Chapter 22
"Yes, come, there's a trapdoor here!" I jerk my hand for him to jump to the roof
With a flip, he's beside me and walks to a trapdoor "Cool, okay" He opens it and shoots a web and then opens his arm for me to embrace him. I do it and we start slowly descending " uh, just forgot you could fly" he laughs
"Yeah, for a moment I forgot that too..."
We land inside a room filled with computers and gadgets. I stride to the monitors that are showing the Tower and then, oh this fucker... blueprints of my dad's plane.
We look around and in the middle, we spot the metal wings. Peter nudges me and points to the dim hallway behind the room so we start tiptoeing deeper inside. We get to the end of it and turn to the right, Peter motions me to get closer. It's a huge empty floor but just a small light on a desk tells us that fricking Mr. Toomes is there. We walk faster.
"HEY!......Surprised?" Peter yells striding to him, each step heavier and full of determination
I only stride there feeling how my stomach tightens and my blood feels hotter. Mr. Toomes turns around stopping whatever he's doing and he smirks to us
"Oh, hey, Pete and lady...I didn't hear you come in"
"It's over. We got you!" Peter remarks
Toomes ignores Peter and points at me "Care to tell me your name?"
"You call me Quantum" I shout and he shakes his head
"your real name!" he orders
I shrug "Not in the mood, sorry"
A sneer chuckle escapes his lips "You know, I gotta tell you, kids...I really, really admire your grits..... I see why Liz likes you. I do. When you first came to the house, I wasn't sure. I thought, "Really?" But I get it now" he mentions putting on his jacket
Peter stops "How could you do this to her?"
I walk further and also stop, my palms emitting a faint glow prepared to attack
"To her? I'm not doing anything to her, Pete. I'm doing this for her" he explains and suddenly Peter skeptically huffs not believing a word, he shoots a web to Toomes's hand gluing it against the desk "...Guys... you're young. You don't understand how the world is... you have a dad right, hon? doesn't he want the best for you?"
"Well, the best for everyone is not selling weapons to criminals..." I mutter under my breath
"Peter, how do you think your buddy Stark paid for that tower? Or any of his little toys? Those people, Pete, those people up there, the rich and the powerful, they do whatever they want..." he starts explaining but I cut him off
"You don't know shit about him!!- I raise my voice blood boiling inside and he tilts his head fed up
He stares at us "Guys like us, they don't care about us. We build their roads and we fight all their wars and everything, but they don't care about us. We have to pick up after 'em. We have to eat their table scraps. That's how it is. I know you know what I'm talking about"
"Why are you telling us this?" Peter questions
"Because I want you to understand. And... I needed a little time to get her airborne" he takes out a knife from his pocket
I look back at the sound of an engine. The wall explodes with a piercing BOOM and the wings fly exactly towards us, well, towards Peter so with a force field I shove him away and he flips and webs himself to the ceiling. The wings start spiraling all over the place I fly as high as possible to avoid them. I start aiming my beams to turn the wings into dust but Peter starts flipping over and over away from the wings. I can't risk it to turn him into dust.
I jump at the metallic base of the wings when they get below me and I roll to the floor seeing how Toomes is entertaining himself. I push myself up and begin running towards him but Peter lands in front of me blocking the way and stopping me from turning Toomes into nothing.
"I'm sorry guys" Toomes raises his voice
Then the wings swiftly launch over our head making us throw ourselves to the floor.
"What are you talking about?" I shout at him confused as hell
"That thing hasn't even touched us yet!" Peter shouts as well and the wings start surrounding us
"True. Then again, wasn't really trying to!" Toomes smiles and both of us turn to look at the wings who are breaking the pillars. One. by. one.
The air stops in my throat as I try to crawl away but the crack of the ceiling breaks above us. Collapsing. I try to stand up but Peter quickly jumps to me as we roll on the floor and then the final thing I see is a bunch of concrete falling to us
---------
A sting. A pain. A burn. Dry mouth and lips as I try to swallow but instead soft coughs are coming out of me. I groan in pain and feel something warm on top of me, something limb. I try to open my eyes, dust getting inside and making me shut them again. Then I just half-open them seeing clouds of dust and piles of debris. My eyes focus on him. Peter is the one on top of me. The immediate thing I want to do is shake him but my arms are stuck by my side... Ugh... help! I grunt pulling my hand from under a rock, knuckles covered in blood. I touch Peter's head that's resting in my left shoulder. I grip his mask and pull it off.
