Stones Taught Me to Fly

by flying feather scribbles

[Sequel to "Lucky Enough to Live"] Anti-mutant and Anti-superhero laws are reality now. They aren't the only problem for the Rand family at the moment, though. Danny is king of K'un L'un, and his family is in mortal peril. His wife and child are forced to flee, and, somehow, his daughter Lilly ends up with Ava and Peter Parker, just married in this whole mess.

5. New World

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the quotes or Ultimate Spider-Man. I do own my OC's & the idea.

Chapter 5: New World

"And I've always lived like this

Keeping a comfortable distance

And up until now

I had sworn to myself that I'm content

With loneliness

Because none of it was ever worth the risk

But you are the only exception."

-Paramore, 'The Only Exception'

Danny had always heard many people say to him that 'great things happen to extraordinary people', or quotes along the lines of each tragedy preparing you for something greater. This tragedy, however, had no such 'good' outcome. It was just pain, pure unbidden sorrow at losing everything for nothing. He had had everything that he could ever have needed, ever wanted. That was what really hurt. In a few fleeting hours, he had become a lonely man with a hollow heart—a living shell. All because of them, he now had nothing in exchange for everything, and there wasn't anything he could do.

…...

I remember spending those first few months in a room. It was boring, but I used all of my spare time (in other words, whenever I wasn't sleeping) reading and writing, which entertained me somewhat. Sometimes I would try to stand up and practice my martial arts; those days always ended with me being tangled amongst wires and tubes. All of the machines that were connected to me, pulsing life through my frail body, made me feel trapped.

Whatever I tried to tell myself, I did know what had happened. I remembered Grandmother Time and my Other Life. I remembered the death, and her offer. That can't have happened, I said to myself. Not that I actually believed those words. The memories didn't fade, so I pretended to myself that they had been Dreams of another person, not me. That life couldn't have been mine.

Yet it was.

If any good came of this, I can say I learned that if you lie to yourself enough, the lies start to seem enough like the truth that your mind begins to believe them. Your heart, though, is solely emotion, and will bear the imprint of love, life and death no matter what you tell it.

Then, of course, I became skilled enough at this lying business that I could actually function like a person. Somewhat. Anyways, I joined the team. Two months later, I found myself kissing the fortune cookie. It was eerily similar to my Other Life that I had 'forgotten'. Exactly one month after the first kiss, Wade left.

I was happy when Wade left—ecstatic. He creeped me out more than my spooky dreams. I couldn't forget, either that he had tried to kill 'me' in those 'Dreams', and had succeeded in murdering many people close to 'me'.

Next big event? Peter joining the team.

Watching him fight, I could see the strength. His greatest power wasn't physical, though. It was something greater than that.

My friends didn't see eye to eye with me, but that was pretty normal. I liked being a wallflower; it suited me. Just listening to other people's opinions, absorbing their feelings like a human sponge. Some called me an empath, but I never considered myself to truly be such; it was just a side effect of my mutation.

"I finished this thing in under twenty," Danny said. At his voice, my stomach twisted itself into a knot, and I tried to catch his eye. He didn't seem to notice me, though, so I allowed myself to fade away, unheard and unseen as usual. I was Fury's prize possession, yet I was also his dreaded secret, the shameful recluse that he didn't want anybody to know about.

"I completed mine in under eighteen," Luke continued. I sighed quietly; even though I trained with the team like everyone else, my first "trial" hadn't gone so well. The entire room had simply lost power as I shut it down (unintentionally, of course). Though "three seconds" certainly beat anyone else who had ever tried, I had never felt like it was an achievement. If I was honest with myself, it was a disappointment, yet another failure of mine.

"There's no discipline to his fighting technique!" Ava exclaimed in horror. "He's just thrashing around hitting things!" She sighed. "But... Fury says he's good for the team..." I could tell from her tone that she disagreed.

Sam flew in. "Why is Fury testing a new candidate?! I didn't approve of this!" I envied his confidence to say something like that.

"Look who thinks he's still in charge. That's so cute," Ava countered, putting a hand on her hip.

"If Fury thinks I'm going to lead that lame-o in battle—"

Luke put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "In your dreams you're the team leader," he scoffed. Danny stepped up beside Luke, but I hung back uncertainly.

"He is rough around the edges, but not without potential," Danny said. My heart swelled. You go Danny!

Ava followed the boys. "Yeah, but he named himself 'Spider-Man'," she said, making air quotes. "How sad is that?!"

