Peter readjusted the ice pack on his forehead, "thanks for this Hank."
Hank Pym, dressed in sweat pants, muscle shirt, and lab coat typed a few commands on a computer, "not a problem Peter. I'm just glad you two are ok."
Carol sat nearby in a comfy office chair looking into her cup of now lukewarm tea. She grunted slightly in acknowledgement.
After calling Luke and giving him the bare bones rundown of what had happened with Alpha, Peter and Carol ducked out to get looked at. They left the unstable teen to the Knights.
Peter's head throbbed, consequence of taking a bullet there. Thankfully, his powers seemed more dumb luck based instead of Spider. Pym referred to it as "spontaneous generation of a kevlar equivalent exoskeleton". Giving his recent upgrade, an exoskeleton kind of fit. His powers were getting more and more arachnid based. Even his mini freak-out with the fangs and such happened a few times before, back when he FIRST got his ability boost.
He looked at his reflection in a window in Pym's lab. He was going to have a nasty bruise for a day or two, but that would fade. He was more concerned with Carol.
She had hardly moved since he brought her to Pym's cabin. She wanted to go somewhere else but he convinced her otherwise. Peter trusted Pym. Well, Peter trusted other super geniuses as well, but he trusted Pym AND Pym's paranoia. Whatever they found, Peter was certain it wouldn't get out.
Reed could argue all he wanted, but being as public as he was people often devoted vast resources to know what he knew.
But as much as Peter trusted Pym, and the rest of their little clique, Carol didn't. Classic "high profile v. outcast" superheroics, Peter mused.
Carol fidgeted as two sliver dollar sized mechanical ants crawled out from the bottom of her shirt. Peter smirked slightly. Pym had been impressed enough with his design that the occasionally Ant themed hero imitated it, with his own flair.
Reaching her knees, the little gizmos unfolded transparent wings and flew to the desk Pym was working at. They landed and sprouted little USB connections from their rears and plugged themselves in to Pym's computer.
Peter walked to Carol and put his hand on her shoulder. She jumped slightly in her seat and pulled away before realizing what was going on.
"You ok?" He asked concerned. There was too many unanswered questions at the moment.
"Yeah", she replied slightly uncertain before taking a deep breathe and firming herself. "Yes, I'm ok. Just a little uncomfortable with..."
She trailed off and motioned with her eyes at the robot ants.
Pym noticed her discomfort and coughed, "sorry Carol". He spun away from his monitor. "When Peter asked, I had to adapt some of my ant bots for the job."
"Again Hank, thanks", Peter placed his hand back on her shoulder and she leaned slightly into it. "Any news yet?"
Data flew on the screen followed by several black and white pictures. To Carol's earlier amazement, Pym modified his information gathering ant bots to take a sonogram.
"Near as I can tell guys", he magnified an image and played an audio file, "your baby is as healthy as possible". A strong heartbeat thumped on the computer speakers.
Peter's hand felt like it was suddenly caught in a vice. Carol grabbed it and squeezed as her breathing hitched. He tried not to wince too much from the pressure, "can you tell the gender yet?"
The incredible shrinking man crossed his arms and stared at the data in concentration. "Not at the moment, there's slight interference-"
"WHAT!?" Carol's outburst startled the men in the room. "What's wrong? What kind of interference? Is it my powers?"
"Everything is fine Carol", the scientist quickly tried to console her, "just an oddity".
At her glare he quickly elaborated. "Well the sonogram, near as I can tell, is slightly faded, like the sound couldn't penetrate you properly, or what I theorize", he looked her straight in the eye, "he or she was absorbing it."
"Like Alpha's energy?" Peter questioned.
Pym nodded, "my bots could detect leftover Alpha energy being slowly drawn in, along with the ultrasound, chronal, and ambient energy surrounding us and a partial siphoning of your own energy powers Carol."
She took it in with a slight nod, "so I'll eventually lose my powers?"
"There's a slight possibility", he conceded, "but unlikely. Your baby entirely absorbed energy from that kid, likely as a defensive reaction. But he or she is only taking a bit of your own, possibly in addition to the nutrients they would receive from you, almost like he or she can sense what's going on around them."
Peter considered that. Vast energy absorbing power while still in the womb? His kid was gonna be a powerhouse! And they can somehow sense events? Well, he wasn't the only one in the equation with some kind of precognition. Could the baby somehow have inherited it from one or both of the parents?
Pym looked at the two as they were deep in thought. "Well, I'll leave you to talk. I got leftovers in the fridge. You two are welcome to it if you want", he gave them a smile as he left.
Peter stood in place, mind racing with possibilities, until he felt the pressure release on his hand as Carol's fell into her lap. He moved to crouch in front of her as she let out a shuddering sigh.
"What...", she seemed lost, "what is happening? I, I don't understand".
He took her hands in his, "Carol? Our kid is fine. Better than fine even! Energy absorbing on that kind of scale? That is amazing! I'm guessing the tyke is gonna be POWERFUL!"
Her eyes took in his proud grin, "yeah? So was Marcus".
His smile faltered a little, "what do you mean?"
Her hands slipped from his then covered them, "it's not the same I know. But, what if? What if he comes back? What if it's him in there again Peter?"
He was about to refute her before she continued, "illogical maybe, but what if? Or maybe he's not there. Maybe it's just our kid. Our amazingly powerful child. How does someone raise a kid like that? If they can throw a fit and crack the planet in half, what can we do?"
Peter was taken back a bit. He didn't think about that. Not the Marcus thing, he doubted that guy was in anyway involved. But the experience with that guy certainly left it's mark on the woman in front of him.
"We do the best we can. Isn't that what any parent can hope for?" He offered her a heartfelt smile.
She gives up fighting the small grin that blossoms onto her face. The powerful mother to be stands and embraces the stunned man.
"Thank you Peter", she whispers into his ear.
She pulls away to see a goofy grin adorning his face and laughs softly at him.
"But for right now", Peter continued, "we have to do something about your place".
Carol slumped in her seat and heaved a deep sigh. "I'll probably lose my deposit. They were fine with me staying there as long as there was no heroing happening. I thought for once I could have stayed anonymous in my civilian time".
Peter let her mope for a moment before springing his trap.
"Well Carol, I know a place that's built like a fortress in a low key neighborhood. You'll have some roommates, but the rent will be cheaper, and they're a good bunch".
She let it roll around in her head and looked to the man in front of her to ask a few questions.
She paused at the suspicious gleam in his eyes.
"Peter? No...", she tells him uncertain.
The grin on his face gets wider.
"Noooo", she says a little more forcefully.
He crosses his arms.
"No?" She says, confused and slightly worried at what she thinks he's asking.
Peter nods to himself.
"No", she tells him in a tone of finality.
- Parker Residence -
The door is opened and the annoyed blonde is hit with confetti and a streamer.
April's hands are still in the air from throwing the confetti she got a hold of at short notice. Next to her Laura is standing still and stoic, with the end of the streamer on the ground pointing at her. Accusing.
Peter steps around her with several of her packed bags in his hands. He poses behind the younger women with arms outstretched, the bags beckoning to the area around them.
"Welcome to your new home Carol!"
She blows some shredded paper off of her head in a huff.
"Yay..."