Reconcile › P. Parker [2]

022. damage control

› CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO ‹

Trystan Dagher wasn't a man to rest easy with dozens of police right outside... Not now... Not after a target was just planted on his child's back. He wasn't going to sit still, knowing that at any moment they could do something—anything—and unjustly take Raleigh Ridley away from whatever safety he could give him. It wasn't much. He was just human. He was nothing like the people he fought beside to bring back everyone and to bring down Thanos, but, damn it, Raleigh was his child and he wasn't going to fail at being a parent again.

As Trystan paced the Parker apartment, the kid he was worried about was sitting on the couch. The TV had become the main light source in the room, followed by the blue and red police lights, and Peter's and Raleigh's cell phones, all of which ominously lit up the living room. The only sounds in the room were the muffled yells from outside and the news anchors on the TV station relaying the same information about Spider-Man and Aureate.

Peter's legs were pulled up onto the couch, his feet under his aunt as she held onto his knee. He was leaning into Raleigh's side, and Raleigh kept a tight, albeit a quivering, grip on Peter's hand. Instead of watching the news, Raleigh was continuously scrolling through his direct messages on his now-private Instagram account. He didn't know why he was reading all his messages... Most of them were nasty and the "nice" ones still didn't feel good. He just couldn't stop; everything was surreal and he felt numb.

Peter was doing similar, but instead of reading his personal messages, he was scrolling through other social media and clicking on all the news articles about them. However, he always kept coming back to the news website that broke everything: The Daily Bugle, which has been releasing article after article about Peter and Raleigh. Any little bit about their lives that were dug up was blessed with a flashy new headline. It was a little overkill, Raleigh thought bitterly.

J. Jonah Jameson, the face of The Daily Bugle, apparently thought revealing their identities and calling the two teens murderers wasn't enough because he had gone a step further and came up with nicknames for Spider-Man and Aureate. Raleigh was dubbed The Golden Warlock, an oh-so-clever take on Scarlet Witch, and Peter was the Spider-Menace.

"Okay." The phones in Raleigh and Peters' hands were snatched away, and Trystan stood in front of them holding the devices. "You boys need a break from this."

The frozen peas that had been on Raleigh's left shoulder, fell to his lap. Yet, as the cold numbness in his shoulder left, he didn't notice, because his eyes were locked onto Trystan, who was staring straight back. However, as Trystan gently spoke to him, Raleigh dropped his gaze.

"You don't need people getting into your head, Raleigh."

He couldn't bear to look at Trystan's sorrow and fear—it was only there because of him. The solace in his voice was enough to make Raleigh want to sink into the couch and hide.