Running away was not that hard. At least that was what Sam thought. After all, all he had to do was move his feet as fast as possible and possibly run in the opposite direction of the thing or person that was causing you harm or reawakening emotions and/or memories that were supposed to be buried. Sam sighed. Deep down he knew what he had done was wrong because even though Peter had been a bit too nosy for Sam's liking, he had meant well. Sam was certain there were no ulterior motives when it came to Peter. The boy had merely wanted to help. Help. That word was not foreign to Sam. It was actually one he knew quite well and most of the time it worked out well when he acted in accordance to its meaning. Other times, however, he fucked up like that day seven years ago, for example.
"God, I am such an idiot." Sam said frustrated with himself once more.
He ran a hand through his hair. He then put one over his mouth and chuckled darkly. As bad as it sounded it seemed that a tiger really could not change its stripes.
Peter watched Sam's retreating figure with pain, disappointment and slight anger evident in his glistening eyes. He had a half urge to follow him, but his common sense forced him to stay put. After all, no matter how hard he tried, he knew that Sam would never confide in him if Peter forced him to. No, Sam needed to come on his own to Peter or whoever it was the boy found the most trustworthy. Peter did not know who that person was, however. The blue-eyed boy was aware of the strong bond that existed between Luke and Sam, but that did not mean that Sam would immediately run to Luke. Peter had noticed that even though the two were extremely close to each other, there was one tendency that did not exist – the need to rush to the other whenever one of them had a problem. Peter noted that their friendship was kind of peculiar given the fact that such a thing did not occur. After all, Luke had told Peter that Sam was one of his closest friends, however, that did not mean best friend. That left one question unanswered who were their best friends? Did either of them have one? Peter had heard that Luke and Danny had known each other since children so there was always the possibility that the two were best friends, but where did that leave Sam? Peter's eyes widened when he asked the question he wished would never have a negative answer – Did Sam even have one special person in his life, a so-called best friend or a relative or even a lover he could share his secrets with?
Somehow during his time in the clouds Peter had wound up back at his home. The boy's body moved on autopilot as he continued to contemplate the reason for Sam's strange beahviour when he walked into the kitchen and noticed there was a note on the fridge. He frowned as he forced his mind to come back down to Earth. He moved towards the refrigerator and tore the sticky note from the white door of the piece of appliance. He unfolded the paper and read the following words:
Dear Peter,
A colleague of mine had to leave New York due to an emergency back home. I promised I would cover for her and as a result would not come back home until tomorrow morning since it is a double shift. The dinner is in the fridge. Make sure you reheat it before you eat it! I do not need more accidents happening in my kitchen due to your carelessness again, young man!
Aunt May
Peter glared at the piece of paper. He had forgotten the microwave once and as a result it had exploded into flames. Of course, there was no fire because the alarm had gone off almost immediately. However, that did not mean that no scolding had followed. What was even worse was when Peter had forgotten the oven. The damage was bigger and as a result Peter was banned from entering the kitchen when Aunt May was not around for months. She had finally welcomed him back a few weeks ago and Peter would be damned if he allowed himself to screw up something so simple for the third time.
Suddenly there was an explosion that came from the distance. Peter stopped eating and immediately rushed towards the window. His eyes widened when he saw waves of smoke consume the starless sky. It seemed that he would not be getting any rest tonight as well. With a sigh and a growl Peter rushed upstairs, put on his costume, checked his 'web reserves' and once he was certain that he would not be running out of ammunitions tonight, he webbed his way from his house towards the center of the explosion.
There were black and gray clouds of smoke everywhere when Nova arrived at the scene. He looked around and spotted a few children screaming on a nearby tree, while a lion was clawing its way towards them. Sam's eyes widened. Just what was the reason for an explosion to go off at the Zoo? It made no sense. Before Sam had time to ponder on it, however, he was reminded none too gently by a shove from his teammate, Iron Fist, that there were civilians to save. Nova shook his head before he leaped towards the lion, successfully knocking the big cat away from the screaming children. Sam chuckled when he heard White Tiger beside him grumble and scold him for his cruelty, but Sam paid her warning to be gentler towards these creatures no heed. He was busy with saving the two girls and one boy who were supposed to be the lion's dinner. Honestly, Sam had no idea how and why Ava could love these wild cats so much. Oh, wait; she was a wild cat herself in some ways. It seemed that kitties had a tendency to hiss when their kind was assaulted in any form or way.
