Oooo, what is this? Yes, yes it is I. I'm back! And I bring a fresh story with me :)

Well, to put it simply, I'm sorry about my lack of activity of late, but we've had a death in the family, and everything and everyone's been a bit of a mess over the last several months, including myself, so I have been unable to upload. But the good news is I've finally finished this, and guess what? It's the longest one yet, hitting over 6k! So I really hope you can enjoy it :)

NOTE: This story contains the character Aaron from the previous story "Burning" of this series, as he's a specific character I personally wanted to bring back :)

The air was fresh, the sky rich and sparkling, as Spidey tugged on his webs and barrel-rolled through the air like a vibrant splash of red and blue. People pointed and gasped, awed at seeing the famed spider-themed superhero swinging through the air, and he grinned to himself behind the mask.

It was a beautiful morning. Spidey had been swinging from his webs ever since he'd been able to escape the house after breakfast. He was buzzing with energy, and it showed in the day's acrobatic manoeuvres. Social media was alive with his activities, and he'd become somewhat of a current tourist attraction, the citizens picking up on his good mood - people filming his stunts in the streets as he hopped about, following the progress of his morning patrol.

He knew he shouldn't indulge himself like this, but he also knew he was entertaining the pedestrians, and every now and then a superhero should be allowed to have fun, even ones such as himself...right? Anyway, it wasn't like it was a rare occasion for him to be the focus of social media, intentional or not.

As he was leisurely swinging around another street corner a sudden, unexpected, sharp pain burst to life in his head.

Scrambling, he wobbled on his web, quickly coming to a halt on a nearby ledge, and gritted his teeth. His spider-sense had exploded to life. He'd know the feeling anywhere.

Just as soon as it had appeared, it was gone, and Spidey hesitantly took his hands away from where they'd been clutching at his masked head, sitting up straighter from where his shoulders had curled in on themselves.

He gazed carefully around his surroundings. The cars were moving; people were milling about the sidewalks, shops were open; everything was as it should be – no sign of any disturbance.

"Well..." Spidey said to himself, still looking for danger. But the sky was still blue and the air as fresh as it could get in New York. No super-villains appeared to be lurking on the horizon.

Ignoring the mystery for now, Spidey continued on at the sound of some sirens, keeping a keen eye out, but otherwise getting on with his day. Maybe it was just some stray anxiety from his week. It had been known to happen. At least he hoped that was all it was.

Shaking his thoughts, Spidey continued on his way.

4 hours later

Aaron poured more water over the burnt kitchen, before stepping back, inspecting the now black, and smoking, stove. The fire department had had a call for a blaze in a small restaurant in Manhattan, and they'd quickly made their way over.

The flames had made their way up the wall and licked the sealing, but thankfully the tall, fiery inferno was no longer eating away at the structure like it had been some minutes ago. Luckily, the blaze hadn't spread too far (thanks to the quick thinking of one of the employees who'd fetched the fire extinguisher after they'd evacuated the building) but they'd needed a little extra help getting the flames completely out.

Aaron had been part of the group called out to the situation.

Letting out a sigh, Aaron removed his oxygen mask and ran his black and yellow, thickly gloved fingers through his hair. He was relieved at another job well done. They could put another successful mission under their belts, with no one hurt and the situation quickly neutralized. Aaron would call that a success.

He'd been a firefighter for four years now, and seen many horrible, and often painful, things. His eyes had witnessed a large array of various events, having many experiences locked under his belt. Sometimes he wondered if he'd seen it all, the good and the bad. Over that time he'd learnt to appreciate the successes, no matter how big or small: the clean cases, where everyone walked away unharmed.

Aaron walked out of the building, and up to the owners. He gave them a small smile and a nod. "The fire's all out now. And your restaurant should be fine, with a little repairing. The guys'll make sure it's safe before you go back in."

