Chapter 3: Look To Your Heart
They walked together as they traversed the sewers, the girl taking point as she followed the creature's scent. Peter was close behind her as he felt sprinkles of water splash at his side.
They were currently walking down a sewage passageway, which so graciously had space to walk on as water rushed down to the right of it. The velocity of the water put rapids to shame as it traversed at deadly speeds down the designated way, courtesy of the storm. The two of them followed where the water went, coming to a unified agreement that if they followed the way it travelled it, sooner or later they would find the creature.
The thing is however, is that the New York sewer system is vast. It spanned a total of six thousand miles, with most of it made with a combined sewer system, making it so that the pipes carried both stormwater and wastewater to the nearest treatment plant. As luck would have it though, the nearest treatment plant was far from where they currently were to his knowledge, all the creature had to do was find a point in the sewers which would allow the tides to carry it and it would be halfway across the city in no time.
But it wasn't that smart, Peter thought as he looked at the girl as she sniffed the air, he knew that it was nearby.
The two reached the end of the passageway and were greeted with two options they could take: There was a door to the left of them which they could use or they could go down to where the water was. It rushed into a pipe that was big enough for an average-sized person and past a pair of metal bars that were presumably there to prevent people from falling down into the vast room it led to if they were ever caught by the water.
The girl watched as the boy immediately used his "stick 'em powers," his words, not hers, to cling on the top of the pipe before tearing the bars off. He looked at her and signaled her to follow him but she stared at the running water for not even a second before turning to face the door.
She ignored the pout he made as he crawled into the room, she would prefer a choice that would leave her less drenched than she already was. Slicing open the lock on the door, she kicked and entered the desolate room. It was dusty and dirty, ilk all over the floor as it contained a singular pipe that hugged the ceiling. "It was a maintenance room," she observed. She looked to her right, her eyes falling upon another door. She opened it and was greeted to the room that Peter entered, the scent of the creature getting stronger as the scent of the boy was...
"Boo!" Peter yelled from above her as he stood on the wall. She looked up, unphased by his antics. "I knew you were there," she said plainly as she traversed the steps that went down into the room. He did a flip off the wall and landed right beside her as she finished going down the stairs.
"You are an idiot," she said as the two followed the river of sewer water that laid in the middle of the room. Once again, by the graciousness of whoever designed the New York sewers, there was an area where they could walk. Two cement walkways that were big enough to fit equipment were what hugged the walls as water flowed down the middle.
"It was the nose wasn't it?" she looked at him and said, "A single whiff and I know what you ate, how long you used deodorant, and what brand it was, and how much you've been sweating since you put it on."
He took a step back before giving her a skeptical look, "Really?" he asked.
"You use Irish spring deodorant with Colgate mint toothpaste. You had spaghetti recently and you use Charmin ultra soft toilet paper," she said in a factual manner.
He was actually taken aback by this which satisfied the girl, "I'm feeling really uncomfortable right now," he responded.
She was satisfied at his response and turned her attention back to what lied in front of her. "You're that spider-guy aren't you?" she asked, changing the tone of the conversation. "What makes you say that?" he said sarcastically.
"The colour scheme for one, the superpowers, the way you-" she started to list the reasons but he stopped her.
"I was being sarcastic," he said.
"I thought you quit," She did not know much about the hero before her, but she did know that he had been gone – seemingly forever, until now.
"I...I did," he lowered his head a bit as he did this.
"Then what are you doing here?" she asked as she turned her head to look back at him.
He let out a chuckle at that question. "...Because... some things never change," he said with a small smile.
She understood completely what he meant.
Some things never do change…
She shook her head as memories that are better left forgotten came to mind. Distracting herself, she focused on the creature's scent while asking the boy another question.
"What made you quit in the first place?"
"Now, believe it or not, being a superhero is quite hard. I was actually dealing with a crisis just before this whole thing," she huffed at this.
"You think you deal with things," she said with slight inflictions of a mocking tone behind her stoic voice.