"What was he supposed to call himself?" Luke admitted.

"Something cool that didn't scream, 'Hi, I have low self-esteem and identify with bugs'!"

"You know what they say about a book and its cover, dude."

"Dude, I'll clean this Helicarrier for a month if he makes it!" Ava said.

"Toilets too?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Toilets too!" They all gave each other high fives.

"You're on!"

"I'm in."

"Me too!"

"What about you, Em?" Ava demanded, turning to me. "Come on, you don't want to clean toilets, right?"

Underneath my mask, I rolled my eyes. "It wouldn't be fair." With a shrug, I walked away. Danny put a hand on my shoulder, keeping pace with me, before stopping next to the door. My heart leaped up at his touch on my bare skin, but I tried to look casual.

"You Dreamed?"

Slowly, I nodded. These sort of secrets were too hard to keep from Danny. He had found out months ago about my stupid Dreaming, which was a side effect of having a powerful mutation combined with a family curse.

Danny, though, didn't need any more information than that. "You have talked to the Professor?"

I shrugged. Lately, I had been avoiding Xavier—he and I had never gotten along, and the last thing I needed was more lectures. Danny hesitated for a split second, as if he wanted to say something else, but simply shook his head at me and walked away.

We were all supposed to be ready, since Nick said that the boy was 'unpredictable'. He had given us the S.H.I.E.L.D. file on him to read up on as homework. Homework. Like this was school or something, when it was so much more. I snorted to myself; I had always hated school, not because of the subjects, but, rather, the people. Being on the Helicarrier for such long periods of time was hard enough for me. Daily living drained me.

So I took a nap. Well, it should have been a nap; I ended up snoozing right through my alarm clock. What finally woke me up? Sam. He apparently didn't realize that I was still underneath the pile of blankets when he sat on my bed (and, hence, on me).

"Mph!"

"Oh, sorry." Sam blushed. Obviously, he hadn't planned on me being only in a baggy tee shirt and underwear. Hastily, I pulled the blankets back over me.

"Don't worry about it," I yawned, stretching. Then I saw the time—noon. "Flip! Why didn't anybody wake me up?!"

"Uh..." Sam trailed off uncertainly.

I blinked. "WHY are you in my room?! GET OUT!"

"Woa, talk about a—" the door slid shut in Sam's face before he could finish his sentence. He pounded on the door, and, sighing, I opened it again.

"What is it?"

"Fury says that somebody's on the phone for you—"

My eyes widened in shock, and I ran back to my room, dressing like lightning, then dashed to Nick's office. My hear fluttered in my chest, wondering what could be the matter. In the room, he was waiting, and wordlessly handed me the phone.

"Hello?" I whispered.

At the person's voice, I paled. Immediately, I could recognize who was on the other end, and my hands shook. The lights flickered, and I threw the phone to the floor, smashing it.

I started to leave, but Nick told me to sit down. Grudgingly, I took a seat across from him. If Nick needs to talk to me now, then it must be bad, I thought. "What is it?"

"Bad news, kid. Worse than the call."

"Great," I muttered. Like I needed another problem to weigh me down.

"Test results came back negative. Formula B51 ain't gonna do the trick for you." Nick folded his hands, obviously waiting for an answer. When I didn't respond, he said with a sense of depressing finality, "Sorry kid. Life sucks like that sometimes."

I rolled my head back, staring at the ceiling. I wish somebody would tell me that I'm not crazy, at the very least. "Yeah. Trust me, I know. Not like I was expecting it to work or anything, right?" My voice broke. "Should I still come Saturday?"

Nick's gaze wavered, and I knew that he pitied me. I didn't want his pity, though. "Carlson, you can come if you want." Just don't expect anything or get your hopes up, his eyes said. You know there isn't a cure, and there never will be. I'm just keeping you alive so that you don't blow up anything or kill anyone, because I don't want to deal with the paperwork. And if you ever gain control one day by some miracle because of your fortune cookie boyfriend, I'm claiming the credit and using you til you die. I claim you as mine, but remember: if you cause anything bad to happen, it's not my fault; if you save the world, it's my glory.

My shoulders sagged, and I blinked hard. "It's—it's fine," I said thickly, hurrying from the room. Danny was standing outside of the doorway, his green eyes sad.

"What is the matter, Emma?"

