I'm very pleased with the positive reactions towards this story. I know it's heavy and dark, but I will try to keep the lighthearted nature of the show.

Also to the reviewer requesting I use Man-Spider, while that plays into the 90's version of Peter's evolution, it doesn't fit the storyline I'm basing this off of. As I said before, this plot is being based off of Marvel Knights' work The Other.

Please enjoy this latest chapter!

Sam walked alongside Peter, fully aware that the team had formed a protective half-moon around the spider, their leader on the other hand either wasn't aware of their formation or was choosing to not acknowledge it. Knowing web head it was probably the latter. Nova knew how much the arachnid hated showing weakness, so when the team became more protective of him due to injury or anything else that would threaten his safety, Peter would pretend he didn't notice and choose to look the other way concerning their habits. Though he would also try to ditch them too, and taking that into consideration, Sam kept his eyes firmly on their leader ensuring he wouldn't try an escape attempt. Granted Morlun was gone, and technically the only thing that was endangering Peter was quite simply his own mind, still Sam couldn't shake the feeling that something even deeper was at stake something that their leader had yet to divulge, and that alone put the young Nova supremely on edge.

Especially after last night.

Sam winced as memories from the night before slid back into his mind like a poisonous gas creeping across the underbrush of the forest. Seeing Peter in such a state of agonized panic, the teen could only shudder at the image he had come to know so well over the past three months. It was bad enough that he had to deal with being the one chosen to transport Peter to the med bay. Sam would never forget the heat of the radiation, green flames practically leaping off his friend and leader, and the horrible sound of Peter's screams the entire trip. Sam hugged himself, trying to draw in a little bit of comfort when he unconsciously remembered how many times he had almost dropped the writhing spider in his haste to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base. However it only got worse from there.

Like a scene straight out of a horror film, Sam had dumped Spider-man onto the nearest bed and watched as a flurry of scientists and doctors surrounded Peter. The room melted into chaos as multiple voices shouted orders, some prepping the machine that would get the radiation out of Peter's body while others prepared crash carts in case they needed to revive him. His teammates weren't far behind and soon the four friends were holding each other, eyes brimming with tears as Spidey was rolled into the device. Even now when he closed his eyes Sam could still see Peter's back arch as the most horrifying shriek ripped itself out of the Spider's mouth stretching his mask and sending the teen into a full on seizure. The lithe frame convulsed on the bed inside the chamber until after what felt like hours, the process was complete. It wasn't long after that, that Peter had fallen into his coma. Though the arachnid didn't remember, his team had stayed by his side every day all the way up to the moment he finally woke up.

"Hey bucket head, why so glum?" A familiar finger flicked the back of his head making the Nova yelp.

"What was that for?" Sam snapped whirling to meet teasing brown eyes, his face an angry pout.

Peter merely replied with a snarky grin "Sorry, you were freaking me out with how quiet you were being. I was starting to worry that you had been abducted and replaced by an alien or something!"

"Hardy-har-har," Sam retorted "why does everyone think that aliens abduct people? They really could care less about Earth, we're a backwater to them."

Peter laughed "For experimentation, duh!"

"Please," Nova scoffed "that's just ridiculous."

"Not as ridiculous as your face,"

Nova slowly turned to face Peter, noting the smirk and how his eyes gleamed, it was moments like this that life felt almost normal again "Them's fightin' words," Sam growled in his best western drawl.

"Possibly," Peter grinned "but it won't be considered much of a fight considering who my opponent is."

The team let out an amused "Oh," at Peter's statement, Ava giggled "Burn!"

"Yeah man," Luke chuckled giving Sam's shoulder a gentle slap "you gonna let Peter talk to you like that?"

"Indeed," Danny smiled a mischievous gleam lighting his own solemn gaze "his challenge was made quite clear."

"Oh you are so dead, Web head," Nova spat jumping onto Peter and grappling to get the arachnid into a headlock "just you wait until gym, I'm going to mop the floor with you and you'll have no choice but to let me win!"

"That's cheating," Peter yelped, his grin never leaving his face "at least wait until after school when we're on equal ground!"

"No way!" Sam cackled somehow managing to crawl further up onto Peter.

