DISCLAIMER: I own nothing and no one from Spiderman. I am just a poor college student who also happens to be a Spiderman fan. I make NO money from this. Please don't sue.
Chapter 6: Going Home
"Felicia, what did you do to your face? !"
"What?" The woman glanced up from her compact mirror as she sat on the bed, now looking towards where the teen who had come out of the bathroom, fully dressed in jeans and a light gray t-shirt with some illegible stylized red logo scrawled across its front. "Too much?" she asked, pouting with her now bubblegum pink lips and fluttering glittery, blue tinted eyelids slathered with heavy eyeliner.
"Ya think?" Peter said, his eyes taking in her new outfit. He couldn't have been in the bathroom for more than ten minutes. How had she changed so quickly?
Felicia grinned and stood up, twirling a little to show off her new costume comprised of fishnets, hip-hugging black leather short-shorts that showed off more than a little cheek, neon pink 6-inch heels, a matching pink bra that was peeking out from behind a shiny, silvery, half-transparent and very low-cut t-shirt which clung to the woman's every curve and showed off her midriff. Somehow she now also had her bellybutton and eyebrow pierced, her platinum blonde hair was artfully mussed up, looking like a wild glittery mane that was just as distracting as her shining, dangly, golden earrings. Cheap-looking gold necklaces hung from her neck, drawing the eye down to her ample bosom, an affect that was helped along by the pink push-up bra that gave her definite cleavage. Bangles of black and gold hung on her wrists and chimed whenever she moved, matching the single gold charm-anklet on her foot. Her fingers where heavy with too many colorful rings and were tipped with long silvery fake nails with zebra stripes and pink flowers and glittering rhinestones painted on them. All together it just looked tacky, just like Felicia wanted it to.
Peter made his wandering eyes look back up at the woman face, shaking his head. He might have been a guy, but that was too much for even his teenage tastes. It was too… shiny. Although the push-up bra was a nice touch. "Where do you even buy colors like that?" he asked, gesturing to her startling makeup. Seriously, if he hadn't known that woman standing before him was Felecia already, he would never have guessed her identity if he had just seen her in the street.
Felicia chuckled, picking up a neon pink purse she had thrown on the bed. "What better mask my little spider?" she asked coyly, rummaging through the bag then slipping a piece of gun between her lips, chewing noisily as she got ready to play her character to the cops. "Want a piece?" she said, holding the packet out to him as she slung the purse over her arm.
"Uh no," the brunet said with a little shake of his head. " 'M fine."
"Well alright then," Felecia clapped her hands with a smiled. "I'm ready. You're ready. Let's go find us some blue boys to get you home safe and sound," she said as she clopped to the door on those magnificently pink high-heels expecting Peter to follow, but as she turned, opening the door, she saw he hadn't moved. "Peter are you okay?"
At her address Peter glanced up from the floor he had been staring at, thinking. "Huh? Oh yah. I'm fine." But he wasn't fine. He wasn't fine at all. He shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably and looked down at the floor again, unable to meet the woman's questioning eyes. His stomach was tying itself into knots at the thought of leaving this… this safe pace. His mouth was dry and his heart racing in his chest and if truth be told, he was scared.
"Peter?"
The brunet looked up again, but not at Felecia. Instead he let his gaze drift over the room. The bed and the table and the doors. It was a little room, but… "Do we have to do this?" he said softly, barely above a whisper because he wasn't sure he could keep his voice from shaking otherwise. "You know, like right now?"
"Oh honey." Suddenly Felicia was beside him and had crouched gracefully in front of him (which was a feat in itself while wearing those heals). Gently, she tucking an unruly lock of the boy's hair behind his ear as he tried to avoid her eyes. "I know it's going to be hard Peter," she said in a calm, soothing voice, "but the sooner we get you out there, back to your old life, the faster you'll be able to feel even a little bit normal again. And it will be easier on your family. You miss them, don't you?"
Peter's eyes suddenly filled with tears at her words. "That's the problem," he sniffed, wiping his eyes with a hand, trying to hide his laps, but more tears escaped his eyes and dripped down his cheeks. "I… I don't know if I can face her." He look pleadingly up at Felecia, his eyes shining with tears and his lower lip quivering with emotion, silently begging her to make everything right again even thought he knew that was impossible.
"Oh baby shhh." Felecia quickly gathered the teen in a hug, trying to comfort him and felt his arms wrap around her in response, him clinging to her desperately in his fear. "You didn't do anything wrong," she said gently, stroking his hair with a hand as she just held him. After awhile the woman pulled back just enough to look at his and was relieved to see his tears had stopped, but there was still a horribly lost look in his eyes. "Hey Peter listen to me," she said, rubbing her hands against his arms from where they knelt on the floor together. "No matter what, I know your family loves you. It's kind of what they do and I know your aunt does and I'm sure she is worried and misses you."