Always considerate. "Nothing." I managed a smile. That was what kept me going: my friends. They were the last string tying me to life. When each breath hurts to draw in, when each footstep is heavy, then you start to lose the will to live. The trouble was, I couldn't die. Every day, I was forced to go on living at the brink of death, unable to finally let go.

"You—" Danny was interrupted by both of our coms going off. With a sigh, I ran to my bedroom to change into my uniform, before hurrying to where Peter had messed up.

Sam scooped Peter from his motorcycle, while Ava jumped onto it and steered it over to the rest of us. Danny casually stopped it with his foot.

"I appreciate a little bit of help now and then, but I really didn't need to be saved by—who are you guys again?"

Danny pressed his fist into his palm. "Iron Fist. Namaste." He summoned his Chi, and punched the ground. "Iron Fist: Kung Fu master with fist of, well, iron."

Ava stepped forward, her hands on her hips. "White Tiger. Acrobatic ninja with steel claws and cat power. The big guy here is Luke Ca—"

"Power Man. If he calls himself Spider-Man, then I'm calling myself Power Man. It's cool and doesn't scream, I have low self-esteem." Proudly, Luke crossed his arms. "Super strength and bullet proof skin."

"Okay, Power Man," Ava snorted.

I rolled my eyes, then realized that it was 'my turn'. So to speak. "Um, Ergo." Somehow, I couldn't muster up the same confidence as my friends. And there was no way that I was introducing myself as Hayat Ruh. "Ergokinesis, and maybe quintekinesis. Manipulate energy, in other words."

"And I've already met Captain Bucket-Head," Peter jerked a hand at Sam as if he hadn't heard me at all.

"Able to carry two buckets of water in a single—name's Nova, creep!"

"Nova Creep. Catchy."

"Nova: the human rocket!"

"O-kay... Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get this bike back to HQ. You see, I'm with S.H.I.E.L.D." Peter apparently thought that this should have impressed us. I couldn't help but smile at the time.

"Small world," Luke grinned.

"Oh no," Peter growled.

Back at the Helicarrier, Peter started ranting about being on a team with us. I tuned out after three no's or so, focused on not fainting. The world was spinning, and I really wished that Luke had found another chair. Self-consciously, I wrung my hands, trying to make the world stand still.

Ava pumped her fist. "I win the bet! No toilets for the tiger!"

Peter walked over to the elevator, and I decided that I needed some medicine. Right now. Only Tuesday, and I was already feeling weak. Bad sign. I knew there was no way that I would be able to wait until tomorrow. Hopefully, Dr. Conners would let me do it early.

In the infirmary, Dr. Conners just looked at me. "So you mean the compound isn't working?"

I shook my head. "Am I supposed to feel—feel dizzy?"

"Not quite." He gave me another shot, and I was thankful for the cannula. "You need to take it easy," he said, shaking his head at me. "I'm trying my best, but I'm a scientist, not a doctor or miracle worker."

"So it's not going to work. That's what you're saying."

"Well, if you stopped—"

"No. I'm not letting her die. You know that."

Dr. Conners let out a deep breath. "Then you really need to take it easy. Plenty of sleep, skip training if you have to. Are you sure you don't want—"

"No. I'm not doing that until I have to." That would have practically be screaming, I give up! Besides, I wanted to keep quiet about this. Nobody needed to know. Not even my teammates. Or so I told myself at the time. Simply another lie that became apart of my daily existence. I wanted to be independent, and I was blatantly ignorant to the fact that I needed help from my friends.

"Fine. You can just spend the night here, since the injection should make you drowsy."

Great, a drugged sleep. Already, though, my thoughts felt sluggish, so I collapsed into the pillows.

…...

Blinking heavily, I pushed myself into a sitting position. My mouth tasted bitter and was slightly dry, but I felt a little better than last night. Standing up, my feet wobbled a bit, but I walked as casually as I could. Outside of the infirmary, Danny was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. "You are a bad liar."

"Just a little bug that's going around," I said, shrugging.

"Tell me the truth. What is wrong, Emma?"

I glanced at my rumpled uniform, which I realized that I must have slept in. "Nothing, Danny, 'K? I'm fine."

Suddenly, my knees gave way, and I collapsed to the floor, shaking uncontrollably. Danny helped me up, slinging one of my arms over his shoulder. His eyes were tinged with sadness. "Let me help," he said softly, touching my face. At his touch, I shivered, and all of the sudden, I realized how our hands fitted together like two pieces of a puzzle.

