Flower Child (Peter Parker, MCU)

The Demon of N'astirh

**trigger warning**
Mentions of death, scenes of emotional torture (I am very sorry), mentions of a panic attack. This chapter's kind of heavy.

The Prowler - Daniel Pemberton

His thoughts began to escape him, and his mind swirled with the utmost terror. For some reason, Peter remained glued to his spot. Rubble and dust-covered him, his eye stung from the cut just above it, and his leg was tingling like it had fallen asleep. But all Peter could do was stand there, unable to express a coherent thought other than the fact that he just watched Lila get kidnapped by a lunatic. A lunatic he'd been hunting for weeks without much progress. That was, until today.

I think if we have an idea of where to look, then - then Doctor Strange can narrow down where Macendale - the Hobgoblin - is hiding.

The maps. The plan. Suddenly the pictures of those maps he'd just taken inside the library meant everything, and his phone weighed heavy in his pocket. It was his only lead, and the need to find Macendale meant everything now. Peter closed his mouth and swallowed. Sirens from police cars and ambulances alike rounded both corners, signaling that they were there to help. The loud noise jarred Peter further out of his stupor and he began running. He ran as fast as he could, pushing the air out of his lungs and then forcing it back in with vigor. He didn't stop until about six blocks out when an alley mouth appeared.

The backpack he carried was off his shoulders in the time it took for him to blink, and his clothes followed soon after. He pulled on his suit, pressing the spider emblem and quickly checking his web-shooters before shouldering his backpack. He was about to jump up into the air when he stopped and stared at a piece of paper that was lying on the ground. He'd accidentally dropped the card Strange gave him, and Peter swooped down to pick it back up. 177a Bleecker Street.

"Karen?" Peter's voice sounded high-pitched and panicked.

"Peter, is everything okay?"

"No. I need you to get me to this address as fast as possible." He had jumped up and started swinging down the street before he even finished his sentence. On his display, a map appeared as Karen calculated the quickest route.

Once it was finalized, she said, "ETA is twenty minutes." Peter swung around Manhattan faster than he'd ever gone. Still not as fast as his mind, which was already trying to think ahead.

"Karen, track Lila's cellphone, see if you can pinpoint it."

It was done in a second. "Her phone's location is at the New York Public Library. I'm getting multiple reports-"

"No, I know, I was there." Peter hadn't even seen Lila drop her phone. Nor did he see Macendale drop it. Then again, he was preoccupied. He fell into silence once again as the knot in his stomach intensified.

Peter was followed last night. The Hobgoblin stalked a wounded Peter all the way back to Lila's greenhouse. How had he not sensed it? He should've been able to feel his presence looming around him as he did right outside the library. But he didn't.

Was it because he was hurt? Did it have anything to do with the fact that his senses had been acting off for the past eight months? Ever since Tony died, his senses weren't as reliable as he'd needed. Sometimes, like earlier at the library, they were fine, but other times they weren't even there. Like last night.

Senses or not, it didn't change anything. It didn't change the fact that he didn't notice Macendale tailing him last night all the way back to the greenhouse. And it definitely didn't change the fact that Lila was still in danger. The debate over his sense could wait for another day, there was a more pressing matter at hand.