The first light of morning slipped through the cracked blinds of Raj's small apartment, cutting across the room like a silent golden blade. Dust floated lazily in the sunbeam, catching in midair as if the universe itself had paused for breath.
Raj stirred on his futon, tangled halfway in his blanket, one arm flung over his eyes. His muscles ached from the night before, a deep burn in his bones from the solar expenditure he'd unleashed. The silence was unusually comforting. No explosions. No alarms. Just the hum of the city below and the steady breathing of Peter Parker, curled up on the fold-out couch with one leg dangling off the edge.
The scent of half-burnt incense still clung to the air. A small attempt at grounding themselves in normalcy after defeating a mutant with solar detonation powers and walking straight into a Hydra trap.
Raj blinked blearily, then sat up slowly, wincing as his shoulders cracked. The beam of sunlight hit his bare chest and, for a moment, a soft glow rippled beneath his skin before fading. He sighed. Always the sun. Even when he wanted a break.
Across the room, Peter groaned.
"Tell your solar god to hit the snooze button," he muttered, rolling over and clutching a pillow to his face.
Raj chuckled. "You're lucky my solar god didn't torch the entire building last night."
Peter peeked out with one eye. "Yeah, thanks for not going full supernova in your sleep. I'd like to keep my eyebrows."
They both laughed softly, the kind of laugh that carried fatigue, disbelief, and a thin thread of relief.
Raj swung his legs off the futon and padded barefoot toward the kitchenette. He opened the small fridge, which contained exactly one half-empty bottle of orange juice, a bowl of leftover rice, and three cans of iced coffee.
He tossed one to Peter.
Peter caught it, barely. "Breakfast of champions."
Raj took a sip from his own can, then leaned against the counter, staring out the window. The street below was already alive with honking horns, barking dogs, and vendors yelling about bagels.
"You feel okay?" Peter asked.
Raj nodded. "Better than I should. The speed, the strength—it's stabilizing. Like my body knows what it's doing now."
Peter stretched his arms over his head and groaned. "Yeah, well, I still feel like I got hit by a train."
"Hydra doesn't pull punches."
Peter's expression shifted. The name hung in the air like a ghost.
"Aidren," Peter said quietly. "He didn't even flinch. Even after you took him down. That look on his face… like he wanted it."
Raj's jaw tightened. "Like he was proud."
There was a pause.
"He said, 'Long live Hydra,' right before he collapsed," Raj added.
Peter shook his head. "That's cult behavior."
Raj moved toward the wall, where they'd started pinning bits of information—printouts of strange activity, photos of strange figures, vague locations scrawled in red marker. In the center, one name was underlined twice in black ink:
HYDRA
"I don't think they were sent to stop us," Raj said, tracing a line between two notes with his finger. "I think they were testing us."
Peter stood beside him now. "To see what you could do."
Raj nodded. "And to confirm what they already knew. That I'm not just some high schooler with a weird glow problem."
Peter glanced at the map. "Then we have to hit back. Find them before they send someone stronger."
Raj looked over. "We?"
Peter gave him a look. "I'm not bailing on you now. We're in this together."
Raj allowed himself a rare, small smile.
Peter pulled out his phone and checked the time. "Crap. It's almost six. I have to get home before Aunt May wakes up and realizes I didn't come back."
Raj grabbed his jacket from a nearby chair. "Tell her you were volunteering at a soup kitchen."
Peter smirked. "You think I haven't used that one already?"
He slung his bag over his shoulder. At the door, he paused. "We meet after school?"
Raj nodded. "Yeah. And bring Ned. We might need his tech."
Peter saluted with two fingers. "Operation: Find the Snake Pit."
Raj watched the door close behind him.
The apartment felt quieter now. Too quiet.
He turned back to the map, staring at the red strings they had connected the night before. Threads of chaos tied to faces, places, events. A tangle of secrets.
He pulled out a black marker and circled one word:
BASE
They had a trail now. They just had to follow it.
And when they found it?
He'd be ready.