"Yah," Peter nodded, rubbing his hands over his face once more. Then he dropped his hands to his lap with a sigh. "Yah lets go. I need to go home." He scrambled up to his feet, holding out a hand to Cat. "Come on hurry… before I change my mind again."
/\/\/\/\/\
If Peter's heart had been racing in the motel room with just the thought of leaving that safe little space, it was going a mile a minute now. He and Felicia were walking to the nearest police station, which, as luck would have it, was only a few blocks away, but that wasn't helping the brunets anxiety any.
Peter tried to look cool on the outside, but inside he was freaking out. The only thing that kept him from whirling around and high-tailing it out of there was Felecia's comforting hand on the small of his back gently, if firmly, guiding him forward. Oh he missed the quiet, safety of that crappy old motel room. On the streets every little sound made him jump and he couldn't seem to calm his mind. How many days have I been missing? How in the world am I going to explain this all to May? Oh god… May. She must worried sick. His anxiety mixed with a fresh flood of guilt as he thought of his aunt, but there was nothing he could do at the moment. I'll just have to figure it out when I get home. Better yet maybe I'll just wander into a police station and pretend to be in shock. Yah, maybe that will work… The teen sighed shaking his head, trying to clear his mind. No matter how he looked at this, it sucked. He was so stuck in his own thoughts he didn't realize it when Felicia stopped in front of a building, him having stopped automatically beside her.
"Peter we're here."
"Huh?" the boy glanced up, startled at the woman's soft voice then his eyes locked on the sign that stated in bold words on the building in front of him 'Police.' "Oh," he whispered under his breath.
"Steady Peter." Felecia said, feeling the boy somehow tense up even more beside her.
Peter swallowed hard, staring up at the building. "Yah."
"It's going to be okay," Felecia whispered, rubbing his back as he stood beside her, ever muscle as tight as a wire. "Come on. The sooner we get this done, the quicker it will be over.
"Yah," he nodded again, his eyes staring blankly ahead as he allowed her to lead him into the building.
/\/\/\/\/\
Noisy chaos. That was the only way to describe the police station. Officers in uniform where everywhere, answering phones, filling out forms and hurrying around with stacks of paper. It was endless. Add all the other people doing practically all the same things as well as yelling, screaming and carrying on and on top of that there was also the odd convict being drug around cussing… this couldn't be normal. How did the cops ever get anything done?
All the chairs were taken in the packed waiting area, but Felicia quickly guided Peter over to stand beside the seats. "Just stay here okay?" she said, patting his arm as she looked around the crowded room. "I'm going to try and find somebody to help us."
"Wait." Peter grabbed desperately at her arm as she moved to leave, scared of being left alone in the loud crush of strangers.
Felecia turned back, her eyes softening, seeing his fear. "Stay strong honey," she whispered, gently prying her arm loose from his grip. "I'll be back in a moment."
"But-"
Felecia suddenly stepped close, taking his head in her hands so all he could see was her. "Take a deep breath Peter. There you go," she whispered as he did as she bade. "Breath in… and out. Good. Now keep doing that and try to relax." She stepped back a little, glancing around again until her eyes caught sight of the front desk. "I'll be back as soon as I can," she said, looking back at him. "I promise I'm not going to abandon you here."
"Okay," he answered in a small voice, nodding.
She patted his shoulder and gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Just close your eyes and try to forget where you are."
Peter nodded again, swallowing hard and watched as Felecia disappeared through the crowd. Then he sighed, crossing his arms defensively over his chest as he leaned back against the wall and took another deep breath, closing his eyes.
I am okay. I can do this, he thought to himself. Just concentrate on your breathing. In and out. I'm okay. He was almost, sort of starting to relax (at least his heart was no longer thudding painfully fast in his chest) when a baby suddenly yowled next to him.
Peter started with a gasp, filching into the walkway, away from the shrill, screaming cries, and right into a police officer who was hurry by. The cop's stack of papers flew from his hands to scattered across the floor.
"Dammit all," the cop cussed, bending to pick up the mess of papers. "Watch where you're going boy!"
"Sorry. Sorry." Peter fell to his knees, scrambling to help pick up the pieces of fallen paper. "I didn't mean to."
The cop sighed, seeing Peter's distress. Not many people were ever happy to be at a police station. "It's alright," the man said quietly, gathering the papers into a pile with Peter's help. "Has to happen at least once a night." The cop looked up as he took the last of the papers from the brunet, a slight frown on his face. "Hey aren't you a little young to be… oh… Peter?"
