A gray light slowly began to filter into the dark room from the single large window. Outside the sky is overcast with ominous clouds threatening rain. A still silence permeated the room as its only occupant inside began to stir. Breaking the silence, a rhythmic beeping ticked off the heartbeats of its patient. Various tubes and machines stemmed off from the body that lay in an immense hospital bed in the shadows of the room.
Clouded in a fog of painkillers and strong sedatives, Spider-man struggled to wake despite the lethargic condition of his body. Breaking through the heaviness of chemical induced sleep, came an echoing sound, bringing Spider-man to rouse himself out of the darkness.
Beep
'What is that noise?'
Beep
'Where am I?'
Beep
Dragging his eyelids up, Spidey blinked back the misty fog of drowsiness that clouded his vision. Fighting the urge to allow his eyes to fall shut, the feeling of disorientation overwhelmed his senses, as the room seemed to spin around him. After a minute, the room began to settle down and Spiderman looked around at his surroundings.
The machines continued to beep and hum, slightly annoying the wall crawler as he struggled to sit up in the bed. Pulling his arms beneath him, Spider-man stifled a moan as his body exploded in pain from his movements and his head swum from vertigo. Unable to summon the strength to sit, Spidey collapsed back to the pillow and painted in exhaustion.
His body felt like he had been hit head on by a semi truck. A dull ache radiated through his body as Spider-man pulled his limbs close to his body in a vain attempt to block out the pain and rolled onto his side.
Across his chest and stomach spanned a huge bandage that wrapped itself clear around his spine. Still in a haze, Spider-man gently touched the gauze uncomprehendingly.
'What's this…?' Touching the center of his body with an exploring hand, Spidey writhed as a searing pain shot through his body. As the pain subsided under the painkillers once more, the events of the previous night slowly came back to the wall crawler.
"How am I going to get out of this mess," Spidey muttered in self-pity as he rested his throbbing head on the cool cover of the pillow, facing the far wall of the room.
As he lay listening to the hypnotic whirls of the machines around him, a sudden tingle at the base of his skull jolted the web swinger out of his daze. His spider-sense tingling, he rolled onto his other side carefully to face the open door of the hospital room. Ignoring the pain that crashed over him, Spidey propped himself on an elbow and waited for the unknown danger to present itself.
A second later, a darkened silhouette filled the doorway. Spider-man prepared himself as the figure stepped into the room towards him. As the unknown person stepped up beside the bed, Spidey's muscles tensed in anticipation of a fight.
Bending over the side railing of the bed, the person's face came into view. The young face of a dark haired nurse smiled softly down at him. "So sleeping beauty decided to finally wake up," she smiled sweetly.
Suddenly aware he hadn't checked to make sure his mask was still on to hide his identity, Spider-man immediately shot a hand to his face. A wave of relief flooded over him to find his mask intact over his head. But then another thought made his stomach clench in fear. Had the doctors left his mask on while he had been out? There was no way to tell for sure. He could only pray that the doctors hadn't taken advantage of him. The red mask remained shoved up above his nose to allow for an oxygen tube to sit between his nostrils and wrap around behind his ears, but it otherwise still hid his face.
Reaching up carefully so as not to cause any unnecessary pain, Spider-man yanked the piece of cloth down to cover the exposed part of his face quickly and tore the oxygen tube from his nose and discarded it on the mattress. Squirming upright to address the newcomer, Spidey winced under his face covering as he was met with failure and slumped back down.
"Don't worry," the nurse soothed as she placed a hand on the wall crawler's bare shoulder to calm him before he hurt himself further, "The doctors here are honest people. No one took off your mask while you were sedated." Half her words ran together and made no sense to the arachnid as he fought with his own body to stay conscious. But the few words he caught and the soothing tone of the nurse, helped ease Spidey's momentary panic.
Striding up to the IV line the young nurse, dressed in brightly colored scrubs and holding an armful of charts and papers, began to check the fluid level in the bag suspended off the ground by a tall metal stand.
"Where am I?" Spidey asked in a raspy voice, his throat burning with thirst.