The spider shoved Sam off his shoulders, tumbling him onto the grass of a nearby lawn "That's it, if you're going to be like that then I'll just have to take care of you before we get to class!"

"Let's see you try bug breath!"

Peter laughed taking a fighting stance, his fists raised and ready to meet Nova's "Bring it on, bucket head!"

The duo faced each other, Nova ready as was Spidey but the younger boy couldn't help but feel himself draw back from the friendly spar. There was something off about Peter. He seemed to almost sway on his feet, as if he were unbalanced, which was rare if not impossible considering who Peter was. Plus Sam noticed a slight tremble in the spider's fists, it reminded him of previous fights when they were all past the point of exhaustion but still fought on anyway despite the weakness in their limbs. Those small observations caused Nova to frown.

"Nah," he said pulling back "I don't feel like it anymore, I mean I can only beat you so many times before I get bored."

"When did you ever beat me?!" Peter scoffed, put off and slightly irritated by the odd surrender of his friend "How about I remind you just why I'm team leader?"

Spidey shot forward, slinging a right hook at Sam, careful not to use too much of his spider strength but not realizing that his opponent had taken enough of his blows to notice the difference. Sam's anxiety shot up ten points as he felt the familiar punch, albeit playful, from the spider. This didn't feel like his usual punches, it felt…weaker and more unsteady as if he couldn't gather enough power into his arm for the hit. This wasn't right, even when the web head held back it was never this easy to block. Which could only mean one thing, Peter was worse off than he was saying and hadn't even thought to tell them.

Nova slapped aside two punches, concern and anger warring inside his heart making him feel sick to his stomach all before grabbing the Spider's arm with a roar and slinging him over his shoulder to land roughly on his back. Peter lay on the grass, surprise etched across his face while Nova stood over him panting hard. Sam couldn't believe it, they had sparred plenty of times and in terms of brute strength Peter always won, so how could he have bested him? Nova gave a heavy swallow, leaning down to help Spidey to his feet.

"Uh, thanks," Peter muttered looking anywhere but at Sam, his brown eyes darkening in what could only be described as shame.

Sam didn't let go of his leader's hand, but merely squeezed it harder, his own dark eyes searching for proof that maybe he was just overthinking things. That Peter was fine, and he was blowing the hero's current condition out of proportion. However while Peter was unable to return the testing grip with his own spider strength, Sam came to the awful realization that his hunch had been correct. Peter was weaker now, and just as clear as he could see the world around him, Sam could tell by looking in the spider's eyes that their leader was keeping a terrible secret. An unnamable emotion stabbed the young Guardian's heart, making the boy grind his teeth in frustration. How could he? How dare he?! They had spent the past three months doing everything they could to try and help him stay alive, to help him recover, and now he pulls this? They were supposed to be a team!

"Uh, Nova?" Spidey teased, discomfort dripping from every syllable as he watched the seething teen in front of him "you can let go of my hand now…I'm back up and all that. Unless you're suddenly wanting to arm wrestle?"

Betrayal, Sam decided. That was it. That was what he was feeling. Betrayal that the great Spider-Man wouldn't trust them enough to tell them that something was wrong, betrayal that he once again treated his life as something worthless without regard for their feelings, betrayal that after everything they had been through he still wouldn't turn to them when he needed help. Nova could only duck his head as the anger grew into a terrible fury making hot tears sting in the corner of his eyes "When were you going to tell us?"

Peter's eyes widened, his pupils dilating as panic shot through his system before he schooled his features back into the smirking neutral "Tell you what?"

"You know exactly what," the younger boy snarled pinning the spider with eyes like twin burning coals.

"No, actually I don't." Peter deflected, his voice strong even as he took his time answering the guardian slowly so that his words were not lost in translation.

"Don't give me that trash!" Sam spit "I can tell you're different!"

"Oh!" Peter finally exclaimed taking two steps backwards so to distance himself from his teammate "You must mean my new haircut! Sorry, I didn't realize not coming to you for fashion advice was so important to you."

Nova clenched his fist, his teeth grinding against each other hard enough to make his jaw bone creak "You idiot," he hissed "always making stupid jokes over something serious."

