Falling Slowly

8. Surprise

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Emma sighed as she threw a tennis ball in the air and froze it to the ceiling. Fury had sent a helicopter to retrieve her and Peter on the mountain. He gave Peter the room next to Emma to stay in until he was able to get Emma a new car to drive back to Queens. Emma squealed when someone knocked on the door.

"Sorry." Peter chuckled, grabbing the doorknob. "Can I come in?"

"Just a second." Emma unfroze the tennis ball and threw it out the window before she could think about it. "Shit. Come in!"

"I brought some cinnamon toast." Peter smiled softly, handing Emma a plate. She smiled, tears forming in her eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"My dad used to make me cinnamon toast for breakfast every morning." She smiled up at Peter. "We'd eat cinnamon toast while we watched his friends, Scott and Hank be stupid on the courtyard."

"Courtyard?"

"We stayed in a school for people like us." Emma took a long, shaky breath. She debated in her mind on whether she should tell Peter her true identity. "Mutants."

"Mutants?" Peter's eyes grew wide. "Like in the comics?"

"Exactly!" Emma stood up quickly. "We had you guys in the comics and Fury said you guys had us in the comics!"

"Wait, so there is a multiverse?" Peter raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Emma nodded quickly.

"Wow, Mysterio said there wasn't one." Peter sat on Emma's bed in shock. "How-how did you get here?"

"I don't know." Emma sat back in her chair. "One thing, we're fighting a bunch of Sentinals and I look over and dad got killed and I was just about to get stabbed until I just woke up in some random house."

Peter's jaw had dropped a long time ago. "So, you have powers?"

"Yes." Emma nodded, forming an ice ball in her hand. "They're the same as my dad's."

"You're the Lady Ice." Peter pulled out his phone and looked her up. He showed Emma a whole profile on herself. "Lady Ice, known to friends and family as Emma Drake, daughter of Bobby Drake."

"Wow, how does a whole universe know about me and my family?" Emma scratched the back of her neck. "That's kind of creepy."

"So, you didn't have Spider-Man comics?" Peter asked.

"No, we had Captain Iron and America Man." Emma shook her head.

"Oh, so your comics are about a different universe than ours." Peter noted. "We have Iron Man and Captain America."

"I know that." Emma rolled her eyes playfully. "I've been here for a while."

"Wow, what's Charles Xavier like?" Peter put his hands in his lap and raised his eyebrows.

"Boring and old." Emma smiled, covering her face. "And don't get me started on how adorable Scott is."

"Oh, I guess this is my leave." Peter rolled his eyes, smiling playfully.

"No, I like your company." Emma smiled sadly, playing with her fingers. "Ever since I had to find out I wasn't just dreaming that my dad was gone, I've had nightmares that he came back and I lost him again."

"What do you mean?" Peter tilted his head.

"I dream that I get to go back home and dad is there, looking for me." Emma frowned. "He has the biggest smile on his face and I feel sad for some reason, but when I see that he's still here, that pain inside goes away. I believe the sadness is because I still miss him."