"Thank you," they both said, and he nodded once again, before moving back to the fire truck to put his oxygen mask away. While he was working, a slight murmur moved down the street as if like a wave, before a whooshing sound filled his ears, as something moved low over his head. He snapped his head around in surprise, looking for the disturbance.

His eyes were just fast enough to catch the lean figure of red and blue in the air.

The spider messed around, moving at quick speeds, almost as if he was unfocused for a moment. He was then sliding down the wall when Aaron's eyes had finally caught up with him. He clung, grabbing at something for a moment, before there was an icy, strangled scream, and the figure smashed into the ground.

Aaron ran. His feet were moving before his mind had even registered them, as he made his way towards the familiar body splayed out limply on the pavement and dropped to his knees.

Earlier

Spidey's day had slowly diminished as the sun rose higher in the sky.

Around mid-morning, there'd been a malfunction at a major set of traffic lights, right in the heart of the city. He'd literally spent several frustrating hours out on the road directing the traffic as the workers tried to fix the problem.

Webbing up the ruined cars and pulling them away from their furious, arguing owners had also not been the most pleasant task in the world, as a destructive pile-up had been the initial result of the chaos. With what could be described as extreme luck, there'd been no casualties, apart from one elderly man with a nasty cut down his leg. Spidey had spent several minutes consoling the man.

The air seemed to be filled with a sense of agitation, as Spidey had nearly been run over several times in the long process by stressed, uncooperative drivers. Before he'd finally been able to take his leave, he'd lashed out at one particular driver who'd been nagging him, throwing a shot of web angrily at his car, effectively covering it in unnecessary gunk, before catapulting away.

Spidey felt bad about it - he very rarely lost his temper like that. Throughout the entire time he was there though, his spider-sense had kept going off, driving him mad; getting stronger as time went on. It was giving him a headache. Combined with the aggravated drivers, and the pain, it was clouding his thoughts.

Yet, despite all of this, he still could not find a source for his over-active senses.

Things did not begin to ease after his departure from the chaotic traffic incident, as barely five minutes later, someone tried to rob a store.

The young man didn't succeed, as Spidey nabbed him with a web before he could make it several metres down the street, reeling him in like a fish on a hook.

The owner had stormed out, ready to give the thief a piece of her mind, before the man's hood had slipped back, revealing his shocked, 'deer-caught-in-headlights' face. Then all hell broke loose.

The pair had started arguing like a pack of ravenous wolves, tearing into each other with words, as an entire family crisis played out before him. It turned out the perpetrator was the woman's son, and the amount of vicious mayhem that came out in that conversation was too much for Spidey's headache. He groaned - completely forgotten about by the pair- and clutched his head with both hands. Squeezing his eyes shut, he staggered back slightly as the waves of pain washed over him.

"Stop!" he yelled, the sound coming out quieter than intended, unable to take any more. But they didn't hear him.

Blindly holding an arm out, he leaned against the wall, trying to rest his head, but it was no good with the incessant screaming going on in his ears.

"Could you please STOP!"

Both faces turned to him, startled and shocked that they'd been interrupted from their argument.

Spidey stood away from the wall.

"Thank you," he said. "The police will be here soon, they can help you sort it out the-"

He never got to finish his sentence, for as if they'd already forgotten his presence again, the argument re-started with a vengeance.

Spidey stood still and quiet until the police arrived, before swinging away.

Manoeuvring around the skyscrapers of New York, Spidey swung slowly along. He'd become achingly tired from the constant, re-occurring buzzing in his head: the continuous, ringing alertness draining his strength.

He just wanted a dark, quiet place where he could sit a while: where he could hide, safe. Away from the bustling, loud activity of the city.

Lethargically shooting another web, his eyes searched the landscape, just looking for some little nook somewhere, when he was hit with the mother of all spider-senses. His vision blurred, his world swayed, as he careered out of control.

He zoomed low over the street, before slamming straight into a wall.

Trying to focus through his screaming mind, he made a clumsy attempt to stop his descent, his fingers clinging to the first thing they came in contact with. But his head pounded.