"What?" Peter glanced up, brow furrowed in confusion and maybe a little fear. He'd never met this cop before. How could this man possibly know his name?
The cop pointed to the papers in his hand. "That's you, isn't it?"
Peter's eyes widened. It was a missing persons poster with his face on it! He'd been so busy picking the papers up he hadn't even looked at one. He glanced up at the cop who was suddenly considering him with a critical eye and opened his mouth to say something even though he had no clue what he would say when Felecia suddenly appeared beside him again.
"Hey what's going on?"
Before Peter knew what he was doing, he had grabbed Felecia in a hug and buried his face in her front.
"Whoa honey, it's okay," she said wrapping her arms protectively around him.
The cop looked at her as he rose from his crouch, the posters cradled in one arm. "Do you know this boy?" he asked Felecia, his voice serious and professional.
Felecia shook her head as she held Peter to her. "No, not really," she answered, her tone rising higher than usual as she settled into her disguise. "I, like, found him and well he looked a little lost so I, you know, thought I should, like, bring him to you guys. You do deal with this kinda thing right?"
"Un-huh," the man eyed Felecia for a moment more before crouching down to turn his attention to the boy who was still clinging to the woman. "You are Peter Parker right?"
Finding his voice suddenly stolen from him, the brunet simply nodded shyly.
The cop shifted back on his haunches thinking. "I think you should come with-"
"Now miss what was this about a boy?"
The first cop blinked as another man in uniform appeared, obviously enticed by Felecia's urgings. "Oh, hey serge." The first man smiled slightly, holding up the posters. "We've found that missing teen. Or rather he found us."
Before 'Serge' could reply, Felicia butted in laying it on really thick. "Omigod he was missing?" she keened in a surprised high-pitched voice. "Was he, like, a runaway?"
Peter looked sharply at Felicia at the complete change in demeanor from her normal self, but didn't say anything. He knew she had things to hide (plus Black Cat had never gotten along that well with the cops, not that Spidy could really talk) and after all she had done for him lately, he wasn't going to rat her out. Still it was weird. Luckily, both the cops missed the look while staring at the woman
"We're not sure miss…" 'Serge' said, obviously leaving the end of the sentence open for Felecia to fill in her name, but the woman just blinked ditzily at him with her glittery eyes as if she were completely oblivious. Peter would have laughed at the act if he wasn't so freaked.
"Uh," the two cops looked at each other then back to Felecia as the moment became awkward. "Where did you find him?"the first cop finally asked when it was clear Felecia was just going to blink at them until they said something more.
"Oh duh!" Felecia hit her forehead theatrically with the palm of her hand. "Jeez I swear my head is, like, totally, full of fluff or something," she giggled.
"Uh-huh…" Sarge raised an eyebrow and looked back at the other cop.
The first cop raised his hands and shook his head. "She's all yours Anderson."
It was clear Sergeant Anderson wanted to say something more, but the first cop had already moved away through the crowd.
Anderson sighed then looked back at Felecia and Peter. "And so you found him where?" the cop said trying to pry the story out of the little ditz in front of him.
"Oh," at that Felecia started right in with her 'story.' "I, like, bumped into him in an alley or something, you know, like a few blocks up the street. I saw he was alone and was, like, totally freaked. I mean totally. He kept, like, asking where a police station was. Of course I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't, like, passed this place, like, a sec before that. That's, like, totally ironic, you know? Anyway so I, like, brought him here to you guys. So yah..."
"I see," the poor officer said when she was finished, after having flinched at practically her every other word. It had been a long night and every one of her 'likes' grated on his nerves like nails on a chalkboard. "Well we'll need you to make an official statement if you don't mind."
"No, no. of course. That's, like, totally fine. Whatever you need officer, sir," she giggled, giving him a little salute. Peter barely managed to kept himself from elbowing her in the side, but even so Felecia saw the look he gave her and grinned before turning her full attention back to the cop. "Uh hey can I, like, stay with him until, you know, his family comes? He does, like. have family right? I wouldn't want to, like, leave him all alone here, you know?"
"Yes, yes. Stay with him as long as you want," Anderson said dismissively, desperate to get the girl to shut up, but he still smiled tiredly at Peter. "Your aunt has been worried sick about you. We'll call her and I'm sure she will be down here as soon as she can." He looked back up at Felecia. "We'll need to get the kid checked out. It looks like he has some pretty bad bruising, but we'll sort it out miss, don't worry. For now why don't you just take him down to my office."
"Okay," the woman nodded cheerily. "Oh, uh, sorry, but does he, like, got a name? I haven't really been able to get much out of him talking-wise, you know?"
