2. A Love, a Father, and a Legacy (Peter Parker)

Chapter 21

Thankfully, Stower's Lake wasn't that far from the school and we were there in fifteen minutes. I parked the car and nearly threw myself out the window. I started running forward when I felt a strong arm pull me back. I turned around and saw Loki staring at me concerned. It looked very unnatural on his face.

"I mean to burst your bubble but you're staying in the car."

"Since when do you care about anyone's safety but yours? Besides, no way am I sitting on the sidelines while you guys go off to save the day."

"He's right Samantha, you must stay out of danger. Many people, including us, would be extremely upset if something were to happen to you. Wait here, we will let you know when it is safe."

I stared at them in disbelief. I worked so hard to get here and now they're going to act like I'm useless? That I serve no greater purpose than to sit and wait?

Loki stepped forward as if he could read my feelings. "You aren't useless, you are the most important person here. You got us here, didn't you? You convinced your friend to tell us the information he was hiding and then you operated this spaceship on wheels all the way out here. Peter will appreciate you the most when this is over, trust me."

I felt a little better, I even smiled at the fact that Loki called Tony's car a "spaceship on wheels". I got back inside the driver's side and locked the doors. I watched sadly as they ran off into the building.

* * *

I sat with my head and arms on the steering wheel, watching for any signs of activity. The only thing I saw was a squirrel run in front of the car. I watched it as it moved towards a group of trees. It climbed up one and began running along the branches. I focused on it until I heard the undeniable scream of Peter coming from behind the abandoned building.

I bolted out of the car, nearly forgetting to take the keys with me. I booked it across the field in front of the building and ran around the side of it, not even caring what kind of danger I could be putting myself in. I rounded the corner to the back side of the building and saw Loki and Thor fighting off five guys, clearly not going as hard as they could. I looked around for signs of Peter until I spotted a dark shape close to the shore of the lake. I sprinted as fast as I could into the water and dragged Peter's body to shore. He wasn't moving, his chest not making any motion up and down. I made a quick silent thanks to my mom for forcing me to take CPR classes when I was younger. I moved closed to his head and brought my lips to his for the first time in a month. I breathed air into his lungs and pushed on his chest, desperately trying to save him. I tried for what felt like years but there was no sign of anything. I looked at him, lying there helpless, and screamed, not even caring who heard. I screamed and shoved my hands against his chest with as much force as I could. Finally, he came to life, coughing and spitting water everywhere. I sat back and watched through cloudy eyes as he registered what just happened.

He looked at me, at the mess that I currently was, and pulled me into a hug, no questions asked. He squeezed me with so much force I was worried one of us was going to pass out. I cried into his arms, something I had wanted to do since we broke up. I felt him sobbing along with me, making me immediately start crying even harder. He loosened his grip on me but I refused to let go, I hugged him harder than I had ever hugged him. I felt him let out a gasp and I pulled back in alarm. I finally looked at him and realized how bad he looked. He had long cuts on his face and his lip was split. One of his eyes was starting to bruise and all of that was only on his face.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize how hurt you were. What were you thinking? Were you trying to get yourself ki-" Peter cut me short by pulling me into a kiss. I wasn't expecting it at first, his lips feeling unnatural to me even though I was just giving him mouth to mouth a few minutes ago. I kissed him back, my mouth functioning on its own before I realized what I was doing and pulled away quickly. Peter gave me a look of annoyance as if he wanted the kiss to be longer. His face softened and he gave me a shy smile. "Sorry, I wanted to be awake for one."