Disclaimer: I don't own Spiderman and I'm not making money off this. Just having some fun.

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Free Fall

Chapter Two: Along Came a Spider…

Kenzie was in her third week of radiation and chemo. It had to be the most unpleasant thing she had ever experienced. The actual treatment wasn't that bad, but it was the side affects. The nausea and fatigue were worse than she expected and she now spent the majority of her time over the toilet or sleeping. Captain Stacey had found her propped up against the coffee machine in the precinct sound asleep the other day.

Despite the unpleasantness of the situation, she tried to keep a sense of humor about the circumstances. She had no one to talk to in her radiation treatment, which was on Monday and Tuesday, except for the small spider in the corner of the room. She tried to hold silent conversations with the arachnid, feeling an especially close bond to the thing since her run in with Spiderman on the train. Then, last Tuesday, the darn thing scuttled over to her and bit her on the ankle. Just thinking about it made the swollen bite itch. Crossing her ankles, she rubbed them together but that only made the itch worse.

"That bite still bothering you?" the attending nurse asked. It was Thursday, her chemo day.

"Yeah. I can't believe that little sucker bit me, Doris."

The older woman laughed deep in her chest. "We searched the place for that spider and couldn't find a trace. Let us know if you see it again."

Kenzie nodded and looked up at the bag of drugs. She still had about forty minutes before it would be drained. She hated the chemo, sitting for close to an hour with an IV in your arm almost drove her nuts. She was never one for just sitting and doing nothing. She read on the train and subway but never at home. She was too busy out walking, riding her bike, anything where she could feel the wind in her hair.

"Hey, Doris?"

"Yeah, sweetie?"

Kenzie swallowed hard. "How long till I lose my hair?"

"Some people don't lose their hair. But those who do usually don't start until a month into the treatment."

She nodded and sat back into the rocker. The chemo room was one of the nicer rooms in St. Anne's. It had cushy armchairs and rockers with their own IV station so the cancer patients could receive their treatment with some comfort. It was amazing how people opened up in this room. It was like going for treatment and being part of support group all in one trip.

Kenzie noticed a scared looking little girl being led into the room. It looked like she was using a crutch with an arm cuff on it but the nurse took it from her and propped it against the wall before Kenzie could get a good look. Doris helped the girl into the chair beside Kenzie. She watched as the nurse easily connected the drip bag and IV before pushing the needle into the little girl's hand. Her large brown eyes filled with tears but her chin quivered stubbornly.

"It's okay," Kenzie said, leaning down towards the girl and smiling. "I cried the first few times they hooked me up too."

Doris smiled. "She did. Cried like a little baby. But you're doing much better than her."

Kenzie had tried to joke around with Doris and the first few times all she got was indifference. It wasn't until she showed up for the treatment last week with a pipe-cleaner halo on her head, claming that she was trying to get used to the feel of it, that she finally got a laugh out of Doris. The two had been swapping jokes every since then. Kenzie hadn't cried during her first round of chemo but she was glad Doris went with the comment for the little girl's sake. Come to think of it, she hadn't cried at all about the diagnosis.

"What's your name?" Kenzie asked the girl. She couldn't have been more than six years old.

She looked up at her mother, a very hard faced, premature graying woman. She gave Kenzie a hard look and then shrugged her shoulders. The little girl held out her hand with a very serious air. "I'm Penny Marko. I'm six years old."

Kenzie went to shake the tiny hand but forgot about the IV being in that hand. She grimaced at the burning sensation that went up her arm but tried to keep a comically surprised look on her face. "It appears I'm a little tied up at the moment." She used her free hand and just shook the tips of Penny's hand. "I'm Kenzie Marshall. And I'm older than six."

That got a giggle out of the girl.

"Is that your mom?"

Penny smiled up at the woman. "Yeah. That's my mom."

Kenzie waved. "Nice to meet you Mom Marko."

"Emma," was all she said and Kenzie took the hint to leave her alone.

"So what brings you here, Penny Marko?"

"I have leukemia."

Kenzie nodded. "I have a brain tumor."

Penny's eyes went wide and started staring at Kenzie's head. Then she seemed to notice that no one was sitting with her. "Where's your mom?"

"She's in heaven." It was the simplest answer to give a child and for some reason saying she was dead didn't seem like the appropriate thing to say at the moment. The word "dead," "death" and "dying" all seemed to stop at the doorway. Positive thinking was what the doctors and nurses believed around here. So she tried to change the topic. "So, what do you like to do when you're here?"

"I like to color."

"You do?"

She held up a Little Mermaid coloring book and a box of 12 crayons. "What do you like to do?"

"Check out the men."

Emma raised an eyebrow and scowled at Kenzie. Penny just scrunched up her face and said, "Eww."

"Alright, Miss Sunshine," Doris said as she slid the IV out of Kenzie's hand. "You're done for today."

Kenzie rubbed the back of her hand. "When will you be back, Penny?"

"Tomorrow."

"Me too." She gave her best smile and patted the girl's head. "I'll see you then."