"One of the Hero's Hospital in City-W," replied the nurse in a pleasant voice, "I'm actually surprised you're awake already. Most people don't wake up from the anesthesia for a couple more hours. In fact, there's a group of doctors that are very curious about you. Your recovery rate so far has been astounding! Any normal person probably wouldn't be alive after what happened to you. A couple of ER doctors are especially interested in you after seeing your wrists when they were preparing you for surgery."
Leaning over the railing again, the nurse gently touched the raised area of skin on the underside of Spiderman's exposed wrists. "Sorry. But if you don't mind my asking, does it hurt when that web stuff comes out?" she asked curiously with a hint of embarrassment.
"No," came a tired reply as he pulled his arm closer to his body protectively. Not that he meant to be rude, but Spider-man didn't appreciate the feeling of being under a microscope to be poked and prodded as if he was some curious science experiment. Nodding her head in understanding, the nurse continued her check over her patient.
Unwinding the stethoscope from around her thin neck, she pressed the medical instrument against the wall crawler's bare chest to check his heartbeat. According to Spider-man's charts, the ER doctors had almost lost him twice when he had flat-lined and they had had to shock the arachnid to jumpstart his heart. But as she continued to listen to the steady beating on the other end of her stethoscope, she felt a wave of relief that the superhero now seemed stable. Ever since he had come out of surgery she had been regularly checking in on him every ten minutes or so.
"What time is it?" Spider-man asked groggily, still not completely awake, as she removed the cold circle of metal from his naked chest.
"About five o'clock," she answered simply while she turned to press miscellaneous buttons on one of the various machines hooked to the wounded superhero, causing some of the mechanical banter to die down.
"In the morning?" he slurred.
"Oh, no! It's five at night, honey. You've been out for almost a whole day," she exclaimed almost in shock at Spider-man's ignorance, "You were in surgery for a good six and a half hours."
"What!?" he squealed. He had no idea it was so late. He was supposed to be with Fubuki to see how she was holding up. She's probably going to be extremely pissed.
Breaking through his thoughts, the nurse stated cheerfully, oblivious to Spidey's inner turmoil, "I think there's something you'd like to see."
Walking across the room, the nurse reached above her head to the TV set mounted on the wall and flipped to the five o' clock news. There on the screen, crowded a multitude of two hundred people or more in front of what looked to be a hospital.
Spidey could make out a few hand-painted posters in brightly colored paint sticking out of the crowd reading such phrases as "Get well soon, Spider-man", "The cities miss you", and "No one can squish our spider!"
In shock, Spidey lay silently as he watched the reporter on screen talk in rapid syllables of the turn out of well wishers to the hospital in support of the fallen superhero.
"They've been out there since this morning," explained the nurse as she stood beside Spidey's bed again, "The hospital's been flooded with letters, flowers, and everything else imaginable since you came in. Plus we've been getting nonstop phone calls from almost every TV station imaginable, local and national, and newspapers demanding information on your condition."
Shaking his head in disbelief, Spidey remained speechless as he continued watching the reporter interview the mass of people. Half the time, the majority of the city was out to crucify him…and now this! They were literally holding a twenty-four hour vigil outside the hospital, just for him. What happened?
Before Spiderman could utter a word, there came a sudden outburst of shouts from down the hallway. It sounded as if a small group of people were coming towards him while simultaneously arguing with each other quite loudly.
As the voices drew nearer, Spidey could make out a very distinct and authoritative feminine voice drowning the others out. "I don't care if he's sleeping right now or not! I don't even care if he's in a coma! I'm going in to see that selfless Spider! I don't care! Go ahead and try to arrest me! Let me through RIGHT NOW!"
Spider-man squeaky in fear as he brought the blanket to his mouth, he knew that delicate voice anywhere, honestly, this was probably his first time hearing the Esper very angry but he probably won't be ready for what the person looks like when she's angry in person.
The people cleared the way, "I honestly wish I should've died instead." Spider mumbled behind his mask as the voice came to a stop in front of his room. That kind of yelling could only be produced with such intensity by one person… Fubuki.
