"I'm not afraid of you. I'm bigger, stronger- UNCLE BEN!"

Beca jolted back towards the wall of her bedroom when the spider on her desk began to scurry from side to side.

Hearing footsteps rush upstairs, through her peripheral vision, Beca saw her uncle stop at the doorway.

"What is it?" He asked rather alarmed.

"Spider- it's on my desk!"

Uncle Ben rolled his eyes and placed a calmed hand over his heart while he picked up a slipper from the floor and slapped it down on the eight legged arachnid.

Beca breathed a sigh of relief and patted her uncle on the back as if he just defeated the worlds most powerful villain.

"Nicely done."

Uncle Ben shook his head as they exited the room with the slipper, "You do know they're more scared of you than you are of them, right?"

"Listen," Beca laughed, "if it were up to me, the whole house will be up in flames just to make sure the thing was dead."

"What's with all the screaming?" Aunt May asked from the kitchen when she saw her two favorite people descend from the stairs.

Beca breathed in the delicious aroma of her favorite meal being cooked: spaghetti and meatballs. The teenager walked into the kitchen and sat at the kitchen island, prepped and ready for dinner.

Uncle Ben joined her after wiping the slipper clean.

"There was a spider epidemic." He informed, Aunt May nodded with a chuckled "Ahh."

"Well, dinner's ready. You arrived just in time." Aunt May served two scoops of spaghetti onto a plate followed by meatballs before she placed it in front of Beca.

"So, Bec, you ready for your first day of senior year tomorrow?" Uncle Ben asked as he swirled the noodles around the fork before stuffing them into his mouth.

Beca swallowed her food before answering, "I'm just waiting to get outta there, honestly."

"What's the rush?" Aunt May asked.

"High school's a drag." Beca shrugged. "Nothing interesting ever happens."

"Well, who knows, maybe that'll change this year." Uncle Ben said with a squeeze on Beca's shoulder. Her uncle was always filled with wise words and wisdom and Beca was just hoping he was right.


Midtown Science High School. Filled with despair and cries for attention. "Notice me, notice me!", pretty much summed up everyone's high school experience. Midtown was a prestige school of science and, to be honest, as to how half the people even got accepted here was a wonder to Beca.

So when she walked through the front doors and after being greeted by Betty at the reception desk, Beca dragged her feet over to her locker on the West wing.

Beca hung up her book bag and stacked her notebooks in the order of when she had the class based on her schedule. She glanced at the inside of the door of her locker and pursed her lips at the picture of her parents in their lab coats. The photo was taken ten years ago when she was 8 but it never felt that long ago. She reached up to trace her finger across the photo-

Suddenly a basketball came flying towards her, slamming her locker shut before ricocheting off of it and bouncing off her head. Beca's chest heaved as she caught her breath from the scare. She didn't need to turn around and survey the halls to see who the culprit was, Beca knew exactly who it was and she was hoping he would've at least waited until fifth period.

"Welcome back, Mitchell. How was your summer?" Bumper Allen grinned wickedly at the short brunette that he's been bullying ever since they were in grade school. His teammates stood behind him, laughing and pointing at Beca who finally managed to regulate her breathing.

"Not long enough, apparently." Beca answered with a grin.

Bumper bent down to retrieve his basketball while Beca opened up her locker again to grab her Math notebook. She reluctantly glanced over at them and immediately regretted that decision when Bumper faked a pass at her, making her jump slightly.

Beca slammed her locker shut and sighed heavily as she walked away from the chuckling basketball players.

Yup, it was great to be back.


The next few periods went by rather quickly, much to Beca's liking. She found herself some time during her free period and went out onto the quad and sat at a vacant table near a tree that shaded over her. With her Nikon camera in her hands, Beca raised it and took a few photos of the students.

Beca shifted from her place on top of the table and focused her camera when she recognized the girl sitting at a bench reading while her friends talked beside her. Beca snapped the picture and lowered her camera, smiling to herself before stealing another glance at the redhead that she's been pining over since freshman year.

"Becaw!"

"Ayo, shorty!"

Beca turned around and smirked at the sight of her best friends running over to her.

"I haven't seen you guys," Beca said, squinting when the sun shined down on them, "Almost forgot about you."

"I know," Jesse sighed as he plopped down beside Beca's legs on the bench, "I got put into the classes at the other side of the school for my first three periods. I barely even have time to breathe with this schedule."

Beca chuckled and turned to Amy, "What's your excuse?"