He briefly heard an echo of his distress emerge from his lips, before his world was going dark and he lost all sense of reality.

Present

Aaron grabbed the still figure's hand, and gave it a slight squeeze, feeling for a pulse on his wrist. He had one, but it was slightly elevated.

Leaning forward, he patted the masked face. His forehead creased in concern when he could not coax Spidey to awaken. Briefly taking in their surroundings, Aaron slipped his hands beneath the hero and lifted him into his arms. The motion was familiar, as Aaron remembered doing this once before, when he'd dragged the small form out of a disastrous, raging inferno, a little girl clutched tight to his chest...

Aaron shook away the memories, and quickly made his way over to the sidewalk. Autopilot took over, as he searched around for a place where the hero could be safely laid out. In the corner of his eye he saw a store owner motion him to a clear space at the front of his shop. Making up his mind, he moved in that direction.

Blackness. That's all Spidey knew as consciousness slowly returned to him.

He took a heaving breath.

His thoughts were a scattered mess. In the back of his mind, he was aware of a mild ache. He was also aware of a warm, comforting hand squeezing his own. He grounded in on that, as voices slowly began to swim into his mind, becoming clearer. He groaned mildly to himself, shifting his head to the side before flickering his eyes open.

Faces. There were faces above him, leaning in. Blinking, they finally began to come into focus. He recognised the blue uniform of paramedics. There was also the vaguely familiar face of a lone fireman sitting beside him.

"Spider-Man. Can you hear me, Spider-Man?" one of the medics was asking - a young female with short, dark hair. Her green eyes were searching his masked face intently.

Another groan slipped unwontedly past his lips. The hand squeezed his own again, while a second gripped his upper arm, holding tight, as if trying to give him strength. The paramedic's fingers were soon resting against his throat, checking his pulse - an action he was beginning to come more and more familiar with considering the amount of trouble he got himself into - while her eyes gazed intently at her wrist watch, counting the seconds.

Shifting his attention, he moved his head to face the man in the fireman's uniform. The man gazed back at him silently through the large bug lenses. Glimmers of memories shifted through his mind. Coughing, choking on smoke - the image of this face being there the whole time, a reassuring comfort. The fire. He remembered. He'd met this man before...

Reassured by the familiarity, Spidey turned away. He whined, pressing a gloved hand to the side of his head.

The hand gripped tighter. He gripped back.

The paramedic moved forward and took his shoulders, a look of concern on her face. "Spidey, what's wrong?" When he didn't answer immediately, she changed the question. "What hurts?"

"My head," Spidey answered, the pain leaking through his voice.

"Are you hurt? Did you hit your head?" the paramedic asked, getting straight to business.

"Ah...no, not that I know of."

The young medic looked confused. The fireman was silently looking between them, a concerned expression showing on his face.

Seeing their confusion, he elaborated. "My head's screaming."

"So you have a headache then?"

Spidey shook his head. "No. No, not really. It's hard to explain. I-I have...senses, that other people don't have."

"Senses?" the fireman chimed in softly.

Spidey groaned. "Yeah, I call it my spider-sense. It's-it's been going off all day...hurts."

"Your senses hurt you?" The woman's green eyes became wide with alarm, her face full of sudden sympathy.

"Yes...no. Sort of. It's complicated."

The fireman looked thoughtful. "Spidey, what sort of senses are these?"

"Danger senses."

They both froze.

"Are you saying these senses warn you of danger, and it's going off now?"

"Yes."

The poor girl suddenly appeared scared, looking around their surroundings frantically.

"I haven't come across anything, though. Sometimes it does strange things, and just goes off. I don't know why, although most of the time it's pretty reliable." He let out a chuckle, before groaning again. The man squeezed his hand.

The medic was quiet for a second. "Well, can we give you painkillers for it?" She started rummaging around in her bag.

Spidey shook his head. "No, it doesn't work like that. Painkillers have no effect on this."