"Is he in here?" demanded Fubuki as her body filled the doorway. The hallway's lights cast a dark shadow around the edges of the editor's frame, giving the editor a somewhat frightening appearance. Behind her followed a pair of uniformed officers.
Spiderman couldn't help but think how even after fighting all the super villains he had in his very long career as a crime fighter thus far, he had never been intimidated so much now as by Fubuki. She really was starting to shout out like Tatsumaki.
Spotting the arachnid amongst the sterile white sheets of the single bed of the room, Fubuki stalked into the room in a direct path towards Spidey.
Too weak and tired to put up a defensive stance, Spider-man lays in wait for what was sure to be the verbal berating of his life from Fubuki.
"Madam," started the nurse suddenly as she stepped between Fubuki and Spider-man, "My patient is under strict orders not to be disturbed by any visitors. I don't know how you got here, but if you'll kindly follow those officers there-"
"I will not 'kindly' do anything," Fubuki replied menacingly as she stared down the petite nurse, "I have business with the Spider, and I'm not leaving until I talk to him!"
Ignoring Fubuki's ranting; one of the officers, the portlier of the pair, stepped forward and said, "This is a restricted area. Only authorized medical staff has permission to see Spider-man-"
"Whose permission?" shouted Fubuki, now red in the face, "What's with all this security anyway?"
"This area of the hospital has been sectioned off totally because of security reasons for multiple heroes including Spiderman's safety while he's here," answered the second officer patiently, "Now if you'll come with me…"
"I already told you I'm not leaving till I talk with that wall crawler!" Fubuki bellowed as she thrust an accusing finger in Spiderman's direction who was lying quietly on the sidelines watching the drama unfold.
Honestly she looks very beautiful even when she is angry. He assumes that she is probably blowing off a little bit of steam as well from the incident that happened last night, even though he hasn't heard the story of how it truly went down.
"Madam, if you don't come with us now, we will be forced to arrest you for trespassing," threatened the first officer, now reaching the ends of his ropes with the esper.
"I'm not letting you take me away from him, do you understand me!?" Fubuki screamed as he turned to stare down the officer.
Spider-man now decided that before there was an incident, he should speak up. Gathering his strength, he shouted out as loud as he could over the arguing men that filled the room, "Hey!"
Stopping their shouting match, the others turned to regard Spider-man for the first time since entering. Seeing his chance, Spidey said placentally, "It's OK, guys. She can stay. It's alright with me. Plus you'd have one hell of a time dragging Fubuki out of here even if you handcuffed and hogtied her, because she would absolutely kick your butts."
Looking at each other, the officers exchanged glances before turning in a huff towards the door, obviously perturbed they hadn't arrested Fubuki when they had had the chance.
"You've got five minutes," stated the chubby officer curtly as the two left the room; keys and guns jingling around their waists.
"I'll be at the nurse's station. If you need anything, just ring the buzzer," the nurse said as she headed for the door.
Turning her attention back from the retreating officers to the wounded man lying helpless before her, Fubuki's nerves began to falter. Outside the far window of the room, fat raindrops began to slowly thud every now and then against the thick glass.
Spider-man honestly couldn't find words at all since it was now just her and him. Gulping with a great amount of fear, he realized something, great, now it's just him and an angry esper. He brought the blanket close to his chin as Fubuki began to stare him down, he probably shouldn't have just had the officers take her out of the room.
Spider-man could only groan as he felt a pair of arms wrapping around his body, "Ow! Ribs!"
"I can hurt a lot more than that, Web-head." Fubuki replied with a low whisper, "You are one of the biggest idiots I've ever met."
"But I'm your idiot." Spider-man replied childishly.
"You are an adorable one at that. And I'm happy to see that you're ok." Fubuki said, she then lifted his mask to reveal his mouth to go in for a passionate kiss. They stop as Fubuki sees his cheeks flush, she giggled at the sight, he really acts like a naive little kid.
The beautiful esper sat on the chair next to the bed, "The Association called me after you left. The news reported last night's…incident, Mumen Rider and Lily backed me up on what happened, they gave me a warning that if I ever crossed the line they would put me in custody."