"Wanna make it a competition?" Peter asked with a raised brow, picking up on the girl's tone which challenged if his experiences were really as bad as he put it.
"I'd win," the girl retorted in a monotone voice.
Peter let out a drawn-out whistle as if he didn't believe her – which he didn't, but he played along, wanting to find out more of the leather jacket clad girl he was with.
"Does God like to make your life a living hell?" He rhetorically asked.
"I do not know what god is," The place she grew up in didn't really give her classes about religion, "...and my life is hell," she finished in a stern voice which surprised Peter.
He looked at her, bewildered for a second before saying...
"Please don't tell me you were out sulking like I was," Him sulking out on the streets, yeah that was normal, but finding someone else – a girl who had powers like him, sulking out on the street was something only found in corny pieces of fiction.
"That is none of your business," she said instantly.
"She was," he thought.
What were the chances?
Then again, what were the chances of a teenage boy getting bit by a radioactive spider and getting powers?
"...and what if I were?" she looked back at Peter who said nothing.
Peter raised his hands in a 'I didn't do it fashion,' as she raised a fist, threatening to withdraw her claws.
"Can you read minds too!?" Peter asked with pure panic and surprise upon her seemingly responding to his thoughts.
She looked at him and came up with a very simple realization.
"You are an idiot," she stated as she turned back to face forward.
They returned back to position and followed the stream of water. They hit the end of the room in a matter of seconds and looked on as the water branched off to the right. It entered a space that was no more than seven feet, the ceiling was arched and the only thing that was in it was sewage water. The concrete modern-day construction workers used was nowhere to be found as that section consisted of old crumbling bricks.
She noticed that there was a wall in the near distance but no place for the water to go, but as she sniffed the air she knew that the creature they were hunting was down that way. She nudged her head in the direction of the crumbling waterway and the boy nodded, understanding what she meant. "At least he understands," she thought, she wasn't much of a talker.
As they proceeded to go down, the force of the water almost had the girl lose her footing, she would've fallen over if it weren't for the boy catching her before she did. She looked at him, surprised by his actions before brushing him off and regaining her footing. The water was running fast and threatening to push her off her footing at any given turn but she wouldn't let it make a fool of her.
She watched as the boy followed suit and entered the water, unphased by the speeds. He was more concerned about the water that was filling up his boots as he visibly cringed.
"You don't see the Avengers going into sewers…" he grumbled as he got accustomed to the cold water. He turned to the girl, wondering how she didn't seem to mind having water in the negatives submerge her knee down.
He actually had many questions about her, but one just came to mind.
"What's with all the questions anyway?" Peter said as he looked at the girl, "You a fan?"
She scoffed at this, "Do not be delusional." she said as she looked at him. "I do know a few though," he perked at the mention of this. "They talk about you sometimes, how you're a hero. One girl even has newspaper clippings of you on her wall." she continued. "She and others... were disheartened when the news hit that you were gone, but she made a bet with someone that you'd come back," she finished.
Peter looked down.
He didn't fully recognize how much his disappearance really affected people, but he looked at the girl again.
He'd make up for all of it, ten times over.
"You can tell her that she won the bet when you see her again," Peter said with determination in his voice.
As they started reaching the end of the walkway they soon realized that the wall they saw was nowhere near them at all. It was in the distance as the waterway they were on abruptly ended as the water fell off the steep edge. The girl kept a stoic expression as she tried to measure the distance down.
It was at least a ten-story fall from what Peter guessed, and while he could survive such a fall without major injury he was worried about the girl. From what he saw, she was a skillful fighter and could very well take care of herself with the claws and the 'healing ability' she claims to have but he noticed how she seemed to struggle with the water's speed. From what he knew she was just as durable as a regular teenage girl and such a fall would surely kill her.
"That's not going to happen," he thought as he recalled the event at the bridge. "No matter what," he said as he took a glance at the girl. She began sniffing the air, the creature was here, she was sure of it but she couldn't locate it.
