Chapter 6: Living on a Prayer
"Truth is not what is seems,
but what it is."
-Frank Sonnenberg
Danny stared at the words of truth. The truth stung, and he didn't want to believe it. There weren't any other options, though.
Time is doing this because she wants to fix these freaks like myself. She wants onereality that is "happily ever after" for everyone.
That was what he got for reading Emmaline's diary.
...
As it turned out, Danny and I didn't meet in Central Park, nor did we go out to dinner that night. We didn't even go grocery shopping (something that really needed to be done before we starved). Instead, we ended up at Harry Osborn's penthouse.
Peter had invited us. Saying 'no' wasn't an option. Supposedly, it was so that his friends and his teammates could learn to get along better. Just a movie night, right? Not quite.
Nobody was particularly enthusiastic, me least of all. The building was enormous and fancy. Its sheer size was frightening enough, and when you added the new people, it was a very bad place for me to be. The precise kind of situation that I was supposed to be avoiding, doctor's orders.
Even my friends were dubious. Danny's fists were clenched, and the reasoning was obvious; although he might be fine about the whole Rand Industries thing, Harry might not be so cool about it. The Osborns were notorious for their snootiness, and Mr. Osborn was extremely competitive. Why should his son be any different? I couldn't believe that Peter hadn't thought of it—then it occurred to me that perhaps he might not have put two and two together yet. It would dawn on him eventually.
"Think of it as a team bonding exercise," Peter said. "Just without the costumes and fighting and stuff."
I bit my lip. The 'costumes and fighting and stuff' sounded a lot better than this at that moment.
"I don't need a new friend," Sam muttered, crossing his arms.
"Maybe not. But if you guys are going to invade my life, it's going to be on my terms. It's going to be cool, it's going to be fun." Peter smiled, when, suddenly, the door opened. "Flash?!"
"Par-ty!"
The room was filled with people. High school kids. I wrung my hands, backing away, but Danny set a hand on my shoulder. I tried to relax a little bit, but simply worked myself up more.
"Didn't see that coming."
Sam grinned smugly at Peter. Ava looked utterly annoyed. She was probably thinking about how she could have been studying for the math test that Friday. I was thinking of how badly I wished that I was in Central Park with Danny right then, on the way to a nice restaurant. Almost anything would be better than this.
"I'm missing homework for this?" Ava hissed.
"This wasn't supposed to be... this," Peter said, his blue eyes wide with surprise. "MJ!"
A redheaded girl who looked about as comfortable as me made her way over to us. "Hey guys. Some party, huh?"
"I thought we were watching a movie!"
"Me too. But apparently we're watching half the school party down at Harry's house instead."
"The whole school, actually," Harry said with satisfaction. "Except for the ones who weren't invited." He jerked a thumb over at us. I blushed miserably. Luke, Ava, Danny and I had been watching Sam eat tortilla chips in an extremely disgusting manner.
"What? Dey're good nafos!" Sam exclaimed around a mouthful of food. I redirected my gaze to Peter and Harry.
"I invited them, Harry," Peter said innocently. "I thought maybe if everyone got to know each other, things would be cool. Harry, I'm trying here. Come on!"
"I don't need any more friends. As you can see, I've got plenty." His words were venomous and angry, and I shuddered, turning to read the titles of the nearby books. I ignored what was happening around me as best as I could, struggling to tune out all of the people's voices.
Danny tapped me on the shoulder, and I followed him, Sam, Luke, and Ava over to MJ. "Nervous bladder," she shrugged. "Ever since first grade." Ava just looked at her with complete boredom.
I hung back, behind Sam. Sam was a good couple of inches shorter than me, though, so my attempts to blend in were futile. A second later, icy cold fear consumed me. Bad energy nearby. I backed away, bumping into Luke, who gave me a concerned look. The energy was completely black, and it consumed other lighter energies. Sam shrugged, shoving a slice of pizza down his throat, when a terrifying roar echoed through the room. "Woa! Tell me he rented a lion!" At everyone's blank stares, Sam explained, "What? Rich people rent lions."
