A Spider-Man Story

Chapter 4: Sacrifices

Alex wakes up on the couch. Him and Vanessa didn't talk at all last night after their argument. Vanessa comes downstairs and walks right past Alex, "Babe, can you talk to me?" Vanessa looks at Alex and she starts tearing up, "I just don't want you to get hurt. Please baby, let me know when you leave like that so I won't get worried." Alex hugs her as she cries, "I promise I will tell you my love." They kiss and Vanessa heads off to work. Alex gets ready and heads to the lab.

    He gets there and sees Jose, "Any new missions you want me to go on?" Jose looks at Alex, "Yeah there is. Some gang is trying to rob a bodega on North Main Street." Alex nods and puts on his suit, "Send me the location." He swings out of the building and towards the bodega. He gets there and sees four men holding guns to the cashiers face, "Give us the money now!" One man says as he shoots behind the cashier, "Okay, okay don't shoot." The cashier was an Indian man. He looked very young. Alex comes in, "Hey! Leave him alone." One of the men turns around and says mockingly, "Oh, look it's Spider-Man. Let's run away." Alex's spider senses start tingling as he sees a mother walking with her baby in a stroller. He hears a car coming in fast, "Damn it. It's either let this guy get robbed or let the mother and her child die."

    Alex jumps through the window and swings and grabs both the mother and baby bringing them to safety, "Thank you Spider-Man." The woman looks in her purse for money, "That won't be necessary ma'am." He swings back to the bodega and a car speeds off. Alex runs towards the store and sees the Indian man laying on the floor. He's been shot. Alex immediately jumps over the counter and applies pressure to the wound, "Jose, the man has been shot, call 911." Jose calls 911. The police and ambulance got there within 10 minutes but it was too late, "Don't let go. Come on, keep your eyes open." But it was no use. Alex felt the man's heartbeat fading and eventually the man died, "What happened." A cop asks Alex, "A gang tried to rob him but he didn't want to give up the money. And there was a mother with a baby about to get hit by a car. So I saved them." the cop nods, "Okay Spider-Man." Alex swings away and heads back to the lab.
    Alex gets to the lab and he notices Jose is looking at him, "I saw what happened Alex. It wasn't your fault." Alex takes off his mask, "Sure doesn't feel that way." Jose gets up and makes eye contact with Alex, "You had a tough call to make. You made the right one Alex. Don't be so hard on yourself." Alex nods and walks off, "I need to get home. I'll see you tomorrow." Alex gets home and is greeted by a kiss from Vanessa. She notices that Alex looks upset, "What's wrong babe?" Alex looks at the floor before answering, "I had to make a choice today. There was this Indian man getting robbed at the bodega and there was a mother with her baby who was going to get hit by a car. I saved the mother and baby. But when I returned to the bodega the man was shot and killed."

Vanessa covers her mouth as tears start to form in Alex's eyes, "Oh my God my love. I'm so sorry." Alex cries in Vanessa's arms, "I feel like I failed that man Vanessa." Vanessa starts shaking her head, "No my love. You did everything you could've." Alex wipes his tears, "I'm going to take a shower. I'll talk to you after." Vanessa grabs his arm, "Hey, it wasn't your fault." Alex nods and goes upstairs. Alex goes to the bathroom and looks at himself in the mirror. He has a flashback to the man bleeding out and him trying to help the man, "You did everything you could. It wasn't your fault." Alex thinks to himself . He knows it wasn't his fault but he couldn't help but feel he failed the man.

Alex lays down next to Vanessa. Vanessa cuddles Alex as he's turned facing the door, "Goodnight my love." Vanessa kisses his cheek, "Goodnight." Alex falls into a deep sleep where he has a dream. He wakes up in the same dark place as the previous dreams but this time there's buildings. He sees a crowd and he tries to go through them to get a closer look at what's going on, "What's going on?" Alex makes it past the crowd and sees the man standing on top of a building, "Since Spider-Man couldn't save me once I hope he at least tries to save me this time." Alex is in shock, "Wait!" He screams but it's too late. The man jumps off the building and dies. The smack of his body echoes.

