Shiloh stares at the gold number on her apartment door, a sigh falling from her lips. Her heart is heavy and her head aches. She doesn't want to go inside knowing Cindy is going be in there, fired up and ready for a fight. The texts Cindy sent mentioning a missed lunch, a missed dinner, and then the news footage of her, Harley, and Peter say it all. And truthfully, Shiloh would have just stayed at the tower and dealt with the downfall of Cindy tomorrow but Harley wasn't a much better option.
As they got back to the tower, Harley was quiet, something Shiloh could have sworn was physically impossible. Harley? Quiet? About anything and everything? Yeah, right. But he was. He was silent all through walking through the tower and to the med bay, Tony ranting the entire time about their asine decision to get Peter away from the cops. Shiloh didn't bother to argue either but she at least had a few "sorry, dad's." to add in, but Harley was silent. Fully silent until Shiloh was hooked up to an IV. And then he snapped.
"You're gonna kill yourself going after him and I can't watch it." Harley crosses his arms, jaw squared off.
"You sound like Cindy." Shiloh mutters, looking to the IV sticking in her arm.
"Maybe because she's right! And you're a fucking idiot!" Harley's arm extends out as he stares down at her with a creased forehead, vein sticking out in his neck.
"Ouch."
"God, you call me whenever something goes wrong which is pretty regularly actually and I'm just supposed to sit by and watch this? Let you kill yourself either by the hands of your fuck-ups involving Peter or because you're too wrapped in protecting from his own consequences that this," Harley gestures to the IV. "Is gonna kill you?"
"I'm not gonna die." Shiloh shrugs, her voice not even rising in the slightest.
"You're that in denial?" Harley questions with a scoff, completely in disbelief. "Ya know what?" Harley shakes his head. "Whatever." Harley mutters. "You're like my sister and I'm always gonna have your back but," Harle pauses and he wants to continue going off but there's no use. She's not going to give up on Peter. "Forget it." He says, face still pink from yelling before he turns away from her and goes towards the door.
"Harley!" Shiloh calls after him.
"I'm gonna go on a walk." Harley mumbles, walking out of the room and not even responding when Shiloh calls after him once more.
Realistically, today wasn't Shiloh's smartest decision, putting civilians at risk is never the smartest decision but she has made a dumber decision. According to her, being Rhodey's stow-away to Wakanda to fight an army of aliens was arguably her dumbest decision, especially since she died. But she does understand why everyone is pissed off at her for it.
One day, no one is gonna care that she's in the way and today was proof of that. One day, Peter is gonna do something and Shiloh is going to stand in the way but they won't care. At that point, she'll be more of an accomplice than anything and they'll take her down, too.
She's supposed to have bigger things to worry about like her own health but she's too worried about Peter to do it. It's a hard pill to swallow which is why she won't, but she understands so she holds her frustration with her parents and Harley in, because she gets it. But with that comes going home, to her apartment with her girlfriend, and that means an argument that Shiloh can feel will be their last.
Shiloh lets out one last breath before she puts her key into the keyhole and unlocks the door. With reluctance, she pushes it open and walks inside, the sound of the TV playing immediately hits her ears. It's like she's walking on eggshells as she walks into the apartment, not wanting to make any noise like maybe if she doesn't make a sound, Cindy won't start the inevitable fight. Maybe Cindy will asleep and Cindy can breathe. But, no matter how quiet Shiloh is, Cindy is awake and she heard the door open.
"Are you kidding me?" Cindy asks as she meets Shiloh in the kitchen.
"Um," Shiloh shakes her head, her ponytail swinging behind her. "No?" She squints an eye.
"Really?" Cindy glares at her. "Where do I even start?"
"Probably with lunch and you'll follow that with dinner and then Peter and then you'll end it with something about how I'm a terrible girlfriend." Shiloh snarks. If they're gonna fight, might as well kick it off strong.
Cindy's eyes widen with fury and her nostrils flare as Shiloh leans a hand on the counter and gestures her other hand out, signaling for Cindy to start talking. "Fine, yeah. You missed lunch and this time it wasn't because you were working or because you were fighting Peter, no. You were with Harley."
"Yeah, he comes to town every few months so I forgot. I didn't know he was coming, Sorry about lunch." Shiloh's voice flat and lacking any form of remorse, sick of the same argument every single night.