The medic paused. She looked mildly distraught. "Well then, Spidey, I don't know how to help you."

Spidey pulled his lips in a tight line as a breeze blew over the three of them, ruffling the leaves on the nearby potted plants. He could tell this woman didn't like seeing him in pain, and was upset by the knowledge of not being able to help him. He felt touched.

Reaching out a gloved hand, he clasped her own. "It's not your- err!"

Spidey let go with a jolt and grabbed his head, as his spider-sense started up again in full force. He writhed on the ground at the intense, screaming pressure, and couldn't help but let out a few choked off screams at the pain. His mind was desperately telling him to HIDE, to hide NOW. To get out of the way! But get out of the way of what...?

Spidey's limbs subconsciously curled up closer to him, and he squeezed his eyes shut, willing the pounding ringing to stop.

Out of his dark inner void, two hands gently placed themselves over his own on his head, and stayed there.

After several exhausting, overwhelming minutes, his spider-sense finally died back down to a low buzz.

Spidey gasped, sucking in deep breaths, and just lay still for a minute, regaining his composure.

"Are you sure I can't get you some painkillers?" The medic's voice shook.

Spidey just shook his head, no. He knew those things wouldn't work on his spider-sense.

"Are you ok now?" the fireman asked with concern.

"Yeah," Spidey nodded. "Yeah, it's getting better now."

"What were you doing?" asked the medic, directing her question at the fireman.

He looked up. "Oh, well, I just thought- he said it was a danger sense, that if I counteracted the feeling of threat with good vibes, it might help it ease." He shrugged.

"So you held his head and projected safe thoughts?" the medic stared.

"Ugh, yeah," the man said, accepting his logic.

"How would he pick up non-threatening thoughts from someone?"

"I considered if he picks up threatening thoughts, then it might work both ways."

"But that's not possible..."

Spidey ignored the debate going on above him over how his spider-senses worked, and just stayed silent. He was somewhat in shock. He'd never had someone do something so thoughtfully moving and uniquely kind for him. It brought a lump to his throat and a tight feeling to his chest. If he was to be honest with himself, he hadn't even thought of that. His spider-sense was most likely far more complex than he knew. And he may not ever know everything about the complex functions of his body, but he had to say, it was a thoughtful act towards him. More thoughtful than most things he'd encountered in the past.

A low rumble of thunder sounded in the distance, and Spidey looked up at the street. The sky was no longer the bright blue it had been earlier in the day, and now had a light cover of greying cloud. A slight breeze had picked up, giving the area that pre-storm feeling.

As if sensing his thoughts, the fireman quickly looked up at the sky, before shifting to pick him up, slowly moving him under the awning in case it rained.

"Wouldn't want you to get wet," he teased, smiling slightly, while looking back at the clouds after he'd laid him back down. That's when Spidey took in where he was. He had been lying on a soft blanket on the ground out the front of a local store. Another was folded up neatly under his head (they'd been shifted with him when he'd been moved). The area was slightly shielded by merchandise that was for sale, so it gave him some slight cover from the local pedestrians moving about: although he could tell his presence wasn't completely unknown.

The ambulance sat parked a little down the road, the other paramedic now standing at the door. Waiting. He obviously didn't feel his presence was any longer necessary.

As if on cue, the current paramedic's communicator buzzed.

"Bus four, come in. What's your status?"

"We're still here with Spider-Man," the medic quickly answered.

"How's he doing?" The voice sounded mildly compassionate.

"He's still down."

"Any estimate of when you'll be done?"

She paused, looking over at him sadly. "Not at this time, no."

"Alright, I'll check back in later. Take care of our hero."

"I will, over," she said with a smile, and put away her communicator.

Silence surrounded the small group of three for a moment, before the thunder rumbled through the atmosphere again, breaking the stillness.

"Looks like it's gonna be a rough one. Hope I closed the windows in the truck," the fireman commented, gazing at the clouds building up ahead.

