(H/n) = Hero name
~~~~
"Hey! I'm home!" shouted S/n, a few grocery bags in her arms.
She did her best to close and lock the front door, stumbling her way toward the kitchen. There, a couple of M/n's friends were already making food. "Sorry, S/N," the brown-haired girl, Betty, said. "I told them to be considerate of the fact that this isn't their hou--"
"Ah, it's fine," she replied, setting the bags down on the counter. "We need a little liveliness around here."
"See? S/n wouldn't kick us out," M/n's friend, Lyn, said, lightly hitting her friend's shoulder.
"Are the rest here, or is it just you three?" S/N asked, referring to Betty, Lyn, and Isai.
"MJ and Micah are with M/n," Betty replied.
S/N headed over to M/n's room, opening the door. Inside, M/n was laying on his bed, his other two friends sitting by the window. "Guess who?"
"Go away," M/n responded with no hesitation.
"Is that seriously how you greet me?!"
"Hi, S/N," Micah greeted.
"Welcome back, S/N," MJ said.
"See? MJ gets it!" S/N exclaimed before turning her attention back to her brother. "So... How are you feeling?"
"Bad."
She walked closer and sat on his bed. "Did you take some medicine?"
"Yeah," he replied.
She pat his arm before motioning the other two to follow her. All three left M/n to himself so he could rest a little. "Thanks for helping with dinner, by the way."
"Of course!" Lyn replied.
S/N rolled up her sleeves and washed her hands. "Just tell me what to do and I'll help you kids out."
And so, the rest helped prepare dinner. Before they knew it, they had finished up with everything. The stove had pots and pans filled with food. "Micah, set the table, would ya?" Lyn said, grabbing a stack of plates from the cabinet.
S/N left it to them, heading to M/n's room to wake him up. "M/n, dinner's ready," she said. "Your friends helped out."
It was quiet for a few seconds before M/n slowly got up, careful not to mess with his wound. S/N helped him up, offering him her shoulder to support himself as she led him toward the kitchen. The rest already had the table set and plates filled with food.
Once the (h/c)-haired boy was sitting down, they gave their thanks and began to eat. M/n, on the other hand, wasn't really feeling up to eating at the moment. He only ate a small portion of the food he'd been served.
"Oh, hey," Lyn said, deciding to bring something up to get rid of the silence. "Have you guys heard what they've been saying on the news?"
"No," Micah responded, grabbing his glass of water. "What?"
"S/N, mind if we turn on the TV?"
S/N shrugged. Lyn quickly got up and walked over to the living room, turning the TV on. She changed the channel to the news. Sure enough, very interesting news was being broadcast.
"Today marks a month since the last known sighting of (H/n), the biggest gap in sightings since their emergence. With their absence, crimes have begun increasing in many areas of New York."
The news then showed clips of interviews with police officers and local residents. "The NYPD is doing its best to catch up. Rest assured, we'll come to aid as soon as possible."
"I just hope (H/n) comes back. It has never been as hectic as it is now. It's sad to know that people didn't realize their importance until now."
"No way... That (H/n) person's gone MIA?"
"(H/n) had been seen as a vigilante for a long while after their first appearance," a female officer's voice said, the news cutting to a clip of (H/n) swinging about. "And while the NYPD had and still does have their sights set on finding out the face behind the mask, there's been a widespread realization of their importance. As much as they were referred to as a vigilante, there have been very few occasions where (H/n) broke the law to save the lives of the people of New York. That in itself is an aspect that many overlook about them."
"Many wonder where this hero could have gone. Just where has this knight in shining armor gone and are they ever coming back?"
"Wow..."
"You think maybe they've gotten tired of hero stuff?" Betty asked. "I mean, it can't be easy saving people all the time."
"Well, yeah. That (H/n) person's probably witnessed a lot more traumatic things than we could ever imagine."
"It sounds like a burden if you ask me," Isai said with a sigh. "To constantly have to worry about other people. Getting blamed if you couldn't make it in time. It all sounds like a huge pain."
