Gone // Spider-Man: Far From Home [Book 4]

twenty-two {Arya's POV}

"Dad?" 

"Hey, there," his voice replied and tears escaped the corners of my eyes. "I know you're in a bad place right now, which is why I decided to record this little message for you. Just close your eyes and take a deep breath." 

I did as he said and shut my eyes, breathing in deeply and exhaling shiveringly. 

"That's it, you're gonna be okay. I don't know what you're going through, but I promise, you're gonna work through it. You're so smart so you'll figure it out. Just look for the problem and solve it from the roots up, just like that math problem we did together when you were nine. We were at the kitchen table because you couldn't figure out this problem for your math homework so you came to me and together, we fixed it. I'm not with you in person right now and I'm sorry about that, but I'm always with you, no matter where you go. You've got this, honey. Now go kick some ass. You have my permission." 

I couldn't help but chuckle a watery chuckle. 

"Dry those eyes and fix this problem. I love you 3000." 

I smiled and let out a long breath, forcing myself to calm down. I wiped away my tears and looked down at the wound, seeing the bleeding had slowed down. I pressed the arc reactor again and the glasses morphed together with the nanotech. "FRIDAY, can you tighten the nanoparticles around the wound to stop the bleeding?" I asked and I felt the suit tighten around my stomach. I groaned at the stinging pain it left and bit down on my teeth. "Okay, call Happy." 

The phone rang three times before he picked up. "Hello?" 

"Happy, it's me," I said. 

"Arya? Are you okay?" his worried voice asked. 

"No, I'm not. Happy, we really messed up. I need you to come and pick me up," I said, struggling to keep my voice steady. 

"Why? What's wrong? Where are you?" 

"I'm in Berlin. I'll explain everything when you get here but please Happy, I'm bleeding and I need your help," I told him. 

"Bleeding?!"

"Happy, please hurry," I groaned, leaning back against the wall. "FRIDAY will send you my location." 

"Okay, okay, I'm on my way. Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?" he asked and I nodded, before realising he couldn't see me. 

"Yeah, that'd be nice," I said softly. 

"Stay awake, okay? You can't pass out," Happy told me and I heard stumbling in the distance. 

I closed my eyes and felt my body go weak. "Okay, yeah... I'll... I'll stay... awake..." My head fell to the side and unconsciousness consumed me. 

***

"Arya! Arya, wake up!" a voice called in my ear and I slowly woke up, lifting my head. After opening my eyes, I looked right into Happy Hogan's kind but distressed eyes. "Oh, thank God," he said, smiling. "Can you get up?" 

I nodded and pushed myself up. Happy held out his hand and I allowed him to pull me to my feet. I leaned on him as he took me to the quinjet. As soon as I entered, I sank into one of the seats, letting my suit disappear. 

Happy rushed to my side with an emergency kit. I thanked him quietly before numbing the area around the wound with a local anaesthetic. The throbbing pain quickly subsided and I could safely and painlessly clean the wound. I struggled to loop the thread through the eye of the needle so I could stitch up the wound, but my hands were trembling too badly. 

"Do you need some help?" Happy asked. 

"I'm fine," I muttered, but my hands only started to shake more. 

"Arya-" 

"I said I'm fine!" I shouted angrily, throwing down the thread and needle. I let out a long and shaky breath, dropping my head in my hands. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you. This is not your fault," I said softly. 

"It's okay." Happy took the needle from the ground and gently looped the thread through it before handing it to me. I thanked him softly and began stitching up the gaping wound in my stomach. I was lucky Mysterio hadn't hit anything vital, or we'd be in a lot more trouble than just a flesh wound. 

I placed a piece of gauze over the wound before wrapping my abdominal area in bandages. I also swallowed two tablets of painkillers to help with the pain after the anaesthetic wore off. 

"Okay, Arya, I need you to tell me what the hell is going on," Happy said, and my mind switched back to the horrid illusions Mysterio had shown me. 

"Did you follow the news?" I asked and Happy nodded. "So that Mysterio guy who is pretending to be a superhero is not who he says he is. He is a fraud and he took EDITH from Peter. He has this illusion technology that he used to fool all of us into thinking the Elementals are real, but they're not. The destruction was real, but that was all drones. And now that he has EDITH, he has a lot more of 'em. Peter was hit by a train and I don't know where he is or if he's okay. I mean, he could be-" I stopped myself from finishing that sentence as a lump formed in my throat. "And I don't know what to do," I whispered, my voice cracking as more tears threatened to spill.

Happy blew out a breath. "Wow, that's... that's something," he decided to say. 

I lowered my eyes. "Yeah, I know," I muttered, pushing myself up into a standing position and groaning at the dull pain in my stomach. I searched the remainder of my body for more injuries but discovered none that needed attention. I had some scratches, cuts, and a whole lot of bruises, but I'd be fine in a while. 

Happy brought me a sandwich, and I realised I hadn't eaten since last night, so I was absolutely starving. I basically inhaled the sandwich and heaved myself in a clean set of clothes that Happy had brought. It consisted of black sports leggings, a deep-green sports bra and a white T-shirt. I also put on a jacket because I was covered in goosebumps. I tried to fix my glasses with some tape and put them on. 

And then, Happy's phone rang.