Chapter 3: Power Man (Luke Cage)
Unbeknownst to the team, Luke had a pet dog, a German Shepherd named Big Bear. One day as the team was walking to the park from school, a German Shepherd barked and tried to cross the busy street. "Look out! Stray dog!" A woman yelled. The team turned their heads to look with interest.
Luke suddenly recognized Big Bear. "Bear boy! No! Stay!" He shouted. The team looked at each other. "Bear boy? You have a dog with a funny name Luke?" Sam teased. Unfortunately, the dog heard his owner shout, but didn't hear the words. Barking happily, he abandoned all caution and ran into the street. A car came and hit him. The team heard the dog yelp. "Big Bear! No!" Luke shouted as they all ran to the dog. The traffic had all stopped since the car backed off the dog and stayed parked. Angry people who didn't see what was happening honked their horns at the hold up. The dog was still alive. Barely. Luke picked the dog up and together, the team ran him back to Peter's house. When they got there, Luke knew it wouldn't do anything. The dog was in too much pain and couldn't be healed.
"Stand back guys. I don't want him to suffer until the vet can get here." Knowing what he meant, Danny asked if Luke wanted him to do the deed. "No thanks, man. He's my dog, and I gotta be the one to end his pain." Drawing his fist back, fighting back tears, he quickly and humanely ended his dog's life. "Sorry boy. I'm sorry." He said. The team offered to bury him while Luke went into the house to reflect on his dog's life and to try to accept what had just happened. He sat on the sofa and put his head in his hands. As Peter moved to follow him, he heard Sam say the same thing that Peter had said when he found out about Luke's parents. "Gee, who knew a guy so tough and invulnerable would be vulnerable over a dog? Oh well, could happen to anyone." With Sam, that comment would've most likely been considered a very unfeeling joke, but the teen's tone was very sad and Peter and everyone else knew that it was a thing of sadness, astonishment and sympathy. Peter came in and saw Luke on the couch with his head in his hands. He tried to figure out the best way to help him.
Luke didn't look like he was crying, yet. So maybe now would be a good time to try to get him to talk about his feelings. Peter knew that while Luke was physically invulnerable, he had a big and tender heart that could hurt for a long time when hurt. "Luke, are you ok?" Pete asked as he moved over to the couch. Luke looked up at him, his eyes showing his pain clearly. "No. I had to kill him. My own dog that I raised from a pup. I know I did the right thing, but it feels wrong. I wish I could've made the vet look at him, give him something to make him better. I know he wouldn't get better, but I wish I'd had time to check with the vet anyway. Pete, I loved that dog." His voice cracked at the end. His eyes watered slightly. He sniffled and wrapped his arms around Pete and buried his face in his friend's shoulder. Peter hugged Luke until he let go. "Thanks Pete. I'll ok sooner or later." He smiled bravely.
"Alright Luke. We're always here for you when you need us. If you ever want to talk about it, just say so." Luke looked about ready to cry again as he replied, "Will do Pete. Will do." They went outside to join their friends so Luke could pay his last respects. As everyone silently stood by Luke, Peter reflected on how much this team loved each other. They would always help each other, whenever, where ever and how ever they needed. And just a few months ago, they'd been trying to mesh into a fighting team. Amazing how quickly things change.
A/N I'm so glad that I've gotten so many reviews! This story so far has the most reviews of all that I've written and it's only been up a few days. Ok so a few notes, amazon4eveas no this will not be updated every day, there are only a few chapters left and I have a picky mom for computer time, so whenever I write stories, be forewarned that they might not be updated regularly. They usually don't go on hold for very long, but they may be on hold for a few weeks for Christmas. latinoheat151,thank you very much for the idea for the last chapter. I had only a vague idea for it and you just helped me fill it in. Also Ava and Peter are not a couple in this or any other of my fictions. I may do romance stories at some point, done correctly they are very sweet, but I feel that there are too many on this archive. I want to write family/team/friendship stuff for the most part. As for other questions and comments, I'm happy everyone loves this fiction so far. It's sort of a way for testing the waters for a reader centric fanfiction crossing over from Star Trek 2009 and possibly Lab Rats. I hope that you'll take a look at my Star Trek 2009 story New Life, New Universe as it will be the first in a possible three stories. It currently has only 3 reviews and not one of them a suggestion, although they are positive. As for the length of these chapters, I can't make the chapters in this particular story any longer, as they are meant to be short and sweet, although at some point I do plan on possibly doing a few spinoffs and they may or may not be in the long fanfiction that I'll be writing at some point. That's all for now! See you for the next updates!:)