I pinch my lips at the sight of blood in his head running down to his forehead I wince in pain now I can feel a warm liquid in the back of my head. I try to move my legs but I can't, I can't. And my chest. Oh, my chest can't expand. I can't breathe just a small raft of air passing through my throat.
"Pe- Peter..." my voice brittle "Pet-Peter... come on..."
His head moves against me "ugh, uh, ah, ughh" he grunts and lifts his dusty face looking at me, he moans louder in pain trying to move his legs too and then shakes his head in a frantic way "Tann... oh god, I can't breathe..!!"
I nod knowing what he feels and with my bloody hand I start running my fingers through his hair "He-hey... ugh come... on" I mutter and sniff suppressing the tears in my eyes when I spot his brown eyes shimmering too
"ahhhh.... ahhh.. Tan..." he gasps
My mouth quivers at the pain. Both pain of a sting in my back and also seeing him, seeing us like this. My vision getting blurry with my tears as I swallow and feel the lump in my throat
"Peter" I whisper closing my eyes and feeling the rush of pain creeping all over to my spine
"AAAGGHH! it hurts!!!" he pants as I feel how his chest tries to expand "I'm gonna... I'm gonna try to stand up"
I can't even nod.
He struggles to get up but I shake my head seeing the concrete above us threatening to slam him again. He fails and falls where he previously was, on top of me. The force of his fall making me shout in pain as something in my back gets deeper. A river of tears now rolling down my cheeks. He cries too, sobs mingling with mine. Desperate hands trying to push the rocks away.
"HELLO!!! HELLO!! PLease... ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ. We're down here. We're down here. we're stuck. We're stuck, we can't move... I can't..."
He takes a moment to catch his breath and looks down. Raw eyes staring at me.
"We can do this... I'm gonna try to make a force field around these rocks ok?" I manage to say
He nods placing both of his arms beside my head ready to start pushing. I take a deep breath shoving away the horrid pain in my body and my hands start glowing, the force field is getting around the rocks and I start pushing them up, the thing buried in my back starts getting deeper but I can't stop.
"MMMMGHH!"
"Come on, Peter. Come on Tannie!...-"
"Ahhhhh!!!" I shout trying to lift the debris
"Come on, Spider-Man. Come on, Spider-Man. Come on, Spider-Man!" Peter screams in pain, our screams are echoing all over the place.
With a resounding boom, Peter throws away a metal block. My lungs filling with air as I roll to my side coughing blood. Peter walks by my side and I push myself up stumbling to the side. I spin and feel how he hugs me but I flinch in his embrace when his hands touch my back. He quickly pulls away and spins me to see my face.
"You're bleeding, Tannie"
I catch my breath and cough " I'll walk it off..."
I turn and see how Peter kneels and sits for a moment composing himself. I look up and spot Toomes perching on top of a stripped billboard. He's ready to hijack my dad's plane.
I point to Toomes "He's there, Peter"
He jumps to the dusted floor and we start climbing to the other roof beside us. I try my best to run avoiding the piercing pain in my back. The engine of the wings makes my steps longer. I look up and the wings are spreading to take off. Peter runs by my side and he shoots a web directly to the end of the wings. Peter jumps to me and he drags me with him lifting us. We swing to one side while wind hits our faces. I settle my arms around him seeing how we start getting higher until Brookly looks like a scale model under our feet.
Peter starts running to him and I do the same, Vulture is starting his wings engine and spreading them for takeoff. Peter shoots strands of webs to Vulture and suddenly something grabs me lifting me. I turn to look at Peter who is holding me, we start getting higher until New York City looks like a scale model under our feet, our bodies rocking side to side.
"ohhhh, whoah!" I shout seeing the lake below us
A sharp turn and then we start getting dragged at a very high altitude. Peter grips my side not letting me go and we look up seeing Toomes clinging to the bottom of the plane. Our bodies bumping against the aircraft. With more even breathing, I begin powering my feet to start flying.
"Let me go, I'm already flying!" I yell to him, my hair blocking my eyes
"uh?... ok..." he hesitates but he lifts his arm around my back
The air pressure fighting against my body but I manage to balance myself. Peter tries to crawl closer to Toomes but loses his grip and almost falls off the plane. I rush to him and grab his hand pulling him.
