Sunflower (or, a Solangelo Spider-Man AU)

And It Was Like Slow Motion !! (mcdonalds robbery core)

It was 3 AM, and Will was sitting on top of the Chrysler Building.

Previously, he had never been one for late nights. But he had been having weird amounts of anxiety for the last few weeks (coincidentally ever since Nico had transferred to his school), and he had found himself unable to sleep. Not to mention the annoying amounts of midnight crime recently.

His lost sleep hadn't been good for him. His grades were slipping, he had felt lethargic, and he could tell his friends and mom were worried about him. So, instead of tossing and turning, he had gone out to clear his head. Which was why he now found himself a thousand feet in the air, thinking. More specifically, thinking about Nico.

Will would like to think he had made progress with Nico. He had been sitting at the lunch table every day with Will and his friends, and he had gotten a bit more talkative in first hour. Will still felt like he hadn't really cracked Nico's shell yet, though. He could tell that Nico was gated, didn't like sharing things. Will wasn't going to pry, especially considering the amount of things he was hiding himself.

Will felt like a creep for even thinking about it, but he once again found himself daydreaming about him and Nico being, well, more than friends. Will had never dated anyone, which he wasn't exactly proud of. He wondered if Nico had ever dated anyone. He sort of hoped not. Then he felt bad for hoping that.

All that to say, Will had absolutely no idea how to flirt with someone. Lou Ellen had tried to coach him on dropping hints, but whenever Will was around Nico, his mind seemed to slow down and he could barely talk normally, much less flirt.

Maybe Will could give him a compliment. A simple "I like your jacket" or "your shirt is cool" or "holy shit you're the most attractive person I've ever seen". Well, maybe not that last one, despite the truth behind it.

His police earpiece buzzed in his ear, jolting him out of his thoughts. Will listened closely. A robbery on East 42nd? Not the most interesting crime, but enough to distract him. Maybe it would wear him out enough that he'd be able to fall asleep.

Will stood up, pulled his mask on, and swung down off the building. His ribs ached. Stupid binder. That was something Nico didn't know about him. Well...at least, Will hadn't TOLD him. He wouldn't be surprised if Nico had picked up on the amount of slurs that got thrown at Will as he walked through the hallways. It would be a bit embarrassing if he had.

Will landed on the street. The radio transmission had said the robbery was happening at a McDonalds. How boring. If you're gonna rob somewhere, at least make it a cool place, Will thought as he ran into the restaurant. He hid behind a small wall inside the doors as he looked over the robbery.

It wasn't very impressive, all things considered. A 20-something in a mask, wearing all black leather, sort of reminding Will of Epia-something's outfit from a few weeks ago. They were holding a gun shakily, and the handful of the people who were in the restaurant were cowering under tables while the young cashier nervously shoved money in a bag.

Easy situation. Shoot some webs, grab the gun, leave the guy tied up for the police. Well, that's what he thought would happen. As he went to shoot a web to snatch the guy's gun from their hands...nothing happened.

"Oh, WHAT??" Will hissed to himself as he clicked his web shooters over and over. Nothing. Okay, that was fine. He could do this the hard way. He tried to run towards the guy, maybe give them enough of a shock that Will could simply grab the gun from their hands, but when he tried to move, everything was...slow.

That was the best way he could describe it. His legs felt like they were moving through gelatin. At first, he thought that his lost sleep was finally catching up to him. But this didn't feel like regular sleep deprivation. It felt like someone was messing with him, slowing him down through science or even...magic.