Interlude 1 – Emma Frost

Emma Frost had a lot to think about. Peter's mind was bizarre to say the least. What she saw was both exhilarating and discomforting. She saw various ways in which her life had supposedly played out. Most of it was utter nonsense, but a lot of things did not fall too far from the tree.

Her abilities were almost spot on for one. Granted, she did not have nearly the control the sensationalised comics Peter had read claimed she did. But she could feel that she had the potential. Leading her to believe that perhaps Peter was simply some sort of clairvoyant gone wrong. She had heard of mutants whose abilities have caused strange psychosis before, after all.

She still couldn't wrap her head around alternate universes; but she could tell that for Peter, personally, that wasn't even the issue. From Peter's perspective he has to fulfil the role of some larger than life superhero. But when she compared her own life to his perspective of her, she could tell that such aspirations were… superfluous to say the least.

She could not deny that she recognised quite a few people from his memories. His impressions of them were, more often than not, at least partially accurate. But she would not claim to believe that her life has been part of some larger picture. In fact, most of her life's decisions have been reactionary and probably ill-advised – purely emotional. So, rejecting the idea that her world is somehow exactly as Peter's mind imagined it was natural.

But then again, she would not deny that she fully intended to take advantage of his knowledge.

Emma's father was a…difficult man. And an even worse parent. But now Emma found that even this rave review was far too optimistic. She had unknowingly given him the benefit of the doubt all his life. It took Peter's odd perspective for her to realise just how much her father had taken from her. And she couldn't thank the boy more.

Peter was strange. Despite having practically raped his mind he still had the courage, or the sheer audacity to let her back in…simply to tell her a joke. It was baffling. She hadn't gotten much more from his mind other than her own circumstances but from what she could tell he was deeply damaged young man.

He wasn't just too humble, he was self-sacrificing. As much as it hurt him to have his mind ripped through, he was still happy he had a way to help his parents. She could feel it clearly in his mind, despite the pain and embarrassment, he was glad he had no secrets left.

It was easy to forget his real age was in the mid-twenties now, probably older than her. Evidence being the fact that she felt comfortable enough to kiss his forehead and embrace him.

Having taken care of his schizophrenic 'little sister' all his life, he was quite comfortable behaving…playful. His sister, Cali, had early onset schizophrenia which resulted in her mental maturity halting at the age of ten. Despite taking the responsibility to care for her, he always treated her like his best friend. Which of course meant acting like a ten-year-old second nature to him. Still, she suspected it was more than that. If what Peter claimed and what his mind seemed to show was true, then it would make sense that his very physiology would make him behave differently from his adult past.

It was almost ironic how Peter was more reserved imitating a six-year-old Peter Parker, than he was simply being his twenty-year-old self interacting with Cali.

But she could think of how cute a twenty-year-old playful Peter Parker would be at a later time. She had a family to fix.