Mr. Stark was on board with suing Flash's, well, now Eugene's, father. When I had told him on the ride home, he was quiet. Far too quiet than he usually was. He patiently waited for me to finish explaining the situation. The only giveaway to how he was feeling was how his knuckles became white from gripping the steering wheel. When I was done, he asked me for the kid's full name, and that was all.
On the way up the elevator, he was already on the phone with one of his many lawyers. We walked out together and into the living room of the commons area.
Clint sat with his feet propped up on a pillow and arms behind his back on the couch, and Natasha, next to him, was popping her gum while cleaning one of her blades. Bruce was reading a book, probably about some science topic, and Steve was watching TV with Clint. It seemed Thor was back from wherever he had gone and was currently eating Lunchables for a change, using his hammer as a plate. He carefully placed a slice of cheese on top of a cracker, then a slice of a ham, and on top of that another cracker. He ate it and hummed in delight.
"Hey," Tony greeted them, putting down his phone for a moment, "We're back."
A chorus of greetings came my way.
"Peter the toddler!" Thor laughed as he stood up. "You're still here! What a pleasure. I was hoping you hadn't left yet."
"Uh, hi," I mumbled.
Because of my super hearing, I could hear Bruce groan and mutter, "Not this again."
Thor came over to me, obviously not taking note of my beet-red face as he clapped me on the back and then strode back over to his seat, picking up the Lunchables again. "Cracker?" He held out a cracker to me.
"I'm good, thanks." I nodded at him. He shrugged, as if to say 'your loss', and started putting together a cracker with ham and cheese again.
Steve stood up from his seat and walked over to the adjacent kitchen. "You want anything else to eat, kid, that's more nutritious than uh, Lunchables?"
"Yes," Mr. Stark said at the same time I responded no thanks, "Could you get him something to eat? I need to go to my office. I'll be back soon."
Steve gave him a thumbs up. "Of course. What do you want, kid?" Steve opened the refrigerator door while Mr. Stark went back to the elevator and looked through the items. "We've got some leftover salad from last night, stir-fry, also from last night, hmmm... I could make you something if you want."
I said, not wanting him to do too much work for me, "No, it's fine. I'll take the salad."
"Sounds good." He took it out and placed it on the kitchen counter.
"Mr. Rogers, thanks. I can get the plate and stuff."
"Okay. If you need anything, just holler. I'm watching television." He turned away and walked back to the living room. I frowned at the way he said television instead of TV, then shrugged it off. It was probably because of the 'frozen in time' thing.
I ate the salad and then put the plate in the dishwasher. I went back to the living room, stood behind the couch, and saw they were watching the news. There was a huge building on fire. The reporter said there were still people inside. I looked at the five Avengers in the living room. Why weren't they doing anything? Shouldn't they go out and help the people stuck inside?
"You aren't going to go and help them?" I asked, and five heads swiveled back to face me.
Steve wore a compassionate look. "Stuff like this isn't for the Avengers."
Clint nodded in agreement. "Yeah, if we would take care of these minor events we would be working 24/7, and besides, the firefighters will take care of it. They're good at their jobs. That's what they do."
My jaw hardened as my eyes moved back to the TV screen, watching the flames devour the building. If they had time to watch it happen, then they had time to do something about it, no matter what their excuse for sitting around and doing nothing was. People were going to die if someone didn't do something. And it looked like today it would be me.
I announced, "I'm going to go to my room and do some homework."
Clint looked at me. "Okay. You can bring the homework here if you'd like and work on the table over there."
My mind scrambled to come up with a believable lie. "Actually, I work better without distractions."
"You sure? We can be quiet," Bruce said, glancing up from his book.
My eyes flickered to the TV where the flames continued to destroy the building. I had to go there. Now. Before it's too late. "I'm going to take a shower as well, so I might as well stay down there."
Clint shrugged, giving up. "Okay. We'll call you for dinner."
"Ok, thanks." I nodded and walked to the elevator, making sure I didn't seem hurried or anything. I could feel Natasha's eyes on my back.
The elevator doors opened, and I saw Tony standing in it.
"Hi Peter, where are you going?" he asked as I smiled in greeting at him and joined him in the elevator.
I lied, pressing the button that would take the elevator to the floor my room was on. "To my room to do some homework."
"Need any help with anything?" He stayed with me as the elevator dropped down.
"Thank you, but I'll be fine." The doors opened, and I stepped out.
