Chapter 11: Matters of Opinion

Well . . . so this is what happens when I decide that this should be a quieter chapter and give my subconscious the steering wheel: It takes a gazillion detours and ends up with an absolutely massive chapter that isn't really quiet at all. I reread it though, so I think its coherent.

A reader asked about my update schedule for this fic. I don't really have one, but it seems to take me more than 2 weeks but less than a month to write a chapter, if anyone else was curious.

Pink Lemonade: Yeah, I kind of rushed the venom a bit, but it has been 2 weeks since the poison and 2 days since Connors noticed the DNA change so . . . I'm sticking to that. (Honestly, I try to avoid specifying timeframes, but it keeps happening anyway). You'll see how 2 of the things you mentioned are developing in this chapter. I appreciate the reviews though. If you ever make a FFN account, PM me!

Ava was aware that Peter was watching her reactions very closely. But she wouldn't put up a fake façade just to make him feel better. He wanted her honest opinion on this, and she would give it. So she let her eyebrows rise as she said, "You have a pet spider that you named Phoebe of all things."

Peter shook his head. "She's not a pet, and I didn't name her. That's the entire reason why I have her in the first place. Um . . ." He carefully set the terrarium on the desk. "There's one other little spider thing that I haven't told anyone yet."

Ava had rolled away from the desk at some point in the preceding conversation, so she pushed the chair back to get a better view, tilting her head slightly as she peered at the huge spider. "Let me guess, you can talk to spiders."

He frowned. "Seriously, is all this really that obvious once you get just a few clues?"

"Kind of. It's mostly the way you keep leading up to everything gradually. But I still have so many questions. Like, how does that work if spiders don't have vocal cords?"

"I'm getting to that, but it's really complicated and I haven't figured everything out yet." Peter took a deep breath as he grabbed his pizza slice again. He settled on the foot of his bed. "As far as I can tell, it works like a . . . telekinetic thing. We can hear each other's thoughts. She seems to always be listening in on my thoughts, although I don't hear her all the time. That's how she learning English, and she's learning it really fast too. When I first found Phoebe, she could only use words I had just said or thought. She's learned a lot more words since then just from listening to me. And she even chose her name herself after we went through a long list together." He looked down at Phoebe as she shifted in an awkward way. "She's an intelligent creature."

Ava's eyebrows were up again and her eyes were wide. "Wait, so all spiders are—?"

"No, not all spiders are intelligent," he assured her quickly. "I mean, I've only tried talking to a few other spiders, but Phoebe is definitely different. Now that she knows more words, she can think and talk in mostly complete sentences. I've even been able to teach her some basic math and science. But the other spiders never use words. Talking to them is more like . . . getting the gist of an idea, but no specifics. And their messages don't really get more complicated than 'stay away from my web'."

"Okay . . . cool, you just worried me for a second. I've squished more than a few—" Ava stopped, glancing at Phoebe. "Can she understand me?"

Peter looked down at the spider again. Listening. It wasn't the first time Ava had seen a seemingly one-sided conversation, but she would be lying if she said it didn't look just a little bit odd.

"Phoebe says she understands some of what you're saying. And she answered that question without me relaying it to her, just so you know. I also know she's understood other people when she overhears them talking too." Peter bit his lip, causing one fang to protrude. It pulled at his bottom lip. "Would you mind if I talk to her out loud? It'll probably look like I'm crazy, but it's easier for me."

Odd and crazy were not synonyms in Ava's book. "Go right ahead," she said, pausing thoughtfully. "Have you been talking to her in your head since you got home?"

"Not the whole time, but . . . yeah. I only reminded her to be polite to you. She's still learning manners."

"So you've been teaching her English, math, science, and manners because she's an intelligent spider and you feel guilty for taking her out of the jungle."

"Pretty much, yes. I didn't exactly plan to teach her so much, but she's very curious and it feels wrong to ignore her questions. She's only a baby. She sounds like a toddler. Well, in my head, I guess. I suppose that's not the surest way to tell, but there are other clues that prove she's really a baby spider." Peter looked down at his pizza, as if remembering that he was holding it. He finally took another bite.

Ava considered that information for a minute, piecing it all together. Several things weren't adding up. But what to question first? Part of her wanted to see Phoebe's intelligence with her own eyes, just to be sure. But that would make it seem like she doubted Peter's story, which wasn't really true. It just sounded fascinating that a baby spider had been able to learn basic arithmetic.

"Okay," she said at last. "I can understand that. But what I don't understand is why you haven't told your aunt about this yet. This seems like exactly the sort of thing she would back one hundred percent."

There was a brief moment when all sorts of emotions passed over Peter's face. Shame and sorrow and guilt. Ava let him take his time.

"There are a few reasons I didn't tell her, and today I just learned that the biggest reason isn't even true."

"What reason was that?"

"Okay, so almost literally right after I found Phoebe, Fury called and told me what had happened to Wolverine. He sent the picture of the spider and everything, and it looked exactly like her. So I thought Phoebe was a super venomous spider. And Aunt May is understanding, but I know even she wouldn't want a venomous spider in her—" Peter stopped.

It took Ava entirely too long to figure out why he had gone silent. "Pete, she's not going to freak out because you have a little venom. That's insane. I have a feeling she might even be okay with a venomous spider pet. Or not pet, whatever you want to call Phoebe."

