This fanfic is sort of my own take on the Peter Parker parents storyline from the 1990s comics as well as the 1994 cartoon. It uses the parents plotline but it also focuses somewhat upon Pete and MJ's relationship.
Please leave a review as I am keen for feedback.
Peter coughed slightly as dust surrounded him.
"You alright up there dear?"
"I'm fine Aunt May!"
"Well don't do yourself an injury on my account."
"I won't!"
May had called Peter over in order to clear out the attic. She felt she'd accumulated quite enough junk over the years and wanted to make some room. Peter was more than willing to do it, but from his discussions with Mary Jane he also knew May had an ulterior motive which he was less than thrilled about.
As he continued this train of thought Peter began sifting through a pile of old bills in the attic.
Whilst it had been a good long while since her last health scare, May was on the wrong side of 80. Peter and MJ had deduced that her sudden urge to clear out the old Parker home in Forest Hills was not so she could fill it with any new worldly possessions she might acquire. Rather it was May's way of preparing for Peter and Mary Jane to fill it with their possessions.
Peter continued through the bills now noticing they'd given way to some travelling documents.
Peter and MJ hadn't been married for very long but they'd tentatively discussed and fantasized about someday owning a place of thier own outside of the city; somewhere to raise a family. These had been pie in the sky plans given that they're income wasn't great and that they were far from trying to have kids any time soon. Nevertheless May had wanted the best for them, so Peter and MJ had not all that happily figured out May was either planning on handing the house over to them or was preparing for them to inherit it when her time came.
Peter vaguely registered that the travelling documents related to an awful lot of countries he was sure Aunt May and Uncle Ben had never visited.
Peter didn't discuss or like to think about May's mortality much. May, and her late husband Ben Parker had raised him since Peter's biological parents had died in a plane crash when he was very young. His feelings about his parents had been very conflicted throughout his life. On the one hand he had hardly known them and he couldn't have asked for better parents than May and Ben. But on the other, there was still a certain feeling of sadness and loss on the rare occasions when he did think about them.
He knew next to nothing about his mother, but Uncle Ben had told him his dad looked an awful lot like-
Peter's mind went blank. It was as if all the thoughts in his head had vanished at the sight of the document he had just come across. Printed on it was a tattered and frayed photograph of...himself.
What is this? I don't remember posing for a photo with a trench coat on?
As he stared at the picture he began to notice a few things. A slightly differently sized nose, a mole or two out of place and (now that he looked closer) brown eyes.
But my eyes are blue. He thought to himself.
Then it hit him.
Oh my God...This...This is my father.
It was very strange for Peter. He regarded Uncle Ben essentially as his father, but coming face to photo with the man who looked just like him, who WOULD have done all that Ben had done for Peter, stirred something inside of him. A part of him even felt guilty, as if this involuntary feeling was a betrayal of all the years Uncle Ben had dedicated to him. He knew that wasn't true though. He couldn't really explain what he was feeling but it was somewhere between curiosity and sadness.
Peter then noticed several more photos under his father's. Picking them up and examining them he saw another headshot of a young woman and a picture of her in a white dress and veil standing next to his father.
Mom?
Peter had never seen any pictures of his mother before. She was beautiful and despite the faded colours of the photograph, Peter could see that he had inherited her blue eyes.
Peter grinned a little bit then bundled the photos up along with some other ones he noticed from the pile of papers. Heading down the attic hatch and then down the stairs he called out.
"Aunt May! MJ! Come see what I found!"
"What's up tiger?" Said MJ, as Peter entered the kitchen.
"I found some old photos of my parents!" Peter lifted up the pile of documents as he said this.
"You're parents?" MJ seemed mildly shocked. She knew even less about Peter's parents than he did and had rarely heard him mention them.
"Yeah. I haven't seen them much before. Where's Aunt May?"
"She just popped over to Aunt Anna's. Should we wait?"
