Chapter 24: Tired

Whew, this month was tough. This chapter was tough. But I got it done before term starts! Next month's update should be a little smoother unless homework is a beast. Just don't worry if there's a little radio silence on my end. I will post everything eventually.

Pink Lemonade: Yes, Peter is such a rebel :P. But I'm glad you like the world-building. The team has faced a lot together, although they still have their own personal things. Fury is a very complicated and secretive guy though. I don't want him to seem like a bad guy, but he does need to be rather cynical for his job. Enjoy more May Angst, on the house!

Peter awoke to find his head propped against something soft, but his body sitting upright on something less soft. Opening his eyes, he realized he was at his desk. His head was against his pillow, which he had originally grabbed as source material for Phoebe's mattress. But he had apparently nodded off.

Oops. Maybe May'd had a point about getting some sleep.

Well, he felt at least a little rested after . . . How long had he been out? His alarm hadn't gone off, so it couldn't be six yet. Peter stood up and yawned, stretching everything from his neck to his fangs to his toes before grabbing his phone.

The time was in fact before six, only a little after five AM. So about three hours of sleep then. A little less, really. That was fine. Not for his brain probably; he still felt kind of sleepy. But it would have been worse if he'd woken up late. He'd only been late to training twice, and he still wasn't sure if Fury was joking about his threats regarding the third tardiness.

Now that he knew he didn't have to rush, Peter went back to his desk. Phoebe's bed lay on top, nearly complete. It was a very beautiful bed in Peter's humble (and possibly biased) opinion. The headboard and footboard were tall and solid wood with real bark on the outside; Peter had taken a quick trip outside his window to grab some from a nearby tree. To make it like a four-poster bed, he'd added a top made from metal wire weaved to look like a web. The curtains were his favorite though. Phoebe had decided to use some excess cloth from his Spider Suit so the web weave could match the design on top.

Peter cocked his head. Phoebe was nowhere in sight. This wasn't entirely unusual. She seemed to like sleeping out of sight. She didn't usually go far though. So maybe she was in the obvious place trying out her new bed? Peter hadn't finished her mini mattress, but she may have taken some stuffing.

He quietly leaned down and pulled back one of the curtains, revealing Phoebe curled up inside. She turned over, blinking a few eyes open.

Speter awake? Morning?

"Yup, sorry to wake you. I just wanted to make sure you were alright. How's the bed?"

Phoebe bed perfect!

"That's good. How about I finish up the mattress so you can be more comfortable?"

She fumbled a little to stand up. Phoebe made mattress! Beneath her and above the bed frame, a small web stretched from one end of the bed to the other.

Peter's eyebrows shot up. "Huh, that's really creative of you! It's—" He glanced at his own bed. "I really like that idea."

Thanks! Speter want do it too?

"Um . . ." He could see it now. He could remove the extra cushion layer he had on top of his mattress and put a web there instead. The covers would be able to fit over it, keeping it out of sight. May would never need to know it was there . . .

But then it would be a secret. What had happened to 'no more secrets'?

Admittedly, that promise had been broken since the moment Phoebe entered his life.

And anyway, it wasn't like May would really want to know about a new web. Or rather, it wasn't like May would want to leave it up if she knew of its existence . . .

It was getting pretty hard to deny it at this point. Peter really wanted a web in his room.

"Maybe . . . Maybe tonight or tomorrow. I think my spinnerets need to recover a bit more."

Okay. When Speter spinners ready, Phoebe can teach how!

"Sure, of course! I'll be sure to pay attention to every step."

Phoebe nodded, satisfied, then rubbed her stomach. Breakfast now?

"Ah, that's right. Breakfast is supposed to be the most important meal of the day." He went to the closet. "And I think we have time for a lesson before I have to go. Do you want to do Math, English, Science—"

Bug game? Phoebe asked excitedly. Phoebe want catch bugs like Ava Tiger!