The cop smiled at her, kindly. "It's Peter."
"Oh thank you," Felecia clapped her hands together, grinning. "Thank you so much. You're so awesome. Tee hee."
"Yah sure," Anderson said slowly as if he couldn't believe anyone really acted like that but then shook the thought off. It didn't matter and in a job like his, he met all sorts, several of which were always over the top.
"Uh office,r sir, where is this office of yours?" Felecia asked, bringing the man back to the situation at hand.
"Oh… If you go down that hall, take the first left, then a right, then… actually let me get someone to take you there," he said after a second thought.
"Cool thanks," Felecia smiled sweetly as the cop wandered off to grab someone from the front desk to help them.
As soon as the man was out of earshot, Peter looked up, rolling his eyes at Felecia. "Tee hee my ass. Laying it on a little thick there kitty?"
"What?" the woman said innocently. "He's cute." Then she grinned, winking at him. "By the way, it's nice to know you can still talk."
"I'm sure," he grumbled, shifting nervously from foot to foot, his arms wrapped around himself.
"It's all part of the act Petey," Felecia said under her breath seriously enough though on the outside she still just looked like another grinning ditz. "Gotta make it authentic."
"Yah I know," the brunet sighed, holding himself a little tighter as if he were cold. "You're just weird like this."
"It's still me Peter," Felecia said softly, running a gently hand through his hair. "Even under all the glitter."
"Yah," he sighed, closing his eyes, leaning back against the comforting warmth of the woman. "It is."
Soon enough the sergeant was back with another cop. "This is officer Jefferies," Anderson said gesturing to the younger man with dark hair and a boyish face. "He will lead you to my office and I will be with you shortly."
Jefferies nodded to the two of them. "This way please," he said with a gesture, but was unable to take his eyes off Felecia.
"Ooo polite," the woman teased seeing an easy target. "I like that in a man. Especially a man in uniformed," she giggled and blew a bubblegum bubble.
The rookie seemed shaken by Felecia's flirting, but ignored his blush and guided them down a hallway, deeper inside the police station.
It was much quieter past the front room. Thank god. Peter's nerves were all but shot being around all those noisy strangers. As the sounds from the entry died down Felecia saw him relax just a little and she couldn't help but smile.
"Over here." Officer Jefferies put his hand on the small of Peters back to guide the boy into the room, but that was just a bit too close.
Startled, the boy let out a little scared yip then jerked away, slamming sideways into the wall, his eyes fearfully darting around like a beaten animal.
Felicia was there immediately. "Whoa, Peter it's okay," she said wrapping her arms around him in an embrace. "Shhh it's okay."
The officer stared at Peter, who was clinging to the woman. "Shit. What was that?"
Peter blinked, remembering where he was and shook his head. "Sorry," he panted, rubbing his forehead with his hand. He pushed himself away from Felecia and moved back over to stand by the police officer.
"Jeez, are you okay, kid?" the young cop breathed still staring at Peter.
"Yah… fine," the brunet sighed, rubbing his arms as if he were cold. "Just please don't touch me. You… startled me."
"Uh yah… sure," Jefferies nodded, opening the door and gesturing the two into the room. "This way."
Peter made his way into the room first and sat heavily on the couch he found there and Felecia followed, but she paused in the doorway.
"Thank you," she said gently to the rookie as she passed, giving him a little smile before moving to sit by Peter.
"Are you two okay here?" Jefferies asked, not really knowing what else to say or do.
Felecia smiled up at him, wrapping her arm around Peter, squeezing his shoulder companionably. "We're good."
The cop nodded and let the door shut behind him.
/\/\/\/\/\
"Petey you okay?"
Peter sighed, lifting his head from Felecia's shoulder at the sound of the woman's voice. "Yah…" he whispered, snuggling closer to her on the couch, his cheeks flushing a little with embarrassment at having freaked so bad she had to 'handle' him. "Sorry about that. That cop, he was a stranger and I didn't expect... he just surprised me."
"It's not a problem honey," Felecia said, gently brushing a hand through his hair as she studied the brunet curled up beside her. "You know," she said softly after a minute. "I can still take you back. You don't have to do this now if you're really not ready."
"No," the boy said tiredly, trying to smile, but just it looked strained. "It might not be fun, but I know it's for the best." He buried his face in her arm with a deep sigh. "I just… I just need to get used to it again."
"Okay honey," she whispered, letting him wrap his arm around hers and lean heavily against her. She could tell he was emotionally exhausted and didn't say anything more. She just let him close his eyes and relax and soon enough he fell into a light dose, snuggled up against her warmth.
Unfortunately, the door opened a few minutes later and Sergeant Anderson walked in. "Hey you two. Sorry it took so long for me to– Oh… Sorry about that."
