Ok, so I think this chapter might be more of a filler. But I did add some PeterxAva ;)

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Ultimate Spider man, but I do own my OC Lilith!

Chapter 5

"Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have - life itself." -Walter Anderson

It's been 3 days since my friends found out. As I predicted, the team isn't acting like their normal selves. I told them my reasons for not telling them right away and thankfully, just like Danny, they understood my reasons and forgave me. They may not be acting like their normal selves anymore, but due to my reasons for keeping it a secret for a little while, they're trying.

I know it's only been 3 days since I told them, but I've been spending every second with my friends. We've all mostly been hanging out as a group, so I'm spending today just hanging out with them individually; starting with having coffee with Luke later. He and I met up at the coffee shop that morning.

"Hey Lilith." He said half-heartedly. Obviously he had something else on his mind.

"Hey" I said as we sat down at a nearby table. A waitress took our orders before we started any conversation.

"So how are you taking all of this?" he asked.

"At first; not well, but I think I'm managing now."

"Look, I can't imagine what you're going through right now, but you know that we're here for you right? The whole team."

I smiled "I do, Luke. Thanks."

"Has SHIELD made any progress finding an antidote?"

"Luke, I told you guys that SHIELD isn't –"

"I know. I just wanted to know if any progress has been made." It seemed like everyone was trying to convince themselves otherwise from what I had told them.

"No, not as far as I know" I sighed. Just then the waitress came back with a coffee for a Luke and a tea for me.

"How do you do it?" he asked once the waitress had left again.

"Do what?" I asked confused.

"You're the one taking this better than the whole team. How do you do it?"

"I don't know…" I paused for a moment to sip my coffee, "Bad things happen. How we react to them can define us. We could choose to be sad about it or even grieve what has come and gone or what has yet to come, but instead we could choose to stand strong and enjoy the little things we still have left in life."

Luke seemed to be thinking about what I had just said before giving me a small smile. He took a sip of his coffee. "Lilith, as soon as we find Doc Oc, we're gonna make him pay for what he's done to you. After all, you are like my little sister." He finished with a smile.

I smiled back. I've always thought of Luke as an older brother and he's always thought of me as a younger sister.

After hanging out with Luke, I was hanging out with Sam at the arcade; his choice. Sure, I was a fan of video games, but going to a very crowded and noisy arcade didn't feel that appealing to me. But for Sam's sake, I tried to have fun. Not long after we got there, Sam realized that I wasn't enjoying myself as much as he was. So he quickly apologized for picking a place that he preferred. I told him that it didn't matter because all I wanted to do the next few weeks was just to spend time with my friends. I didn't care what we did, as long as I was with my friends. He smiled. Just how Luke is like an older brother to me, I think of Sam as a younger brother and he thinks of me as an older sister. After that, I actually had a good time.

Now, I was at the mall with Ava.

"Lilith—"

"No," I said interrupting Ava. I knew what she was going to say, but I didn't want to talk about it anymore. "Let's not talk about me right now, let's talk about you."

"Me? What about me?"

"You and Peter." I said smugly.

Her cheeks turned into a light shade of pink. "I'd rather not."

"Come on Ava. You two have liked each other for as long as I can remember."

"You don't know that he feels the same way towards me."

"Actually Ava, I do, we all do. It's been obvious for quite a while now."

She heaved a sigh. "I'm not all that convinced, but if it's true, what do you suggest I do?"

"Ask him out, just give it a try." I smiled.

"Is it really that easy?" she said sarcastically.

"Maybe not, but if you don't do it you wouldn't know for sure if he feels the same way."

"Wouldn't it be easier to wait until he asks me out instead?"

"Why wait when you could do it now?"

She hesitated. "I know you're nervous, I would be too," I said "but you wouldn't know unless you try."

"Isn't Danny the one who asked you out?"

"Yeah, but the thought of me asking him out always intimidated me at the time."

"Yeah but you still weren't the one to do it!"

"That's not my point. My point is that you should take chances because you never know if you'd ever get the same one again."

"I wish there was something I could say to counter that," She said, "but there isn't because you're right." Ava finished with a smile. "You know the guys may be my friends, but you're my sister."