"Like Ava Tiger?" Peter paused and frowned. "Why like her? Are you saying that Ava catches crickets better than me?"

Ava Tiger say she expert hun—h—huntress.

Peter understood that he had only played the game once with Phoebe while Ava had now done it twice. And he had been very reluctant anyway. But still, he couldn't let Phoebe think Ava's tiger skills were superior to spiders. "Okay, so maybe Ava's practiced more than me, but I'm the one teaching you so . . . We're going to have to rectify this. How about we have a cricket catching lesson?"

Okay! What first step?

Peter blinked. He hadn't actually thought of the contents of the lesson yet. He would just have to make it up as he went along, which was basically what he'd done the other night anyway. "Well, first we need some crickets." He continued his way to the closet and got out the jar of live crickets Ava had brought. She would probably be happy to know he was putting them to good use. "Now our next step is—uh—well, I think there are a few ways you could do this."

Really?

"Yeah, uh." Peter urged himself to remember how spiders hunted. The problem was that he had sort of stopped looking that stuff up a few months ago. "It kind of depends on what sort of spider you are. I've never seen your species before, so I'm sorry if I don't know your exact way. But I can tell you about the different styles and we can see which one you like best. I—I can show you too, I guess."

What Speter way?

"Um . . ." Wow, he really wasn't prepared for Phoebe's questions at all. "I don't know if I have a way. I've never really—" Peter stopped, feeling like smacking himself on the forehead. "Oh, duh, I went after that cricket just the other night. I kind of snuck up on it, right? So . . . my way is . . . sneaky . . .?"

Peter acknowledged how terrible he was at explaining this. He could give Phoebe a whole lecture on advanced mathematics while hardly stopping to breathe. But once she asked a few questions about hunting he was a gibbering dunce.

Phoebe not sure understand . . . Phoebe admitted apologetically. Peter could sense her unspoken apology.

"Sorry. I'm kind of having trouble finding the words for this. And the thoughts in general, or else I would have tried sharing it that way. You can only teach what you know, and I apparently don't know that much about this."

Phoebe tilted her head. But Speter can do it. Speter caught bug. Phoebe saw.

Peter folded his arms contemplatively. "I did. I think I see where this is going. You think we should stick with real-world examples rather than a lecture?"

Maybe.

Peter smiled and tried to hear some of Phoebe's deeper thoughts. He had a suspicion that she was trying to cover up her own excitement for his sake, and it seemed like he was right. "It's okay. We can do that. I know we normally have a more ordinary type of lesson where I can actually explain things, but since I don't know how yet, this seems like the best way." He prepared to open the jar. "Ready?"

Yup!

Peter released several crickets, giving them a quick head start to hop away. And then . . . Then he gave them a longer head start so he could figure out what he was going to do.

No, this wasn't right. It had taken him no time at all when Ava had been here. He was thinking too hard about it. Like his webs. He created them so much faster when he wasn't agonizing over every angle. He just needed to relax and do what he needed to do. Which he knew how to do. So long as he let himself do it.

It was seeming a lot worse today though. Ava had made it seem like nothing, but the truth was that, if he only listened to the little nagging thoughts in his head, he could grab a cricket with ease. And he wanted to grab one, because he was getting hungry now that it was close to breakfast time.

But this wasn't about him. It was about teaching Phoebe. The sooner she was prepared, the sooner he could really focus on getting her back home. That was the final goal. He couldn't lose sight of that.

So he did the first thing that came to mind and climbed the wall. The nearest cricket wasn't even close to the wall, but that's what felt right. Or at least that's what he had done last time. Great, was he just trying to mimic what he'd already done?

This was why people called him a worrywart.

Oh well, he had committed to this lesson, and he was going to stick to it no matter how hard it was.

(But some part of him was relieved that it could still be so hard even when he had done it before.)

