Rift (Spider-Man fanfic)

Chapter 6: Hobgoblin

    "I know, I know. I'm sorry, I know I messed up." Peter's voice wakes me up. His voice is between a plead and a cry, though they aren't too different. "I should have gotten there faster. If I was faster she wouldn't be hurt." I can barely remember what happened. That, thing, came over to me and tried to take me up into the air on his hover-board thing. Because of my struggles and Peter still trying to fight, he dropped me. High enough to knock me out, but not enough to kill me.

    "You can't beat yourself up for this, kid. It didn't go well, but we don't know anything about this guy. Yet. When Diana gets up we can talk about it. For now, just sit down and take a breath." Stark says.

    I hear him leave, then Peter sits down in the same room as me. I open my eyes to see him leaning his head in his hand with his arm propped up on his knee, pinching the arch between his eyes. He looks over to me and lets out a sigh of relief when he sees that I'm awake. 

    He gets up then onto his knees in front of where I'm lying on the couch. "Diana, thank god, you're okay. You are okay, right?" He puts his hand on my cheek, but pulls back when he sees me blush.

    "I'm okay. I promise." I whisper since my throat hurts so bad. I sit up, but he stays on the floor. Now that I can get a good look at him, I see cuts and bruises all over his face and arms, I wonder how bad the rest of him his. "The real question is, are you okay?" My eyes linger on a particularly dark bruise on his jaw, and I softly trace it with my fingers, being extra carful to not press it at all. I don't want to hurt him. I stop when I see him clearly trying to suppress a smile.

    "I'll be fine. I heal fast." He sighs. "I just can't believe I left you long enough for him to hurt you. I'm so sorry."

    "Don't be! I don't even want to imagine where I'd be if you hadn't come to help, so thank you."

    He looks down, and I think I see a tear escape. But he wipes his face before I can be sure. "But I could have done better. I should have done better." He stands up, but I embrace him before he can leave. I wrap my arms tightly around him, but not so tight that it could hurt his wounds. He hugs me back and nestles his head against my neck. "I won't let that happen again. Ever. I'll always be there for you." He leans back to look at my face, and I realize just how hard this whole thing has been for him. "I promise." 

    Peter looks past my shoulder and abruptly lets go. "Getting comfy, are we now?" Stark says from behind me. I turn around, and he has a grin on his face that suggests he caught us doing more than we were. "Anyway, it's good to see you're up now. Strange is going to be here soon to talk about what's happened. For now, Diana, you should go to the infirmary so they can check up on you." I nod and leave the room.

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    Peter, Tony, and I are sitting on the couch in the lounge room when Dr. Strange walks in. "Uh, I thought we were having a meeting." He asks, clearly confused.

    "We are," Tony says. "And you're late. Sit." He says while patting the couch cushion next to him. "You completely missed our conversation about types of radioactive containers."

    "Are you talking about when Vision came in saying that we need a new microwave because the current one broke?" I say. 

    "Yes but he didn't need to know that." Stark says, annoyed that I ruined it for him.

    Dr. Strange rolls his eyes and sits down, smoothing his cape like a skirt. "So, what's going on with the dragon-fish?"

    "We've never seen him before. Whatever he is, it's new." Tony says, and I only just now realize that they are talking about the thing from school.

    "And he attacked Diana! It's like he was only interested in getting to her. I mean, he attacked me too, but only because I was stopping him from getting to her." Peter says.

    Dr. Strange strokes his goatee. "Interesting. I can't be sure until we know more about him, but I think he came through the rift. I have no idea why he would be so determined to get to Diana, though. I don't know enough about inter-dimensional interactions." He looks to me. "Did anything about him stand out to you?"

    I think for a moment. "Not really, other than he reminds me a lot of the Green Goblin." They all look at me, alert. "What?"

    "Who is that?" Tony asks. "Is there another one?"

     "Oh, no. He's just a villain I know about from the movies in my other world."

    "Wait, we could use this." Strange says. "Have you ever heard of anything like him? Is there any chance you know who he is?"

    I think hard for a minute, until I remember the Marvel comics I read as a kid about the Hobgoblin. It has to be him. "I think I might. I remember reading about the Hobgoblin. He's smart and physically advanced, but he mostly uses weapons of his own design. Like that hover-board. I don't know anything else though."

    "It's better than nothing. Alright, so we have to assume he's still out there looking for Diana. It isn't safe for her to be unprotected."

    "I can protect her." Peter interjects. "I know it didn't go well, but I can do better."

    "Sorry kid, but we can't leave anything up to chance. It's probably best that she stays at Stark Tower until we catch the Hobgoblin." 

    Peter nods and looks down. "Yeah, yeah. sorry."

    Tony looks at Peter, and I can tell he feels bad. "But," He drags out. "We do need someone there to be with her in case he comes back, right?"

    Peter looks up at Tony, smiling. "Oh, yeah! I can do that!" I giggle at him. He smiles at me.

    "Great! So you guys can get some stuff you'll ned to stay here for now. It probably won't be more than a few days, and we have everything you'll need here already, so pack light." Peter thanks him and leaves to his apartment.

    "Wow, he was very enthusiastic to stay here with us." I say.

    "Seriously? You can't tell why he wants to be here so bad? With you?" Tony says, as if it's obvious.

    "Because we're friends and he wants to make sure I'm safe." I say, but it comes out more as a question. 

    Tony scoffs. "Yeah. Sure, that's it." I tilt my head in confusion.

    Peter comes back into the room. "You coming Diana? We need to go grab our stuff."

    "Yep, I'm coming."