"You're not sorry!" Cindy yells. "If you were sorry, you would have returned my text about it! I get you don't see him often and that's fine, but a text would have been nice, Shiloh."
"Alright," Shiloh mutters. "I'm sorry I didn't text you."
Cindy rolls her eyes with the flat response. "And yeah, I'm pissed about dinner but you haven't been here for dinner in months so I guess I shouldn't have expected anything else, right?"
"I've been home for two weeks." Shiloh snaps.
"Yeah! Checking your phone every five fucking minutes and looking like a sad puppy every time it's not about Peter! That's not being home! And where do you go?" Cindy questions, voice accusing and filling with venom. "Every single night, you leave, where the hell are you?"
"I'm sorry!" Shiloh screams, her face turning red. "I don't know what the fuck you expect from me, alright? I can't do it all!" Shiloh dodges the last question, Cindy slowly but surely proving Shiloh's exact point on not telling her about treatments. She doesn't listen. What they both want and what they need are two completely different things.
"I am asking for the bare minimum from you!"
"It doesn't fucking feel like it!"
Silence. It's a deafening kind of silence that consumes the two of them as they stare at each other and it's not the kind that's going to lead to a big crying apology followed by a sex scene like in all the romance films. This is full of anger and annoyance, betrayal and hurt, maybe even hatred. Hatred for what they've become, not each other but hatred nonetheless and they're both just waiting for the other to say something, give the other one a reason to just call it quits.
"Ya know," Cindy breaks the silence first, her voice no longer strained with screaming. "I didn't sign up to date a hero."
Shiloh rolls her eyes and scoffs. "I'm not a hero."
Cindy shakes her head and her face is contorted in something between disbelief and exhaustion. "Yes, you are."
"I'm not-"
"Yeah! You are, Shiloh! You're Iron Man." Cindy says and it catches Shiloh completely off guard, so much so, for the first time in her life, Shiloh doesn't have anything to say, she doesn't know what to say. "Yeah, that's right. You are! When was the last time your dad put on a suit and actively tried to prevent threats? I know he did with May but we can agree that's different. You said yourself your dad hasn't been out saving people, it's like Iron Man has been put to rest. But, that's it. You're taking that over! You're Iron Man whether you like it or not!"
Shiloh fist hits the countertop. "I'm not Iron Man! I'm not some fucking hero! I'm not the villain and I'm not the hero-"
"So, you're a bystander? No, you're not. That's me. I'm the bystander that gets killed in the crossfire. You're the hero. A shitty one, but you are because of Peter. He's a villain and you're a hero."
"That's bullshit and you know it!"
Shiloh doesn't want to be a hero. She's okay following her parents' footsteps, but sometimes, it gets under her skin and Cindy saying she's her dad, literally, is pissing her off. Cindy can claim Shiloh is Iron Man but Shiloh vividly remembers a fight they had where Cindy had called Tony a bad dad for being a hero and now, with this fight and where it's going, Shiloh regrets more than ever not following her gut and ending it right then and there. She thought with her heart, not her head.
"Are you even hearing yourself?"
"Peter's not a villain! And I'm not a fucking hero!"
"Then what the fuck is he? What are you?"
"He's my friend and I'm me. That's all there is." Shiloh sucks in a breath. "It's not always about good and bad, right and wrong. Things aren't black and white. Not everyone is just a hero and by default everyone else is a villain or just existing. Everyone has good and bad in them and sometimes, people act poorly. But sometimes, there's a damn good reason. He is my friend and I'm his, whether he's going to admit that now or not. It's not black and white."
Cindy fumes and completely disregards most of what Shiloh is trying to explain to her. "He isn't your friend, Shiloh! He tells you he hates you all the time. He used a grenade-"
"Web grenade, there's a difference." Shiloh's voice is tired, exhausted of having to repeat herself and being shut down time and time again.
"Whatever! A web grenade on you, he electrocuted you! He used tech you helped create against you! He attacks and hurts you every chance he gets! What the fuck else would that make him?"
"You don't even know him!" Shiloh screams, her throat raw.
"He's an addict for god's sake! He's not the same person you knew!"
"Fuck off with that! And fuck you for always using that! He was my friend first and he'll always be my friend!"