"Sheesh, Nova," Peter scoffed "what's it to you if I decide I felt like a change."

"You know I'm not talking about your hair, nimrod!" Sam exploded grabbing Peter by the front of the shirt "I'm talking about-!"

Suddenly Sam stopped, cobalt met brown and not for the first time did Sam realize that no matter how much he yelled, scolded or lectured Peter wasn't going to give up his secret. Be it from some twisted desire to somehow protect them, or simply because he didn't want to show his vulnerable side in daylight the Spider wasn't going to budge. Sam squeezed the shirt clamped between his fingers ever tighter before shoving Peter away. Turning around so no one could see how close he was to having an emotional meltdown of his own, the teen drew in a shuddering breath.

"Whatever," he muttered "it's not like you care anyway,"

"Sam,"

Nova shrugged off Peter's attempt "No," he growled "you come talk to me when you're not being an idiot anymore. Until then, don't even try to apologize."

With that said Sam took off down the street, refusing to look back or acknowledge the spider standing with clenched fists of his own "Why?"

"He's worried about you," Danny spoke, the first since what was supposed to be a friendly spar began "he senses you are holding back information from us and it has hurt him deeply."

"What, you too?!" Peter shouted whirling around to face the monk "I'm fine, sure I still have the stupid nightmares, but I'm just fine. You said it yourself last night!"

"No," Danny shook his head softly "I merely said you survived, I did not say you were fine."

"Oh, just stow all that mystical wisdom junk," the spider seethed "you never say what you mean anyway,"

"The same could be said of you," Ava cut in, her own eyes containing a deep sorrow that was laced with fear "I mean, how are we supposed to know that you're ok if you never tell us any different."

"I'm the leader," Peter growled "I'm not supposed to be weak, I'm supposed to be strong. Telling you every time I get a headache isn't going to help us do our jobs!"

"Pete," Luke placed a heavy hand on the spider's shoulder, trying to convey that they weren't attacking him "we almost lost you once, we don't expect you to tell us everything, but the important things we do."

"I guess you and I have different opinions on the definition of important then, huh?" Peter glared at the larger teen.

"Only when it comes to your wellbeing,"

Peter shook Luke's hand off his shoulder, stepping away from his team "Look I appreciate the concern, but what I'm dealing with isn't any of your business."

"It is our concern if it makes you a liability to this team," Ava burst "it's our concern if it puts all of us in danger because we didn't know!"

Peter frowned, his hand tightening its grip on his backpack. Why was he feeling guilty? His health problems weren't their issue. He was the one who made the decision to absorb all that radiation, he was the one who took responsibility for defeating Morlun and endangering his own life in the process. They shouldn't care about what happens to him, no one else did, he was just an orphan whose irresponsibility cost his Uncle Ben his life and now was a burden to his aunt. His team, they shouldn't care. He was just someone they were forced to work with, the clown who made jokes so he didn't have to face the darkness creeping at the edge of his emotions. He wasn't important, why couldn't they understand that?

"If me putting you guys in danger is what you're worried about then I'll just solve that problem for you," Peter finally mumbled casting dark eyes to the ground "consider this team dissolved. You guys are probably better without me anyway and you won't have to worry about me hurting you."

"Peter, that's not what I meant!"

"Its fine Ava, it's for the best." Peter turned around and began the long trek to school "I'll see you all later,"

Ava gaped at Peter's back, her mind reeling trying to understand how such a good morning could have gone so horribly wrong "Peter," her voice was barely a shout but she found herself running to catch up with the spider "don't be an idiot, dissolving the team isn't going to help anything!"

Peter turned, sensing Ava's approach "Just stop-!" the teen halted midsentence as his spider-sense went into overdrive, something was about to attack and Peter needed to stop it before it did. However his legs refused to move as he once again felt his spider power slip away leaving him helpless. Casting his gaze up, Peter was horrified to see the looming form of a car as it flew through the air directly towards the tiger. Unable to move, unable to do anything, Peter could only send an echoing scream towards his friend.

"Ava, watch out!"

Went for light hearted, but then this chapter said, "No, let's go for angst again!"

Mean chapter.

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