Heart and Heroics ›› Peter Parker [1] #Wattys2017

23- Explanations

"I feel like you're not telling me everything," I said, hanging over the railing of a fire-escape platform.

"What is there to tell? You know I'm Spider-Man. You know mostly everything about me." Peter says, suction cupped to the side of the building.

"Like what happened without your suit." I go upside down, and let my arms dangle.

"Nothing too bad happened."

"Too bad? Peter--" My legs slip, and I plummet.
Then a huge jolt stops me. I gasp, as my head jerks back. "You almost snapped my neck!" I shout up.
I lift up into the air, and remove the webbing that's wrapped around my waist.

"I'm sorry. I did not intend to hurt you. Honestly."

"With that much velocity, my head could've come off." I perch on the railing once more.

"I know. I'm sorry," Peter walks over, his mask in hand. "Here," he sticks my wrist to the railing with webs. "So the next time you fall, you won't go so far."

"And then my wrist pops off," I laugh a little.

"That's not a good idea either," Spidey takes the strings off, and taking my hand with it.

I glance down at my hand in his, as he unravels the webbing from my wrist. I try to control my beating heart. "Um..."

"Yeah?" Peter looks up, and our eyes meet momentarily.
I quickly gaze at the sky. "Nothing."
"Okay, there we go." He lets go of my hand. "Not going to tie you up anymore. Wait. Uuuh. Sorry, that came out wrong. I meant, no more webs."
"Yep," my face grows warm. I change the subject, "about that last fight with Vulture..."

"Oh... yeah, about that-- Well, I may have lied about me not fighting as much."
"What happened?" I ask slowly.
"I, uh, might have taken a flight on an airplane. Vulture took me on a trip to about half way through the troposphere."
"Holy crap! Why did you not tell me this!? You could have died!"
"But I didn't."
"You are such a liar! You went up into the air, on a plane, fighting a crazy person is a robotic bird costume. You didn't even tell me, I could've helped."
"I can handle myself. I didn't want you--"
"What? Peter, I've been fighting crime longer than you. You cannot just..."
"Yes. I can. I don't need to be babysat, Fiona. I already have a lot on my plate."
"Like what? Tell me. I took care of Flash for you. I kicked Vulture's ass for you. I even got in quarrels with Tony."
"You don't get it."
"What don't I get?" I raise my voice, and Peter doesn't even flinch a single bit.

He exhales slowly, walks over to the railing, and looks out at the city of Queens. "I have to be better than Mr. Stark."
"Who told you that?"
"He did. 'Tense, he wants me to be better than him. I can't do that."
I run a hand through my hair, "was it because of the ferry?"
"...I was not the only one saving those people..."
I go quiet for a second. "Tony was there, wasn't he? He helped you?"