I may not be able to update after this chapter for the weekend, I was surprised by my pastor and asked to preach this Sunday. Then I also have to prepare a lesson for Kid's Power Hour and between work, maintaining the lawn and various other errands, this weekend is already gone before I even started it!

I'm so glad everyone is enjoying this story. Obviously, it's almost over, but I do want to give Peter some more closure.

"Are you sure about these results?"

"I triple-checked them, Mr. Stark."

Tony nodded, his face absorbed in the data printed on the paper he was holding, "I have to say," he murmured, "this is impressive."

"Anything I should know about, Mr. Stark?" Peter called, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts the spider was hung up like a Da Vinci Diagram in a large machine that scanned his entire form, "I mean, I assume that it involves me."

Tony chuckled at the bored tone the teen was giving him, glancing up at the captured spider, the scientist smiled, "You remember that line from the first Indiana Jones movie?" he asked, happy to talk cinema with his young friend again, "When he takes off his shirt and he's covered in scars and bruises, and he says…"

"It's not the years, it's the mileage," Peter quoted in his best Indiana Jones impression.

Iron Man grinned, nodding his approval, "Exactly," he confirmed, "well according to these results, your odometer has been reset. Shedding your skin was just the beginning. This is the most significant bug related metamorphosis since Gregor Samsa."

"I'm turning into a cockroach?!" Peter squawked; eyes wide with panic.

"I'm so glad you're back, Pete," Tony snickered, "you're the only one who gets my references."

"I'm touched, Stark," Spider-Man rolled his eyes, "and as much as I love trading witty banter, can you explain what you were just saying?"

"Ah, right," Tony drew his gaze back to the report "the old scarring from your duodenal ulcer is gone. So is the bullet wound you sustained from Tracer. Abrasions going back years have vanished. Obviously, your eye has grown back, but so have the tonsils yanked out when you were four. You know what this means?"

Peter shrugged, "Lot's of ice cream if they have to come out again? By the way, are we almost done? I'm getting chilly."

"Finster, raise the thermostat by five degrees," the scientist remarked softly, flicking through the papers.

"I'm going to take that as a no," the spider groused.

Tony smirked, "We're just trying to be thorough, Pete," he chuckled, "Oh, and Finster? Schedule the subject's colonoscopy?"

"My WHAT?!"

"Just kidding,"

"You're a riot, Stark,"

"He certainly thinks he is," Hank called, waving at Peter as he and Reed Richards entered the lab.

"Glad you two could make it," Tony greeted.

"Wouldn't miss it," Reed nodded.

"Yeah, pull up a chair," Peter called, his face wearing a goofy smile as he hung inside the machine, "maybe we can turn on the game. Tony, can we get nachos up in here?"

"I see his humor is still firmly intact," Hank remarked dryly, "at least it's improved beyond pranking his friends with amnesia."

"Like anyone could resist doing the same thing?" the spider whined, "Jeez, I'm the one who died, I reserve the right to pull whatever joke I want."

"Whatever you say, little spider," Hank consoled as he shook his head with amusement.

Reed stretched his torso up until he was eye level with the teen, tapping away on a tablet as he reviewed the data, "How do you feel, Spider-Man?"

"Like a Da Vinci picture," Peter mumbled.

Reed's mouth twitched in an amused smiled, "Ah, the Vitruvian man, an apt reference."

"Well, not the Mona Lisa, obviously,"

A soft laugh shook Richard's frame, "Don't tell anyone I told you this, but I must agree with Stark. You do have your moments where your jokes are amusing."

Peter grinned, happy he was able to make the serious leader of the Fantastic Four laugh, but paused when he was struck by a thought, "Say," he started, tilting his head, "the Vitruvian Man had eight limbs. Maybe he had his own spider thing going for him."

Hank glanced up at Peter from where he had been analyzing results with Tony on a tablet, "Doubtful," the man smirked, "it was an anatomy study based on the writings of Marcus Vitruvius, hence 'Vitruvian'."

Turning back to Stark, Hank Pym pointed at the tablet "Have you run cellular comparisons on the original skin?"

