saudade

“Parker?”, Peter said as he picked up his phone.

“Pete, I’m sorry, but I probably won’t make it home tonight. My desk drowns in papers and I’m still in the company. I think I’ll stay the night at the mansion. I’m sorry. I know you don’t like it and I was looking forward to spending some time on the sofa with you”, Harry told him.

He sighed. “Okay, but don’t overwork yourself. Even CEOs need sleep. Sending kisses.”

“I’m sorry. I love you. I’ll be home earlier tomorrow, I promise. Sleep well and maybe dream a little dream of me”, Harry said in a seductive voice.

Peter giggled. “For sure. I love you too.”

Peter was on the way to the grocery store since their fridge was almost empty again as he heard screams.

“Someone call the fire department!”, somebody yelled in panic.

A house was on fire. He had to help them but when Peter grabbed his collar, ready to rip off his clothes to reveal the Spider-Man suit, he remembered that he had thrown it away.

“There’s a child in it!”, somebody else screamed.

So, Peter ran into the burning house in his civilian clothes. As soon as he entered the house, he heard the child crying. He followed the noises and found a locked door. The crying behind it got louder.

“I’m coming, don’t worry!”, he called and kicked the door open. A wall of fire rushed towards him, but he was able to dodge it. But he couldn’t see the child anywhere.

As the ceiling crushed down, he spotted a closet and jumped forwards to open it. The scared eyes of a child looked at him.

“I’ll get you out of here”, Peter promised and picked up the child.

They left the room but there was no way to escape the flames. Major parts of the floor fell already down, the walls and the ceiling were close to breaking apart.

Peter had to get the child out of here. So, he ran a few steps to jump over the hole in the floor but as he landed, the part of the floor broke and fell down. He held on with one hand, the child that was now screaming full of fear, in his other hand.

“You’ll be fine, I promise”, Peter tried to calm down the child.

He needed every bit of his strength to lift the child onto the remaining floor.

Now, he only needed to lift himself. But even with two hands, it wasn’t easier as before since he put all his strength into saving the child. Small childish hands took his one hand, trying to pull him up. With the help of the child, he was able to climb up.

“Thank you.” Peter took the child in his arms and ran downstairs into safety where he brought the child to its parents.

Peter got taken care of by a firefighter. He got a ventilation mask to help him breathe after the toxic air in the burning house.

Another firefighter approached. “Some poor soul got trapped on the fourth floor. Never made it out.”

Peter swallowed. If he still was Spider-Man, he could’ve saved that person. Wasn’t he allowed to be happy? When he was Spider-Man, his loved ones got hurt and when he wasn’t, other people got hurt.

Harry was drained out as he got to his old home. How had his father been able to manage the company and the education of a little child? He was desperate to fall asleep in Peter’s arms, but work had to be done so he sat down at the table in the living room. On the table he found some articles of his Spider-Man collection.

Harry threw them in the litter bin. His therapist told him to get rid of everything that makes him feel angry or uncomfortable in any other way, so he did. He was trying to be better. The wish for revenge was still there but he tried to get over it.

After he lost himself in paperwork, Harry took a break and got himself a drink to relax a bit. He went outside on the balcony to get some fresh air and gain new energy to finish the work so he could finally go to sleep. It was almost midnight. “I wish you were here, Pete”, he muttered.

Being alone in the mansion made him uncomfortable. On the one hand, he liked it because he was near his father but on the other hand, this was the reason he didn’t like it. It made him vulnerable to his demons.

Harry was thrown backwards.

“Hello, Harry.” It was Otto Octavius.

“What do you want?”, he asked. The sight of the person who almost ruined him and his father’s legacy made him angry.

“The precious tritium - but this time, I need more of it.”

“More tritium, are you crazy? You’ll destroy the whole city! You’re a lunatic”, Harry said and crawled backwards. Who knows what those arms could do to him? But he was too slow. One of the arms had him already in its grip and Octavius let him hang above the edge of the balcony, threatening to let him fall into death.

“Stop it! Stop! All right! Put me down. We’ll make a deal, okay?”, he begged, his voice almost cracking. He didn’t want to die, not now after things had gotten normal again, after he finally had chances to be happy again.

Finally, his feet were standing on the ground again. Harry tried to calm down a bit, his body was still in shock mode. He took a few steps back. He cleared his throat. “Kill Spider-Man and I’ll give you all the tritium you need.” Harry remembered the articles he had thrown away. The thirst for revenge got on the surface again. He wanted to do it himself. Only then he could find peace. “Bring him to me alive.”

“How do I find him?”, Octavius asked.

“Peter Parker takes pictures of him for the Bugle. Make him tell you who he is but don’t hurt him.”

“Have it ready.”

Octavius disappeared again.

What the hell? Harry got himself another drink to calm down his nerves. The shock was still present, and he went to bed immediately. Maybe he should take a day off to recover. He took his phone and called Peter’s number. He didn’t want to be alone now.

“Harry? Is everything okay?”, Peter asked.

“Yeah, I just wanted to hear your voice”, Harry explained and wrapped a blanket around himself.

“It’s midnight.”

“I know but I can’t sleep without you. It was a tough day. Your voice comforts me.” Harry didn’t want to tell Peter about the incident with Octavius.

“I have the same problem so I’m glad you called.”

“Is everything okay with you? You sounded happier when we last called.”

“Yeah, I’m just exhausted from studying”, Peter lied. He didn’t want to tell Harry about the burning house either.

“I thought of taking a day off tomorrow so we can spend some time together. We could visit your aunt if you want to”, Harry suggested.

“I’m not sure if she wants to see me but we need to talk to her about her house. I don’t know if she accepted the money you gave her and I don’t want her to move out.”

“Then we’ll visit her tomorrow. I’ll persuade her, don’t worry. Everything will be okay, I promise”, Harry said.

After they spent some more time talking, he fell asleep with Peter’s voice in the background.