"What the fu-"
Peter Parker, wearing his Spider-Man suit and holding the mask, froze on instinct. That was Aunt May. Unless she had just seen something even more unexpected than an arachnid themed crime fighter in her nephew's bedroom, he was busted.
Excuses came quickly. Cosplay? No, the suit looked too good. Halloween costume? Same. Pyjamas? Not likely. New trend at school, all the kids supporting Spider-Man after the Washington incident? He was posing as a Spider-Man lookalike? He found it on the street and was seeing if it would fit?
Nope, none of those would work.
"Hi, May," he said, turning to face his aunt.
It might have been better if she swore again, or yelled, or even fainted. Instead, May just stood there, open mouthed, staring at Peter. The lack of reaction was unnerving.
"This isn't… I'm not… this isn't what it looks like…"
That didn't work either.
"You're… you…" May said, choking on the words. Recognition showed on her face and Peter got the unsettling feeling that pieces were coming together. "The sneaking out… trouble at school… Washington…"
The denial died on Peter's lips. "Yeah," he said resignedly. "That was all me."
May inhaled slowly and Peter again thought she was about to start yelling. Or pass out.
"The internship," she whispered.
"Oh, um, that was never, well," Peter stammered. "I mean, I was helping out Mr. Stark. You know, keeping the peace, being a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. He did give me the suit, though."
"Neighbourhood…" May said. She was still processing everything, but now reminded of recent events. "So the ferry? Washington? Those were in the neighbourhood?"
"Those were," Peter fumbled, "special circumstances."
May didn't look impressed. "Peter, you could have died." One arm began to flail, gesticulating wildly. "The explosion down the block, a ferry split in half, the Monument elevator crashing. Whenever Spider-Man is on the news I'd tell you, don't get involved, but this whole time you've been fighting murderers and robbers and psychopaths."
"And bicycle thieves," Peter mumbled.
May was still processing this turn of events. "Peter, how long have you been doing this?"
"Well," he said, "um, a while. You know, fighting street crime, ended up on Youtube, that's how Mr. Stark found me, then Germany-"
"Germany, the-" May said, and then it clicked. "That was YOU at the airport?"
Peter nodded weakly.
"You fought Captain America and the giant guy and the flying birdman…" It looked like May was mentally running over the battle in her mind, at least the details that had reached the public. "Peter, you could have died!"
"Oh, Captain America went easy on me," Peter said. "They all did, it wasn't that dangerous."
"What about Toomes?" May demanded. "Your friend Liz, her dad, the Vulture guy? Wasn't he dangerous? He could have seriously hurt you, Peter!"
Peter didn't really know how to respond.
"This really does explain a lot," May said. "But… why? Peter, why are you doing this?"
"Because…" and he hesitated. "Because something happened, an accident, and it gave me these powers that no one else has. And even though there are others with great powers, they don't use them the way I do. Iron Man and Thor and Black Widow can stop alien invasions, but they don't help people on the street. That's what I do, and that's why I told Mr. Stark I can't join the Avengers."
"What?" May asked.
"There was a press conference today, it was supposed to be an invitation, but I said no."
May was looking at him differently now. Instead of shock and anger, there was confusion and concern… but maybe also a little pride as well.
Still, though, he wasn't surprised by what she said next. "Good thing. This is all too dangerous. You could be killed out there, Peter. I can't lose you too."
Peter felt the guilt building up. This was Aunt May, the woman who raised and cared for him. She didn't deserve the constant worry that something could happen to Peter. It wasn't fair that she should stay awake at night, knowing that Peter had slipped out the window and gone to battle criminals. From now on every siren would fill May with worry, as she wondered if this was the time Spider-Man finally met his end.
But despite that… Peter knew he wouldn't quit.
"I can do good out there, May. There are muggers and bullies and thieves out there, bad guys I can stop. Ordinary people deserve their safety. I can do that. And, yeah, it's dangerous, but I can handle it. So far I've been doing okay. These powers, and this suit, I can handle things. I just… really need to do this. It's like someone once said, with great power comes great responsibility."
May hadn't moved, but she had softened. "Okay," she said after a moment. "We can talk about this later, you can tell me more." She looked Peter up and down, then a hint of a smile teased at the corner of her lips. "My Spider-Man."