chapter fifty-one
the power of the sun

now. this is going to hurt, but I need u guys to read these next two chapters in one sitting. they'll flow together better - as if they're just one after the other ... it'll give u the best experience, even if it is a painful one </3

    NINA DOESN'T know how long it has been. She knew it was night━she had been stuck here that long until Doctor Octavius returned. Outside, a thunderstorm raged on; and the lightning sparked a crack of sheer, blinding white beams through the cracks of the rotten wood━it illuminated Doc Ock and his workspace into an ominous scene straight out of Frankenstein. He had taken her from the cafe straight to the piers on the shore of the Hudson River. An old, dirty, rundown wharf that was on the brink of collapse into the water━lost and forgotten with the perfect view of Ellis Island through the splintered walls and shattered windows. The Statue of Liberty looked ghostly within the dark fog. 

    Nina tugged, annoyed, at the ropes that kept her arms clung to the wooden pillar above her. Her arms themselves were starting to ache from keeping them up for so long; each tug rubbed a burning rash against her wrist. Her hair and clothes were drenched from the rain that spat through the caved in roof above her. Chains wrapped from the wood and around her waist, keeping her frustratingly still. She shook her wet hair away from her face, frowning onwards to the Doc Ock's workstation. Barely anything was left of the brilliant scientist. Now, all he had become was a mutation of who he once was━a living and breathing host of an artificial intelligence parasite that lived and thrived; writhing in the form of metal arms from his back. They leered over his shoulder, one glanced backwards at her and she knew it could see her as if having eyes of its own with that single, gleaming red light in the centre of its talons. Octavius didn't just have eyes on the back of his head, he had eyes everywhere. 

    Octopuses were insanely intelligent. Studies were ongoing━still, they were finding more and more evidence to show just how smart they were; and it was almost chilling to think that they had even the capability to do things━treat animals━in such ways purely for fun. Like dolphins, and killer whales, an octopus held a dangerous capability beyond what the human mind originally had thought. They reminded her of artificial intelligence in that way, and now she looked at a way that they had been combined. It was haunting and terrifying to see it take over the mind of man. 

    And a genius mind at that. 

    Nina was a firm believer that the laws of science existed to govern the world. She believed it was a scientists right and responsibility to stay true to them to keep the world safe, humble and true━to make sure that no ambitious mind sought to defy them in a way that would hurt anyone else. There was a greater power than them all: laws that could not be broken, no matter how hard they tried without dire consequences. Newton's laws of motion were a perfect example of this. One: an object will not change its motion unless a force acts upon it. Such as a box. A box cannot move on its own unless, for example, someone or something physically uses force to push it or pick it up. Two: the force of an object is equal to its mass times its acceleration. F = ma, for her to simplify: the acceleration must be in the same direction as the applied force, such as a moving car. But third and final, she found the most important: that for every action in nature, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Now this could be applied to━for example━a spinning ball. The air is deflected to one side, but the ball reacts by moving in the opposite. This means that no matter what━no matter what━not one force can become so powerful without another that can meet it.

    Or, not one man can exceed over the impossible without being met with something just as powerful to knock him down. 

    It assured to Nina that Doc Ock won't win━that Spider-Man will be the force that will meet him and destroy whatever horrible plan he had in mind. And Nina was also sure she knew exactly what that plan was.

    She took a short breath, eyeing the Doc Ock with a keen eye. Nina recognised the set up he had made with a chill in her heart. His metal arms moved on their own accord, fixing this and turning that. One held up the encased treasure: the pure form of Tritium. Her breath hitched, another horrible thought hit her. There was only one place Octavius could have taken that from: Harry Osborn. She grew scared. Had something happened to him? Did Doc Ock hurt Harry? Or ... or worse yet ... had Harry given him the Tritium willingly ... in exchange for the person he has wanted to find since his father's death: Spider-Man.

    Nina refused to think that Harry would do such a thing ... and yet, now, these days, she wasn't too sure. 

