Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.
Chapter 36- Respite.
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"Centaurs and Satyrs!" Well, that was not the first thing I was expecting to hear now that we are finally out of this hell hole. "'Tis Thor himself, with his Lady Jane!" I hear, still holding onto the cable attaching me to Thor. And knowing that there are people up there who I would rather not see me, I pull tightly on the cable, retracting it from where it was tied around Thor's arm. He doesn't even notice.
With Thor no longer pulling myself and Felicia up, I attach myself to the rough walls and wait there, still holding onto Felicia. She looks at me questioningly but still stays hugging me and not raising a fuss. She isn't that worried because the exit of the hole is right above us, and the sunlight is streaming down. I quietly shush her since I can't make the gesture right now, and she nods her head understandingly.
"Aye, Olympian. And be glad that we are all you behold!" Thor says as he lands outside, carrying Jane on his arm and attracting all the attention. Good, with him being a glory head, I could probably find an opportunity to rush out of here without being spotted. "The trolls beneath look now to their own hides, not to conquest." Thor says, a hint of bragging in his tone that he dealt with them all on his own. Good, be a glory hog so I can sneak out.
"Let them come, Odinson! We would send them howling, just thee and I! We-" A voice bellows, so loud I can hear it reverberating around the cave walls. Crawling up cautiously, I peek over the edge from a dark area, trusting in my costume to hide me. I spot the owner of that loud voice, a man with only wearing green pants with a diagonal suspender that goes over his shoulder. He also has a brown skirt and a belt over it. His upper body is naked, and he has frizzy brown hair and beard, with a bronze helmet thing on. Like the thing Tobirama Senju wears, that head circlet thing.
"I'm- sorry, Thor. I feel so... dizzy." Jane interrupts as Thor puts her down, and she clutches her head as she wobbles. I guess the heat from the flames and then the quick flight up must have been too much for her as Thor holds her steady. I can actually feel Felicia resting heavily on my shoulder, so I guess she is feeling a bit out of sorts as well.
"Thou art brave, dearest Jane... but still art thou mortal born." Thor says, which is his way of saying she is weak and is tired now. "And hath been this day through hell of a sort. I will take thee home." He says caringly, readying himself to fly her home, but before he can, he is interrupted.
"Now, hold it! That's great for you, Goldilocks..." A middle-aged man comes up, dressed in a brown suit with a hat and blue time, stopping Thor from running off. Obviously, an officer of some kind, as I can see a police cordon at the end of the street keeping people away, and only we are here. "But I've still got a king-sized doughnut hole in the middle of-" With them all focused on each other, I spot my chance and quickly slink out of the hole and then move with speed behind multiple cars and debris that crowd the street making my way to the closest alley.
"Ah... that!" I hear Thor say and glance his way only to see him looking at me. I keep moving, and he doesn't do anything, just watching me go. I get into the alley, and then quickly bound my way up to the roof, and then peer over the edge to see what is going on. If Thor is coming after me. "Standest thou ready, Demigod?" Instead, he is turning to the other muscly dude and asks him that. I guess he is letting me go.
"Aye, Asgardian." The half-naked man agrees... to something. I don't know what, but apparently, they are going to somehow fix the gaping hole in the floor that leads all the way down to the realm of the Trolls. So yeah, want to watch that real quick. Felicia does as well as she peers over my shoulder, both of us remaining out of sight.
"Then, let be done-" Thor shouts, raising Mjolnir up and beginning to swing it around. "That which must!" I feel a great force of wind in the air, and my face is battered with gusts, as well as the lock of Felicia's beautiful hair.
Great chunks of debris have piled up where the Trolls had come pouring out of the dark nether world into the light of day. Now, as Thor whirls his mystic Mjolnir faster, ever faster, about his regal head, the mightiest muscle man, who is apparently a Demigod, sends fragment after jagged fragment back into the enfolding blackness below. His speed is such that he is a blur to the eye.
He continues to do so even as hammer-summoned lightning bolts strike from a sky which was cloudless mere moments ago. The black clouds above spew bolt after bolt down on the planet, each one with a deafening boom, fusing concrete and Earth and air itself into one indivisible mass.