"Not a lion," I groaned to myself. Luke's eyes widened, and he glanced from me to the stairs, then poked Danny in the side. More sounds of wood splintering echoed down the staircase, and Peter tumbled down from the bathroom. A boy—Thomas—caught him.
An enormous, writhing black mass of goo followed, shaping itself into a sort of monster. It tipped its head back and howled, letting its tentacles squirm up and puncture the lights. The room was plunged into darkness, and I took another step back, bumping into the table. The entire throng of people screamed, hurrying from the room.
I held back, until Luke tugged on my arm, and I followed him out of the door, helping to herd the people away from whatever the dark mass was. Once all of the kids were out of the way, I slipped out of my shirt and jeans, pulling my boots, gloves, and mask on. When I ran into the darkened room, though, it was empty, so we hurried to the rooftop instead.
"How do we stop that thing without hurting Nova?" Ava snapped. "Ideas?"
"My irresistible comedic banter seems to have no effect. That's all I got."
"I can take it," Luke growled.
"Let's not be hasty. You'd better make a promise to clean your room or something first."
Luke grunted irritably.
"Kidding! Don't touch it or it'll stick to you!"
"Not if you touch it hard enough," Luke said, yanking the goo from Nova's body. It squirmed, then consumed him.
"Power Man! No!" Ava cried, getting ready to pounce.
"This is bad," Peter said.
The monster pounced, and we all moved out of the way. It shot out one of the tentacles at me, and I punched it. It pulled away, steaming, and I stared at my hand, which was slowly turning gray. Danny let out a loud kiyup, then punched it, only to be batted away like a fly. Ava tried to jump on it, but a tentacle grabbed her, slamming her to the ground.
My ears rung, and I clawed at my hand, oblivious to the fighting going on around me. At last, the thin layer of gray skin began to smoke, evaporating into the air, and I caught my breath.
"All life is sacred, creature, but what you're doing is wrong." Danny's voice resounded amongst the silence, echoing with power. "Let him go before I forget I'm a pacifist." He ran an the creature, drawing his glowing fist back, and punched the goo right off of Luke. Danny jumped from obstacle to obstacle, dodging the mass. All at once, it caught him by the ankle, and with a thud, Danny fell to the ground.
"I can hear its thoughts... they're—they're confused...Spider-Man... it wants... you?" The mass roared with delight, and the world spun. I fell to my knees, trying to clear my head. Something was wrong. It was if the creature were apart of me, as though it had control of me instead of Danny...
The world was dark and heavy. My fist was aglow, and I watched helplessly as I pounded Spider-Man... I wanted Spider-Man... Only Spider-Man... No! GET OUT!
Then I was me again, breathless, watching the mass dissipate, letting Danny go, then swallow Peter instead.
"I AM VENOM!"
At that point, the world was fuzzy again. Clear my mind. Concentrate, separate It from Peter... That's it, take the energy away, it's mine! Slowly... It wasn't possible, though. The process was too slow, I though desolately. It wouldn't work.
Gasping for air, I stood. The world was spinning, and I knew that I had failed. Most likely made it worse. The team, though, had prevailed, victorious. They stood, proudly, beside me, as Harry and MJ ran up to us.
Nova, Sam, and Danny had each faced the horrors of that thing. Ava had helped defeat it. I had only hindered them, I thought miserably, staring at the ground. "You seen my friend Peter?"
"Shrimpy kid?" Luke scoffed.
"Spaghetti arms?"
"Three dollar haircut?"
"Only a ninety-eight average?" We all stared at Ava. "What? That's not a jokey insult?"
Peter stepped forward. "Don't worry. He's fine."
"Good," Harry let out a breath of relief. "He's my best friend."
Police barged through the door to the rooftop, and I tried to look like I belonged, however I might have felt internally. I supposed that Danny likely felt more awkward than I did, being only in his underwear and a ninja mask. My eyes wandered to him, and a deeper shade of red settled on my cheeks.
"You destroyed it?!" Mr. Osborn snapped. At our looks, his face turned to one of relief. "Thank goodness. Get the heroes some help." He jerked a thumb at us the same way Harry had done earlier that night.
I pushed the officers away, taking the stairs to the street below. I didn't stop to change, simply walking to the street below and boarding the waiting car.