    She grew wary. Nina tried her very best to not let her voice shake as she called out: "Y━You know what won't work." Doc Ock didn't turn around. Nina clenched her hands and said again, louder this time. "It won't work! You're only going to fail again━and the whole world is going to suffer for it. We'll all be sucked into the artificial sun's gravitational force━"

    "You're wrong!" he snapped at her, spinning around. His artificial arms reared back up at his movement and Nina hunched back, startled. In the gleaming reflection of the Tritium, Doc Ock's dark goggles glowed with the fire of insanity. "You don't know what you're talking about."

    "I do!" Nina replied, brave in the face of his metal arms that hissed at her like live serpents. "I was there at your first demonstration. You miscalculated━and you'll miscalculate again. This is unnatural. Y━you are trying to create energy that's against the laws of Thermodynamics its bound to fail! Because you can't create energy you're only borrowing it and it's unstable━!"

    "SHUT UP!"

    Nina's voice cut away in the back of her throat. She jumped, horrified at the way he raised his voice. Doc Ock breathed heavily━sweat beaded on his brow. He did not look healthy, at all.

    "I have spent years," breathed Octavius, "to bring this dream to life, girl. The power of the sun in the palm of my hand. I did not miscalculate. I did not. You will see. You will see. And nobody can stop me, now that Spider-Man's dead."

    Nina slouched agains the rope's hold. Her back hit the wet and cracking pillar, her breath leaving her. She shook her head, not believing him━refusing to believe him. Her heart pounded at a different pace; a terrified, broken pace. "No," she whispered, shaking her head again. "H━He's not dead. I don't believe you."

    Spider-Man couldn't be dead. Peter Parker couldn't be dead. He was her superhero━everyone's superhero. The hero that protects the little guy, who New York needed right now. Who she needed right now. Her hero, her friend, the man she loves━he couldn't be dead...

    "Believe it," said Doc Ock and he turned back to his work station. 

    Nina's mind was still reeling over what he said as he started to power up his cage; he flicked switches and he pressed buttons━and Nina felt as if she was back in that building in the centre of New York, watching as the whole wharf lit up with the rising growth of an artificial sun; rays of pure energy projected down towards the Tritium in the centre ... and already, a surge of heat burned through her clothes in the slight draft of wind. 

   She realised for a moment that, maybe, she was bearing witness to the end of the world. 

    She closed her eyes for a moment, hoping that all of this was a dream. When she opened them again, she knew it wasn't. 

    Then, out of nowhere, a voice whispered to her from above. "Surprise."

    Nina was glad her gasp hitched so much in the back of her throat, that no sound came out. She glanced upwards, and her eyes widened. Her heart leapt and swelled with the beam of her smile to see Spider-Man hover down from a thin twist of web. She went to say something, only to remember that Octavius was only just feet away. 

    She forced her smile away in a harsh swallow, glancing anxiously back at where he was still working. The artificial sun was starting to grow━blinding and burning. 

    Spider-Man gently tapped her arm to make her look up again. She stared through those lenses, and Nina was sure, now, more than ever that Peter Parker's eyes stared back at her behind them. "All right," he whispered. "I'm gonna break these chains and ropes, okay?" She nodded. "As soon as you get free━"

    He flung himself backwards when something large and very━very━sharp lodged itself into the column above Nina's head. She screamed, ducking down as much as she could. Spider-Man flipped backwards and landed nearby, fully in the light. Nina glanced up once the trembling settled, horrified to see a ripped piece of iron stuck out inches from her head.

    Doc Ock threw his goggles to the side as he turned to face Spider-Man. His metal arms elevated him off the ground and into the glowing shadow of his creation. "I should have known Osborn wouldn't have the spine to finish you!"

    Nina's heart continued to race, the thought of Harry being a part of this leaving her almost numb. 

    "Shut it down, Ock!" demanded Spider-man. "You're gonna hurt a lot more people this time."

    Octavius smirked. He did not care. "Well, that's a risk we're willing to take."

