The Rise to Heroism {Loki Laufeyson} Book One

Epilogue

One year later...

The breeze cools my face, settling in my bones and freezing my nerves. I open my eyes to the glittering lights of New York City at night. The cars whizzing past below me, the honks, the yells, and all of the people milling around the streets. The lonely feeling creeps up on me again, aching in the pit of my empty stomach. I didn't eat before coming here because when I looked in the mirror at myself, I vomited. Now, that wasn't an insult toward myself, but something about this whole night just unnerved me, causing me to vomit my guts up. But now, as I watch the couples roaming the streets, laughing and kissing, I smile through the numbness, the ache subsiding.

You're okay. You always have been. It's fine. Be normal now. I scold myself inwardly, like I do everytime I get the familiar ache of loneliness. I can never find it's origin, maybe it's from my father's arrest, but something deep inside me knows that it's something else...

"Punch?" I start, turning. There he stands with two red cups, brown curls hanging low in his guilty chocolate eyes. The absence of his glasses makes him look more mature, twice as attractive as before. Peter Parker. "I'm so sorry I'm late. I had a traffic thing." He bites his lip, looking at me from under his lashes. He's fidgety, anxious - he knows that I'm frustrated with him.

I grin up at him as he hands me a drink. "Did your traffic jam have anything to do with being... I don't know... shot at by machine guns?" I nod down at the police cars on the other side of town, the red and blue lights relfecting off the windows of various apartment complexes.

"Yeah, yeah - that was implied," He laughs, peering past me at the scene, then looking down and shuffling his feet. "It was implying that."

I laugh. He can say it so casually now that it's almost funny.

Ever since he was bitten at Oscorp, our relationship has been flipped upside down. He turned into Spider-Man, I turned into the useless girlfriend rooting for him at the sidelines. I really hate that - not being able to fight alongside him. But I don't have any powers of my own, nor do I have any fight training. And I'm not willing to just walk into Oscorp and force some random radioactive spider to bite me just so I can help my boyfriend avoid near death experiences by himself. I love him, more than anything else in the world, but spiders just irk me to no end. Strange though; my boyfriend is Spider-Man...

I turn away from him, looking out over the balcony. I love this time of year. Christmas. Cold nights worthy of a fire, cozy sweaters, lights strung among the bare branches of trees, kindness, love. It's the only time of the year in which the world works together to change for the better - even if it is just for a month.

"It's so pretty down there." I say and he joins me.

"Yeah, and Harry's balconies view is just breath taking." He muses next to me.

"Harry's parties are awesome anyway - or so I heard. I was never invited last year, so the start of twelfth grade for me was just the anticipation of his Christmas party."

Peter nods, reaching out and pulling me closer. "Well, I couldn't care less if this was Harry's party or not. Just being here with you is perfect enough." He smiles warmly down at me.

I feel the flush in my cheeks and look down shyly, feeling the ache again, but I push it aside. You're having a good time. Stop it. I tell myself. "Peter?" I mumble to my feet.

"Yes?"

"I love you." Did that just come out of my mouth or am I hallucinating from the alcohol in my punch?

I look up at him from under my eyelashes. His face looks shocked, then it turns to a wide smile. "I love you too." He says and leans down, kissing me. He's always kissed me softly, like I was fragile and could be easily broken.

I hear someone clear their throat from behind us and I pull away, blushing. The ache returns, but I just assume that it's from the loss of Peter's lips on mine, so again, I ignore it, acting normal.

"I have a spare bedroom if you two need it." Harry. He looks dashing in his tuxedo, his hair slicked back. His blue eyes pierce mine and I feel a tug of familiarity at the sight of them, like his eyes remind me of someone elses. I get a flash of sweaty, blonde hair whipping in the wind and I cough, blinking rapidly. I look back at Peter just to see if he saw what I saw, but he's just staring back at Harry.

"We won't be needing it." Peter assures him. Harry smiles and shrugs. "Just informing you of it's existence, you crazy kids." He jokes.

I chuckle falsely. Harry and his vulgar jokes can get too much at times, getting on even Peter's nerves. But, he's good about it, taking him down a peg each time. He knows how to handle his friend when he steps out of line, dragging him right back in. Peter does the same with me, which is a comforting trait in him ever since my father...

"What do you need Harry?" Peter lets his hands fall away from me and approaches Harry.

"I have something you might want to see. It's important."

"Harry, what's wrong?" Peter asks, his body tensing.

Harry's jaw locks, his expression grim. Something in his eyes tells me that something is terribly wrong. "C'mere."

I watch as they whisper to each other. Peter's eyes widen and they dispatch. I watch Harry stride back into his house, looking over his shoulder and catching my eye. He turns away, disappearing inside. Peter makes his way back over to me. "I have to go-" He stares at the door in which Harry left through.

"Peter, what's going on?" I grab his arm. He starts, turning and glancing down at my hands wrapped around him.

"Harry needs me to see this and I may not be back. Don't wait up for me, just go home, okay?" He whispers, prying my fingers off of him.

"Peter-" I try.

"He has information that involves me and my parents, Ad. I need to leave." He leans down and kisses me. "I'm sorry." My heart breaks for him. His parents? This isn't good.

He leaves, taking the path that Harry took to leave. I stand there, shocked and scared for him. What can Harry possibly have?

In the corner of my eye, I see movement. My head snaps in the direction of the intruder and I find a large, black wolf sitting in front of me. I yelp, knocking into a woman.

"I'm so sorry!" I apologize and I look at her. Long black hair frames her scarred pale face and scarlet eyes burn into my soul. She makes a noise in her throat resembling a growl and moves away from me, disappearing into the crowd. I turn back to the wolf but it's gone, Peter taking it's place.

"We need to get out of here." He grabs my arm and starts dragging me away.

"You just left! Why are you back here so quickly?" I ask, confused beyond belief.

"What do you mean? I was gone for an hour. The real question is - why are you still here?" He leads me through the crowd to the elevator.

I look back and spot the wolf. For a split second, I can almost see hurt in it's eyes and I feel a strange longing to go back and comfort it.

"Peter, the wolf-"

"Addie, please. We're in serious danger just being here. We're both under surveillance."

Yeah? Tell me about it... I think, still staring at the wolf. We board the elevator and Peter addresses the woman that stands in the corner, watching us. It's the same woman I bumped into on the balcony.

"Going down?" He asks, pressing the lobby button.

She grins maliciously. "Way down." She all but cackles.

(AND SCENE! Thank you guys so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it almost as much as I enjoyed writing it! Also, almost five hundred reads, oh my god - I am so proud! It's amazing to have written this and to have gotten such a powerful response. Now, I've begun writing The Rise of Hel, so be prepared because the sequel is batshit crazy. Don't worry, your questions will be answered soon enough! And yes, if you're confused about what's going on, yes, this girl is Becca, but just remember that she knows NOTHING about her past life, other than the constant ache that makes her feel like something is missing. I'd tell you more, but you'll learn all of that soon enough.

So, I love you guys to the moon and back and I really hope you enjoyed this fic! I'll see you in the next one <3)