Lucky Enough to Live

by flying feather scribbles

[Sequel to Explosive Energy] Emmaline has started her life over. Then she runs across a sudden fight between Superheroes and Super-Villains near Central Park and finds Danny injured. She takes him back to her apartment to find he is dying and there's nothing she can do, and his friends don't even know. Just a great new start of her final days to life.

7. According to Fury

J No reviews on the past few chapters, but I'll just keep going anyways. Somebody's bound to review soon…. Right?

DISCLAIMER: Don't own Ultimate Spider-Man. The only things I own are: My OC Emmaline, the idea, and any poetry you may stumble across. J

Chapter 7: According to Fury

"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

-J.K. Rowling

Peter's POV

Congress is still debating over the law. I don't know who's winning, and frankly, I don't care at this point. Yeah, it's important- very important- for me, but I can't bear the ups and downs. Always, there's something new happening that's good or bad, that has the potential to tip the scales dramatically. I can't bear the waiting, the drama, the tension. Ava's glued to the TV, watching the debates and giving everybody else a 'translation' of whatever complicated thing they've mentioned. Even Buckethead's there. Well, I guess Emma and Danny aren't. I'm pretty much just sitting around with them.

Danny's still pretty rough, to be honest. They're removing the rod tomorrow, and Emma's been helping him, I guess. She really annoys me. Just coming in like she knows him- trouble is, she really does seem to. I know Danny well, though (as well as you can get to know somebody like him, that is); I know about K'un L'un and his secrets there.

I feel bad for Aunt May. I'd go back with her, but I'm afraid of putting her in danger; the way Fury's talking, anything could happen at this point, and it's "better to be safe than sorry". I'm really tired of sitting around here. Danny isn't exactly in the talking mood, and Emma still seriously creeps me out. So, basically, I'm sitting here, not doing much while Danny sleeps. Emma is just sitting here too, across from me. She hasn't said anything much- when I came in, she didn't even acknowledge me, other than fixing her gaze on Danny.

Now, Fury's mad at me for this. Says I'm not giving her a chance. Like he knows her better than I do. I've already had a long argument with him over what's going to happen 'when' (nobody says 'if') the law's permanently done away with.

He said that Emma had decided to accept his invitation to join our team. Since when did Fury ever have an invitation for this girl to join? A. She's nuts. B. She's weird. C. Doesn't Fury tell us whenever he has a possible recruit?!

I mean, Fury hasn't even told us what she can do. What if she has some bizarre ability that she can't control or something? We don't know anything about her except her name. I tried searching the S.H.I.E.L.D. database for her, but I couldn't access the file- it said I needed another password to get in. There wasn't an extra password to find Dr. Doom's location, but there's a password to protect the basic information on this strange, random girl? Something's wrong here.

Emma's not exactly willing to talk to me. Already, she seems to ultimately detest me. Whenever I've passed her these past few days, she glares at me. Like she knows what I think of her or something.

This is a girl who lived in some beat-up apartment, and then found a random superhero hurt on the street and, instead of bringing him to the hospital, brought him there. Looking back, it's a really good thing she didn't take him to the ER, but I still don't get how she kept him alive. Now, she kissed Danny, somebody she just met, and somehow saved his life. This is getting ridiculous.

So, now this girl, Emma, who's utterly insane, has apparently joined my team, saved my friend's life, and gotten me in hot water with Fury.

I really hate her right now.

M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M- M-M-M-M-M-

Emma's POV

It's really awkward at the moment. I feel completely out of place here. When Nick offered me the chance to join the team once this whole law thing's over and done with, though, I accepted. Nobody seems apt to welcome me in the least; they're actually quite hostile toward me at the moment. I swear that Peter and Sam are trying to get me to leave- every time I've passed them, they're talking rudely about me. To my face, Sam treats me okay, but Peter ignores me. Ava's been okay to my face, and I haven't really seen her talking about me when she thinks I'm not listening, but I can tell she doesn't trust me. Not that I blame her.