Our faces were only inches from each other, when we both looked away, blushing. I tried to support myself, but fell back onto Danny. Carefully, he lead me to the meeting room, letting me fall into a chair. "Tell me, please. What is the matter?"

Ashamed, I stared at my feet. "I can't control it, Danny. I'm a freak, a monster."

"No, you're not," he whispered.

I gasped. "Yes, yes I am! Look at me!"

A half smile lingered on his lips. "Your Chi energy is different from any other persons that I have seen, the most immense energy field that I have ever encountered. It should have destroyed you instantaneously. Yet, look at you; you are alive. And something is amiss, more than your mutation, gifts, or curses. What have you seen, Emma?"

"I don't know," I murmured, drawing my knees to my chest. "I don't know who I am anymore."

I felt strong arms wrapping around me in a warm embrace, and I collapsed into Danny's chest. My shoulders shook with sobs, and I didn't know if I was crazy, or if I was even sane anymore.

"Let us find a better path for you, my friend. Let us find you a new start, here." Nodding, I took Danny's hand and followed him to my room. "It is time for school. Come."

Hastily, I dressed. As Danny waited outside, though, I opened the electrical panel. Taking a deep breath in, I touched it, letting the electricity flow into my body, rejuvenating me. Not the best way for energy, I knew, but I needed it if I had to face school again.

By lunchtime, I was exhausted. The classes weren't hard, but the people were. My locker was stubborn, and I hated having to memorize the combination. I had forgotten to bring money for lunch, or to pack a sandwich, so I just sat beside Ava in the corner of the lunchroom.

Sam wasn't there, for some reason, but Danny and Luke sat down across from us.

"This is repulsing," Ava said, making a face at her tray.

Luke shrugged. "Food's food, dude."

"The food you eat can either be the safest and most powerful form of medicine, or the slowest form of poison," Danny quoted airily, pushing his tray away.

"I'm voting for poison here." Ava shoved her tray at me.

"No thanks, I'm not eating that. You got meat, anyways—is that meat?" I peered at the chunks of gristle topping her mound of mashed potatoes.

"It's garbage," she proclaimed.

Luke's eyes widened, and he thickly exclaimed, "Don't frow dat 'way!"

"You can have it!"

I grinned at them. "I'm definitely packing a lunch tomorrow."

"If you like rotten strawberries topped with mayo, with a side of pickled herring."

"Who even bought the pickled herring?" I said, wrinkling my nose. "Well, anyways, who wants to go shopping with me?"

"Can't, I'm going to the gym," Luke shrugged again.

"Ugh, I have to work on this stupid project that I got partnered with Sam for! Of course, I'll have to do all the work as usual. Slacker." A low growl resided in Ava's throat.

"If we hurry and go right after school, we should be able to make it back in time for training," Danny smiled. His green eyes made me feel fluttery inside, and I hoped that I wasn't blushing.

"And this time, I'm buying tofu too. Let's never let Sam go shopping by himself again, agreed?"

With a slight shudder, all of them nodded in agreement to my statement. "I mean, what did he expect, us to survive on chocolate ice cream?" Ava rolled her eyes.

"Do not forget about the cashier," Danny added. I giggled at the memory.

"Yeah, that dude sure has a temper—I mean, just because the blondie told him that his credit card from S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't work doesn't mean he had to do that," Luke snorted.

The bell rang, ending our conversation. My watch started beeping, though, so I hurried to the detention room.

"But—principal Coulson—I've never had detention before in my life!" Peter looked dumbfounded. "My aunt's going to kill me!" He slammed his face against the wooden desk. "Then she's going to bring me back as a zombie and kill me again!" Peter was oblivious to Danny, Ava, Luke and I sitting in the row behind him. Sam knowingly watched Peter, a smug look plastered onto his face.

"Good job with the roleplay, you guys, that was perfect!"

Both of them turned around in their seats to see us watching them. "Ohhh," Peter said with relief. "This was just to get us together for some top secret S.H.I.E.L.D. thing. Whew. I thought it was serious."

There was a twinkle in Coulson's eye. "Define serious." He pressed a button on his desk.

"WOA!" I shouted as I slid off of my seat into a tunnel in the floor, landing in a sort of chair, which then rocketed forward. I felt a burst of energy surge through me. The chair slammed to a stop, and I happily jumped out, landing on my feet. Ava somersaulted from her chair, also landing on her feet.

"Ta da!"

"Move your webs," Sam grumbled from the heap of boys struggling to untangle themselves from each other.