"No," Peter took a deep breath, having started from his sleep, and rubbed his eyes. "It's fine. What where you saying?"
The cop smiled apologetically, crouching down in front of the brunet. "Here boy," Anderson said, carefully reaching over to wrap a blanket around the teen's shoulders then he pressed a bottle of water into the kid's hands. The man let Peter take a long drink before addressing him again. "Hey I know it's hard, but can you tell me what happened? Why were you missing? Who did this to you?"
Peter's eyes filled with tears before the man had even finished talking and had turned his eyes away burying his face in the Felecia's shoulder. He didn't want to think about it anymore. He was tired and... He just wanted to get away from it all. He just wanted to go home.
The cops hand on Peter shoulder made the brunet start and he looked over at the man whose eyes were full of pity. "Hey Peter- Can I call you Peter?"
The boy nodded and took the Kleenex the man offered him, wiping his eyes with it.
"Peter we can't bring charges up against these people if you don't tell us what happened," the cop continued to say in a gently soothing tone.
"I c-can't," Peter's tongue stumbled on the words as his throat tightened up with fear at memories of what had been done to him. "They'll know…" he whispered.
Anderson mentally winced. Great, it was a 'they.' I really hate cases involving kids. It was obvious the boy had been abused somehow but… nothing could be done if the boy didn't talk. He had to get the boy to talk. "Peter if someone is threatening you we can protect you, but if you don't help us whoever did this to you might do this to someone else," the cop tried to reason, gently pushing the boy for an answer.
Suddenly something very hard and dark filled the brunets eyes. He looked dangerous. "Oh they won't." he said in a harsh whisper. That thought alone was enough to bring to life the righteous fire that burned within Peter. "They won't," he whispered again, his eyes far away.
Anderson was startled by this sudden change in the teenager, but before he could ask the boy what he meant by those words the woman spoke up again. "Please," she said gently. "He's tired and doesn't know what he's saying. Can you, you know, like, ask him all this stuff later?"
"Sure" the man nodded with a sigh and stood up to leave even though it was frustrating. The trail was getting colder ever second they waited and the cop wanted to catch these bastards really bad, whoever they were. Abusing kids was just plain wrong. Kidnapping them to do it was even worse, but… the boy needed time. That was obvious. So the man left the room, quietly closing the door behind him.
"Any luck Serge?"
Anderson looked up to see the rookie, Jefferies, waiting in the hallway for news. The older cop let out another heavy sigh and leaned his shoulder against the wall. "No… the boy's pretty spooked. We'll have to wait and see if we can get through to him at another time." He paused for a moment before vocalizing a few more thoughts. "The woman's statement probably won't be much better since she just found him. Dammit we don't have any leads. I hate cases like this. I- Oh!"
With that the cop opened the door and popped his head back into the room. The woman and boy raised their heads at his sudden appearance. A little shiver ran through the sergeant as he couldn't help noticing the tired and terribly jaded looked in the kid's gaze. "I forgot to ask. Are either of you hunger? Do you want anything? Peter?"
Peter shook his head then rested it against the woman again.
Felecia smiled up at the cop. "I, you know, grabbed him some pizza on the way over," the woman explained.
"Good…" Anderson nodded his approval. That made sense. There were food vendors all over the place. He nodded once more to himself then stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
/\/\/\/\/\
Felecia looked down at the boy resting against her. She really, really didn't want to leave him here alone, but she was not really in good with the cops and the longer she stayed the more likely her disguise would be discovered. It was now or never. "Hey honey?" she whispered, gently shaking the teen to get his attention
Peter raised his sleepy eyes and Felecia almost lost her will to leave, but then he rubbed his eyes and asked, "What is it kitty?"
The woman smiled at the sound of the nickname and placed a soft kiss on Peter's forehead. "I'm going to have to split, okay?" she said gently, trying not to alarm him. "But you heard the cop, right? You're aunt's going to be here soon. I'm just going to be right outside. Will you be okay waiting alone? I can stay if you need– "
"No it's okay," the brunet gave the woman a sleepy smiled. "Thanks Felecia. I wouldn't have been able to get through this without you."
She smiled back, resting their foreheads together."Anytime Petey," she said giving him a quick hug before disappearing out the door. He smiled after her then laid down on the couch, using the blanket Anderson had given him as a pillow and closed his eyes. He was sooo tired and completly emotionally exhausted. He just wanted to rest his eyes for a few moments…
/\/\/\/\/\
Peter was startled awake yet again when the rookie poked his head into the room. "Where…?" The young cop's eyes fell on Peter. "Sorry, but… have you seen that lady who brought you here?"