    Spider-Man tensed in his crouch, "Well, I'm not━"

    He leapt upwards and over Doc Ock's head. He twisted through the wide grabs his arms made, threading two webs and wrapping hem around their base in a swift movement in just the blink of an eye. Spider-Man stretched out towards the platform until the grouped arms swung back━they followed him and snatched the back of his suit. Nina watched, heart in her throat as he was thrown across the wharf; Spider-Man launched upwards and broke through the roof back into the night. 

    Nina wasn't prepared to give up yet. Just a few seconds later, the windows above the entrance shattered as Spider-Man shot back through. She breathed a small, smile of awe. He swung a wide arc━Doc Ock wasn't prepared. The vigilante's foot slammed into Octavius's chest and they both broke through the wooden floor, landing into the shallow water that had pooled beneath. 

    She couldn't see what was happening. She heard their scuffles and the mighty splash of water as they fought below, but Nina focused her eye back on the artificial sun. Her stomach dropped as she started to understand the size it had reached━and what was going to happen next.

    Nina closed her eyes and looked away when the first ray expanded out; wrapping back around and returning, plunging back into the depths of the star. She felt the ground shake━and the room around her. She opened her eyes and watched, petrified, as loose rocks and started to lift in front of her feet. Around her, followed fallen pieces of wood and rubble━they all started to rise and be dragged right towards the enveloping power in the centre ... and she was next.

    Her feet were pulled up first. She screamed, crying out when with a sudden jolt, her entire body followed. Her shoes were the first to go, and she watched them with another short scream as they disappeared━burning to nothing but ash even before they made it to the core. She clung onto the rope as tight as she could, but she knew it was no use. She was being pulled by a force she could not fight. The chain snapped from the column and it started to slip down to her bottom until it weight painfully at her ankles. Panes of glass shattered and showered around her. One nicked her arm and then her cheek. Loose iron plates flung away from their bolts and left the archways, the parapets and the walls and ceilings━all disintegrating in close proximity to the artificial sun's livid heat. 

    She sobbed, watching the chains roll down until they were free, spiralling into hell with the rest. A loud creak sounded and then the column she was tied to bent. She screamed again, her throat roar as the ropes slid down at each tilt it made━dragging her closer and closer to her demise. 

    Peter noticed and he glanced away from Doc Ock. Spider-Man froze, "HANG ON, NINA!" he shouted.

    She wanted to yell at him: 'HANG ONTO WHAT?!'

    He landed a final punch square in Octavius's face before launching out of the water towards her. Just as the rope slipped to the very tip and she was flung towards the fire, Spider-Man's web attached itself to her wrists and tugged her back with an aching strength. Nina's scream got caught in the back of her throat as she was propelled back to him, caught just in time━his arm wrapped tight around her waist and kept her close to his side. Nina breathed heavily as she was lowered back down onto the ground. 

    "Now, run━"

    Nina scrambled back when the entire stretch of wood slammed down onto Spider-Man, crushing him to the floor. The boards cracked beneath him at the impact. She glanced up and gaped, not sure what to do as Octavius flung the wood back and charged them━bloody and bruised, but not giving up. 

    She tried to rush forward, as if to help Spider-Man back up. But he shouted at her to stay back just as the talons of one of Doc Ock's arms latched around his torso and flung him upwards. He hit the metal casings above and dropped to the ground. He didn't get back up.

    Octavius turned to him with a menacing smile. Nina didn't know what to do. She shivered despite being burning hot. Barefoot and terrified with the entire wharf collapsing around her, she knew she was no match against Doc Ock as he closed in on Spider-Man━on Peter.

    But ... but she had to do something. She couldn't let Octavius hurt him. 

    She took a deep breath. And another. Then, she set her jaw with a fresh sense of courage. Nina silently stepped back as Spider-Man was pulled up from his feet━he dangled upside down in the Doc Ock's mercy. 

    Nina found a wooden piece of debris. Ignoring the splinters and the scratches on her feet, she grabbed it with a mighty grip and hefted it up into her arms. 

    Careful, she stepped around to avoid Doc Ock's eye. Silent and heart beating fast, Nina snuck up onto Octavius as he continued to raise Peter higher and higher━without a clue. 