"You're delusional! He doesn't give a shit about you! If you cared like you say you do, you would have put him in rehab-"
"Shut the fuck up, Cindy! I fucking promised May. I promised her and MJ that I would always look after Peter no matter what and they're both fucking DEAD. they both DIED because I couldn't be there. I was too fucking slow. I chose to ignore my phone one fucking time for five minutes and MJ died! I bailed Peter out and then May died! I promised them I would look after Peter long before any of that and I have held up to it because I can't break a promise to the dead." There's the smallest crack in Shiloh's voice, speaking of MJ and May, remembering making that promise to them and everything just hurts.
"They're dead and you will be, too." Cindy's voice starts to break. "You know what, answer this, is really about the promise you made to two people who are dead or is there something more?" The lack of empathy in Cindy's voice throws Shiloh off.
"What?"
"You told me when I asked about Peter, after you told me he was Spider-Man that you two had kissed. Is that what's going on here?" Cindy crosses her arms. "Are you in love with him or something? Is that where you go every night?"
"We were sixteen! How the fuck am I delusional when you're bringing up shit from when I was a teenager? And I, uh, died? In case you forgot that part of the story? He died. We died and then we came back. We both fucking died in a war at six-fucking-teen years old when we were supposed to be on a damn field trip and then we came back and were thrown into another fucking war against the same fucking army we lost against! Nothing fucking came from that! We never even dated and we were teenagers!"
"Then this should be easy," Cindy shrugs. "Me or Peter? Your choice. If there's nothing really there and there never was, you'll choose me. I'll date a hero but I won't date a tragic one who dies because she's too busy killing herself over someone she could beat."
Shiloh's heart aches but there' no question here. It's easy. It's always Peter, no matter what it's always Peter. They were friends first and while they might be on the rocks, more-so than Shiloh will admit, he was her friend first. And Peter would never even dream about ever making Shiloh pick between him and anyone. But, Cindy is making her choose and Cindy just doesn't understand. Peter needs help and it'll kill Shiloh one day, but she will not give up on him. So, it's always Peter. No hesitation. No questions asked. Peter.
"Peter." Shiloh says without even a thought.
"What?" Cindy's face falls and her voice cracks while her eyes water.
"Peter. You tell me to choose between you and Peter, guess what, it's Peter every fucking day of the week. Why? Because Peter never would ever make me choose between him and you. He never would make me choose between anyone and you're making me choose. If you care about someone, you don't make them choose between you and someone they care about. Today, you make me choose between you and Peter because Peter's an addict and he's drowning himself. So, tomorrow, you'll make me choose between you and my dad because my dad is an alcoholic, right? He's still an addict even though he's been sober for years. And what's next? You'll make me choose between you and Harley because Harley will take over the company and I'll be working under him? You don't listen."
"I-I didn't..." Cindy trails off, immediately regretting her decision.
"You don't understand what Peter means to me even though I have explained this over and over and over again. So, Peter. I choose Peter." Shiloh shrugs her shoulders with a disappointed shake of her head.
Shiloh walks past her and heads to the bedroom, Cindy on her heels. "I'll be at the tower. You can stay here until you find somewhere else to live, just keep picking up your side of the rent and I'll do the same."
"Wait." Cindy moves in front of Shiloh. "What are you saying?"
"In case it was apparent by that argument, we're," Shiloh moves a finger between the two of them. "Over. This, it's done. You don't ever make me choose between people because I will pick them every single time. And, I can't handle you using things I tell you in confidence against me. We are done. Move." Shiloh says and her voice is thick with venom but she doesn't raise her voice, she just waits for Cindy move and when she does, Shiloh goes to packing up a bag.
Cindy never thought Shiloh would walk out because while her best efforts to keep the relationship have fallen short, the point is that Shiloh does try. It was an argument and Cindy didn't mean most of what she said and she wants to argue, tell Shiloh it was all a mistake and she takes it back but Shiloh already has half a bag packed and she isn't slowing down. She's done.
The break up has been a long time coming and now it's here and while Shiloh feels bad and her heart does ache for the lost love, she's more relieved than anything. She's always walking on eggshells around Cindy, trying to keep the relationship together and knowing she's failing miserably at it. But, now, she can breathe again. She can leave and she doesn't have to come back. This chapter needs to close and Shiloh is ready for it.
She finishes packing a bag and heads out, telling Cindy that she can take her time to find an apartment. Shiloh knows Cindy doesn't have anywhere else to go and she won't just kick her out. Shiloh pays three-fourths of the rent, Cindy can't cover it on her own. Shiloh isn't gonna let her be homeless or stressed out for finding somewhere new. She's pissed but she's not heartless. And after that's all said and done, Shiloh leaves but not to the tower. After her fight with Harley and then her fight with Cindy, she just wants to be alone. And by alone, that means sitting on a barstool in a bar having a few beers.