His face was different than usual. He looked like he was in deep thought. "Alright. Take care of yourself."
"Will do."
His focus recentered on me, and he smiled, replacing the thoughtful look. "See you later, Pete." The doors closed, and I ran.
"Friday, call Ned!" I yelled as I slid to a stop in front of my room.
"Calling Ned," she responded.
Ned answered at the first ring. "What's up?"
"You know when I told you I needed a plan if I ever had to get out of Stark Tower without the others knowing?"
"Yeah, I could only get the more basic sketch of the architecture of the floor you are on because it was heavily protected. I had to break through so many firewalls you have no idea. I mean, I lost count how many-"
"Ned! Explain the background to me later. There's a building on fire, and people are stuck in there! I need to get out of here and fast," I said as I put on the Spider-man 'suit'. There was no camera in the room, so I didn't have to worry about that.
Ned voice quickened as he explained the situation to me. "Okay, okay. Yeah. So all of the windows are bulletproof and sound an alarm that cannot be overridden if broken, so you're going to have to get to either where the landing area is for any helicopters and other air transportation or the roof. I can take care of making you invisible to the cameras by replaying-"
I finished dressing. "Okay, got it! Let's take the roof option. I'm going out of the room now."
"Alright. You're good to go. Take the emergency stairs when you head up."
"Thanks, Ned." I ran to the stairs and quickly climbed them up. While sprinting, I put in the earpiece he gave me. Ned also told me that he would erase this from Friday's memory and that she would be programmed to respond that I am in my room doing homework if anyone asks for my location and to tell them not to disturb me.
Finally, I made it to the roof and didn't take another second to mull over my next actions. I leaped off the roof and swung in the direction of the building. I didn't need any directions from Ned because I could spot the thick, gray smoke that filled the skyline.
In record speed, I landed on the ground next to a firefighter who was giving orders.
"Where are they? Where are the people stuck inside?" I asked him hurriedly.
His eyebrows jumped when he turned and saw me. "Spider-man?! You want to go in there, I don't think even you would be fine! You could get hurt."
"I won't. Where are they? Quickly!" I said, the urgency clear in my voice. If the fire won't kill, the smoke that was pouring out of the windows surely will.
He pointed high up. "There's a mother and child left. Twenty-seven floors up. We couldn't take them out of the building yet because they are so high up."
"Anyone else?"
"Well, there's a stray dog that we saw running inside, but he's not that important." My hands balled into fists. Stray dog? Not important? We'll see about that.
Then, I heard screams. A woman, begging for help, her heads poking out of the window of the twenty-seventh floor. I could see with my enhanced eyesight a small child in her hands. I sprung into action.
I used my webs to propel me back into the air and throw myself at the building. I was three floors below the one where the family was in. I would have to climb the rest. Luckily, my hands were sticky, so climbing for me was like walking for the average person.
Ned reminded me, "Be careful. You're still injured from your fight with the Avengers." He was right, of course. My ribs and bruised and burned side weren't happy with the interruption of their healing process. My arm was at its worst, though. Every movement caused flashes of pain to spark down my arm and my spine.
"Yep." I veered my body so I would avoid areas where the walls were crumbling and windows that had fire blowing out of them. "It's alright, ma'am. I'm here. I will get you out of here." Her scream died down when she spotted me. Grime covered her face, her child cleaner as she hugged him to her body.
She coughed. "Oh my god, Spider-man. Thank God!"
Behind her, I saw flames slowly climbing toward where she was standing. "Here, you're going to have to hold on to me." I turned around and let her climb on my back which she did promptly without any complaints. I mean, who would complain for getting them out of a burning building?
As soon as I asked her if she felt secure and said yes, I jumped.
I used my webs to swing us back down the ground. I was surprised to hear her quiet, except for the coughs from her and her child. Usually, people yelped in surprise or screamed from fear when I carried them. I landed next to an ambulance car, and she let go, standing upright.
Time for the doggo. I took a step in the direction towards the burning building, the smog entering my lungs with every breath.
"Wait." I felt a hand grip my injured arm, causing me to hold back a wince, and I looked back, seeing the woman look at me. "Thank you."
I nodded, and she released her grip, and then I was running back to the building.
"Hey, where are you going?!" One of the firefighters yelled, "There's no one else in the building!"
Except for the dog, right?
"You're going back for the dog," Ned said in my earpiece. Not a question, but a statement.