"Yes, my people are working on that now." Tony nodded, "I requested they take samples from all over."

Peter winced when they mentioned the skin he had shed. The knowledge that it existed hung in the back of his mind like a nightmare the morning after. Peter knew he should be grateful to be alive at all, but the idea that he shed his skin was still majorly creepy. Deciding he didn't want to think about it, the spider returned to talking to Reed, "So, Vitruvius was an architect," he posed "so are spiders, maybe…"

Reed shook his head, "I think you're reaching a bit, son." He mumbled, scrolling down the tablet with one finger, "Spiders aren't architects."

"Oh, yeah?" Peter scoffed, "You try building a web with nothing but webbing coming out your backside!"

Hank and Tony grinned as Reed rolled his eyes, but Peter paled as yet another idea hit him, this one made him more than a little uneasy, "Uh, Stark," he called, brown eyes flooded with concern, "I'm not…you know…. going to be, um…"

"Ejecting threads of webbing out of your posterior?" Tony finished, his grin growing wider.

"Well, yeah," Peter shrank as much as he was able, "Danny-I mean, Iron Fist, said that he saw changes in my chakra that means I changed from my second mutation. I wasn't sure what he meant, but then I got my first look in the mirror, and I look like I aged three years in three days. I'm still trying to figure out what to tell Aunt May when she comes back from her hiking trip on Wednesday!"

"You have puberty on your side, for that one," Reed smirked, "random growth spurts over the space of a weekend happen frequently for young men in their teens. It will be a shock, but it isn't impossible."

"Awesome," Peter grumbled, "but what else has changed? You can't blame a guy for worrying."

"No, we can't" Tony consoled, "and for your peace of mind, none of our tests have determined that you'll develop that kind of ability. So, stop worrying, or you'll create another ulcer."

"That's a myth," Hank sang softly, snickering at the conversation.

"What is?" Peter asked, perking up from where he hung.

"That ulcers are created through stress, or worry," Hank elaborated "they are created by viral bacteria, just like anything else."

"Interesting,"

"Back to the point at hand," Tony remarked, drawing everyone's attention "we have noticed some…anomalies. It's one of the things I'm currently investigating, but don't worry, it's nothing quite so radical as what you were suggesting."

"Well, that's relief," Peter sighed, quickly turning to humor to alleviate the concern churning in his gut, "I'd hate to have to redesign my costume to include a butt flap."

All three scientists face palmed, Reed casting a raised eyebrow at the spider, "That was not one of your better jokes, Peter," he chuckled dryly.

"They can't all be winners," Spidey shrugged.

"This is excellent work so far," Tony remarked, turning off the machine holding Peter.

Hank nodded, but pursed his lips, "There's still a lot we don't know, though," he murmured thoughtfully, "we've barely scratched the surface."

"I'm sure you'll get it sorted out," Peter grunted, hopping on one leg as he hurried to put on a pair of pants, shirt slung over his shoulder, "in the meantime, I'm outta here."

"Wait, you're leaving?!" Tony squawked, rushing over to the spider as he put on his shirt, "There's a lot more work to do! Plus, we need to go over some costume redesigns, the anomalies I mentioned may include some required changes."

"They can wait," Peter groaned, "I need to go shopping because most of my shirts don't fit anymore and I look like Mr. Bean with my pants riding up over my ankles."

"I'm not certain they can wait," Tony replied, reaching out to grab Peter's shoulder, "I can send someone to go shopping for you, I'll even pay the tab, but there's too many questions-!"

Peter couldn't explain it, as soon as Tony's hand clenched around his shoulder, his spider sense went insane. Moving at a speed he'd never achieved before, Peter whirled around into a crouch, sweeping his leg in a graceful arc that knocked Tony Stark's legs out from under him. Hank and Reed watched, mouths agape. Iron Man hit the floor with a startled grunt, his eyes just as wide in shock as Peter's. The spider trembled in his crouch, his body vibrating with the need to fight or flee but managed to bring his emotions under control.

Scurrying forward, Peter grabbed his mentor's arm, "Holy-! I'm so sorry!"