While Shiloh spends her night at the bar, Harley is standing outside of Peter's apartment door thanks to Ned for texting him the address. The flat part of his fist is banging on the door, not leaving any room for silence between bangs.
The walk didn't clear his head as much as he would like. In fact, all it did was get him thinking more, his mind running over and over about everything between Peter and Shiloh. As individuals and together.
It lead him back to the tower after Shiloh had gone and he retrieved Shiloh's medical records, something he's certain Tony actually wanted him to find since it was easy to access for him. Seeing the results and the declining health of his best friend on the holographic screen said it all and he needs to do something. And he never does anything.
He never steps in. Shiloh can handle herself just fine. He doesn't agree with everything she does but he stands behind her in case she falls as she does with him. He's protective, not overbearing, not until now because he doesn't step in, but if he doesn't try, he's afraid of the end result.
"What do you want?" Peter asks with annoyance, the door opening and leaving Harley with his arm in the air.
"You have to let her go." Harley says, his eyes are cold but the creases in his forehead show his worry.
Peter quirks a brow. "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about. Go away." Peter goes to shut the door but Harley's hand catches it, pushing it open and Peter stumbles on his bad leg.
"Look," Harley sucks in a breath and he knows he has to figure out a way to say this without saying too much. "She's going to die if you don't let her go."
Peter's heart stutters just for a second with Harley's words and he knows what Harley means but he wants clarity. "I-I don't have her?"
"You know what I mean, Parker." Harley scolds. "I don't care how you do it but you have to let her go. She won't listen to me and she's going to die if she keeps going after you." There's panic in Harley's voice, him trying to hide it but Peter could pick up on panic even from cities away.
"She's fine." Peter says, his voice unconvincing and treading with some curiosity, not that he would actually know.
"Yeah? What happened when she was kidnapped when she was ten? If you know everything, what happened?" Harley questions.
Peter's brows furrow as he shakes his head, recalling the story. "Um...her and Pepper were taken by Kilian. Tony and Rhodey saved them." Peter answers.
Peter remembers the story. Shiloh told him once, after they had become friends. They were up one night, way later than they should have been just sharing things that happened to the both of them, mostly the things that make them who they are and Shiloh brought up when she was kidnapped.
Shiloh were still living in Malibu with her parents, before they all were to move to New York and into the tower. Killian had what he would call was a bright idea using extremis and he kidnapped Pepper and her. Shiloh told Peter about how they tortured Pepper with extremis and played it for Tony to watch. But, Tony and Rhodey were able to take down the men working with Killian and save not only Pepper and her but also the president. It's a story for the books, one Peter can remember every detail Shiloh relayed because it was the first time she was kidnapped and it scared him. What if she were kidnapped again and someone actually hurt her? And then it did happen. Because of him.
But, yeah, he remembers the story of Shiloh being kidnapped.
"That's it, right?" Harley asks, knowing the answer.
Peter wants to be annoyed with Harley disturbing him but he's only seen Harley genuinely concerned one other time and that was when he showed up at the hospital after Doc Oc. So, Peter keeps his snark to a minimum.
"T-that, uh, that's what she told me. Why...?" Peter asks and Harley sees the hard exterior almost melt away from him and the Peter he knows is somewhere in there.
"Exactly. She doesn't tell you everything." Harley says and it's leaving Peter more confused than ever. "I'm telling you she's dying and Tony and Banner are trying to figure out how to fix her but nothing is working. She needs to focus on helping them if she wants to live and she can't do that if she's chasing you. I don't care what you do, Parker, but you need to let her go."
"I don't ask her to chase me." Peter argues and he can feel his heart breaking, not wanting to believe what Harley is saying but he can hear KAREN like an echo saying there's something wrong with Shiloh.
"Hey, you made a promise to me, on your own accord, that you would take care of her. I have never asked you to uphold that but you have. So, I'm asking now. Somewhere behind all whatever the fuck you are now, there's the kid I knew and the one Shiloh is trying to save for fuck knows what reason. Be that person again, or at least just one more time and keep her safe. Dude," Harley's eyes start to go a little misty, Peter hearing Harley's heart starts to race and his voice cracks just enough for Peter to hear it. "Please, change or...let her go."