"I got you!! Let's get closer!"
Peter crawls next to the wings and I fly my way there. He tries to detach the wings from the plane. I dig my fingers and try to lift the heavy structure. Our struggling grunts flying away with the harsh swoosh of the wind. Just as we are about to detach them, a drone comes off the wings making us jump back.
"Peter! move...!" I shout at him who obeys.
I start hitting the suit with a force field and manage to push it aside. An alarm activates and the wings suddenly fly away from us.
"help! Tannie!" Peter stretches his arm at me
I fly to him grabbing his hand and flying to the tip of the plane below the pilot windows.
Peter sticks to the surface like me "Just a typical homecoming on the outside of an invisible jet... huh?"
I brush the strands of hair away from my face "You want some punch? it comes with the view!"
"Crazy, right? Fighting my girlfriend's dad!"
My smile drops. Ok...I'll let that slide
Suddenly Toomesflies to us. I lower myself dodging a scrap of the wings while Peter shoots some webs to him and I fly away starting to create a force field to hold him. Peter is now suspended in air, one hand holding onto the web sticking to the plane, another hand holding onto the web glued to Toomes. I manage to drag him closer to us but the webs snap and Peter is sucked towards the engines. I gasp and surround Toomes in a force field. Oh, gotcha! I start pulling him to an engine but he resists it flies away.
I frantically look around searching for Peter "Peter!!!"
His head peeks inside the propellers "Oh, god! Whew. I can't believe that worked!"
But then the propeller falls off dragging Peter as well, I hold it with my force field and Peter climbs to the wing of the plane kicking the propeller off and I shot at it turning it to dust. I fly faster to Peter who is clinging onto the side of the engine only with a thin strand of web.
I struggle to grab him and then a blow in my side and I roll all over the top of the plane. I look up feeling the iron taste in my mouth. Toomes making sharp moves to unbalance us. A high pitched beeping catches my attention as I notice how the plane starts losing its altitude heading, oh no.... heading straight to the city.
"Tannie!" Peter's voice pops behind me "We need to make it turn!" I nod and detach myself from the plane
I fly away from the plane and feel the warmth of my powers growing in my chest. My palms glowing as I start creating a massive force field around one of the wings. I spot Peter jumping to the other wing. I groan and start turning the wing to the other side, building getting near us. My shouts are stifled with the wind while my arms burn for the weight of the plane. Wait... weight... density... Without stopping the force field I hit the plane with a ray making its density lighter. The plane narrowly misses crashing into the city but is heading somewhere else.
I let a laugh when the plane successfully turns but another hit impacts my back. I shut my eyes as I stop flying and bump my side with the plane but then abruptly something grabs me and I open my eyes seeing a web in my chest and Peter at the end of the strand pulling me to him.
"Hold on!" he shouts taking my hand and placing me beside him on the corner of the wing
Wind hitting our faces as I squint my eyes trying to focus. Fricking Coney Island getting bigger each second and the anti-reflectors turning off. My throat closes when the plane starts vibrating already making its way to the ground. I lower my head looking at Peter and how he throws his chest softly shouting, both of us preparing for the crash.
Oh no, no, no.... the plane hits a ride and tilts its way to crash land on the beach.
"Whoa, whoaaaaa.... Tannie!!"
I shut my eyes but the strong traction of the crash-lands makes me lose my hold and I get thrown away smashing and rolling over and over again. My brain stopping for a second being overwhelmed by the amount of noise, of metal, shattering inches from me. My head hits with something, a cold feeling on my cheek and everything is dark.
No sound, or if there is, it's muted. A warm wave coming from behind. I roll to my side and begin coughing, I don't look, the iron taste making me know I'm coughing blood. A pulsing heat in my head and a sting in my already sore back. I sit upright and look down at my hands. Dust, blood, grime... Scratches in my legs and shoes already gone. Smoke fills my nostrils and I look up seeing the chaos around me. Blazing flames coming out of the metal parts spread in the sand.
I try to get up but I slump again into the sand then a sudden ring in my ears as my hearing starts adjusting to the tumultuous sounds. I stumble but my bare feet touch the ground. I lean to the side and a wave of nausea creeps in my stomach. My eyes search only for something.... the blue and red body...
From the distance I see him. Getting up. My legs start guiding me to him. Each step sending waves of pain but they keep striding to him.