"You took too long," Kris hissed at me from the driver's seat. "You have to hurry, now, and get the job done."
True to my word, I did hurry. Once the job was finished, I wiped the blood off of my hands and dashed back to the Helicarrier, hoping that nobody would have noticed my absence.
Of course, Danny and Luke were waiting for me. They were leaned casually against the wall, arms crossed, both in civilian clothes. Danny held my jeans and shirt out to me, his face expressionless. "You forgot these."
"Oh, uh, sorry. I just... took a walk through the park. Since... we, um, missed out on the... plans."
Luke raised an eyebrow. "Right. I'm going to leave you two to your argument, then." He strolled away, and I was glad that Luke wasn't the type of person to hang around behind doors and eavesdrop.
"Where were you?"
"What does it matter?" I shot back defensively.
"You were not in the park. Look at yourself. There is blood on your sleeve. Why?"
"I cut myself at Harry's," I said, not meeting his eyes.
"A painful truth is better than a sweet lie."
"Everyone has secrets."
"Wise is he who can keep a secret, but wiser is he who has no secrets," Danny quoted.
"Fury's listening," I lied.
"Now cameras work around you?"
I sighed. Danny had me cornered. "No, they don't. Never did, still don't. Look, it's just a family matter that I'm stressing out about, okay? School's hard right now, and then Peter's brought all this new stuff in at once... I seriously needed to get away tonight, just you and me, but that didn't happen, so I went on a walk. A short walk. Came across a bad guy, fought him. He just gave me a little scratch. That's all." That was the closest to the truth that I was willing to tell.
Danny pulled me against him. "Are you going to school tomorrow?"
I shrugged. "Have to."
"I am not. I have work business to attend to." His voice dropped to a whisper. "How about we get out, just the two of us, when I am finished?" I fingered his necklace, embracing the moment. I loved being so close to him, feeling the rise and fall of his chest and his lips brushing over my ear.
There was no need for an answer as our lips met, and it was a whole new world, a glorious place that held eternity in just a few moments. When we broke away, Danny pulled my face to his chest, holding me there. I buried myself in his shirt while he played with my hair, listening to the silence.
…...
I woke early the next morning, taking a long shower. I dressed in nice, but casual clothing: a simple short-sleeved silver shirt with a scoop neck that had feathers scattered across the fabric and skinny jeans. For me, that was about as fancy as it got. I braided my hair as always, and slipped on my glasses. It was early when I finished dressing—six AM—but Danny was waiting for me in the meeting room. I grinned at the sight of him in a business suit, and he playfully smiled back.
"You actually listened to Jane this time?"
Danny nodded. "It is not as if I have much of a choice. She will just make me change there if I wear regular clothing."
"True enough."
"Breakfast?"
I leaned my head on his shoulder. "Sure."
It was drizzling slightly, but it was actually fun to walk together in the rain, talking and laughing. We stopped at a bakery for cinnamon rolls—Danny's favorite—and bought enough to share with a few employees. I took off my flats and ran barefoot, my feet slapping against the cold pavement. Danny just laughed at me. It was one of those moments, that beautiful time when it is just you and the one special person.
Inside of the huge building, I felt at home. It was ironic that I hated large buildings that housed numerous people, but felt at home in this monstrous skyscraper. We were dripping wet, and the receptionist shook her head at us in disapproval, but neither of us cared. Danny's green eyes were glowing; I had never noticed how cute he looked when his blonde hair was wet, and his mischievous half smile said everything for him.
We took the elevator to his office. "Sit here, and wait. It has been a considerable amount of time since I last attended a meeting, so it will probably take a little while. I am sorry."
I looked in his eyes and completely lost any common sense that I had retained. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and closed my eyes. His hands wandered to my waist, pulling me in closer, until our nose were gently touching—then we just kissed like never before. I ended up on the sofa beneath him, breathing hard, and shivering at his touch.
A cough from the doorway interrupted us. Looking back, it was probably a good thing that Jane came to fetch Danny before we got any further. I gave a limp, embarrassed wave as he followed her out.