    Soon, she was right behind him. Nina gritted her teeth and held up the piece of wood. With the most strength she could muster, she brought the piece of wood, hard, down onto his shoulder. 

    He staggered, surprised. Turning around, Nina saw something dark flash in his gaze before one of his arms sprung out and grabbed her by the waist. She cried out when she was thrown━Nina hit the ground and blacked out. 

*ೃ༄

    OUTSIDE WAS a battlefield of lightning and shattering power grids. Spider-Man and Electro battled one-on-one in a fierce, deadly grapple for power. Nina didn't look. She raced through the hallways and up the stairs, her heart pounding and her breath uneven. Her mind was buzzing as if she had been hit with a surge of electricity herself, giving her enough energy to rush up flights and flights of stairs, race through dead-littered hallways and not even blink at the foul stench of burnt bodies. If she did, she knew she'd throw up. 

    She could hear the lightning show. She could feel it and could see it light up in magnificent explosions yellow-gold in the corner of her eye. It shook the building around her, but she did not let it make her hesitate. She had to believe that Peter was okay. She had to believe that he was winning this fight. 

    Outside, he darted back and forth━he twisted and he turned and he spun; narrowly avoiding shattering vines of electricity that held so much power, they cut through power grids like they were nothing but brittle twigs. They snapped in half, they collapsed, they shattered into pieces and Spider-Man slipped through them all.

    Finally, she made it to the control room. The smell burned her nose and nearly made her choke━she had to cover it as she stepped inside and found a pile of charred bodies still in uniform. Nina bit the inside of her cheek and forced herself to look away, rushing around them to the console. Only then did she stop, taking a moment to look over the controls. 

    Her hands shook as they hovered over it, reading the names and trying to figure out where she needed to be. Her eyes quickly found the great, yellow padlock in the centre━and she knew she had found it. Another great burst of light outside shook the room. She trembled in her boots. Nina breathed heavily through her mouth, doing her best to ignore the smell and the smoke that still drifted off the dead bodies behind her. She grabbed the lock and tugged it━she knew it wouldn't come off just like that. 

    Nina let it go and searched around the console, checking drawers for a key. When she didn't find one, she glanced backwards. Around her, lights were still sparking━showering at each pulse from the battle raging in outside in the blackout night. Nina felt sick to her stomach as she searched each body carefully, stepping over them and telling herself to ignore how horrible they looked. She knew she will have nightmares. 

    Then, her gaze fell onto a glint hanging down from someone's rigid fingertips━frozen and fried in a grip they'd keep forever; a key hanging from a chain. 

    Nina set her jaw and reached forward. She hissed in pain as the metal burnt her palm but she yanked it━hard━and made a choked sound when she heard the sickening crack as it separated from the man's dead-tight grip. 

    She jumped over and landed back at the control panel. Briefly, she glanced upwards and saw Peter sweep through a wave of light━as if he was swimming through a golden, electrical river. Nina's fingers shook a little as she forced the key into the padlock and turned. When it clicked open, she raced to pull it away.

    Nina hitched her breath as she opened up the latch and stopped, her fingers inches from the lever she knew she must pull. She glanced upwards, keeping herself tense and still as she waited for Peter's instructions. 

    And so she watched. 

    Peter swung a sharp arc back towards the centre of the power grid. Rows and rows of powerlines━encased wires twisted and turned together had been ripped apart; and they showered horrific sparks. Peter attached webs from one point to another; spinning together a trap that Electro was about to fall right into. One web latched onto his arms, giving Spider-Man enough time to construct his plan as Electro struggled to free his hands.

    Peter pulled the webs together. One, two, three, four, five, six━all of them he grasped in one hand and dodged in a split-second of time away from Electro's furious strike. He jumped down onto the platform and held both sets of webs in either hand. Just as Electro readied another blast, Spider-Man stood himself tall in front of it. 

    Nina winced. She had to force herself to keep her hand away from the controls as she watched Peter take the blast of electricity right on. It struck his chest and he cried out, trembling and shaking as it spread all across his body in waves. 

    She shook her head, holding back tears as she listened to his pain. But Nina listened to what he said. She did not pull that lever. 