Spidey remained lying on the ground, but an incredible sense of unease suddenly came over him, not quite like his normal spider-sense. It went deeper, tingling in his bones. Something was wrong.

He stretched out slightly, uncomfortable, and made a small noise of distress in the back of his throat. The fireman immediately sensed his unease, and rested a hand gently against his chest. As he did so, the man could immediately feel the frantic beating of Spidey's heart beneath his palm. His face pulled in a frown.

Spidey could see the concern on the man's face, but there was nothing he could do about it – he was just as baffled over his circumstance as they were. He didn't protest though, as he attempted to lay back and relax, but the growing unease within him just continued to increase.

There was a large crack of thunder nearby, and an eerie, familiar feeling tingled all the way up his spine - something in the back of his mind trying to gain his attention.

Something was really, really wrong.

He moved. Both the medic and fireman were startled as out of nowhere, Spidey suddenly jumped up, leapt to the awning above them in one quick bound, and was swinging away on a web which was quickly shot from his wrist.

There was a few seconds pause as they both stared after Spider-Man, before the fireman made a quick decision. He jumped up from his position and ran for a nearby cab. Something in his gut told him to follow Spidey - something telling him that things weren't quite right.

Hastily declaring a few orders to the driver, he got in, and the cabbie quickly started driving in the direction of the web-slinging hero.

Spidey leapt through the city as fast as he could, getting closer and closer to where he felt the most unease.

Finally crawling around the side of a building, he pattered across the large, glass windows of a skyscraper. He stopped, the hairs standing up on the back of his neck and his head pounding: that strange feeling of needing to run and hide returning. This was the place.

A large droplet of water landed on his mask-covered nose, before many other, similar ones began to hit the surfaces around him in big, heavy splashes, falling down to the ground as it began to rain. Another rumble of thunder sounded as a flash of light lit up the sky above him.

As he was gazing around, looking for any sort of trouble, he was interrupted by a peculiar tapping on the glass.

Spidey snapped his head towards it.

He gazed at the reflection of himself in the window for a second, before he focused past that, and his breath hitched in his throat. There was a woman standing on the other side of the glass, several other curious-looking people beyond, and he realised he was perched sideways on the window, many stories up in the air, in front of none other than office cubicles.

The woman had placed her own hand against where his suction-cup-like one was placed, and had been posing excitedly for photos.

Spidey's head shifted around as he gazed back at all the people; wide, masked eyes staring - zeroing them out. It would seem he'd attracted quite an audience.

Spidey shifted his hands slightly in awkwardness, before he gave them a friendly wave.

Many of them waved back.

"Sorry, you don't mind if a spider perches here for a bit, do you?" he asked.

Just then, his spider-sense buzzed loudly, and he snapped his bug-eyed gaze back down to the street.

Aaron was nervous. Something clenching in his gut, as he guided the cabbie to follow the skittering figure leaping around the buildings. He was following him closely with his eyes, determined not to lose him.

The cabbie swerved almost dangerously through traffic, eyes wide and a little unsettled by the directions he was being given, before Spidey suddenly came to a halt.

"Pull over!" Aaron yelled, and the cabbie hastily obliged, as he opened the door, getting out almost before the vehicle had stopped moving, closing it behind him with a thunk.

Spidey was stopped on the side of a building. He'd crawled along the edge, and was now rested on one of the glass windows.

Aaron watched closely as he slowly walked forward, not straying his eyes from the small, supernatural being perched several stories above the ground, wondering what it possibly could be that he was doing.

Lightning flashed, and Spidey jumped, curling in on himself protectively. If he were a bird, he probably would have puffed up his feathers. The people in the room began to stare, giving him odd looks, never having seen Spidey act so strange and skittish. That's when they saw it.

Spidey immediately took notice when expressions of fear suddenly passed over his curious spectators' faces, and became confused as the first few began to back away. But they weren't looking at him, they were looking past him. Spidey turned.