"I know, it's just irony, you know?" Peter smiled in a sad way before looking down at his pizza again. "Because, well, it turns out that Wolverine wasn't bitten by any spider like Phoebe. I bit him in the Savage Lands, and he lied about it. I only just found out literally—" he checked his clock, "— like half an hour ago."

Ava's lips parted, but no words came out. She almost regretted agreeing to this. She wasn't the right person for this sort of thing. She didn't know how to be empathetic or sympathetic or whatever the proper word was. She didn't know what to do.

But she didn't regret this, not really. Peter had chosen to tell her these things he hadn't told anyone else, and she had never been close enough friends with anyone before to gain this sort of trust. Shield just wasn't that type of place. And even if she didn't know how to handle that trust, she wasn't just going to throw it away.

That resolution didn't make it any easier to figure out what to say.

Apparently, she was taking too long to say something, because Peter continued speaking. He was frowning at the wall. "I didn't tell Connors. I was still on the Helicarrier, but I didn't go back to tell him. I mean, I didn't want to leave you waiting here forever, but I promised May . . ." He pressed the heel of his fist against his forehead. "Why am I so bad at keeping you guys in the loop?"

Now words came to Ava's lips. She hoped they were the right ones. "I think you're perfectly justified in not telling Connors immediately, at least this one time. Because this time it really wasn't your fault. You had no idea. And anyway, telling him what happened two weeks ago isn't really going to help."

"Why won't it help? Wolverine knows how my venom was. He knows how it'll be tomorrow."

"Pete, use your science sense. I may not know exactly what that poison did to you, but what it did to you in the jungle and the aftereffects now are pretty different. For one thing, it's going way slower than the initial instant transformation. For another, some things are already turning out different."

"Like what?"

"Your fangs. Wolverine's second report said you had large mandibles. Now you just have little fangs. Relatively speaking, of course."

Peter was silent for a second. He used the opportunity to eat another bite. "Setting aside how strange it is that you read and memorize reports about me, you're right on first count, but I'm not so sure about the second."

Ava pursed her lips. "I read reports on the whole team. What do you mean I'm wrong, though?"

Licking his lips, Peter explained slowly. "Wolverine . . . doesn't know spider anatomy. I think the big things he called fangs were really just pedipalps. They hold the spider's—well—the spider's prey in place while they inject the venom through their fangs. So Wolverine probably never actually saw my real fangs at the time."

"Oh," she said. "Well, you're the expert."

"I don't want to be an expert."

"Too bad, because you're already one anyway." Ava inwardly flinched. "I mean, the knowledge only helps you out anyway." She searched for something else to add. "So . . . that's why you haven't told anyone about Phoebe. She's pretty much got a death warrant just for being a potentially deadly creature."

Peter sighed. "Yup, that was my fairly sound reasoning up until today. Do you think it made sense?"

Ava bit the inside of her cheek. "It does make some sense."

"But . . .?"

"Why didn't you tell us you could talk to spiders? You didn't have to mention Phoebe."

Peter shrugged helplessly. "It's just hard to explain without Phoebe. With regular spiders, I have to start the conversation, if you can really call it that. If I had told you guys, I'd have to make up some story where I started talking to a spider out of the blue. And maybe I will, but I haven't had the time to make it make sense." Running a hand through his hair, he let out a short puff of air. "And now that I know Phoebe's species isn't responsible for hurting Wolverine, I guess I need to decide if I should tell everyone about her."

Ava shook her head. "You should hold off on that decision."

"Why?"

"Phoebe is the odd spider out, right? If Shield knew that there's a species of sentient spider out there, they'd want to know more. I know they don't run inhumane tests, but Phoebe would be studied. You said she's a baby, and you've already kept her a secret for a while, so I don't think it would hurt to wait a bit longer until she's older. Except . . . how long are you planning to keep her anyway?"

Peter looked at Phoebe again. "I just want to get her back to the Savage Lands as soon as possible. I would have had her there already, but there are so many obstacles in the way."

"Anything I can help with?"

"Maybe a few. I need to find the coordinates for the Savage Lands, which are highly classified. Then I need to commandeer a Jump Jet. Then I need to fly it out there off the radar. Oh, and I can't forget that Phoebe isn't a natural born huntress. I need to teach her some basic spider stuff so she can survive in the jungle, but . . . I don't know how."

Ava let out a breath of air that wasn't quite a sigh. She was honestly more than a little surprised. "I can't believe you've thought of all of this on your own. I'm going to be honest; I was kind of expecting your big secret to be less life-and-death situation and more of a result of childish pride or something."

Peter gave her a small but genuine smile. "I really try not to make it a habit to lie to you guys. But this spun out of control really fast."

"A real web of lies, hm?"

He huffed, and his smile wasn't fortified by the joke. It melted away. "Don't even start with that. I know I've gotten myself into a mess."

Ava folded her arms, tapping a nail against her elbow. "But it's an understandable mess. I get why you didn't tell Fury. I get why you didn't tell any of us. Phoebe is a baby spider, and you feel like you need to protect her. I can't tell you with complete certainty that you've made all the right choices, but I don't think they're necessarily wrong either."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, although there are a few more things I need to piece together." She took a moment to decide what to ask first. Maybe it would be best to go with something a little more lighthearted. "So you're teaching this little baby spider all sorts of things, but I didn't hear simple things on the list like colors and shapes. You know, the baby stuff?"

