Mom...

Peter woke up in a cold sweat. He’s had the same dream since he was a kid wondering why he couldn’t play with his mom’s hair, then wondering what had happened to her hair. She had claimed that she cut her hair, but even when he was younger he knew it was a lie. The dream never came at a specific time of the year, there was no way to prepare for it to come, it just happened. He would see her with her long blonde hair; she was the queen of the kingdom, and he was her knight, sworn to protect her with his life. His only job was to keep her alive. No matter what he always failed, every time. A dragon, her cancer, a car crash, a fall, a rope, his own powers. The dream didn’t end when she died though. Usually, it would force him to relive how he felt when he was six and his mom, who taught him to fly, finally stopped waking up. 

As Peter got out of bed he checked the time, one thirty-seven, too early to start the day. He snuck down to the bigger kitchen to grab some chips. When he got there he saw Bianca. She seemed to have been crying quietly to herself sipping a cup of cocoa, she looked up at him.

“Want some?” Bianca asked, no questioning what was wrong or trying to solve it with empty reassurances and little information.

“Please.” Peter muttered, casting a look down. He could hear her humming Name of the lullaby as she heated up the milk, grabbing the mix and some chocolate chips. She added both and kept stirring in an almost robotic motion. Peter pulled his phone out, picked up a calm playlist and went to the cabinet of different cookies Mr.Osborne kept stocked. He grabbed the jar of mint chocolate cookies in the back, by the time he had crossed back to the other side of the room Bianca was setting down his coco on the counter. Sitting up on the island he pulled two cookies out of the jar. 

Peter took a second to really look at his sister. She seemed tired; he knew she was overworking herself but hadn’t realized how much. The siblings sat in silence for a while, enjoying each other's presence but not disturbing the peace. Together drinking hot cocoa and eating cookies they both felt comfort from what haunted their respective dreams, not much later Bianca jumped off the island and claimed to try and get some sleep. Peter sat there alone for a bit lost in thought before picking up and heading to his room.

As he looked through his window Peter realized that his skin itched with a need to go out and fly. He went all the way down to the lowest floor and pushed a bookshelf to reveal the stairs that led to the Basement. With a switch of a light the Basement lit up showing the mess from the nights before the costumes were thrown in a heap by Clay's (Athena’s) desk. Not far from the pile were a few masks and pairs of goggles that Peter was working on. He grabbed a set and flew out the other entrance of the Basement. 

When Peter started flying he looked back on the few memories of his mom he still had, when she would let him play with her hair then him climbing into her bed so she could read him a story while she was in the hospital.  He thought about how disappointed she would have been in how he treated everyone before Bianca and Clay became big figures in his life. He hoped that she would be proud of who he’s become since he became Ares. She would always talk about how he should treat everyone with kindness and that not everyone had it as good as them. 

Using his powers reminded Peter of his mom; her ability to glide around with him in her arms just to bring a smile to his face when he was sad. Her energy depleted as the sickness took over her lungs, no longer able to even lift her son. 

Flying was as natural to Peter as running was to others. It was peaceful even when he couldn’t see the stars from below the thick layer of pollution; he knew they were there. Not long into the flight he saw a building filled with workers he decided to fly around it looking through the windows waving at the confused employees. After a bit of flying he decided to fly to his boyfriend’s dorm a block away he landed and took off his goggles and mask. Pulling out his and texting his dad where he was going he walked the rest of the way. 

When he knocked on the door he realized just how early in the morning it was. Somchai was definitely asleep but there was no backing down. When Somchai answered the door, he didn’t seem happy to have been woken up at three in the morning.

“Hey, Pete what’s up” Somchai asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“I uh,” Peter started tears welling up in his eye, “I had a dream about” He paused again “about my mom and I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I just kinda walked here”

“Come on, I’ve got class in the morning so let's try to go to sleep” Somchai pulled Peter into a deep hug. Peter clung to him like a lifeline. As they walked into the dorm Somchai  whispered reassurances to the blonde. The late time started to catch up to him as they headed to the bed. 

“Sorry for the intrusion love” Peter mumbled sleepily as he hugged Somchai  and was out like a light. 

His second dream of the night was much nicer. His new sister was standing in the kitchen with his mom baking some cookies. Both of them laughed as one of them said the funniest things they had ever heard. His mom saw him and walked over to give him a hug. When he woke up it wasn’t to a startle but gradual and smooth. He grabbed some clothes and walked out to the kitchenette and checked his phone. His dad had responded with a thumbs up, Bianca asked if he was okay, and he had a missed call from Clay. He sent a selfie and an all good text to Bianca and called Clay. “Hey Clay just wanted to let you know everything was okay” Peter left for Clay’s voicemail. He walked up behind Somchai  and gave him a hug.