    Electro did not relent. He put more, more and more power into his strike━and soon the sight was a horrific one of blinding yellow that set even Nina's hair on end. She clenched her jaws, fighting every urge at Peter's scream. 

    He fell to his knees. But he did not let go. He took every blast, every pain━he took it all, for everybody in New York. Every child, every mother, every sister, brother and every father━each and every family that felt as if there was no one to protect them; overshadowed by the big buy in his tall tower ... but they did have somebody. They had their Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man, who would do anything to make sure they lived to see the next day. 

    Peter struggled as he forced his arms together. Slowly, he managed to grab all of his webs together as one, twisting them and dragging them down to the burst of Electro's power that burned his chest. They started to glow as strokes of lightning jetted out to attach━

    "NOW! NINA! NOW! DO IT NOW!"

    Nina gasped and lurched forward. Her fingers latched around the lever and she tugged it down. 

    The explosion sent even her flying back. She gasped as she hit the tiles, rolling through the open doors into the hallway. Nina pushed herself onto her hands, glancing upwards just in time to see Electro erupt into an eruption of lightning. All around them, the lights of New York started to return. Entire suburbs, skyscrapers and power across the river lit up like the sunrise had come early. 

    A final, mighty explosion made Nina cover her eyes. It lasted a few seconds, and when she looked back over ... Electro was gone. 

    Max was dead. 

    Nina stayed there for a moment, just to breathe. But then she forced herself onto her feet and ran back down, desperate to know whether Peter was okay. 

*ೃ༄

    WHEN SHE woke up, Nina was in a daze. For a moment, she thought she was somewhere else. She had imagined something else━her dreams a strange breath of a world she did not know, but had conjured in such a way that they felt similar; as if she had seen them before. But slowly, the world around her returned and as she started to wake, she recognised the feeling of something tender brushing against her cheek. Her eyes fluttered open, and they stared up into a pair of brilliant, light blue eyes. 

    Nina frowned, and then her brows lifted━soft and gentle as she realised. The scratch of Spider-Man's suit held her cheeks, gently coaxing her awake but the eyes she stared back into were not the lens of a mask ... but of the man behind it. 

    Peter Parker held his breath, watching her with anxious anticipation. His hair hung loose over his eyes, there was a cut on his lip and a bruise forming on his jaw. And she had this moment where she was shocked━not because she hadn't figured out the truth ... but to realise that he had not put his mask back on to wake her. He had held her, and he had stayed at her side━he had taken care of her as both Spider-Man and Peter Parker ... had trusted that when she woke up, she would know both.

    She didn't notice anything that might be still happening around them. She didn't think of Otto Octavius or the end of the world. Instead, Nina managed a little smile. She lifted her hand up━her fingertips brushed his forehead, down past his brows and to his lips. Peter Parker continued to watch her in bated silence.

    Nina's smile softened. She tapped his chin, still a little dazed but feeling safe no matter what. "Hey there, Tiger..." she murmured.

    And her smile brightened when he chuckled, relieved to see she was okay. Peter Parker cupped her cheek. "Hey there, Nina Hart."

    Nina Hart tapped his chin once again, tender. She nodded to herself, content. "I knew it was you. My Friendly Neighbourhood Peter Parker."

    The smile he held was something that warmed her heart because she new she had just warmed his. His brows knitted together, emotional to hear her speak in such pride and love━that his truth did not scare her ... but rather, some part her had known all along. 

    Nina blinked, trying to figure out where they were. She felt a slight chill instead of the burning warmth; the wind coursed through her ear and she glanced sideways. She frowned to see the night sky around them and the water miles below. She searched for the wharf, but all she saw was just a broken pier ... the wharf and the artificial sun were gone.

    Something sticky itched on her back━she soon realised that she was suspended on a web high up a pier crane. 

    Confused, she turned back to Peter clinging onto it beside her. "Where's ... What happened? Doc Ock...?"

    "He's gone," muttered Spider-Man, grave. "He ... he took the sun into the river ... it's all over."