"Boys," Ava snorted, giving me a high five. "So glad I'm not the only girl." I grinned back at her, and Ava walked over to a window, which revealed us to be underwater. "Where are we?"

"Attention." Nick's voice echoed from the speakers above. "All S.H.I.E.L.D. personal prepare to surface."

My stomach plummeted downward as the Helicarrier surged up into the sky, as if we were riding an enormous elevator.

"The Helicarrier!" Ava cried. "I love this job!"

"In a feisty mood?" Nick's voice wandered over from a screen on the other side of the room, and I turned around to see Sam flying, energy pulsing through his hands. "Outstanding. The Court is precisely where you'll train to focus that aggression."

"The Court?" Peter asked. "Like, bean-ball court?"

"Court. Like you come here to be judged. Partially." The windows slammed shut, and drones surfaced from the floor.

"Should of called it the bathroom. I just webbed my shorts."

I rolled my eyes at Peter's dumb joke. "Just cross the room without setting off any traps," Nick continued, ignoring Sam's and Peter's angry expressions. "And Emma, don't shut down the power, that doesn't count."

"Aw," I grinned. Luke punched me in the arm. "Ouch, that hurt!"

All of the sudden, Sam and Peter took off, destroying the drones. The rest of us just stood there, watching, surprised at their sheer stupidity and lack of listening skills. Ava sighed. "Ugh. They are so stupid."

"You can say that again," I remarked, raising my eyebrows at the series of explosions.

"HA! IN YOUR FACE!" they shouted in unison, fists clenched.

"Gentlemen!" Nick interrupted. "The object of this exercise was to cross the room without setting off any traps."

"He said that?! When did he say that?!" Peter looked shocked. "Oh... my oops?"

"I was going to send you into the field today. But until you start working together, you're grounded."

My heart plummeted. Great. I'm stuck inside of the Helicarrier now.

"But that's not fair!" Ava hissed. "It was Dork One and Dork Two!"

"You're going to clean up your mess. As a team."

A little robot with brooms and mops wheeled up to us. "I got the ceiling!" Peter yelled.

Idiots. I grabbed a broom and glumly started sweeping up the debris. Fifteen minutes later, all of the wreckage was pushed into a large pile in the center of the room.

"Be the best hero you can be. Work with professionals," Ava muttered venomously. "I'm pushing a broom thanks to you two!"

"A tornado becomes a gentle breeze only as temperatures cool down." Danny clasped his hands together.

"You said it!" I exclaimed, only to realize that nobody else understood what he meant.

"He does that," Luke said, throwing a chunk of metal onto the pile. "Let's just finish so we can prove what we got to Fury."

Sam blasted the pile of junk, melting it away. Peter jumped down from the ceiling. "You guys are the nubes. I've been catching badies for over a year! Check it out: Batrok, Melter, Toad, the Frightful Four—and I'm counting all four!"

"That's it!" Ava shouted. "Spider-Man, you're a gen—you gave me an idea." She sat down at the computer and began scrolling down a list of bad guys. "S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Most Wanted. We bring in someone from here—"

"Instant respect," Luke finished for her.

"Right. Let's make sure it's someone we can handle..." Ava's voice faded away as I walked from the room, feeling suddenly sick to my stomach. I had remembered what I should have been doing, and, hurrying to my room, I knew all to well the consequences of my lateness.

A few hours later, the deed was done. I had finished. Collapsing onto my bed, I smiled to myself; I could relax. Everything was safe—

Suddenly, the alarms began going off. I tried to sit up, but found myself unable to, and the world went dark.

The next day, it didn't take me long to find out about their adventure, and part of me felt ashamed for not having been there with them. Another part of me, though—the sensible part—knew that it was for the best that I had not stayed. I would not have left Dr. Doom's doorstep once I had arrived, and the day would have played out far differently. I would have missed my meeting, and no one would have been safe from Time or my mother.

Time. The name brought feelings of bitterness, another forgotten lie. What would she have done if I hadn't finished the job for her? What choice do I have? She can kill us all, with Bereave as her ally. Bereave, the bearer of death's kiss. Those who dared to ridicule her jokingly called her Mrs. Reaper.

Sending me to do their dirty work. As if I couldn't kill them all before they had lain a finger on any of my friends. They knew I wouldn't, though, that the real reason that I obeyed was because of Vincent. Vincent. None of my teammates knew of his existence, but, being me, I had always known.