For awhile, I stared out of the gigantic window that stretched across an entire wall. Then I took a book that was sitting on his desk—"Tao Te Ching" by Lao Tzu—and read it for the remainder of the time. Around noon, my communicator began beeping, so I answered it. An extraordinarily irritated Ava appeared on the screen.
"WHERE the HELL are you?!"
"Uh..."
"You seriously skipped?" Ava hissed. A grinning Sam appeared behind her.
"Hey, awesome! Next time you skip, though, tell me, because, dude, I would have so gone with you!"
"Shut up, bucket head!"
"Guys—"
Ava's eyes narrowed. "Oh, and you wouldn't have any idea where a certain Zen boy is, would you?"
I let out a long sigh. "Look, Ava, he's working, okay?"
"What are you doing?" she snarled. "Keeping him company? Did I disrupt your kissing?"
Anger leaped up inside of me. "I'm reading a book!"
"So you're telling me that it's not a date? That you haven't been making out?" Ava scoffed.
"It's complicated, okay?! Who cares if we've been making out—what difference does it make to you?" I hung up, feeling irritated. Within the hour, though, the argument was behind me, and I was immersed in the book again.
At exactly two fourteen, Danny escaped the meeting, and (after he changed) we took off down the street, laughing. Neither of us were outgoing people, and it felt great to be able to talk like a normal person. No worries, no fighting, only us.
It wasn't raining anymore, though clouds still lingered. By then we were both extremely hungry, so we walked to the nearest grocery store and bought an abundance of fruits, breads, and vegetables to eat in Central Park as a sort of picnic. It was delicious, needless to say.
I stretched out on the grass next to Danny, watching the clouds shift. "How much longer do you have?"
"Around halfway done—sixth months or so." There was a long silence, then he softly said, "You are coming?"
Taken aback by his sudden offer, I paused. "Only if you want me."
His hand fumbled for mine, and our fingers intertwined. "Of course I want you."
"Then, of course I'm coming."
There was another long period of quiet, until Danny stood. I followed him through the park, to a lonely bench on the side of a busy, dirty street. I sat next to him, watching the cars pass us by.
"What are you not telling me?"
I wrung my hands, a dead giveaway that something was wrong. "Plenty. Same as you. Everyone's got secrets. Even you and me."
"You can tell me."
"No, I can't." I watch a bright orange van zoom by. "It's not like that, Danny. It's about my parents, and same as you, I don't talk about them, okay? They're the past, and it's easier to just let stuff like that be."
Danny didn't say anything; he simply nodded and draped his arm over my shoulders. I leaned my head against him, and we watched the world around us, living, breathing, loving.
His communicator interrupted us with its continuous buzzing, so Danny answered it. Nick's face loomed over us, dark with anger. "What the hell are you thinking?!"
"We—"
"You weren't thinking, that's what!"
"Director Fury, I had business—"
"What about S.H.I.E.L.D. business?!" Nick snapped.
"NICK! Listen to us, okay?" I screamed at the watch.
"No. You are the ones who need to listen to me! Carlson, you knew that you weren't supposed to leave the Helicarrier, and Rand—you know better than this. Both of you, get your sorry asses back to HQ. Fury out."
"Wait, Nick!" I called desperately, to no avail. It was too late. "Crud." The last thing that I wanted to do at that moment was return to the Helicarrier and be ridiculed by Nick. Danny shook his head, standing up, and led me to the middle of the park. He guided me throughout the movements in my most recent form, gently readjusting me whenever he felt it necessary. I shivered at his soft touch, smiling to myself.
It began to drizzle slightly, and the crowd ebbed away, leaving only us two. My hair was plastered o my face, and I was laughing at Danny again. I couldn't see his expression, but he hugged me against his chest, rocking back and forth.
Afterward, we went and saw a movie. Around ten at night, we returned to the Helicarrier, exhausted. On the way up, part of me wanted to feel sorry for myself, about the trouble I was in, but nothing could take away this happiness that Danny had brought upon me. Just outside of the main entryway, I shook my head, and climbed onto the top of the aircraft. He followed me, and for a moment, we stood there, staring at the array of stars. Then my hand held his, and I led him to the entrance.