Ava watched Peter enter the training room. He was a little early today in comparison to yesterday. But she wasn't going to let him leave early. The team had decided they needed to talk, and Ava would hunt him down if he tried to escape them again.

"Is there anything to report before we begin?" Fury asked the team in general, although his gaze lingered longest on Spider-Man.

Peter raised a hand. "I'm going to use my web shooters today. I think I'm running low on the—uh—natural stuff."

Fury nodded once. "Fine. We'll need to monitor how long it takes to regenerate."

"Right, of course."

"Very well. Training begins in five minutes." Fury left for the observation deck.

Ava took the opportunity the moment Fury was out the door. She came up to Peter with the other guys flanking her. "All right, Parker. We're going to have a long talk once training is over. Is that clear?"

Peter leaned away from her; the lenses of his mask were wide. "Um—okay. What are we going to talk about?"

"You and your aunt."

Peter seemed to flinch. "Do we have to? It's probably just a miscommunication or something."

"It doesn't matter what it is. We want to help you deal with it."

He looked at them all. "Did you really all agree on this? How? I can never get you all to agree on anything!"

"We can always find some common ground when a friend is concerned," Danny said.

"Yeah, and we've agreed before," Luke added indignantly. "True, it usually takes life-or-death situations to make us agree, but not all the time."

"And don't worry, we'll keep disagreeing in the future," Sam promised.

Peter's eye lenses moved in a way that suggested he was rolling his eyes. "Well, I don't quite agree with this, but I'm guessing I don't have much of a choice, do I?

"Nope," Ava said firmly.

"Why did I ever agree to work with you people?"

"You didn't have a choice then either."

"Right, thanks for the reminder."

After training, the entire team collapsed to the floor, panting for breath. Two days full of intense training was hard. Everyone agreed that everywhere ached. Peter was glad that he had given Phoebe her active lesson that morning. He didn't think he could do it tonight. Or tomorrow. Or anytime in the near future.

It had certainly been an interesting lesson. He had caught the cricket with no problem once he got into the flow of things. But getting into the flow of things was rather hard when he was afraid of getting into the flow.

That was good though. Peter didn't want it to be easy.

And speaking of good, fresh crickets were so good. They were like perfectly ripe fruits in comparison to the other crickets that were like dried fruit. Both were good in their own ways, but one was just so much better.

Peter regretted thinking about that when his stomach growled. Lunch had only been a few hours ago, but it felt like he hadn't eaten in days. Normally Shield lunches filled him enough. Except when he used half of the designated lunchtime to nap.

And he was still so tired.

May had been right. He still needed sleep. Or at least more than three hours of sleep a night. Especially after so much physical activity. He was exhausted.

"Your performance declined today," Fury reported bluntly when he came back in. He strolled past them where they lay, speaking to each in turn. "White Tiger, you were too open to attacks. Nova, you resorted back to your undisciplined ways. Iron Fist, you need to spring your own attacks and avoid being backup all the time. Power Man, you need to be more than a shield in battle. And Spider-Man, your reaction time was slower and you stuck with stealth moves even when they were not the best course of action."

Peter grimaced. Had he really focused on stealth in training too? Was it because he had played the Bug Game this morning? Or was it just because he was too tired to go running after all the LMDs? He wasn't entirely sure.

"But," Fury continued, "At least you're all still in fair shape. You can go on patrol tomorrow night."

"Yes!" Peter said, lifting an aching arm in triumph. The others mumbled their agreeance.

"Based on your performance, I suggest everyone get some rest." Fury raised an eyebrow when Peter's stomach growled again, although Peter was pretty sure that Luke's stomach joined in a duet. "Or maybe you should head to the cafeteria first. I'll see you all tomorrow after patrol."

The team began to get to their feet again. Peter yawned as he stood. He couldn't decide what sounded better: sleep or food? If only he could have both. If he could take semi-aware spider naps, then why couldn't he sleep-eat? The answer was probably some complicated bit of brain biology.

