Talons of the Bird || Spiderman Fan Fiction

Chapter 3

Two months go by of walking to and from school with Peter, meeting MJ and Ned in class, and at the park, and it was a routine that Emily was familiar with. Every day she would get a text from Peter in the morning, telling her he was downstairs, she would slip on her converses, and throw on her bomber jacket and fly out the door catching the lift down. Today though, was a Saturday, mid-November. The fan had been put away into storage and the duvet covers felt like a warm bliss to hid under. Even at 8:30 am, it was still dark, and so time didn't even feel like it existed anymore. A light knock on her door stirred her awake. "Honey? I'm just going to the bank, I'll be about half an hour," Emily's mother's voice could be heard on the other side. "Mm-kay" she responded rolling over, stretching. If there was one thing Emily was good at, it was having a lay-in. She drifted back into a light sleep for another hour or so, to be woken up by a notification on her phone.

~Spiderman's on the TV again~ The message from MJ read. She knew that Emily kind of fancied this masked man a little bit, something about the mystery of who he was seemed captivating to her.

~Wake up you lazy cow~ Her phone chimed again. Emily groaned audibly. She looked at the time, the phone display now reading at 10 am. ~I'm awake, piss off~ She replied to MJ's text. She wasn't even awake enough to process the message she received earlier. She slipped on her favourite slippers and stumbled to the kitchen, scavenging the cupboards for any sweet treats, only to find that her mother hasn't done the weekly shop yet. She scoffed as she pulled out her phone. ~Anyone wanna go out today, I need to buy food~ She sent the message to the group chat consisting of Peter, Ned and MJ. MJ was the first to see the message; ~Sure, I'm free from 12~. A couple of minutes later; ~Sure lets do it~ Ned's response came through. Peter was the only one not to see the message yet. He was clearly busy.

Soon enough, 12 o'clock had rolled around, and MJ and Emily were waiting by the front door to their local supermarket for Ned. MJ was leant over the trolley, trying to see if she could put all her weight on it without it tipping, with Emily stood on the other end, trying her best to not let her friend capsize in public and make a fool of herself. The chime from MJ's phone went off, followed by Emily's. ~Sorry guys, family emergency, can't come~ The message from Ned came through. MJ rolled her eyes. "Typical," She scoffed. "I bet he's bailed to go hang out with Peter," she jumped off the trolley. nearly sending Emily flying off the other end. "Shit, sorry!" She grabbed the handles before the whole thing flipped, laughing at Emily's scared impression on her face. "Anyway let's get you some food," She stifled her laughter.

Soon enough, they were walking back to Emily's apartment block with 3 full bags of groceries between them, riding the lift up. "Hey, shall we go over to Peter's to see what they're up to?" Emily excitedly suggested. "Oh my god, let's do it, let's ditch the food and get over there!" MJ replied, eager to put the heavy bags down and run. "Woah, easy tiger, let's dump this inside first," Emily laughed. she put the bags down to fish out her keys to let them in, not even turning the lights on as they put the bags inside the apartment. "We're going to Peter's, Mom!" Emily yelled before shutting the door, not even checking to see if she was home. "Race you!" MJ yelled as she sprinted towards the elevator, not giving Emily enough time to react before the doors closed. "MJ! It's on, you little bitch!" She yelled back as she sprinted to the staircase and flew around each corner all the way down. She ran out the doors to see MJ in the distance running off down the street. "Oh no you don't" She mumbled to herself as she sprinted to catch up. Within seconds she had caught up and was already in the lead. "Jesus Christ, you're fast!" MJ yelled ahead of her as Emily flipped her off.

Soon enough they were at Peter's apartment and they decided to be fair and ride the elevator together. Still panting, they walked to Peter's front door and knocked hard. Ned was the one to open the door, with a deadpan serious look on his face. "Didn't I tell you he'd be here!" MJ nudged Emily with her elbow. Ned's expression didn't change, only to show a little more shock on his face. "Ned..? What's wrong?" Emily was the first to notice. concern washed over her, worried that something had happened to somebody. "You guys should come in..." He replied quickly, giving them space to come in," Emily could feel the tension on the air, the mood. Something was wrong, she knew it. They walked into the living space to see Peter on the couch with his aunt comforting him. "Peter..?" MJ queried. He raised his head to look at her, then his expression dropped as soon as he noticed Emily stood next to him. He had been crying, his eyes bloodshot, bags under his eyes. Something terrible had happened. May looked up to see Emily as well, she immediately stood up and approached with her arms open. She pulled her into a long tight hug, her breath shaky. "I'm confused, whats happened?" She pulled back after a couple of seconds and approached Peter.

"You don't know?" May stood back, guilt on her face. the room was silent, and the look Peter was giving Emily was palpable. "Please, someone say something..." Emily started to have tears well up in her eyes. Ned put his hand on her back and lead her to the couch next to Peter. She immediately sat down and took his hand. "Talk to me, Pete". He inhaled sharply. "I was at the bank this morning... and I saw your mom..." He said quietly and slowly. Emily was scanning his eyes as if she was looking for the words before she could hear them. "Those masked men came back, and she... she tried to alert the police..." Emily took a deep shaky sigh, sitting back in her chair. She knew she was already sitting down, but she still felt as though she needed to get lower and more comfortable. "Oh god..." MJ put her hand over her mouth. "Emily, I'm so sorry..." Peter finished. Nothing had processed in her mind yet. Her grip of Peter's hand had loosened and soon she shuffled away from Peter, giving herself space. "MJ... What was on the news this morning..?" she slowly turned to MJ, avoiding eye contact, who was still stood in the entranceway to the living room. MJ took a big gulp. "Spiderman... at a bank... the News reported of 1 fatality but... they didn't say who..." Emily slowly stood up and took a deep breath. Peter dropped his head again into his hands. Nobody said anything. "I need to go..." Emily walked to the door and opened it, stopping in her tracks. They could hear her take another deep shaky breath before shutting the door behind her again.

"Pete... What actually happened?" MJ sat down across from him, Ned joining her. Aunt May came back with hot chocolates for everyone. "Do you think she's going to be okay?" She asked. "She knows what she needs and when she needs it, if she needs space, she's getting it," MJ replied, May nodded in response. "When I got the dispatch call, I was already in my gear but... I was too late. I arrived and saw her laid on the ground... blood... oh god," he sniffed. "She did it so you could be there, you know, to protect the others," Ned comforted him and aunt May, who was now next to Peter, rubbed his back. "Listen, I'm going to go over to hers later, on my own and talk to her, see if there's anything I can do to help," May informed them. Could you guys try to call her later and see if she wants to talk?" Ned and MJ nodded, knowing their duty was to make sure their friend was going to be okay.