down Cucurucho.
Cucurucho stops its hand over the strap of Gato Verde’s googles. Roier almost thinks it’s going pull its hands away and stop its taunting but it then proceeds to slide its claws under the strap of Gato Verde’s googles and Roier’s breath hitches. Cucurucho slides up Gato Verde’s goggles up and Roier can clearly see the other’s blue eyes staring at him in fear. Cucurucho's claws slowly slide under Gato Verde’s mask and Roier is frozen in place, unable to look away or say anything to stop what was unfolding before him. Slowly Cucurucho slides the straps of the mask down and Roier’s breath hitches as he stares at the man unmasked in front of him.
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Roier walks into the coffee shop expecting to see Cellbit standing there with a coffee already made for him. It was routine at this point but, instead of Cellbit there was a blonde woman standing where he normally stood.
“Morning!” The woman greeted. “What can I get for you?”
Roier hesitated, he was not used to having to actually have to order his drink. “Umm- a large mocha latte and a large green tea."
The lady rang up his order and had him pay before she started making his drinks. Roier was so used to the chatter of Cellbit as he made the drinks and now only had the quiet music of the store and the noises of the coffee being made to distract him from his boredom. He missed Cellbit and couldn't help but wonder what caused the other man not to have gone into work. He hoped he was okay.
“Your Order.” The barista called, setting his drinks on the counter.
“Excuse me, I was wondering where the normal morning guy was.”
The woman shrugged. “I have no clue I was just called to come in when he didn't show.”
“Okay, thanks.” Roier replied,disappointed at the lack of an answer as he grabbed the drinks.
As Roier walked out of the shop he took a sip of his drink and frowned. It didn’t taste nearly as good as when Cellbit made it. It tasted as if it was missing something. Maybe it was just the conversation with Cellbit that was missing and nothing actually wrong with his drink. He hoped the man was just out sick and would be back tomorrow to make him an actual good latte.
The barista didn't return the next day. Roier didn't even bother trying to order his coffee again. He didn't want the same disappointing drink as the day before. Roier left the coffee shop with only Jaiden’s tea in his hand. He accepted that only Cellbit could make his coffee and with the other man gone he would just have to learn to live without.