Febuwhump 2024: Day 1: Helpless
Ro
Patrolling with Peter like any other day, we swing and fly from rooftop to rooftop to look for anyone who might be in trouble.
For now, things seem clear. We sit down and look at the moon and I look at my phone to see the time. “Crap, I’ve gotta be home or my dad will kill me.”
“Swing you home?” He offers.
“It’s far. Plus, I can literally fly.” I point out.
Peter grins. “I feel like your powers don’t obey the laws of physics at all.”
“The city has been attacked by an alien army commanded by a Norse God and you’re worried about physics?” I question.
He shrugs. “Point taken.”
I smile at him, soon spotting something behind him just as I’m about to leave. A drone. “Pete.”
He turns around. “It looks like trouble.”
Peter is about to shoot a web at it when it shoots a dart that lodges into my side as I push him out of the way.
It only gives me a slight sting, but I don’t know what’s inside. “ARIES, what is this thing?”
“It’s full of an unknown substance.” My AI replies.
“No shit.” I mumble. “Alright.”
“Taser webs!” Peter shouts, taking the drone down with one. “Man, these things are handy. Ro, are you alright?”
“I feel fine, but there was something in that dart.” I say.
He frowns. “Why did you take it for me? It was heading right for me and…”
I kiss him. “You know why. I love you.”
Peter sighs. “I know why…but I love you too and you shouldn’t throw yourself into danger for me.”
“We can argue about it later.” I tease. “We should go to the compound and see what we can find out about the dart.”
He nods. “Yeah.”
I jump up to fly and activate my powers, but nothing happens. Usually, a burst of fire would envelope me and allow me to fly. But now I don’t have so much as a spark.
Peter blinks at me. “You okay?”
A bit of panic sets in. “I-I can’t…I can’t use my powers. I can’t fly, I can’t…” I try to summon flames to my hands like I’ve done a million times before, but again, nothing happens. “It won’t work. Why won’t it work?”
“The dart.” He says.
I sigh. “Of course. But who has the technology to take my powers just like that? My dad tried years ago to take Extremis out of my blood but it never worked.”
Peter gulps. “I don’t know.”
I shake my head. “I shouldn’t waste time speculating. We need to get out of here before-“
And just like that, the sky erupts with drones. But this time, they have bullets. Peter is able to dodge them and shoot webs to take them down, but me?
I’m a sitting duck just waiting to get killed up on this roof. There’s no cover, unless you count Peter’s body trying to shield mine. But even that stops working when the drones surround us on all sides.
I can’t fly my way out of here. There’s no ladder down and I can’t jump from this high up without killing myself. What can I possibly do?
Peter doesn’t seem to know either, but takes my hand and swings from building free to building with his free arm.
The drones effortlessly follow us and Peter does what he can to stop them, but it’s not enough. A bullet launches into my side. Another whizzes passed my head. One finds its way into my arm.
I hear myself screaming, ducking my head down and falling onto my stomach where I lay helplessly. I see Peter get shot, causing him to jolt backwards and fall. “No!”
I wince as I try desperately to move and help him, crawling to his side. “No…no, P-Pete…”
He rolls over to face me. “P-Play dead…J-Just…”
I do just that, lying still and watching Peter do the same. The drones circle us for a while before leaving, likely thinking we’re dead for real. I wonder if there’s a pilot behind the drones or if it’s all controlled by a computer.
“Friday, vitals.” I hear above me, staying still for so long that I’m starting to doze. Blood loss, maybe. “God. Ro. Pete.”
I open my eyes. “Dad.”
He sighs in relief. “You looked dead. Scared the devil out of me.”
“Looks like I did a good job convincing those drones then…” I say, wincing. “Not before getting shot a few times though.”
I turn to Peter, whose wound goes through his back and side. I try to launch forward and help him, but Dad keeps me seated on the rooftop. “Don’t you move. Peter, you alright?”
“I’ll live. Not the worst Spidey injury I’ve gotten. I heal fast.” He reassures us both. “But Ro…”
“I heal fast too.” I point out.
“Not as fast as me. You just have a high pain tolerance and heal a bit faster than the average person. But you’re not me. And you’re stubborn.” Peter replies.
“I’m fine.” I groan.
Dad inspects me. “You still have a bullet in you.”
“Okay, not fine, but…close.” I mutter. “Don’t get all overprotective about it.”
His eyes are laser focused as he continues to scan my body. “Too late.”
I close my eyes tiredly and Dad immediately asks me to open them. “Keep looking at me. You can do that for me, yeah?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
He looks anxious. “What happened?”
Peter explains everything to him while swinging back to the compound, Dad carrying me there. Even with a hole in his side, Peter is able to swing from web to web all the way there with no issues.
Me on the other hand? Not so much.