"I don't know," Peter said groggily, floundering for an answer. "I think she went to the bathroom, maybe?"
The boy looked so tired Jefferies didn't push any harder. Instead he just sat on the edge of the couch, careful not to touch the boy. "We got a hold of your aunt," the young cop said gently. "She's on her way right now. She should be here in a few minutes."
"Thank you." Peter smiled sleepily, not awake enough to really be tense or worried about anything, but then a disconcerting thought floated across his mind and he frowned. "Um hey?" the boy pushed himself up onto his elbows as the cop stood to leave. "I need to ask you something."
The man turned back, his head cocked questioningly to the side. "Okay shoot."
Peter opened his mouth then hesitated, suddenly unsure.
"Go on boy," Jefferies smiled encouragingly, crouching down to the brunets level. "It's okay. You can ask me anything."
Peter rubbed his arm, gathering his courage then looked up and just spit out the words before he could over-think the whole thing. "Where… where would you go if you had to get tested?" The boy looked down at his clenched hands, unable to meet the cops gaze. "You know for… HIV and stuff?"
"Oh kid…" the rookie bit his lip. He had never dealt with a rape victim before and the boy was so young and well… a boy! "Um I… Well any walk-in clinic should be able to do it for you."
" 'kay. Thanks." Peter nodded at the floor, still unwilling to meet the man's eyes.
Jefferies was tempted to just leave it at that, uncomfortable with this wholes situation, but he felt like he had to do or at least say something. "Listen Peter we can do a rape kit. We can catch these bastards, but only if you help us."
The boy shook his head, staring at his hands. "Won't work," he said in a quiet, way too rational voice. "I wasn't thinking and took a shower and stuff." He laid his head down on his arms, his face turned away. "It doesn't matter anyway."
"Boy-"
The cop was going to say more, but at that moment May Parker burst into the room, followed quickly by Sergeant Anderson.
"Peter? Are you here?"
"Aunt May?"
"Oh god Peter!" the old woman was instantly on the couch and swept the brunet into a hug. Peter found himself hugging her back just as tightly, his voice stolen away with emotion, but still a few relieved tears fell down his cheeks. He was safe now. He was going to go home. Everything was going to be alright.
"I thought I lost you Peter," May whispered shakily, pulling back a little so she could see her nephews face, so she could convince herself he was really there. He had been gone for almost a week. "Don't you ever do that to me again, you hear?" she said with a relieved smile, brushing a few stray strands of hair from his face.
Peter's tears fell faster. "I'm sorry aunt May. I'm so sor-ry." His last word ended in a heaving sob and suddenly the teen was crying hard in his aunt's arms.
"Oh shhh, shhh child," the woman hugged the sobbing boy to her, a few of her own tears dripping down her face. "I don't care anymore. I don't care about anything. As long as you're safe," she whispered rubbing his back comfortingly.
"I missed you," the brunet sniffed, his face still buried in the comfort of his only living relative.
"I missed you to baby," May said, resting her cheek against the boy's hair until he lifted his head to look at her with shiny, tear-filled eyes.
"Can we… can we go home?"
May smiled softly, wiping the tears gently from the boys cheeks. "Of course honey… Oh baby." She indulged herself and hug him again. "I'm so happy you're alright. I'm never letting you out of my sight again."
/\/\/\/\/\
Aleksei leaned a shoulder against the cool brick of the alleyway, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes glued to the police station he knew Felecia and Peter would have gone to even if he had not seen them enter the building when the ex-cat burglar suddenly appeared at his side. "You're still lurking around?"
The Russian started then grunted, glancing at Felecia. Then he did a double take. "Enough makeup Cat? You look like a hooker."
"Aw you're so sweet," the girl smiled, hanging off the man's arm.
Rhino snorted and looked back at the police station. "How eez he?" Aleksei asked, jerking his chin towards the building. He knew the boy had to be in there. Felecia wouldn't have left him alone otherwise.
The woman sighed, sagging a little against the Russian. "He freaked out a bit when one of the cops startled him, but he got over it," she added with a shrug.
"Idiots," Aleksei growled under his breath. "Zhey should know how to handle kid in zhat situation."
"Yah," Felecia shrugged a shoulder, more or less agreeing with the big man. "But he's not really telling them what happened."
Rhino took his eyes off the building to look at Felecia for the first time since she had startled him. "Surely zhey can guess!"
"I suppose…" the woman sighed, leaning her head against the Russian's shoulder. "It's going to be hard for him to go back to school… around all those people." She shook her head. "They pick on him already-"
"Vhat? !"
