The taxi driver pulled off beside a small house, generic house. It was surrounded by other small houses, on a pretty simple, copy paste street. It had a small front garden, with small flowers in it. It had a picket fence around the outside of the house. There was nothing off-putting about the house, nothing to make me feel like something was wrong at first glance.
Yet, for some reason that I couldn't put a finger on, my spider-sense was quietly warning me. It didn't seem to be telling me, say, a bomb will go off. It seemed to just be telling me to keep a careful watch on everything. And that, that was maybe the scariest thing my spider-sense could do. Telling me I wasn't safe was its whole job, and when even it can't tell me exactly what's wrong, then something bad was going to happen.
I took a deep breath, I was probably over-reacting. Chances are it was telling me to keep my head down low so no one would recognise me as a missing child or as Spider-man. Just walking into the flight attendants house could raise numerous questions even after I was gone. Undoubtedly there would be people on this street who knows her, and they might wonder what Spider-man was doing in her home.
I took a deep breath, attempting to ground myself. I wouldn't be here too long, so I shouldn't be freaking out over something so simple and relatively small. If anything, I was being stupid for freaking out this much. The flight attendant was nice, she wanted to help me and she would understand my need to maybe stay a night or less before heading on my own way.
Nothing was going to go horribly wrong, so there was no need to worry. Everything was perfectly fine. Just... fine.
I watched from the corner of my eye as she reached into her purse and pulled out some cash. The taxi driver appeared hesitant to grab it, but after she insisted that it was just to thank him and to consider it a tip for helping them, he took it. He put it into his small cashier up front before turning his body to properly look at us. I stopped looking out the window to show I was paying attention to him.
"Good luck Spidey, get home safe." He told me. His eyes were sincere, and I gave him a small smile in thanks even if he couldn't properly see it. I hoped he didn't talk to people too much about how he had helped me. I guess it was a good story, but maybe for a few days if he didn't spread the news too much I should be fine. He didn't know what I was going to do after this after all.
Hydra was not a force to be reckoned with, though. I would have to pretty careful.
The flight attendant grabbed her bag and got out of the car. I hesitated, the small tingle of my spider-sense turning up to a hum. I knew what I had at stake, I knew people were around and could see me, that was the only reason it could or should be going off. Sometimes I wished it would be quiet once I had logically come up with why it was doing that, in situations like this. In a battle, I needed it. I wouldn't be able to fight otherwise. However, in situations like this, I wished it would keep quiet until there was an actual conceivable threat around.
All it did was make me anxious and jumpy and on edge.
I saw the flight attendant look back to check where I was, and the taxi driver was giving me a concerned look in the rear view mirror. I took a deep breath, I was Spider-man. I shouldn't be this scared.
Just as a cautionary measure I camouflaged before I got out of the car. At this rate, my motto was going to be 'better safe than sorry.' Wouldn't that be quite ironic on a gravestone? The flight attendant had the widest eyes as she looked around for me. I guess this power of mine wasn't as common knowledge as many of my other ones.
"I'm here, just camouflaged, can we get into the house quickly?" I whispered as the taxi pulled away.
"Ah, okay." She said, hurrying to the door. Her keys jangled as she pushed it into the lock. The door opened with a click and she ushered us both inside. I stopped camouflaging, and as soon as she saw that, she that she made me sit down on the couch in what I assumed was the living room. I didn't bother to protest and instead watched her bustle around the kitchen.
Everything here was homely. There were a few pictures of what looked like friends and family around the place and overall the home had a nice charm to it. I settled into the couch and got comfortable, but didn't bother to turn the TV on. I didn't want to see anything on the news for now, and any shows I had been missing could easily be watched when I got back home. I especially didn't want to watch the news because it might make me feel guilty for not being there to help people.