"Peter!" a hoarse shout escapes my lips
He spins but before I could reach him something hits me making me flip again to the sand and landing on my face.
"Tannie! Stop! Stop!!" Peter shouts and his hands grab my waist pulling me to stand up
We turn around and look at Toomes, wings sparkling blue streaks of energy. Definitely damaged.
Peter grabs my head and makes me look at him "... your eyes and hair are back to normal..."
"Hey, Pedro... did I just heard calling your little friend... Tannie? as Tannie Stark?" he wipes off some dust from his jacket
I run backwards and Peter follows. Toomes flies to us but we throw ourselves to the sand dodging his attack. Peter starts shooting webs and I start shooting him but my aim is bad. And again., something hits me pinning me down. A sinking weight, metal scratching my chest. Then the metal of his fist impacts Peter by my side, one, two, three..
"Stop!!"
His green eyes turn to me "Not hitting a lady...I have other plans for you little Stark" he then grabs us with his metal claws
I feel my back detaching from the ground but he let us go I turn my body and with everything I have I start levitating and skip pointy metal pieces below. Just as I'm about to gain some balance in the air, Toomes grabs me from my neck while grabbing Peter and throwing him all over as if he's a ragdoll. And again he slams us to the sand. I scream of pain while crawling away. I turn to look at how Toomes is constantly slamming Peter.
My blood hot as hell as I scream and push myself up running towards them. I embrace Peter's limp body pulling him away from Toomes' hands. A wing punches me and throws me away. A faint wheeze escapes my lips and I start crawling back to him. Not giving up.
He lifts him up, pausing for some seconds in the air and suddenly throws him again to the sand. This time I reach his side and see blood running out of his nose. I gently slap his cheeks and he only flinches at the touch. I look up and see Toomes approaching a box of arc reactors. Don't fucking think about it.
I leave Peter behind, running towards Toomes. I step over some boxes and leap in the air clinging myself in his back. My hands covering his eyes as he swings side to side. I yell in pain and frustration. He lifts his hand pulling mine away from his face. A crack starts increasing in his wings but I keep blocking his sight.
"Ta-Tanie get out of there!! his wingsuit.... his wingsuit's gonna explode!!"
I look back at him and see his wide eyes and how he weaves a strand to the metal wings pulling us closer.
"Get out of me!" Toomes shouts at me still shaking in the air "It's time to go home Pete!"
"I'm trying to save you! Tannie jump!"
I try to do it but when my feet touch the sand Toomes grabs my arm and cuts the strand of web. Flying away with me.
"Peter!!!" I stretch my arms at him, he tries to shoot a web but nothing comes out
A boom echoes behind me and my body fly forward as I land again on my face.
"Tannie!" a distant yell
I flick my eyes open and try to move but my leg is trapped under one of the wings. I grunt pulling it to me and then it lifts. Fingerless gloves appearing. Peter smiles looking at me.
"Take him" I order "ough... go on, take him... I can stand on my own"
With a cry, I stand up and see Peter carrying Toomes in his arms. I follow behind licking my lips and swallowing trying to dissipate the blood taste. My chest rising and falling at a fast speed. I look up when Peter drops Toomes and also himself in the sand. My head involuntarily shaking and my fingers gripping the broken fabric of the dress. Fucking fighting in a dress.
"You ok?" Peter's mumble catching my attention
I look down and offer my hand to him "I'll be ok... come on..."
I wheeze feeling my body twisting inside out. Peter moans in pain grabbing his shoulder
"What now?"
"We need to go. Police is coming" he mutters and starts limping his way out
"You know..." Toomes voices make me look down at his dusty face "Your dad... is too smart for his own good... he made all of that" he points to the boxes all around us "...and sells them to who knows who"
With an unperplexed face, I sigh "I'll tell Liz that same thing, don't worry"
"Re-ready!" Peter jumps beside me
I spin and notice a pile of boxes glued together with webs
"You did that right now?" I suppress a cough
"Uhumm.. we need to write something down..."
I snatch a piece of paper form one of the boxes and Peter jogs to find a marker. When we finish Peter and I start carrying Toomes to that pile of boxes. Peter glues him there too. I hand him the note and he sticks it with a web. We walk back to see the scene.
(you should definitely zoom to read that note :o)
"I dont... I don't..." Peter whispers making me look at him
"uh?"