"All right, Spidey," Ava said almost in a growl. She grabbed his forearm. "Let's go have that talk."

Peter's shoulders sagged. He had nearly forgotten about that. "Can't it wait? I'm exhausted."

"We're all tired, but we need to do this sooner rather than later."

"How many of you got only three hours of sleep last night?" Peter countered petulantly as he was dragged out of the training room. He had noticed long ago that his usage of sarcasm and sass skyrocketed when he was grumpy and sleep deprived.

"Only three hours?" Luke asked incredulously. "How did you survive training?"

Peter yawned again. "I have no idea."

"What kept you up last night?" Danny asked wonderingly.

"Just me. I was working on something."

"What was more important than sleep?" Sam scoffed.

"Web shooter modifications," Peter answered almost truthfully. He would have worked on that, but Phoebe's bed had taken priority. "I'm trying to fix them so I don't have to take them off every time I want to switch over to my natural silk. Plus then I might be able to keep the taser web setting. It's going to take a lot of work though."

"Okay, that sounds cool," Sam consented. "But not enough to sacrifice sleep."

Peter stuck his tongue out even though no one could see it. He thought it was a sleep sacrifice worthy project. Or it would be, once he actually started on the modifications.

They came to a stop in a conference room, one of the ones near the cafeteria. Luke and Danny took advantage of this and went to get some trays of food while Sam raided the fridge. Peter was glad he would at least be able to eat even if he couldn't sleep yet.

They were spending a lot of time in conference rooms lately, Peter noticed. This was probably a good predictor for his future since he was going to keep working at Shield. Conference rooms would be the common background of his life. Along with warehouses. And the Med Bay too, naturally.

After the table had been covered in a variety of food, the team settled around it, taking off their masks to wipe the sweat off their foreheads. Ava sent Peter a stern but concerned stare the moment her eyes were revealed. She looked like she was ready to pounce on him if he so much as glanced at the doorway.

Peter sank into his own chair and pulled off his mask. The surrounding air felt almost cold in comparison to the stifling heat of the mask, which almost woke him up. Almost. He was way too tired to let a little cool air snap him out of it.

"All right, Pete," Ava said once they were all settled. "Why won't you tell your aunt how you feel about her taking down your web?"

"Because I don't want to feel that way," Peter answered as he piled food onto a plate. He was pretty sure he had said the same thing last night too. Why was it so hard for them to understand?

"Why not?"

"Because it's too spidery. I told you I don't want to be too spidery!"

"How spidery is too spidery?"

"I don't know," Peter admitted. "But that's what you guys are helping me figure out. And May."

"And we've told you that you seem fine!" Ava countered, raising her voice. Danny placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a look. She huffed but settled down.

"Ava's right," Luke spoke up. "We've spoken about this a few times now. So I'm wondering . . . Have you spoken about it with Aunt May?"

Peter looked at him. "A little bit, yes."

"And what did she say?"

"Um . . . " Peter found it hard to answer that question. It wasn't because of a lack of memory. Even sleep-deprived, he could recall almost exactly what she had said. But now that he was remembering it . . . He stopped looking Luke in the eye and ran a hand over his face instead, rubbing his eyes. "She—um—said some things."

"What sort of things?" Luke continued to prod.

Allowing himself a few more seconds of blissful darkness, Peter uncovered his face. Shield lights were always stark white and way too bright for sleep-minded individuals. And yeah, his night vision might have also played a role in making them seem even brighter. "She said she doesn't care about all these changes. That she can look past it all and still see me."

"That sounds like Aunt May," Luke said approvingly. "See, Pete? We all think you're just fine. Even your aunt."

"Wait a second," Sam said, leaning forward onto the table. He looked like he was actually deep in thought. "What else has she said?"

Peter glanced at him and yawned yet again. He was too tired for this. Too tired of people questioning him. Why did these 'conversations' turn into interrogations? May was the one who started that trend it seemed.