The previously dark, stormy sky had turned an ominous, ugly green. The clouds were beginning to shift and circle, turning into a funnel-shaped –

Spidey's eyes widened in alarm as he realised what was happening, the powerful spider-sense buzzing in his head and down his spine now overlooked as his focus turned below towards the ground, the buildings around them, to the people.

Realisation came to him in a sudden shockwave, as he figured what he had to do.

Aaron saw it at about the same time as Spidey, and immediately came to the same conclusion as the superhero.

He needed to clear the area.

Keeping an eye on Spidey, he immediately began to yell at the crowd, drawing their attention...

"Run! You all need to get out of here, now!"

The crowd was alarmed by the sudden onslaught from both the local, web-swinging hero and the fireman, as Spidey seemed to appear from nowhere, jumping down in the middle of them from somewhere up above.

They didn't need to be told twice, as the bulk of them began to move, recognising the hero's authority.

Spidey's mind was in a panic. He'd never personally experienced something like this so up close before, especially as a superhero, and that which was not caused by super-villains. He was at a loss for what to do, as he watched the menacing clouds develop into only something that could be described as a tornado.

It was only small, but he'd seen how much damage these things could do, and how quickly they could grow. Luckily, he'd managed to wave the crowd back, and they'd all moved considerably far away, or run, with the assisting help from the fireman – something which he was very grateful for in this moment. He must have followed him here.

He watched the man for a second, as he ushered people away into the buildings and behind locked doors, talking sense into the panicked. He was good at his job.

It was when his eyes roamed back to the twister currently eating away at the concrete, that the relief from the quick efforts he and his helper had pulled in the last few minutes dropped. There were a woman and child still out in the crossfire.

He ran in without thinking, immediately feeling the wind pull at his form, as he grabbed onto the vehicle the child was currently stuck in, barely even noticing the rain that fell, drowning them all in a torrential downpour.

Lightning cracked somewhere nearby, jarring them, the woman crying, panicked, as Spidey gripped at the buckles on the booster seat, ripping them off with one tug of strength.

It all happened so fast, and thinking back on it later, Spidey would be alarmed by the speed of it all, as one minute he was shepherding the pair towards safety, the next he was literally throwing himself over them.

It had approached too fast; there was no way he could pull them both away in time, not fighting against the gale of wind currently pulling at them, so he did the only thing his screaming brain could come up with.

He shoved the mother down towards the ground - the child cradled in her arms, and spread himself over her back. His form was hardly big enough to cover them both completely, but he did all he could.

He braced his hands to the ground on either side of the mother's shoulders; his legs tucked carefully behind the pair, and gripped the solid concrete with all his strength, adhering himself to the ground with his sticky hands and feet. He tucked his chin over the mother's head, and clung on with all his might.

The torrential pull of wind hit him, and he screamed, doing everything in his power to protect them.

Time seemed to stand still. Minutes, hours, days could have passed as the full pull of the tornado hit his muscles, which strained to hold up against the pressure.

He couldn't remember doing something quite like this before, normally he'd just move away from the disastrous phenomenon, or get caught up in it should a villain be the cause. Never in his memory had he flat out gone against one. And it hurt.

He held on. He had to hold on, as his eyes widened in shock, and his fingers strained to keep their grip. He felt the mother pull her child closer towards her chest.

His muscles began to shake. The air was pulling; it was hard to breathe, his mask not providing much assistance. Tears prickled at the corners of his eyes as he gritted his teeth, groaning and whining. But he had no choice; he had to fight, fight for the lives of his precious charge. He had to try, or he'd never forgive himself, and the guilt of giving up would forever plague him...

The child was screaming, but he could hardly hear her against the deafening roar.

It was becoming too much, and he knew it. The pain was excruciating, every muscle burning. He let out one last scream of agony, before everything stopped.

Barely able to register the fact that it was gone, he collapsed, having nothing left to give, and lay limp, sprawled over the pair he'd just saved.

