Doomed

Chapter Seventeen

There was no thunderbolt, no sudden striking of realization. It was a settling of information, a blanket of soft snow easing onto evergreen branches. She felt Jessica's words like they were a well-worn key turning a lock it had opened hundreds of times before. Carol had been down this road herself often, wondering how Peter felt, whether the things he said and did came from a place of more than just friendship. But her conclusions had always been that he was just a caring person; that aside from great power and great responsibility, he also held great love in his heart, and he extended that love to everyone.

It was for that reason, the uncertainty, that she'd kept her own growing feelings to herself. Her greatest fear was not anther Skrull invasion or a visit from the World-Devourer; it was opening herself up to someone and having that door slammed back in her face. Her powers had made her used to being nigh-invincible, leaving her emotions as the only vulnerability she felt needed constant defense.

Now that it was out in the open, however; now that the uncertainty was gone, she didn't know if she could stop those feelings from growing too big for the box she kept them in. And she didn't know if she wanted to.

"Carol?" Jessica asked, rushing around the table and grabbing her friend's arm. She pulled Carol away from the door and sat her back down. "Are you feeling alright? You look pale."

Her head hung down into her chest, and Carol ran a palm through her hair to pull it out of her face. Her eyebrows turned up, wrinkling the center of her forehead. "Could you, um," she said, a slight smile on her face, "Could you say that again?"

Jessica grinned like a madwoman before leaning back in her chair, the grin closing to perfect smugness. "What's the matter," she said, crossing her legs, "You didn't hear me the first time?"

"Just double checking," Carol replied. And… I kind of like the way it sounds.

The smirk never left Jessica's lips. "Peter Parker," she said, "Is in love with you."

Carol felt her mouth turn up before she could stop it, but a sobering thought brought it right back down again. "But he could be in there bleeding out right now," she said. "And we're sitting in here gossiping."

Jessica leaned forward and grabbed Carol's hand. "Hey, if something were really wrong, I'm sure we would've heard by now."

"Where is he?" Carol heard from the hallway, and though it was a voice she didn't recognize, she was almost certain she knew to whom it belonged. She stood from her chair and opened the glass door, just in time to see Tony walk past.

"Right this way, Mrs. Parker," he said, coming back the way he came with an elderly woman on his arm. Her silver hair was cut short, in a bob, and she wore a small jacket over a white top, with blue jeans and tennis shoes. Their feet crunched the shattered bulbs, and Peter's aunt didn't even seem to notice that she was being escorted by the infamous Tony Stark. Her eyes were forward, her mouth set into a hard line with a slight frown, accented by thick laugh lines in her cheeks that told a story of a long life full of joy.

Carol jogged down the hallway after them, Jessica only a few steps behind her. "Tony?" she asked, her voice more urgent then she intended. "What's going on? What's wrong?"

He turned, and Carol noted the spots of blood that had snuck past the apron and onto his lab coat. "Ah, perfect," he said, taking a few steps back and past Carol. "Jessica, would you mind walking Mrs. Parker down to medical, please?"

Her eyes darted back and forth between Tony and Carol for a moment, then Jessica turned to the elderly woman and smiled warmly. "Jessica Drew, ma'am," she said, extending her hand. "You must be Peter's aunt."