"Nah, she'll be back soon enough. Check these out."
Peter sprawled the pictures onto the kitchen table. MJ picked up the headshot of Peter's father.
"Wow. He looks just like you Peter. What was his name again?"
"Richard. And here's one of my mom, Mary." Peter handed over his mother's picture.
"Hey she was quite the lookers! And she was a bit of a redhead too."
Peter turned to MJ and gave her a sly look. "Guess we Parkers like those." MJ shot him a warm smile and carried on sifting through the photos.
"Here's one of them in Paris, you can see the tower in the background. And I think they're in Egypt in this one."
"They sure did travel around. I found a stash of old travelling papers upstairs, they must have belonged to them."
"Did they travel for fun or was it all for work?"
"I dunno. I never knew what they did for a living. I'll ask Aunt May when she gets back."
"Huh? This one doesn't have them looking their best. They don't look too chipper. Nor does anyone else in the shot to be honest. And what's that weird logo behind them?"
"Let me see." Peter turned his head to the photo MJ was looking at. Peter's eyes widened and his blood chilled. Were it not for the logo MJ pointed out he might not have deduced who the other people in the photo were or why they and his parents had such serious expressions. The symbol was of a skull-like face with tentacles trailing off from it.
At that moment Aunt May walked through the door.
"Hello dears. You haven't been having any trouble with the-" May stopped and stared at the table covered in photos. "What are yo-Oh no! Don't look at those!"
May moved surprisingly fast for someone so old. But as she reached the table she knew it was too late. As Peter looked up he began to lightly stammer.
"Au-Aunt May...Why...Why were my parents in a photo with H.Y.D.R.A. agents?"
The absurdity of the statement, especially given the mundane surroundings and to whom he was talking to, only vaguely registered to Peter.
"Who or what is 'hydra'?" Asked Mary Jane. Peter straightened up and somewhat composed himself.
"They're...They're an elite terrorist group. International. They've been around since World War II."
May's hand reached up and she lightly clenched it. "Peter dear how do you know about those awful people?"
"I work at a newspaper Aunt May, I hear things". It was at least partially true. Peter had also encountered the organisation during his career as Spider-Man. "Aunt May please...please tell me why my parents are in a photo with these people?"
Aunt May moved towards a chair at the table. Rather than sitting in it she simply leant on it with both her arms and gripped it tightly.
"We...me and Ben that is...We didn't want to tell you the truth. We couldn't face it ourselves. It was why we put the photos of them away."
"What truth? What truth Aunt May?" Peter didn't want to sound agitated but he couldn't help it. Suddenly an awful lot of certainties had been thrown into doubt. Suddenly one of the people he loved most in the world, someone he trusted completely, was withholding something big from him and he wanted to know why.
"Peter...just...just sit down okay?" MJ placed a consoling hand on his shoulder. He felt himself relax slightly. He looked down and swallowed hard before doing as MJ asked.
MJ sat down next to Peter and took hold of his right hand which was lying on the table. Pushing the photo towards Aunt May with her other hand, she calmly said: "May...Can you explain this please?"
May stood there for a moment and during that moment Peter briefly worried that this might cause one of her fainting spells. But she simply slowly sat down herself and pulled in closer to the table. Placing her hand on the photograph she took a deep breath.
"You're parents met when they both worked for the government. Whenever we pressed them for details about thier work they began rather boring diatribes which we usually never remembered. One day after the plane crash a man came to this house and sat me and Ben down. He said he was from some kind of government organisation. S.H.I.E.L.D. I think he said. He told us that Richard and Mary were...infiltrators.
Yes, I think that was the word he used. They went to various countries and found thier way in with some very dangerous people, helping to bring them down from the inside."
"You...You're telling me my parents were like something out of James Bond?" Peter's eyes had widened, partially out of disbelief and partially out of scepticism.
"Peter why would I lie to you about this? And if I were, wouldn't you think I'd say something less fantastical?"
