poisoned 🕷️ peter parker [1]

2

"Just be thankful that I carried my device connected to F.R.I.D.A.Y." Mr. Stark broke the awkward silence it had appeared since they'd got into the car. "If it wasn't for it, the medical staff would have never found what was wrong with me."

They were on their way to the Avengers compound in upstate New York. Jessica was quietly sitting in the backseat with Tony, resting her head against the car window, while a man she had heard Tony call Happy was driving. 

"I don't know how it happen. I didn't do anything, I swear." She said as an apology.

"I know you didn't mean it, kid." Mr. Stark looked at her. "I guess you now understand why is necessary that you stay at the compound at least until we've figure out what else can you do."

"Yes, sir." She said almost in a mumble.

"Don't call me that. I'm Tony, my name's Tony."

"I know who you are." She sat down correctly, no longer resting her head on the window. "You're the Iron Man, you're a superhero and when people see me with you they will think I am too." 

"And you don't want that."

Jessica shook her head. "I want everything to be like it was before."

"Look kid, that's not going to happen, alright?" His words were tough, but she wasn't really listening. Her attention had been caught by a newspaper on the car's floor. "Things like this happen, even if it's extremely hard to believe."

"Is that today's paper?" She asked as she picked it up and red the main article in the front page. "Wait, people think that I'm dead?" 

3   D E A D   D U E   T O   R A D I A T I O N   I N  L A B   A C C I D E N T

A tragic accident in the Queen's laboratory for scientific research has taken the lives of three people. A malfunction of a X-RAY machine has exposed the two scientists from Queens working in said lab. Greg Lewis and Michael Robinson were the only workers in the infrastructure that were exposed to a deadly amount of radiation. Unfortunately, it has been revealed that Mr. Lewis teenage daughter was indeed in the room where the accident has taken place. The missing whereabouts of her body leaves the dreadful conclusion that the 17 year old girl has been exposed to a high level of radiation. [...]

"My body is missing?" She whispered in disbelief. She then looked at Mr. Stark. "Did you take me out of there before anyone could find me?"

"Well, I already told you. Fortunately, you've just turned blonde, but it could have gone a completely different way..." Jessica shook her head confused by Tony's words. "You could have turned green."

"I can't believe this..."

"Actually this way is better." He said. "Nobody will know your identity now." 

"Yeah, because I'm dead." She said as she rested her head against the window again. She watched how the landscape moved, getting closer to their destination.

. . .

The car stopped inside the compound. Mr. Stark was the first to get out, and Jessica followed him, since he was the only one she knew in that place.  

"Where are we going?" 

"You're getting a full scan." Tony replied to the young girl. They walked for almost five minutes through the clean hallways of the compound. The building was huge, she thought. They finally arrived at what seemed Mr. Stark's lab. "Jessica, meet F.R.I.D.A.Y."

She did not know what he meant. There was no one else in the room. So that was why she jumped when she heard a female voice greet her.

"Pleasure to meet you."

"Same?" She replied confused. Was she talking with artificial intelligence? "Is she-"

"She will be attending you today." Tony said and pointed to something that seemed like a metallic stretcher in the middle of the room. "Just lay in here."

"This is really advanced technology." Jessica was in aw as she looked at the devices and computers on the labs desks. "I mean, not even MIT has achieve this yet. It's amazing."

"What do you know about MIT?"

"Pretty much everything. I've been wanting to go there since I was a little girl." She confessed, still amazed by the inventions she had before her. "It's my dream."

"Why do you want to get into MIT?"

"I just love technology. I love seeing how human intelligence has evolved enough to create... Well, to create something like this." She was referring to the AI she had just spoken with.

"Do you have any inventions of your own?" Mr. Stark asked.

"No, I mostly just get old computers and phones and upgrade them." She explained. "Along with creating programs and applications."

"Alright, enough chit chat, lay down in there."

Jessica did as she was told. A second later she was being scanned by some lights coming out from the sides of the metallic stretcher. She laid still until it was over. It didn't take more than a minute.

"Scan complete. Showing full report." F.R.I.D.A.Y. spoke again, but this time it didn't take Jessica by surprise."Enhanced human abilities. Above average strength, above average reflexes, metabolism immune to radioactivity, touch-induced toxicity and radioactivity manipulation."

"What?" She had actually understood what she had just heard, she just didn't believe it.

"Basically, you've got superstrength, you kill everything you touch and if an atomic bomb impacted the only survivors would be you and cockroaches."

"What do you mean with I kill everything I touch?" 

"It's what happened in the hospital." Mr. Stark explained. "When you touched me, your skin induced a toxin directly into mine. I don't think that happens with radiation exposure. Did something else happen that I need to know?" 

The teenager remained silence for a moment. She tried to remember what was happening before the explosion. 

"Yes." She finally said. "My father was testing a cadmium repellent on me." 

"Wait, you- you tested it with actual cadmium?" Tony could not believe what she had just told him.

"It was a small amount, though."

"Well that could explain it." He placed his fingers on the bridge of his nose. "Anything else?"

"I don't think so." Jessica honestly replied. She didn't remember anything else. Then, she went back to their previous conversation. "What does radioactivity manipulation mean?"

"I don't know, kid." Tony said as he let out a sight. "I'll guess we'll figure it out with time."

"Wait, how much time?" The girl demanded. She knew for sure that she didn't want to stay there. She didn't want to be an Avenger and she didn't want anything to do with them. "I'm sorry Mr. Stark, but I don't want to stay here."

"Give me one day to think what we'll do." He said, trying to gain time to think. "You stay here for the night, and tomorrow we'll sort it out." 

His voice sounded tired. She could have kept complaining and trying to convince him to let her go, but she was exhausted as well. She just nodded, accepting to stay for the night.

"Okay."

"And Jessica," He stopped her before she could get out of the room. Then, he smirked. "don't touch anything, will you?"