    A weight lifted off Nina's chest. She nodded. It took her a short time to comprehend it, and maybe even then, she did not quite take in all that had happened. So, instead, she took a deep breath and said the one thing she knew did happen: "You saved my life," she said to Peter Parker. "You saved New York. Thank you."

    He nodded. He sighed, but still, he managed to give her the little Peter Parker smile. Nina managed to turn onto her side, clinging a hand around the web━far stronger at the touch; almost like a wire. She watched Peter for a moment and then she smiled again. 

    Peter frowned at her for a moment, "What?"

    "Nothing..." murmured Nina, gentle. "Just ... It's nice to see your eyes. I love your eyes."

    Peter pursed his lips and looked away. She watched him do it, and her gaze dropped, hurt as he understood. "Pete," she mumbled. "I ... I know you think we can't be together ... but I love you. Do ..." she hesitated. "Do you love me?"

    He nodded. Her eyes widened. Peter sighed but then nodded again. "Yes," he admitted in a whisper. "Yes. I━I do. I do love you, Nina Hart."

    She felt that familiar lump in her throat. "Then why isn't that enough?"

    "Because," Peter turned to lie sideways facing her, too. "Because I'm Spider-Man, Nina━Spider-Man will always have enemies. I can't let you take that risk. I will ..." he swallowed back his own tears as he promised: "... I will always be Spider-Man. You ..." his voice broke, "... you and I can never be."

    Nina felt those words hit her chest like a wave that almost downed her. She blinked away her tears and nodded. She hung her head and she hitched back her sob, not wanting to cry in front of him ... but she supposed there was no shame in it, not when he was crying, too. There was no shame in weeping for a love lost before it could even start. 

    She took a deep breath and took a moment. She knew that this was it━that Peter Parker was too stubborn, too protective to give them a chance, to let her make a choice in this ... But despite it, she still wanted him to know one thing: 

    "Pete," she said to him. He hummed a sad tune, letting her know he was listening with a heavy heart. "I ... you are Spider-Man. You will always be Spider-Man, and I love that. But ... but just understand that ... that you, Peter Parker━the man behind the mask ... I love him more than anyone else in this world. I love him more. I will always love you. Wherever you go, I will follow, I promise you that. And if you love me ... Why can't you respect me enough to make my own decision? Because I choose you, no matter what."

    Peter continued to hang his head and she pursed her lips. "I know there will be risks," she told him. "Heck, look at what we just went through! But ... But I want to face them with you. It's wrong that we should only be half alive━half of ourselves. Everything in this world and outside of this world is telling me that I love you, Peter Parker. I know that we're meant to be together, and I am prepared to be with you━all of you: Spider-Man and Peter Parker ... I have been waiting for you by my window, by every window ... I have always been waiting for you by my window."

    Peter Parker slowly met her gaze again. Nina reached out and held his cheek. "My window is open, Peter Parker. That is my choice and you can't make that decision for me. I just need you to make your choice, right now. And if you truly think that we can't be together, then I will walk away. But ... but if I'm prepared to take the risk ... why shouldn't we take it together?"

    She waited for his answer. She eyed his reaction━her heart racing and her breath hitched. Peter Parker gazed back at her, tender ... but he did not speak. 

    Nina pursed her lips. "Say something, please ..."

    Peter started to smile. Her brows lifted, hopeful. He started to lean in and her heart swelled. "Thank you," he said. "Thank you, Nina Hart."

    And then he finally kissed her. Peter Parker finally kissed Nina Hart in the light of the Hudson River shore; and in the skyline of New York City, they had their happy ending━no matter how fleeting it might be ... right now, it was beautiful. 

*ೃ༄

    NINA RAN. Oh, God, did she run. She ran faster than she was sure she has ever run before━sprinting and sprinting back all the way she had come; through the empty London streets, past the Thames. Past all the destruction, past all the rubble and past all the fires, she ran. Past the sirens and past the ambulances and past the blockades before anyone could stop her. Nina Hart ran and she ran and she ran all the way back to the Tower Bridge in the aftermath, her heart rising high in her chest. She ran with her mace, and her Spider Plush and tears in her eyes━she ran like a teenager in a movie; except this movie was bloody, and it was dangerous and it was deadly ... but she was running, in love, all the same. 