Peter felt a familiar soft tingle as the girl sniffed the air. "Hey.." he said to her. She looked at him and he continued, "...we've got trouble," he said as he looked around. "I've got a sixth sense for this sort-of-thing and…"
His eyes widened as the tingling went full swing, "move!" he yelled at her as he turned the other way. The creature burst out the crumbling brick wall and charged at them but instead of dodging it, however, he chose to match his might with its own. The girl wouldn't have enough time to dodge the attack for she was limited as she was standing against rapid tides.
He locked hands with the best, the two glaring at each other as they battled to see who was stronger. It was a stalemate when it came to strength but the creature had something he didn't: talons. The creature withdrew its claws as it was locked within a stalemate with Peter, its razor-sharp nails digging into his skin.
However, he had also had an ace up his sleeve.
He endured the pain as the girl instantly withdrew her own claws as it and Peter entered a hold, the creature panicked but Peter wouldn't let it retreat. He held it in place as she charged the creature. Despite her being knee-deep in water, she was still fast, managing to slice the creature's left bicep and armpit, allowing Peter to win on that side. She continued behind it where she once again cut its calf but this time she made sure she cut deep as she felt its bones.
She could see the creature getting pushed back as her efforts were helping Peter beat the creature but it still wasn't enough. The creature had height on him alongside the fact that it was hunched over due to the ceiling which allowed it to put more weight into the hold. She tried to strike a spot that would be lethal for the creature but its tail prevented her to do so. It grazed her leather jacket as she dodged it the first time but a second attack came, an attack she couldn't react to.
The tail hit her across the face before wrapping around her neck. Peter watched as a familiar scene started playing before him as the creature threw the girl off the edge.
"No!" he yelled as he immediately let go from the hold to go save the girl. To his relief she was fine, holding on to a crevice within the floor as her feet were presumably stabbed into the wall. However, not all was fine because the force and speed of the water flowing down prevented her to climb back up, more importantly, it prevented her from breathing.
She would drown soon if he did nothing soon. "Don't let go!" he urgently yelled as he hit the creature across the face. He ran at it, running on its body before kneeing its jaw, following it up with an overhead slam that he put everything in.
The girl could barely see what was going on but she could hear the boy giving everything he's got to save her.
Her of all people.
She didn't deserve to be saved.
Drowning seemed to be too light of a punishment.
"Hold on!" she could hear the boy scream as the creature slammed his body through a brick wall. She watched as the boy was struggling for his life as the creature hit him across the face, making him lose a couple of teeth.
He fell to the ground, coughing out blood before exchanging glances with the girl, "I won't let you die!" he yelled to her, "not like Gwen!"
The creature picked him up and roared in his face but with adrenaline pumping through his veins, he headbutt the creature as hard as he could. It roared in pain and using the moment's opening he broke free from its grasp. The attack left him bleeding on his forehead but he didn't relent. Grabbing its throat with his left hand to keep its head in place, he used all of his might and then some, too hit the creature as hard as he could across the face.
The sheer impact tore its jaw completely off, but as he did this the creature backhanded him. He fell to the ground as the creature took multiple steps back. It hissed out in pain, bringing its hands to its face as its tongue wildly flew in the air. He eyed the creature as it glared at him with its blood-red eyes. He was getting back up, keeping his gaze on the girl who was still managing to hold on. He could fight forever but she didn't have that long.
As the creature roared he instantly moved his head in its direction to see it slowly stumble off the edge.
He got up and looked at the girl, never taking his eyes off her as the creature let its weight push it off.
He had a choice to make and he knew who he would pick.
He let the creature go without so much of a second thought, instantly grabbing the girl's hand and carrying her within his arms as she was repeatedly coughing, water getting all over them as he brought her to solid ground. He urgently, but gently placed the girl down and watched as she moved to position herself on her knees. Her forearms were on the ground and hands clenched into tight fists as she struggled to release the water that was entrapped within her.
Peter went down on his knees as well and patted her back to try and assist her with the excess water that she found herself choking on.
Eventually, she regurgitated the water to Peter's relief.
She was breathing heavily now but the only thing that mattered was that she was alive, "she's alive," he thought with relief washing over him.