For a fleeting second, I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath in. During that brief period of time, his body pressed to mine, and when I opened my eyes again, they met his beautiful green irises. Danny fingered my hair, twirling it, and I let my nose bump his. His head turned, and he leaned in to kiss me. I met his lips full on, and it was the best feeling in the world—
"Since when did you two become a couple?!" Peter's voice intruded in, smashing my little dream like broken glass. Awkwardly, we tried to untangle ourselves without success. My cheeks were afire, and Danny's eyes had the deer-caught-in-headlights look to them.
"Since when did you care?" I mumbled bluntly.
"You guys are that serious—as in, you kiss?"
"Now kissing is illegal?" I snapped, the words sharp in the previously peaceful night.
"Emma," Danny said calmly, putting a hand on my shoulder. I relaxed, letting myself fall into him again.
"Where were you guys when Batrox was stealing half a million dollars?" Peter looked exasperated. "Making pancakes?"
I stared at him. "Pancakes? Why would I go somewhere else to cook pancakes?"
"Oh, never mind! Seriously, though, Danny? She was the best you could do?"
Danny looked at him blankly. I glared at Peter, wishing I could undo the past five minutes. "Please shut up."
Holding his hands up as though caught in some obscene crime, Peter backed away. He mimed zipping his mouth shut. "Just kidding! Heh, that was a joke, Em, don't take it literally!"
My hands balled themselves into fists, but I turned away and stormed inside. I managed to avoid Fury until the next morning. Needless to say, there was a huge argument. Fortunately for me, it was cut off prematurely by the realization of Nick that I needed to 'get my ass to school' lest I were to (oh, the horror!) play hooky again.
I barely slid into homeroom in time. Ava continuously asked me why I didn't show up yesterday, Sam congratulated me, and Luke seemed to be oblivious to my absence. By the end of the day, I felt exhausted. I was thankful that there was scarcely any homework that night; all I wanted to do was lay in bed and think of how great Danny's lips felt against mine. Unfortunately, Peter chose that evening to need help with the Living Laser.
"Maybe we can defeat this one without tearing up the city?" Ava suggested, landing gracefully.
"Eh, maybe we can't," Peter whined. "Put me down, Tiny." Luke let Peter fall to the ground, where he landed considerably less suavely than Ava.
"That's Power Man to you, Web Head."
"Whatever," Peter said, cracking his knuckles.
"Anyone read the wiki on bad eighties light show guy?" Sam rolled his eyes. Peter went into a long winded science-y explanation. Sam held up his hands. "Hold it. He's made of what?"
"Photons. That means he can..." Peter sighed as the Laser began to enlarge to tenfold his previous size. "... Yep. That means he can do that."
"I will fry you like bacon!"
A sudden blast from nowhere blew through the Laser, scattering his photons.
"What just happened?" Peter exclaimed. "I thought he was going to fry us like bacon. What is he, vegan?"
A loud boom resounded throughout the block. "There's that sound again," Ava said with a frown.
From the clouds appeared—of all people—Iron Man. Peter let out a little gasp, wide-eyed. "Awesome... Look at him over there! You know he built that armor himself? Like, in a cave, with a paper clip and some empty soda cans? BIG time genius."
"Somebody's got a man crush," Sam sang.
"What do you think they're, you know, talking about?"
"Probably some national security issues," Ava said. She crossed her arms as Peter walked forward to them, out of our range of hearing. "Seriously, Em, couldn't you just have absorbed that guy? I mean, light's energy, right?"
"Yeah, but I need time. As in, more than thirty seconds. You've gotta give me ten minutes or so to prepare myself—it's a complicated process, okay? All science-y and stuff. Ask Peter about the different forms of energy; he'll explain."
"I doubt that he's going to be explaining anything anytime soon," Ava scoffed, jerking her head at him. We approached Peter slowly, but he failed to notice our presence. "What is your deal?"
"Huh?" Peter blinked.
"Okay guys, I'm out of here," Iron Man said. His eyes passed right over me, as though I hadn't just seem him last week. He was almost as good of a liar as I was. "Hey, kid, I like your style—wardrobe notwithstanding. How about you visit the plant on Saturday? Maybe I can help you out." He took off. Something boiled in my stomach. Anger.