Alex looks at the crowd and they are all staring at him, "You could've saved him." A woman says. A child goes up to Alex, "You failed! You shouldn't be Spider-Man if you can't save people the way he does." The crowd starts to attack Alex and his screams echo around the dark place. They kick him, punch him, and scratch him. He looks up and sees them looking down on him. One man walks up to him and spits on him, "Pathetic." They all walk away as Alex hears his own heartbeat. It eventually fades. He wakes up confused on whether it's a dream or not. He's in his room but he doesn't see Vanessa, "Vanessa!" Alex walks around the house in search of Vanessa. He sees her laying down in the living room but he senses something wrong. He walks up to her and sees the word, "Failure." Carved in on her back. He grabs and holds her as he cries.

He wakes up again. Sweating. He looks over and sees Vanessa still sleeping, "It was just a dream Alex. Calm down." He gets up and puts on his suit. He looks at Vanessa one more time before jumping out the window. He swings off buildings for almost the whole night. Until he sees the sunrise, "Guess I should go home now." He thinks to himself as he jumps off another building. He gets home and sees Vanessa, "Where were you?" Alex takes a deep breath in, "I went for a swing." Vanessa looks at him with a puzzled face, "At four in the morning?" Alex nods, "Yeah. I needed to clear my head." Vanessa holds both of Alex's hands, "Babe, are you okay?" Alex nods, "Yeah, I'm fine." Vanessa keeps eye contact with Alex, "Okay, you can talk to me about anything. You know that right?" Alex nods, "Yeah I do. I love you." Vanessa smiles, "I love you too." They hug and kiss.
    Alex gets dressed, "Hey my love? How about we redo the date tonight. If you want to?" Vanessa looks at Alex, "Okay. Let's do it my love." He smiles, "Okay, I'll set up a reservation." Alex showers, and gets dressed in a nice black and silver suit. Vanessa also showers and gets dressed in a black dress with a white fur scarf. They head to Hartford for their redo of the date. Alex opens the door for Vanessa, "Why thank you." Alex smiles, "My pleasure." They sit down and wait for their waiter. A familiar man walks up to them, "Nice to see you guys back here. How are you feeling?" They both look up and it's John.

    "Oh hey. John, right?" Alex says with a smile on his face. John nods, "In the flesh. So what are you guys starting off with?" Vanessa looks at Alex, "I want a glass of water this time." Alex thinks about it for a while, "I want coke." John nods, "Okay. Coming right up." Vanessa and Alex are holding hands, "Love, how's the case coming? Have you guys caught the murderer?" Vanessa smiles, "I thought you forgot about my case with everything going on. But no we haven't caught him. But we're close, I can feel it." John comes back with their drinks, "What will you guys be ordering tonight?" Alex looks down at the menu, "Can I have the 8 pound sirloin please?" John puts it down on his notepad, "Okay, how about you?" Vanessa looks down at the menu, "I want the baby back ribs please?" John puts it down on his notepad, "Okay I will be right back."

    Alex remembers the dream he had last night. Vanessa sees Alex looking at the floor and she holds his hand, "Hey baby, what's wrong?" Alex looks at her, "I don't want to talk about it my love." Vanessa looks at him closely, "Are you sure?" Alex nods, "We're having dinner, I don't want to ruin that with my problems." Vanessa has an understanding look on her face, "Okay my love. I understand." John comes back with their meals, "Here you go." They both look at their dishes, "Thank you." They say in unison. John smiles, "Oh, I remember how adorable you two are." He chuckles and walks away. Alex's spider sense goes off, "Don't eat the food." Vanessa looks up at Alex right before she's about to eat the ribs, "Why?" Alex looks at the food, "I don't have a good feeling about it. Let's go."

    As soon as they get up John comes over to them, "Where are you guys going? You haven't eaten the food yet." Alex looks at John, "We're leaving." John grabs Alex by the arm, "No you're not!" Alex looks at John and calmly says, "Let go of me." John looks at Alex's arm, "Oh, I'm sorry. Have a goodnight." Alex and Vanessa leave the restaurant. They get in the car, "Babe, are you okay? You've been quiet ever since we got out of there." Alex nods, "Yeah I'm okay. He just pissed me off." Vanessa holds Alex's hand, "I know my love. Let's go home." They get home after a 45 minute drive. They change into their pajamas and they lay down next to each other and watch some T.V. Vanessa lays on Alex's shoulder as they watch a movie. She even got scared because they were watching a horror movie. After the movie they cuddled together for a little bit and eventually fell asleep.