Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, or any characters, nor am am I making any profits with this fic.
Warnings: Major spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War. If you have not seen the movie and do not wish to be spoiled, do not proceed! Also, tissue warning.
The Search
All around her, people scream; sirens from emergency vehicles echo from all directions, but May hasn't yet seen a cop or paramedic anywhere. Everywhere she turns, people dissolve into ash while others scream and cry and beg to no one in particular.
Metal crashes into metal, into concrete, as suddenly empty cars collide with anything in their path. Tires screech only occasionally, calling out a survivor trying to avoid a crash somewhere. Glass shatters- the breaking of car windows and windshields, of store windows and doors- as panic sets in with those who remain.
May runs through the horrors, her face drenched and her mascara streaking down her face. Her screams barely reach own ears, let alone anyone else's. At each new turn, she encounters the same sights and sounds. She tries not to look, not to see, but in a crowded city it's impossible not to. Still, she races through the city block by block, first to her nephew's school then to the park, and after that, she doesn't really know where. She just knows she has to find Peter.
Knowing Peter, and his stubborn affinity to his alter-ego, he's out in this mess trying to help people. If he's still here at all. Despite all of her efforts, all of the miles run around a city falling into pandemonium, screaming until she's hoarse and her throat sore, she can't push the thought away. She's seen so many people disintegrate into nothingness. So many people. Her heart hurts with the tremendous loss; if this is happening across the entirety of New York City, then millions could be dead. With no TV service, no cell phone service, there is no way of finding out any news. There's no way to know how localized this is, if it's happening anywhere else. Worse, she has no idea what this all is.
Just find Peter, she reprimands herself. The sun is falling behind the horizon, and added with the chaos around her, she begins to fear for her own safety. She runs down another street, aching, wheezing, her eyes constantly looking up, just hoping to see Spider-Man weaving his way among the skyscrapers. Too soon, she begins limping. Defeat starts to creep in as the skies remain without a hero.
Maybe he is at home after all, the idea occurs to her as she turns down yet another street which promises to yield the same empty results. Maybe he did go there. He could be looking for me.
It doesn't take much to re-orient herself. She's a native New Yorker, after all. She limps home, as quickly as she can push herself to, yet for her still much too slow. On the way she passes more than one car on fire, but thankfully no one tries to bother her. Full dark sets well before she reaches the apartment building, and she is not surprised to find the door smashed in. Carefully she treads around the glass shards on the floor, stepping on as little of the mess as she can manage, wincing at the crunch beneath her shoes when she can't avoid it.
The building is dark; there is no power, which means no elevator. Spurred on by the hope that Peter could be waiting for her in their apartment, May hobbles up the stairs and then down the hallway to her apartment. The door is locked. She curses, but tells herself as she fumbles for her keys that it doesn't necessarily mean anything. Peter could be inside, having locked the door to keep out any potential looters (or worse, sitting in front of two would-be looters tied up in their apartment).
Just as she gets the door unlocked, someone calls out her name from down the hall. She turns, but it isn't Peter. Dully, she watches Tony Stark walk slowly down the hall to her, his shoulders slumped. He keeps sad eyes steadily on her. May's eyes widen, watching him, uncomprehending.
When he reaches her, he holds up his hand to offer her something. She looks down and realizes what he's carrying: Peter's Spider-Man mask. She clutches her stomach, shaking her head vehemently, as her world falls apart.
~Fin