Tidal Wave [Peter Parker]

Part 5- Bruce's Lab

A knock came at Peter's door but Sage didn't hear it because they were sitting on a small balcony that looked like a fire escape. Thankfully, due to Peter's super senses, he heard the knock and went to open it. Tony said, "Can I talk to my daughter?"

Peter looked back at Sage who nodded.

Tony sidestepped past Peter and went to sit on the window seal. "They've calmed down. Bruce wants to talk to you, he asked if we'd meet him in the lab. Is that okay?"

She nodded, "Do I need to change?"

He shook his head, "Not if you don't want to."

Tony looked at her sincerely. For so long she'd relied on the media for information about her dad and they painted him as a crude, sexist, playboy who didn't care about anyone but himself but here he was making everything about his daughter. He was giving her every opportunity for choice. This was a side of her dad that had been buried in her memory.

Sage crawled back through the window. She didn't want to change, her school sweatshirt was familiar and comfortable. She started to follow her dad to the lab but she stopped, "Can Peter come?"

Tony shrugged, "Sure, I don't see why not."

Sage grabbed Peter's hand and pulled him along. She was slightly nervous but she knew that this was the only way to get answers. As they passed through the living room area, everyone stared at her. Peter tried to walk in step with her to block their view but he wasn't sure it worked. They were grateful when the elevator doors finally closed.

"So, Dr. Banner," Sage said.

"He's a good guy," Tony offered. "Good at controlling his emotions, I think he and help. PLus it doesn't hurt that he's a genius."

They stepped out of the elevator and Tony led them to a laboratory. The room could've housed thirty elephants easily but was instead filled with technology. It was like a playground for Sage and Peter, a very expensive, dangerous playground. In the center of it all was Dr. Bruce Banner. He turned around to greet them, "Hey Tony, hi Sage, Peter good to see you again." He sat down, "I thought we could just talk first, try and understand each other a little better."

She let go of Peter's hand and went to sit across from Bruce. The determination in her walk told Tony that she wanted to do this part alone. So Tony took Peter to another corner of the lab and started showing him his theoretical design for new web shooters.

Bruce shook Sage's hand, "I understand that you're Tony's daughter."

Sage nodded.

"But that's not why you're here is it?"

"No."

"Tony told us about the accident and how it changed you somehow. He said you have powers that you don't fully understand."

Sage nodded.

"How old are you?"

"I'm a sophomore in high school."

Bruce grimaced, "I hated my sophomore year. Has yours been very good? I mean it's almost summer."

She shrugged, "It wasn't so bad but I don't have many friends. I'm like the secretly smart art kid that no one talks to cause they think I'm scary."

Bruce let out a small laugh, "Yup, you're Tony's daughter all right."

Sage smiled, "I guess so."

Their laughter died down and he said, "So what exactly happened that made you seek out your dad?"

"I lost control at school, that had never happened before." She thought about the times her emotions overwhelmed her, "King, my service dog, usually calms me down but I don't take him to school."

"But what happened?"

"This one teacher constantly gets on my nerves and one day I stood up and walked out. He said he'd have to call my parents and this student said that my parents were dead. I ran out into the girls bathroom and I was so upset because well, my parents seemed dead to me, I never heard from them or anything but I knew they were alive because I saw them on the news every night. It wasn't fair and I lost it."

Bruce was still confused, "So your emotions got out of control, then what?"

"Everything exploded, the sinks, the toilets, the stalls, the pipes, everything. I flooded the school that day."

He nodded as he tried to comprehend. "Sage, what were you doing when the bomb hit?"

She tried not to let herself drift back to that night, "I was swimming."

Something clicked inside his mind, "Tony!" Bruce shouted.

He came running over to check on the pair of them. "What? Is something wrong?"

"I need to know what room was above the swimming pool in your old house, what trajectory the bomb impacted it at, what projects you were working on, how high the heat signature registered- everything."

"Absolutely, anything you need. Jarvis should've captured and stored all of that information."

He started to walk away but Bruce caught him at the door. "Do you have any idea how badly you've hurt that kid?"

Tony looked down in shame, "I'm starting to figure it out."