It's Probably the Peter Tingle - P. Parker

- two -

Peter sat up in the white sheeted bed, his side being wrapped with tape by a nurse. He held his arm aloft and stared off into the hospital cream colored walls, sighing as the smell of disinfectant burned his nostrils.

A sharp knock on the door followed by footsteps made Peter look towards the doorway, where Fury stood, his face as solid and fierce as always.

"How are you this morning?" He asked, although his voice never faltered into honesty.

"Better now," Peter mumbled bitterly. "Did you tell Aunt May I was gone?"

"She knows," Fury responded. "She sent a snack and your homework for today." He threw a sizeable pile of papers onto Peter's lap, followed by a single banana. "I hope you're studying hard."

"Thanks," Peter replied, more to the nurse - who had just finished bandaging the gash in his side- than to Nick Fury. He looked down and scanned his homework, shuffling through the papers. "Can I have a pencil?" He murmured to the nurse, who nodded and handed him a 2B.

Fury left, and after the nurse meandered around for a little while, occasionally checking on Peter or reapplying a wrap, so did she. Peter sat in buzzing silence on the hospital bed, before he glanced around for a calculator.

He couldn't find one, of course. There weren't any in here. How the teachers expected him to solve these questions without a calculator was highly unlikely.

"Here Spidey." Came a cooing voice, before a thin calculator landed on his upper leg.

Peter looked up to see Sara, standing above him with a stoic expression. She was wearing a pink hoodie and black leggings, and white sneakers. Her hair was in a tight bun, and her eyeliner made her eyes dark and pretty.

Peter made a small noise of surprise, before inhaling steadily and picking up the calculator. There were a couple moments of silence when the only noise was the tapping of the calculator buttons.

"Thats- uh- that's some pretty advanced math, Pete..."

Parker looked up at Sara, whose eyes were glazing over, staring at the calculations scribbled onto the paper. She looked nothing short of impressed.

"Yeah." Peter nodded slowly, putting a square around his answer. "It is, I guess."

"What school do you go to?" Sara asked, with a small polite smile.

"Midtown. Science and Technology." Peter responded.

"Oh," Sara said, nodding slowly and looking away. She was quiet for a few moments before she looked back at him. "I don't know Midtown."

Peter stared at Sara a little bit. "Are you from here?" He asked. Then again, it was sort of a stupid question. She didn't sound New York.

Sara shook her head slowly. "I moved here recently. I'm from Canada- Manitoba." She spoke softly, her eyes alight. "But I'm mostly Swedish. I can't speak Swede though, so- don't test me. I'm only English. I suck at French- nearly failed my first year of high school because of Mrs. Crawbache. She was... interesting, to say the least."

Peter hummed a little, clicking his tongue. "Okay. That's neat. Did you live in the city?"

"Oh, no." Sara said, exasperated. "I'm a country girl. Hundred acres of forest on the property and no neighbors for a mile or two."

Peter sighed, smiling. "That sounds nice."

"Not used to- the city, really. Especially with all this- Revenge squad."

"...The Avengers?"

Sara gasped slightly. "Oh crap. Yeah."

Parker shifted on his bed, narrowing his eyes, his pace quickening. "How did this happen? I mean- how did Fury find you? What do you have to do with the Avengers?"

Sara looked away a little, her fingers fidgeting in her lap. "I don't know. I just- I dont know what I did but... Fury's jet came and landed in our corn field. He said I was needed. That I could be a superhero." Seeing the expression on Peter's face, she shrugged. "Or something like that."

"Why?" Peter asked, trying to lean forward, but a sharp pain in his side kept him from doing so, so he flopped backwards, his head pushing into a pillow.

Sara slid downwards and sat at the foot of the bed, her thumb rubbing over the back of her other hand. "I don't know. It's kind of scary, to be honest. I don't know why I'm here or why I'm so important." She side glanced at Peter. "I met some of the 'team.' But... they don't treat me... well..." she looked away. "I don't know if it's my imagination... or if they're scared of me."

Peter jumped in. "They should be. If they disrespected you, you could beat them up in a second."

Sara laughed bitterly. "The only thing I achieved in was martial arts. But after my sensei died... I could never find a teacher that could even come close to what he was to me. I was an uncontrollable child. Full of energy. Liked to poke people." She sighed, brushing back her hair off her shoulder. "I don't know."

"I'm sorry he died..." Peter mumbled. "He was your mentor?"

"Sometimes I wish he was my father," Sara said with a slight sharpness. "I wish he was still here."

"Yeah," Peter murmured, leaning his cheek on his hand and looking out the open window. "I know how you feel."

"I don't even know my dad," Sara said again, sudden heat bubbling to the surface. "He left before I was born. My mom says he was a traitor. I bet he was a terrible man..." his voice trailed as her eyes, which were already dark green, became darker with anger.

Peter looked back at Sara. "I'm sorry... that must be really difficult..."

"I'm really sorry, Peter! I didn't know what I was saying yes to when Fury said he wanted to test my skills. I didn't know I would have to hurt you. I thought it was all I don't know- a real bank robbery." Sara rambled suddenly. "I'm sorry I hurt you, you're probably the only kid my age here on the Revengers..."

"Avengers, and... Sara... it's okay. I'm fine." Peter murmured. "Part of being Spider-Man... is that you always get back up again. Always." Sara looked away quietly, and didn't talk for serval moments. "So... if you're an Avenger now... what's your name?"

Sara looked confused. "...Sara?"

"No, I mean-" Peter began. "I'm Spider-Man."

"Oh." Sara stuttered. "Yeah. I haven't really thought about it. But nothing stupid, I guess."

"It won't be stupid." Peter flipped his paper over on the blank backside. "Let's brainstorm some names. Let's play off your dark sort of brooding look. Strike fear into the hearts of evil!"

Sara laughed. "You think I have a 'dark sort of brooding look'? Okay. Sure. Night, darkness?"

Peter hummed, scratching a few things down. "Alright, that sounds cool. Do you want to be something girl? Something-woman?"

Sara shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well, let's think about this for a minute."

"Hellfrost." Sara murmured.

Peter looked up and blinked a couple times. "That's- that's cool."

Sara shrugged and laughed a little, scratching her head. "I had a superhero character I made up when I was younger with that name. It's a bit of a nostalgic thing, I guess. I made comic books."

"Can I read them?" Peter asked lightheartedly.

Her eyes darkened slightly and she looked downwards at her fidgeting hands. "My mom got rid of them. She didn't like them when I showed her. I don't really know why, but she tore them up." Sara smiled sadly. "She had to be strict with me, of course. She thought I had powers or something. Didn't want me getting any ideas."

"Do you have superpowers, Hellfrost?" Peter asked, and Sara laughed, her features lightly up with delight.

"I don't know, Spidey. But Fury must have thought I was special to bring me here."