Hold on, where was that train of thought going? He didn't like where it was headed.

"Pete?" Sam said questioningly, still looking for a reply. Peter began picking at his food. If he was going to go through with this conversation, he was going to need some sustenance.

"Well . . . I think a lot of it is mostly how I'm understanding it rather than what Aunt May means. Because she's always so genuine, you know? I'm just . . . I guess I'm kind of touchy about the subject, so it sometimes seems worse than it actually is."

"That is what we are interested in hearing about," Danny said. "We want to consider your opinions before our own."

"Oh, okay . . ." Peter licked his lips. He couldn't believe he was going to talk about this. But he supposed it would be better to talk it through with friends rather than let it fester. He didn't want this to turn into resentment. "So . . . Whatever I'm going to say next, please know that I still love May completely and I'm not really holding any of it against her. I just don't know what to think yet."

The others nodded solemnly, staring at him expectantly. Peter took a breath and a bite of a biscuit. He remembered when Connors had said that extra fiber might help his silk. And he still wasn't used to this sort of attention.

Peter had a feeling he was going to regret this conversation so badly. But the fact remained that they had caught him while he was sleepy, and his brain-to-mouth word filter was in dire need of a tune-up. "I don't think that May likes this," he began.

"What do you mean by 'this'? Your webs or—?"

"It's more than the webs. Every time I explain one of my new m—mutations—" Peter stumbled on the word he normally avoided, but pushed on. "Every time, she looks sad and worried and I understand, I'm sad and worried too. But then she starts saying things and maybe she's trying to help but what she says is—it's—Not all the time is it accurate. And sometimes it isn't logical either. But mostly . . . mostly it . . . hurts."

Goodness gracious, what did he just say? He had not been thinking that five seconds ago! He hadn't been thinking about it at all . . .

"Can you elaborate?" Danny asked.

"All right. Remember the first day after . . . after I came back from the Savage Lands?" More nods. "When I went home to tell May about my fangs and my eyes, she said a couple of things that seemed strange. Like, she asked 'how bad are the fangs'. Which, I get it, I wasn't happy with them either at the time, but—but—They're not that bad, right? You can't even see them most of the time. But I try to keep them small anyway. May reminds me about that."

Wow. Just wow. Peter hadn't even been properly aware of some of the things he was talking about. But the moment they came out of his mouth he knew they were real and true.

Or, at least he felt like it was real. It was probably all in his head. (Hopefully).

Now that he had gotten started, the words kept flowing. "After that, when I was getting venom, she told me to ask Dr. Connors if he could surgically remove my fangs and stuff. Which could have been a good idea, but it's not. Connors said it's too risky. But it was hard for me to ask him because, frankly, the idea had never ever occurred to me. And that kind of worries me because, why didn't I think of it? I'm not quite happy with any of this, but I can't imagine getting rid of it. But at the same time, why did May think of it? Why did she want me to go through something as drastic as surgery?"

No one was touching the food now. Peter plowed on for the final piece he had to say. "And the latest thing, when I had to tell her about my spinners—spinnerets," Peter corrected himself quickly after he used Phoebe's term. "She took one look at them and she made this face like—like it was gross, and she wouldn't eat afterwards. Which, again, I understand. I'm sure none of you really want to look at them either. But still. I could tell she didn't like them. And then yesterday she just decided to clean all the silk in my room without asking. And I can't tell if she was really doing it to be nice, or if she thought I wanted to take it all down, or—or—" He had to take another breath, this one shuddering. "Or maybe she doesn't want me to have webs in my room, because she doesn't want me to be spidery at all. Which, I thought I wanted that too. But I can't do it. I try, but I can't. It's always there, and sometimes I can't help it. Hissing and purring are pretty automatic. Some things I . . . I need to do. I really should have e—eaten the silk I used in my room so I wouldn't be so drained now. And then, there are a few things that . . . maybe I just want to do. Like, having a web in my room for longer than a few hours. It—I think it would help with nightmares and stuff. But if I ask May . . . I don't know. I don't know what she'll say or what she'll ask or—or what she'll think of me."

