"Peter, your oxygen saturation is 91% and your pulse is 147 beats per minute. You need to get out of the building to avoid loss of consciousness," Karen's voice is muffled due to the sound of blood rushing through Peter's ears.
How am I supposed to move if I can't breathe? he wants to ask her. Black, moving dots, similar to the ones he saw on the roof, threaten to take over his sight again. His arms shake under the pressure of the drywall and suddenly it feels like the weight of the entire world is trying to crush him. Everything and everyone is counting on me and oh god it's too heavy. I can't do it. I just can't. It's too much. His palms are clammy and threatening to slip from the grip keeping that he believes is keeping him alive. I'm not gonna make it I'm not gonna make it I'm not gonna make it I'mnotgonnamakeit. He chews on the inside of his cheek. I have to at least try. I didn't give up last time, and I won't give up now.
His chest burns, but he pushes through the pain and tremors. He forces his muscles to work past their limits to push the drywall up, but he drops to his knees. Karen's trying to talk to him to figure out what's wrong, but he can't hear her anymore. He can't hear anything. Again. I have to try again. I'm Spider-Man. Spider-Man. With one last surge of energy that he didn't even realize he had, he pushes himself to his feet and lifts the drywall just enough for him to slip out from under its weight. He stumbles forward only to collide harshly against the ash covered floor with a gasp. His chest heaves unevenly to pull in oxygen, even though it's lined with smoke. The fire has already made it to the story he's on. I need, I need to get out. Get up Peter. He forces himself to get up to his hands and knees, his head hanging low as he tries to find the strength to stand. He can't stop shaking, but he tries to ignore it.
"Calling Tony Stark." Karen's voice makes him snap his head up in sudden alarm.
"No!" His hoarse voice surprises him, but he ignores it for the time being. The pause that follows his outburst causes his stomach to churn.
"Cancelling call," Karen gives in. He takes in another shaky breath and forces himself to stand. His entire body has a dull ache, but he supposes it's better than being crushed or burning to death. He tries to keep his hand stable as he shoots a web at the window sill and pulls himself towards it. Being lightheaded almost makes him fall out of the window, but he's able to use his enhanced grip to hang on. As fast as his body allows, he sends another web flying to the building across the street. While he swings over, he notices the fire trucks, cop cars, and ambulances speed to the front of the hotel. Relief overwhelms him. Everyone's safe. Everyone's safe.
As soon as his feet touch the roof of the building, his legs give out and his bloodied palms dig into the gravel. Who puts gravel on their roofs anymore? he thinks arbitrarily. He takes his first few gasps of crisp, clean air mixed with an occasional cough.
"I suggest medical attention for all injuries and to receive administered oxygen. It is also ten minutes past your curfew. Your aunt will be calling," Karen informs him, almost smugly. Sometimes Peter swears that she actually wants him to get in trouble.
"How far away is Ned's house?" he asks in between breaths.
"I suggest-"
"I know what you suggest. I'm asking how far Ned is from me." Another pause.
"Ned Leed's house is 1.3 miles from your destination." Peter breathes a shaky laugh.
"Piece of cake!"
"Your web canisters are almost empty." Ha, he thinks humorlessly, of course they are. I shouldn't be surprised, I did make a webbing slide. That was pretty awesome if I do say so myself.
"Can I make it there before I run out?"
"Yes," she confirms reluctantly. He takes a deep breath and nods. I can make it, easy peasy...
It was not easy peasy.
His muscles burned the whole way there. Every swing, every landing, and every breath hurt. Luckily, he could already start to feel his enhanced healing doing its job. The amount of relief he feels when he sees Ned's house is almost palpable. When he goes to fire a web towards Ned's roof, a measly foot and a half long web sputters out and floats downwards.
"You are out of web fluid," Karen points out as he watches the web pathetically land on the ground.
"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Peter mutters as he crawls down the small house.