Peter shrugged, and the smile began to fight its way back onto his face. His voice became more animated the more he spoke. "I was initially just trying to teach her enough words so we could communicate better. Then I wanted her to get to the level where she could understand the basic things that are right and wrong. Basic ethics so I don't have to worry about her trying to bite people or animals. After that she started to ask more and more questions. And I really was hoping to get her home soon, so I didn't really start thinking of teaching her as a regular thing until this past weekend. She's really advanced though. She learned to do addition and subtraction in only two days. Now she's memorizing the times table."

Ava looked at Phoebe with even more newfound respect. "That's impressive. How do you teach her? Do you just show her the steps in your head?"

"Like I said, I have a bit of trouble with that. I usually just say everything out loud and write down all the steps as if I'm tutoring a normal person. I'm fairly sure she listens mostly to my thoughts though. I taught her how to input answers on a calculator. She has trouble with keyboards and touchscreens though."

"So if I wanted to talk to her right now, you'd have to translate?"

Peter blinked. "Um, yeah, if you wanted to. Do you want to?"

"Sure. We can't just keep talking about her like she's not even here."

"That's true. I'm sorry, Phoebe." A pause. "No, not yet. I thought you could hear just fine from in there?"

Ava looked between the two of them. "Is she asking to come out?"

Peter looked back at her. "Yeah, er—I figure she needs to keep active, so I usually let her out every night. She stays in this room only. But she can wait until after you leave."

"If it's an established routine, then I think you should stick with it. Besides, you promised me that she's an nice spider. It should be fine if you let her out."

"Are you sure you don't mind? I mean, she mostly listens to me, but she might get carried away and climb on you."

That almost made Ava hesitate. While she wasn't the type of girl to freak out over bugs, she wasn't exactly fond of them being on her either. And she didn't want to offend Peter by being grossed out. But she also had a feeling that rejecting Phoebe's company would be just as bad. It was pretty obvious that Peter cared about her quite a bit.

"I reserve the right to not be entirely comfortable if she crawls on me, but she doesn't deserve to be caged up all day."

Peter seemed satisfied with her answer. He went to the terrarium. "Do you really want to come out, Phoebe?" A pause. "Okay, one second." Peter flipped open the lid and Phoebe climbed out to stand on the top of the glass box. She waved one of her front legs at Ava. "She's saying hi."

"I can see that." Ava waved back. "Hello, Phoebe. How are you?"

Peter smiled again. "She says she's great, how are you?"

"I'm doing well, thanks." It was kind of strange, talking to Phoebe with Peter as translator. But the spider's small movements sort of went with what he said in a strange way. "Is Peter a good teacher?"

Phoebe turned to Peter. "Oh, a teacher is someone who explains things to help you learn," he told her. Then Phoebe straightened her front legs so she stood taller. Peter's blush was even worse than the last one.

A grin was beginning to pull at Ava's lips. "Don't hold out on me. What's she saying?"

"Please know that it's really her words and not mine when she says I'm a perfect teacher," he related in a rush.

Ava laughed. "Well that's some sure proof that you aren't just making this up."

"How's that? I always boast about how great I am."

"Yeah, when you're Spider-Man. When I talk to Peter Parker it's like pulling teeth to get you to admit you're good at anything."

"Well, the whole 'I am Spider-Man' thing would be a whole lot more obvious if I made a huge deal of how I'm good at everything Spider-Man is."

"Nobody knows that Spider-Man is a chemistry whizz."

"And no one knows that Peter Parker can beat everyone on the Track team, so it all evens out."

That reminded Ava of when she and the rest of the team had first started going to Midtown High. After meeting Peter as Spider-Man, she had expected him to be one of the coolest kids in school. She had expected to hear that he was the star player in every sport he joined, and maybe even the heartthrob of his year.

Instead, hardly anyone had known Peter Parker, and it had taken a bit of detective work from the entire team to find the quiet nerd who was supposed to be their leader.

"I guess you're right," Ava admitted. She watched Phoebe climb down the glass and jump to the nearest wall. The spider began to climb quickly, but soon stopped in her tracks, turning to face Peter.

"This isn't really a good time for that," Peter told her. Phoebe put her two front legs together in a pleading motion. "I'm sorry, I just don't want you to get hurt if I'm distracted."

It wasn't that Ava felt neglected when she was excluded from the conversation, but she did get an overwhelming sense of curiosity. If she was going to really understand this, she needed to see what Peter and Phoebe normally did and discussed. "What's she asking for now?"

"Uh," Peter rubbed the back of his neck. "I may have shown Phoebe how to swing on a web, and now she wants to do it every day."

"You taught her how to swing?" Ava asked, amused.

"She knows I'm Spider-Man because I was in the suit when she first saw me. And then she saw a video of me swinging, so she wanted to try it. And either she doesn't know how to make the right kind of webbing, or her silk glands aren't fully developed yet because her lines snap too easilty. Instead, I ended up using one of my web shooters to give her a line. It works more like one of those swing rides for her, I guess. Or a tetherball thing." Peter looked at the last bit of pizza in his hand that was probably cold by now. He took another bite anyway. "She—um—she agrees it's really fun."

It was true that Peter absolutely loved swinging. Ava heard his whoops of joy every night. "I think it's sweet that you shared that with her. One nitpick though: Phoebe probably didn't know who Spider-Man was when she first met you. I'm assuming she read your mind about it instead."