I pass out on the way to the compound and wake up in bed in the medbay, groaning in pain. “Ugh…Peter…where’s…”
“He’s alright, kiddo. He’s already healing on account of the whole enhanced humanoid spider kid thing. Resting. Like you need to. He told me what happened.” Dad explains.
“My powers…” I mourn. “Are they gone for good?”
He frowns. “I don’t know. Whatever was in that dart was what did it, but…no matches on what it is or what it did. We’ll find out. And you’ll be fine, kiddo.”
“And the bullet holes currently in my body?” I ask.
Dad scoffs, trying to laugh but not quite able to. He’s still worried. “One in your right side, but superficial all things considered. You’re lucky. One went right past your head. Grazed it. And your arm…the force of the bullet shattered your wrist. Not sure of how that’s gonna pan out but apparently we’re looking at physical therapy for that. A.K.A no more patrol with Peter for the foreseeable future.”
I throw my head backwards on my pillow in frustration. “I hate this so much. Hate it. I mean, those drones came out of nowhere. We didn’t do anything wrong and they just took us down.”
He nods. “I know. Just don’t…don’t worry about that. I’ve been working on analyzing the drones and figuring out who the hell sent them but for now, I need you to rest. I’m serious.”
Dad knows me well enough to know I won’t take this well. Won’t lay down and relax when there’s people in the city who need saving. That’s why Peter and I patrol. It’s small time work, but it’s important to us.
My breath shakes as I exhale slowly. “Yeah…I get it. But I don’t have to like it.”
“You do have to listen though.” He urges me. “If you go out there when you’re still healing, it’s gonna make things worse. Even once you feel mostly normal I’m not letting you go on any…hero quests anytime soon. Especially with the wrist.”
I look at my bandaged up hand, fingers shaking but unable to move beyond that. “I can’t make a fist or…anything.”
“That’s what PT is gonna be for, mini.” Dad says. “It’s gonna be alright, you hear me?”
“Ever the optimist.” I tease. “What’s gotten into you?”
He grins. “Who knew having a kid would simultaneously drive me insane and make my heart grow five sizes Grinch style? I-I mean it makes me want to soften every blow and…be optimistic for you.”
I manage to smile at that, knowing he’s never that honest about emotions. “Eww, feelings. You touchy feely fool.”
Dad groans. “Alright, never doing that again.”
“Love you tons.” I tell him.
“Love you tons.” He replies. We’ve been saying this phrase for as long as I can remember him being in my life.
Sooner or later, I fall asleep with pain meds in my system and my dad at my side. Being dormant is going to suck, but I know he’ll be here.
Plus, that probably means more lab time with him, so that’s a bonus.
Like I said, I love him tons.
(Barely really any whump in this and not terribly long and I don’t know that I like it. Sighhhhhh)
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So I haven’t talked about this on main before, but the situation in South Gaza has gotten so horrifying that I’m p much throwing caution to the wind to desperately plead for eyes on this. I’m raising awareness about stories from activists in Gaza right now, including one of our own.
My lovely, wonderful friend Swin (aka tumblr user @combaticon) was deployed as a volunteer medic to a Gaza hospital on the 9th.
When the bloodshed started, she heard they needed extra hands in Gaza, she spoke Arabic and had the training, and she went.
I’ve been in contact with her throughout. She’s so incredibly brave it takes my breath away. My heart bleeds for these children she’s taking care of and how resilient they are is… astonishing.
Swin and these poor people have been under siege for so long, and they’re in desperate need of critical supplies. They have to filter water through their clothes, and it’s getting dangerously cold. Foods finally been getting through, but there’s not enough blankets and jackets to go around and there’s no fuel for the generators.
Their comrades in the West Bank have been completely pushed out by settler thugs. It’s incredibly unsafe to even be doing humanitarian work for Palestinians. Remember this the next time a Zionist tells you they’re doing this to ‘feel safe’. The IOF is arming lynch mobs.
On a personal note, this has been the most gut-wrenching week of my life. Every day when I wake up without a text from her I feel so much fear. I fight back the grief but I don’t know how to help or what to do. It’s terrifying.
Swin has asked for nothing, absolutely nothing other than something it can show the people around it to make them feel like they’re not going to be abandoned. To make sure they’re not forgotten in some pit praying Rafah opens before Israel decides to slaughter them all.
Today was a bad day. She’s alive but beyond worrying about her privacy now; she’s asked me to share this and to beg that we not lose steam and forget about them. Please share this, and please keep being fucking annoying and loud and digging your heels in with fury because we cannot let these people die silently.
[Times of Gaza] [QUD network] [Eye on Palestine]
[link to GCC registration website as the link in this picture is broken]
Please keep in mind that the Global Conscience Convoy is NOT soliciting donations, and registration is to sign up for attendance to the actual event in Cairo. There’s a list of other actions you can do to boost awareness for their protest at Rafah on the website.
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