"Damn it, Nova, watch out next time." Power man complained when Sam had accidentally thrown a smaller tiger towards him.
"Sorry." Sam called before he flew inside the waves of smoke.
He covered his mouth with his hand and coughed slightly. He activated the oxygen mask he had asked Fury to add to his arsenal because you never knew when you would need one and it seemed that today was Sam's lucky day. He mentally congratulated himself on being right.
Screams could be heard coming from his left and right. Sam's eyes widened. He could not be in two places at once. Just as he had said that a blur of blue and red came out of nowhere and disappeared into the smoke. Sam made a mental note to thank Spiderman later for helping him. With a calming sigh Sam plunged into the darkness. He flew left and right, left and right, while scanning the area for any survivors. Unfortunately, some people had been buried under too many parts and had passed away seconds after; some of them could not be moved at all, though they were alive. Other had something protruding from their limbs, abdomen and/or back and again could not be moved at all for they might bleed. Sam cursed under his breath once he realized how helpless he was. He hated having to be dependant on others. He hated it when he could not save the ones he had vowed to protect.
Suddenly an image of his sister came before his eyes, but he immediately shook his head. He could not think about her right now. He had people who were alive to save. He could not pine after the dead, at least, not at times like these. That was the reason why with clenched fists, tight jaw and glistening eyes he leaped towards the ashes where he was hoping there would be people who were still breathing and could be saved.
After a good hour everything had been cleared and almost all casualties had been saved. S.H.I.E.L.D. had reacted immediately when Danny had called for back-up, which Sam was grateful for. The damage was great, but right then he could not be happier that he was apart of such a great team. Sam hated to admit it, but he was not certain that he would have been able to help so many people had Ava, Luke and Danny not been there. And last but not least Nova was thankful that Spiderman had shown up as well. Unfortunately, neither of the four had seen him for more than a second. With a slight pang of his heart Sam realized that Spiderman must have left.
He sighed once he had exited the medical centre. It seemed he had breathed in some smoke, but nothing too serious. He was better off than Danny and Ava who had been forced to enter a burning building in order to save its residents. Luke had covered the ground, while Sam the roofs and people who were endangered by wild animals nearby for he was the one that could see them first and thus arrive there almost in the nick of time. Nova scowled when he realized that ten people had almost got killed because of his speed or lack there of. He made a mental note to talk to Fury and Coulson about ways he could enhance it. After all, although no one would admit it, the team was quite dependant on his speed sometimes and even though Sam liked it when he was the center of positive attention, he hated it when more responsibility was piled upon his shoulders. He had enough as it was already.
Sam was happy that he would not have to report to Fury until the others were better, which would not be happening until tomorrow morning. Nova had checked on Luke just in case the big guy needed anything only to be shoved out of the room and scolded for acting the way he had this morning. In the end, Luke had smiled sadly at him and had done the one thing Sam hated – ruffle his hair. It was a strange way of showing affection in Sam's opinion, but he secretly knew why Luke did it. Sam's father had done it when Sam had been younger and secretly the boy had grown accustomed towards the move. He had even grown to like it as time passed. Now, however, said person was not around to give it anymore so that was the reason why Luke had taken it upon himself to fill in for said absence. To say that Sam hated the gesture entirely would be a lie. That was the reason why he had scowled slightly, but had ended up smiling and unsuccessfully trying to shove Luke. In the end, he had ended up on the floor with a closed door in front of him and laughing coming from behind it.
Sam got up and dusted off his costume. He hated it when he forgot that Luke's body was similar to a brick wall. With a sigh and final glare towards the door Sam walked towards one of the secret exits of the tri-carrier and flew out into the night.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea.
A/N: Sorry for the long, long wait. I hope you liked this chapter.
Just to clarify one misunderstanding – no, this will not be the end. I don't know how long this story will be, but it won't end with Sam just running away. There would be clashes soon. I just have to figure out when and how. . .
A huge thank you goes to everyone who reviewed, followed, favourited and read. This chapter is dedicated to you guys!
Until next time,
~ QueenofRhymes ~