"Actually, my name is Karen. A name chosen by a dear friend." Her voice softens for the first time since the fire. Peter can't help but smile as he feels heat rising to his cheeks. Once he's on the ground, he look to his left, his right, and his left again, then crosses the street to Ned's. Safety is important after running into a flaming hotel. He climbs up to Ned's window and taps incessantly on the pane of glass. Plastic wheels squeak on the hardwood floor as Ned gets out of his chair. His eyes widen when he sees Peter and he scrambles toward the window. Wow, Peter thinks, I must look even worse than I feel. Ned practically trips over his own two feet trying to reach the window. Peter winces when he notices his best friend step on a lego, but it barely phases Ned. He's so strong. He pushes the window and yanks Peter inside.
"Dude! Easy!" Peter whispers harshly as he does his best to keep his balance. Ned locks the window shut then turns to him with panicked eyes.
"You said you were gonna call me if anything happened!" He gestures at Peter from head to toe. For the first time, Peter takes a look at himself and his suit. His hands are blistered and covered in dried blood, making it almost impossible to tell that there are tears in the suit over his palms. Besides that he's not injured, but he's completely covered in ash. There isn't an inch of the red from his suit visible.
"I didn't have any spare time to call! That's why I came over as soon as I finished. It's not like I planned to swing through three stories of a burning building," Peter answers truthfully, the excuses practically jumping out of his mouth. Ned's eyes widen even more, if it were possible, and he opens his mouth only to have indecipherable squeaks come out. "I'm fine! I swear."
"You went into a building that was on fire! That's not fine! I'm your Guy in the Chair! I have to know these things! You literally look like you went on a bike ride through hell!" He has a few good points. With a huff, Peter pulls off his mask, which he immediately regrets when Ned's blinding lamp pierces his eyes. Ned instantly catches onto his distress and dims it to a bearable glow.
"I know it was a bit, a bit stupid, Ned, but there were like thirty people in that building! Kids too! I couldn't just sit by and watch that happen, y'know?" Peter does his best to keep from tripping over his words, no doubt failing. His hands are still slightly trembling, which he tries to hide by gripping his mask.
"I understand why you did it, but that's not the kind of thing you do by yourself. What if something happened to you? How would I have known? Any of us?" Ned looks like he's about to start shaking too. Peter rakes his hands through his hair, nodding.
"I know, I know. I just, there honestly wasn't enough time. I was so focused on getting everyone out in time and then the-" He cuts himself off. The drywall. He doesn't even want to think about it, let alone talk it out. "It was just a lot. But I'm fine now, see?" He smiles for added effect, even though he knows what he looks like. I look like an extra from the Mary Poppins chimney sweeps scene.
"What are you gonna tell your aunt?! What's gonna happen when Tony Stark finds out?!" Peter can't help but wince at the mention of Tony's name. "Do you think he'll be mad? Of course he'll be mad but do you think he'll yell at you? At me?! I shouldn't be excited about Iron Man yelling at me but that'd be, like, a dream come true."
"Ned." Peter tries to shush him, his anxiety already spiking through the roof. "Can we just, just take it down a notch? Please?" Ned slowly nods.
"You need a serious shower." Ned looks him up and down again and Peter's aching muscles agree with him.
"Yeah...I'm gonna use your shower before heading home." Peter presses the center of his suit as he nods in agreement. The suit loosens, sliding off his shoulders and onto the floor. As he sets his mask on Ned's nearby desk, he hears a beeping. With an eyebrow raised, he slips the mask back on and Karen's voice greets him.
"Hello, Peter, your aunt is calling." Oh no, oh no, oh no.
"Transfer the call to my phone!" he blurts out and almost slips on his discarded suit to grab his phone buried in the heap of it.
"What's wrong?!" Ned questions, panicking again.
"May's calling!" Peter rips his mask off again.
"Oh, well that's not too bad right? We'll just-"
"She wants to FaceTime," Peter clarifies. Ned's optimistic smile drops in an instant.