Tracy was in shock. A simple drive to the park had ended in horror when the weather took a sudden turn for the worst. Her baby, a small girl of only three, had been stuck in the booster seat. She'd raced from the front seat of the car to try and remove her as the clouds blew ominously closer.

A blur of red and blue had rushed over. The next thing she knew, her daughter was out and being shoved into her arms before she was being pushed along from behind.

Then, she was shoved to the ground, her daughters head tucked gently to her chest, Spider-Man splayed over the both of them, screaming as he clung impossibly to the ground with only his hands and feet.

Tears sprung to Tracy's eyes as the wind ripped at them, and she whispered soothing words of comfort as her daughter wailed in terror. She closed her eyes and held her daughter as close to her as she possibly could; tightening her hold, just waiting for it to pass.

Slow, controlled breaths moved in and out of her lungs as she calmed her racing heart, before the noise died down, and a sudden weight fell on her back.

Tracy blinked for a second in confusion, before she realised what'd happened. The superhero who'd risked his life to save theirs had just collapsed on her back.

Her heart began racing anew and her mind matched, spinning with frantic thoughts. She kept completely still, and just listened. Yes, he was breathing, and if she paid attention, she could feel his heart beating against her back. She let out a relieved breath.

She decided to shift slightly, carefully trying to move him off, when she caught sight of it...the tornado was coming back.

In that moment, her heart went cold. She shifted and shook at him. She even elbowed him in the ribs. He only moaned.

"Hey!" she yelled. "Hey, wake up!"

She wriggled, trying to gain his attention, and panic rose high in her throat, as the column of air rushed closer.

She judged the distance to the nearest safe area. 'Could they make it there...?'

From their current position, she concluded, no. They only had one choice.

Whacking him in the side again, tears began to pour from her eyes, and she heard her daughter whimper, sobbing silently. She must be so confused...

As a last attempt, she reached beneath her and managed to pull out her water bottle from her black shoulder bag. Unwinding the lid, she awkwardly twisted so that the masked man's head was resting over her shoulder.

She stared back at the obscure, wide, insect-like lenses for a split second, before throwing some of the cold water over his head.

"WAKE UP!"

Spidey awoke with a jump, noise and chaos slowly coming to him through his hazy mind. That...that and the screaming of his spider-sense. He registered his position, registered the growing tornado speeding closer, the vague memories of the previous minutes trickling back into his mind.

He moved, and was immediately made aware of the exhausted, strained pain in his muscles, but he ignored it. Fighting against his instincts, he once again grabbed onto the ground and re-took his protective stance, taking in heaving breaths. He barely even noticed as a water bottle was shakily raised towards his mouth. He lifted his chin slightly from the woman's shoulder as she twisted slightly to raise his mask.

He took in several long, deep gulps, thankfully, before it was removed, and he gritted his teeth, preparing himself to once again stand up to the powerful force. He couldn't help but wonder when, and if, it would all be over, and whether or not the three of them would survive the experience. It was a miracle they hadn't been hit by flying debris already, or the concrete hadn't been ripped up...

Tracy whispered a silent prayer as the second bout hit them.

The pressure seemed to go on forever, the roar deafening, and she prayed for the spider, currently shielding their lives from the destructive force of nature surrounding them.

Silent. It was silent as the column of air finally moved off, eating up everything in its path as it went further down the street, where no one else was in harm's way.

The sirens wailed through her head as she looked up to see a throng of emergency vehicles arrive – rushing to the scene.

The paramedics and emergency personnel surrounded them, many with looks of shock at what they'd found - the small bundle of three, very much alive and breathing, curled in the middle of the destruction.

The hero they owed their lives to was gently pulled off her back and laid on the ground, medics getting to work, checking his vitals and yelling things out which were hazy through her deafened ears.

More medics immediately got to attending both of them, checking for wounds and cuts, only to find them...miraculously fine.

A man in a fireman's uniform ran out of one of the buildings nearby and knelt beside the spider-themed hero, who now had an oxygen mask placed over his mouth. Tracy watched as the man placed a gentle hand on the hero's chest as he was being loaded onto a stretcher, his warm eyes keeping a careful and protective eye over his form. She knew her rescuer was in good hands.