Peter's eyes go to the floor and everything he's done, it's to protect himself from getting hurt and it's to protect the last people who care about him. Harley is asking Peter to go back on that, to just get rid of every effort Peter has put into this. And no one gets that Peter has to blame someone for everything that's happened if it's not Shiloh, it's himself and he doesn't know if can mentally handle taking every ounce of the blame for the deaths that have stacked up because of him. But, Harley has a point. The old Peter, the one who believed that he could do good things for other people, he had a moral obligation to do those things is still in there. But where? And can that Peter fight off the sinister skeleton in the back of his mind, can he fight off the dark and twisty branches dragging him under?
"She's family." Harley says and his voice is soft, almost too soft.
Peter sucks in a breath and his head just barely nods, not even enough to make the loose curl on his forehead move. "Um..." Peter matches Harley's eyes, seeing the desperation in the deep blues. "I'll, uh, ye-yeah, I'll make sure she lays off."
Harley scratches the back of his head and he feels stupid for thinking this could turn Peter around. Peter's answer wasn't reassuring. Shiloh's been wearing off on him, giving him hope when he shouldn't.
"If you hurt her-"
"I got it." Peter cuts him off, not wanting to get threatened and not even having a full thought about how he's really going to get Shiloh to leave him alone.
Harley licks his lips but he nods, holding back his tongue. It's good enough. That's all he's going to get from Peter so there's no use in hanging out or asking what he even plans to do. He knew that going into it and it was stupid for him to get his hopes set on Peter immediately wanting to turn around. Harley knows better. Be optimistic but don't overshoot it.
Harley doesn't say another word before he turns around, slowly and still holding his tongue before looking over his shoulder and finally walking away. Peter shuts the door and leans against it, his eyes going to his leg, the throbbing almost unbearable and he looks to the cabinet near the counter, knowing what used to be inside. The temptation of it all is enough to get Peter's head swimming and his blood pumping. But, Peter closes his eyes and he breathes for a few minutes, just breathes, shallow but enough. And he needs to get out.
"KAREN?" Peter asks, the earpiece always in his ear.
"Yes, Peter?"
"Have you found out what's wrong with her yet? Did you ever get access?" Peter asks and he pushes against the door, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood as he limps to the bedroom.
"I'm sorry, Peter. I still can't access the files. I was blocked from all files." KAREN explains and Peter shakes his head, figuring he wouldn't be able to find anything out.
KAREN notified him when Shiloh tried getting into the tech of his suits to shut everything down so Peter went in after her. Only, he already backed up all of his coding and set up plenty of walls and trap doors for her not to get through. Instead, he used what he created through the coding to try and access the files at the tower, the ones she could access with ease, none of the company files.
He didn't have much luck, which he also figured, but he hoped that maybe KAREN would have better luck as she is Stark tech. Maybe KAREN could access Shiloh's medical files and find out what's wrong with her. He claims to hate her but that doesn't mean it doesn't keep him up at night. And he needed to know how bad off Shiloh was. Before Harley came by, Peter already had it in the back of his mind that if something were really wrong, something would have to change.
"What do you think Harley means? That she doesn't tell me everything? We haven't been friends in a year." Peter explains, more to himself than to his AI while he slides on the red and black Spider-Man suit.
"I'm not sure." KAREN responds. "Do you think he knows something you don't?"
"Obviously, he does." Peter quips. "Wait..." Peter trails off and he starts piecing together what Harley said and there's parts of Peter that don't want to believe it.
For only a second, he thought maybe Harley was bullshitting him just to get him to stop, try and turn him good again or whatever Harley wanted but Peter could hear the tremble in his voice and the speed of his heart. He could sense the panic and fear radiating off of the blonde.
Harley wouldn't slip like that, right? Harley wouldn't intentionally tell Peter what's wrong with Shiloh without directly stating it, right? Peter's just overthinking it all. He has to be overthinking this but the more he fights with himself over this the more he knows he's not overthinking. The more he focuses, the more he knows Harley wouldn't slip without purpose. Harley isn't lying.
It's like the walls start closing in on him and Peter's smart, he knows what's wrong. He knows what's killing her even if he doesn't know why. Harley told him with context clues and now he's scared.
No, no, no, no. Not her, too.
It's true, she's dying and Peter knows why. She lied to him and he needs to get out right now. Needs out of the apartment. Needs to run and swing and focus on the pain radiating through his missing limb because that's better than focusing on the spinning and drowning of his own thoughts. He has to move.