"Well, I guess we won't have any potholes on this street for a while." The police dude says, looking down, stunned, at the smooth ground below. Like, I am not crazy, but that shit is fucking smooth. What kind of handyman magic bullshit was that? A bunch of rocks are thrown down and then smashing it with lightning, and the entire cave is gone, and the road is back to being normal... no Ben, this is magic Marvel bullshit. Ignore it.
"An ample epitaph, liutenant." The brown-haired muscle man says, looking down on his work with pride. "Now, if the danger be ended, Thunder God, I'll take my leave and-" He says, turning around while waving goodbye and preparing to leave.
"No- wait, uh, Herculues!" That is until an old nerdy-looking guy runs up saying that and calling him... Hercules. "Don't leave! I've come so far to speak with you!" Are you serious? This guy is Hercules. That motherfucker from the Greek Pantheon of gods, the Demigod that completed all of those trials and is the son of Zeus. Shit, I don't know much about the Marvel version. Let's just hope he isn't like the rapey DC version and more like the Emporers New Groove Hercules.
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As they continue to speak below, I take it as my cue to leave. With Hercules here now, I am sure something is going to happen, what with two god heirs in the same place, and I don't want to be involved in any more bullshit. So, turning to Felicia, I jut my head to the left, indicating for us to leave. I don't want to say anything in case these guys have god hearing or something and can listen in on us.
Felicia nods her head, and we quickly set off back to our home. Or more like our thirty-eighth home or somewhere around that number. We are switching hotels every so often, after all. In fact, after this shit, I feel like we should make a switch just to be safe.
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"Well, certainly didn't expect the night to go like that," Felicia says as we enter into our apartment through the balcony. She plops down onto the sofa, quickly kicking off her boots and putting her bare feet on the coffee table. She stretches out, reaching up and zipping her catsuit down to allow her chest to breathe. Ordinarily, I would be watching like a hungry hyena, mesmerised by her ample cleavage, but I am wiped out.
"Do you mean us having sex? Or the whole Alice in Wonderland dive down a hole into Troll world?" I ask, closing the glass window behind me and then pulling off my bat suit and throwing it to the ground, falling onto the sofa in just my briefs.
"Yes. Yes to all of that." Felicia says as I close my eyes and rest my neck on the back of the sofa. That is until I feel a weight settle on my chest and crack open an eye to look down and see the top of Felicia's head. There is no sensualness in the action. She is just cuddling up against me. I wrap my arms around her in just delight at the feeling it creates in me. I could get used to this.
We both just rest there, embracing each other. I listen to the sound of her breathing, in and out. Again and again. I took comfort in the feeling of her within my arms. It feels real. It makes me feel real. Suddenly, I appeared in this world as half Peter Parker and half someone from another world, and then not even being able to latch onto my identity in this world. Having to forge a completely new one. I must admit there are days when I am prowling the night as Batman and wondering if I am in a coma or something. But right now, right here. This feeling... I know it's real.
"Ah, Felicia..." I mumble, having had a thought and wanting to get it out now before I end up falling asleep and forgetting about it. I feel Felicia jostle against me and then turn her head back and forth. I contemplate just leaving it for now and letting her rest since she is obviously tired, but she responds.
"What is it? I was falling asleep." She says back, but she has opened her eyes now and is staring up at me. Some of her platinum blonde hair is obscuring my view and covering half of her face, so I reach down and brush it to the side, behind her ear. I end up caressing her cheek.
"I want to help you with this final job. To steal this last thing for Fisk." That wakes her right up, and she pushes herself up, escaping my grasp and turning around to look at me with a serious look on her face.
"Why?" She asks, and I look at her befuddled. Why?
"Because the faster we do this, the faster you are out from Fisk's thumb, and we can leave New York and find somewhere else to live, away from this craziness. I want to help you get this done." I say honestly. I don't even care what we are stealing as long as it being in Fisk's hands helps us be free. Well, unless it is a nuke, a big weapon, or something that would disadvantage the heroes. In which case, I would, at the very least, feel bad about it.
"...No." She hesitates for a moment, looking conflicted and then says that to me. I take a moment to register it, not at all expecting that response from her.