"How about I put on my armor, and you take another try at that?" Tony groused.

"It was completely instinct!" Peter explained.

"Instinct?" Hank mused, "Is this related to what you call your 'spider sense'?"

"Exactly!" the spider nodded, "It only goes off when there's danger, but this time just the sudden movement alone was enough to make me feel like I was under attack. My body just…reacted!"

"How did you feel while you were in motion?" Hank pressed.

"'You ok Tony?' 'He hurt you, Tony?'" Iron Man grumbled.

"It was like," Peter answered Hank's question, ignoring Tony's complaining, drawing his hands up as he struggled to find the words to explain the experience, "you know how a ballplayer has a heavy 'donut' on his bat for his on-deck swings, so he can swing a bat faster when he's up?"

Hank nodded, Reed listening closely as Peter continued, "It's like my whole life I've been weighed down by metal donuts, and I'm finally moving at full speed."

"Just a little attention," Tony whined, "that's all I'm asking for."

"Gentleman?"

The four heads popped up at the sound of Nick Fury's intimidating baritone, "I believe it is time to let Spider-Man to come out and play," he smirked.

"But there are more tests!" Tony balked.

"We're only concerned for his safety," Hank stated.

"And from a scientific standpoint this is a rare opportunity to-!" Reed threw in before they were all cut off.

"And I have my own concerns," Fury stated, eye narrow and dangerous, "Spider-Man has a team that's been deprived of their leader and are very anxious to get back to training with him."

Peter perked up at the mention of his friends, "Does that mean I can go back to patrolling?" he asked hopefully.

Fury gave a slow nod, "Just give me one afternoon in the training room, I want to see how well you can keep up with the others before I make any decisions."

"Trust me, he'll keep up just fine," Tony mumbled, rubbing his lower back with a wince.

…

"Where'd he go this time?!"

Peter snickered from where he hung upside down on the ceiling at Nova's irritated yell. They were in the training room of the Heli-Carrier and the spider hybrid was finding that it wasn't just his speed that had gotten an upgrade. He was stronger, much stronger than he was before. He could also jump higher, and his reflexes were whip fast. Not even Tiger could keep up with him. Spidey felt a blush crawl across his cheeks under his mask as he thought about Ava. Apparently when he walked into the training space, clad in his old costume, the changes in his body stretched the material taut over his new muscles. The suit was able to accommodate his growth spurt, but Peter had a feeling he would need a new one anyway. Nevertheless, Ava hadn't put her mask on yet, and Peter couldn't help but notice the way her eyes bulged as she perused his upgraded figure. It made things a little awkward.

Even so, he was loving being able to fight robots and play their version of tag again without having to worry about how it would affect him later. He was Spider-Man again, without any fear or worry about a mysterious illness out to kill him. Not that he didn't have new worries to be concerned about.

"He's here somewhere," Luke shouted back, his head whirling to the left and the right as he searched.

"Knowing the web head, he's probably hanging upside down somewhere laughing at us." Ava growled, flexing her claws.

"You mean, such as up there?" Iron Fist suggested pointing up to where Spidey hung.

"Got it in one!" Peter cackled, flipping from the webbed thread to fall in a midair attack onto his team.

"Get him!" Nova cried, darting forward to attack the spider.

The next few moments were a blur of motion. Peter was blocking every attack sent his way and was able to respond in kind. With an ease and efficiency in motion he'd never known possible, the spider hybrid found his sixth sense was navigating him through the fight, alerting him to each movement around him and making his body react instinctively to counter them. Within a matter of heartbeats, Spider-Man had reduced his team to groaning lumps on the floor, each webbed down and unable to rise.

Straightening from his crouch, Peter's eyes widened as he took in the results of their sparring, "Whoa," he breathed.

Nova wriggled from where he lay, eyes glowing with indignation, "This isn't over web head," he snarled, the aura from his helmet enveloping the webs and causing them to snap, "Not by a long shot!"

