Misadventures in Paradise ↠ Peter Parker [2]

12 | One Last Pitstop

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MISADVENTURES IN PARADISE
xii. ONE LAST PITSTOP

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   WHEN RILEY FOUND PETER, she nearly gave him a heart attack. He wasn't sure how she managed to find him, as he had been hiding near Stark Tower, and he didn't even realize it was her at first because she was covered in blood, soot, and the occasional alien gut. The scariest part about it was that she was grinning from ear to ear like a madman.

   She told him everything that happened while they were apart, which was certainly more interesting than Peter's time alone. The words seemed to fly from her mouth, fueled by her excitement. The more she spoke, the sooner her adrenaline rush dissipated, and they eventually had to sit her down to examine her wounds. Apparently, being the Sun's Chosen One doesn't make you entirely invincible to injuries, but Riley didn't care. She had never felt this strong before.

   Peter couldn't gauge whether his girlfriend was crazy or amazing. Maybe both.

   They sat on the ground, backs pressed against the tower's exterior. They decided to take it easy for a bit as Riley allowed the sunlight to care for her wounds. It wouldn't exactly clean her up, but it would make her strong enough to traverse the Quantum Realm again.

   Once her adrenaline rush completely faded, Riley sheepishly said, "Sorry for ruining Christmas."

   Peter looked puzzled. "You didn't ruin anything."

   "I know, I know, I just feel like I should be held accountable," she said. "I'm sure you didn't want to spend your Christmas running around the past."

   "Well, you're not wrong there," Peter admitted. "But the way I see it, something shitty happened, and now I get to go on an adventure with my favorite person to try and fix it. Yeah, it sucks that it happened, but I'm glad I'm with you."

   Riley peered back at him, surprised. "...Really?"

   "Don't act so surprised, weirdo," he teased, nudging her. "You think I'd rather run around the past with, I dunno, Flash?" When she laughed, Peter smiled.

   "For the record, I'm glad I'm with you, too." She looked out at the war around them. It would be ending soon. "You know, this was probably one of the worst days of my life. It changed everything. None of us were the same after today. But in a weird way, I'm kinda glad I got to come back here again."

   The look on Peter's face was priceless. "Huh? Why?"

   "Oh, I don't actually remember much from my childhood. It kinda blurs together, and all the trauma makes it harder to recall, you know?" Riley explained. "I don't have anything to show for my childhood other than old mission reports and some scars. Even if a lot of it sucked, it would be nice to have something to remember it by. It's weird, I know, but... I'd like some kind of reminder that I got through it. I only have one photo from my past, and it's from when I was a baby."