Melancholy Hope {Spiderson&Irondad}

Chapter 2

The farther I walk, the more scared I get. It's dark and empty, despite it being one of the places that never sleeps. I know some things about self defense, but I don't eat very well. I'm small. Scrawny. Not helpful against some bigger guy, if it happens.

I don't even have Tony's number so if I do get into a bad situation, I'm alone. Unless I decide to call Ned from school.

So when I see the mugging, I hesitate. I'm decently strong, strong enough that I could get the mugger away from the other teenage for long enough for them to run. Again, Enough. After that, I'd probably be dead. But there's some sort of desire in my lungs, that makes me turn into the mouth of the alleyway.

I know nobody would care if I died. Nobody would really blink an eye. Tony might worry when I never got home, but he'd probably be happy that he didn't have to deal with the process of bringing me back to the home. Ned was just being my friend because I'm pitiful and he was told to help me out. Even if he did start to like me, which is doubtful, he wouldn't actually get worried.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" I shout, puffing out my chest to appear bigger. It crosses my mind that I could try T-Posing to assert my dominance and see where that gets me, but decide against it.

They both freeze and the smaller kid is still clutching his wallet in one hand, phone in the other. I take the necessary steps to get closer to them, and quickly gesture to the kid to get out. He doesn't need to be told twice, booking it.

The other man glares at me. "You just lost me a couple hundred bucks!"

"Hey, he's a kid. He's probably broke. I know I am. I don't even own a wallet. And trust me, you don't want my phone. It's like 6 years old," I say, shrugging and ignoring the fear spiking through me.

I'm not a superhero. I'm not some masked figure helping out. I'm just me. Just Peter Parker. If he decides to swing, I'll be down. No doubt about it. But just because I'm not a hero, doesn't mean I don't know that my pain is less important than everyone else's. Hopefully Tony isn't too pissed that I left and got beaten up. Hopefully the hospital bills aren't too high if it gets that bad.

"You stupid motherfucker!"

I can't dodge the punch quick enough. The big, meaty fist hits my jaw and sends me tumbling into the brick wall. The next punch, I'm expecting and i duck around it, planning on booking it back to the tower, but another fist grabs the back of my shirt and throws me onto the ground.

"Fuck," I groan, grabbing the back of my head. I roll onto my side, pushing myself onto my knees with a little bit of struggle, ignoring the man's hyena laughter.

He lands a kick to my ribs that sends me back onto the cold concrete. It's dark and it's just getting darker with the more and more kicks that pummel my sides and stomach and ribs.

He grabs the collar of my shirt when he deems me in enough pain and pulls me back to my shaking legs. I spit blood on his shoes, smiling when it stains the white vans. Those are ruined now. He throws a final punch. Letting my limp body fall back to the floor, the snap of my nose echoing in my ears as I feel the hot blood pouring down my face.

"I'm Flash, by the way. See you at school, Parker."

*

I stumble when I walk into the elevator of the tower, willing myself not to cry despite the ache of my ribs and my sad sad heart.

After about an hour of lying on the concrete where Flash had left me before I had dragged myself back to my feet.

I'm just desperately crossing my fingers that Tony isn't going to be pissed.