It was a school day, though, so I didn't have long to dwell on such thoughts. After shoving down a bowl of oatmeal and slipping on some clothes, it was school again. I decided to walk, feeling the need for fresh air. I regretted not waking up earlier and hanging around the park. Then I remembered the way S.H.I.E.L.D. was always breathing down my neck, and realized that I wouldn't have been alone anyway. At least security cameras didn't seem to work when I was around—then again, most things that ran on electricity didn't work very well when I was nearby.

Halfway there, Danny, Ava, and Luke had caught up with me. I was glad for the company, but nervous. Being around people, especially my friends, did that to me.

"Sam's going to be late again," Ava huffed. "He wouldn't get his butt out of bed!"

"Hey, that's his own fault," Luke shrugged.

"What's who's fault?" came a sing-song voice from behind us. Sam lazily hovered in midair, dressed up in his uniform. Ava's eyes narrowed, and she smacked him on the back of his helmet.

"Bucket head! Change now!" she hissed.

"Fine, fine!" Sam ducked into the nearest coffee shop, emerging a minute later dressed in street clothes.

"Your shirt's inside out," I said quietly. He didn't hear me, because my voice was so soft, but I noticed Danny grinning while glancing at the back of Sam's shirt.

"We've got to hurry, there's a test first period!" Ava began walking faster. I stayed in the back of our little group, trying to stay awake. Sam suddenly halted in his tracks, digging his vibrating phone out of his back pocket.

"What the—oh, you guys won't believe this!" Sam said, breaking out in hysterical laughter. "Later!"

Ava raised an eyebrow at Sam's retreating figure. "What was that about?"

"I'm sure we'll find out soon," I mumble.

"Ditto to that."

As it turned out, Ava was right. There was a test first period. Which I had not studied for. I was slightly beyond caring after last night, but I tried my best. At least we weren't late; we were ten minutes early.

Before lunch, though, my communicator began beeping. It was a message from Nick. As I was about to open it, Ava grabbed my hand and lead me away. "We've got to talk to Parker."

"Okay."

Flanked by Danny, Sam, and Luke, we approached Peter. I had the distinct feeling that we were interrupting something important between him and the boy he was with, but judging from the look on my teammates' faces, this was more important.

"Excuse us," Ava said, her hand on her hip. "But can we borrow Petey for a teensy sec?"

"Can't it wait? Harry and I—"

"Parker. Talk. Now." Sam pushed Peter towards the hallway.

"Woa. What's the deal?" His friend frowned at us.

"Uh... it's a club thing. A club I just joined. Today. Sandwich club." Peter looked apologetic, and I felt bad for his dumbfounded friend.

"Sandwich?" Sam snapped.

"Later, Harry." Peter gave a limp, tired wave. Harry. So that's his name.

At the lunch table, Sam produced his phone, with an image of Spider-Man on it. Apparently Peter had torn the bottom of his costume while fighting that morning. I laughed with the others, but more out of surprise than amusement; it was the hollow, meaningless laughter of a dead soul.

"Okay, that I didn't need to see," Ava said, sliding into the chair beside Peter. "Why'd we find out about this from Fury and not you?"

Peter swallowed his bite of mush. "Um, because I just got here. You guys aren't my mommies and daddies."

Danny stepped forward, placing a friendly hand on Peter's shoulder. Coupled with his green eyes, he looked completely sincere, and I couldn't help but smile a bit even though his words were rather foreboding. "Stand together or fall alone, Pete. That's why we wanted to talk."

Shoving Danny's hand away, Peter snapped, "You wanted to talk?! Let's talk about how you made me blow off my best friend! My time is my time—that was the deal I made with Fury."

Like Fury keeps promises, I reflected bitterly.

"We also made a deal to work together," Luke pointed out. "Remember?"

"Yeah, you got a job now, Parker. No need to kiss up to moneybags anymore for cash," Sam said, rolling his eyes. Unfortunately, Harry was walking up to us as he said that. Talk about bad timing.

Harry slammed his tray on the lunch table and stormed away. Casting an angry glare at us, Peter followed his friend.

"There are many parts between the mind and the mouth. You should try using them sometime," Danny said softly to Sam.

"I second that—oh, be right back," I mutter quickly, half running to the bathroom. After emptying the contents of my stomach in the toilet, I queasily stared at myself in the mirror. I looked tired, with black bags forming beneath my brown eyes. My braid was messy, and my hair unwashed. It all added up to a desolate picture.

