Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or DC characters seen, mentioned or used in this story

Year One…

Peter was sitting on his bed with the top portion of his suit off in his apartment several hours later. After Superman had killed the Joker the man of steel left, where Peter didn't know or care since he was a bit busy trying to comprehend the fact that he just saw Superman, the man who set the standards for what it means to be a hero, ramming his arm through the crazed clown

'Well that and I was trying to pull bits of glass and wood out of my side' Peter thought tiredly as he looked at the T.V. that was showing images of a now destroyed Metropolis. The media was going crazy over both the murder of the Joker by Superman and Metropolis's demise

Peter stared at the image of Metropolis in ruins as the Joker's voice echoed through his head

"Hope the Octopus got out of there in time… That we he can enjoy our work! And I did promise him that after Supe's we'd come pay you a visit next web head! HEHEHEHE"

'That could have easily been my home' Peter thought as he stared at the screen for hours before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to see Diana without her boots on and the top portion of her armor removed to show her strapless red and blue bra, looking at him in concern

"Peter, what happened to you?" she asked as she examined his back that still had bits of glass in it and dry blood and the still noticeable dark bruise on his chest from where Superman 'pushed' him aside

Peter snorted "Tried to get in between Superman and the Joker. He responded by putting me through a wall or two and on to some guy's desk"

"He did what? Superman attacked you!" Diana said in shock to hear that her friend had attacked the man she loved

"Wasn't his fault" Peter said with a shrug but winced at the feeling of some of the glass shifting in his back as he gestured to the news channel "He had a lot on his mind at the time"

"Peter that doesn't excuse the fact he hurt you! Yes, I know he was upset and angry but he could have easily killed you in that state" Diana said as she entered the bathroom and quickly returned with a first aid kit

"Don't worry princess… it's going to take a lot more than Superman to take me down" Peter said with a sad smile as Diana sat behind him and began to remove the bits of glass he couldn't "How's the rest of the League doing?"

"There helping with evacuations of the outlying areas of Metropolis still…" Diana said but trailed off

Peter noticed "…And?"

"…We just found out that some of the Titans were in Metropolis when the bomb went off" Diana said sadly

"Jesus…" Peter said in shock "Was Cassandra-"

"No Cassie was at Titans tower with Starfire, and Red Robin… but Kid Flash and Beast Boy were there with Superboy and" Diana took a deep ragged breath "Kid Flash died instantly according to Superboy while he tried to protect Beast Boy but the heat of the blast and the radiation… Conner couldn't protect him from that… he himself barely survived that"

Peter sat there in stunned silence as Diana continued to remove the last of the glass from his back before wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him close. Hours past until another segment came on that showed a familiar face that caused Peter to groan

"Oh God why…"

On the screen was John Jonah Jameson Jr., owner of the Daily Bugle and the man who more often than not, leads the charge to discredit Spider-man and make him out to be a villain which was ironic considering he had a Hitler stash and helped create several of Spider-man's rouges

Diana looked to the screen and buried her head in Peter's shoulder with a groan of her own "Please don't tell me he's going to try and blame you for this"

"Is it odd that I'm actually kind of curious to hear what he has to say?" Peter said as he reluctantly turned up the volume "Alright Jonah, give me your best shot"

"My fellow citizens it is with great regret to inform you of the devastation of Metropolis that has been brought upon by the actions of the Joker…" Jameson started

"Wait for it…" Peter said as Diana against her better judgement began to watch to. She was never fond of how the man seemed to make it his life's mission to ruin her husband's life as a hero and use him as a source for his infamous smear campaigns against heroes everywhere.

He was also the man that revealed her marriage to Spider-man when she aided him in his fight with Electro who had the backing of Circe at the time. The article he had printed wasn't very flattering and even hinted that Peter had resorted to mind control to win her heart

"I am also here to reveal a shocking truth behind the event. I have uncovered from legitimate sources that prove that the Joker was not acting alone in orchestrating these events that destroyed the crown jewel of America. He received help by none other than Doctor Otto Octavius, or more commonly known to the world as Dr. Octopus!" Jameson slammed his hand on the table

Jameson took a deep breath as an image of Otto in Metropolis literally hours before the bomb went off standing with the Joker by the submarine they stole. Among the two was the green and black armored looking Spider-man that the man Diana caught earlier mentioned seeing

"Now what I'm about to say will be controversial but no less true. In my opinion…" Jameson began

"Here it comes" Peter said with a sigh

"This all happened because of Spider-man and Batman!" Jameson declared before taking a deep breath "Now many of you are thinking how can that be? After all, these two so called 'heroes' have over the years 'protected us' from the evils of the world but in truth did they really? How many times have Octavius and the Joker broken out of the Raft and Arkham to cause nothing but death and destruction? How many opportunities did Spider-man have to finally put an end to the mad scientist only to hesitate and let the man go Scott free so he can do even worse than last time?"

Peter closed his eyes as he sighed "And there it is… me not killing Otto caused this entire thing"

Peter opened his eyes and looked at Diana who was oddly quiet which he found odd. He nudged her shoulder to get her attention "Diana… do you think he's right?"

Diana was looking at the screen that was now talking about how Superman killing the Joker was a good thing before she blinked and turned towards Peter and sighed "Well he's not wrong in a sense…"

It was then that Peter's eyes widened as he quickly grabbed the remote and shut the T.V. off and turned to fully face his wife "What do you mean by that?"

