𝐝𝐞𝐣𝐚 𝐯𝐮, peter parker

ix. nina and the bug boy

chapter nine!
nina and the bug boy

"SO, what happened?"

Nina sat against the wood of her door, knees hugged to her chest with her phone still with her in case Peter will call her back. She stared at his contact; the picture of him still with those glasses and it made her want to smile, except her heart was up in her throat. No one has seen him. She sent May a text, saying that Peter left the party and she's called him━and has everyone looking for him, as well as that Ned knew he was okay (kind of), and that he should be on his way home. Nina hated making May worry after the death of Uncle Ben. She remembered the days after he died. Peter had snuck out then, too. But always to Nina's apartment where she just held him as he cried and said it was all his fault. And she told him it wasn't, but she knew that those words wouldn't mean anything at that time. And so she just clutched onto him tighter until he cried himself to sleep, and she shed a few tears, too, because Ben had been like family to her as well.

She hoped Peter was okay.

On the other end of the door, Spider-Man was using the first aid kit Nina's father always has to help his cuts and bruises. He told her that he healed quicker, and that he'd be fine without it, but she insisted, stepping out of her room so he could take off his mask without her seeing. She was glad she was home alone, and that her parents won't be home until very late, otherwise things would be very different. She didn't know how her father would react to seeing Spider-Man in her room. Nina believed he'd be more focused on the fact that it was a boy and not a human web-slinger.

"It was a weapons sale," answered Spider-Man. Nina wondered whether he was talking to her right now without his mask ... that made this moment between them, however far apart, breathtakingly close. "But ... it was weird. The weapons were weird━like anti-gravity guns, black-hole bombs━"

Nina's stomach twisted at that one, "That's not good."

"They must be the same guys that sold those weapons to those robbers across from Delmar's," murmured the vigilante. "But I followed them in this━this awesome car chase across the suburbs before this big guy with wings picked me up and threw me into the water. Then, Mr Stark got me out. He showed me this heater in my suit. It was cool. Then he left, which was also cool."

Nina didn't exactly find any of that cool (well, perhaps the heater in the suit thing; that was kinda cool). She pulled her knees up even closer to her chest, "We can't have those weapons on the streets. That's going to be a disaster."

There was a pause. Nina frowned. Then, Spider-Man repeated, unsure, "We?"

She flushed, "I━I mean━well━you, of course━I just━I mean, I'm here if ... if you want help with that."

Nina imagined him shaking his head. "No," he said immediately. Part of her sank, even though he was right. "No," Spider-Man repeated, stronger this time. "If I drag you into this, that means you'll be in danger. I━I can't put you in danger."

"But I want to help," argued Nina. "Not━not fight like you, but, you almost collapsed in my room, bug boy. You need somewhere to go. I━I'm just saying ... you know, my window's always open. These guys belong to somewhere, okay? And they've gotten these alien-tech weapons somehow. I can't just stand back and do nothing━this is my home, I care about it."

There was more silence. Nina listened, waiting for a response. Her phone was forgotten for a second as she tilted her head towards the door, wondering if she could hear his silent decision. Then, she felt shuffling. It was a moment before the door handle turned and Nina got onto her feet. As soon as the door opened to her room, she slipped back inside, watching Spider-Man walk back to the bag he had pulled in through the window with him. Nina closed the door behind her, just in case her parents decided to come back early and walked up to him.