    The cars were still there. The bridge was abandoned, and it was on fire and there were drones broken and littered everywhere━it had become an entire battlefield, but the battle was over━the war had been won, but there was only one person she truly cared about.

    Nina stumbled and she tripped. She ducked around open car doors and coughed away the smoke. She jumped over rubble and soon dropped the mace━she hugged her plush, not once letting it go. 

    She searched for him. She held her breath and scanned everywhere around her. She called out his name and she eyed the skies━she checked inside the cars and even behind rubble. Nina Hart looked for Peter Parker, and she did not stop until she noticed a figure step into the light on the other side. 

    Nina froze, for a moment thinking that it wasn't him. She watched the figure limp out into the wreckage, clutching his side in a suit that was so burnt the colours had all melted together. His face was battered, he looked like he had broken a few ribs━there was blood, and there were bruises and there were burns; there was a wound on his arm, like a bullet had brushed past and nicked him. His mask hung at his side in one hand, forgotten as he glanced around━looking for her, too. 

    "Peter..." she breathed. She stumbled forward again. He didn't hear her, and so she called: "Peter!"

    He glanced up and his eyes widened. His shoulders lifted and Nina broke out into another sprint. "Nina━"

    Her sob of his name made him limp faster. No matter his pain, Peter Parker rushed to meet her in the middle ... and the Spider Plush slipped out of Nina's grip. It hit the ground and Nina gave it no second thought as she held out her arms and launched herself into Peter's own. 

    Peter wrapped his arms so tight around her it nearly squeezed the breath from her, but she didn't care. Nina cried his name once again, hiding her face into the crook of his neck. He was in pain━she could feel him tense and hiss when her hands rested on the burns on his back, but Peter Parker pushed through them all to lift her up off the ground━he forgot it all, even his strength as he clung onto Nina Hart with every thought left inside of him. He heard her heartbeat and he listened to it to calm him down, because that way, it told him that she was really here━that she was okay, and alive and she was really here ... she was real, she was his Nina, and he had won ... Mysterio was finally gone. 

    Only then did Nina realise that she had not even thought about the pain he was in. She gasped and pulled away, "Oh, my God!" she exclaimed, horrified. "Oh, my God━I━I am so sorry. Are you okay? Are you hurt?" she hitched tears as she trie to check him over. "Oh, my God━you're not okay, you're hurt━of course, you're not━"

    "No, no, no━" Peter cut her off and wrapped his arms around her once again, even tighter so he was sure she wouldn't be able to pull away. "No, just━I'm okay, I'm okay. I just ... just hug me, please..."

    Nina felt her toes lift off the ground again, and she found it so absurd for a brief moment━thinking back on the days when they were younger, and she had been taller. The memory was fond, and it made her relax━it reminded her within the destruction and aftermath; no matter what happened, no matter what suit he wore or what mask, she was still with Peter. 

    She closed her eyes and softened━she titled her head and rested it on his shoulder, her nose nuzzled back into his neck. Nina rubbed the top of his back gently until she finally just fell still, deciding to listen to him breathe━to feel the warmth and the way his hair tickled her ear when he leaned into her, finally able to relax, too. 

    It was a long time that they just stood there━that Peter just held her, tight and unrelenting, and she stayed within it, because she started to understand that he really, really needed her (probably more than she needed him right now).

    Still hugging her, Peter took a short breath and whispered into her ear, "A━are you okay?"

    She nodded into his neck. She nodded a few times before she found her voice again, "I'm okay."

    "Is everybody else okay?"

    "Yeah, yeah," she assured him. "Yeah, we're all okay."

    He sighed into her hair. She was still off the ground━Nina was pretty sure he didn't even realise. He could lift an entire bus if he wanted to, she was nothing in comparison━as light as a feather. And she tried her best to be just as calming and soft. 