I could hear the metallic hum of the microwave coming from the kitchen and a smell of what I was nearly certain was spaghetti wafted through to me. I wondered if it was for me, or for her. I hoped there was enough for both of us because that had been a very long flight and I reckon she would have been pretty busy. Eighteen hours was not something to scoff at. And that bit of chicken had definitely not been enough food. I was hungry again.
I could hear the unmuted sounds of her texting in the next room. I hummed quietly, wondering what she was typing. Probably just informing her friends that she was home. That reminded me, if I could get my hands on some cash I could call home again and inform them of how close I was. And this time when I called I wouldn't have to worry about time differences. It was only a few minutes, if any, ahead of us from here to New York. The only thing that could really concern me is if they're at work or not. So I guess if that's the case I'll call Ganke again to inform him of where I'm at.
Had Ganke told them about my spider life? I don't think he would have, not unless he knew I was dead. It would really upset my parents too, Mum because she learns that I've been going behind their back to put myself in danger to protect a city that kinda hated me. It would worse for her to know that it might be the whole reason I'm gone in the first place. She might worry that I was dead, actually she probably already thinks that I might be.
Dad might take this the hardest. He was really anti-mutant. To find out your son is one and they might be dead because of it would be pretty devastating.
My thoughts were interrupted as she came back in with the spaghetti in tow. She had switched out of her uniform into something more comfortable. She smiled at me as she offered it to me.
"Thanks," I said, carefully taking it out of her hand so not to spill any of it.
"Sorry, it's just some leftovers from my dinner couple nights ago. Hope that's okay." She told me, settling down on the opposite side of the couch.
I grabbed the hem of my mask and pulled it up so it sat neatly on my nose. I looked over and gave her a grin. "This is better than anything I've had in the last couple of weeks. You have no idea."
I didn't hesitate a moment later. I grabbed the fork and shovelled the food into my mouth as fast as I could, only briefly stopping to savour it. This was so much better than anything Hydra had given me. That might just be the hunger talking, but it was so good.
I saw her warm to the praise, "Is it really that good?"
I gave a hum of approval, instead of bothering to stop and swallow long enough to answer. Even though I only had a few more mouthfuls to go and it wouldn't slow me down that much. She snorted, "Let me get a napkin, you've got food all over your chin you pig."
I swallowed the final bite, "Correction, I'm an arachnid."
She groaned aloud as she got up and headed to grab said napkin. I grinned. I completely understood why Peter told so many jokes and puns now. Well, I had already understood but ya know. I put the dish beside me, musing over what I would do next. I wanted to get home as soon as possible, but I was still a couple hundred kilometres away. I could get on a plane again but after that last experience… nope, not doing that again.
I could hitchhike, but people would still ask questions. Which was annoying, really. I could walk, but that would take well over a week. The chances that Hydra would catch wind of me that way were pretty high, considering people might notice me and security cameras.
Plus I didn't have home field advantage around here. I didn't know the nooks and crannies that could hide me.
So, I guess I would catch a ride on the train. I didn't have any money, and begging would take too long, so I could just ride on the top. Wouldn't that be a hilarious sight to any passer-by's? All you would see is a brief glimpse of Spidey lying flat on top of a train. That would make a few people's days. I just had to see how it all panned out, but Plan A was probably going to be the train.
The flight attendant finally came back, a smile on her face as she handed me a napkin. I grinned back, before quickly getting rid of all the pasta on my face. I pulled down my mask and stood up, "Thank you so much for what you've done, but I want to get home as quickly as possible. I have to go now."
I got up and turned to go to the door but before I could take a step she grabbed my arm. Out of confusion more than anything else I looked at her to see what was up.
"Wait! I know these people, they're really nice and can help you get home faster. I texted them while I was heating up the pasta and explained what was going on. They're going to help you out, I promise." I hesitated, she looked so sincere. But... I didn't want to drag anyone into the mess that was my journey home. I had to do this on my own.
"Look, that's really nice but it's okay. I'll be fine without any more help, I already know how I'll be getting home. Thanks anyway." I told her, brushing off her hand and continuing towards the door.
