Spider-Man and The Esper

54. Lost Kids

Spider-man sat on his perch high above the city, watching the people below him as they went along with their days. He sighed in pleasure as he looked at the people milling about, not a single person to be saved. Although he was pretty bored, a day when heroes weren't needed was the day that he lived for. He let his mind drift as he munched on a cream cheese bagel that the vender had given to him for free. For the first time, the police and citizens of City-D finally started to accept him. Or at least tolerate him, but it still made his job much easier. Looking back down, he perked up when he saw a pair of children wandering around City-D, looking around frantically for someone. The little boy led his little sister frantically trying to look over the heads of all the adults and as he was only about eight years old, he was having no such luck. Spider-man ate the rest of his bagel in one bite before pulling down his mask and swinging down to the street. He landed on a lamp post and jumped off when he saw a chance. He accidentally startled a tourist who was on his phone right next to it.

"Sorry about that." The tourist was too shocked to say anything and just watched him as he walked off. It took a while for him to comprehend what just happened.

"Did I just meet Spider-man?"

"Do you need help little man?" Charles jumped as he heard the voice behind him and instinctively pulled Lilah closer to his body before turning around. He felt his mouth drop open as he saw THE Spider-man kneeling down right next to him, his head tilted in curiosity. Lilah immediately started to jump up and down on the spot before throwing herself at the older man. Her tiny arms wrapping around Spider-man's waist. Spider-man put his hands up in surprise and let out a chuckle at her enthusiasm before giving her a gentle hug back.

"Well, it's nice to meet you too, what's your name?" Spider-man picked up the small three-year-old and carried her on his hip. Poking her cheek to make her laugh and giggle loudly and when she covered her face with her hands, he started to gently poke her sides, making her laugh even more. Spider-man felt everyone looking at the two of them and ignored it. Instead, he offered his hand to the little boy, who gladly took it, relieved that at least one person would be able to help them whereas everyone else just looked down at them. Spider-man looked around as he walked, looking for anyone who looks like the pair of kids even remotely. Spider-man had yet to get an answer from the kids so he asked them again.

"Sooooooo, where are your parents? Because I wouldn't let anyone as cute as the two of you out of my sight." The little boy huffed at being called cute but ignored it and answered him.

"I'm Charles and that's Lilah, I don't know where mommy and daddy are." The boy looked down glumly at his feet and Spider-man nearly 'awww'ed at the sight of him. But he had a feeling that the young boy wouldn't appreciate it at all. Spider-man tried to look over the heads of everyone but as he was the average height of a man, the only thing he saw was eyes looking at him or the back of other heads. He let go of Charles's hands and took the time to put Lilah on his shoulders. If they couldn't see him, they would definitely see the little girl.

"Well, Charles, nice to meet you, have you been taking care of your sister? "Charles nodded along happily, distracted from his sadness from getting separated from his parents.

"Yeah!" Spider-man hummed in response and praised the young boy. The trio walked around City-D, occasionally diverging to the smaller streets for a couple of blocks before turning back to the square. Lilah, who was a little bit too distracted by the sights, didn't input her opinion in the conversation between Spider-man and Charles. Lilah looked up at one of the advertisements as they walked past it. She leaned back as they tried to keep on looking at it, making her lose her balance and grab onto the mask for dear life. The passerby's, who had been watching them as long as they could, was also recording them at that exact moment.

"Maybe after we find your parents, I can go and show you the best pizza in thi-Hey!" Lilah let out a shriek as she started to fall backward, the fabric of Spider-man's mask balled up in her little fists. Spider-man momentarily panicked as he felt his mask slip up and over the tip of his nose before he grabbed it with one hand, grabbing Lilah's hand with the other.

"Oh, that was a close one! You should be more careful Lilah, these faithful citizens won't be able to handle just how handsome I am." The last thing everyone else saw before Spider-man pulled down his mask was his wide smile, disappointing a lot of people that they weren't able to see more of his face. Fortunately, due to the commotion that came from everyone stopping and turning to look at Spider-man's potential unmasking.

"Lilah!" Spider-man nearly jumped at the shrill voice that called out the little girl on his shoulders. He turned to see a couple running through the crowd, tear marks all over the woman's face, they were both closely followed by two on-duty police officers. Spider-man smiled at the sight of them and waved at them before placing Lilah back down next to her brother.

"Hey, are you the parents of these two little munchkins?" Charles pouted at the nickname but it quickly left his mind as he saw his mom. Tears welled up in his eyes and he threw himself at his mom's legs, his dad picking up Lilah and hugging her tightly. Spider-man just watched this interaction, happy to see the small family of four reunited. The two officers walked over to him and watched the family with him.

"Didn't know you liked kids." Spider-man let out a laugh at that. Spider-man absolutely loved kids and he was known to be a little bit more violent when it came to crimes against kids.

"I love kids, but I can't say I feel the same for you." Hendrickson let out a laugh at his partner's expense, he patted Spider-man on the back, making Spider-man smile himself.

"Yeah yeah, whatever, get out of here Spidey, before I arrest you," Martinez said with a smile on his face. Spider-man let out a snicker before saying farewell to the two officers. He had already let his web connect to a nearby building and was just about to pull himself up when Charles stopped him. Spider-man turned around to see the quartet, all of them having a grateful smile on their face.

"Thank you!" Charles called out to Spider-man with all of the force he could muster. Spider-man waved and gave them a two-fingered salute before pulling himself up and out of City-D.