Malen'kaya Zemlya [2] [P. Parker]

3.24 I Love You, Peter Parker

Not long passed before a cab showed up.

"Evening, miss. Where are ya headin'?" the man asked with a British accent.

"Coney Island," I replied shortly, strapping myself in the back, cradling my injured arm to my stomach.

"You sure, miss? There's been a plane crash there." he quirked a brow, lighting a cigarette. "You good with me smokin', miss?"

"Whatever. I just need to get to Coney Island. If you get me there in under ten minutes, I'll double the fare."

The man snapped around in his seat, the cigarette falling from his mouth as he saw me. "Well, damn, Gaia. If I knew it was you-"

I picked the cigarette back up and handed it to him. "Just get going. This is a matter of life and death."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, spinning back around and punching the accelerator, reversing out of there faster than I ever thought was possible.

"You know, ma'am, you don't have to pay extra. I'm glad to be helping one of our cities heroes." he blabbered as he drove. "I'd be honoured if you'd only shake my hand for that matter."

I smiled briefly before glancing out of the window again. "No, I'll pay you. And shake your hand. But the second I get out, you need to get out there, okay?"
"Got it, ma'am."

"And stop calling me ma'am. Just Gaia."

The second the car stopped, I unclipped the seatbelt and opened the door, shaking the driver's hand with my left arm and shoving a huge wad of cash that was somehow in my suit (how??) into his cupholder. Straight after that, I leapt from the cab and he drove away, leaving me to face the wreckage of the Stark Industries plane on my own.

Peter was in there somewhere, among the flames and crates, and so was Adrian Toomes.

As I ran through the flames, I saw two hazy shapes ahead of me.

Peter was there, on the ground, and Toomes was in the air, his wingsuit sparking.

The man was trying to lift a crate, but every time he moved, his wings rained a shower of sparks.

"Your wingsuit. Your wing suit's gonna explode!" I heard Peter cry over the crackling fires. He lifted an arm and shot a web at Toomes, trying to pull him down. I rushed over to him as fast as I could, but I wasn't fast enough.

"It's time to go home, Pete," Toomes smirked.

"I'm trying to save you!" Peter screamed, still trying to pull him down.

Toomes sliced through the web in one swift movement, causing Peter to fall back onto the sand.

I skidded to a halt on my knees beside him as he fell.

"Ash?" Peter whispered, then looked back at Toomes, who was flying higher and higher. "We gotta stop him- his wingsuit-"

I looked up as the wingsuit failed, and tumbled down to earth.

The split second it hit the ground, there was an explosion. My stomach dropped.

"No," Peter said, scrambling to his feet and limped over to the flames.

"Peter-" I tried, but simply followed him into the fire.

He tried to lift the wingsuit and screamed when his hands came in contact with the burning metal, but he continued on. Soon enough, the metal was lifted from Toomes and Peter was lifting the man over his shoulder.