The Girl and the Superhero{Peter Parker}

Part 44(Kenzie's POV)

My body woke in a haze, like every feeling was surrounded in forty layers of stalwart bubble wrap.

I felt strong arms lowering me onto a soft bed of sorts, but I couldn't identify them. I wasn't sure if my eyes were open or closed; my face felt swollen and everything was dark. There was an indistinguishable mix of police sirens, tire screeches, and loud, commanding voices that flooded my ears the minute I let the sounds in.

All of the nerve endings in my brain did not let me forget that my body was in really bad condition, but the hurt in my heart overruled that pain.

The image of Peter's dying form was seared into my vision; it didn't matter if my eyes were open or shut. That was all I saw.

Slowly, one voice identified itself among the ambient noise. "Kenz-- Kenz, it's Steve. I need you to wake up. You're going to have to open your eyes, okay?"

The sound of Steve's voice hit me like a truck (although I felt like I'd already been hit by a truck), and I painstakingly tore my eyelids open, fighting the extra weight that anchored them together. Captain America's form materialized as my eyesight cleared, Natasha Romanoff tied at his hip. "Steve? Nat?" I croaked. With a quick glance at my surroundings, I gathered that I was propped up on a medical gurney. A couple dozen yards away, the area where the abandoned warehouse had once stood was now a ghostly pile of crumbled cement and dancing dust.

"Hey, kiddo." Steve gave me a smile, but there was so much sadness in his eyes.

"Shove over, Steve."

"Nat, I really don't think she's in any shape to--"

"I don't care. My daughter needs me." Natasha pushed him out of the way and wrapped me in her arms. Extreme pain coursed through my body initially, but I ignored it and let her hold me. Before I really knew what was happening, Natasha's dark red sleeve was wet with my tears as I let down all of my walls. "Sweetie, I'm so sorry." I felt Nat's tears start to fall on my shoulder in sync with my own. Steve soon enveloped the both of us in a hug soon afterwards.

I could've sat there in that hug for the rest of my life-- but a few questions weighed heavily on my mind. I pulled away from Steve and Nat, grimacing as sparks of electric pain spiked from  my leg. Using the hand that wasn't broken, I wiped away the tears flowing down my cheeks and pooling under my chin. I looked between the two of them, bracing myself. "Where is Peter? Can I see him before they take him away?" My throat constricted painfully with the words. "Please?"

Nat and Steve looked first at each other, then back at me. Nat glanced over her shoulder, opening and closing her mouth a couple of times before any words came out of it. "He's over there by the S.H.I.E.L.D med-car. They couldn't get a pulse from him a few minutes ago, but..."

"But what?" The words escaped my mouth with thoughtless desperation, and my eyes scanned the area that had drawn Natasha's attention. I saw a small black van with the S.H.I.E.L.D symbol on the body and a red cross split between the two doors of the trunk. Next to it was a medical table with the still body of a boy who seemed so impossibly small--

          My boy.

The scene of Peter frantically sprinting towards me flashed in front of my vision for neither the first nor the last time that night.

"PETER, NO! PETER, YOU PROMISED!" My voice rang through my head.

   "GET AWAY FROM HER--"

  "Say goodbye to Spider-Man."

     "KENZ--"

Bang.