The three Spiders regrouped on a dimly-lit rooftop. As they landed, both Spider-Men stared at the girl with them. Peter still hesitated to let himself believe that it was his daughter in front of him, and not some imposter. He ripped off his mask, a tear already threatening to fall.

"Is it really you?" he asked shakily.

The girl paused for a moment, then pulled off her mask, unleashing a wave of red hair. Sure enough, even though her face was slightly cut and bruised, there was no mistaking it: it was May, his sweet little May.

"Hi, Dad," she said, a sheepish grin on her face.

Peter let out something between a laugh and a sigh of relief. It was as if a weight had been lifted from his chest, replaced with an inexplicable joy. He opened his arms, grinning himself. "Get in here, kiddo." May ran towards him, burying her head in his chest. He felt her shudder, obviously holding back tears.

"Dad," she sighed. "Dad, I'm so sorry. I thought I could take care of Coach by myself, but I was wrong. By the time I realized how big the situation was…"

"No, it's alright," Peter assured, wrapping one arm tighter around her and rubbing the back of her head with the other. His eyes were clinched tightly together, the tears streaming in full force now. "It's all alright now." He pulled back slightly, wiping his eye. "But, where have you been? How could you do this to us? Why didn't you come home?"

"I wanted to." May sniffed. "But, I thought it might put you in danger. I thought if Coach- Epitaph- found out you knew I was alive, she might hurt you or Uncle Miles to get to me. And if she ended up finding out who I am, like she did…"

"That is such a Parker move," Miles chuckled, having taken off his own mask by now.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you in the first place," Peter apologized. "If I had, maybe we could have prevented all of this."

"Doesn't matter now," May chuckled, wiping her eye. "I'm just so glad it's over."

The Parkers embraced again, simply taking each other in for a moment.

"Hey," Miles chimed. "Do I get a turn?"

"You'll have to join the group," Peter answered, not looking at him. "You couldn't pry me away right now."

"Fair enough. Welcome back, Squirt." Miles enveloped both of them in his arms and squeezed.

"Ow," May winced. "Okay, wow, Super-Spidey bear-hugs plus mending bones equals pain."

"Sorry about that." Peter and Miles backed away sheepishly. "On that note, we had better get you to Avengers' Tower so you can get looked over at the clinic."

"Can't we stop by home first? I want to see Mom."

"You probably have at least a dozen bruised ribs and broken bones. I can call her and have her meet us there."

"Do you really want her to find out that I'm alive over the phone?" May flashed a faux-empathetic expression, looking up at her father with a hand over her heart in mock disdain.

"May." Peter used what he thought was his best authoritative voice, but even he could hear his resolve slipping.

"Pete," Miles jumped in. "She's been away from home with those same bruised ribs and broken bones for a week now. I think she can manage a few minutes to see her mom."

"I… well…"

"Please, Dad?"

The next thing she knew, May was swinging back through the familiar streets en route to Queens. Her heart was racing at the thought of finally being home. Home. For real this time. Sure, it was just for a short time before she'd inevitably be poked, prodded, medicated and tourniquet-ed, but, with any luck, she'd be back in her own bed that same night or the next. For now, it would be enough to see and hug her mom.

May clung to the wall outside the window as her dad opened it and climbed in.

"Hey, MJ?" He called. May vaguely heard footsteps.

"Where did you disappear to all day?" Mom asked. "Gloria had me- wait, what happened to you?" Dad must have taken off his mask, revealing the bruises on his face from the battle against Loup-Garou.

"It's a long story. First… look what the cat dragged in."

May took that as her cue. With her mask still on, she climbed into view of the window. Her mom gasped, a look of disbelief on her face.

"Is that…?" she asked. May took off her mask and stepped inside. Mom's jaw completely dropped.

"Hi, Mom," May smiled.

"May," Mom gasped. She and May skipped to close the distance between them and hug each other. "May, my sweet girl, you're home…"

"I'm home, Mom." May sniffled. "I'm so sorry."

"No, no, don't worry about it, Baby. What's important is that you're alright."

Mom hugged May tighter, and the pressure on her ribs made it feel like a thousand needles were stabbing her in the lungs.

"But still sore," she winced, pulling away. "Sorry."

"On that note," Peter interrupted. "A deal's a deal. Now we're taking you to Avengers' Tower."

May didn't resist this time, looking forward to the prospect of getting relief from the pain. Now that the battle was over and she had felt both her parents' warm embraces, the adrenaline was wearing off and her wounds were rearing their ugly heads again. One way or another, it would be nice to sleep in something other than a spider-web hammock.

She allowed her father to carry her most of the way to the clinic. In his arms, she felt the closest thing to peace that she had felt in a week. There were many things still to sort through, between telling the whole story to her parents, getting caught up on school, and explaining her disappearance to her friends, but, for now, she was content with the knowledge that she was safe, and back with her family. After everything she had been through, she knew she could be a stronger Spider-Girl, be greater- but she would make time for May to recover first, and everything else would work itself out later.

The End.