"I can't swing anymore... I... do you mind?"
I flash him a smile or that's what I intend it to be, my face feels numb. I circle my arms around his chest and with a final look at Toomes, I fly away. Dodging the clouds of smoke. He gulps and points to the tip of the Cyclone. I rapidly blink placing him on the mast and finally, I slump and lean against the other pole, not too much because everything hurts. Gnawing my lip, I turn to see the scene where multiple cars are approaching and helicopters hovering above.
And just like that, a deep long sigh escapes from my throat and the pain I was previously trying to suppress now floods my body making me shut my eyes and jerk my head. I inhale and turn to Peter.
"We did it" Peter's sigh catching my attention
"Mmmm" I shrug "I think you took most of the punches... but ok"
He puffs and leans forward "You need stitches..."
"I'll be ok.." I repeat
"No... you seriously need stitches... your back and uh... your face is bloody"
I smile and carefully rock my hips closer to him flinching at the sting in my body "I don't have a mirror but I bet you that we both look bad..."
I lift my hand and with my index finger touch the line of blood coming from his lip and then lightly brushing the bruise beside his eyes.
"...Or maybe we don't..."
He frowns "what?"
I hold his head and stare at his eyes. My palms glowing and illuminating his dusty face. What I want to do? Heal him. Yes, where it hurts... his lip, his face, his tensed muscles... And just like that, the bruise is fading. His lip cut closes and his chest rises while he catches air. He blinks at me and my hands stop glowing falling to my thighs.
He jumps back looking at me like a frightened puppy. He rubs his shoulder and then holds my hand
"I'm not in pain!" He breathy screams "Seriously, my arm was like aching and my legs were burning and my head was pumping... did you... did you just? healed me?"
I smile seeing him healed "It looks like it... I did, I told my dad about the idea of the molecular change remember? I just... did it"
"Well, what are you waiting for? do it to yourself!" he laughs "I feel like a brand new person!"
I nod and Peter backs away. My eyes close and again I start thinking about what I want to achieve. Hoping and praying that the pain disappears. My back tingles while my head stops pulsating. The burning in my cheek doesn't feel anymore and I shut my eyes open and flash a breathy laugh.
"Holy shit..." I whisper looking at my scratch-free legs "I feel good!"
Peter hugs me from the side. Us being perched in the mast doesn't allow us to properly embrace.
"...Tannie..." he pulls away "I'm sorry, I'm very sorry..."
I tilt my head "What? why?"
"Because he knew about you because of me and then he dragged you and it exploded and-"
"Peter stop... I don't care about that. I-I just... I mean... I'm still processing what just happened"
"being in the top of a plane..."
"uhum that part is shocking"
His laugh fills my ears and I sigh forgetting about the previous wave of pain
"what do you say if we call it a night?"
He huffs "yeah... sounds good. Hey, did you healed yourself properly? I see some blood here and there" he points out
"Oh yeah, I healed myself properly. This is for the punches he gave me earlier....want a ride?" I stretch my arms to him
He nods and hugs me. The fly silent as I reach to his apartment. No need to say anything. Fatigue creeping inside and I bet he feels it too.
Peter peeks inside the window of his living room "May's not inside" he states
He jumps to the wall sticking himself and sliding the window open. I see how he crawls inside stumbling against some papers and landing on the floor. He spins and jerks his head for me to get in. I lean on the window frame and he crouches at my level.
"I should go, with that little note we left there... Happy probably is calling my dad now"
"Are you sure you're ok?" He whispers scanning me with his tired eyes
"Yes, I am"
he flashes his white teeth "We are a great Team Tannie Stark"
"You read my mind, Parker. I'll see you on Monday?" he nods "Uh you have blood here and all over you... try to rest Spider-Man"
I detach myself from the window and launch to the sky. From afar I see the fire already burning out, still, helicopters are over there, I quickly fly to my house and land on the entrance, lights are out. I step in and there's no one, I walk to my room and see myself in the mirror, my hair is covered in sand and dust, the color of my dress even if it's black, blood spots can be seen and the back is torn apart.
I walk to the shower with lazy steps, the warm water relaxing my muscles. I put my PJ's on and threw myself to my bed. I hesitate to slump in the bed, the feeling when the plane crash still too vivid for me so I slowly slide inside the blankets and close my eyes.