Family Tree ~ An El Hopper and Peter Parker Story

Chapter 23

El sat in Peter's lap during the car ride to the Byers's home. She hadn't spoken a word ever since learning that her father was dead. Her eyes were red and there were tear stains on her cheeks from crying so much. He had promised he would be okay after they closed the gate. He promised her that he would be safe.

Peter had his arms wrapped around his sister, stroking her back. He felt horrible about what happened with Hopper. He even felt responsible for it because he was the one who led the supervillains to this town. They were after him and they killed Hopper in the process of taking over the town. But El didn't blame him, which he was grateful for. 

Once they arrived at the house, Joyce started setting up some sleeping bags in the living room for everyone. She then went to the phone and called everyone's parents, letting them know that they were okay. Ned and MJ made sure to call their parents on their cell phones because they had probably seen the news about the mall fire. 

El laid down on her sleeping bag, not falling asleep. Everyone else had gone to bed, exhausted from the day's events. She looked around, seeing Lucas, Max, and Dustin sleeping next to each other by the couch. Nancy and Jonathan were in Jonathan's room, both sleeping together. Will was sleeping in his room and Joyce was in hers. Steve and Robin were sleeping by the chair with Erica nearby. Ned was sleeping next to Peter, who was being cuddled by MJ. Mike was right next to El, fast asleep.

El tried to go to sleep, but she couldn't. All she could see when she closed her eyes was Hopper's face. Tears poured into her eyes whenever she closed them, not wanting to be reminded about her father dying. 

The girl slowly sat up from her sleeping bag and went into the bathroom. She stood at the sink, staring at her reflection in the mirror. El slowly turned on the water and started to wash her face of the tear tracks. She didn't want to cry anymore than she already did. 

After a few minutes, El left the bathroom and went back to her sleeping bag. As she was lying down, she noticed that Peter was gone. He wasn't in his sleeping bag and there were no sounds of footsteps in the house. She guessed that he went out as Spider-Man to clear his head from everything that happened. But she was too tired to go after him, so she laid down and tried to fall asleep.

...

Peter sat on a rooftop in the downtown of Hawkins. He looked up at the night sky, but could still see the smoke from the fire at Starcourt. He sighed and fumbled with his hands, thinking about everything that had happened.

"I'm sorry, Hopper," he whispered. "You shouldn't have died. El needs you in her life. It should've been me."

He couldn't shake that guilt away from him. The supervillains came here because of him and he had dragged innocent people, including kids, into that mess. Hopper shouldn't have sacrificed his life for everyone. Peter wished that he had gone to the lab to close the gate. That way El could still have a father and be happy again.

"I see you survived," a familiar voice said behind him. "I thought you would, anyway. Those villains were way too wrapped up in their own plans to kill you."

Peter turned around and saw Black Cat standing behind him. He felt extremely grateful that he had his mask on because he didn't want her to see who he really was. He stood up and shook his head at her.

"You're the one who took me to them in the first place," Peter pointed out. "Why? What did they have on you?"

"They offered me cash and I believed them," Black Cat explained. "They heard that you went to Hawkins, so they hired me to capture you. Offered me 3 hundred million. I need the money, so took the deal and caught you. But they never gave it to me."

"That's probably because you electrocuted me and knocked me unconscious," Peter pointed out. "Why are you even talking to me anyway? Shouldn't you be robbing stores again or something? Just go do you thing."

Black Cat smirked at him. "And not let you try and catch me?" She said. "That just doesn't sound all that fun to me, Spider."

Peter couldn't help but roll his eyes underneath his mask. "I'm not in the mood for that right now. I'm not on patrol right now because I had to fight a supervillain who almost ruined my life by killing my last family member. Not just that, but a young girl lost her father when he didn't need to die. I'm tired, I'm upset, and I want to go back home. So please, just go away and do your thing. I don't want to play Cat and Spider today or any day."

Black Cat's smirk faded away and she gave Peter a look that he never thought she would give him. A look of sympathy. "I'm sorry, Spider," she said. "I shouldn't have done what I did because that hurt you and other people. I was desperate for money and I didn't think. That's on me."

"And how do I know this isn't a trick?" Peter asked, raising an eyebrow underneath his mask.

Black Cat walked closer to him until she stood right in front of him. She moved her hands up to his mask and started to lift it up. "What are you-" Peter was cut off when she placed her lips on his. 

After a couple of seconds, Black Cat pulled away and lowered his mask. "See you later, Spider," she said before leaving. Peter watched her go, standing there in shock.

"What just happened?!"

Peter shook away what happened and swung away from the rooftop. "If MJ finds out, she'll kill me!" He muttered to himself. "Then again, she kissed me. I didn't even kiss back. I don't even know her and she doesn't even know me! What the heckity heck?!"

Peter swung back to the Byers house and climbed in through the window he came out of. He took off his mask and went back to his sleeping bag. Everyone was still asleep, but he could hear someone whimpering close by, due to his super hearing. He looked around the room and saw that it was El who was whimpering.

"Oh no," Peter whispered as he slowly crawled over to his sister. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. "It's okay... it's okay... you're okay..."

After a few moments, El stopped whimpering and started to sleep peacefully. And pretty soon, Peter did the same.