Her eyes then never left the hero as he disappeared into the back of an ambulance.

Spidey awoke slowly, resting against a soft, warm bed. A gentle beeping sound filled his ears as he peeled his eyes open beneath the lenses.

He took in the room slowly as his awareness came back to him, immediately recognising it as a hospital room. Not a place he ever liked to wake up in as Spider-Man...

A warm, blue blanket was draped over his form, tucked in at the edges, and something...

Spidey turned his head slightly.

Under his chin, resting in the crook of his arm was a large, soft teddy bear.

"It belonged to the young girl, Izzy. She insisted on giving it to you when she visited earlier, and tucked it there herself. No one's dared move it."

Spidey looked up. The medic with the green eyes who'd attended to him earlier was sitting vigil in the chair next to his bed, smiling gently at him.

"Izzy?" he asked.

"The girl you saved earlier with her mother. Her name's Izzy."

Spidey swallowed, resting back against the pillow. He looked at the teddy. It appeared well worn, brown, and had a smile stitched into its friendly face. He couldn't help it when a lone tear trickled down his face.

"How long was I out?"

"For most of the evening. It's around ten o'clock at night. You really pushed yourself to the limit out there."

"Are they alright? Were they hurt?" His voice rose slightly in panic.

The medic smiled. "No, both mother and daughter are fine. Thanks to your efforts, though. That was quite impressive. I think you moved the whole city."

Spidey sighed. "Good, that's good...I did it." His voice trailed off in a whisper, as a weight lifted off his shoulders and he could finally rest.

"How's the spider-sense?"The question came, breaking through the heavy silence.

Spidey paused. He listened to his surroundings, felt deeply within his senses –

"It's...gone. Quiet. There's...there's nothing there anymore. It's silent."

He could audibly hear as the woman sighed, before he was looking back at a green-eyed smile, full of compassion and understanding.

After a minute, he suddenly thought of something. "Where's the fireman? He was there, on the ground, getting people to safety -"

Her smile seemed to get even bigger. "He was here for a while, traveled the whole way in the ambulance with you. He was determined to make sure you were alright. He left only a few hours ago to help with the clean up. Quite a hero I must say, always wanting to give a helping hand."

'A helping hand.' Spidey smiled slightly. 'Yes. That was exactly how to describe it.'

A weight of heavy exhaustion fell over him, and he groaned lightly.

"Rest, don't worry. I'm staying right here."

And rest he did, until he was quietly let out of the hospital the next morning.

His limbs were still sore and his strength waned, but his heart was full, teddy clung close to his chest, as he swung to the early morning sun rising in the east, painting the darkness with a golden hue as it broke through the inky black.

The early morning risers watched their TV's as they listened to the story of the local hero's moving efforts and sacrifice. They marveled at his willpower to fight through such odds, and escape to the other side relatively unscathed. For some, it even gave them hope, hope that they could also fight against such odds in their lives and survive.

The strength that one individual had to fight against the extreme, and save two lives, inspired others to hold on just a little longer, and believe that the sun, or the clear open sky, would come again.

I hope you enjoyed reading this :) I based this on the idea that Spidey might pick up on natural dangers/weather phenomena a lot like animals do, only amplified with his spider-sense. I thought it might be an interesting idea. And he might not know directly what it meant at first either. Just food for thought :)

Now, I don't know when I will be able to upload next, as my schedule may be a bit unpredictable for a while, but in the mean time I've done a few other Spider-Man stories involving characters from the Avengers which you can find listed on my profile that you can read in the mean time, in case you missed them. I also have a short original story I've uploaded on fictionpress under the same username you might enjoy. Oh yes! And I now have a Tumblr blog too, where you can come and follow me, chat, nerd out about headcanons etc, and keep up to date with my writing activity :)

So, until next time, have a nice day :)