"Yeah, figured that would pull something like that, trying to do things for the greater good which is understandable on their part. Actually, do you think you're ready to tell me what happened last night?"
"Yeah, I feel a lot better now actually, since I'm here with you right now." Fubuki placed a hand on Spider-man's, "Last night, I was doing a simple hunt trying to look for anything to help out the little people. A group of thugs were about to gun down a family of 4, I stepped in to try to reason with them until it went down, bullets were flying straight towards me which made me act on instinct by using Fist of Flowing Water Crushing Rock to deflected the bullets, my fast were grazed a little bit but I was unscathed but for the family, a few bullets might have slipped past me by inches but I wasn't sure. I looked behind me to see the bodies of the people I failed to save, this unknown rage started to take over to the point where it clouded my mind, the rage that took over is what caused me to go blind by anger and abused my powers and skills, after I heard Lily and Mumen Rider's voice the bodies around me were barely alive at all, had they not stopped me at all I…would've killed the leader in cold blood. And that's when I walked all the way back to you."
Spider-man could only stare at the ceiling as he was processing what Fubuki was saying, "We really are alike, I was the same way when I first got my powers, I wanted to unleash the same rage that you felt on Cletus Kasady the first time we met until I made my decision. Well, you know how the rest goes."
Fubuki nodded, "Spider-man, how do I turn back the darkness? Without losing myself to it, if I go against everything I stand for, will it be enough? Or am I already too late?"
"Well...It's more about the choices that you make that will define you for the rest of your life. In the end, no matter how much sacrifices are made, you have to keep going forward. Continue to do your absolute best. No matter what."
Fubuki once again gave an impressed look at Spider-man, he never ceased to amaze her, "Hey Web-head, can I tell you something? If you are not too busy or anything?"
"I'm laying in a hospital bed, right next to a beautiful woman, when am I ever busy with anything? Well, kind of. You know I'm all ears. Plus you would probably kick my ass if I attempted to leave the room."
"I would paralyze you from the neck down."
"Somehow I believe that. Anyway, go ahead."
Fubuki cleared her throat, "I want to be honest with you, I was starting to get dark thoughts after what happened last night, I was having thoughts of…well ending it all."
"Oh, you aren't the only one to experience something like that before. You forget you're speaking to this guy here right."
"Oh yeah, forgot about that." Fubuki rubs her arm a little bit, "How did you remove thoughts like that out of your head? You don't have to go for the whole heroic speech again since I've heard plenty of those already. Even though hearing your speeches always makes my day."
"Yup, you're welcome. Well to answer your question I just keep fighting through the dark temptations mentality, proving myself that I'm a strong hero at heart, asking yourself 'who you are and what kind of person are you', mediating also helps out as well, doing friendly neighborhood activities until I feel a lot better. But maybe the most important one of all is this one..."
Fubuki leans in as the Spider-themed hero continues, "You start the doing the hardest thing, you try to forgive yourself." Fubuki's emerald eyes open as she placed a hand over her heart. He really never ceased to amaze her.
"Oh, about what Sitch said, he only said you couldn't do any hero activity for a whole week, meaning you can't fight monsters right? He didn't say anything about not helping out the little people. Ah, what a dumbass."
Fubuki blinks in realization, that is true, Wait, did Spider-man just call Sitch a dumbass?
Spider-man continued to stare at the window to his left watching the rain, he heard faint laughter to his right side making him turn his head to see Fubuki with a hand over her mouth attempting to hide her giggles.
Spider-man could only smile as he was barely keeping a straight face as he was starting to break, laughter could be heard from both of the heroes.
Fubuki calmed down to catch her breath, "Thanks, Web-head, I needed that. You always know how to make me smile."
"Anytime Fubuki. We'll help each other every step of the way however we can. Together." Spider-man said.
"Always." Fubuki scooted her chair closer to the bed as she laid her head on Spider-man's chest listening to his heartbeat while Spider-man was rubbing her shoulder ever so smoothly.