He kept his hand on her back as she breathed heavily, ready to help her again if anything were to happen.
Once her breathing recovered however she instantaneously grabbed the front of his jacket furiously, looking at him with anger in his eyes as she yelled "where is it!"
Her emerald eyes burning holes through his blue ones.
"It got away," he said as he pointed towards the ledge that led to the depths of the sewers.
It was long gone.
"You idiot! You let it get away!?" she yelled as she turned her rapidly and seemingly infinitely growing anger which tunneled her vision for the creature, onto him.
But the thing is, Peter Parker also had anger issues too.
"Hey! Would you rather I let you drown and die!?" he asked, rivaling her anger.
"I don't know about you, but your life matters much more to me than capturing that thing," Peter said with the utmost sincerity as he backed up his actions, pointing at the girl who was stunned at the sudden outburst, and more so, his words.
"If I had the choice to do it again I would! The monster-thing could be The Red Skull or anything else for all I care, I'd still choose to save your life," He continued, his tangent siphoning his anger and using it as fuel to declare words he meant with all his heart.
The girl in front of him took a pause, her eyes slightly widened as she heard his words before she abruptly let go of his jacket and turned her back to him,"You don't even know who the hell I am," she said in a calmer tone as she looked at him over her shoulder and through her long black strands which blocked her eyes.
She might be seething but even she knew that the boy didn't deserve the outburst.
He did everything he could to save her and she yelled at him for it..
"I don't need to," he flatly stated as if any information about her was not important at the moment.
"You don't know what I am," she said as she looked away from him, turning her gaze on the ground.
"You don't know what I've done."
She was better off not being saved with what she knew about herself.
"You're a person," Peter sincerely stated, causing the girl to whip her head his way in pure surprise, "That alone makes you worth it," He said again with the same amount of sincerity.
"And yea, I might not know anything about you but what I do know is that you went out of your way to not only help me but to save those people from that fire, and to me, that's the only thing that matters," he finished as he flashed her a smile.
She looked at him, visibly surprised by the words he spoke with all his heart.
Taken aback by the sincerity in his voice and the way he looked at her while saying it.
She could hear her heartbeat get louder and louder as his words played again within her mind.
"You're a person."
She looked away from him for a moment, lowering her gaze onto the ground before muttering, "It'll be back."
The boy in front of her let out a breathe in such a manner which displayed he was already expecting it to return.
"They always do," he said as he fell on his backside, taking a seat on the concrete as he leaned on his hands, "but I'll' be there to stop it."
"What will you do?" she asked, as she decided to join him on the ground, holding her knees close to her chest as she looked at him, "Fight it?"
"Probably," he shrugged in a casual manner.
"That didn't go so well tonight, now did it?" she said as she saw the missing teeth and the gash on his head.
"Worried 'bout me?" he joked.
She scoffed at that, "no."
He knew a lie when he saw one, no matter how good it was.
"Wanna help?" he offered.
She raised a brow to this, "Like team-up?" she asked
He nodded his head and said, "Yea, but we never call it that."
"Who's 'we?'"
"The superhero community," he answered.
"I'm not a hero," she said flatly.
"Yea, you just happened to save my ass from that 'thing' cause you had nothing better to do," he said sarcastically as he put his hands behind his head and lied down.
She glared at him for this response.
"Who are you?" she asked, wanting to know his real name.
He tilted his head, "You know it's called a 'secret identity,' right?"
"I already know your name is 'Parker' and if I really wanted to, I could just follow your scent to your home," she said blankly.
His mouth was agape and his eyes were wide, before he could even say "how," she said, "it's written on the tag of your jacket."
He raised a finger to say something but dropped as he sighed in defeat.
She was cold.
He sat back up, leaning on his hands as he looked at her. A furrowed brow plastered on his face as he contemplated what to say.
He let out a sigh, she was right, she could easily find out who he was. She's already seen his face, knew his last name, and she could track him.