I couldn't stand waiting there by Ava, listening to the debates and legal stuff when I could hear other people whispering about me. I'm obviously unwelcome. They should realize that I'm here to stay. I've got nowhere else to go, nothing better to do. The only reason I haven't done this before is because I've been scared. Terrified that I'll lose control and hurt someone. Because I can feel myself getting stronger every day. Maybe this really will help me. It'll give me a chance to use this thing I'm stuck with, in a good way, and perhaps it'll help give me better control, since I won't be keeping it all bottled up. I even have a friend!

Now I'm sitting by Danny. Peter dropped in, too, and now he's sitting across from me. I couldn't bear to look him in the eyes and let him see that his words have hurt. Danny's asleep- a drugged slumber, mind you, but nevertheless, at least it's some sort of rest for him.

I might have regretted kissing him, if it hadn't saved his life. I know that the others think I'm weird for sitting here like I'm indebted to him, but I do owe him my life now, so I truly am. Who cares what they think of what I do; no matter what, they'll think I'm crazy and uncontrollable until they bother to get to know me. I'm just getting used to being able to be myself, a person who can make choices. Choices that determine who you are, instead of being forced into a "live-or-die", "good-or-bad", "right-or-wrong" situation every day.

M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M- M-M-M-M-M-

2 days later

I sigh happily to myself. It's odd how everything's suddenly going my way (mostly). The law has been abolished (for now- much of the public wants it back) in some of the states, including New York, and Danny had the rod removed yesterday. He's "on the mend" according to Nick, and apparently it's "because of me helping".

I'm officially part of the team. Officially. That, according to Nick, doesn't mean I get to go save people right now, although that's what Peter, Sam, and Ava are doing (and from what I've been hearing, it's not going so great without Danny- it probably doesn't help that lots of people don't want them to come to the rescue; they came back splattered with tomatoes this morning).

Really, though, now I'm stuck in Nick's office, filling out papers that I really don't want to mention. Like, writing down who's my direct family. I don't even know if they're alive anymore, so I check the "not in contact for 10+ years" box. It's been eleven and a half years now- hard to believe.

The next written portion is about my childhood. You know, "Did people close to you ever abuse drugs?" and that sort of things. When I glance back to double-check my answers, I find it rather depressing. All my answers really give the impression that my childhood genuinely sucked, but it didn't seem so bad at the time. I also have to fill out a part about if I ever ran away, which is painful to attempt to explain with words, especially since I hate this topic.

I can't really fill out the 'health' section

Then there's a whole bunch of agreements (so basically I can't sue anybody when something bad happens- and not if something bad happens, when). Next comes the actual decision part. For example, do I want to live independent of the Helicarrier or in it? I think for a minute. It's not like I had that much going for me in NYC, so I check the "live in Helicarrier" box.

Finally, I have to explain my powers and any risks associated with them, plus how my skills "work" and how I acquired them.

Abilities: Absorb energy. Control energy. Transfer energy. (All energy?)

Practical use: healing. Destroying things. Decapitating people. Messing with things that use energy (function of them?)

Risks: death. Destroying things. Making things malfunction/explode. I have a temper.

How: with my mind?

Additional skills: Yoga. Taekwondo.

Acquired by: am a mutant

I don't really know what to put. I feel really awkward. At last, I sign my name for what feels like the millionth time. Nick gathers the huge stack of papers, then clears his throat as he sifts through them. "Risks: death, destroying things, making things malfunction/explode? Kid-"

"Yes?"

Nick sighs gruffly. "Never mind. Just… try to be patient, okay kid?"

I flash a weak smile. "Uh-huh."

Once he's finished and everything's 'in order', Nick tells me, "So you're staying here, are you? Go get your junk from that apartment, and bring it back so we can get you a room."

I stand to leave, but Nick interrupts me. "Oh, and bring Peter with you."

Great. I walk all over the Helicarrier to find him, before running into him in one of the corridors. Peter jumps back, as though I have some highly contagious disease. "Nick says you have to come with me to my place and help me get my stuff."

Peter's eyes widen, then he groans. "Well, 'least I can miss training," he grumbles, shuffling alongside me to a plane.

"Wait- we're taking that to my apartment?"

