Chapter Text
Taehyung watches the world burn.
Buildings, once stood in pride, crumbles beneath the feet of unfamiliar, alien-like , aircraft piercing through the darkened clouds. The streets are in chaos, people running for some sort of shelter that will shield them from the threat of death and Taehyung knows he should be doing the same. Yet his feet refuse to move.
His ears are ringing. Explosions, screaming, fighting— Jimin. Jimin must be there. The thundering voices of The Avengers lead him towards the city square. His legs run on its own, mind astray as it fills with thoughts of no other than his lover.
He pushes through the sea of people, and from a distance, he could see Tony alongside Strange battling with one of those creatures. Taehyung squints, stopping in his tracks for a moment to maybe catch a glimpse of Jimin. He’s there. He’s sure he is.
A loud crash. His head cranes to the left and almost melts in slight relief. Jimin is running upwards on a side of a building, fighting off chitauris on his way to presumably the 13th floor. It’s too far away but he could make out Jimin sliding inside through the broken glass only to come back out with a little girl in his arms. He quickly webs towards low ground.
Taehyung starts to run faster, flailing his arms like a maniac to get Jimin’s attention. Like a moth to a flame, he jumps over fallen debris, expertly dodging a few, whatever it takes to reach Jimin.
“Taehyung!” Amid the loud destruction, he hears Jimin’s voice.
Before Taehyung could look in his direction, he swept him off his feet. Almost instantaneous, the boy wraps his limbs around his aching body.
“Jimin, it’s you, fuck, you’re safe.” He can feel Taehyung trembling against him and wished he could take it away. For now, as he webs onto remnants of structure to fling them further away from the city, he leaves a kiss to the crown of Taehyung’s head and whispers a hushed, “I’m here, I love you.”
Another loud explosion. Taehyung is crying.
“Shh, shh, baby, don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.”
He couldn’t stop the tears that blurred his vision, now choosing to just bury his face in the crook of Jimin’s neck and bring their bodies closer. The sobs start to rip at his chest.
Fingertips brush over the small of Jimin’s back and it lingers over one of the open gashes there. Suit ruined and bloodied. “What happened to you?” Taehyung asks, shaking.
Jimin sighs, knows that his heart must be breaking more right now. He doesn’t want to hurt him further and so he remains silent.
It goes on for a couple more minutes until Jimin spots a clearing just outside the city.
“Stay here, okay?”
He lowers Taehyung on the abandoned bench by a bus stop, and from here, the chaos almost looks like a painting. It’s ironic, how even the most devastating destruction can be beautiful. How, even with his ripped up Spiderman suit and wounded face, Jimin is still beautiful.
“W-wait, you’re going back? There?” He punctuates the last word, pointing back to where more aliens emerge from the sky, “No, Jimin-ah, no.”
It’s quiet for a moment, both boys just breathing each other’s presence in. Taehyung’s mind is in a turmoil, wracking itself for words that will persuade the most strong-headed person he knows to stay. Will he be able to?
“Baby, you know I’m meant to be there, right? You know this. Please.”
Jimin attempts to slide out of his grip but he tightens his hold even more, eyes pleading.
The tears come back in full swing as he takes in the sight of Jimin, injured and fuck no, it’s not safe to go back. Taehyung doesn’t give a shit if he has superhuman powers. He’s still just Park Jimin for him. Not Spiderman. Not an Avenger. Just his smart, science boy he fell in love with when they were 13.
“Jimin. Can’t you stay? I,” It’s selfish. But is it really that bad to be selfish sometimes? Can’t he keep one thing for himself and not have to share it to the rest of the world?
“You save people but… but why can’t you save yourself?”
Taehyung knows what will happen if he goes back. And he can’t bear to even let that thought linger for more than a second in his brain.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”
It’s then that he looks directly into Jimin’s eyes and sees the same fear reflecting back to him. In the amber pools he’d spent a lot of time getting lost in, he can see a swirl of emotions; I don’t want to die. Don’t want to leave you behind, it says. Taehyung clings to it. Clings to the part of Jimin who wants to stay, too, with him. But then it’s gone in an instant. And his hold on him loosens.
“I can’t just stand here and do nothing. Not when the whole world is at risk and I’m one of the few people who could do something about it.”
He’s slipping away, slowly, slowly.
“Not even for me?”
Defeated, he tries one last time. Jimin could only offer him a small smile, tears staining his cheeks. They both knew what was going to happen.
“I’ll always love you, Taehyung-ah.”
Why did it feel like goodbye?