Alice. (Spider-Man: Homecoming)

Epilogue.

*

Alice walked home, in the dying light of the evening. The street was deserted, completely silent save for her own footfalls. The streetlamps were buzzing, most of them broken or dying out.

She got her phone out of her pocket, readying it to dial 911 but it was dead. Perfect. I'm going to die tonight.

She continues walking, hugging herself and grasping at the sleeves of her jacket. Sunlight slowly faded, the small amount of warmth that came with it slowly dying too, leaving her cold, under an inky black night sky.

Alice stopped in her tracks, swinging her bag over her shoulder to get out her keys. She put each sharp spoke between her fingers. She jumped; the lightbulb from buzzing streetlamp she had stopped under burst.

She was just about to continue her walk home, when suddenly, she felt a tug on her hair, and the cold edge of a blade at her throat. Alice immediately tensed up, holding her breath. Oh, God, oh, my God, Jesus Christ.

A hand clasped at the crook of her arm, dragging her backwards into an alley on the side of the street.

He removes the knife from her throat, a sliver of red already marked into her throat. Alice didn't move, she was panting, short quick breaths. The chilling 'click!' of a gun being cocked came from behind her. Alice felt goose bumps crawl up her arm, swallowing a whimper.

The cold metal barrel of the gun pressed into the back of her neck.

"Don't move," a voice growled from behind her, a hand still gripping like a vice to her shoulder. "Drop your bag."

Alice did as she was told, quickly throwing the straps from her backpack off herself, along with the keys in her hand. Her backpack thudded to the floor, keys bouncing on the pavement, making a clinking sound.

The tip of the gun didn't move from her neck as he dragged her backpack toward himself, rifling through it for her valuables.

Alice took shallow breaths, her heart pounding quickly in her chest. She bit her lip, feeling tears slip out her eyes, a kind of pressure building up inside her head.

"Shit," he said abruptly. Alice jumped as he suddenly pressed the gun harder into her flesh. She tripped and fell over, pleading without really knowing what she was saying. Alice crawled a small distance away, curling up into a ball, her knees against her chest, her arms over her head. She was sobbing heavily, chest heaving as she cried.

No blows came. Alice stole a glance upwards at her attacker. He stood, wide eyes and tense. He was panting, shallow breaths just like Alice did earlier. He was hyperventilating. He stared at his gun, his hands shaking. The gun chinked against his metal ring, trembling.

Alice shifted further away, crawling behind a stack of cardboard boxes and a trash can. She gulped down her sobs, forcing herself to breathe.

She hugged her legs to her chest, her eyes just above her knees. She sat there, waiting for a sound, an indication as to whether or not it was safe.

Out of nowhere, Alice heard someone shout something. She heard someone throwing punches, and some unintelligible, hysterical screaming. And then a relieved sigh.

She peeked out from behind the trash can, eyes wide with fear. A person dressed in a familiar red and blue was standing there. He crouched down, looking at the backpack and keys that where on the ground.

Alice glanced at her attacker. He was unconscious, webbed up to the wall, along with his gun and knife, both outside of reaching distance.

Spider-Man muttered something to himself, looking around the alley before walking over to where Alice sat.

"It's OK," Spider-Man said, walking up to her. "Here." He offered her his hand, pulling her to her feet.

"Thank you," Alice said, shakily.

"It's alright," Spider-Man replied, the eyes on his mask refocusing themselves. "Let's get you home." Alice grabbed her keys and backpack from the ground, glancing over to the man who was now webbed to the wall.

"Can you put your arms around my neck?" Spider-Man said, and Alice obliged. "Hold on tight."

He shot a web onto the nearest building, swinging the both of them upwards. Alice hid her face in the crook of his neck, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist.

---

Spider-Man landed on Alice's fire escape. She let go of him, legs wobbling with every step.

"Thank you," she said.

"No problem," he replied, leaning on the railing to the fire escape.

"I actually need to go in through the front door, but..." Alice said, smiling.

"Oh! Yeah." he scuffed his shoes on the floor. "Hey, you're OK, right?"

"Hey," Alice chuckled to herself at her little inside-joke. "Yeah. Thank you. For saving me."

"No problem," he said, laughing.

Alice started walking down the metal stairs. Wait a second. Is that-? Alice spun round to look back at Spider-Man. He was perched, squatting on the metal railing.

"Peter?"

*