His voice cracked there. That was fine though. He was done. Now Peter focused solely on keeping in the tears that were beginning to cloud his vision. He looked down at the table. The food would have been a great distraction if he hadn't lost the desire to eat during his long rant.

"That's . . ." Ava began, eyes wide. "That's a lot more complicated than I imagined. Did Aunt May really suggest surgery?"

Peter nodded.

"And what did she say when you told her it was too much?"

"Th—that it was no big deal. That she had only suggested it for my sake, but she didn't mind either way."

"But she does seem to mind," Luke said quietly. "At least a little."

Peter didn't nod this time. He didn't know what to think about this anymore.

"I believe Mrs. Parker is trying to help," Danny offered. "The problem is that she is not quite sure how. No offense to you, Peter, but you have given us several mixed signals over the past few weeks. You keep your spider side hidden most of the time, but also wish to discuss it. You act proud of your webs, but still act so ashamed of anything spidery you do. And if you have not yet told your aunt that you wish to do these things . . . She may be trying to help from the wrong perspective."

"What if she's right though?" Peter asked. "I know you're all trying to help, but what if May is noticing what you can't? What if she thinks I'm not acting like myself?"

"Who are you acting like, then? Spider-Man?" Sam asked rhetorically. "News flash, Pete, you are Spider-Man. I know we all want to leave our troubles behind with our superhero identities, but it's still only ever us. You're still you whether you're in the suit or not, and really you should feel more at ease as Peter Parker than Spider-Man. If you need to act spidery to feel more comfortable, then go for it. That's who you are. And the sooner you get Aunt May on the same page, the better."

Peter remained quiet. Hadn't he told May something along those lines? Nothing really changed when he took off the mask, except for his popularity. He wasn't sure if May truly understood that yet, and now he wondered if he didn't either. Since he had to hide his powers at school, it often seemed like there really was a way to keep his two lives separate. But that was only an illusion formed to keep his identity a secret. It was hard and even uncomfortable to try to keep it up when he got home. He needed some space where he could just be . . . himself . . .

How had Danny said it? Something about seeing the past and the future, but only living in the present. He was who he was now, in this moment. And who he was didn't seem all that bad. Maybe he was extremely weird, and very anxious, and still prone to acting childish at times, but by all accounts he was still a pretty good guy. He would, of course, keep working to improve, but there was no way to know exactly what his future self might be like. Although backtracking by trying to act like his old self seemed like the wrong direction to take.

Being himself. Maybe he could live with that.

Could May live with that though?

Wiping away some moisture that wasn't tears, Peter felt a little better. "I . . . I understand what you're saying. And maybe you're right. But what about what May thinks? I can't just disregard her like that."

"You won't be disregarding her," Sam assured him. "You can still include her. I would personally say that the choice is all yours, but if you're going to be this way, then at least admit it's not all May's choice either. You can't leave it all up to her to decide what makes you you."

"I guess not . . ."

"Plus you have us as back-up," Luke added. "So you really don't need to be scared about being 'too spidery'."

Peter opened his mouth to thank them, but Ava cut him off. "Hold up, I know we're here for Pete right now, but we also need to talk about Aunt May. If she's reacted the way she has so far, then—"

"Then telling her your point of view is crucial," Danny finished for Ava, looking her in the eye.

Ava gave him a strange look in return, but nodded. "Right." She refocused on Peter. "You promise you'll talk to her? Even if you want to, say, do it incrementally?"

"Incremental sounds good," Peter agreed, not entirely sure what he had just witnessed. "I suppose I haven't really been fair to her by putting it all on her. I'm responsible for myself too. It's just . . . it's hurt to hear her say all that, you know?" He swallowed. "Do you guys think she'll be angry when I start telling her these things? Or what if she disagrees? What if she really doesn't want me to make webs and eat them and stuff?"

