The Spider and The Flame (Peter Parker)

Part 28- Reconsiderations

Ash's POV

One Week Later 

I fly over the skyline of Queens, like I always do at this time of night. Just the thought of seeing Peter is enough to motivate me. He's been out and about, but every time I get close to him he disappears. It's almost like he knows I'm coming.

I land on top of a tall building and stare down at the city below me, smiling. As I watch the rustle and bustle of the city life, I spot an all-too-familiar masked man running up the street. It's Peter.

On one corner of the street is a small bank, with the automatic bank tellers out front. A few men in masks are standing in front of it, obviously trying to steal money. I watch as Peter approaches them, and decides to play a little game.

"Hey, you're not the real Avengers..." He chuckles, jumping up onto the ceiling, "I can tell. Hulk gives it away!"

He begins to web up the men and knocks their heads together, until one of the assailants pulls out a huge gun. It's not a normal gun that would be carried by police officers, this one truly looks like it's from another world.

The man shoots the weapon at Peter and makes him float in the air. I gasp, unable to fully comprehend whats happening. Peter is thrown up into the ceiling, then smashed down onto the floor.

With his super sticky hands, Pete manages to stabilize himself just long enough to shoot a web at the gun, sticking it to the glass wall. Another man pulls out another alien-type gun and shoots it, missing his target, and instead of shooting the walls and ceiling of the bank. The entire building is virtually destroyed, and the laser beam shoots outwards into a small sandwich shop across the street. 

I watch as Peter sprints across the street and dives in through the broken window of the shop. Immediately I jump from the roof of the building and touch my feet firmly on the street, waiting.

Peter helps an old man out of the back of the store and grabs a grey cat as well. He pulls them to safety.

"Here you go," He hands the cat to its owner, who is completely stunned and probably scared out of his mind. 

"Spidey," I cough, hoping to get his attention.

Pete spins on his heels and looks at me, pausing for a moment. He places his hands on his hips.

"Thanks for the help there," he sarcastically remarks, "some superhero."

I turn towards the sandwich shop, which is slightly ablaze from the laser beam and hold my hand out, extinguishing the fire with ease. I glare at Peter, trying to find a sense of humor in him that may very well have died a long time ago.

"I need to talk to you," I sigh, running one of my hands through my hair.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Pete looks around the street corner, people suddenly flooding the streets to see what happened outside. He groans and turns his attention to the skyscrapers all around us. He moves quickly and grabs hold of my waist, pulling me in close. He lifts his arms towards the buildings and shoots a web, pulling both of us into the sky and swinging through the streets.

We reach a rooftop and he puts me down, sighing. 

"You realize I can fly, right?" I chuckle, fixing my hair that has now been tangled from the wind. 

"Oh, right," Pete nervously states, shifting his weight on his feet, "forgot about that."

He reaches for his mask and removes it slowly, making sure that no one on the ground can see him. I look up at his face, the face I've seen a million times, and I can't help but smile.

"What did you want to say?" Pete asks, raising his eyebrows.

"I-" I stutter, not sure where to begin, "to be completely honest I didn't think I'd get this far."

"I didn't think I'd let you." 

"Okay, well," I begin, my cheeks burning red, "I want to make it up to you."

"How?"

"However you want. I'll honestly do anything, Pete," I smile lightly, hoping that he doesn' run away again.

"I-I talked to Ned," Pete blurts out, not making eye contact. He begins pacing, "A-About you. He talked me through everything, and I think I'm seeing things... Differently. You left because you thought you had no other choice, I get that now."

"Yeah," I agree, my eyes lighting up with a hopeful glow.

"And if you didn't care then I don't understand why you'd be here at all," he stops pacing and stares at me, "so..."

I lightly smile and blush, looking down at my feet. 

Pete reaches his hand to my chin and lifts my head up, only inches away from me now. His eyes are wide, sad, but also forgiving. My mouth parts slightly as I wait for him to do something. I raise my eyebrows and stare into his deep brown eyes.

He leans in quickly and connects his lips with mine, sending a bolt of electricity through my veins. Our lips move in sync as they did once before, and I wrap my arms around his neck. He lifts me up and wraps my legs around his torso, smiling into the kiss. I can't help but smile back.