She followed behind me, "But, asking favours of Hydra isn't something you do often, let alone having to tell them you didn't need help in the end."
My breath hitched. "Please tell me I heard wrong…" I muttered more to myself than her, before turning cautiously to face her, "Did you say Hydra?"
"Yeah, why? They're better than SHIELD, I know I can trust them to get you home." She said.
I took a deep breath, I could feel my heart already speeding up and pounding loudly in my chest. I had to remain calm to get out of this situation, "Tell them not to come, or better yet, get me out of here now. Now."
Her confusion increased, "What do you mean? They'll help you!"
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, taking a moment to see what my spider-sense was doing. It was starting to properly warn me to get out of here, that wasn't good. "They were the ones that kidnapped and experimented on me in the first place, if they get me again they're going to kill me."
Her eyes widened, "W-what? You've got everything wrong! Only SHIELD would do something like that."
I grit my teeth, "I don't care what you think, get me out of here now or I will die."
The hum of my spider-sense was getting increasingly worse, and I knew that they were already here, if not about to be if it was going off like this. I closed my eyes, trying to calm down. I was Spider-man, I could get out of here okay.
Maybe.
Probably.
Hopefully.
Actually, they would be more prepared than me, I just had to do the best I could. And that involved getting the biggest head start I could.
"If you're not going to help me, get out of my way," I told her, trying to keep the shake out of my voice. It failed because her alarm grew. She shrunk in on herself, as though trying to understand her misguided belief in Hydra was still right. I didn't have time for this, every second she paused was another step closer to Hydra getting me.
Another step closer to possibly being killed.
I threw my hands up in the air, "Don't tell them where I go, at the very least. Look after yourself," I told her, before turning to the door and opening it. I immediately regretted it as my spider-sense screamed at me. I ducked behind the door as several bullets came through, followed closely by some sort of object.
My spider-sense screamed at me and before my mind could react I was running towards the back door of the house. The object behind me exploded and sent gas hurtling through the house. I managed to gasp in a breath of fresh air before it reached me. I grabbed the sliding door and snapped the lock as I tugged it open. Without a second thought, I whipped around and slammed the door closed.
My mind was whirling, Hydra was here as soon as they knew where I was, I hadn't been able to get the flight attendant out of there and I had no idea if that gas bomb was purely meant to harm me or was a plain and simple gas bomb.
I snapped myself out of it, my spider-sense had calmed down from its non-stop screaming for a moment but now it was rearing its head back up again. I wasn't safe, I had to move or they would capture me. I had spent enough time agonizing over what they could do to me, I didn't want to let any of it come true.
They would expect a breakout next time, they would stop me from getting out. I had to get away.
I jumped over the fence to the next house over as a Hydra agent sprinted around the corner. Bullets splintered the wood and I sheltered my head between my hands. I heard them talking into their walkie-talkie as they reloaded their gun but I wasn't able to hear what was said.
I raced over to the other side of the street and jumped over the fence, before turning and jump over the fence to my right. I didn't know what I was trying to do, I was just blindly running with my spider-sense to help guide me. Like a wild animal. They had reduced me to blindly running out of fear, why did I have to be so scared of them? Peter would have made a plan while he ran, but I couldn't think behind the haze that was me panicking.
Why did I have to be so stupid?
I tuned into my spider-sense for a moment, noticing it was still humming urgently but not screeching. They were following, but they hadn't reached me yet. I had a minute or so to think before they could reach me. I ducked behind a bush, taking shallow breaths as I attempted to calm down.
What could I do? I didn't know if they had sewers like New York so I couldn't do that. I was also in a residential area, so maybe if I ran far enough without leaving any traces I could duck into a house and hide properly. I could use the classic 'hide under the bed.'
Except, what would happen then? They would keep on looking in the one area until they eventually found me. I had to find a quick getaway. Where was the nearest train station? Or highway? At least on a highway, I could go faster than any Hydra agents. If they followed me in a car I could simply run across a bunch until I felt like I was far enough away.