M/n continued to stare at his mostly-full plate, listening to the others talk. They were all making very good points and it wasn't like he hadn't thought of all of that before. Their voices sort of began to fade the further that he got lost in thoughts.
"What do you think, M/n?"
M/n was surprised at suddenly being called on, immediately broken away from his thoughts. He looked toward everyone. "What?"
"What do you think happened to (H/n)?"
The (h/c)-haired boy wasn't quite sure how to answer. "Uh, well... I guess... Maybe they quit being a hero? It doesn't seem like a job just anybody could do."
Lyn nodded. "I get it, but... at the same... I hope they make a comeback. I mean, (H/n) seems like a cool hero, right?"
The conversation continued on about (H/n), M/n eventually having enough. He got up from his seat and headed back to his room, the others not noticing. He sat by his window, being careful with the area around his abdomen. He looked at all the colors painted in the sky.
From bright orange to lavender purple. There was a feeling of longing residing in him. With each passing day, he was gradually forgetting small bits and pieces of his adventure with his friends. Each day, he thought of how he could see Miles again. But, it all seemed useless.
He sighed, fiddling with the small pillow beside him. Faintly, he could hear his friends and sister still talking. But, he drowned them out. His hand moved away from the pillow and toward the lock on his window. He carefully opened it, letting the breeze in. Since having to stay in due to the healing of his injury, he hadn't been able to swing through the buildings of New York.
I'm stuck here...
He reminisced the moments when he would feel the wind rush against his body as he swung freely through the sky. The adrenaline he felt during fights.
"I just hope (H/n) comes back. It has never been as hectic as it is now."
"I guess... Maybe they have quit being a hero? It doesn't seem like a job just anybody could do."
"You think maybe they've gotten tired of hero stuff? I mean, it can't be easy saving people all the time."
I have, at times... But when I think about it... No one else comes to mind when I ask myself who I'd rather lay this burden on. It's because I'm the one bearing the burden that I even met Noir, Penny, Peter, Ham, Gwen, and Miles...
Though he forgot a few small parts of his adventure, one thing that still lingered in his mind was the promise he made with him. It seemed nearly impossible, but desperation was bound to make the impossible possible someday.
--
Nearly three months had passed. M/n was sitting on top of a building, overlooking New York. In his hands was a small notepad containing notes he had written down in class while studying quantum physics. Just then, he heard a loud horn blast. He looked over, seeing a tractor-trailer speeding down the road, knocking cars out of its path.
With no hesitation, he immediately swung down, landing with a thud on top of it. He could hear the shouts of people, warning others to get out of the way. He made his way toward the driver's seat, smashing the glass. He took one look at the driver and saw how terrified he was.
"It's alright!" he shouted and tried to climb inside the truck to help the driver.
But before he could, the driver swerved the truck, avoiding hitting the cars that had been in the path of the out-of-control vehicle. The force of the turn was enough to knock M/n's balance off, his grip loosening and letting go of the side of the truck.
M/n collided with an empty taxi, earning screams and gasps from the surrounding people. He grunted in pain, forcing himself to get up. His head was spinning, both from the collision and all the blinding lights around him. He could roughly make out people holding up their phones, assuming they were recording him.
But, he steadied himself, attempting to go after the truck again. Though he stumbled, he got right back on its tail. He made his way to the driver's side again. This time, he managed to get inside and pushed the driver to the side to be able to take control of the truck.
"Hold on tight!"
He used web to secure the driver in his seat. His hands were trembling as he swerved the truck out of the way of incoming civilians, hearing their screams as they ran out of the way. Up ahead, he saw a bunch of cop cars, their sirens and lights shining brightly. Luckily, they had cleared the way.
M/n stepped on the brakes, trying to bring the truck to a stop before it reached and collided with the cop cars. His heart was racing, trying to do as little damage as possible. Eventually, the tractor-trailer halted to a screeching stop. He quickly shut it off, his entire body shaking.
He slumped down against the wheel, attempting to calm himself down. It was then he remembered the other person, quickly turning to them. "Are you alright?"
There was no response from them. M/n checked to see if they were alive. Fortunately, the driver was, it just seemed that they passed out. He let out a shaky sigh of relief. The sound of police radio chatter began getting closer. The door, though banged up, was forced open. Flashlights were shone at him.