"I overslept." Amy laughed, "But aren't I in your Chem lab second period?"

Beca nodded. Amy hummed and shrugged after saying there's always tomorrow.

"So what were you doing?" Jesse asked as he leaned back with his elbows resting on the table. Amy stood beside them with her back against the tree.

"Taking pictures, the usual." Beca grinned, slyly looking across the quad at a certain redhead who was still intrigued with her book.

Jesse rolled his eyes but smiled, "Have you heard back from The Bugle?"

Beca sighed, "No. I'll probably heard over after school. I really want that job!"

"Didn't the last photographer leave crying?" Amy asked.

Jesse laughed, "Yeah. Something about Jameson lowering his sense of self-worth."

"Thanks for the boost of confidence, guys." Beca deadpanned.

"You're welcome." Jesse and Amy said in unison.

They shared a laugh before they saw students running towards the pond in the middle of the quad where they began to chant, "Eat it! Eat it!"

Beca frowned, "What the hell?" she hopped off the table and began to walk over to the group of people while Jesse and Amy followed close behind her.

When they pushed their way through to the center of the circle, they were able to see Bumper hovering a freshman over a plate of food.

"C'mon! Eat your vegetables!" Bumper laughed. He looked up and saw Beca standing there, "Yo, Mitchell, get a picture of this."

Beca shook her head, "No, dude. Just put him down, come on." she looked down at the freshman and gave him a reassuring smile as she mimed for him not to eat the food.

Bumper glared at her, "I wasn't asking, dweeb! Take the fucking picture!"

"Dude, I'm not taking the picture!" Beca yelled over the chants that began to shout for her to take the picture. At the corner of her eye she saw a redhead, a blonde, and a tall brunette push their way through the crowd and Beca sighed to herself.

Bumper pushed the freshman's face further into the food, "Fine, be the hero."

When Beca saw the freshman begin to spit out the food, she marched over to Bumper and tried to pry the freshman away. Bumper swung his arm to the side, shoving Beca to the ground with a thud and an audible crack coming from her camera that was in her hand.

Jesse and Amy dropped to their friend's side, checking if she was okay before glaring up at Bumper who smirked down at them once he dropped the freshman to the ground.

"No one likes a hero, Mitchell." Bumper gloated, making his way out of the huddle.

"No one likes a jackass, Eugene." Beca shot back. Jesse and Amy shot her a look that said "Why did you say that!"

The crowd erupted in a chorus of, "Ooh!"

Bumper spun on his heels, "Alright, tough guy-"

Beca braced herself for the worst when a particular redhead came in between them, preventing Bumper from coming any closer to Beca and her friends. Jesse helped Beca up to her feet while Amy crossed her arms and glared at the basketball player.

"How about you get to class, Bumper. Hm?"

Bumper scoffed, "Chloe, are you serious-"

"Very." Chloe said sternly. She watched Bumper mutter under his breath before pushing through the crowd of people that quickly dispersed when they saw a dean walking by.

Chloe looked over at Beca who ducked her head and bit her lip in embarrassment before her friends Aubrey and Stacie came to pull her away.

"We gotta go!"

"Come on!"

Amy turned to Jesse and Beca and ushered them to walk away from the scene.

"Go go!"


In her English class, Beca dropped down into a seat in the back with Amy sitting beside her. The blonde watched her best friend nurse her camera with a saddened face.

"I thought that was great, by the way."

Amy and Beca looked forward where Chloe had been sitting in the desk in front of them.

"It was stupid but it was great." Chloe added with a wink.

Amy hid her smirk behind her hand as she looked over at her friend to see what response she would give to her long time crush.

Beca opened and closed her mouth a few times before she cleared her throat and settled with a simple nod.

Chloe smiled, "What's your name?"

Beca frowned, "You don't know my name?"

Chloe lulled her head to the side, "Of course I do. I just wanna make sure that you know your name. You took quite the fall, just following protocol, is all."

Beca smiled and nodded, "It's Beca...Beca Mitchell."

Chloe returned a smile, "Good."

"You're Chloe, right?" Beca squinted her eyes and pretended to rub away a pain at the back of her head.

Chloe giggled, "Uh huh. Chloe Beale."

"Alright." Beca nodded, bringing her gaze back down to her camera that had a broken lens.

Chloe frowned at the item, "Are you able to get that fixed?"

Beca looked up, "Yeah, no. It's no big deal."

