Chapter Two

Is it too late?

Peter's mouth nearly flung open. Spiderman couldn't believe what his ears had just heard. He had to be deaf or something similar because if he wasn't, then he would be the biggest scum of the Earth and that was something Peter Parker wasn't and would never be.

Sam waited patiently for Peter to process this new piece of information and hoped that it would lessen his leader's anger. During the time he waited, he thought about the accident. He knew that it was his duty to serve the citizens and do anything in his power in order to save them, but Nova was also aware of his duty to his team and the necessity of always being there for his teammates especially during battle. He knew what he had done was reckless and unnecessary from some people's point of view, but considering it was his mother that should be enough to justify his actions. At least that was Sam Alexander thought but what came out of Peter's mouth was entirely different.

"So what?" Peter asked.

Sam's eyes widened. Now it was his turn to consider deafness being responsible for hearing such outrageous things. Nova couldn't comprehend what was happening. All he knew was that the person who was standing before him wasn't the same one he had fallen for. The only thing Sam could do was hope for the old Spider-man to appear out of nowhere and show the same compassion and understanding he possessed.

Peter just laughed at Sam's look of disbelief. The team leader then put on a stoic expression and said as seriously and as coldly as he could:

"You mean to tell me that you left us all alone to deal with a super villain just so you could save your mother who wasn't even in the need of being rescued?"

Sam's eyes widened even more. He didn't know why Peter had just asked that. The only thing he could do was nod and wait for his leader to continue.

Peter smiled bitterly and then returned to scolding Sam.

"Do you know how utterly irresponsible that makes you appear?" Peter started but before Sam could answer he continued, "The worst part is that you risked our lives to save a family member, who didn't seem endangered at all. I think it's high time you learned a valuable lesson Sam and that is not and I repeat not to allow your emotions to cloud your judgment."

Sam opened his mouth to say something but Peter put his hand up. Nova complied with his leader's wishes for the first time in a long time. Spiderman was surprised but dismissed it. He also ignored the stab of guilt and pain he felt when his eyes met with Sam's. In those orbs he could read nothing but anguish, despair, betrayal and most of all anger. Peter wanted to apologize. He wished he could take it all back and ask, no beg for Sam's forgiveness, but he brushed his instincts aside.

"I also reckon you should try another battle tactic and think before you act next time your tiny little brain decides to give you another brilliant idea or proposes a way to show off and try to become the team's leader." Peter added. The look he received destroyed every last bit of satisfaction he felt.

"Do you seriously think I would do something like that to show off? Do you honestly have so little faith in me, Parker?! I thought that by now you would've learned that I would never in a million years try to steal place. I started to recognize you as our team's leader a long time ago. For heaven's sake it's been almost three years since you joined our team! Do you really think that low of me?" Sam asked and started panting. His face had become slightly red from all the yelling. His throat was dry and it hurt a little when he breathed. He was delighted despite all that for he had managed to release all of his pent up emotions in that monologue.

Peter was left speechless. He knew that it was stupid to propose such a preposterous assumption, but did he listen to his common sense? No, he didn't and now he had to face up to the current situation and suffer the consequences of his rash decisions. Spiderman, however, wasn't one to let people go easily and now he was just about to prove just how stubborn he could be. With another one of his now strangely infamous smirks he answered:

"Thank you for finally realizing where you belong, Bucket-head. I also want to express how grateful I am for deciding to stop your ridiculous and quite entertaining attempts at stealing my place in this team. And to answer both of your questions – yes I do have little faith in you because I don't see how things can be different."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked obviously quite perplexed yet his mask betrayed how much Peter's answer had hurt him.

With a sigh Peter continued in spite of his inner voice which was begging him to stop and say what he really wanted to tell Sam. His better judgment pleaded for him to reconsider what he was about to say, to try and think about how things might go on once those words were uttered. His heart needed him to consider how much pain he was going to inflict on Sam with his next words, but Peter dismissed all of them and did what he had advised Sam against doing – acted first, then thought.

"Are you really that stupid, Bucket-head? I do consider you quite dim-witted but the lack of intelligence you are now presenting is quite shocking and frightful. I suggest you start working on improving that fault. As for the answer to you question – tell me how will you be able to trust someone who can't even conjure a small shield considering the fact that said person was given more than a month to master it?"

Peter knew it was wrong rub that failure into Sam's face. He knew he had gone over the line a long time ago but now once he was well aware of the impact those words had had, it was too late. Sam was obviously far too conflicted and down-hearted to form a coherent reply. His friend was apparently too hurt and angry to follow the conversation or even participate in it. The thing that stung the most, however, was the fact that Sam was in so much pain he couldn't even look Peter in the eye let alone stay in the same room as him. That was why Nova left the room and nearly broke those glass doors, which had apparently decided to open up more slowly at the worst time possible. Sam exited the training room and then started walking down a hallway without knowing where it was going to take him.

Peter could only stay there motionless and allow his gaze to follow Sam's every move; his ears to listen to his retreating footsteps, his eyes to see his fleeing form and watch that gentle blue light disappear into the darkness of the night completely.

Disclaimer: I own nothing obviously...

A/N: A response to your lovely reviews:

TheGirlInTheBack: Here's the update. And thank you for being so supportive and for the compliment. : )

Sora: Hon, I can't tell you how grateful I am for the wonderful review. First, about the angst part – I don't think it's going to be that much….It depends on how you see it. For me it's not that much, but for you (when you read it, of course :D) might be different. I find it hard to keep Danny in character myself. He seems the hardest because to this day I still haven't managed to write him the way he should be written. The others are difficult as well but not as frustrating :D. As for the information about Sam's not being able to see his mother or sister until he has learned to control the helmet I fear I didn't know about that fact when I started writing the story. The reason for that is that I haven't read the comics yet. Thank you for the kind words. I decided to give another view of their relationship. This is AU, of course, so everything that happens here is just a result from my imagination. Don't apologize for the rambling. I ramble a lot. I did it even now. Consider me and yourself as wonderful examples for people who love to ramble. And trust me writers here love it because the more you ramble, the longer the review becomes and this way the happiness it will give said authors increases as well.

Forgive me you two if I've complained about my exams a lot.

Now I want to say something to both of you and to everyone who has been reading my stories about Spiderman and Nova so far. I want to thank all of you. Seriously you cannot believe how happy you make me just by reading them but if you want to make me smile like a huge idiot and start jumping on a random bed or dancing like a crazy idiot(thank you TheGirlInTheBack and Sora), then I suggest you either follow or favourite, or the best way to do this is to review.

For the short chapter and long author's note I apologize.

And now with tears in my eyes

I say goodbye and take my leave

And I want you to know that I believe

That someone will make me grin like a Cheshire cat again.

But until then I would like say:

Thank you for reading and supporting me. Please stay forever this way.

Until next time I update and/or post a story my fellow readers,

~ QueenofRhymes ~