Felecia smiled bitterly at the Russian's surprise. "Well he's really smart, ya see. Like really science-y smart and I guess he's always been like that so when it came time for kids to click, he got labeled the geek and gets bullied a lot." She gave Aleksei a sideways glance. "You know how it is. Kids can be really vicious little twerps."
Aleksei raised an eyebrow."Malchik lets zhem do zhat to him? He could snap zhem like twig."
Felecia let out a very unlady-like snort at the suggestion. "That's not who he is Aleksei. You've seen that."
"Da…" the man sighed, rubbing his neck. "But zhat eez still not right."
"Yah well the worlds fucked up," Felecia practically snarled pack then sighed, letting go of her anger with the shrug of a shoulder. "What can you do? All there is, is to make lemonade out of the lemons of life."
"Da." Rhino nodded in reply then his attention was caught by movement at the police stations doors. Peter was coming out of the building, holding hands with some gray-haired woman.
"Vho eez zhe babushka?" Aleksei asked, jerking a thumb to the two walking down the stairs of the police station.
Felecia sighed again, her shoulders sagging. "The only family he has left," she whispered, sadness carrying in her tone.
The Russian blinked in surprise at the information, but didn't say anything as he watched Peter get to the bottom of the stairs and suddenly he was hugging another teenager with bright red hair who had popped out of a waiting taxi.
"And zhe devojka?" Aleksei rumbled.
"You must mean the redhead there." Felecia said looking at the group of three still talking on the steps of the police station.
"Da."
The man was surprised when a kind smile lit Felecia's face. "Another friend," she said softly. "A close one whom he loves… even if he won't admit it to her yet."
Aleksei grunted in surprise, the boy never seemed to have any trouble speaking his mind when he was out as Spiderman. The big man watched at the boy, the girl and the old woman got into the taxi, which pulled into the road and was soon lost from sight in the rush of traffic. "Vell I can see vhy," he finally said. "She eez pretty."
"Don't mess with him Aleksie," Felecia said suddenly in a sharp tone and with a sharper glare. "I mean it. He has it rough enough without people trying to get at him while he's in plain clothes."
"Da…" Rhino nodded absentmindedly, still staring after the taxi that had disappeared long ago. "I do not zhink I vill be vorking much in zhis city anymore," he finally added.
"Oh?" the woman raised her eyebrow, her curiosity peaked by this new development.
"Bad to do business in city you live," Aleksei rumbled in response. "Makes zhings too hot."
"Uh-huh," Cat said, eying the man. "I'm sure. Hot," she said, clipping the last word with a hard 'ta' sound.
The Russian growled at the teasing. "Oh shut up."
"What?" the woman grinned, blinking innocently up at him. "I didn't say anything."
He turned and glowered at her full on, his back leaning back against the wall. "You are zhinking it… loudly."
She just laughed at his glare. "And whose fault that Mr. I wear my heart on my sleeve."
He grunted, his frown deepening as her smile grew mischievous. "You know you two are more alike than you think," Felecia said tapping his arm idly.
"Vhatever," he scowled and looked back at the police station. "You zhink Malchik vill pull zhrough?" he finally asked quietly.
"Yah," she said, leaning back on the opposite wall and crossing her arms over her ample chest, her bracelets chiming softly as they knocked against each other. "Yah, he'll do fine.
"How do you know?" Aleksei asked, studying her.
She smiled confidently back at him. "It's what he does."
Rhino raised eyebrow, but didn't pushed that any further. Instead he changed the topic. Sort of. "So do you zhink he vill go for revenge?"
"Nah," Felecia shook her head. "It's not his style."
"Really?" the man said is a tone disbelieving. "Usually vith something like zhis it eez between vengeance and hiding in fear."
"Well he's different," the woman said matter-a-factly, but the big man didn't look too convinced.
Felecia crossed her arms over her chest again, her bubblegum lips turning into a pretty little pout. "You know what I mean Aleksei. You've seen the boy. Look he's tried the revenge thing once before and didn't like the taste it left in his mouth."
"Oh…" The big Russian blinked, surprised yet again this night. It seemed that just about everything that revolved around the boy was a surprise. From the kiss to his age, everything was quite frankly amazing. "Vell… Do you zhink he vill stop zhe… you know… zhing?" Rhino asked, floundering for something else to talk about.
"You're kidding right?" Felecia said, raising a delicate eyebrow. "If you haven't noticed he has a sense of morality a mile wide." She sighed suddenly, leaning her head back against the wall behind her and closed her eyes before continuing quietly. "Even if he won't get vengeance for himself he will not let them hurt others. That's one of the strange things about him. He'll go to hell and back for others but not for himself." She shook her head and continued, speaking more to herself now then to the man. "No. He's too invested. He's not one of those people who can stand by when he knows he could be helping.
