Carol Danvers, also known as Captain Marvel, sat atop a skyscraper over fifty floors high.
For years, this had been her daily routine. Sometimes, she would be there with other heroines, and other times she would sit alone, just like now. She sat alone on a skyscraper abandoned by any life inside, half-destroyed.
It wasn't always like this, but things changed after he disappeared.
This place was her only reminder of him, perhaps because his apartment and all his belongings had long turned to ashes.
It wasn't as if she was in love with the place or anything like that; quite the opposite. This place always reminded her of her failures, just like the city reduced to ruins or the planet where the sun no longer shone.
The only reason she, or any other heroine, visited this place was that it was the last known location of Peter Parker, also known as Spider-Man.
She could thank Stark's personal satellites, though not Stark himself, as he was one of the first to die when the city went to hell.
And she could thank Doctor Octopus, although she cursed him as well, as he was a big reason for Peter's departure, and she wanted to kill him in the worst possible way.
And she did, slowly crushing his head after removing his metallic limbs. She felt satisfaction as his head turned to mush in her hands.
But none of that mattered, for the only man who had ever loved her for who she was, who had been with her in her darkest moments, was gone.
And since she killed Doctor Octopus, she kept returning to this place, hoping Peter would come back someday.
Peter Parker, the man who helped her break free from her alcohol addiction, the man who was her anchor in her darkest moments and lifted her from her depression.
The man who didn't seem to care about the challenges the world threw at him because he always overcame them.
Or so she thought. Five years ago, Julia, the former Madam Web before her powers were taken by the original Madam Web, had told her that Peter had already reached his limit.
In a rash decision, he was about to end his life once and for all, if not for the intervention of Madam Web, who sent him to a better place, leaving this world to fall into ruin on its own.
At first, she didn't believe it, but day by day, the city sank further into hell, and Spider-Man never returned to save the day.
No matter how hard the cheap Spider-Man knock-off tried, he couldn't make it. In fact, the boy died in his first encounter with Kraven the Hunter; he couldn't even put up a fight.
Meanwhile, Peter had fought and defeated the man many times, even while he was still in high school.
"What a miserable life without him," Carol began to laugh at herself and her pathetic life.
Many heroes, villains, mutants, and civilians died, whether from New York or elsewhere in the world, due to natural disasters that kept hitting the planet since his departure.
Julia explained that it was happening because Peter was gone, and Earth-616 had been cut off from the Web. It was no longer the main universe, having become a mere branch of the network that held the world Peter now inhabited.
Carol bit her lip, and her laughter turned to tears. She had always felt a bit of jealousy toward Peter whenever she saw him making jokes and laughing as if the world didn't matter, as if he wasn't carrying a weight on his shoulders.
Only to find out he was holding the entire multiverse on his shoulders, while the world kept throwing dirt at him, and he had never been truly happy since the day he gained his spider powers.
It hurt her deeply to know this, especially when Julia explained it.
She had even punched Julia when she found out Julia could have helped him but chose not to, just to change him to fit her idea of what he should be.
But what hurt the most was her jealousy. She envied what she had thought was his happiness, which was actually pain-pain no one could bear without crumbling long ago.
She had envied his fame, thinking that children wanted to grow up to be like him, though she now realized all he got was defamation and hatred from citizens who now begged for his return.
It seemed she had harbored many misconceptions about the man she loved, whom she envied and resented, yet loved nonetheless. She would never have allowed any woman to take that great man away from her.
But there was something else that outweighed her love for him-something she hadn't admitted to anyone.
She suffered from low self-esteem. Whenever she stood beside him, she felt she didn't deserve to be near him, that she wasn't worthy of him because of her jealousy and the shame of being known as a drunkard in the hero community.
This was what drove her to leave Earth the first chance she got without telling him, without even a note. Over time, she convinced herself he had likely forgotten her, which led her to start dating others.
When she returned, she didn't even greet him and instead started dating Rhodey. She could see the pain in his eyes, even through his red mask, but she ignored it, flaunting her relationship with Rhodey to prove she was over him, as he seemed to be over her.
But she was shocked to learn that he had been waiting for her all along. He had been loyal to her, and the shock was so intense that it plunged her into depression for days.
When she finally gathered the courage to approach him, he had already moved on. Since then, she watched him from afar, not wanting to break his heart like she had before.
Even after the Superior Spider-Man incident, she didn't want to get close, afraid of making things worse. She already suspected it wasn't him, knowing the man under the mask well enough to know he wouldn't stoop to that level.
When he finally explained what had happened, she just walked away, unable to stand by his side.
That became her biggest regret because that moment was the last time she ever saw him. She wished she could have supported him, and maybe their relationship could have revived.
Carol covered her face with her hands, continuing to cry.
This was her nightly routine: fighting all day, returning to this rooftop to cry over herself and her mistakes. "I just wish I could fix this future... to be with him."
As Carol wept, lost in her misery, a small voice whispered in her ear, "Do you want to fix your mistake?"
Carol jumped up and began to float. "Who are you? Who's speaking?"
She found no one after scanning the area, then grabbed her hair, tears flowing like a river. "Am I finally going insane?"
"You're not crazy," the voice whispered again, making her tremble with fear.
"This...this isn't real. I'm hallucinating," Carol said in disbelief.
"You're not," the voice whispered sharply. "This is as real as the Earth you see before you."
Carol yelled, "Who are you?"
"I am your chance. I am your wish," replied the voice.
Carol's eyes widened in shock. "You... No, this is impossible."
The voice whispered again, "Nothing is impossible in your world now. What's your decision?"
Carol hesitated, though the voice was offering her a chance. "What do you want in return?"
The voice murmured, "I'm doing a favor for my friend, the spider, so there's no price."
Carol's eyes widened in shock. "You know Peter?"
"I know him; he doesn't know me," the voice whispered again.
"How do you know him when he doesn't know you?" Carol replied in disbelief and doubt.
"It's none of your business. You're not ready and you never will be ready to know that, so ignore it."
Carol swallowed hard, afraid of what the voice could do, and decided to change the subject.
"You'll give me another chance... how?"
"Simple. I'll grant your wish. I'll send you back in time-not physically, but your soul and memories-to the moments before Peter's disappearance. But there's one condition," the voice whispered.
"What's the condition?" Carol asked, determined to seize the opportunity.
"You cannot tell anyone about this meeting."
Carol blinked twice, her eyes red from crying. "That's it?"
"That's it."
She nodded. "I agree."
The voice whispered again, "Good, but know this-I'll send you back to just before his disappearance. The rest is up to you."
Carol nodded firmly. "Don't worry. I'll handle it. I won't let him slip away again."
Just as she finished her sentence, she felt a blow like one from Galactus, throwing her back. When she opened her eyes, she was in her room in the Avengers Tower.
"It worked. I'm back... Peter!" Carol, glowing with a golden aura, flew out, shattering her window, heading directly to that building.
She neared, and only then noticed Peter throwing himself off the building. She screamed, "Nooooo!"
Carol accelerated so much that the world became mere streaks of light, preventing her from noticing the white glow enveloping Peter. But before it grew stronger, she caught him.
The speed made it difficult for her to stop, so she wrapped her body around Peter's to shield him.
They collided with several buildings, ending up in an abandoned one in a poor area, with Carol taking most of the impact to protect him.
Peter, weary, looked up to see Carol, who had shielded him from the buildings and had passed out because of it. "C... Carol."
______________________________
There are more chapters of this story on Petreon More will be released.
Just scan the plus code.
htt+ps://w+ww.patre+on.com/c/caesar20/pos+ts