His hands were shaking. He could feel them shaking. He could feel his heart pounding in his throat, still right where it had lodged when he’d first seen the post on the board. She was here and she was alive and fucking hell he felt dizzy with the shock of it. He wondered distantly if this was anything like how Amy felt when Charley had appeared, the past colliding with the present, home with Lawrence, and fuck if he even know how to process that.
Peter barely acknowledged his surroundings as he moved through the city. He was preoccupied with trying to recall the exact timbre of Ginger’s voice, the scent of her hair, the light in her eyes after a good show. It had been over six months since he’d last seen her. Far too long, and far too short of time to be forgetting these things already. But all he could think of was that night… of the moment in his panic room, when he caught sight of her corpse on the security monitor. Of coming out, shaking even more than he was now, and creeping through the disturbingly silent penthouse over to where her body lay cooling on the floor. Of the sickly greenish light from the elevator, shining in her blood as it slowly spread into a pool under her, soaking into her hair and staining his skin red as he’d pulled her into his lap and held her close…
Peter shut his eyes tight, trying to shake off the memory. When he opened them again, he was standing at the front entrance to the library. He didn’t even remember the walk between there and the complex, and he cursed himself for being so reckless. Good way to get killed, walking around Lawrence without his wits about him. He pushed open the doors and headed inside.
And there she was. All bloodied black silk and caramel skin and eyes flashing fire with irritation, and she was really here and alive and Ginger. Before he’d even fully registered the sight of her, he was already crossing the room to the computer area where she was sitting and wrapping his arms around her, holding her tight the way he had thought he would never be able to do again.