Aleksei bobbed his head in agreement. He had seen the boy do such thing before out on the streets. He just had not known that was such a part of the boy's core being before.
Something in the Russian's silence made Cat open her eyes to look the man over. Her brow furrowed at what she saw. "Aleksei, you look worried."
The man sighed heavily, his great shoulders sagging just a little. "I vas hoping I missed something. Zhat he told you he was not… but he definitely intends to do more. I know zhat now."
"Oh?" Felecia raised her eyebrow. "And how do you know?"
A soft smile graced Aleksei's lips at the thought of the boy and the kiss, but then the look fell from the man's face and he looked back at the police station broodily. "Malchik told me he hopes ve vill not meet again… on zhe job."
"Ah," the woman nodded. With a flick of her glittery hair she looked towards the police station, following the direction of the man's gaze."Well good, I think."
"Cat."
Felecia glanced over at the sound of Aleksei's deep voice. "Hum?"
The Russian leveled his serious gaze at here. "Look out for Malchik."
The woman eyed the Aleksei for a long moment. She knew he was entrusting her to do what he could not. She didn't know whether to feel flatter or just tired. A kid that young shouldn't need to be looked out for… not like this and definitely not by her. She knew she wasn't a great role model, but she also knew she wouldn't, couldn't simply leave Peter out to dry so she nodded. "I will Aleksei," she whispered. "I will."
The man nodded content with that answer.
Felecia smiled and suddenly was hanging off the Russian's arm again. "Oh don't look so gloomy Aleksei," she said, trying to cheer the man up. "He's not stupid you know. He'll be fine. I wouldn't be surprised to see him partnering up with someone for at least a little while. Safety in numbers and all that. Maybe it will be with me even." She grinned at the thought. "Wouldn't that be fun?"
The Russian frowned down at her. "He eez going to get himself killed," he said bluntly.
"Probably," she sighed, leaning her head against the big man's shoulder, suddenly feeling impossibly tired. "But he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't do as much as he possible could. That's just him… Well anyway," she said, suddenly brightening. "We've done all we can. Come on," she said, linking arms with the Russian and pulling him away from the wall. "You are going to buy me something tall and very alcoholic to drink at the first bar we find."
Rhino blinked, startled. "But…"
"I will not have you pinning over him all night," Felecia said seriously, tapping him on the chest. "That boat has sailed, the door slammed shut, the window bolted down. You need to move on and so does he. Now come on." She whirled and started down the alley, her hips swaying alluringly with her high heels.
The Russian started after her, but then looked back the way the taxi had driven off. "But vhat about… He vill need help."
The woman turned in a whirl of neon, puffing out a little breath to blow her bangs out of her eyes then leveled her formidable gaze at him, her hands resting on her hips. "Aleksei I'm not going to allow you to become his personal stalker."
The Russian still hesitated.
Felecia sighed, cocking a hip to the side, the movement catching the man's attention again. "Look you. He has already taken the first big step. Now all he has to do is keep on walking. It's best if he does it on his own," she continued talking as she walked back up to Russian. "He'll have to learn to stand on his own two feet again sometime. Better if we don't hinder that by coddling him. Besides he's with his family now. He couldn't be in better hands. Now come on," she said, linking her arm with Aleksei's and pulling him down the side walk away from the police station.
Not having any further argument, Rhino just shut his mouth and let her drag him away.
TBC…
Sorry it took me freakin' forever to get this uploaded. School's been hell. Anyway I hope you can forgive me with my gift of a nice long chapter. (Oh, I forgot to put this in earlier, please, please review. I would love some feedback.)
Vanessa Masters, BronzePhoenex, and GrimCharmer thanks for the great reviews. I love hearing from you all.
Emenemdj: Thank you for such a gloriously, long review. I'm glad you are enjoying this story even if you do not usually like slash. I can understand the skipping of parts… I know I made this a little graphic (okay a lot graphic) at places. I was worried that would turn some people off of this story, but I'm glad you stuck it out. I am curious though… I tried to put 'skip to' places for people who didn't want to read the really graphic stuff. Where those any help or am I just fooling myself? I'm happy to hear you're liking my Rhino. You're right, he truly isn't used very much, but there was one story I read where he was actually a main character and I really quiet liked him in that hence this… Plus he's one of Peter's very few villain who isn't certifiably psychotic so that helps ;) Thank you for your questions/wondering too. Sometimes we authors get so involved in our stories we forget about other stuff and accidentally leave out something important. I can promise most all of your questions asked here will be answered sooner or later… Hopefully sooner this time. I will try to write some more but… well life gets busy, you know? Anyway I hope you enjoy this new chapter :)