He rolls his eyes. "How else will we get there?"

"Ah."

Riding in it is kind of fun, although I don't think Peter's too good at driving- he keeps jerking it up and down suddenly, then muttering under his breath. When we're finally there, he seems to realize that you can't really park a small aircraft in the street. Then he parks the small aircraft on the street and sidewalk, and hops out. "Not a word to Fury."

Once I'm in my apartment, looking around, I realize I don't need most of this anymore. So I grab a small bag and stuff all my books in there, plus my notebooks. In another, bigger tote bag I wrap all my little trinkets in some washcloths and stuff them in. A third backpack holds my clothing (I end up leaving the most stained, beat-up articles here and only taking my newer pieces- not that I have a lot of clothes in the first place) and toiletries.

The whole time that I'm doing this, I can see Peter rolling his eyes in my peripheral vision. When I'm finished, I pull the backpack on, sling the tote over one shoulder, and grab the bag with my other hand, not bothering to make Peter help me, since he obviously doesn't want to.

There's some trouble getting the aircraft flying again. Eventually, Peter gives up and just drives really fast down the abandoned road (the wrong way), using that as his runway. Back in the Helicarrier, Fury shows me my room and leaves me to unpack.

It's basically a square bedroom connected to a small bathroom with a toilet, sink, and shower. The only furniture is a bed and dresser with four drawers. Everything, the walls, ceiling and floor is made of metal. It doesn't take me long to unpack. Basically, I fold my clothing and put it in the dresser, shove the toiletries in a cupboard above the sink, unwrap my few trinkets and put them in a drawer, then place my books in the remaining drawer.

I shiver. The room is cold and dull. There aren't any colors, really, and it's a rather depressing place, almost like a prison. I know it's late, so I just go right to bed, but I can't fall asleep. It's too quiet. So I turn my CD player to an old favorite and fall asleep like that, peacefully.

In the morning, I awake to silence. Funny. You would think that a place with so many people on it would be noisier, especially in the morning when most people are just waking. Sitting up, I just stay in bed, thinking.

I really need to start getting along with these people better. They barely know me, and they already are starting to hate me. This is going to be a fresh start for me, now. I've got to stop losing my temper so much- I have to be more patient, like Nick told me to.

Quietly, I slip out of bed and take a long, steaming hot shower, taking my time to think about this. Afterwards, I braid my hair and slip on one of my nicer shirts and newer jeans, before noticing a uniform. A superhero's uniform. For me.

Wow.

I don't know who designed it. The fabric is tight but stretch and durable. I pick up the mask, and try it on. It covers the top half of my head, with eyeholes, arching over the bridge of my nose, and it's a deep midnight blue. I can't wear my glasses while it's on, though, so I realize I'll have to wear contacts when I train. Rats.

Next I try on the uniform itself. The pale, sky-blue shirt rises up to my collarbone, leaves my shoulders and a bit of my upper arms bare, then reconnects with long, dark blue sleeves. There is a creamy white symbol on the front which I recognize as the symbol for universe: a weaving line that looks like three triangles with rounded bottoms all formed by one strand. The pants are basically leggings, the same shade of blue as the shirt, and reach to my ankles. For shoes, there are a pair of midnight blue boots that cling to me so tightly it's hard to believe they're shoes and not fabric, and which rise a little less than halfway to my knees. I'm thankful that there isn't a wedge or a heel to push me off balance. I notice one last article of clothing; fingerless gloves, the same midnight color as the boots, sleeves, and mask.

I walk over to the bathroom and look in the mirror. Woa. You can't even recognize me. Usually, I wear fairly loose clothing, but this fabric clings to my skin, and you can actually see my shape. I look way older and more mature. I try moving to see what it looks like, and I see that the fabric shimmers in the harsh bathroom light. Then I realize you can see my tattoo on my shoulder, because the shirt is shoulderless- duh. Oh, rats.

Suddenly, a slip of paper falls out of one of the gloves. Meet training room 1c ur dressed & showered 2.

How was it? My longest chapter yet! J Can't wait for some reviews! Please!

Thanks for reading!

Flying Feather Scribbles