Peter paused in his chewing. "Oh, you're probably right. That seems kind of invasive now that I think about it. Phoebe, is that how you knew I was Spider-Man?"

Phoebe hadn't moved from her spot on the wall, although she was fidgeting restlessly. Whatever she told Peter this time nearly made him choke on his pizza.

"What is it now?" Ava asked, startled. "You already knew she could read your mind."

Coughing, it took Peter a moment to catch his breath. "Yeah, except that's not—cough—that's not how she knew."

"How did she know, then?"

Peter didn't fully blush this time, but his ears turned red. "Remember when I told you that spiders have a good sense of smell?"

Ava blinked, comprehension dawning. "Oh, yeah. The pheromone thing, right?"

Peter nodded mutely.

"So Phoebe's saying you smell like a spider."

Another nod. His eyes remained downcast until he looked back up at Phoebe. "You don't need to apologize," he told her softly. "It's not your fault. It's just one more thing I didn't know about myself."

Ava took pity on him. She stood and leaned toward him, taking a long sniff. Peter jumped slightly at the sudden movement.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm checking to see if you really do smell like a spider." After she had a good idea of his scent, she went to Phoebe, reaching up on her tiptoes. She did it slower this time so the spider wouldn't be scared. "Hm, it's kind of hard to tell because Phoebe smells a lot like your room. You smell pretty normal to me though. Maybe it's something only other spiders can tell? That is the whole point to pheromones."

Peter shrugged, folding in on himself a little as he put the last bit of pizza down and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I guess."

He obviously wasn't very fond of the idea of pheromones, but Ava was of the firm belief that figuring things out could only help. "Can you smell anything special about Phoebe?"

"I've never really made it a point to smell her."

Ava put her hands on her hips. "There's no time like the present."

Peter didn't always cave in to her demands easily, but today there was only a moment's hesitation. He stood from the bed and Phoebe came a bit lower to be at nose-level. Muttering a quick apology for the inconvenience, he took a reluctant sniff.

"I don't really smell anything."

"Come on, that wasn't even a proper sniff. And tell me everything you smell. I want to see who has the better sense of smell here."

Sighing, Peter inhaled again, deeper this time. "Okay, so I smell something earthy, probably the dirt from her terrarium. I can also smell my clothes. Sorry about that. I was hoping to get here ahead of you so I could clean up a bit."

"Your room is downright pristine compared to Sam's. Do you smell anything else?"

"Um, I can smell the pizza from here, but pizza has a strong scent. There's also something, hm . . ." He closed his eyes and took another whiff. "There's something tangy and something that smells sweeter." Opening his eyes, he turned to Ava. "How'd I do?"

"Not bad. I didn't smell all of that, but I also smelled a couple more scents like the ocean breeze deodorant you use." She smirked at his playful glare. "I'm not sure what the tangy smell is. Maybe that's Phoebe's scent? Or maybe just one of her scents. I didn't smell anything sweet."

"You didn't?"

"No."

Peter's fists clenched inside his pockets, but eventually his shoulders relaxed. "Okay, so I'm the only one who thinks that Phoebe smells sweet, which likely means that I've got my own signature cologne that no one else can smell. That's . . . something. Hey Phoebe, what do I smell like to you?" He stepped closer to her again, but Phoebe went a step further and jumped onto him, climbing up to his shoulder. Peter didn't startle. He only gave Ava a sidelong glance. "She—uh—she's kind of clingy. Get it? Because she's a spider with the sticky thing going on?"

A joke. Peter was recovering his usual flow, but was still quite nervous. Ava took that as a good sign. "Spoken like a man who has plenty of experience," she said with a gentle smile. She did her best not to make it sound like she was teasing, because she wasn't for once.

"She is a baby." His face remained carefully stoic. "Sometimes she falls asleep on me."

"I think that's adorable. So Phoebe, do tell us what Peter smells like. If you think he smells like anything other than sweaty spandex, then I envy you." Okay, so she still was teasing him, but only in a friendly way.

Peter rolled his eyes. Then he raised an eyebrow, craning his neck to look at Phoebe. "That's what I smell like to you? I'm not sure how I feel about that."

"What'd she say?"

"She says I smell good and yummy."

Ava snorted. "Wow, okay. That makes sense though, since female spiders usually eat the males."

"Yeah, well, she would never eat me. Right, Phoebe?" He waited for her response. "Thank you. She said I'm too nice to eat."

"Aw, a boy and his spider." Ava rested her chin in her hand, taking in the sight of the two of them. "It actually is kind of cute."

Peter shrugged again, but with one shoulder this time. He didn't move the shoulder that Phoebe was on. "So it's not too weird?"

"That's the wrong question. We're always weird. The question is if this makes sense, if you're doing the right thing. And I think maybe you are. Phoebe is alive and well because of you, and that's something to be proud of."

A tension in every one of Peter's muscles finally left, and it was only now that Ava realized he had been tense for nearly two weeks. How could she not have noticed it before? No one else on the team had noticed either. It was kind of sad. Ava had thought they were all finally getting to know one another, but apparently it still took extenuating circumstances to get them to confess anything really personal.

She would have to bring this up with the entire team someday soon. But for now, she would start with making sure she understood everything Peter was trying to tell her.

And there was already something she had inadvertently ignored.

"We forgot about dinner!" she said loudly. Phoebe jumped and scuttled to hide behind Peter's neck. "Sorry, Phoebe. But Pete said he was starving, and we haven't had dinner yet."

