[RE-RELEASE] BOOTY CALL | PETERMJ

6

Michelle could see nothing, standing in the middle of nowhere, waiting.

She blinked, and all of a sudden, she was no longer alone. In front of her, she saw a younger version of herself, probably around the age of five, carrying a teddy bear in one hand and clinging to her mother's arm with the other. Beside her, Michelle could feel the happiness that radiated from the younger Nora, skin free of any wrinkles or scars.

However, Michelle's stomach sunk. She was alerted at the all-too-familiar voice of her father - he was yelling like he always had done.

"Where the fuck are you, skank? Huh? Come out, bitch!"

Nora immediately squatted down and held young Michelle's head with both hands, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Tears streamed down her face as she rubbed Michelle's cheeks with her thumbs.

"Baby, let's play hide and seek, alright?" her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat, "Yeah, you go hide real good. Don't come out until Momma comes to find you, got it?"

Michelle's younger self nodded, flashing her teeth at her mom in a playful manner, before running away into the darkness.

As Nora reluctantly stood up, fists balled, a man came up to her, holding a belt. He bent it in his hand, before slowly running it across her mother's face.

"You had this coming for being a shitty wife, slut."

Both Michelle and her mother screamed, as the man raised his arm and smacked the belt down across her arms.

Michelle was helpless again.

She fell on the floor, paralysed, only able to watch her father continue to hit Nora, blood dripping off of her.

Michelle's eyes opened, breathing heavily as the tears fell. Almost immediately, she felt a grip on her hand, and she looked down to see Peter holding her tightly.

"Hey, you okay? The heart monitor was going nuts- what, you're crying!"

"I-" Michelle paused, catching her breath. Now, one of the many memories of her father that she had suppressed had resurfaced.

Michelle didn't want anyone to know about that part of her life, which was why she was going to lie to Peter, again.

"I'm good."

The corners of Michelle's mouth lifted upwards, attempting to lighten the mood. "So, I guess that bad guy wasn't so lucky, huh? You're not dead," she croaked.

"I guess not. I've got much more enhanced body functions, so I managed to heal quickly. On the other hand, you could have died. I- I don't know what I would have done if I-"

"Hey, don't get sappy with me, Peter," Michelle ordered, "I'm alive, right? It's all over."

"Actually, it's not."

Michelle's eyes flickered down to the end of the bed, where Tony Stark stood, his arms crossed. "Hi, I'm Tony. Anyway, we still haven't caught the guy, which means you two are potentially still in danger.