Kenzie stepped into her apartment and dropped the grocery bag right inside the door. On her way back from the hospital she had stopped into a bodega and bought a couple thick coloring books and a 48 count box of crayons for Penny. She had barely made it back into the apartment in time to throw up. After that unpleasant task was taken care, she splashed cold water on her face and brushed her teeth before climbing into the bed.

This felt worse, much worse than any of her other treatments. She wondered if it would only continue to feel this way as the chemicals built up in her system. She pulled the blankets around her as chills started to wrack her body and the thought that perhaps she had caught the flu from the hospital crossed her mind. Just what she needed right now, the flu.

She tossed and turned for what felt like an hour but when she looked at the clock nearly ten hours had passed. Night had already fallen and gone through most of its cycle. The sun would be coming up shortly. Kenzie sat up in bed and waited for the nausea to come back but it never did. It was the strangest sensation to fall into bed feeling like this was surely the end and to wake up hours later and find yourself feeling better than you did when you were healthy.

Kenzie stood up and made her way into the small bathroom. Turning on the light, the sight in the mirror gave her a brief start. She still had that washed out look to her skin, the deep circles under her eyes that were now a lighter shade of gray but her build was slightly different. Her muscles, which had always been somewhat toned were even more toned. It looked as if she had been working out in a gym for the past five years.

She started to take stock of the changes: fit legs, flat stomach, tight arms. Everything seemed to be in perfect condition. She had lost that nauseous feeling and felt like she actually some energy again. Stunned, she reached for a hairbrush and her wrist cracked, which had been fairly common since she had sprained it playing high school volleyball. She rotated it and soon as it bent backward something shot out of her arm and grabbed the shower curtain.

"What the…" she looked down and could see it looked like a very large spider web. It had come from the underside of her wrist apparently. Kenzie knocked down the web and threw it in her trash can. She sat down on the toilet seat and tried to come up with an explanation for what had happened. The only thing she could think of was that spider bite during her radiation treatment. Was that how Spiderman came to be? Was he too a cancer patient? If he was, did these new powers cure him of the disease? There really was only one way to find out.

Kenzie waited on the steps of the Science Building on the Empire University campus. She had many classes in there but not once had she had a class with Peter Parker. She had called Captain Stacey that morning to see if his daughter Gwen was still there. She had spoken with Gwen a couple times when she came by the precinct to see her father. Kenzie remembered Gwen talking about this really smart guy in one of her classes who took pictures of Spiderman to pay the rent and school bills. It was Kenzie's only hope of contacting Spiderman about her current…condition.

The spider bite still itched and now her wrists were itching from where the webs had shot out. The bell sounded loudly and Kenzie started scanning faces as they poured out of the building. Gwen had given her a description of what Parker looked like but it wasn't that detailed. Brown hair, blue eyes and thin looking. Then she saw him and all the pieces of the puzzle slammed together so hard it gave her headache. She immediately recognized him from the train incident a few weeks ago. Peter Parker was Spiderman. No wonder the Bugle bought the pictures from Parker, he was shooting himself!

"Peter Parker!"

He searched the crowd for who called his name and Kenzie pushed her way through the crowd. He gave her a very curious look and she couldn't tell if he perhaps recognized her from the train. If he did, he gave no indication of it.

"Peter Parker?" Kenzie asked.

"Yeah."

She extended her hand. "I'm Kenzie Marshall. I was hoping you could help me with a little problem I have."

He looked around the campus, most likely for an escape route. She was certain she was coming off as an escaped mental patient. Starting with her knowledge of his secret identity was not the best idea right now.

"Mr. Parker, I was told you take pictures of Spiderman and he's the one I need to get in touch with."

"Oh, okay then." He actually seemed semi-relieved about it, as if he wasn't Spiderman. Kenzie had to give him credit for the acting job. "What seems to be the problem?"

Kenzie turned her wrist over and lifted the sleeve up a bit. She watched as realization crept across his face as he took in the small amount of webbing that had formed there. He touched it gently and found it to be genuinely coming from her wrist.

"I'm meeting a friend at a coffee shop not far from here," he said. "Why don't you come with me."

Kenzie nodded. "Mr. Parker-"

"Peter, please." He smiled broadly and Kenzie felt herself relax somewhat.

It was now or never. "Peter, I was on that train."

The smile quickly disappeared. "What train?"

"You know what train. I tried to stand up for you that day but Dr. Octavias…The point is, I kept the secret and I tried to defend you. I need your help now."

He seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding once. "Alright. I'll help you."

It was the first time she had ever asked for help in her life. She had prided herself on her ability to roll with the punches that life gave her. She had handled her mother's death with grace under fire though she had spent many nights crying herself to sleep. Now with the cancer, she made sure no one cut her slack because of the disease. She hadn't shed one tear over the diagnosis instead channeling that energy into steely determination. But Peter's agreement to help her come to grips with what happened had caused something to break inside of her. She could tell from the look on his face her confidant mask was falling into pieces.

"It's alright," he said as he laid a hand on her shoulder. "This really isn't something that's the end of the world. In fact," he looked around to make sure no one else could hear him, "it's kind of fun."

She asked him the question that had been preying on her mind since the early morning hours. "Will it help me fight my cancer?"

He took a step back and dropped his arm back to his side, all traces of a smile vanished from his face. "I, uh, I don't know."