"You're right, I almost forgot we had to eat. I guess this is why May is always hesitant to leave me alone at dinnertime." He looked over at the clock again. "And she's coming home soon too. Can you go heat up the pizza while I feed Phoebe?"

"Sure. Do you want to eat up here to keep her company?"

"Only if you want to."

"It's fine with me. I'll be right back."

Ava left the room. Feeling satisfied for all of five seconds before the long list of questions she hadn't asked yet came back to her. But Peter had already gone through a lot to tell her everything he had so far. It felt wrong to push him too far in one night. Yet there was still the question she had asked twice already, and Peter had kind of skirted around it both times.

Why hadn't he told May?

But Ava would wait. She wouldn't pester him about that just yet. Because whatever his real reason was, there would be a reason. Probably. Hopefully. Peter was the most responsible kid she knew, so there had to be something Ava was missing, even if she couldn't imagine what it could be.

Dinner went quickly when there were two ravenous teenagers eating. They only paused to have a relatively more normal conversation about school and training and all sorts of things in between. Ava figured it would be good to give Peter a break if she decided to ask any of her deeper questions tonight.

When they were done, Peter insisted on collecting the dishes. After he left the room, Ava took a deep breath and approached Phoebe. The spider was sitting on the desk, finishing up her last cricket. Three other hollow carcasses lay around her.

"Hello, I know I don't really know what you're saying without Peter here, but I was wondering if I could hold you for a second. I think Peter will feel a lot better if he knows we can get along." She was pretty sure that was true. Peter had seemed almost comfortable with Phoebe on him, except for the fact that Ava was watching.

So Ava placed her hand palm up on the desk in front of Phoebe. The spider's head lifted, looking between her and her hand. Slowly, she crawled forward. The first leg touched Ava's hands. Then another, and two more. By the time Phoebe was mostly on her hand, Ava did have to suppress a cringe. Phoebe's legs were a little pointier than they looked, feeling a bit prickly against Ava's skin. And her hair was so coarse, but also kind of smooth. She was a bit light, yet still heavy enough to feel. Once she was fully on her hand, Ava carefully lifted her up so they could be eye to eye.

"Aw, your eyes glow like Peter's. I guess this really isn't that bad. You tickle a bit, but . . . it's not that bad."

Phoebe's fangs, or pedipalps as Peter insisted, raised slightly and she lifted a leg.

"I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're trying to tell me. Let's wait for Peter, okay?"

Phoebe nodded. Ava had never seen a spider nod before. It didn't look as out of place as it could have.

Peter returned a minute later, looking slightly startled at the sight of them together. "Oh, did Phoebe try to climb you? I'm sorry, I told her not to—"

"No, I asked if I could hold her. She tried to tell me something. Can you translate?"

Phoebe repeated the gesture, this time using the leg to point at Ava. It brought another smile to Peter's face.

"She's saying that a friend of mine is a friend of hers. She's happy that I was right about you being nice."

"Just so you know, Phoebe, Peter almost thinks that everyone is nice. But yes, I suppose I can be nice."

"I do not think everyone is nice. I'm not naïve."

"No, you're just insanely optimistic sometimes. So are you going to let Phoebe swing around a bit before your aunt gets home?"

"Well, okay." Peter retrieved his web shooters, aiming two strands at the middle of his ceiling. He took Phoebe from Ava's hand and attached one line to the spider's back. The other he held for a moment before flipping, hanging from it upside down. Phoebe was also upside down on his shoulder. "Ready, Phoebe?"

Wiggling her back end a bit, Phoebe leapt off, swinging in an arc around him. When she landed, she immediately kicked off again, swinging higher. The third time around she even tried to do a flip somewhat reminiscent of Spider-Man's, but that caused her to lose most of her momentum.

"Would you look at that," Ava said wryly. "A real spider trying to swing like Spider-Man. You've taught her well."

Peter shrugged. Ava was used to seeing the gesture upside down from Spider-Man, but she rarely saw Peter using his web shooters. He looked kind of funny with striped socks and the hem of his t-shirt falling down, revealing his abs.

Sometimes she forgot he had those.

"I was actually kind of surprised that she could do it so well. Because it's not exactly a real spider thing, is it? I kind of made that up on my own."

"Right, so it doesn't count as one of the spider things you need to teach her. Do you have any ideas on how you're going to add any of that to her curriculum?"

Peter looked up at his feet. "I haven't really put much thought into that yet. I'm . . . not really sure where to start."

Ava squinted at him. That didn't add up for a boy who had spent so much time agonizing over this. He had even figured out how to teach a spider basic math. "But you've been looking it up, right?"

"A little, yeah."

Something else was definitely going on here. But did she dare just ask what was wrong? It certainly would be the simplest path forward, if not the easiest. "There's something stopping you from teaching her. What is it?"

Slowly, he looked her in the eye again. "I have a really bad feeling that I'm actually an expert on that sort of thing."

"What's wrong with that?"

Peter glared at her. "Maybe you don't mind your amulet teaching you how to hunt, but you can turn that off at any time. For me it would mean that it's built into my brain."

Ava bowed her head in acknowledgement. "Oh. That's true. But still, is that so bad? Besides, it sounds like you're not even sure about it yet."

