1 | ISSUES ( Peter Parker )

19

CHAPTER NINETEEN | MEMORY LANE

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"name one hero who was happy."
i considered. heracles went mad and killed his family; theseus lost his bride and father; jason's children and new wife were murdered by his old; bellerophon killed the chimera but was crippled by the fall from pegasus' back.
"you can't."

-the song of achilles // madeline miller

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When Bella was fourteen years old, she watched her mother die. It wasn't a surprising event, but it was no less painful. The death of Linda Parsons had been fourteen years in the making by that point. It had been fourteen years of brutal abuse followed by excuses and bruises and cuts covered up by foundation.

For Bella, it had been fourteen years of hell. From the moment she was born, she was subjected to brutal experimentation. And once the experiments worked, she was subjected to punches and kicks and slaps. She was locked into dark, windowless rooms and starved as a means to force her to teleport. And when that wouldn't work, she'd get beaten by her father's steel toed boots so that Alex would be forced to use his abilities so that his little sister wouldn't die in front of his eyes.

In between the sessions of abuse, Bella and Alex were dragged to business dinners by their parents. Linda would smile politely and nod, but never speak unless spoken to because she knew what would happen if she did speak out of turn. Alex sat with his father, forced to play along with the business and act as if his father was his hero. If they went to the Osborns', Bella would occupy herself by playing with Harry Osborn, a boy a year older than her. Until she could no longer play with Harry because she let the secret of the abuse spill and Harry told his father who then told Bella's father. Bella had been beaten to death's doorstep that night.

If they weren't at the Osborns', they were at Tony Stark's tower. Those dinners continued, because Tony Stark didn't have children for Bella or Alex to get close to. There was no threat there, so Tony stayed in the dark about all of it. But he should have known. The signs were all there, but he never picked up on them. How could he not see what was going on behind closed doors? How could a genius be so ignorant?

Bella could still hear the way the knife shredded into Linda's skin. She could still feel the hot blood splattering against her face. She could hear her father's voice screaming at her.

"DO IT! JUST TELEPORT! IF YOU DON'T, YOUR MOTHER WILL DIE!"

And despite the way Bella contorted and strained her body, no teleportation came.

"John, please," Linda's hoarse voice begged. "Just stop this. Please."

Alex was at college. He hadn't been there. He could've saved Linda if he had been, but Bella told him to go away. She told him to get out while he could.

"DO IT, ISABELLA! DO WHAT YOU WERE MEANT TO DO! TELEPORT!"

"I can't! I can't!"

Bella was vomiting into the toilet. Liz sat on the edge of the tub, rubbing her back.

"It's okay," Liz muttered unconvincingly. "It's gonna be okay."

"He's gonna--" Bella coughed more bile into the toilet-- "kill me! He's gonna kill Alex and he's gonna make me watch and then he'll kill me-- I need to leave!"

"Mom and Dad said you could stay with us until this blows over," Liz offered.

"No," Bella said, shaking her head and wiping her running nose with a wad of toilet paper. "It'll just put you guys in danger. I need to go somewhere he can't find me or Alex."

Liz bit her lip, and sat on the floor. She wrapped an arm around Bella's shoulders, bringing her in for a hug.

"Can you get me my phone?" Bella muttered.

Liz reached up to the little stand and pulled Bella's phone off it. Silently, Bella unlocked the phone and pressed down on Ashara's contact. It rang for a moment, but Ashara picked up on the fourth ring.

"Hello?"

"Ashara, I need you to help me."

"What is it, Bella?"

"My dad-- he escaped from prison last night. I need to stay at the compound. He doesn't know where that is. He won't be able to find me or Alex there."

"Of course, Bella. I'm at the compound right now, actually. When can I expect you?"

"Alex will be home in an hour. So, I'll be there in an hour."

"Was that--"

"Nike? Yeah," Bella nodded.

Silently freaking out, Bella got up and began shoving clothes into a duffle bag. She had no idea how long she would be away for, and the thought terrified her. No, her mind told her. Tony Stark knows now... he'll help you guys. Bella, despite her doubts, had to believe that was true because even though she thought he was dick, she knew Tony was no villain.

"Okay," Liz said quietly.

Bella could tell she was trying not to freak out.

"The group chat is blowing up right now, Bella," Liz said. "Marissa, Cara, Abby, and Arden all want to know if you're okay."

"I can't talk about this right now," Bella snapped, forcing her zipper to shut. Her hands were shaking so horribly that it was hard to do anything. "I'm gonna leave my phone and computer here so he can't track them. Give me your hand, Liz." With a sharpie, Bella scribbled Ashara's number on Liz's palm. "That's Ashara's number-- if you see that number calling, answer."

"Bella, I'm scared," Liz whispered.

"Me too," Bella said, looking at Liz with eyes full of glistening tears. "Oh, God, fuck."

Bella sprinted to the bathroom again as collapsed onto her knees in front of the toilet just as bile surged up from her throat. The inside of her esophagus burned, but she couldn't keep it down.

When Alex arrived home, his eyes were red and he looked thoroughly shaken up.

"He was outside of the hospital," he whispered, joining Bella and Liz on the floor of Bella's bathroom. "He-- oh, God, Bells."

"We need to leave," Bella said, grabbing Alex's wrist. "I shoved clothes into your bag. I spoke with Ashara. We can stay at the Avengers compound."

Under normal circumstances, Alex would have bitterly disagreed with her decision to go to the Avengers compound. But these were not normal circumstances. With a curt nod, he stood. Bella hugged Liz tightly and tears fell down her face as they bid each other goodbye.

With a loud crack, Bella and Alex disappeared from their apartment, neither sure of when they'd return.

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a tragic backstory for the ages tbh

-peterparrker