"Alright, class," Mrs. Grey stepped up to the black board and faced her students, "let's begin."

Chloe winked once more before turning back around and opening her notebook, leaving a giddy brunette sitting there with a smile on her face.

Amy nudged her friend on the arm, "I see you, Romeo-"

"Shh!" Beca hissed.


After school, Beca and her friends were entering the Daily Bugle office building in Manhattan. The lobby had high ceilings and framed page 1's with headlines from previous newspapers.

They walked into the elevator and went up to the last floor where the editor was stationed. To say that Beca was terrified was an understatement. She had nerves in her stomach and a chilling feeling running down her spine as she prepared herself to meet the man responsible for many photographer's crushed dreams and spirits.

Beca gulped as they reached the floor.

"Ready?" Jesse winced.

"Not at all." Beca said but she started walking anyway.

"YOU'RE FIRED!" The teenagers flinched at the sudden shout coming from Jameson's office.

"Jonah, we're reaching the deadline for page 6 and you fired everyone else in his department." A woman at a desk said rather calmly. She must deal with this on the regular.

Jameson huffed, "You're rehired, get back in here!" They disappeared back into his office but Beca and her friends were still able to see them through the clear glass doors.

"Can I help you?"

They turned to the woman behind the desk, Gail Brooks, and Beca smiled nervously.

"Um, I sure hope so."

Jesse raised a hand in front of his friend, "She's here to see Jameson."

Gail eyed the teenager carefully, "You're Beca Mitchell?"

Beca nodded.

Gail looked impressed, "Your photos are great." she complimented, Beca smiled shyly.

"Thank you."

Gail straightened out a pack of paper before standing up and rounding her desk to lead the teenagers towards the editors office.

"Jonah, Beca Mitchell is here to see you."

With Beca in front, Jesse and Amy stood behind her as the three of them looked forward at the man behind the excellence of The Daily Bugle.

J. Jonah Jameson sat at his rectangular desk, cigar hanging out of his mouth, feet propped up in a crossed position on his desk and Beca can notice the slight tears on the headrest of his leather chair.

"Who?" Jonah asked as he took a puff. He waved away the man he was previously yelling at, watching him scurry out of his office before he turned back to the teenagers.

Gail motioned for Beca to introduce herself before she returned to her desk.

Beca cleared her throat, "I'm Beca Mitchell. G-Great to meet you, sir."

Jonah narrowed his eyes and pointed his cigar at her.

"You submitted the photos of the pigeons and old people playing chess in the park." His voice was mocking, as if he's seen it all before.

Beca scratched the tip of her nose, "Well- yes, um-"

"Listen, Bella-"

"It's Beca-"

"The Daily Bugle covers real stories. So when you have a real story to present to me," Jonah interlocked his fingers on top of his desk as he swung his legs off and hunched forward, "then I'll consider hiring you."

Beca nodded, "Yeah. Yeah, okay." she paused, "I have lots to say I'm just saving it all up."

Jonah smirked and nodded towards the door, "I'm sure you are. Close the door on your way out."

Beca and her friends left with their tails between their legs.

"I hope I'll see you soon," Gail said, "Your photos are good."


Later that night, Beca was fiddling with her broken camera in the living room when Uncle Ben came down the stairs.

"Hey, kiddo."

"Hey." Beca replied distracted, she rubbed her thumb against the lens and frowned when the damage was worse than she thought.

Uncle Ben caught a glimpse of it and took a seat next to her.

"What happened to your camera?"

Beca averted her eyes, "I dropped it on my way home."

Uncle Ben looked at her unconvincingly, "Don't lie."

Beca rolled her eyes, "I'm not. It fell."

Uncle Ben, for a moment, decided not to pry until he looked down at Beca's elbows. His frown deepened when he saw a few scrapes from where she had fallen earlier that day.

"You scratched up your elbows pretty bad there."

Beca looked down, not having noticed it until now, "Yeah well, you know. I'm a teenager...clumsy."

Uncle Ben sighed, "Yes or no. Do I have to call someones father?"

Beca shook her head, "No no. I'm okay."

Beca wasn't the one to cry for help or to even seek it for that matter. But that doesn't mean that it was never offered to her, Uncle Ben knew this and he knew Beca was a strong kid. But that doesn't make him any less worried.

"Alright." Uncle Ben quickly changed the subject, "Help me unload some boxes downstairs, would you?"

"Sure." Beca placed her camera down on the couch beside her before she stood up and followed her uncle down into the basement.