Peter closed his eyes as Phoebe swung around him again. "I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I've been thinking about what you said the other day about me, and it makes sense. I went from bumbling nerd to graceful superhero overnight. And sure, maybe I wasn't the best superhero back then. But I was still able to catch most of the bad guys I came across. Even accounting for my new speed and strength, how did I know how to do that? I didn't practice like I do now. I didn't spend time figuring out the best ways to wrap them up or chase after them either. I was just running on instinct. Spider instincts, I bet."

Ava grimaced. She hadn't meant for him to focus on that statement so much. "You do kind of have a natural flair for this sort of thing. But you're smart too. Is it so hard to believe that you just figured it out as you went along?"

"Tony Stark once told me that intelligence doesn't mean a whole lot on the battlefield, and I agree. I think that human Peter Parker probably would have never been able to do any of this even if he had been given the Iron Spider suit."

Ava stared at him. He still hadn't opened his eyes. "Powers aren't everything. You're still human, still prone to the same fears and mistakes."

"I'm beginning to think that I'm beyond the point where I can call all of this my 'powers'. I wasn't just blessed with spider powers. I became part spider, and now I'm becoming more spidery every other day. Connors showed me my DNA. Not to mention the physical changes are pretty noticeable. I have fangs. And I can talk to spiders. And I smell like a spider. And—and there's so much more, and I'm sorry if I haven't told anyone yet, but I'm pretty sure most of it isn't new. You could probably trace some things back to the bite. And that's the worst part. I never noticed so many things until now. It's just like the song, or the phrase, I guess. You don't know what you've got until it's gone." His eyes squeezed tighter, and a single tear rolled down his forehead.

Nails digging into her palms, Ava tried her best not to panic. She was completely and utterly out of her area of expertise here. And she had sort of caused him to go down this trail of thinking. She had only been trying to help by pointing out how similar they were.

Instead she had apparently highlighted how they both had animal sides but only she had the luxury of stepping away from hers.

Stomach twisting guiltily, she watched Phoebe land on Peter. The spider didn't jump off again. She gently climbed down to nestle into his cheek. He took one of his hands away from his web strand to wipe his eyes, but not before another tear came down his forehead.

"I'm sorry," he said, voice catching. "Both of you, I'm sorry. Phoebe, my thoughts are a mess right now. Y—you shouldn't listen in. And Ava, don't start thinking this is your fault. I didn't mean to crack like this."

"You can't just say that," Ava blurted out. "I mean, this is one of those things you don't apologize for. You've spent the past few hours confessing to some of your deepest secrets, and you got a bit carried away." Wow, not a single comforting word. She really was bad at this. "Does it feel any better to get that off your chest?"

"I don't know. Maybe? Saying it doesn't make it go away. It doesn't magically solve my problems." He sighed. "I think going upside down is what sent me over the edge there. Did you know I feel more comfortable this way? Anytime I make a real web or rest on a web line I feel more relaxed. Probably because my spider side knows how to read the vibrations. A well-placed web is better than my spider sense." He chuckled without much humor. "See? That's one of those things I never noticed was strange until now. It just seemed to make perfect sense, you know?"

"It does make sense. An extra layer of precaution can make anyone feel better."

"But I don't feel the same way knowing there are over a dozen safeguards in the new security system Shield installed here." He pulled his hand through his hair, revealing his eyes again. They were only slightly red. "Ava, I know this isn't exactly what you were looking for when you asked about my instincts, and I would completely understand if you want to scrap that idea. But . . . I would really appreciate it if we continued to have these sorts of talks. But less dramatic, of course."

He wasn't wrong. Ava hadn't expected this to lead into such heavy and emotional territory. She had assumed Peter was in tune with his spider side like she was. Now she knew that wasn't the case. "So you basically want to swap stories and use me as a kind of litmus test for whether you're more human or spider." She suppressed a wince. That was very forward, the sort of thing people usually didn't acknowledge out loud. But if Peter couldn't handle hearing it, then he wouldn't be able to handle doing it.

"I . . . guess that's one way to put it."

Ava licked her lips. "I'm going to be completely honest here. I'm not the best person for this stuff. I don't really care much about what other people think. I don't think like most other people. This sounds like something that the rest of the team should help with. And your aunt."

Peter exhaled. "Okay, I get that. And we can tell them. Except, can we do that eventually? What about a trial period with just you first?"

"Are you really that worried about this?" Ava asked before she could stop herself. "Do you really feel this way about yourself? This just seems kind of surreal. You're the guy who insists Goblin is still human beneath all of that green skin and psychosis."

"Well, I was being a bit melodramatic with the humanity thing. I know I'm still human. I still like cheeseburgers and hanging out. But I know I'm part spider too, and I'm not even consciously aware of a lot of that stuff. Just look at the hissy fit thing. I truly had no idea until you guys told me. What else have I just accepted without question?" He returned his free hand to the web, fiddling with it. "It turns out that some things are more subtle than turning into a spider monster."

For once tonight, Ava took her time thinking this through.

On one hand, she still didn't think she was the right person for this. But on the other, there were a lot of reasons to go along with this anyway. She would be helping a friend. She would be fixing her own mistakes. And she could finally work on her interpersonal skills, as well as appease her newfound curiosity about Peter.

Wow, so a lot of those reasons were a little selfish. It all made her more willing to help though, so it all evened out in the end, right?

"Okay, we can do this, so long as you promise that you'll tell everyone after this 'trial period' is over. I'll help you tell them if you want, but you can't just sidle me with the burden of being your secret keeper forevermore."