He looked at her, a softer expression dawned on her face this time, different from the stoic or the scowling he's only seen from her. He couldn't deny the fact that he found her pretty, didn't help that she also saved his butt, helped save those people, and even helped chase the creature down the sewers.
He looked into her green eyes which conveyed a sense of…what? Safety? Similarity? Trust? there was something about her which quelled his paranoia.
She looked at him, waiting for his answer and all he could really do was scratch his head and say, "Peter Parker…" he said with uneasiness in his voice. He was never good at introducing himself. He dropped his hand from his head however and looked at her confidently, "...Spider-Man."
"You?" he asked, "...and you better not say 'that's none of your buis-'"
"X-23," she said.
He looked at her disbelief written all over his face, "Really? I give you my real name and you give me your super-hero one?"
"That is my name," the girl defended as she furrowed her brow.
"Really," he said raising a brow, she nodded, "that's the name your mother gave you?" he asked with complete skepticism.
She looked down for a moment before muttering something.
"Laura…" she mumbles. "What?" he says, unable to hear her, turning his head around so that his ear was closer to her face.
But upon having her initial attempt be fruitless, the girl whose name which Peter Parker didn't know – who no one save for one person in her life knew, who had a trend of reacting volatilely when things did not go her way, yelled.
"Laura! Laura Kinney! you idiot!" She declared so fiercely that it caught the boy beside her off guard, causing him to scoot away
In the heat of her information, she regrets making him the first person she's told her name too as of late.
But upon being met with a smile, she found that regret quickly subsiding.
"Well Laura, it was nice meeting you...all things considered," Peter honestly declared as he laid back down, the exhaustion of fighting a being far stronger than him after doing barely anything the last month, hitting him and leaving him tired.
Laura thought about the events that transpired, "Can't really say the same, Parker," She was soaking wet, almost caught up in a gas explosion, battled a giant sewer-gator and was on the precipice of actually dying but…
…She saved people.
And was saved herself.
"If you're gonna use my name, at least call me 'Peter,'" he complained as he was not to fond of being referred to as "Parker."
"Fine, Peter…" she put extra emphasis on the syllables as if she was mocking him. "When are we doing this?"
"Doing what?" he asked.
"The team-up."
"Oh yea...what happened to not being a hero?" he asked as he looked at the girl, a small grin on his face.
She let out a scowl before saying, "I'm not, and shut up about that!"
With all the things she's done how could she call herself anything but a weapon.
He took time, trying his best to figure out a good spot for them to meet up. He perked up as a good place came to mind, "Washington square park, at... seven o'clock," he said, before adding something else, "in the afternoon," he looked at her with a furrowed brow. "I once had a team-up with someone who thought I meant the morning," he clarified.
"He sounds like a bigger idiot than you."
"He is," Peter grumbled, but he smiled as he thought about that flaming idiot.
"What's your phone number?" she asked much to his confusion which commanded him to sit back up.
Tilting his head, he asked, "Why?"
"So I can contact you when I'm there or if something comes up."
"Good point," he said as he lied back down. 'You have a phone on you?" he said as he pointed at her.
She pulled it out from one of the pockets of her leather jacket. There was no sign of damage but with all the water there was no way it was still functional. She tilted her head and pressed the side button, expecting it not to turn on, but it did. "I've heard those stark phones were water-resistant but to be able to go through what we went through?" he said as he noticed a light come up from her phone. "You don't know how many phones I've broken in the past because of this gig. How did you even afford that?" he asked, curious as those phone's retail prices were at least a thousand dollars to his knowledge.
"I have over a hundred thousand dollars in cash," she said blankly. He instantly got up from his position, eyes bulging from their sockets as he looked at the girl who was the same age as he was, who happened to have more than a hundred times the money he had. "What!?" he said in an over-exaggerated tone.
"Your number?" she asked, going back to the subject.
"Oh its, 718-080-1963," he said off the top of his head.
As she typed the number down she recognized the area code, it was somewhere within Queens. "Noted," she thought.
She saved the contact as "Peter Parker," it was the second contact she had aside from, "Logan."