    But even while Nina tried to calm him down, her own fear had lifted. Peter's tight grip stopped her shakes and the race of her heart ... his warmth made her feel like she was back home, wrapped in a blanket with a hot chocolate in her hands ... and she was safe. 

    "What happened?" he then asked her.

    "It was crazy," she managed, still not opening her eyes. "T━there was just the drones, and Flash was filming everything a━and━but Felicia was there and she helped and she came back━she came back━but then the drones were following us again ... and then ... they just stopped." Nina let out a breath once she finished. "Was that ... that was you, wasn't it?"

    Peter nodded. "Yeah."

    Slowly, their hold on each other relaxed. Nina's feet touched the ground again and carefully, they both pulled away━gradual, lingering, not too sure whether they really wanted to. She glanced up slightly to meet Peter's gaze, her hand leaving his chest to hover a tender touch to the ugly scratch on his cheek bone. Even if she didn't touch it, he winced and so she instead reached up further to tuck some of his curls off his face. 

    Then he noticed something and quickly stepped in close, his hand cupping her neck to inspect the little cut she had, too, on her cheek. "Hey, hey, you're hurt━"

    "No, I'm fine," she promised him quickly, taking his wrist. "I'm fine, it's okay. Is ... Did you get him?"

    Realising who she meant, Peter's lips pursed. His hand fell and a hard look settled on his brow. Silent and sombre, he nodded. 

    Nina awkwardly tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "Well, uh ..." she glanced around, quickly realising she had left the weapon she brought a good few cars away. "Um ... I did bring a Medieval mace I found in case you needed help  ... but I dropped it ..."

    Peter breathed a chuckle. She smiled. He nodded and chuckled again. "Thanks," he told her. 

    Nina's smile fell when this nervous breath filled her as she remembered something. Her cheeks went rosy red. "Uh━there's━um━" she reached into her pocket. "I actually━well, Happy was in the tower with us━when were you going to tell me he actually works for you, now?" 

    Peter made a face, confused. She didn't see it, still searching for this little box. "But━uh━he gave me this━"

    Nina pulled the box out and Peter's eyes widened. He recognised it immediately. She carefully opened it for the first time and what was inside made her heart swell. It was a necklace━a sweet, little glass necklace of a mug ... a little mug that she immediately knew what it was supposed to be. She smiled━a beautiful, pretty smile. 

    The only thing was━

    "Oh, no!" Peter held her hands in his around the box, upset to see the necklace was broken. Nina glanced up, taken aback. "Oh, no━Nina, I'm so sorry," he said. "I am so sorry. I━I had this plan, this stupid plan..."

    "Peter━" she tried but he didn't hear.

    "━I wrote it all down. I━I was gonna buy you this and give it to you in Paris at the top of the━"

    "━Pete━"

    "━But things changed and we didn't get to go to Paris and I was gonna give it to you in Prague but━"

    Nina gave up trying to speak and so she just kissed him. Peter hunched up in surprise━and he was still still when she broke away just as quickly with a sweet, little shy smile. 

    Her fingers fiddled with the broken necklace, blushing. "You got a mug 'cause I like hot chocolates."

    Peter blinked. Then he chuckled, a little slow to focus. "Yeah," he finally said. "Yeah, 'cause you're obsessed."

    Her smile brightened momentarily and she glanced down at it, happily turning it over in the box. Peter watched her and frowned, "I'm sorry it's broken."

    But Nina only shook her head. "No," she whispered. She picked it up and set both pieces in her palm━and she found it perfect. Because they weren't perfect themselves. Their lives were crazy, and off the rails and a little broken, but it was them, and that was what made it amazing. "I like it better this way."

    Peter's eyes turned delicate. A little shattered, just like the necklace, but still one of her favourite things about him. He tilted her head upwards where his lips were waiting to kiss her in a breathtaking moment that left her mind buzzing. 

    And when he pulled away Nina just kissed him again. 

    She was happy. 

*ೃ༄

    a/n: Nina dropping the spider plush to run to Peter>>>>

    now ... the next chapter is heavy. I feel like you all know that this next chapter is going to be super heavy. but I'm putting out a warning anyway. 

     I love you guys <3