"Sure, of course. I understand I'm asking a lot from you. I didn't mean for this to go this way. I was only going to tell you about Phoebe." He looked at the spider that was still on his cheek. "I'm sorry for that, Phoebe. I completely stole the show tonight, huh?" He tilted his head as he listened to her, causing them to sway. "Okay, thanks. She says she's happy that I unloaded."

"That really is a smart spider you've got there. If she's been telling you to unload, then you should listen to her more often."

"She's a baby who's learning from me. How does she get to be more sensible than me already?"

Ava giggled. "She must be learning from your mistakes."

"Are you saying I'm insensible?"

"I'm saying you're . . . human."

Peter smiled gratefully.

May Parker entered her house laughing.

"Phil, you have the wildest stories."

"You have some crazy stories yourself, May."

"Yes, but there's only so much trouble a girl can get into when she's not part of a defense organization."

"Fair enough."

Setting her purse on the counter, May passed through the kitchen. She could hear the sounds of a video game in the living room before it was paused. Her nephew and his guest came through the doorway to greet her.

She was glad to see Peter looking happier than he had in days.

"Hey, Aunt May!"

"Hello Mrs. Parker!"

"I'm glad to see the house is still in one piece," May said lightheartedly.

"We didn't invite Sam exactly for that purpose," Peter said, heading to the kitchen. "Hey Wilson, how have you—Coulson?!"

"That's Principal Coulson to you, young man."

Peter leaned back into the hallway looking utterly flabbergasted. He was leaning way too far, in fact, hanging onto the doorframe only by his fingertips. "I thought you said you were having dinner with Phil!"

"I did, with Phil Coulson." May's eyes widened in understanding. "Oh, you thought I meant Phil Wilson, the spelunker."

"Yeah, I kind of did."

Phil stepped into the doorway behind Peter. "I'm sorry for the confusion. Your aunt asked to discuss how Shield is handling some of the latest developments regarding you." He smiled his Mona Lisa smile at Ava. "Ah, and hello to you too, Ms. Ayala."

"Hi Coulson." Ava waved somewhat awkwardly.

Peter looked at his aunt. "But I already told you everything that's happened."

May nodded. "Yes you did, and I appreciate that. But you're not the one in charge of Shield. I wanted to know if Fury really has your best interests at heart."

"Oh, okay," Peter said. "Do you approve of his work?"

"I suppose." May looked at Phil. "I made some suggestions."

"I don't need to be babied, you know," Peter muttered.

"I know, but you don't need to be dragged along on dangerous international missions either."

"All right, that makes sense." He got his feet beneath him in one smooth motion, moving away from Phil silently, the way he did when he was nervous.

May refrained from sighing. How had she been so oblivious for so long? How had she not noticed the changes in her nephew from the beginning? Granted, he had only recently stopped trying to hide his little quirks, but it was obvious that he was very self-conscious about them. May did her best to ignore it all, to let him know that she didn't care if he was part spider. She tried to show how she would always see her nephew behind the green eyes and the fangs. But no matter what, he still seemed so anxious about it.

Tonight, he looked a little less worried though. Perhaps having a friend over had done him some good.

"Well," Phil began. "I have to get going. Ava, would you like a lift back to the Helicarrier? I have a Jump Jet cloaked right outside."

Ava quickly turned to him, which was the only reason May noticed that the girl had been staring at her. "That would be perfect. Thanks, Coulson."

Phil gestured for her to go first. To the side, Peter pouted.

"Why do you let her call you Coulson when you always tell me to call you either Agent Coulson or Principal Coulson?"

Phil chuckled. "Because you usually use the full title of people you respect, and Stark made a bet to see how long you would stick to that."

"Oh, I see how it is. Who won the bet, then?"

"I did. Stark didn't think you would notice for another few weeks."

May frowned at him. "I didn't take you for a betting man."

"It wasn't a bet for money. Stark only has to lend me one of his AI's for a day to help with the school budget. It will help us fund Miss Watson's new play. Speaking of which," he turned to Peter, "you must feel honored, Spider-Man."

Peter covered his face with his hand. "Don't remind me."

May blinked in pleasant surprise. "MJ made a play? That's lovely! I'm curious how it relates to Spider-Man though . . ."

Ava grinned wickedly. "I think we should let Pete explain that. Come on, Principal Coulson."

After the other two left, May kicked off her heels and went into the living room. As she reclined on the sofa, she saw that the video game was Borderlands. "So, what's this about MJ's play?"

Peter followed her, turning off the game. A reluctant smile pulled at his lips. "She wrote an entire play about Spider-Man focusing on why he's a good hero."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" May gasped. "Phil is right, you should be proud! I'm sure it'll be far more informative that the Daily Bugle."

"Yeah, I guess. It's just so bizarre to be recognized like that, even if she doesn't know it's me she's honoring."

"Is Spider-Man going to make an appearance on opening night?"

Peter shrugged. "I'd love to. It would have to be short if she wants me to watch it. Regular me, I mean. Can't be in two places at once." He perched next to her on the sofa, on edge. May knew he had something else important to say. "Um, I learned a lot from my latest check-up with Doc Connors."

May turned her full attention to him, sitting up slightly. "Like what?"

"Well, he thinks I'm going to have the venom by morning."

She put an arm around him, pulling him into a one-armed hug as she smiled sadly. "Kids grow up so fast. It seems that includes spider puberty."

