Reconcile › P. Parker [2]

007. goodbye vacation

› CHAPTER SEVEN ‹

A continuous stabbing pain traveled up his body as he limped through the eerily still New York City street. He looked worse for wear, with only one shoe on—the other nowhere to be found—torn pants and bruised skin. Every step he took, blood-spattered the rubble covered concrete behind him. Thunder crackled across the light blue sky as the sun set slowly over the horizon.

Suddenly he falls onto his knees and the scenery changes into a wooded area, twigs and leaves digging into his exposed skin. He reached forward to dig his fingers into the soft Wakandan soil, but instead of meeting with grass and dirt, his hands instead meet with a pile of dust. His throat closes as he screams and falls back onto his butt, staring at his blood-stained hands, that was now coated in a light layer of human dust.

"No, no, no..." Raleigh cries softly to himself, aggressively rubbing his hands down his thighs. He hiccups and when he looks back up from his hands and legs, the empty area is covered in bodies. Right in front of him, Captain Steve Rogers laid, staring blankly at him. "Wha...? C-Captain Rogers?"

"Ral—" A thick cough. "Raleigh...?"

The raven headed boy snapped his eyes from Steve and to the person calling out to him. Thor laid on his stomach, his broken fingers reaching out for him. Raleigh crawled closer to him but stopped when he saw the same colored hair as his own sprawled out just beside Thor.

"He killed him." Thor noticed where Raleigh was looking and explained as best as he could. Tears ran down Thor's puffy cheeks. "He killed my brother... He—the Bastard. He did it."

A rustling to their left, brought Raleigh's attention to it as Thor went still. Peter fell against a tree, a gash covering his face as blood pooled down it and into his eyes and mouth. Raleigh froze, his body shaking.

"We couldn't do anything against him," Peter said, almost as if he didn't realize anything was wrong with him. "He was too strong."

Raleigh shakes his head and Peter bursts into tears. "But Mr. Stark—He—"

Lights flicker around them and suddenly a bright golden-white hue covered the Wakandan land and causing Raleigh to partially cover his eyes from it. He stumbled backward as wind and dust rushed past him, the dust coating his hair and clothes.

The illumination faded, leaving Raleigh standing in the wrecked Avengers building and property. Smog was thick around him, making it hard for him to see anything in front of him—all but one person.

Tony Stark sat, leaning against a broken concrete wall. Burns covered half of his body and his hand, charred black, laid heavily beside him. It was exactly how it was that day.

"Mr. Stark..." Raleigh's voice is small and he could barely hear it himself. He started to take a step to reach his mentor, but something grabbed his ankle, causing him to trip. He snaps his eyes shut, feeling an unusual amount of fear travel through his body for such a small fall. However, before he can meet the rubble covered ground, a pair of hands wrap around his upper arms.