On Saturday, I had to go back to the infirmary for the treatment. It was simply more bad news.
"You've been going on missions, haven't you?" Connors shook his head at me.
I stared at the tile floor. We both knew the answer. It took everything I had not to break down right then and there. "I don't know what to do anymore."
He put a hand on my shoulder gently. "I think it's time to start telling the people close to you about this. Make arrangements. It... it might be the end," he said softly.
"The end?" I asked thickly. Tears welled in my eyes, but I blinked them away, refusing the diagnosis. "It's never the end. I can't die."
"Everyone—"
"No! You don't understand." The tears ran down my cheeks, and I choked. "I physically cannot die. It's not humanely possible." Connors stared at me, bewildered. "I—I need to talk to Nick."
…...
An hour later, I left Nick's office. My cheeks were flushed with anger; I detested all of these misunderstandings. All at once, my knees shook, and I collapsed to the floor, screaming.
"MOM!" I shouted, my voice hoarse. Happiness coursed through my veins, and a grin spread across my face. "WAIT UP!"
A hand snatched me from behind. He pressed a knife to my throat, laughing insanely. Dad's eyes widened in horror, and I made a terrified choking noise.
"Oh, sweetie, Deadpool won't hurt you!" he cackled. "Only k-word you, don't worry." His breath stank. My stomach churned angrily, when gunshots rang out from somewhere. My attacker tripped, and I stumbled away, into Dad's arms.
"Dad..." My voice cracked, and I saw the red spreading across my blouse. Everything was fuzzy, I couldn't breath; it was complete agony. The last thing I saw was my dad crying, then everything stopped.
"Emma!"
"No," I mumbled. "Can't be dead... LILLY!"
Someone shook me roughly, but I pushed them away. Lilly couldn't be dead! No!
"Emmaline?" a boy whispered in my ear.
My eyes snapped open. "Danny?" I blinked; why was I in Danny's arms? Why were a few dozen armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents surrounding me, not to mention the entire team?
"Goddammit, Em," Ava shook her head. "What the hell?"
"Shut up, Ava," I snapped. They stared at me; I was rarely rude, preferring to keep my thoughts to myself. I tried to stand up without success—I was shaking too much to think straight, let alone do such a complicated thing as walk. Danny, though, was thinking sensibly as usual, and carefully lead me away. He set me down on my bed, and I struggled to remember what I had just seen.
Danny stroked my hair. I couldn't look him in the eyes; I knew he would see the guilt, betrayal, and dishonesty, amongst other unsightly things. He might have noticed the lingering tears or pain.
"I suck, Danny, I suck," I said, my voice trembling with disappointment. I bit my lip, savoring the salty tang of blood in my mouth. "This sucks, I suck. I need to get out of here. This isn't going to work anymore."
"What is not going to work anymore? The team?"
I shook my head professedly. "This. What I've been doing... I—I haven't been making the best choices, Danny. I haven't been telling you the truth..."
"Emma—"
"Danny, I—I don't know what to do anymore." So I told him about what I had been doing for Abby. I purposefully avoided talking about my Dreams, or my Other Life, and, most especially, Time, Vincent, Bereave, and the jobs that I had been doing for them. If the jobs had been for money, I would have told him—but it was unlikely that I would ever have done such things for money. For lives, yes; money, no.
He was a good listener as always, nodding at all the right places. At the end, when I had finished my explanation, he made his promise to me. An unbreakable promise. I wish I had known that Time was just playing with me, that we truthfully were all doomed. I wish that I had known that we were both dying, that the end was nearer than either of us thought. Most of all, I wish that Danny had kept his promise, because if he had, then many people's lives would have been saved.
THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS:
leggo lover 99: =D Thank you!
TheOnyxDragon12: Yes, the theory will be further explained—wait, how is it a theory if it's proven? Then again, Time may be a liar (she certainly has the potential). As for Coulson & Wade, don't worry, they'll be in soon... Maria's about 2 months along.
Nerdy-Tomboy: ;-)
Hamster1000: Please.
Thanks for reading!
-FFS