Peter made a face. "Did Coulson tell you that?"

Now she smiled a little more happily. "Yes, but don't worry. I won't use that term if you don't like it. I was just trying to lighten the mood. So how does Connors know it's coming?"

"He said the tissue is a little inflamed, and I've been having a bit of discomfort the past few hours."

May's brow furrowed concernedly. "It hurts? Do you need something for it? Cold press? A dozen Aspirins?"

"No thanks. Ava already gave me heat therapy in the form of piping hot pizza."

"Creative. That works. I'm glad your friends look out for you."

"I look out for me too."

"And that's why Ava is the one who had the idea." May chuckled knowingly. "Come here, let me see your mouth."

Peter began to open his mouth, then closed it again. "Remember that you can't just go poking around. My fangs, you know."

"Oh, right. Let me get something."

"You don't have to look. Connors already checked."

"I'm a nurse and I'm your aunt. I've been doublechecking your doctors' conclusions since you've been—well, not in diapers exactly, but you know what I mean. I may not be an expert on spiders yet, but I'm working on it." She got up and went back to the kitchen, grabbing a fork and rinsing it off. When she came back, she stood in front of her nephew. "Okay, say 'ah'."

"I thought you said you only have to say 'ah' when you're looking at the back of the throat?"

"Yes, but it's also one of the most universal ways to ask someone to open wide."

Peter stuck his tongue out at her playfully before obligingly opening wide. The fangs extended, moving down and outward. May placed the fork behind them and they latched onto it, jerking it out of her grip. Peter's eyes widened as he ended up with the fork hanging out of both sides of his mouth. The metal clanged softly against his teeth. He had some trouble spitting it out into his hand.

"I'm so sorry," May said. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, it's fine. The metal just feels weird. I—I should have done it myself." He turned the fork over in his hand and his eyebrows shot up. "Oops."

May looked down at it. The handle of the fork was more curved than it had been a minute ago. Bent. "I didn't know those fangs were so strong," she said softly.

Peter blushed. "I didn't know either. That's one test Connors hasn't been able to do. All the pressure pads are too big to fit in my mouth. I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize. It's just a little bent. It's not the first utensil you've deformed." May hoped the humor would get him to lighten up, but it didn't seem to work. "Do you mind if I still take a peek?"

He almost looked ready to say no, but then he brought the fork back to his mouth, successfully pulling the fangs out of the way this time. May gently grabbed his chin and tilted his head, pulling his upper lip back enough for her to see. Carefully, she tapped the roof of his mouth. She kept her amateur examination short though. "Dr. Connors is right. The roof of your mouth is swollen and a little red. Are you sure you don't want anything for it?"

Peter took the fork back out of his mouth. "I'm sure."

"It may hurt more in the morning. Promise me you'll go to Connors if it really bothers you?"

"Okay." Holding it gently, he did his best to bend the fork back to its original shape. "Um, I also asked Connors about your idea to remove my fangs and stuff. He says it wouldn't really be safe since my biology is completely unique." His lips quirked up briefly. "I'm one of a kind."

May sat next to him again. "You've been one of a kind since the day you were born." She stroked a comforting hand over his back.

Peter rested his head on her shoulder. "But a few years ago, I was just one of millions of kids with asthma."

"Things just got a little more complicated." She continued to rub his back. A memory came to her, something Peter had said when she first told him the idea. "Did you really want the option available? To get rid of those things?"

"I . . . don't know. I can't really imagine not being Spider-Man."

"Those superficial things aren't what makes you Spider-Man."

"But they are. It's all part of it. All of this can be traced back to the initial spider bite, even if the poison kickstarted the latest stuff. I'm not—I don't just stop being Spider-Man when I take off the costume. The mask is just there to hide my identity."

May brought her hand up to card her fingers through his hair. His silkily smooth hair, which had grown so much thicker and shinier this past year. Another superficial thing that she couldn't care less about. "I think you're confusing your terms. Of course you don't change who you are based on your clothes. But you don't change based on your eye color either. What makes you Spider-Man, what makes you a hero, is your determination and selflessness and your wonderfully stubborn nature. That's what you've had in you since you were little. That's why I was only a little surprised when I found out you had decided to become a superhero immediately after you got powers, because I half expected you to become a hero regardless."

Peter was silent for a moment, probably blushing again. "You really think I would have been able to do it without these powers?"

"Yes I do."

"You don't think I've changed much?"

"Well, maybe you're a little more mature. But you're almost exactly the same as when Ben and I took you in." She smiled fondly at the memory. "You're sweet and smart and your hands are always just a little bit sticky."

"Hey, they're not always sticky anymore." He let out a long breath. "But thanks, May. That means a lot to me."

He stayed by her side, so she stayed by his. And she couldn't help but wonder where these sorts of questions were coming from lately. It was almost as if he was afraid that his whole personality was going to be affected by the spider bite. It was easy for May to guess that the incident in the Savage Lands had shaken him, but what could his specific worries be? Did he fear that he might turn into a monster again? Did he think all these physical changes might eventually lead to psychological ones? May was fairly sure that neither scenario was likely to happen. Even if one did happen, she would promise a million times over that she would love him regardless. She wasn't a sissy. She could look past all those spidery things and still see her amazing nephew. That's what she had already been doing for all these months. And that's what she would continue to do. She would ignore it all until Peter could ignore it too, until he could feel like he was pure human once again.