Except, I had no idea where I was. All I knew was that I was in Washington, with Hydra agents following after me. My first problem was evading them, the second was getting home. I needed to work on my priorities and not think ahead so far.
I crawled out of the bush and continued to run, I would zig zag at random and hope that they wouldn't reach me. The only thing I had on my side was my unpredictability and spider-powers.
I heard a shout from behind me and my pulse jumped. I jumped the fence and reached the next street, only to find more agents swarmed there.
They didn't seem prepared either since they scrambled to hoist their guns up and aim at me. In their distraction, I ran past them and went to jump the fence.
My spider-sense screamed at me a second too late. Something enveloped me and my muscles clenched, a scream tearing its self through me as pain like fire swept over me. I collapsed to the ground, my body refusing to get up and run.
The moment my muscles loosened up just a little bit, I ripped the thing off of me (it looked like a net of some kind) and tried to run. Again, my spider-sense screamed at me and I curled into a small ball as they fired at me.
I thanked my lucky stars that none of the bullets seemed to have hit me as I got up and raced towards the fence. As I went to jump over the fence, my spider-sense screamed at me to protect myself.
Instead of reaching up to get a grip on the top to jump over, I knew I wouldn't be over in time to evade all of the bullets, instead I lunged forward to put my palm on the metal side and with a harsh tug, I ripped a section of it out of the ground and away from the rest of the fence.
With one smooth movement, I whipped around, using the fence as a shield to deflect the oncoming bullets, and braced. They dented the side, one digging into my arm and would have been painful if it wasn't for the adrenaline racing through me. I realized a split second later that it would have probably gone into my chest.
I stepped back, dropping my temporary shield and looking at them. They were focused on reloading, some already getting ready to aim at me. Their faces were determined, and I realized that they didn't even think of me as human.
I choked down a sob. I turned around and ran as fast as I could, thwipping a web up onto a house's roof and pulling myself up. I dropped behind a chimney as my spider-sense went off. The chips flew past me, falling around and off of the roof.
I breathed deeply, waiting for the barrage of bullets to stop before I jumped to the next roof. I ran as fast as I could, trying to keep ahead of the troops.
I hated this so much, I should have turned down the flight attendant, I should have run away at the sight of her. I should have gotten out of there as soon as my spider-sense began to warn me of something. The news would probably learn about this fight anyway, any attempt to conceal myself away from Hydra was blown. It was blown and now they had a better idea of where to look. They were going to put all the effort they had been into searching for me in Wakanda into America.
I saw shops coming into sight, but I didn't run in a different direction. I had nowhere else to go, and I could hide better here. And, technically it wouldn't be breaking in if the door was already open. I jumped to the next roof and then slipped off of the edge, immediately ducking down and landing on the ground. I opened the door to the shop and ran in, jumping over the shop counter and curling into a small ball against the wall, hidden from sight from everyone except the teenager who had dropped her phone in surprise.
"Please," I whispered, my voice more desperate and whiny than I wanted, "Don't let them know I'm here."
She nodded, her eyes wide in alarm. She grabbed her phone back from where she had dropped it and started to scroll through it casually, as if nothing had happened and I wasn't sitting here trying to keep quiet. From how close I was, I could hear her heart fluttering in panic, but it was starting to slow back down again.
I closed my eyes, putting my head on my knees. I could hear them coming closer, I could hear the sounds of the heavy boots, the guns clicking against their sides, the shouting, the cars, the people shouting their surprise… the voices…
They were yelling directions, telling each other to spread out and find 'the itsy-bitsy spider' the 'pest' the 'freak.' People were shouting in alarm at seeing guns out in the open, doors opening and closing as people scrambled to get inside.
I tried to draw in a breath, but my chest heaved and nothing seemed to get to my lungs. I continued to heave, my attempts getting more and more desperate by the second. My vision was starting to blur, my head pounding from my spider-sense and my head felt light headed.
