A/N: A pretty short chapter this time, but more will be coming very soon!
It was only a few minutes more before Spider-man lost consciousness. Terrified, Nova whipped around to tell the others to call the Hellicarrier, but Power Man replied that they already did the moment Spidey had been buried. Fury and the others would be arriving any minute.
That was all Nova needed to hear. Gathering his fallen leader in his arms as gently as possible, Sam left the others to follow while he flew above ground quicker than he ever had before. True to their word, the Helicarrier was approaching full-throttle on the horizon, very nearly making Nova's knees buckle in relief. Their teammates caught up a few moments later.
"Nova, are you—?" Iron Fist began, but Nova cut him off.
"I'm fine," he assured, predicting his friend's next words, "but I can't say the same for Spider-man. I need to get him to the Hellicarrier now. Will you guys be okay on your own?"
Their eyes fell to the unconscious Spider-man in Nova's arms, bloodied chest rising and falling irregularly.
"Of course. Just promise us one thing," White Tiger said. The boy nodded earnestly.
"Make sure he's safe," Luke finished.
"Don't worry," he replied determinedly, and his teammates' eyes widened. This was the most serious they'd ever seen him. If they were being honest, it was a little bit intimidating. "You can count on it."
And with that, he was off.
He reached the Hellicarrier in record time, even by his standards, and rushed straight to the medial wing, yelling, "Fury!" every five seconds, as if the man didn't already know how badly Spider-man was injured. The medical crew met him outside and took the boy from him, whisking him away before Nova could even ask if he was going to be all right.
With nothing else to do but wait and hope, Nova wandered to the bridge and stood in Fury's usual spot, staring out at the sunset-orange sky and taking this time to reflect on just how much Spider-man meant to him.
He couldn't really pinpoint the moment he'd begun wanting to spend every waking moment with Peter. He'd never really thought that Peter would be very good company, judging from how standoffish and reluctant he always seemed at their team meetings. But actually, as it turned out, Peter never failed to be there for Sam when he needed him, whether it was to help him with his homework, to listen to his silly teenage problems, or even to give him a place to stay when the Helicarrier crashed.
Nova thought about the moment he realised that he wanted to be much more than Peter's friend. He'd been absolutely mortified when Aunt May had suggested he and Peter sleep in the same room and bed! How was he supposed to deal with sleeping next to Peter when he could barely even look him in the eye without turning a dark shade of pink?! Luckily, that idea had been tossed out the window, and it hit Sam the moment he regretted protesting: he liked Peter Parker.
A strong hand came to rest on his shoulder suddenly, breaking him out of his thoughts, and gave a small squeeze. Looking to his left, Nova's eyes widened when he saw Nick Fury standing there.
"Peter's going to be just fine," Fury comforted knowingly. "He'll pull through and be the same smart-mouthed super genius we've always known him to be, I have no doubt."
With that sentiment shared, he turned on his heel to personally pick up the boys' teammates waiting on the street below. Goodness knew they'd need some Fury-brand reassurance as well.
A/N: Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! The next chapter should be coming soon!
I was thinking about doing some oneshots after this story, so if you have any ideas, feel free to send them my way! I'll give credit, of course, so don't worry about that!