Here to Help

Then you better get to stepping through it

TWs: So this gonna be a bit of a heavy one. There's no specific triggers but thought I'd warn you all just in case

"PETER!" I screamed, running and falling with a thud to my knees by his still form. I grabbed his wrist, almost crying in relief when I felt his pulse. "Shit, shit shit shit--Friday read his vitals!"

"Peter is unconscious--"

"Yeah I can see that--"

"--but he does not seem to be in any immediate danger. He's lost consciousness due to the fear, not the pain. Thirty seconds to a minute is estimated before he becomes responsive," Friday finished.

"What was wrong with him? Why was he holding his head like that?" Steve said, his voice high with worry.

"It seems the pain was due to the anomaly in his psychological awareness," Friday said. Steve looked at me, confusion still prominent on his face.

"In English?" he asked.

"It was his Spidey-Sense," I muttered, shaking my head, staring down at Peter and thinking hard. "He has this sixth sense, it warns him of danger--Oh god, 'she's here'..."

I finally took my gaze off of the kid and looked at Steve, and I'm certain his expression of horror mirrored my own. I quickly took out my phone, still keeping one hand over Peter's pulse in his wrist.

"Friday, show me the security cameras for the lobby," I said. When they popped up, I flicked the phone so they bounced out and hovered as holograms in the air.

And there she was. May Parker. Walking aimlessly around the empty lobby. There wasn't even a receptionist there, everyone had moved to the compound already. In fact, the only people in the building now were me, Steve, Peter, and May.

I hated how... normal she looked. She didn't look like someone who would hit and starve and scream at a child. She just looked like... a person.

I suppose she is a person. Though it's sometimes hard to believe. You'd think someone who has done the things she has was a monster in a human's skin.

But then again, who said humans and monsters have to be different?

"Go," Steve said suddenly, bringing me out of my thoughts. I tore my gaze from the screens and stared at him.

"What?"

"Go," he repeated. "I know you want to. I'll take care of Peter, you just get her out of here." His voice was oddly steady, and his face hard. He looked like he was on one of our missions. Soldier-mode.

It's not like I can disobey orders from the captain, now can I?

"Right," I said, feeling the panic trickle away, like Cap's level-headed calm was spreading through me. I took a breath, then leaned down and kissed Peter's head, making a silent promise to be back as soon as I could. I quickly got up and grabbed my watch off the counter, and was a little glad that I'd decided to get dressed before going to breakfast today. I went into the elevator and pressed the ground floor button. The doors stayed open long enough for me to see Steve carry Peter to the living room and lay him on a couch.

~~~

It felt like hours before the elevator doors opened again. When I stepped out May turned around to face me, and for a moment we just stared at each other. She looked almost exactly the same as the first time I met her, though her face was nothing like the kind smile I got when I visited that day. It was severe, and angry, and she stood in a way that made it look like she thought she could talk her way into or out of whatever she wanted.