The Stark Internship // Spider-Man [Book 1]

twenty-five {Peter's POV}

"Arya!" I shouted. It had been a few minutes since I woke up and I had no idea how long it had been since the building collapsed. My ribs throbbed painfully and my head hurt like hell, but all I was worried about right now was the girl crushed under the debris.  

"Arya, please!" I shouted again, my voice cracking. She could be dead and it would be my fault. I once again did a hopeless attempt to lift the debris that was almost suffocating me. "Someone, help! Pl-Please, I'm stuck- We're stuck!" I cried out. No one responded. I was completely alone and Arya was unconscious. I used the last bit of strength in my body to call out her name one more time before I gave up and hung my head low. 

"Peter?" I heard in the distance and I shot up, wondering if my ears were playing tricks on me.

"Arya?"

"Yeah, Peter, it's me. I'm stuck. I can't get out," she replied, louder this time. 

"I know, I know, I'm stuck too. Can you move anything?" I asked. 

I heard her grunt. "Not much. There's a piece of concrete pressing down. You?"

"I can't move. Only my arms are free. We need to get out of here," I said and I tried to remove the debris again but let out a frustrated scream as my arm slipped and I fell back down. 

"Peter, you can do this, you can get us out of here," Arya said. 

"I can't, I've been trying for a while now but it won't move. I'm not strong enough," I choked out, I started to get out of breath. "Arya, you can get out! Just use your powers." 

"I can't. You know I can't!" she replied, terror in her voice. 

"You can! I've seen you do it. I know you can!"

She let out a frustrated yell. "I can't! I'll lose control." 

"Arya, come on! The Vulture is going to get away and we're gonna stay here until someone finds us. Which could take days! Come on!" 

It stayed quiet for a few seconds, but the hairs on my arms stood upright. 

A blast sounded and the debris trembled, making it even harder for me to breathe. "Peter!" Arya called as she ran up to me. She couldn't come close enough because of the rubble, and I couldn't see her from the angle I was in, but I knew she was there. "Come on, put your back into it!" she said.

I pressed my palms into the ground and gritted my teeth. I pushed my body up but the debris was too heavy. "I can't, I can't," I panted. "You gotta go without me." 

"Not a chance," she told me. "Come on, you're freaking Spider-Man. You took on Captain America and you got out without a scratch."

"Technically, I didn't, he hit me in the face and I got a black eye-" 

"That's not my point!" she snapped. "Just-Listen to me, I've seen you in a fight. You never back down from one and you'll never stop fighting. You've saved countless lives, like that day on the ferry, you saved all those people." 

"And then I lost my suit." 

"And did you need that suit before you met Tony?" I had to think for a few seconds about that comment. 

"No," I said, more to myself than to her. 

"That's what I mean! You can get out of here."

"Okay." I took in a deep breath and found a spot to place my hands. I mentally prepared myself before I started pushing my body up using only my arms. I let out a tormented scream but I did it. I got to my feet and threw the debris to the side. 

"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" Arya cheered as she pulled me into a hug. "Come on, we gotta go!"

I wrapped an arm around her waist and swung us away from the collapsed building. We found the Vulture a few blocks away, perched on the corner of a billboard, his wingsuit folded around him.

He took off after a few minutes and I stuck a web to his wing. I swung Arya and myself from side to side to stay out of his sight as he glanced over his shoulder, presumably feeling the resistance of our weight dangling behind him. 

He picked up speed and broke through the clouds. The jet flew a couple of hundred feet ahead of us and within a few seconds, the Vulture had stuck himself to the underbelly of the jet. 

My body slammed against the side of the jet and I almost lost grip on Arya, but she managed to hold onto my arm. The Vulture's wings folded into an airtight capsule. "Crap," Arya muttered. She reached down with one arm and pressed a button on her belt. Her gloves began to glow a dim blue, as well as the pads on her knees and toes. 

"Okay, what are you doing?" I asked. 

"Hold on," she replied. She placed her palms against the outside of the jet and she stuck right to the surface. 

"Whoa," I breathed, watching in admiration. 

"I built them myself," she said. 

"That's awesome," I told her. "But what are we gonna do about this?" I motioned to the Vulture's wings. As I turned back around, my web broke and I got caught in the wind. I quickly stuck another web to the jet and heaved myself back up.

"You okay?" Arya asked. 

"Yep," I groaned as I tried to move the wingsuit, but it wasn't going anywhere. I turned around and kicked it. 

"You gotta hit it a bit harder," Arya commented after the wings didn't budge. 

"Gee, thanks for the advice," I replied. She shot me a glare before I hit the wingsuit again and to my surprise, it moved a little. A few seconds later, it abruptly came loose from the jet. The Vulture flew away and turned to us. 

My eyes widened and Arya and I quickly climbed to the other side of the jet. "Just the typical homecoming, on the outside of an invisible jet, fighting my date's dad!" I panted as it became harder and harder to crawl up with the wind pulling me down. 

The Vulture flew by and we had to duck to prevent getting our heads sliced off. I shot a web at his wing and tried stopping him from flying away, but the other side of the web broke and I was yanked into the air. The Vulture cut himself loose with his wing and I tumbled through the air. I turned around and saw the jet's engine approaching at an alarming speed.