"We're doomed..." Peter frantically waves him over and Ned clumsily rushes to his side. When Peter answers the call, he shoves it into Ned's hands before speeding off to the bathroom. "Peter! Where are you go-Hey, Mrs. Parker! How are you doing tonight?" Peter runs to the sink, trying to not slip on the tiled floor, and dunks his face and hair under the running water.
"Hi, Ned. How are you boys doing?" May patiently asks, her expectant eyes waiting.
"We're great! You know how it is...studying and all that..." Ned laughs nervously.
"Where's Peter?" Ned tries not to let his face pale at May's question.
"Oh, where's Peter?" Ned repeats louder so that Peter gets the message to hurry up. Even though Peter could hear just fine because of his enhanced hearing, he tries to hurry. "He's in the bathroom! Yeah, getting all cleaned up..." Peter races back out of the bathroom and next to Ned, coming into view of his phone's camera.
"Hey, Aunt May!" Peter greets as cheerfully as possible. "Just got out of the shower. What's up?" He silently thanks whatever cynical being is watching over them that he doesn't have so much as a scratch on his face.
"Do you realize what time it is?" May asks patiently as she looks at her nephew over her round glasses. Her hair is pulled back into a messy bun and Peter observes she's sitting on their couch. She was probably reading, if her slightly red, tired eyes are anything to go by.
"Oh, sorry! We lost track of time studying for tomorrow's History test." Peter feigns shock as best as he can.
"It's alright, I'd just appreciate if you would text or call me next time. Remember our rules?"
"Of course! It was an accident, honest." Peter couldn't be more dishonest, but he tries not to think about how guilty he feels.
"Please have Mrs. Leeds drive you back. I don't want you..." May waves her free hand around as if trying to portray something, "swinging around so late at night."
"Got it, May." Peter smiles and she smiles back.
"And sweetheart? Get dressed before you leave." She smirks and Peter chuckles nervously. This is her sly way of getting some payback, since he decides to conveniently forget her rules. "Good night, Ned."
"Good night, Mrs. Parker." Ned can barely contain his laughter as May ends the FaceTime call. Peter rubs his hands over his face and groans,
"I can't believe that worked."
"Barely," Ned laughs. "You really do need that shower though. I don't think a clean face is gonna be as convincing when the rest of you looks like...well, that." He isn't wrong. Peter lets out a long breath and heads back into the bathroom. The shower he takes has to be the fastest of his entire life. For the entire three minute shower, he can't take his eyes off the blackened water swirling down the drain. Most of the cuts and bruises he received from the night are starting to heal, if not already healed. The only injuries leftover are his sore lungs and the bits of gravel lodged in his palms. If he had the time, he would work on getting the pieces out, but they're already healed over. He decides he'd rather make a mess in his own bathroom than leave a mess for Ned. As Peter showers, Ned does his best to brush the ash off the Spider-Man suit. It doesn't do much but hey, it's better than nothing. When Peter exits the bathroom, he smiles at his friend's efforts to clean his suit.
"Don't worry about it, I can just throw it in the wash. The mask is the only thing I have to clean by hand." Ned looks up from what he's doing at the sound of Peter's voice and stares at him like a deer caught in headlights. "Not that I don't appreciate it! It's great! Thank you," Peter quickly adds. He gives Ned a smile before rolling the suit up and putting it in the spare backpack he keeps here just in case.
"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Ned's anxious voice asks. Peter doesn't understand why he's anxious, but he reassures Ned nonetheless.
"Definitely." Peter holds out his hand and smiles as Ned's worry seems to disappear. They do their best friend handshake, like they have many times before, and Peter walks out to Mrs. Leeds' car.
Notes:
Next chapter is when the story starts to pick up!
Our favorite dad in titanium-gold alloy also makes his debut in the next chapter, so hopefully that gives you something to look forward to!