Splashing cold water on my face, I hoped that none of my friends would notice my sudden disappearance. They usually didn't. Nausea was a normal side effect of this particular formula—or so Dr. Conners had informed me—and the current situation wasn't likely helping my state. Not even Danny, who was, as my boyfriend, the closest to me of any of my teammates, knew about my condition. I was good at lying to myself, and keeping secrets was really just lying to other people.

The first day that I met the other members of the team was the day after I found out about Abby. My eyes were red, and my tear stained face looked anything but ready for a new start. Somehow, I managed to dress myself, though. I wore a pair of jeans and a writer's blouse, the first things I saw laying in my suitcase. My hair, pulled back in a messy braid, hung around my face, limp with sweat from the previous night's nightmares.

What they must have thought when they saw me? I don't know, to be honest. I do know that I didn't care much at the time. They had already known the others for three days, but none of them seemed well acquainted except for the Zen boy and the African-American boy.

I had already been living in the Helicarrier for nearly six months at that point. Not that I had any more control than before. I simply managed to live, and at the time, that was a miracle. However, I had not met many of these people before in person, so I should have been nervous. I was far too numb to be nervous.

Wearily, I stepped into the meeting room for the first time to face my new family. Family. The word had a deadened, hollow ring to it, one of bitterness and betrayal. Then I looked at the people. I already knew their names from Nick, but seeing them in person was an entirely different experience.

Ava Ayala. The only other girl on the team. Her sharp brown eyes surveyed me, and I could tell that she knew something was wrong. She had thick brown hair that reached her shoulders, and donned a simple green tunic. I knew her story already. The White Tiger amulet had quite a legacy.

Luke Cage. My eyes skimmed right over him, because we had already encountered each other yesterday, with the other relatives of those who were injured in the accident.

Sam Alexander. Nova. He bore a smug expression even then. A sufferer. I knew his story, but not from Nick. It was a sad one, yet his eyes did not betray his past. In fact, he radiated confidence, a simple facade.

Wade Wilson. From the moment that I saw him, the only one of us wearing a superhero costume, I hated everything about him, from his two katanas to the black and red mask. I had Dreamed about him before. Murderer. I didn't know if he was a killer then, but I knew that he would become one eventually, because my Dreams always come true. Besides, his name was Deadpool.

Daniel Rand. Rand. He was rich, and I knew it from the moment Nick first uttered his name. Yet this boy before me was the precise opposite of what I had expected. He had beautiful green eyes that twinkled with knowledge, and a laid-back expression. His mouth turned upwards at the corners into a soft half smile, and he had messy blond hair that reached halfway down his neck. The immortal Iron Fist.

"So, who's the guppy?" called the hated Wade.

I mumbled, "Emma."

"Well, you're about to get—"

"Yeah, dude, we know," Luke rolled his eyes. "Pooled. We get it. Seriously, you don't need to tell everybody the same thing a million times."

I stared at the metal floor, uncertain of where should sit. Ava and Luke made no move to accept me as one of their own, and there was no way that I was going to sit by Wade. Sam flashed me a toothy white smile. Danny, though, nodded his head at me, and patted the seat to hit right. Gratefully, I sat next to him, thankful that I didn't have to sit by flirty Sam, murderer Wade, intimidating Luke, or spiteful Ava. Instead, I was beside the Zen boy.

Supposedly, we were to begin training. The Court wasn't quite ready yet, though, so we were to 'get to know each other'. "Without killing anybody," Nick had reprimanded me, and I'm sure he did the same to a few of the others.

The table, I found, was very intriguing. I studied the enormous slab of metal with intense interest. "Well, so what's a cutie like you doing here?" Wade yawned casually.

A blush crept onto my cheeks, but I didn't answer. "What can you even do?" Ava demanded, rolling her eyes. "I mean, I'm not complaining—thank God I'm not the only girl here, at least there'll be one other sane person—but all Fury said was not to bug you. Which, I'm sorry, isn't much to go on."

"I never claimed to be sane." The words tumbled from my tongue before I could think better of them, and I breathed a sigh of relief that my remark had shocked them into silence again for a few moments.

The moments stretched into minutes, and the quiet became increasingly awkward, until Wade broke into a fit of laughter. Pushing his chair over to mine, he pounded me on the back. "I like you! You're funny!"

"Was that a joke?" Danny said evenly. "Do not make assumptions unless you know the whole story. To assume is to limit the mind to one way of viewing, when by nature our perceptions should be infinite."