For a second, it seemed like no one knew how to answer that. Even Danny looked speechless, which was strange. But then, like always, Sam was the first to find something to say. Peter braced himself for some insensitive statement.

"Who knows what May'll say. But she did accept you being a superhero. So you know that at the end of the day she'll still love you."

Well, that was actually rather reassuring. Except it raised the question. . . "How would it be if she still loved me, but not all this spider stuff? Then there'll always be a part of me she can't stand."

"I find that hard to believe," Luke said. "I'm pretty sure she'll see the light, even if it takes time."

"Besides, you're pretty hard not to like," Sam said.

"And you are resilient. You have handled things much worse than this," Danny said.

"And we'll stick with you no matter what," Ava said.

Peter considered them for a moment. He didn't like the idea that things may not turn out well with his aunt, even if it was only a temporary setback. But he did appreciate the team's honesty. "Thank you. It's nice to know that this probably isn't all in my head. I've been second-guessing everything lately, and I've kind of avoided thinking about it anyway."

"It's hard to think about these things," Ava agreed. "Do you want us to be there when you tell her?"

"That would be great, yeah. Let's not do it tonight though. I plan to go to sleep the moment I have enough food in my stomach." Peter finally gave in to the yawn he'd been suppressing during the entire conversation.

"Of course, take your time."

"But sooner is probably better. I've delayed the inevitable long enough. I'm—I'm tired of worrying about this without knowing."

"You won't have to anymore," Luke promised.

By some unspoken agreement, the team stood and gathered around Peter, patting him on the back in comforting solidarity. Peter felt better now that he had gotten all that off of his chest. He was even quite certain that, if the topic had been less serious, then he might have started purring in front of everyone.

The tables were turned today. Ava was the one walking down the corridor when one of the boys came after her. She stopped to let Danny catch up.

"So," she began once he was within earshot. "Why did you cut me off?" She was pretty sure she knew the answer, but it was best to be certain.

"I apologize," Danny said. "I understand it must have seemed rude, but I was afraid you would say something uncouth."

Ava raised an eyebrow at the unusual word. "That depends. Is it wrong to say that Mrs. Parker has been acting very inconsiderate towards Pete lately, and that we need to have a nice long chat with her about her nephew's needs?"

Danny tilted his head in a so-so gesture. "You are all too correct about her being inconsiderate. However, I fear that Peter may not be exaggerating when he says that she may not accept this side of him."

"Yeah, I know that, that's why we need to set the record straight. That's also why I suggested we be with Pete when he tells her. Then, if he doesn't stand up for himself, we will."

"Getting Mrs. Parker to agree and having her accept everything are two different things," Danny explained patiently. "If we are there, then it will be more likely that she takes the news better. But we cannot change her mind for her."

Ava frowned. "So what are you saying? That Pete may be doomed to having a strained relationship with his aunt?"

"I am saying that we cannot let ourselves see Mrs. Parker as the enemy. The path Peter has ahead of himself may be easy, or it may be long and arduous. But we cannot help him reach a peaceful end without first seeking peace ourselves."

"I'm not villainizing her! I'm just . . . I want to fight for Pete the same way he fights for us."

"Except this is not a battle," Danny reminded her. "Here we can win only trust, but lose so much more."

Fists clenching, Ava grit her teeth. "I'm approaching this too ferociously then." Ferociously, like a tiger. Would Peter blame that on her amulet, or her lack of tact?

Despite what they were talking about, Danny smiled softly. "Perhaps a little, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Your dedication is admirable."

Ava was glad that she had put her mask back on, or else her blush might be visible. "I know I come off as a little rough sometimes though. Do you have any advice for that?"

"Trust your instincts. You were first to notice something was amiss with Mrs. Parker. You were also the first one Peter trusted to tell these things to. You know how to read situations. All you need is a little more patience to watch these situations unfold before you take decisive action."

