Starkly in Love- A Spiderman x Reader

Chapter 28: Radio Silence

  I couldn't remember what month it was anymore, but I did know that it was absolutely freezing outside.

  Regan insisted on taking 'romantic walks on the beach' even though Tony clearly hated the idea. I'd argued with him about it despite the fact that I agreed with every point he made about it being pointlessly reckless and frankly annoying. Especially annoying. 

  This afternoon was particularly cold, so I pulled my hood up as we walked hand in hand- ew- along the beach. The voices in my head quieted for a moment and my steps faltered before the wind below my hood off my head and I was without a choice again.

  Regan looked at me in confusion but continued to pull me down the beach. I would have sworn he was muttering to himself about short circuits.

  My thoughts tried to collect themselves. Had something stopped working there? I tried to think back on what happened. I was literally just walking. Did I step on something?

  The rest of the day I tried to figure out what it was that happened. I wandered around the house with Regan and listened to him talk about whatever. My body wasn't mine again, but the memory of my head being void of everything by my own thoughts clung to me like a really good dream.

  I went to bed early.

  I got snuggled up into bed, pulling my quilt over my head. The voices normally stopped at night; what was the point of whispering to me when I was asleep? But instead of shutting off all at once, they got fuzzy then faded out. I blinked.

  I could move without resistance. I could wiggle my fingers without waiting a couple of seconds for the motion to be approved of. I felt free for the first time in a week.

  I smacked myself in the face, literally. Maybe it was like when your t.v remote stopped working and banging it on the table a few times knocked whatever was wrong with it back into place. But my head was still empty.  Never in my life had I imagined that I would be excited for my head to be empty.

  A thought came to me -my own thought, yay- and I sat up. The quilt fell off of me and the voices came back. So I laid back down and put my pillow over my head.

  Quiet.

  "Okay," I breathed as well as I could with the pillow on my face. "Okay, okay, okay. Now what (Y/N)? Get it together."

  I racked my brain. "So it has to be some kind of fabric or material that blocks this. Think, think, think."

  A stocking cap.

  With the pillow wrapped as tightly around as much of my head as I could without comparing my vision, I scampered over to my dresser. I rummaged through the bottom draw until I pulled out a random red stock cap I sorta forgot about. After one deep breath and a pleading prayer to whoever was listening, I dropped the pillow and yanked the stocking cap over my head.

  I didn't dare move or think or breathe.

  Radio silence.

  I could have cheer I was so happy. I didn't know why or how this worked but I didn't care right now. 

  I cracked open my door and looked around, but not a person was in sight. So I booked it, and when I say 'booked it' I mean booked it. Full out sprinting, running, down the hall, around a corner, and through my dad's bedroom door. I didn't care about knocking, him being butt naked was a risk I was willing to take. He was blessedly in bed though.

  He looked up from whatever he was reading in confusion. "Honey?"

  "Listen to me. I don't know how much time I have, but I think Void planted something in me or put something in me but I haven't been able to make my own decisions since you found me. He's made me some kind of spy. I haven't been able to move or say anything for weeks without his approval. And-and there's these voices in my head, those are the ones that tell me what to do. But I put this hat on-" I gestured wildly at the beanie on my head-" and now I'm me again. Dad, I don't know what to do but please please please help me I'm scared."

  Tony had been staring at me with a mixture of many emotions throughout my breathless explanation but he jumped into action the second I stopped to breathe.

  "I'm sorry, baby, I'm sorry," he took me in his arms for a second, "this isn't your fault. I love you."

  I nodded, and he released me, holding me at arm's length.

  "Don't trust Regan," I said, "I think he's with Void, dad."

  He nodded, a grim expression on his face as he looked me over.

  "I think we need to go downstairs."

*****

  We went downstairs, passing a few of the resident scientists or whatever.

  "If you're going to take my hat off you'll need to tie me down and blindfold me," I said what we both knew, but didn't want to say.

  By the look on his face, I could tell that he liked the idea of tieing me up even less then I did. None the less, he sat me down on a chair, regret in his eyes.

  "I'm sorry," he said quietly as he got to work securing my hands. I could tell he was leaving a lot of room for comfort so I gave him a look and he tightened it just a little more. Finally, he found a blindfold and slipped it over my eyes.