"I...So...they were infiltrating H.Y.D.R.A...They wanted to bring them down."
May closed her eyes and a very pained expression crossed her face.
"The man from S.H.I.E.L.D. said they were working off limited intelligence from Russia, that they had no real confirmation. But what they did have seemed to point to..."
"To what" The agitation in Peter's voice had been replaced now by a kind of desperate pleading. MJ squeezed his hand to somehow brace him or otherwise calm him down.
"To...to your parents being...traitors Peter..."
Much later, in the near darkness of their apartment, Peter was using his arm to lean up against a window staring into the lights of the city below. He heard a soft patter behind him but didn't break his stare. He only registered a reflection from the window in the corner of his eye as it slowly got bigger and bigger. Mary Jane put her hand on his shoulder again.
"Are you okay?" She asked quietly.
Peter mind flashed back to how, after their conversation, May had simply stood up and gone to bed. MJ had gone up and checked on her before coming back down. Without saying a word Peter had looked at her and made moves to leave. That had been four hours ago and he still hadn't said anything since. Now hearing MJ's words, half of him thought it was a stupid question but the other half wondered what else she could have said right then.
"No. Not really." He said this in a low monotone voice. He pressed his head against the window and as he continued his voice grew more and more lost.
"I just...I barely remember them MJ. All I have are a few photos and what Uncle Ben and Aunt May told me. I always had this image, this idea from what little I knew, that they were good people, people to be proud of. But now..." Peter clenched his fist. "Now I might not even have that. But that's just the thing...I might not have that. If they're traitors, in the end I could live with it. I've lived with worse. But...I can't go on not knowing for sure. I need to know the truth."
Slowly, MJ took her hand off of Peter's shoulder and walked away towards thier bedroom. Peter understood. MJ usually helped him with many of his problems. She's have an answer or at least a comforting word here and there. But what could she possibly say to this? What could she do? Peter just hoped that of the two of them, she at least would get a good night's sleep.
However, to his surprise he heard her behind him again a minute later.
"Tiger..." She said softly.
For the first time, Peter broke his gaze out the window and turned around to look at MJ. In her outstretched hand he saw her holding his Spider-Man costume. Firmly, and with a slightly fierce look in her eye she said:
"You go blow off some steam. I'll look up flights to Russia"
Peter stared for a second or two before taking the costume, his hand brushing against MJ's as he did so. Quietly, with a slight quiver he said:
"Thank you."
A week later Peter emerged from JFK airport and got a cab back to Forest Hills. During the journey he'd had plenty of time to think about what had happened since the day May told him about his parents.
He remembered how the night time swing had helped him clear his head a bit. He remembered how MJ was fretting about affording the flights to Russia, but only until Peter learned she was looking for two tickets. At that point Peter had made it clear he wanted to do this alone and reluctantly MJ had backed off (although Peter thanked her for wanting to come).
He remembered how in Russia, with the help of associates in S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers, he had managed to infiltrate the H.Y.D.R.A. base there and bring them down. And most of all he remembered what he had confirmed about his parents...
Peter stepped out of the cab, paid the driver and walked up to the front door of the May's house. Curiously, despite having a key, he decided to ring the doorbell, as if to announce he was back and give everyone inside fair warning. MJ answered the door. He'd asked her to wait with May instead of meeting him at the airport. The result had evidently made her rather anxious.
"Hey." He said with a small smile. MJ for her part tired briefly to read that smile but it gave nothing away about his mood. So instead, without saying a word, she just hugged him.
When she let go a few seconds later she looked at him quizzically and with concern in her eye. "Well?" She asked.
"I'll tell you inside."
They moved into the kitchen where May was sitting at the very same table where they'd looked through the photos a week earlier. She looked up at him now, frightened but determined.
"Peter..."
Peter breathed in and out through his nostrils as if bracing himself. "In Russia me and Spider-Man made some contacts and met some people. With they're help we found out about my parents..."