That seemed like sound advice. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." She folded her arms. "So does that mean that we should just watch how things go when Pete finally gives his aunt a piece of his mind?"

"It would be best if they can work everything out by themselves, but . . ." Danny shrugged helplessly. "This may be more complicated than we can see right now. If it turns out that Mrs. Parker truly does not like Peter's stranger traits, then there may be something deeper going on that we must deal with."

"What do you mean, 'deeper'?" This was sounding more like psychology, and Ava didn't like psychology. It was too subjective for her tastes.

Danny seemed to consider his words. "When I spoke with Peter, he told me about his uncertainty. He does not know how to act, balancing all these aspects of his life. I believe he has nostalgia for simpler times before the spider bite; we all know he likely would have avoided a lot of hardship that way. One suspicion I have is that Mrs. Parker may be feeling a similar nostalgia, hence her desire to keep Peter acting 'normal'."

"So you think there's an underlying cause." Ava considered the theory. It was actually preferable to thinking that May simply didn't like her nephew spinning webs. "I can see that. I take it that's one of the things we would wait to see. Even I know that you can't fix a problem without getting to the root of it."

"Precisely."

"Okay, I'll try to be patient. But when things really start going south, I'm jumping in."

Danny gave a satisfied nod. "While patience is important, there is no benefit to procrastination."

Ava grinned. If there was one thing she would never be accused of, it was procrastination.

He was such a procrastinator.

Alex couldn't believe he had refrained from using the contents of the thermos for this long. He had meant to use it on Friday, but he'd been invited to the Chess Club that day. He'd thought that maybe he could find some comradery to make him feel at home, some people that would stick up for him (some reason not to take such decisive action).

He should have known better than to expect that much from people.

The others had beaten him so badly. There was no way he could hold any spot in a chess team. They laughed him out of the room.

Alex may look nerdy, but he wasn't actually that much of a nerd. He couldn't dedicate himself to school and facts like that. He couldn't even remember enough about Star Wars or other fictional things to be considered a geek. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't fit in anywhere. He was the one puzzle piece that didn't belong in the set, and he was tired of it.

But he hadn't always been the only one.

Once upon a time, Alex had felt a sense of kinship with Peter Parker. Sure, Parker had two friends as opposed to Alex's zero, but those had been the only two people in the entire school he hung out with. And when they were busy, Parker could either be found in the library alone, or not be found at all. Or sometimes, Flash would tease and prank him terribly. Parker had been pretty lonely, and Alex had been considering approaching the older boy, hoping to gain some knowledge on how to form bonds with people.

But then Parker made that unofficial entomology club or whatever where he met those new kids, and suddenly he wasn't lonely anymore. Watson and Osborn were vying for his attention while he was dragged to a bunch of meetings with the four newbies. Flash gradually stopped bugging him, and now he had stopped completely with Watson's play. Although Osborn was hanging out with him less, Parker probably didn't even care since he was so busy with everyone else.

And now, worst of all, Parker was making himself famous with his little science fair project, which he'd work on with none other than Tony Stark himself! How did Parker manage to meet one of the most awesome people on the planet? Alex wouldn't be surprised if he'd gotten to see the rest of the Avengers too.

Alex snorted disdainfully as he held the thermos in his hands. If everything went well Monday morning, then he would be meeting the Avengers too.

Because if Alex couldn't fit in, then the Rhino would stand out.

Fun facts:

- Different types of spiders hunt differently. I might have mentioned this before, but the variety really is amazing. Peter would have a hard time showing off all of them, although he is still an adaptable human.

- Also, after all this time, I realized that Phoebe is the name of one of Saturn's moons! You might remember I mistakenly said it was one of Mar's moons. This would be a completely useless fact, except it has inspired me. I will one day fix that old chapter, but until then, just keep this in mind. It will come into play a long time from now.