Permanent

chapter fourteen

I thought I'd include a little bit of a parallel from Spider-Man Homecoming because it fits in well with what I have planned and why not.

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He felt the weight of the roof first. The crushing weight of two stories above him, all crashing down on top of him.

It was the pain that came next. It didn't feel like he broke anything but it didn't matter. His body felt like it was being torn apart and squeezed together all at once and all he could register was him being crushed.

Then, came the fear. He'd always been a little claustrophobic. The closet at the orphanage had made it worse and this would just top it all off. What if he didn't make it out of here? The worst part of it was always the feeling that the walls were closing in on him and now here he was, being crushed as the ceiling just kept pushing towards him.

He wanted to cry and part of him wanted to scream for help, but he knew no one would come.

With a deep breath, Peter moved his hands and knees under him. Then, with every ounce of strength he had, he pushed up.

He grit his teeth and squeezed his eyes closed, trying to push. His hand slipped on all the stray rocks and pebbles and he cried out as the weight above him shifted. Yet he got his hand back under him and kept pushing because, after all, what other choice did he have?

Slowly, but surely, he felt the weight move. When he got to his hands and knees, his breathing heavy, he put his hands on the ceiling above him.

Taking another deep breath, this time he pushed the ceiling up and stood up. Black dots flooded his vision and his face felt hot. Breathing out harshly, once he was fully on his feet, he gave one last push and ran out from under the rubble before it fell back down.

He stumbled his way out of the building and nearly collapsed under a wave of dizziness. Paramedics rushed over, but he backed away from them. He couldn't have them finding out who he was.

After blinking a few times to clear his vision, he made it to his feet and stumbled a bit before swinging away. With clumsy, slow movements, he made it back to the alley where his backpack was.

The only thing he could think about at the moment was sitting down. His arms and legs felt like jelly and were too close to giving out. Grabbing a water bottle out of his backpack, he emptied it in only a minute.

It was only noon, but he could go to the internship early, right? There was no way he could continue patrol while so low on energy. It sounded better than doing nothing for four more hours anyway.

With that in mind, once he felt recovered enough to walk without passing out, he changed into his normal clothes and headed towards the tower. Well, he was no longer light-headed and his vision was clear, at least.

When he got to the tower and got into the elevator, FRIDAY informed him of his injuries as she had so many times before. "Peter, I've detected you have many lacerations, abrasions, and contusions and you are malnourished as well. Should I inform Mr. Stark?"

"No, that's alright. I'm fine now, FRIDAY. I'll probably be healed soon anyway." It was good to know that the building didn't do any serious damage.

FRIDAY didn't reply, but Tony greeted him normally while he walked in so he could only assume FRIDAY didn't say anything.

"Hey, kid. You're here early today."

"Yeah, I didn't have school and I had nothing else to do."

"Alright, well that's fine. You wanna work on that new project we started?"