With an explosion of silk, Sam burst from his cocoon and charged Peter. Spider-man's spider sense flared, sending a shock through his body from the impending attack. Clenching his right hand into a fist, Peter gave a back handed swat to Nova's fist that was coming for the spider's face. Jabbing Sam in his gut with his left fist, Peter threw a right hook, laying the guardian out on the floor then leapt onto the teen pinning him to the ground. Forearm laid across Sam's throat, Peter barely had enough coherence to stop himself when he suddenly realized long stingers had burst from his wrists with one poised under Nova's chin.

Sam released a nervous laugh, his voice hampered by the chokehold, "Playing with new toys, are we?"

Peter scrambled off Nova, panting hard as his mind reeled in panic, "OhmyGod," he spluttered, shoulders heaving as he struggled to breathe, "OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod,"

"Whoa, web head, you ok?" Luke jogged to where their leader sat, kneeling down next to the spider hybrid, "It's ok, man, just breathe."

"I almost hurt Sam!" Peter said in a panicked whisper, "I could have killed him! I mean, I didn't even know what I was doing until almost too late, and…and…where the heck did these stingers come from?!"

"We knew that there were going to be changes," White Tiger soothed, rubbing the tension out of the spider's shoulders, "and we'll figure them out as we discover them."

"But I could have killed him!" Peter repeated, panic still evident in his voice.

With a whimper, the spider brought his red gloved hands up to cradle his head only to jerk back in disgusted shock at the sight of his stingers, "I mean, what else can I expect?"

"It is like Ava said," Danny intoned, joining the group huddle taking the spider's hands and massaging the wrists until the stingers retracted, "we will take each change one day at a time, and you will not have to endure them alone."

"Besides, I'm not that easy to kill," Nova sniffed haughtily, "I've survived worse than crazy newborn spiders in my time with the Guardians. So, don't count me out just yet."

Peter felt himself laugh, even though he wasn't in the mood yet for humor, "Stop calling me a baby," he muttered, trying to help his team lighten the mood.

"But you're such a cute baby!" Ava cooed teasingly, pinching his cheek.

"Stop it!" Peter whined, slapping Ava's hand away making the girl laugh, "I'm almost an adult, thank you very much!"

"Yeah, but it feels like you were only born yesterday," Luke sighed theatrically before poking his leader, "Oh, wait, that's because you were!"

"Re-born," Spidey shot back, "emphasis on the 'Re'!"

"But you heard Stark," Nova snickered, "you're brand new! You even have your tonsils back."

"Yeah," Peter groused, "that's going to be a hard one to explain to Aunt May."

"Don't worry, Spider," Ava chuckled, "I'm sure the S.H.I.E.L.D. med bay will help take care of it if they need to be removed again."

"Well, that's a relief,"

…..

"Whoa, that can't be puny Parker!"

Peter ducked his head, a blush burning across his features. "Good morning, Flash," he muttered.

"What happened to you?!" The jock scoffed, "Did you get a brain transplant into a less dorky body or something?"

"No," the teen grumbled "I just hit a growth spurt, ok?"

"A growth spurt doesn't exactly explain all those new muscles,"

The Spider hybrid jumped at the sound of MJ's voice, and turned to see that both she and Harry were walking up the hallway, "What gives, Peter?" Harry asked, his brow furrowed and angry "You disappear for days on end, stop answering our calls over the weekend, and then suddenly show up looking like you just spent a month at a military boot camp?"

Peter fidgeted where he stood, unsure of how to answer. It was still a shock to look in the mirror and see a slightly taller, very noticeably muscled up, mature Peter Parker staring back at him. To make matters worse, all of his clothes didn't fit him anymore, so Tony went out of his way to replace Spider-Man's entire civilian wardrobe. Which meant that Peter was now decked out in brand name clothes he never could have afforded before. He probably looked ridiculous. Well, maybe not ridiculous considering Tony had excellent taste, but he was definitely drawing a crowd.

"I don't know," a cheerleader who had never acknowledged Peter's existence before that moment drawled, "I kind of like the new Parker. He certainly isn't puny anymore, that's for sure."

