No Strings Attached

9

Tony lifted Angela up and used the rest of the suits power to fly home, barely making it before the suit shut down. He set her down on the couch in the lab, the same one she had been on just hours before. Her eyes fluttered open and drifted to Tony who was busy placing his armor on the charger.

"To...ny?" She muttered.

"Yeah kid?" He responded, not facing her.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"For what?"

"I could have hurt you and I didn't tell you about my... about my..."

"Abilities?" Tony offered.

"Yeah..."

Tony sighed and sat down on the couch next to Angela who was now sitting up right. "Let me offer you a piece of advice, kid." He looked down at her. "Saying sorry means that you admit you were at fault. So never say sorry unless necessary."

"But I-"

"Was upset." Tony interrupted. "I shouldn't have said those things to you. Now, don't get me wrong, your old man is still a lying shit head that deserves to burn in hell, but you-" He smirked. "You're not so bad."

"Thanks Tony."

"So, you wanna tell me about this "ability" of yours?" He asked.

"I wish I could." She stated simply. "I don't know much about it myself except that Gramps told me to never use it." Angela looked down at her hands. "He always called it the Shift. I never knew why."

"Well, now we know why he never let you out of the house, he really didn't want anyone to find you. Until now that is." Tony thought out loud. "I'm gonna figure out why. In the mean time, why don't you go talk to Peter."

Angela nodded her head and went to leave the room when Tony stopped her. "My advice? Tell him."

Angela stood in front of the medbay, itching to go in, but also terrified. She was about to spill her deepest darkest secret to someone she met only a week ago. Hard to believe she had only known him for such a short amount of time and yet she trusts him.

Taking a deep breath, Angela let herself into the medbay and quickly found where Peter was. Dr. Banner was finishing checking over the teen when she came in. Peter's shirt was off and she had a clear view of the red blotchy skin and large angry scab from where the bullet hit him. Guilt hit her like a freight train and she debated on turning back.

"Hey Angie." Peter greeted her with a nervous laugh.

Bruce decided to dip out of the room and let the two talk in private which they were grateful for.

"So- um..." They both said at the same time.

"You first." Angela insisted.

Peter took a deep breath before speaking. "So... I'm uh... I'm Spider-Man."

"I can see that." Angela gestured to the mask on the table with her head.

"That's it?" Peter asked. "No yelling, no screaming or demanding why I didn't tell you sooner?"

Angela shook her head. "No." Peter sighed in relief.

"In fact, I have something to tell you." She started. "You know what? It might be better if I showed you."

She walked towards him and shoved him back on the bed. "Hey!" Peter shouted but put up no protest. Angela let her hand hover over Peter's wound as she nervously bit her lip.

Here goes nothing. She thought.

Angela poured her energy into her hand that started to glow a pale blue. Peter's eyes widened as she placed her hand on his wound and the light seeped into his skin. He expected there to be pain, but there wasn't any.

Instead, all he felt was a warmth coursing through his veins as his skin stitched itself back together again. When she removed her hand, he was shocked to see that only a faint scar remained.

"Th-the internal d-damage is still there, but i-it shouldn't hurt as m-much." She stuttered.

"You have powers." Peter stated dumbly.

Angela nodded, afraid of his reaction.

"That's so freaking cool!" He shouted. "What else can you do? Can you fly? What about spells? Can you do those? Oh! What about-"

Angela clapped a hand over his mouth and tried to contain her laughter. "I should have known you were gonna geek out." She removed her hand. "I just used my energy to enhance the abilities you already have. Nothing more. As for what else I can do, I don't really know."

Peter frowned. "Why not? Didn't you ever test it out?"

"I did." She admitted. "But when I was caught, I was punished severely for it."

"That's... horrible." He said, at a loss for words.

"I'm a little afraid to ask." Tony emerged from his hiding place behind the door. "Exactly, how were you punished?"

"My oh my, is the great Tony Stark concerned for little ol' me?" Angela placed a hand over her heart.

Tony rolled his eyes and she stuck her tongue out playfully at him. "Just answer the question Picasso."

"You're no fun." Angela whined. "Fine. It wasn't anything too bad. He just stuck a collar on me that monitored my every movement and if I tried to use my abilities then it would shock the living daylights out of me."

Tony's jaw dropped. "He put a shock collar on you?" The boys spoke at the same time.

Angela nodded. "Yeah, but it could have been worse. Luckily for me, he removed it before taking me to meet Aunt May."

"Okay, it's official. I am not letting you go back to that man."