"Peter… can you honestly believe that sparing people like Otto, people like Carnage and the Green Goblin for Olympus sake is truly the right thing to do?" Diana said as she stood up and paced the room

"It isn't might call to make Diana" Peter said with his eyes narrowing "I don't have the right to say this guy lives while the other dies. After all I'm a vigilante, unlike a cop I don't have anyone to answer to but myself and unless it's escaped your notice but I've been known to make some pretty shity decisions in the past"

"Peter an entire city was just destroyed by one of your rouges! By a man that you've had on several occasions the chance to finally put an end to. I was even there when you made the decision to save his life after the Green Goblin betrayed him!" Diana said before she picked up the remote and turned it back on to the images of a destroyed city "And look how he repays you!"

"So you're saying it is my fault that Metropolis is destroyed? That because of my apparent weakness to try and see the good in others has cost Superman his family? That millions of people are now dead because when it came down to it I wasn't willing to lower myself to their level and cross that one line that makes me different from them and finally live up to Jameson's image of me being a menace!" Peter stood up with his voice rising in intensity and anger

"What you don't think that I don't know that? That every time I spare people like Osborn or Fisk that I don't know that they will kill more people in the future until one day they fuck with the wrong guy and finally get their dues!" Peter practically shouted at the end in Diana's face who didn't so much as flinch at his outburst

Peter took a deep breath as he tried to calm his rage. What many people didn't know about Peter except for his clones obviously, Diana to some extent, and a very few trusted others was that deep down he had a lot of anger in him. When he was with the symbiote all those years ago it brought it out of him and to some extent enhanced it beyond even his control. Years of being picked on, bullied, beaten, humiliated and losing his loved ones had planted a dark seed inside him that he knows will never go away

Thankfully over the years he's learned to control it but there are those few instances where he just can't keep it bottled up inside and he needs to get it out…

Diana was quite for a moment as she looked away. Peter stared at her for a long time as the apartment was filled with a tense silence.

Finally, after several minutes Peter finally broke the silence

"You know what" Peter said as he made for his suit's top and mask "I need time to think. I'm heading out on patrol, make sure that Anti-Venom or the Punisher don't get out of hand. Last thing I need them to think is that it's now okay to start killing people because Superman is now…"

"Peter" Diana said following him to the balcony

"What?" Peter turned around and stared at his wife with anger in his eyes

"…I'm sorry… I don't think your weak. In fact, your one of the strongest men I've ever known. But please… please tell me that you haven't thought of finally putting an end to people like Otto, like Osborn or even Brock when he was Venom. To finally put an end to the suffering they've caused over the years" Diana said quietly

"…"

"…"

"…I have thought about it Diana… I really have. Not a day goes by where the thought to finally hunt them down and kill them hasn't crossed my mind" Peter said as he looked down exhausted

"…Why haven't you?" Diana questioned as she cupped his chin and had him look her in the eye

"…Would you fallen in love with that kind of man? Would you have married a monster?" Peter asked quietly

For several long moments Diana stared at Peter before she slowly shook her head. The two stood there for what felt like an eternity before Peter placed his mask on the nearby table

"I'm sorry for yelling at you… it's just…" Peter said as he rubbed his hair in aggravation

"Shhh… I understand" Diana said as she took Peter in her arms and rested her head against his chest and listened to his powerful heartbeat that could always lure her to sleep. She also felt his arms wrap around her and pull her close "Let's just lie down for a while and then we can go visit Ben and Mary Jane later okay?"

Peter buried his head in Diana's hair and took a deep breath of her scent, it always calmed and comforted him "Alright…"

The two slowly made their way back to the bed and laid down in each other's arms and slowly fell asleep

Unaware of the small little octobot recording them…

…

Octavius was standing in front of a monitor with a live stream of the Parkers for him to watch. He smirked at the fight they had and watched as his final grand plan was slowly coming into effect.

'Taking a page out of Osborn's book on how to beat the annoying arthropod seems to be paying off' Otto thought with a chuckle before he winced at a sudden pain in his chest

"I still don't understand… if the goal is to hurt and destroy Spider-man, then why go after Superman?" a man dressed in green and black armor spoke, his voice disguised by an electronic device. His chest was forest green along with the undersides of the arms and the insides of the legs while the rest was pitch black. On his chest was a black scorpion that was stylized similar to Spider-man's current spider symbol

Otto turned to him "For now is seems odd yes but in time as events began to take their course you will start to see why I did so. Hopefully Superman continues to act in the way I predicted so that everything will fall into place that will lead to either Mr. and Mrs. Parker's deaths or better yet… their fall"

"How long could that take?" the armored man questioned "I'm hoping to still be alive when it happens"

"Patience is a virtue my friend" Otto said as he flipped the monitor off "Besides I think it's best if we maintain a low profile for now… Superman will kill me and you in a heartbeat. But don't worry, Spider-man's end is coming… and we shall be there when it happens be it in a month or a decade, but it will come"

"Whatever you say Doc… whatever you say" the man said with a shrug as he followed his boss out of the hideout that's begun to count down to self-destruct and erase any evidence that they were there in the first place

…

And done.