Sister Sickness

<Hey guys, so this is an idea I've been thinking about for a while, and it features an OC of mine, Payton Parker. I only own her, all the other characters are obviously owned by Marvel. Let me know if you like this and if you want me to continue it. If you don't like this idea, tell me that too and I'll start a different idea. Please do more asks people I want really good ideas and since no one had requested anything I thought I might write this since I think it's different from anything I've read. Thanks!>


It was no surprise that Peter being at the tower had basically turned the Avenger's world upside down. He had definitely turned Dr. Banner's world upside down, as he was now the unofficial caretaker of a very-accident prone super teen with approximately no self-preservation instincts. Granted, he had gotten better, but there was still a long way to go. Every day, he thought Peter had to be out of surprises, and yet every day he somehow managed to surprise him even more.


But one day, Bruce's world was turned inside out and backward, when Peter dropped from the Medbay ceiling with a "Dr. Banner, can you keep a secret?"


Bruce jumped. "Peter, what were you doing up there?"


"Waiting for you," the teen replied.


"Why, what's it this time?" He asked teasingly. Peter was in here practically every other day with something. But Peter didn't laugh, or even crack the "ha ha so funny you're making fun of someone who's sick all the time" smile.


"Pete, what is it? Are you sick?" Peter didn't answer, and instead looked at the ground. Bruce reached out to put a hand on Peter's forehead, but Peter moved out of the way. Bruce gave him The Eye. They had talked about Peter avoiding him when he was sick.


"It's not me, I swear." He was silent again, seeming to mull words over in his head.


"Then what is it?"


"It's my sister."


Bruce stared at him for several minutes. Finally Peter spoke. "Pick your jaw off the ground, Dr. Banner."


He blinked at Peter. "You have a sister." He still sounded dazed.


"Yeah, but no one really knows about her. That's why I asked you if you could keep a secret."


Bruce still felt like he was moving in slow motion. "Does Tony know?"


"No!" Peter shouted. He said quietly. "And you can't tell him. I don't want anyone to know about her. I didn't even really want to tell you, but I have no choice."


"Why tell me then? If she's sick, why not just go to a normal doctor?"


Peter looked down again. "She's like me."


Bruce picked his jaw up off the floor for the second time in about 5 minutes. "So to recap, you have a sister, and she has superpowers too?"


"Yeah," Peter said.


"So what to you want me to do?"


"I need you to figure out what's wrong with me." A voice said, and then another Spider-Man dropped from the ceiling. Bruce jumped. And then he started again, because he realized the voice hadn't even spoken, but instead had responded in his head.


"You're..."


"Yes, I'm Peter's sister. And yes I'm a telepath. My name's Payton." Bruce shook his head. This was definitely a weird day. Even with the Avengers, communicating mentally was a new experience for him.


"So, um, how...?"


"When our parents died, we were only about 3, and May couldn't take both of us. So she got Peter and her brother got me. May's brother works on Broadway, and I've been a dancer all my life pretty much. I go by Payton Ridley, so no one would possibly associate us. But I mean if you see us side by side, it's almost impossible not to see the resemblance."


"Well I'm not seeing it right now," Bruce snarked.


"Oh right," both Payton and Peter said, and Payton pulled the Spider-Man mask off and tossed it back to her brother. "Thanks for letting me borrow that, it's fun to stick to walls."


"See I told you, you should come patrolling with me sometime, but noooo, it's always 'I have rehearsal.'"


"Hey, it's a busy life being a broadway star."


"Must be for one who can't even sing," Peter fired back. This whole exchange was done mentally, and Bruce looked back and forth between the two while they did this, noting the way they both held themselves, the way her brown curls fell exactly the same way Peter did, how both of their bodies were extremely skinny but muscular. It was impossible not to see how alike they were. He couldn't believe Peter had kept this big of a secret for so long. Looking at the two of them was like looking at two halves of the same coin.


Bruce realized he was staring and awkwardly cleared his throat. "So, um, what's wrong?"


"Oh right, I guess that is why I came here," Payton thought flippantly at him.


Wow, Bruce thought, she even got the Parker sass. In response, Payton raised her eyebrow. But then her face turned serious and she shrugged, looking at Peter to explain.


"She thinks...she thinks the spider bite is becoming more potent, that it's starting to destroy her—us—from the inside out."


"What can I do? Strange would be a lot more qualified to handle this than me, are you sure you don't want me to call him?"


"No." Peter said quietly. "We want you. Now c'mon, we need to get out of here, I can't keep FRIDAY hacked for very long."


"Why do we need to get out of here?"


Peter gave Bruce a look. "For a man with 7 PHD's, you're not picking up very fast. No one can know about her, and since she might be dying, I need you to figure out what's wrong. Now either come willingly or I'm kidnapping you." Peter's voice was hard, and Bruce could tell he was serious. He clearly cared deeply about his sister.


Bruce shrugged. He was a doctor, after all, and he cared about Peter. The least he could do was care for his sister too. "Lead the way," he responded.

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