"...Why?" I ask calmly. If she is saying no, then surely she has her reasons. I am not just going to have an outburst or something. We are in a relationship now, so it is time to be understanding and all that crap. I can't just get angry when she says no for no reason. That would not make a healthy relationship.
"You don't have to risk yourself anymore, especially not after getting a hole through your stomach and then having to deal with Thor. Just let me take care of this, and you rest." She starts, grabbing my shoulder. "You don't have to go out as Batman anymore. Just let me do this. I am the professional, after all." She smiles at me, and I smile back.
I really can't argue with that. She is the professional, and she has been doing these burglaries for Fisk for a while with no problems at all. Still, two hands are better than one, so I don't know why she would... no, don't do that, Ben. Relationships need trust and honesty. She says she can handle this, and I trust her on that.
"Ah, but I will be so bored. Just a stay-at-home boyfriend waiting for his sugar mommy to come home." I say, sighing. It is only a second later that I realise that I referred to myself as her boyfriend, and even though it feels like that, we haven't properly confirmed it. But then she giggles at what I said, and I feel some relief.
"Don't worry, I will buy you whatever you want. Just make sure to keep the house clean and cook for me. Can you be a good boy for mommy?" She says teasingly, and I feel myself cringe a little. Now, don't get me wrong, I am all for fetishes and all that, but Felicia doesn't strike me as a mommy. If the right Milf came along, then sure, maybe I could call her mommy. But I don't ever see that happening.
"Ah, well. Maybe we will go back to you being daddy, huh?" Felicia catches onto my awkwardness and says that. And I nod my head thankfully at that. I don't want a dommy mommy, thank you very much.
"Yeah. Still, it will be quite boring. I don't have a job, and I won't be doing my extracurricular activities. I also don't really have any friends to hang out with. I suppose I could find an anime to binge or something." I venture, thinking about what I could do if I wasn't out there tearing shit up as Batman anymore.
"Isn't that so much better, especially after what happened today. I mean, we got kidnapped by Trolls and met Thor and then went deep underground. Staying home and binging TV is much better, isn't it?" Felecia says, resting her head back on my chest.
"Yeah, about that. I'm sorry. We only got involved with that because of me, and you got kidnapped because of it. Should have just let Thor deal with it all." I say, bringing my hand to her head and starting to run it through her platinum locks.
"It's not your fault. I wanted to go fight the Trolls. I suppose I was running on a bit of a high after us getting together, and I ended up getting myself caught." She says, and I stay silent at that.
"Alright, why don't we go and sleep in an actual bed and avoid waking up with pains tomorrow," I say, moving my arm to go underneath her legs and the other going behind her back, and then getting to my feet, holding her in a bridal carry. She laughs as I begin walking, heading to my bedroom.
Thankfully, the door is left open so I can walk in, and I place her on the bed. Felicia quickly worked off her catsuit and threw it on the floor, revealing she was completely naked underneath and then getting under the covers. I quickly join her, and she snuggles up against me, my arm wrapped around her. And then, we are silent, and it isn't long before I hear her quiet snores.
My mind goes back to her saying it wasn't my fault, but wasn't it? I mean, when she was knocked out and held captive alongside Jane, everybody else was distracted. I went and snatched Felicia away and then ran, and Thor had to come after me because they still had Jane and used that as leverage over him. I couldn't beat Thor, which resulted in both myself and Felicia getting captured.
But... If I had just done the hero thing and snatched Jane as well as Felicia and then made a run for it, then Thor would have had no reason to come after me, and he could have dealt with all the Trolls with no worries. We would never have had to go down into the Earth, to the Troll world and nearly get swallowed by those fearsome flames. If I had just been a hero, then things would have been solved much faster.
I quickly push that out of my mind. I am not a hero, but I am not a villain either. I am just a guy looking after his own. And right now, Felicia is mine. In fact, she is the only one I have, and I am not going to let anything jeopardise that. We are going to finish up with Fisk and then leave New York and live calmer lives elsewhere. I will get a job and put this genius brain of mine to better use. Everything is going to work out.
It will work out.