The others stared at him, bewildered, but I found myself smiling. "Well, what if everybody's perceptions are infinite, and some people's perception is just a bigger infinity than others? Some infinities are bigger than others." Their stares turned to me, my soft voice echoing throughout the small room. I couldn't believe I said that, but Danny grinned right back at me.

Sam stood up, shook his head, then threw out his arms. "Enough with the fortune cookie junk! We've heard it all, Fist!"

Ava growled. "How about you learn to shut up, Bucket Head?!"

At that precise moment, Nick appeared. "Enough. You're dismissed. Not you, Wilson. The rest of you—go." I popped up from my seat, feeling energized by my brief exchange, when Nick added, "Carlson, it's Monday." Stupid reminders.

The warning bell rang, interrupting my trip down memory lane. Danny was waiting for me at my locker, and even I could see the concern in his eyes. "Where were you?"

I shrugged, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible. "Just a little bit of a cold."

"It is not the cold season," he pointed out with a frown. Danny wasn't stupid; he knew what game I was playing—after all, he did it himself nearly every day.

"So?"

"Truth is one, paths are many."

"Mahatma Gandhi?"

"Why answer a question that we both know the answer to?"

"Why answer a question with a question? Because sometimes the questions are the answers." I twisted the knob on my locker, trying to get it to open without success.

"The truth is the answer which I seek." Danny crossed his arms with a sense of finality.

"This isn't the time or place. You know that." My locker door popped open. I sighed with relief, gathering my books.

"Tonight, dinner?"

I couldn't stop the smile. Leaning my head against his chest, I rolled his necklace between my fingers and breathed, "Meet you in Central Park." Danny lifted my chin up, and our lips brushed.

"See you then."

"Can't wait," I whispered honestly, turning away so he couldn't see the tears lingering in my eyes.

…...

Lilly's POV

The day that Grandmother Time sat down across from me to talk over a cup of tea was the day that my life changed forever. Even if it was only a little while ago, it feels like a different life. An entirely different reality.

She had brought me to a mansion of sorts in Paris, France. I thought it was nice, but still not paradise, still not home. Besides, the sweetest things in life would always taste bitter without love. The vintage table was painted white, and the matching chairs had an intricate flowery design running over them.

Time spoke in my native tongue, and said, "Child, I still do not believe that you understand. I am Grandmother Time, as you know, but I have more reason than your bloodline to bring you here, to my house."

"Oh," I responded uncertainly.

"You see, I control Time, as you know. Are you familiar with the çoklu Evreni Theory?" I didn't know what those words even meant at the time, and seeing my confused expression, she continued, "I suppose not. It is known in the English tongue of Americans as the Multiverse Theory.

"To the most basic point, it states that every time a choice is made, there becomes a new reality for each choice. For example, if I were to stand in the center of New York City, and there were three options—turn right, go straight, or stay where I am at that particular moment—then there would become three 'universes'; one in which I go straight, another in which I turn right, and a third in which I stay where I am.

"In such a theory, every little decision—including those at the molecular level—would result in a new reality, resulting in an infinite number of universes of infinite size." She paused to sip her tea at this point, and I tried to grasp this little bit of information.

"So... what are you trying to say?"

Time smiled at me, with pity and sadness mingled in her eyes. "This is no longer a theory, my dear. I know it to be reality." She slid a piece of paper and a pen across the parchment. "Draw a flower, please."

For a moment, I simply stared, before the urge to obey this woman overcame me, and I obediently drew a vertical line topped with a circle. Then I bordered the circle with ovals.

"Dear, we both know you have a certain talent for capturing the life of a being. As your father says, you make the picture breath."

She knows, I thought. I closed my eyes, trying to find the story for this flower. It came easily, and my pencil slid across the paper, adding all sorts of details. I must have spent nearly an hour on the flower, yet it seemed to be only a few moments before the Anenome peeled itself from the paper.

Her six petals were a pale lilac, and drooped slightly. The center of the flower was a yellow sphere, with white stamens sprouting from it like hands waving in the wind. Her roots were tangled, searching for soil to bury themselves within. Time gazed at the Anenome with an expression of assurance and peace, as though her thoughts had been confirmed.

"You see, you have created something from nothing. Which is not possible, scientifically speaking. Yet you use no magic to do this. You draw on something else. You have a connection with the other worlds, the other realities, Lilly. You are the bridge between. Before now, I was one of the few who had any knowledge or means of traveling in between these universes. Now you can help me."