I hurled my body through a window, causing the glass to shatter to let my body through. I landed in a crouch, feeling the heat radiate around me. The fire had climbed on the walls, and I could see the apartment on the second floor through the hole that the fire had burnt through above me. Pieces of wood and ashes covered the wooden floor I was stepping on. I looked to the left and saw a smoking, half-destroyed TV screen. On my right, what used to be a couch but now was badly burned and barely recognizable.
Now I just needed to find the dog.
"Hey, um, doggie!" I yelled, "Come here! Come to me!"
I didn't hear a bark or a whimper, and I didn't see anything come towards me. I pressed my mouth into a thin line, deciding to go deeper into the apartment I had crashed into. I tried to avoid most of the fire that was filling my sight, but I could still feel it singe my skin. I saw ashes where the door used to be.
"Come here, doggie! I have food." That was a lie, but the dog didn't know that. Hopefully, the dog would recognize the word food. "Do you like sandwiches? I'll get us a sandwich after this."
"That's definitely going to work, Peter." Ned snorted at my attempt to draw the dog out.
I couldn't help but smile. "I know right. Aren't I a genius?"
Ned laughed at the same time I saw a ball of fur pressed in a corner of a room I just entered.
It seemed unharmed, though it was a bit dirty. I tried to get close to the floor as possible because the fire was starting to impact my lungs.
"Come here," I coughed out, but it didn't move, so I made my way over to it. I reached it and stroke its brown fur. "Hey."
The dog lifted and turned its head to me, its tongue hanging out of its mouth as it was breathing rapidly. My eyebrows jumped when I saw a child that the dog was covering with its body. The kid was maybe one or two-years-old.
Ned gasped. "Oh my god, there's a kid."
I bit my lip. Were his parents still in the apartment? No, I checked every room. Deciding to deal with the location of the kid's parents later, I picked up the dog in one hand and took the child who was sleeping in my other.
"Let's get the hell out of here," I said, retracing my steps. I spotted the window I had come through and made my way over to it.
Crack. I stopped mid-step and glanced up toward the sound. I looked up and saw that a wooden beam had been burned through. Uh oh. Not good. I sprinted to the window and could feel the beam falling down, which would cause the floor above us to topple on our heads. My spidey sense made its presence known, urging me to get out of the way. I realized I wasn't going to climb out in time. But that didn't mean they couldn't make it.
"Peter!" Ned yelled in urgency.
So I did the obvious thing.
I pitched the dog and kid out of the window, and I tried to lunge myself out of the window after them.
I could already tell what Ned was going to say the next time I saw him: You threw a one-year-old kid and a dog out of the window? Okay, yes. Not my best moment. But there's a big but. We were on the first floor. I mean, the biggest injury they could get was perhaps a broken bone, right?
And anyway, it was that or be lying under a burning heap of wood and debris that was currently situated right on top of me. If I had a choice, I would take being thrown out of the window instead of being crushed which was my present predicament.
"Peter! Peter!" I finally took note of Ned's alarmed voice in my ear. "A bunch of stuff just fell on you, and it's on fire! You're like being crushed to death." Yes, Ned. I noticed. The fire was already starting to reach me, meaning I had to get out of here right about now. The only question was how.
Why can't there be a normal day of Spider-manning? I thought as I wiggled around, feeling some of the stuff on top of me trickle to the side with my movement. It could have been a simple cat stuck on top of a tree, or a missing bike or something, but no. It had to be a fire. Like, why? No one wants that. I pressed my hands on the ground I was lying on and pushed my shaking body up.
"Argh!" I grunted as my body reached its limit. Everything was pushing down on me. I almost couldn't breathe.
I spotted the window I had come in through in front of me. I just needed enough time to give me enough space and get out of here.
Another push, and I was on my knees now. I was heaving the smokey air from the effort. A groan escaped my mouth as the debris pressed into my back. I felt pins and needles along my back as well, but I ignored it. Now was not the time to pay attention to pain.
I saw a greater opening in front of me. Just a little bit more. I bit my lip hard to keep myself from screaming and could feel the metallic taste of blood enter my mouth.
One.
Two.
Three.
With a final push, I launched myself out of the pile and out the window. I rolled a couple of times before coming to a stop. I sighed in relief as I felt the asphalt ground below me.
Instead of getting up, I remained on the ground. I was too tired to move. At least, now I could take a moment to rest.
"Spider-man, what a pleasure!" My eyes snapped open at the voice. "Missed me?"