The White Pallax (Peter Parker x Reader)

XXI - Hallucinations? Or just dreams? Fuck it, who cares

Gasping, you awake, shooting straight up. Everything around you seems hazy. Muffled. You rub your eyes. Where are you? What happened?

Memories hit you like a shock of ice water. The heat. Seeing your father. The rocks falling. And then nothing. You freeze. Are you dead?

"No," a voice rings out behind you, "you are not dead. Only asleep."

Startled, you spin around. Sitting on a patch of grass is someone whose face sends a jolt of red hot anger through your veins. Her stupid beautiful face. A guttural growl escapes your throat. "Kalia."

Kalia rolls her gold flecked eyes. "Yeah yeah. You hate me, whatever. I saved your life. Thank me later."

You furrow your eyebrows. "I - what?"

"I couldn't let one of my own perish even if they threatened everyone I love." Kalia flicked a piece of grass from under her fingernail to the rich soiled ground. "There are so little of us left."

For once, you stay silent. Processing. None of this is real. It can't be.

"It's very real, Y/N, though neither of us are actually here. It's just a way to talk." She glances up and locks eyes with you. "Or send a message."

Vaguely, you remember those horrible dreams you had before Tony had gone missing, before the dance, before you'd blown an entire building to pieces. "You sent me those images. Were you threatening me or warning me?"

Kalia shrugs. "A little of both. We are not the bad guys, Y/N. I want you to understand that. There is something much bigger coming. For Peter."

You nearly puke. Not him. Not again. Why does it always have to be him? "What are you talking about?"

The horizon begins to fade into a gray-scale. Kalia sighs. "We are running out of time."

Wildly, you look around. Everything is rapidly collapsing in on itself. Panic grips at your lungs, entraps your heart, though you don't know why. None of this can possibly be happening. But somehow, you know it is true. "What's going on? What's coming?"

"Something much worse than your darkest nightmares." Fear laces her voice, enough so that a lump forms in your throat.

"Could you be less cryptic?"

Kalia only smiles, concern filling her eyes, calling for help, asking you to be everyone's hope. It is all you see before she melts into the ground and you fall in on yourself.

Once more, you sit bolt upright. This time, it is reality, not some sort of realistic dream or hallucination. You're here for real. You can feel the thin scratchy sheets beneath your palms, hear the beeping of a machine. A terrible pounding fills your head and your stomach is doing cartwheels. Something is sticking out of your nose. Feebly, you touch it. Tubes. And there's an IV in your arm.

You're in a hospital.

Slowly, you sit up. On the table next to the hospital bed is a vase with a bouquet of wilting flowers. Orange orchids. You smile and bite your lip. Must be from Peter. There's a card next to it. Stretching your fingers, you just barely manage to grip it.

It's been two weeks. Wake the hell up. How dare you leave me with these two losers. Love, Michelle.

You chuckle. Sounds just like her. Sympathetic, and yet definitely not. You miss her so much. And Ned. And Peter. Everyone. Gently, you set the note back down. Looking around, there isn't much more to the room. It's plain and boring. God, who can you call to get some excitement? Not that that would be the best for you right now, considering your state.

Thankfully, the universe spares you much longer dwelling over boredom. The door to your room flies open and a very disheveled Peter enters the room, holding a cup of coffee. Since when does he drink coffee?

"Y/N?" He squeaks, nearly dropping the to-go cup. Which would have been a disaster.

"Hey Peter." You smile. Your voice is a bit hoarse.

Joy dazzles in his warm eyes. He sets the coffee down and throws himself over you, enveloping you in the best, most comforting hug you've ever felt. You try to hold back your tears, but you're just so happy that you've survived. That he's here, that everyone's okay.

When he pulls away, you find that his eyes are also red and puffy. It looks like he hasn't slept in forever. And that odor...

You scrunch you nose. "You look and smell terrible. What have you been doing? Rolling around in horse dung?"

Peter smiles wearily. "Yeah exactly. That, and worrying about you."

"I hope you haven't been missing school for me. I'd hate for your GPA to suffer," you tease, trying to lighten the mood. You know you almost died. You don't want to be reminded of it.

"It's been school and then straight here to watch over you every day," he admits, picking up his coffee and taking a sip. "Ned and Michelle have stopped by. Tony's kept himself busy. He can't bear to think about you right now."

You frown. "Maybe I should call him."

"I'm sure he sensed a disturbance in the force and is on his way right now."

You grin and laugh. "Isn't that your thing?"

Silence falls over the room. Slowly, you swing your legs off the side of the bed. It hurts like hell. Not hot, stinging pain like you expect. Just a dull aching pain in your limbs. Peter takes a place on the rickety bed next to you. It creaks and you fear it might collapse under the weight of both of you. Shouldn't hospital beds be more secure?

You lean into Peter. He wraps his arm around your shoulders. For a while, you just sit there, nestled in his hug, him stroking your hair.

"So," he says, interrupting the warm, peaceful atmosphere. "You missed Christmas. I mean, I dunno if you celebrate it, but I got you something anyway."

From his pocket, he pulls out a sloppily wrapped box. Carefully, you tear open the wrapping paper and lift the top off the box. Inside is a silver spider pendant dangling from a silver chain. You smile.

"Bit obvious, isn't it?" You tease, handing it to him to hook it around your neck.

His fingers brush your skin as he latches it. Tingling sensations trail down your spine. You bite your lip. "Ah, it's just a symbol. No one's really going to know you're important to Spiderman, are they?"

"So you hope." You turn and hug him tight. "Thank you, Peter. It's wonderful. I love it. And you."

Peter kisses you on the top of your head. "I love you too."

A/N - Not the end yet, don't worry!! So I've decided to do a sequel. Not sure when I'll put it up but I already have a lot planned out, and the villain is going to be an actual Spiderman villain from the comics. Care to guess who? Stay tuned for the next update, which hopefully comes out faster than this one did.