Speed of Lyght

Closure

Chapter Eight: Closure

Gary "Alpha" First was taken into custody and sentenced for his crimes. Tabitha learned that he had indeed escaped from stockade; he had promised a guard to transform him: unfortunately, the serum and the procedure had deadly side effects. His journey to New York was similar to hers; while she went to find a cure, he was searching for a better antidote. Before trial, he had been ruled incompetent to stand trial and was pleaded guilty by way of insanity. It wasn't the justice she had in mind for him but she was relieved that he would no longer be on the streets to cause any more damage to someone else.

The children that did survive the massive attack had luck on their side; Peter knew of a geneticist who was able to come up with a cure for them. Tabitha wanted to slap herself; all she had to do was confess to him in the beginning about what she was and he could've introduced the two earlier! Dr. Castillo secretly dealt with superheroes and had no problem performing the procedure to cure Tabitha as well.

She was excited yet nervous; she had only been fighting crime for a little over a year but it already came second nature to her. It was because of her mutant powers that she was even able to create the masterpieces in her art classes; she was going to miss that ability. On the other hand, she was getting exactly what she wanted: she was going to be normal again. She had so many options to look into after going back to normal; going back home was one of them.

Jamila knocked on the room door and let herself in. Tabitha was sitting up in the hospital bed, talking to Peter and Mary Jane. She smiled at the professor.

"Doc!" she received a huge hug from her friend, "What you doing here?"

"You actually thought I would miss this? No way!" she smiled. She switched glances from Tabitha to Peter and slightly blushed. Tabitha sighed a little and laughed.

"P, Dr. Lindsey; doc, P..." she introduced. The two shook hands.

"I hope you don't mind that I know..." Jamila started but Peter shook his head.

"If Tabby Cat trusts you, then I trust you!" he smiled.

"I want to thank you... for looking after her like this..."

"Not my doing; I'm just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man..."

"I'm not a child, doc!" Tabitha said with exasperation but laughed along with the three, "Is it okay if I talk to P for a minute?" she looked at the two women. The two nodded and left the room. She looked at Peter and grabbed his hand, "I actually never got a chance to thank you, myself."

"It was nothing; that's what friends do, right?"

"P... you shouldn't have been dragged into all this. I... fucked up, big time. I should've stopped and listened..." she tried to apologize. He hugged her tightly.

"How many times do I have to tell you that it's my job?" he lightly smiled, "You know... we actually make one hell of a team. Castillo said that she could evaluate you more extensively; find out what's really behind the rage. Are you sure you want to go through with this?" he asked her sincerely. She looked down at the bed for a moment and then back up at him.

"I really had fun; I did. But... I'm kinda tired. I wanna be normal, again. I wanna see my family. I don't wanna have to always be careful not to shock someone whenever I touch 'em..." she told him. While it did become second nature to her, it was still a lot of work to go through the methods that Dr. Lindsey taught her in the beginning, "Maybe one day... I'll get bit by a radioactive bug; get my powers legitimately..." she winked at him. He laughed and lightly pushed her.

"Funny!"

"You... never thought about being normal again?" she wondered. He shrugged the idea away.