Chapter One
A/N: Spoilers for Spider-Man 2 ahead. Beware. Watch the film before you read this!
May Parker sat quietly at her kitchen table, deep in thought. A mixture of emotions enveloped her as she remembered Peter's confession to her a few months ago, regarding Ben's death.
Peter was responsible.
But even if that was the case, she knew deep in her heart that she would always love him.
It was so deathly quiet, alone, and still in her new apartment in the Bronx. She had moved out of her old home she once shared with her beloved husband Ben, and dear Peter.
"Maybe I should adopt a cat," Aunt May told herself, laughing inwardly at the thought. A knock at the door pulled her out of her reverie.
"Aunt May? It's Peter," said Peter, carefully holding the casserole dish he had prepared moments before.
"And MJ!" Mary Jane exclaimed through the door.
Aunt May opened the door, truly happy that she forgave her nephew for what he told her about Ben. Peter, holding the dish, simply smiled at her. She noticed Mary Jane standing right beside him, and her eyes immediately fell upon her left hand. Something was sparkling on her finger.
"Oh my! What do we have here?" May said in surprise. She knew that MJ had not married John Jameson, the astronaut, and had been Peter's girlfriend since.
"MJ and I...we're getting married," Peter said, beaming with joy.
"Congratulations! Come right in," said Aunt May, just now noticing that they had been standing in the hallway.
Peter and MJ walked into the apartment. The living room was small, sparse, and barren. It lacked the sense of home. It lacked love. It lacked Ben Parker. And it's my fault, thought Peter. Aunt May looks pale and sick.
"Aunt May? How are you? Is everything alright?" Peter asked as he put the dish down on the table and hugged her lovingly.
"Well dear, I didn't want to put a dapper on things right away," she said, now serious. She sat down on a recliner in the living room, looking like she was about to break into pieces.
"What's wrong?" Peter and MJ asked in unison.
"I'm sick, Peter. I have cancer. It's in my bones," she replied, her voice broken apart by sharp slivers of tears running their course down her tired and wrinkled face.
Peter suddenly felt the walls crushing in on him all at once. He sat down on the edge of the couch, in complete disbelief. MJ held her head down, feeling so much love for this man and empathizing with him as small tears started to escape from his blue eyes.
"My doctor told me that I have only a few months. The cancer...it's much too late. Sarcoma. It's spread everywhere," Aunt May managed to utter, her own voice shaking as the reality of what the doctor told her only two days before, now sunk in. "That's why I invited you here today. I needed to tell you this. And....I can't do this alone...now that Ben is gone." She was now weeping like Peter had never seen her before. It was breaking his heart.
"There has to be something...someone...anything that can help you!" Peter emotionally yelled, voice breaking apart. Why? Why does this have to happen to her? To me? To us? I have all these powers but I couldn't have done anything to prevent this. But then he vaguely remembered certain details that he had nonchalantly ignored. Her fatigue and pain over the last few months. His gut instinct told him before that something might have been wrong, but he shook it off at the time, already plagued with struggles of his own.
Meanwhile, MJ silently consoled Peter, rubbing his back. He's been through so much, she thought. This might just break him for good. His parents...his uncle...Norman Osborn...all losses that he had suffered.
The food still sat on the kitchen table, now cold and forgotten.