Beca helped him with the heavy ones, filled with his trophies and Beca's old science awards. She lifted a box of her softball equipment that she hasn't touched in years, but lost her footing when she tripped over something under a raggedy throw blanket.

Beca lowered the box onto the floor and bent down to pick up the blanket, confused to see an old briefcase that she's never seen before. She picked it up and the letters R.M. were engraved on the scratched up patch on the flap.

"Richard Mitchell." Beca said her dads name and a chill rushed through her. With curiosity clouding her judgement as to why her aunt and uncle would neglect to show this to her, Beca slowly made her way back upstairs; cautious as she prepared for whatever they would throw at her.

Uncle Ben and Aunt May were in the kitchen, Beca only heard parts of their conversation.

"These are my bowling trophies." Uncle Ben said as he presented his first place trophy.

Auny May shook her head as she continued cutting up some fruit for the fruit salad she was making.

"Oh, then by all means. Keep those filthy boxes in my kitchen."

Beca lingered in the doorway of the kitchen, her eyes locked on her father's briefcase while she waited for someone to notice her.

It was Aunt May who noticed her presence in the room and just before she could ask her niece if she wanted a strawberry, her eyes darted down to the object in Beca's hand and she suddenly went pale.

Uncle Ben saw his wife's horrified face and turned to look at Beca and quickly caught on.

"Man," He laughed nervously, "I haven't seen that old thing in years. It was your dad's."

Beca nodded because, duh, she already knew that. What she wanted to know was why it was hidden away in the basement.

"Figured." Beca muttered. She opened up the flap and dug inside to investigate the contents.

"Why was it in the basement?"

Uncle Ben sighed, "Outta sight outta mind, I guess." he and Aunt May watched Beca pull out a newspaper cut out of a photo and Beca glanced over it before she held it out to them.

"Who's he? With dad, who's the guy?" Beca asked, her voice was small and hushed. She had so many unanswered questions about her father, about her parents in general, and she just felt like she barely knew them at all. She always catches herself asking other people about her own parents, by this point she just accepted the fact that other people just knew them better than her.

Uncle Ben glanced over at Aunt May who subtly shook her head.

"A man who worked with your dad, I guess." Uncle Ben said.

Beca scanned their faces, she knew they were hiding something. She looked down at the photo and dropped it back inside the briefcase just as Aunt May walked over to usher her back upstairs to wash up.


"I'm sure it's for good reason, Becs." Jesse said trying to reason with his best friend who was pacing his room that night while Amy searched through the briefcase she brought over. The blonde examined a folder and scrunched her face when the symbols and some Decay Rate Algo-whatever just looked like a foreign language to her. Not wanting to read through the entire thing, she took a quick picture and set it aside.

"What is there to hide about my dad?" Beca asked, "The dude was boring, he didn't have a life outside of his work."

"That you know of." Amy chimed in, "Who knows. Maybe he's Batman."

"What?" Beca asked without the smallest bit of humor in her voice.

"Maybe he has a secret that they don't want to tell you just yet." Amy elaborated, hoping they would catch on to her metaphor.

Beca plopped down beside Jesse, "Whatever. If they won't tell me, I'll figure it out on my own."

"How, exactly?" Jesse scrunched up his eyebrows as he watched the gears in his friends head turn.

Beca bit her lip and looked down at the photo she had in her hand. Surely there had to be some sort of clue that she looked passed.

And, alas, she found one written underneath the photo.

"Amy, google: cross species genetics experiment."

Amy swiveled around to face Jesse's computer and typed the words into the search engine. A few links popped up, the first one being off the Oscorp website so she clicked it.

"Oscorp. Isn't that the sciencey building downtown."

Beca looked over her shoulder and took control of the mouse.

"Norman Osborne is the CEO," Jesse said, "his son Tom goes to Midtown with us."

"That's him!" Beca pointed at the photo of the man identical to the one standing beside her father in the newspaper cut out.

"Dr. Curt Connors." Amy read.

"I have to meet him." Beca muttered. She continued to scroll down the page, "There's an internship tour tomorrow."

"Damn," Jesse sucked his teeth, "too bad you're not on the list."

Beca exchanged a knowing look with Amy who had the same idea in mind. They turned around to Jesse and grinned at him.

Jesse frowned, darting his eyes at both of them. Confused at first but with their mischievous grins it wasn't long before he caught on.

"Oh god."