She looked at the boy as he lied back down, curious as to how he can be so casual with someone he just met. Ironically though, she shifted a bit to get herself more comfortable on the ground as well.
Today's events were...tiring, to say the least.
She wondered if this was just another day for him, as she gazed at the boy.
"You happen to know the time? I left my phone on my bed."
"It's 10:40," Laura stated as she looked at the clock which stood in front of her default lock screen , but her gaze was quickly averted by the sudden and brisk movement from Peter who seemingly jolted upon hearing the time.
"What?!"
"It's 10:40," she repeated, curious as to what panicked the boy.
"If I'm not back soon my aunts going to kill me! We have to go!" he said urgently as he instantly got up.
The girl looked at him for a second…
…Did Spider-Man have a curfew?
She watched in amusement as his eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets as he said, "C'mon!"
The girl got up slowly and followed him.
The squeaking of their wet boots echoing through the sewers as they ran the way they came. As they reached the manhole however she stopped him, putting a hand on his shoulder before saying, "cops."
They were right above them, probably investigating the scene. He looked at her and nodded. They continued past the manhole and found another one just minutes after.
He jumped up, scaling the wall opposite the ladder as the girl climbed it. He lifted the lid slightly so he could look around if people were nearby, and as luck would have it, they weren't. He got out first and stuck his hand out to the girl as she neared the top.
She looked at it briefly before taking it. He lifted her out quickly and placed the lid right where it belonged. They stood in front of each other, looking up as they noticed the storm was now gone and the moon now clearly visible.
He looked back at her, prompting her to do the same and asked, "so...tomorrow?" he asked.
She nodded.
"Washington Square Park?" he said in a questioning manner, she knew what he was doing.
"Yes, at seven," she said, understanding that he was trying to confirm the plans. He looked at her, tilting his head as he seemed to be waiting for her to say something else. "Go on…" he said.
"In the afternoon," she said in an irritated manner.
He was giving her a headache.
"Good," he said as did a finger gun gesture towards her. "Until then!" he yelled as he turned around to run towards a building.
She looked at his fleeing figure before turning the opposite way towards "her," motorcycle.
As she was walking towards it she heard him yell, "bring a mask!"
She turned to him, as he already had one palm on a wall, "Why?!" she yelled back.
"It's essential to the whole hero gig."
"I told you I'm no-"
"And I'm telling you that based on today's actions you are," he said as he started to run up the building she watched his retreating figure disappear with wide eyes before yelling back, "I never said thank you!"
She said, recalling the numerous times the boy helped her.
He looked at her as he ran up a building, she could see his smile as he yelled back, "and you'll never have to!" before jumping to the building that was on the other side of the street.
She huffed at his cliché answer and turned away.
Letting out a small smile.
She reached the institute by eleven forty. Everyone by then was already fast asleep but as she went to park "her," motorcycle within the garage, right beside a bright red car, she noticed a figure standing in the doorway.
He was wearing a wifebeater with jeans. He was scruffy as usual, a cigarette in his mouth as he leaned on the door frame. "Where were you?" he asked as she saw her on his motorcycle.
"Out," she simply said as she took off her helmet. "You smell like shit," he bluntly said. She didn't respond. "Who is he?" he said as he could smell the boy's scent on her.
She looked at him and simply said, "no one."
She got off her motorcycle and proceed to walk past him. As she did though, he gently placed his hand on her shoulder and let out a drawn-out sigh. "At least tell me what you were doing in the sewers," he said as he looked at her with his azure eyes.
She looked down for a moment, contemplating what her answer should be. She remembered the boy's words…
"I told you I'm no-"
"And I'm telling you that based on today's actions you are,"
He told her that she was a hero.
What did heroes do? She thought as she looked at her "father."
"Helping people," she answered wholeheartedly as she went to her room. He was visibly surprised by her answer and wanted to ask more questions but decided not to. He turned around, looking at his motorcycle before turning once again to look at the direction Laura went in.