M/n shaded his eyes away from their blinding lights. "We've got two individuals in the truck. H/N and possibly, the driver."
"Mind putting those lights away already?" he said.
They then helped him out of the truck. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he felt like his legs were going to give out from under him. But he kept himself up. Seemed the nerves had gotten to him too. Possibly a little too hard. Though, he was glad he hadn't passed out.
"The driver's alive," he told them. "They probably got so scared they passed out."
The cops nodded and headed over to take care of the driver. By then, an ambulance had already pulled up and the paramedics were rushing over to check out the situation.
A detective got out of one of the police cars and walked over to him, a stone-cold look in her eyes and that unmistakable poker face of hers.
"(H/n), my name's Talia Valeres. I'm a detective from the NYPD," she said, a notebook in her hand. "Mind if I ask you a few questions?"
He rolled his eyes. He knew her very, no introduction was needed. It seemed she knew that too, yet still gave out her full name and title. The nerve she had... Truly, it was astonishing at this point.
While the detective tried to get answers out of M/n, the others were examining the truck. "Tell me everything that happened from the moment you entered the scene."
With his arms crossed over his chest, he sighed heavily. "There was a tractor-trailer speeding down the road. They were knocking cars and causing wrecks."
"And where are they now? Are they safe?" she questioned.
"He's fine," he replied, motioning over to the ambulance. "He's being taken care of by the paramedics as we speak."
"And just when did you intervene? There were a lot of damages caused, you know?"
M/n narrowed his gaze on her. "I intervened when I saw it speeding down the road."
"I'm going to need you to be a bit more specific, (H/n)," she said and clicked her pen, getting ready to write in her notepad. "This could make the difference between what damages the driver was responsible for and what you were responsible for."
Nosy, as always.
"I dealt with it when I saw it," M/n replied behind clenched teeth, trying to keep his composure. "That's as specific as I can be, Detective."
She dismissed him completely. "So, you were idling about while this was happening?"
"With all due respect, Detective Valeres, I can only do so much. I'm not physically capable of taking care of incidents before they happen. I'm sure you can say the same, considering your line of work?"
"Well, (H/n)," she replied, holding back a smirk. "I believe that's exactly why this sort of thing should be left to the police. We have more hands to take care of the problem and you're just one person, (H/n). Let us take the burden off of you."
M/n couldn't necessarily argue with her logic. He was just one person and he himself had just admitted that these situations were difficult to stop before they happened. But, at the same time, he felt like leaving it all to the police would only make matters worse.
Besides, working together was out of the question considering he and the police force had completely different views on what saving someone and justice really was. They would only clash against each other and nothing would be done. Potentially, people could also die.
Even if he did recruit help from the police, Talia Valeres was the last person whose help he wanted. After tarnishing his father's name and reputation, she had the gall to stand there and act like she was the new big shot in town. Luckily, the other officers had deterred her attention.
"Detective Valeres," someone called. "All clear here. It seems the driver wasn't very experienced with driving a truck this big and lost control of it."
"I see," she said. "He'll be taken into the station after he's been checked out at the hospital."
"Yes, ma'am," the officer said.
"(H/n)," she said, turning back to M/n.
She then handed him a business card. "Take this. Keep it as a reminder of what I said. Think about it and the next we meet, I'll hear your answer."
Detective Valeres turned on her heel, beginning to walk away. M/n tossed her card aside on the concrete sidewalk. "There's no need to wait until next time," he said, making her stop in her tracks. "Forget about it. Just leaving it to the police alone..."
He recalled everything he'd seen on the news. The numerous incidents, some minor and some... more fatal. Everything... All because he hadn't been around to give himself time to heal his wound.
"I've seen the consequences of that," he told her. "Thanks, but no thanks. You guys can't be trusted with the lives of people here."
She laughed, which prompted a glare out of the (h/c)-haired boy. "You say that... But even you don't have the best track record. Am I right?"
Without saying anything more, she walked away, leaving him standing there. His hands tightened into fists. She really did have a lot of nerve.