"And...?" May asked slightly shaking.
"...They were agents who worked for H.Y.D.R.A. They did infiltrate other governments. They were regarded as traitors...But only because it was such a good cover."
May's eyes lit up suddenly as if she had heard good news but wanted to wait to make sure. "They were S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Aunt May. Double agents pretending to work for H.Y.D.R.A.
They were so covert that only the S.H.I.E.L.D. higher ups knew they were really on our side. If they revealed or risked revealing the truth to anyone, even you and Uncle Ben, then it would have compromised any of their other attempts to infiltrate H.Y.D.R.A.
H.Y.D.R.A. might even have tried to get revenge on them by targeting us. S.H.I.E.L.D. lied to us but for our own protection. They were innocent Aunt May...they were heroes."
May put her hand to her mouth as her eyes glistened with tears. MJ simply beamed. May got up from the kitchen and hugged Peter.
"Oh Peter, this is so wonderful! To have that burden lifted after all this time. To think that I hadn't misjudged them after all. If only Ben had..."
May paused. She was still smiling but there was sadness there too. Peter hugged her again.
"I know Aunt May...I know"
After they let go May wiped the tears from her eyes and clapped her hands together.
"Well there are going to be some changes around here now. To start with, we're going to put up those photos at last, now we've got nothing to be ashamed of."
Peter turned towards the door. "I'll get the photo frames from upstairs"
"No, no, no dear. I'll do that, you've had a long flight and besides I feel as if I could walk on air right now. I want to burn off this excitement"
"But..."
"No buts young man. You sit right down. And Mary Jane dear, if you could be so kind as to make some tea?"
MJ's smile got bigger. "Sure thing May"
As May scooted off upstairs Peter and MJ went to the cupboards to get the cups and teabags out.
"Feel better?" She asked.
"Much." Nodded Peter.
"So...You did get it from somewhere."
Peter looked confused and turned to MJ. "Got what?"
She stopped and turned her head to face him flashing him another of her patented smiles. "Being a hero. Forget spider bites, it was always in your blood."
Peter smiled back. "Guess so. And now...now I can go ahead and remember them that way. Not as traitors and not as strangers either. Parents to be proud of."
"And someday...we could tell her the same about you."
Peter was back to being confused. "Tell who what?"
"That her daddy was a hero...someone to be proud of."
Peter's face tentatively lit up. "You're not..."
MJ giggled a little. "No. But like I said, someday we might be. Someday we will be."
Peter grinned as he leaned over and kissed Mary Jane.
"Who says it'll be a girl?" He whispered afterwards.
"Aunt May. 'Woman's intuition' she called it." She whispered back.
"Well then I guess it'll be a girl." Said Peter, before kissing her again.
Meanwhile May had found the photos as well as a few small frames and was descending the stairs with them tucked under one arm. The doorbell rang again.
"Now who could that be?" She muttered to herself. More audibly she called out to the kitchen. "Don't worry I'll get it."
May opened the door and dropped the photos and the frames as her hands leapt up to cover her mouth. Hearing the frames smash, Peter and MJ stopped what they were doing and quickly strode into the hallway and towards the front door.
"Aunt May! What..."
They froze at the sight in the doorway. May shakily stood back and to the side of the door allowing it to open up more and fully reveal the visitors. Standing in the doorway, as if in a strange funhouse mirror of where Peter and MJ were standing now were a man and a woman in about thier late forties or early fifties. Though there were lines on her face, the woman was still quite attractive and one could tell she would have been stunning when she was younger, what with her red tinged hair. The man on the other hand was more wrinkled but it was strangely fitting for him. His hair was slightly rescinding and had patches of grey on the sides just above his ears. If Peter were staring into a funhouse mirror then, apart from anything else, it would've been rather strange because this mirror changed the colour of his eyes. The man spoke slowly with a small and sad smile:
"Hello Peter...Hello son."