I couldn't breathe, I couldn't breathe, they were coming and I couldn't breathe. I was going to die, right here from this or them. I was done for, and my parents would never know I was spider-man. I was going to die and no one would care. I was going to die and I never got to properly say goodbye to Ganke.
I was going to die and I would just be another kid who died trying to be a superhero.
Everything was too loud, I could hear them walking just outside of this place. I could hear every shuddery breath I took, I could hear my heart pounding loudly in my chest, I could hear the fluttery alarm in the teenager beside me.
I put both hands over my ears, trying to smother all the sounds. It only barely helped, every other sense was still going haywire.
Why did I have to get bitten by the stupid spider, why did I ever think running around in spandex was a good idea, why did I have to die here all alone?
Slowly I heard the footsteps disappear into the distance, I could feel my spider-sense calming down and people slowly making their way out of the shops. I again tried to heave in a breath, but still, I couldn't get anything.
I wanted to yell, to scream my frustration, but I couldn't.
I couldn't because I couldn't breathe.
I faintly realised the girl was saying something to me but I couldn't focus on her. She sounded like she was trying to be calm, but I could tell she wasn't by her pounding heart. I could hear her heart, I could hear everything so loudly yet it all seemed muffled too. She was... beside me? She was beside me, and her arm was hovering towards me hesitantly.
Was she going to alert Hydra like the flight attendant had? Was she just another Hydra agent trying to gain my trust before torturing me? I could feel my mask growing wet from my tears, but I didn't have the energy to care. The cashier wouldn't see it, probably. I had a mask sheltering most of my expressions.
I saw her hesitantly get up and walk away. I closed my eyes, a small, strangled sob finally leaving my mouth. I didn't know what I wanted to do, I was torn between running away and into the streets, except they would see me and so would everyone else and I would die, or staying here and taking my chances, but who knew what the cashier was doing? She could be just as bad as the flight attendant.
Another choked sob left me, a fresh wave of tears joining it. I was so, so stupid. I was so dumb that I thought I could survive this, I was such an idiot for thinking I could try and feebly protect everyone in New York, I was such a moron for putting on that Halloween costume, for accepting this costume, for thinking I could make any sort of difference, I pulled on the costume and it killed Uncle Aaron. I guess I would join him soon.
A flinched away as something touched me.
"Spider-man? Are you okay? That's a stupid question, of course not. You're bleeding and hiding from whoever was out there and from how you are now I bet they've done stuff to you and that's really bad, I'm sorry for whatever's happened. Uh, I have some water and I think we really need to do something about your leg but I know you probably don't want me to call an ambulance so I called a friend to come get you and help you. I hope you're okay with that?" They babbled.
I looked up, blinking away my tears and saw her crouched down with a plastic cup in her hand. She looked concerned but still had a reassuring, warm smile on her face.
I struggled to process what she had said. I had... what had happened to me? I had felt like I was going to die... and I had been really scared...
I absently wiped at my mask and felt how it felt damp and warm. I had been crying too. I lifted my arm and looked at it, it felt weak and almost foreign. Huh.
Something weirdly red caught my eye and I looked down to find a liquid dripping from my leg onto the ground. It took me a moment to realise it was blood.
Oh.
I followed the trail back up to my leg and found a portion of my costume blown out and in its place a gory, bloody mess. I had thought I had dodged everything? But I hadn't.
I felt light-headed. The pain wasn't processing properly. I felt weak, my body a trembling mess.
"Heh, didn't even realise that was there," I mumbled, feeling myself slumping against the wall.
"Wait, don't pass out! Stay with me here." She cried, reaching forward and grabbing a hold of my shoulder. I looked down at it absently as my eyes continued to droop.
"Give me... five minutes..." I whispered. The edges of my vision went fuzzy and I passed out to the sound of a car screeching to a halt.