I gave her a hug. "And you know that you've always been a sister to me too right?"

She nodded and we headed towards the food court for a snack.

After spending time with Ava, Sam and Luke, it was only the late afternoon. After being at the mall with Ava, I met up with Peter at the park. We were sitting on a nearby bench when he started the conversation.

"Lilith this all my fault." Said Peter, "I'm so sorry."

"What is?" I asked.

"The fact that you're sick. I'm the leader of this team and maybe if I had been more responsible this never would've happened."

"Peter, you can't blame yourself for this. If I had been more attentive, maybe I wouldn't have gotten injected in the first place."

"It's definitely not your fault." He said "The battle got so chaotic—"

"Exactly." I said cutting him off, "because the battle got so chaotic there was no way you could've fought your way through while keeping an eye on the rest of the team. If there's anyone to blame, it's Doc Oc."

He gave a small smile. "Just like Danny, you always know what to say." I also smiled and my cheeks turned a light shade of pink. Peter laughed at my slight blushing.

"Speaking of which, let's talk about you and Ava." He immediately stopped laughing and now it was his turn to blush. I fought back the urge to have a smug look on my face.

"I'd rather not." He said. "Look, the guys already made me talk to them about it a while ago and I don't want to have the same conversation again." He slumped. "Besides, Ava and I are just friends."

"You're lying." I smiled.

"What?"

"I can sense that you like her just as much as she likes you."

"Lilith! Wait, did you just say that Ava likes me back?"

"Maybe." I replied teasingly.

"Ugh!" he said and I just laughed.

To end my eventful day, I was going out on a date with Danny on this cool evening. We were on our way to the movies, but for some reason, I wasn't feeling right…

Danny seemed kind of quiet so I decided to speak up. "Danny?" I asked. "You seem awfully quiet."

"I know, I'm sorry its—" It only took me a second to figure it out.

"You've spent all day with SHIELD, haven't you? Doing whatever you can to help find an antidote?" I said and I began to feel really dizzy.

He sighed. My body temperature suddenly began to rise, but I tried to ignore it. "I told you I'd try to do something to stop this, and I'm not giving up." he said.

"This isn't the first time, is it? For the past 3 days, if you're not with me, you're with SHIELD."

Danny nodded and my vision began to blur. "I just can't imagine my life without you." He said.

I didn't know what was going on. "Lilith-!" was the last thing I heard before everything went black.

When I woke up, I squinted at the sudden exposure to light. It only took a few seconds for my vision to return to normal and for me to realize that I was at the medical bay in the helicarrier. I slowly sat up, holding a hand to my still slightly dizzy head, just in time to see Danny turn around from a conversation with Fury. They walked over to me and Danny gently pushed me back down. "You need to rest." He said. But I refused to lie back down.

"Danny, I—"

"Shh, save your strength." Just then the rest of the team walked in.

"How are you feeling?" Sam asked. That's when I noticed the concern in each of their eyes'.

"I'm fine." I tried to assure them, but it didn't seem to work. "What happened?" I suddenly asked.

"You fell unconscious kid." Fury said.

"For how long?" I asked.

"About an hour. Danny caught you when you fell."

"An hour?!... That was one of the symptoms." I said a little quieter to no one in particular. Fury just nodded. After a few short minutes of trying to reassure everyone that I was fine, they decided to leave Danny and I alone.

There was more concern in his eyes than anyone else. "I'm okay. It's just—"

"No, you're not okay…" he said. I wanted to tell him I was, but I could sense that I wasn't and I just didn't know what else to say. "The symptoms are starting early and according to the analysis report, you don't have three weeks, you have less than that!"

I looked down at the floor. "How long do I have?" I asked trying to keep my voice from cracking.

"We don't know. All we know is that it's going to happen at a sooner time."

Danny immediately wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. I may have still been a little weak, but I hugged him back as tight as I could. I was scared. I tried not to show it, but Danny knew.

"I can't lose you, Lilith…" he whispered.

Aww :) So how'd I do in this chapter? I love to hear feedback! Pretty please review!