"Is something wrong?" KAREN asks.
"N-no," Peter shakes his head, putting on his mask. "It's fine, nothing."
"Where are we going? You should stay home. Your leg-"
"KAREN," Peter groans, making his way to his fire escape. "I'm fine." Peter says and he makes his way out, the AI staying quiet and Peter scales the building, breathing in the air of Queens, allowing his head to clear from thoughts and only focus on the pain he swears he deserves.
The bar Shiloh chose to drink at has quieted down over the past few hours given the weekday hours. She's not even drunk, really, a little buzzed but that's it, something she's always been mindful because of Tony. But, nonetheless, she stayed at the bar for hours on end, dodging texts from Harley, Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy. It means she's been sipping on three total beers all night and it's caused a horrible aftertaste to fill her taste buds but it's something.
However, the night does go on and she finishes her third beer and she calls it a night. The fight she had with Cindy still weighs on her mind but she doesn't regret it and her blood isn't boiling from it. She's over the fight she had with Harley and she's ready to go home. She wants her own bed and wants to forget the day even happened, try again tomorrow. Be better, tomorrow. So, she leaves and starts walking, the summer night air feeling soft against her arms while the pavement is slick under her shoes from a small rain shower.
Realistically, she should have called for a ride or even just used the suit and flown back to the tower. The tower is a bit of hike back from where she is but it's a nice night and she truly didn't think too much about it, later she would blame the buzz from the beer for the decision.
For once, Shiloh wanted to walk and walk for a long time to just enjoy the feeling of the city at night, not needing armor or someone on her side. But, it's the city and it's not the best area and it's night, cops don't patrol around her too often. She's intoxicated and seemingly a perfect target for the night as she cuts through a vacant parking lot.
"Where're you goin' this time of night?" A voice comes from behind Shiloh, goosebumps covering her body in an instant.
She's on guard in a second, ready to turn around and face whoever is trying to catcall her. It wouldn't be the first time it's ever happened, unfortunately, but hey, that's why she has a watch gauntlet and that's why she has the necklace that always contains the nanotech armor. It's why she was trained by Nat and Clint and Steve. She's always prepared but she's rarely intoxicated and she's never outnumbered, not until now.
Before she has time to turn or even think any decision all the way through, she's being ambushed by three men. Two men grab each of her arms while the third comes from around her and wastes no time in connecting his fist with her face. Shiloh screams out in pain, her knees almost buckling from impact. She can feel the regret seeping through her body, the regret of going out and drinking, regret of walking and not calling a cab, even regret of fighting with Cindy because maybe this is karma.
"Shiloh Stark." The man in front of her says while the other two get her to her knees, their feet holding her legs to the ground as she struggles against them. "Give me your ATM card." He says.
He's big and white, bald, a few tattoos running down his right arm. If he didn't have a Boston accent, Shiloh would have guessed he was from a state down south in a town that only believes in guns and men having control over women. Shiloh tries to look at the man on her right who's got her arm pinned behind her back and her leg digging into the hard and wet pavement of the parking lot.
"Bold of you to assume I need an ATM card." Shiloh snarks and really she's just stalling.
By the grip the other men have on her, they're probably the same size as the guy in front of her and it's not like they're unfit. It's muscle. And maybe she should have been keeping up with Nat and training a little bit more like she was supposed to because she's certain, Nat would have been out of this mess in seconds, not on her knees with a throbbing eye socket.
Slap. It's hard and stings, Shiloh's eyes slamming shut while the taste of iron floods her mouth.
"Don't get smart."
"I don't have an ATM card." Shiloh remarks, spitting blood off to the side.
The man doesn't say anything, just looks to the guy on Shiloh's left and he lets go just enough to rip Shiloh's bag from her and toss it to the man in front of them before grabbing her again. Shiloh rolls her eyes and watches as he goes through the few pieces of clothing she stuffed in the bag. He seems disgruntled by having to dig through clothes, tossing them to wet pavement as he digs.
Shiloh's silently cursing herself for the entire night but there's nothing she can do about it now. The most she can do focus on is that the necklace she has on is outside of her shirt, recording the entire situation and she hasn't said the word yet. She says the right word and MARTY contacts help. After the third time Shiloh got into a bit of trouble and got herself out of it only for her dad and others to show up minutes later, Shiloh fixed that problem, setting up a type of safe word for MARTY in case she's actually in real danger. She still has hope she can get out of this without anything too bad. A black eye and bloody lip is nothing.
