Said The Spider To The Fly

Serena immediately stopped and some tears came to her eyes. She didn't know how they were going to do this without killing him. She looked over at her father, desperate for any ideas he might have.

Isabella slowly walked over to Tony and lowered her voice so only he would be able to hear her. "Are we going to be able to do this without killing him?"

“Don’t stop Serena!,” Gambit said. “He’ll die anyway if you stop,” he said forcefully. The suit was still not completely back in place and there were patches of exposed human flesh. Peter’s flesh. However Tony was shaking his head.”Don’t do it Serena,” Tony argued.

Serena looked from Gambit to her father and then back to Peter. She stood there a moment before she made a decision. She adjusted the energy output on her suit and made it lower. She would not do a continuous blast either. She began with short bursts to see what would happen. She prayed that this would work. Otherwise, she feared that they might have to find a merciful way to kill him.

The black suit began to roil again and Peter began to scream again. “Serena please!” He howled But Gambit stepped up beside her. “Keep it up, its working Cherie!” He said as he held his ears. Others were as well. Slowly, painfully slowly the suit began to retreat from him and away from her. Peter began to cry and beat at the pavement. Finally the suit was clear of him and outside of the cage. Isabella flew up into the air and flew over toward it. She erected an energy field around it then contracted it until it was a small, black sphere. Tony flew over and held a small metal box toward it. Isabella shifted the ball ip into the box and as she cut off the energy Tony closed the box.

Peter’s flesh seemed to steam and his flesh was red in several places. He collapsed and now laid there in the cage unmoving.

Serena immediately used a laser beam on her suit to cut through the cage's metal bars and she she in there with him within a second. She knelt on the ground beside him as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Peter?" When he didn't respond she brought up the medical suite on her suit to see if he was even still alive. She was terrified to know the answer, but she forced herself to scan over him anyway.

Serena’s scans showed that Peter was still alive. She also knew that the Avengers jet had a biobed inside that would medicate him. Peter was unconscious when Tony arrived him to the jet. As Tony, Isabella and Serena looked on the biobed began to perform its own scans and inject the appropriate medications to help Peter...she hoped.

“Serena, May I speak to you?” Isabella asked.

Serena was relieved to see that Peter was still alive. In fact, tears of relief began to stream down her face. However, she knew that he wasn't out of the woods yet. He could still die if they didn't stabilize him. Her father took him to the jet and Serena followed with her mother. She stood back and watched as the biobed began to work. Her eyes were locked on Peter when she suddenly heard her mother's question. She glanced over at her and slowly nodded. There were still signs of the bruises around her eye and her neck from what Peter had done to her close to a week ago. She stepped away and looked at her and waited for her to speak.

“I see that you’re now an X-Men. I can only imagine how difficult this must have been,” she began to hopefully break the ice that had formed between them. “Now that Peter is going to be alright,” she said confidently. “Will you consider please coming back?” She said. “I’m so sorry if I made you feel as if you weren’t part of our team. Or that you weren’t valued by us. That just isn’t true,” she said and she tried not to cry but her eyes did well up a little as she looked at her.

“I miss my daughter. I miss us being a family,” she said.

Serena was quiet as she let her mother speak. She had missed her parents and everyone else at the Tower and a few new tears came to her eyes. Hearing that they did value her as a member of their team caused those tears to break free and slip down her cheeks. She looked down for a moment and then back at her mother. She could see her father from the corner of her eye watching them and listening.

"I can't come back...not yet. So much has happened and I just need space and time to figure things out. That doesn't mean that I don't want to see you," she said as she also looked over at her father. She then looked at Peter. "I think Peter will need time and space too. We both need to heal." She looked down for a moment. "I'm not sure things will ever be the way they were between us after everything that has happened." She looked back up at her mother. "Please understand. I need to do this for me."

“I do understand Serena. We both do,” Isabella said as she took up her hand in hers. They were both still in their suits but it felt good to be able to have physical contact with her daughter.

“There is still the matter of Hydra. Charles has assured
Me that you are safe at the mansion but I’ll still worry about that,” she said as she looked at her suit. “This new suit seems to suit you,” she said with a smile. “Your father is just chock full of surprises, for us both,” she said. “We will take care of Peter,” she said. She knew she probably didn’t need to say anything but she said it anyway.

Serena nodded when her mother reassured her that they would take care of Peter. "I know you will." She looked over at Peter for a long moment before looking back at her mother. "When he is doing better I will come back and see him. Please reassure him of that. Perhaps though in a few days you and Dad could come to the mansion to visit me. I'm actually about to start teaching two science classes there at the school." She then pushed a button on her suit to fully retract it and her mother did the same. She then hugged her tightly for a few long moments. "This won't be forever," she told her softly. "I love you."