Bullets || Peter Parker

Sixteen

Emil was seated at his desk, pencil in hand, glaring at the sketchbook before him when he looked out of the window. Beyond the wall of glass lay the large green landscape surrounding the avengers headquarters. The building was isolated away from the bustle of New York as well as any major civilisation. Miles of nothing but greenery, trees and the sea cliffs on one side.

Emil enjoyed the views but he missed the city. He liked the noise, the feeling of being surrounded by bustle and the complexity of human life. Out here, with nothing but the other avengers to keep him company, time seemed to move slower. It ached and dragged on like a limp. But he couldn't be back in the city. He could barely stand to see the empty places where everything reminded him of things he'd lost. Where time moved almost as slow as here. Almost as quiet. Here, at lest he could enjoy the colour of the views.

Resting his head on his hand with a sigh, Emil watched the leaves blow past the window. It would be five years since the snap next week. The looming reminder put a bit of a dampener on things. It hovered above all of their heads like a knife. The edge had been dulled by four years for the rest of the world. But to Emil, it was a sharp and pointy as ever. To him, it marked a year since Peter had been gone. A year since nearly all his friends and family had disappeared.

Emil blinked.

Out on the grass, what seemed to be a glowing star was descending from the sky. Emil stood up suddenly and crossed to the glass. His movement had knocked the spinny chair backwards and it collided against his bed with a thump. Outside, the star landed gently on the ground. It's glow began fading, becoming humanoid. The shape of a woman.

Emil teleported, appearing in a blue flash. "Carol!" He exclaimed gleefully. Carol Danvers smiled at him as her skin dulled and her hair fell around her face.

"Hey there Boo", she ruffled his hair with a grin. "How you doing?"

Emil laughed as he batted her hand away. Her touch burnt slightly on his skin and he could feel his body trying to savour the energy, take it in. He answered her question with a shrug. "This or that".

"Have you been practicing the techniques I taught you", Carol asked as they began walking towards the building. Steve was visibly leaning against the doors, watching them approach. Nat was probably up in the office. She would be viewing them through the cameras.

"Of course", Emil shrugged. "Not that there's much to do otherwise". Carol swung an arm around his shoulders as they walked. Emil had met her a few weeks after he woke up. Since the snap, more hydra files had been found. They were no longer protected and Nat had found them when going through the systems. These files detailed more into how Emil was created and trained. It turned out that they had been experimenting with the tessaract in the same room where there were enhancing an infant Emil. The throw back from the infinity stone had fused into Emil's DNA, giving him his current abilities.

It made perfect sense to have the only other known person affected by the stone to train Emil's new abilities. So when Carol was on earth between missions, she was training Emil. Durning these training sessions, what they had discovered was that Emil absorbed and stored energy from his surroundings and Carol produced energy like a miniature sun. It made for an interesting dynamic.

"Carol", Steve greeted as they reached the doors. He shook her hand with a smile. "It's good to see you. How are you?"

"All good Rogers", she replied with a smile. "How's the support groups?"

"Ah, they're getting there", Steve said. The two adults dissolved into small talk as the three of them walked up towards the main office. When they entered the room, Nat rose to greet them.

"Carol, welcome back". The two women shared a brief hug and handshake. "Will you be staying?"

"Only for about a week. There's something rising in quadrant 5 that may need my attention. I sent Rocket and Nebula to check it out for me".

"Does that mean you won't teach me anything new?" Emil asked frowning. He liked Carol's lessons. It would be a shame if she left early.

Carol turned and grinned at him. "Only if you don't want to learn how to breath in space".

Emil lit up both facially and physically. His whole body began to emit a light blue light in his excitement. It was another effect of his new power. There was so much energy stored within him that unchecked, he actually glowed. He had learnt to control it but when emotionally heightened, it slipped. Tony had said that he looked like that Star girl from the movie Stardust.

"Race to the hall?" He asked.

Carol crossed her arms. "Now you know that's unfair. I may be fast but I can't teleport". She sighed as Emil disappeared in a flash of blue light.

Steve chuckled. "He's just a bit restless. It's not good for him to be so cooped up".

Carol just laughed. Her feet began to glow gold as energy pulsed through her. She broke off into a sprint, leaving the others in the dust as she raced towards the training hall.

"Again", Carol stated as Emil fell onto the mat. He was breathing heavily and sweat dipped down his collar. At her words, he rolled his eyes but pushed himself back into to his feet. "Remember", Carol instructed as Emil breathed. "Focus on the energy surrounding you, the movement and feel of the air. Now tell your own energy to mimic that feel".

Emil's brow was furrowed in concentration, eye closed. He stood stock still. As Carol watched, his signature blue glow began to surround and envelop his body. The glow became denser. Condensing until Emil's whole being was tinged with a ethereal blue light. It covered him like a suit. Enveloped, his hair began lifting and drifting around his face, no longer affected by the earths gravity.

Emil slowly lifted off his feet. His eyes opened and he yelped in  surprise as he drifted upwards like a ballon. "Carol!" He called as he began to hang upside down. "Look! I'm doing it!"  He floated like an astronaut in a space ship, untethered by gravity. He kicked his arms and legs as he twisted in the air. "Holy shit! This is awesome", he shouted as he pushed himself off of the ceiling. The momentum sent him drifting back towards the ground where Carol was standing.

"Great Emil", she grinned up at him. "With this you'll be able to go to space without a suit or ship".

"What? I could go to space?" Almost like a bubble popping, The blue glow burst and Emil landed heavily on the mat. He groaned and pushed himself up on his elbows.

Carol laughed and pulled him to his feet. "Yeah you could. Would you like to? I could use a travel companion".

"Heck yeah!" Emil shouted, practically buzzing. "Go to space? Peter would be so jealous"- he broke off, grin dimming briefly before lighting up again. "That would be so cool. I'd just need to talk to Nat and uncle Steve first though".

"I'm sure they won't mind", Carol grinned.

"Space", Emil muttered again. "I'm going to space".

Unedited