"Ah, here." He tosses her bag to the side and holds up her wallet, looking through it only to see her ID and a few dollars in cash. He looks at her and tosses her wallet off to the side, bending down and grabbing the back of her hair. "Where is your money? You're a Stark, you have plenty."
Shiloh scoffs, the scent of beer on her breath making the man almost grimace. "It's my dad's. I don't carry money or credit cards if I'm gonna be out."
That's a lie. Her credit card is in her wallet but it's sealed in an almost invisible compartment. Tony's idea. All of them have one, but just them and it's to prevent this exact situation.
He yanks her head back and let's go before he stands, kicking her legs and then taking a kick to her stomach. Tears threaten to spill from the corners of her eyes as she coughs, the men holding her up not letting her double over. It's like the wind's been knocked out of her and she can barely breathe when another punch lands on her face and she's almost ready to call the word, knowing she won't be able to get out of this, but then, there's a thud off to the right of them.
The four of them look over, Shiloh's head spinning slightly but she'd known the red and black suit anywhere.
Peter?
He's been watching the situation for only a minute, luckily. He was on his way back to his own apartment when his spidey sense started to make his head throb and the hairs on his arms stand on end. He heard the sounds of skin on skin contact and smelled the scent of blood as he got closer. But, that's not what made him even stop and look.
He was fine just going from rooftop to rooftop, ignoring muggings as he normally does, but he heard it. He heard Shiloh's heartbeat. And he smelled her shampoo and her body wash. And he had to stop. He looked down to see three men holding her and the one beating her up and maybe if he interrupted it'd scare them off. That'd be it.
"Spider-Man?" Shiloh questions, gaining a furrowed glare from the man in front of her.
Peter nods at her but he keeps walking past them and it's killing Peter. This could be bad and he knows that. But, he's interrupting. Most mugging stop once they've been interrupted so maybe they'll leave. He can't be a hero. They see him and maybe they'll leave, that's the plan. But as Peter keeps walking, the men's grip doesn't even loosen on Shiloh. Instead, they just watch as the white Spider symbol stares back on them. And Peter listens, listens closely, waiting for the sound of movement because the guilt is killing him.
"You're not gonna help?" Shiloh calls, just barely able to look over her shoulder.
Harley said he had to let her go. He never specified how. And while this is really gonna go in the record books for one of the worst things Peter's ever done, it's something he feels he has to do. These guys will leave. They won't do anything else to her. They'll leave but the point will be made. Peter will uphold his promise to Harley as he has for years. It'll cost him though.
"Actually," Peter turns around and Shiloh's eyes soften just a little, just enough for Peter to feel the knife in his heart go a little deeper. "No, I will take your wallet though." He keeps his voice calm and leveled while he shoots a web, taking the wallet from the ground and turning back around.
Seconds to turn hours as Peter starts walking, eyes on the wet pavement as he curses himself with every limp. He's had to do a lot of hard things but stealing Shiloh's wallet and leaving her with three muggers has to be the worst and it's like he's trying to walk through quicksand with the weight of guilt tied around his ankles. His breathing is shallow and he can feel the burning behind his eyes start when he hears Shiloh yell out in pain, the yell accompanied by the sound of skin on skin contact.
Peter's eyes close as he fights back tears, barely even picking up his feet to walk. And all he can do is set his full focus on just listening to her heartbeat, even the constant thundering of her heart growing slow as if it's all happening in slow motion. But Peter can hear her heart and that means she's alive, she's alive with a beating heart but then it stops, just for a split second, Peter hears her heart stop and then everything pauses.
His spidey senses start going haywire. Everything amplifies and every hair of his body is standing on end while his heart races. His eyes dart back and forth and he stops in his tracks while it feels like he's just had a shot adrenaline. And he can smell the metal of a gun. He turns back around without even a second thought and he's met with the heart-stopping sight of Shiloh looking down the barrel of a gun. And Peter only has one thought.
Not her, too.
"Hey!" Peter calls with more venom than he ever has before and the man holding the gun looks to Peter. "If you're gonna shoot somebody, shoot me!" The eyes of Peter's mask narrow with his words, the man moving the gun up to Peter and away from Shiloh, and then the echo of a gunshot consumes the vacant parking lot.