Chapter Ten

"You okay man?" Luke asked Danny as he tried to assess the situation. It seemed they had fallen a good ten feet under the ground. Luckily, light was shining from somewhere. Luke looked up and saw a small clearing where the sun's rays were coming from. He smiled and tried to move. He froze and soon a scream of agony was torn from him. Luke looked back and his eyes widened. His right foot was crushed under a huge pile of endless rocks. Some of them were no doubt piercing through his skin but that did not make any sense. He was supposed to be indestructible or at least close to it. Hardly anything could scratch his skin let alone penetrate through it. So then why was his leg hurting so much? Why was the ache close to being unbearable?

Suddenly something dawned on him. Danny had not answered. Luke looked up again and narrowed his eyes. He could make out a silhouette in the distance. Luke's eyes widened. Before him definitely was none other than Danny. The only thing that was shocking was the fact that a sharp rock was piercing the boy directly through the abdomen. Luke would've pondered longer on the situation but soon shouts were heard from above. They were faint but most of them sounded familiar. He recognized Peter's and Ava's voices. Luke mentally cursed himself for not being able to save Danny and for allowing himself to become immobilized by these pesky rocks. Soon the risks of his own position dawned on him. His leg was buried under a load of rocks. Getting him out of this place in one piece was certainly going to be a miracle.

It took hours but soon both Luke and Danny were out of harm's way. The doctors' diagnoses, however, were heart-wrenching – paralysis for Danny and a whole year of healing and recovery for Luke for his leg had been severely injured. The tissue had been completely torn, if not destroyed. Normally it would've taken years for it to regenerate but thanks for his enhanced healing ability for Luke it was going to take only a month or so for it to begin healing itself and another six to heal completely. Despite that, the prognoses were not good at all.

Ava was petrified. So was Danny. Luke was slightly relieved, though he too was heartbroken for they had told him that the chances of him being a superhero again were slim to none. The reason for why was because this was going to become a trauma. He was going to have a limp in his leg for the rest of his life. But at least he would be able to walk. Danny, on the other hand,… Luke could not even bring himself to voice the unfairness of his best friend's situation, let alone think about it. Guilt soon kicked in and Luke knew he was going to find it hard to forgive himself.

Peter did not speak to anyone for weeks. He was frozen, isolated. He even stopped being Spiderman for a while. He could not concentrate on his studies and thus got bad grades. Ava too was finding it hard to cope. Luke missed a whole semester, while Danny simply dropped out of college. The latter's state was the worst – he was stuck; confined to a bed or at best to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. The thing he loved the most was taken away from him all because of a stupid accident.

Tears were streaming down Ava's face. She quickly shook her head, trying to forget about the accident. She was now on her way to the hospital to visit Danny as he had requested. A small smile formed on her lips. This was the first time he had asked her to come and see him since he was first admitted to this hospital a few years prior. Ava sighed as a chilly wind blew past her. She tugged at her coat, wrapping herself more securely into the warm fabric.

Suddenly Ava stopped dead in her tracks. She had forgotten to tell Peter she was going to be late tonight but the strange part was that she did not care. Pushing aside those thoughts she went inside the hospital she had just arrived at and walked down the familiar path to Danny's room. She came to an abrupt halt when she saw who was inside the room apart from Danny. To say she was shocked would be an understatement.

"L-Luke…w-what are you…" Ava tried to say but ended up stuttering incoherently. The man before her only smiled kindly at her, never having lost the warmth his chocolate brown eyes had always possessed.

"Hey there Ava. Long time no see. Where's Peter?" Luke asked, hoping that Peter would've overcome his guilt over the years. The sorrowful look Ava gave him was enough to prove him otherwise. Luke sighed and rubbed the back of his head. It appeared he had been wrong – Spiderman was still on a guilt trip and had no intention of ending it soon.

"Why did you call me here Danny?" Luke asked, though he was mostly surprised rather than suspicious. After all, his friend had been nothing but clear when he had told Luke to leave him alone because he did not want to be seen looking so weak. Out of everyone, only Luke understood the true meaning behind those words – let me be so I can become myself again and when the time comes, I'll call you.

Danny smiled genuinely, surprising both his friends even more. He chuckled, before saying:

"I'm being discharged in three days."

Luke smiled brightly, while Ava's eyes widened before a smile found its way to her face as well. Soon tears started streaming down her cheeks as she lunched herself forward and gave Danny an unexpected hug. He was slightly surprised but soon returned the embrace.

Luke fought the urge to chuckle at those two's antics. With a sad smile he thought, Even after all these years they still haven't changed and neither has their love. It is still as strong as I can remember. I just wish they had realized their feelings for each other sooner and that blasted accident had never happened.

The two soon let go of each other, but the longing look they gave one other could not have fooled anyone – they loved each other, but then why was Ava engaged to Peter? Luke did not know. He only knew it was probably the worst decision Ava and Peter had made. Though they had dated for three years and they did love each other, it just wasn't the romantic type. It was the brother-sister type.

"Now tell me the real reason behind your actions Danny. I know you did not call me here only to tell me the good news." Luke said, eyeing his best friend skeptically.

Danny smiled sheepishly before sighing. He then said:

"I should've known I couldn't have fooled you for more than a few minutes, if not seconds." He then added warily slightly afraid of what Luke's reaction might be, "Sam is back."

Luke's eyes widened. He was speechless for a while, but soon managed to recover. He clenched his fists and closed his eyes, but soon unclenched them and reopened his eyes. Luke looked directly at Danny.

"Since when?" He asked.

"I saw him a couple of days ago and only told Danny last night." Ava cut in, trying to defend Danny, however, Luke saw right through her lie. Despite that, he let it go, deciding to focus his attention entirely on the newly found information.

"Does Peter know?" Luke questioned to which Ava nodded. Luke hummed quietly as Ava and Danny started talking animatedly with each other about God knows what.

Perhaps the team will finally be able to find some closure and much needed answers. I just hope Sam will be more cooperative than he usually was but then again I might be wrong. Luke thought before pondering further on the subject, while allowing a sad smile to appear on his face as these words swam through his mind:

I probably won't be able to recognize him when I see him.

Peter was reading through a document when his mobile phone rang. Not bothering to look at the caller ID, he answered it. When he heard the voice at the other line, he immediately stopped what he was doing and froze on the spot.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait and for the teaser. God I think this chapter is just a filler but we can't go on without them right?

Guest – I apologize for the long wait. Thank you for reminding me of this story. I'm flattered you like it so much. And thank you for the concern. I was partially stressed, but I'm feeling better now. : )