𝐖𝐞𝐛 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐞𝐬

62 | Alone

Peter had declined Ned's offer to go to the cinema with him and MJ - but Y/N still went. They were as much as his friends as hers, she wanted to see them desperately. Peter's excuse was that he wasn't ready to see Ned and that he wasn't 'up to date' with the Star Wars universe, given they'd created two movies since being on Asgard.

She reconnected with the two in the near empty cinema, whispering to MJ throughout the movie whenever she asked questions about Asgard and quickly being shushed by Ned.

"Guys! I can't hear what's going on when you two are whispering the whole time!" Ned whisper-yelled, scowling at them and turning back to the screen with a mouthful of popcorn.

Ned had already seen the current movie in the cinema before tonight. This was his third time watching it.

MJ and Ned had both asked profusely why Peter hadn't been able to make it, being told about how he has been spending quality time with Aunt May and that he was anxious to see them again.

"What's so different about us? Surely we haven't changed that much right?" MJ shrugged, looking over at Ned who had lost a significant amount of weight.

"You guys know how he is, he doesn't like change," Y/N shrugged, leaving the cinema with them as they stood outside the cinema and said their goodbyes.

"Can you tell him that we miss him? I didn't ever think he was like, you know, dead... But it's still been three years without my best friend," Ned sighed, walking backwards towards the subway station with MJ.

"I will, you two get home safe okay?" Y/N called out to them both, walking in the opposite direction and waving. Usually when walking home she would have put her headphones in, gotten on the subway and not looked up from her phone. Since returning to Earth however, she decided to walk the extra blocks and appreciate the atmosphere she was in. She looked at the advertisements that she had missed: iPhone 15, 2024 Olympic Games, Kim Kardashian running for president. She noticed the fashion trends that were currently in style, the new slang people used, the new models of cars the hadn't seen before.

As she weaved through narrower streets, the city lights diminished and she became deeper and deeper into the more residential areas in which she lived. Footsteps sounded behind her, becoming closer and closer before large hands gripped her shoulders and threw her against a nearby wall.

"You shouldn't have fucking come back here, freak," a man said harshly, a second man spitting at her face. She screwed her face up as she touched her forehead, blood now smeared on her fingertips from it being split. She looked up at the men, terrified for her safety for the first time in a long time. She knew that if she used her powers to defend herself, she would be the one in jail, not them.

"Please stop, I-I don't mean any harm," she whimpered, putting her hands up in defence.

"Dude, she's going to attack!" The second man yelled, causing the two to pull out knives and stand over her.

"No! I don't want to hurt anyone!" She retaliated, before one of the men lunged forward and plunged his pocket knife into her torso. He jumped back when she cowered over and fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

"That's what you fucking get for killing innocent people!" He yelled, kicking her in the back as his friend stomped on her wrist. She wailed in pain, screaming out for help as they ran down the street.

But nobody came out of their houses.
Nobody even looked out their windows.

She grabbed onto a nearby fire hydrant, using it to steady herself up to her feet and winced at the blood pooling through her shirt and jacket. She held the wound with her hand, applying pressure like her Dad always told her to do.

Except he always told her this advice in a situation where she was helping a civilian who was injured, not herself. Not the hero.

It wasn't too far of a walk back to her house, but every step felt like the length of a football field right now. She looked around to see if any one fell witness to what had happened; just an empty street.

She pulled herself up the stairs when she got home, cautious that it was late at night and she didn't want to explain what had happened to her family. She knew that Pepper would be asleep right now, but Tony she had no idea. Luckily, Tony was snoring asleep on the couch with a screwdriver in his hand and his mouth wide open.

She sighed in relief to herself, hobbling to her bedroom and leaning against the door as she closed it. She could have easily taken those two men down back there, she could've not used her powers and punched them both - but the justice system was against heroes. She never would've gotten away with 'self defence'.

She hissed as she raised her arms to take her shirt off, looking in her drawers for her medical kit. In the mirror she saw herself battered and bruised, the shell of a woman who had been assaulted for saving the world. Being a Stark, Y/N wasn't unfamiliar with mending injuries at home, so stitching herself up was a breeze. It still hurt, but it was easy for her. Her wrist was definitely broken, the movement restricted and it already turning dark shades of blue and purple. Her forehead and torso were stitched up, and the blood surrounding her injuries was cleaned up. But she still looked like a broken girl.

After she put her pajamas on, she carefully turned to lie down in her bed, being met with Peter climbing into her windowsill, wearing his suit and frowning at her.

"Care to explain what the fuck has happened to your head?!" He exclaimed, crawling through her window and shutting it behind him.

"Peter, don't worry I'm fine now... Just an altercation with these two guys who hate heroes," she sighed, groaning as she sat down on the bed.

"That groan doesn't sound like nothing Y/N, show me," he said, reaching towards her forehead to look at the stitches she had applied.

"What happened Y/N?!" He said again, pulling her close against his chest. She clenched her jaw as he pulled her quickly, holding under her rib cage at the stab wound.

"Y/N... What happened?" He said again slowly, looking down at her torso not knowing what was under her shirt. She sighed and unbuttoned it at the bottom, revealing the wound and causing him to freak out.

"Why didnt you fight back!? Oh my god Y/N, you poor thing," Peter said frantically, causing Y/N to cover his mouth with her hand, scared he would wake Tony.

"Using our powers is illegal now Peter! No matter what those guys did to me I never would've gotten away with it... I'd be thrown in jail or something..." she sighed, slowly leaning back to lie down.

"You know what else is illegal? Stabbing someone," He retaliated, lying down next to her.

"Please Peter, just... I need sleep okay? My head is killing me and you freaking out isn't helping," she sighed, closing her eyes.

"You don't walk around this city at night anymore okay? Not alone. You get Happy to drive or you call me alright? This world isn't safe anymore."