The blush that was already hot on his cheeks lit his ears on fire, and Peter suddenly found himself wondering what homeschool would be like, "Look," he sighed, "I get I look different and it's crazy, but can we all get to class now?"

Stalking past Harry, the spider groaned. Today was going to be a very long day.

…

"I just can't get over how much you've changed!"

May had just gotten home, and Peter was desperately trying to sell the story of a growth spurt one last time. "Yeah," the teen chuckled humorously from where he had laid his head on the dining room table, "that's puberty for you."

"Seriously," Luke joined in, placing a comforting hand on Peter's shoulder, "we live here, and even we were shocked!"

"I guess gaining a couple inches and filling out in your shoulders in the space of a weekend does happen to boys your age," May remarked, bending down to plant a kiss on her nephew's head, "now you're the spitting image of your dad, and just as handsome too!"

Peter perked up at that, remembering his time in Doom's castle, "I look like my dad?"

"Very much," May nodded with a nostalgic smile as she began stirring a pot of soup, "although, I would say you have your mother's eyes."

"I said the same thing!" Ava chirped, making May give her a quizzical look that sent the tiger scrambling for an explanation, "Oh, Peter showed us a picture of his parents once." She lied.

"He did?" May paused her stirring but then shook her head, "That's good. Even though he's lived here since he was about six or seven years old, I still want him to remember his mom and dad."

"I'm sure they were kind souls," Danny intoned, his smile holding the secrets of their adventure in the past.

"They were," May nodded, her eyes growing misty, "I see a lot of them in Peter. Particularly in his sense of humor, he got that from his father."

"He was a goofball, too?" Sam quipped giggling when Peter gave him a playful punch to the shoulder.

"You're just jealous," Peter mumbled with a halfhearted grin.

May laughed at the scene, shaking her head fondly, "Why don't you kids go get washed up for dinner? The soup is almost ready and all that's left is to pop the rolls into the oven."

As one the team stood to do as they were told, walking into the bathroom to wash their hands for dinner. "Are you ok, web head?"

Peter turned to Ava's soft question, lifting one shoulder in a shrug, "I mean, I'm suddenly the freak at school and May is low key freaking out because she thinks she missed something important. Which she kind of did." Peter replied, his face looking exhausted, "I didn't really know how hard it would be to just step back into my life after dying. I mean, how do you deal with that?"

"I know it's not something you want to hear, but," Ava paused but took a breath, "S.H.I.E.L.D. does have some excellent therapists who train specifically for the special needs of heroes and spies?"

"Uh-uh, no way," Peter refused "I've got enough on my plate, I don't need some stranger digging around in my head."

"It's not always a bad thing though," Ava persisted, "I mean, I went to one after my dad was killed. Sam goes to one whenever he's feeling homesick. I think the only one of us who doesn't is Danny, but I'm pretty sure he regularly talks to his monk friends while meditating anyway."

Peter sighed leaning against the bathroom door frame, "I appreciate the thought, Ava," he said gently, "but I don't think that's something I want to do, at least not right now."

The tiger nodded, understanding that Peter wanted to give it more time, "I understand."

"Besides," the spider grinned, "what do I need them for when I have an awesome team? You guys never left my side even once during the whole mess of me dying, and you were there when I came back. If I need any help, I know you've got my back."

"Aw, that's so sweet web head!" Sam cooed, slinging his arms around Peter's shoulders, "Who knew dying and being reborn could make you so mushy?"

"And that tender bonding moment is officially dead," Peter deadpanned, making Ava laugh.

"It's ok, Pete," she grinned "I know you meant what you said, and it's true. We do have your back."

"Totally," Luke threw in, ruffling his leader's brown hair "you're stuck with us."

"We're your brothers-,"

"And Sister," Ava grunted.

"In arms," Danny finished with a slight smirk, "we are family in everything but blood."

"And we promise, we'll help you get through school and regular life, just as much as we'll help with you getting used to new powers and abilities." Ava concluded, "So, cheer up!"

"Aye-aye, mon capitan!" Peter barked with a salute.

"See, that's the spider we know and love!" Luke chuckled.

Peter couldn't but laugh along with him, "Thanks guys,"