As her figure turned the corner she looked at him briefly, "You lost your bet with Pryde," was all she said as she proceeded to her room. He looked at her, eyes wide as he completely knew who she was referring to. She was with Spider-Man, "helping people."
He already knew things were going to get troublesome from here, but that was tomorrow's problem, he thought as he scratched his mutton chops.
She took a shower immediately, trying her best to wash off the stench to the best of her abilities. By regular standards, she accomplished that long ago but her nose could still pick up the repugnant stench.
She changed into the pyjamas they gave her a week ago, and sat on the side of her bed within her desolate room. The only items that were within her room were the clothes she wore, the bag of money underneath her bed, another bag of undisclosed items.
She looked at her reflection, glaring at her own visage as she was left alone with her thoughts. She looked at herself with loathing eyes as memories began to go through her mind. She started glaring at her own reflection with increasing ferocity as she began loathing it more than anything.
"...Don't leave me…"
She hears within her mind as she begins to draw her arm out, her forearm facing her.
"When are you gonna realize that you aren't a person X?"
She could hear that loathsome voice as the faces of people's last moments ran through her mind.
The memories and emotions causing her to draw out her claws.
"You're a weapon."
A pained expression crossed her face as she slowly felt the feeling of cold steel touch her flesh.
"Then let's change that!"
She blinked as she heard the voice of Peter ring through her mind.
"I don't know about you but your life matters much more to me than capturing that thing."
Her hands began shaking as she hesitated.
"You're a person," she heard him say, being able to see his smile.
Conflicting words and memories played within her mind, but the memories of today, of the last couple hours...
...The acts and words of genuine care given to her, gave her the strength to overpower her need of self punishment.
She was breathing heavily however, a small tear in her eye as she remembered the words he told her.
He cared about her despite not knowing a single thing about her.
"Peter Parker…" Laura Kinney mumbled as she thought about the boy who gave everything he had to save her.
She lied down on her bed, letting the slumber she's been fending off these past couple of days overcome her as she thought about the strange boy she just met.
Peter made it home by eleven twenty-five, his Aunt scolded him but was more worried about the stench that was originating from him.
He managed to clean his wounds and "lose," his jacket before entering his home.
After his shower, he ate the dinner his aunt made for him as she went to bed.
He went to his room shortly after and pulled out the costume that was underneath his bed and looked at it as if a new revelation dawned upon him. He let out a small chuckle as he began monologuing to himself.
"Despite all my vows and promises, I turned back on them the first chance I got," he chuckled as he looked at the figure of Gwen that stood before him. "I can never renounce Spider-Man, Gwen...It's who I am, who I'll always be," he said as he looked at her, "No matter how unbearable it may be, no matter how great the sacrifice, I can never let anyone get hurt because Spider-Man failed to act."
He looked back at his mask and said the words: "... it's my fault you died…" he said with a pained expression on his face. "...and I guess in my own twisted way, It was me who killed you…" he said looking at her broken neck. "...But it's because of me that countless others get to live another day, that girl Laura being one of them," he finished as he stood up, looking at her empty eyes with his blue ones that were filled with determination. "I'm never gonna stop being Spider-Man, but for your life to have any meaning...for your death to have not been in vain...I promise you that I will be better."
"So I won't fail anyone else like I did you," he finished. He watched as she nodded with her neck still broken. He looked at her feet which slowly started fading away, but felt his head be immediately lifted as her hand lifted his chin up.
She put her hand on his cheek as he looked at her in awe.
She smiled at him as her eyes were full of life.
Her neck no longer broken.
All it could say was "Peter," before leaving his vision permanently. He was tearing up at this point but he kept his hands on his costume.
As she left completely, he felt the heavy burden that crushed him go away, and as he looked at his own reflection, he saw himself.
He saw Spider-Man.
He let out a small smile before collapsing.
He felt his vision begin to blur as his consciousness was fading.
His only thought however – his final words, being about the girl he just met.
"Laura Kinney," Peter Parker mumbled as he drifted off into a slumber, thinking about the girl who helped him save lives.
Unaware that this was the night where everything he knew would change.
For the second time in his life.