Author's Note: Hello, fellow Fanfiction people! Some of you may have noticed it's been a while since I even posted any chapters; to tell the truth, I've been getting slammed at work and life in general that I hardly ever get time to just sit down and write. Well, finally my waiting has paid off as I am on a bit of a retreat this weekend and have had more time to write. If anyone's still interested in this story, I hope this was worth the wait! Also if you're able to, please leave a review. I've noticed my latest 2 chapters haven't had any responses, but if you're just tuning into this story, I understand. In which case, feel free to look at the previous volume if you wanna get caught up. And without further adieu, enjoy!

Peter woke the following Monday to the sound of the stove sizzling in the kitchen downstairs. He had left his door open that night for a change all because he was too tired after returning home prior to curfew the previous evening. His daily attendance to criminal cleanup on the city streets was enough to knock him dead figuratively. Despite his Spider Sense enhancing his ability to detect danger, there were occasionally a few times he couldn't place it and got hit. Regardless, he loved this lifestyle despite how often he wished he could have utilized it to save his Uncle Ben on that fateful night in March.

Whatever the case, though, he had to find a way to keep moving forward in life.

The fresh, juicy aroma of Aunt May's eggs and bacon reached his nose as he sat up from his bed, ready to go downstairs and consume them. Even though he had unnaturally developed a muscular body from his fateful spider bite, he still needed his protein - that and he loved the way Aunt May made them.

He sauntered down the stairs, stretching to ensure he woke his muscles up, and traveled into the kitchen to witness his Aunt May already dressed for the day cooking at the stove. As she tossed her scrambled eggs around in the pan, Peter stomped loudly to ensure he didn't accidentally startle her while she cooked. He watched as Aunt May glanced over her shoulder to witness her nephew approaching him.

"'Morning, Aunt May!" Peter exclaimed. "How's the nicest girl in Forest Hills doing today?"

Peter kissed his aunt on the cheek, Aunt May giggling over how delightful her nephew tended to greet her on a daily basis.

"I'm well, thank you," she said delightfully. "Decided to make us breakfast today. Nothing like a little activity and protein to start our day!"

"You always know how to make them best," Peter commented as he observed the bacon strips laid out on the stove pan next to the scrambled eggs.

A thud emitted from the front door one room away, signaling Peter that the paper boy had just thrown them a newspaper.

"Oh, that sounds like the daily paper just arrived. Could you get that, Peter?" Aunt May suggested.

"Will do, ma'am!" Peter affirmed, signaling his aunt while she cooked.

Approaching the front door, he opened it to find that the paper had fallen directly in on the porch as usual. He knelt and unwrapped it for himself and her to read, expecting to find some noteworthy news on the front page. Once he sat in his spot at the dining room table, he unrolled it to find one of the most shocking headlines he had ever read:

"FORMER KILLER, DENNIS CARRADINE, GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE - RELEASED ON PAROLE"

Peter's stomach lurched upon reading that name. The only other time he ever heard of him was when the police reported the name of the man who killed Uncle Ben. A mixture of shock and anger rose in Peter's system as he read the following text:

"Rikers inmate, Dennis Carradine, was released from prison last Saturday night and settled into the Fisk Industries Rehabilitation Center. Carradine's parole was forwarded under Fisk's jurisdiction so that the criminal may find new life and change for the better. Carradine's criminal record shows that he was responsible for various thefts around Manhattan as well as the murder of Ben Parker back in March…"

At that point, Peter quit reading and sighed angrily, burying his face into his palms. Never in his life did he think this would happen and now the one man he let ruin his life was out there walking free on an unfairly forgiving parole. Sweat emitted from his pits as the guilt and trauma from that night returned, threatening to overtake him and cause him to have an episode. Despite that, he kept his breathing under control to ensure that he could talk to Aunt May as best as he could.

At that point, Aunt May's footsteps entered the room, Peter looking up to notice the plate in her hand.

"Breakfast is ready!" Aunt May happily exclaimed as she set the plate at Peter's spot.

"Thanks, Aunt May," Peter replied, choking on his words.

"What's wrong?"

"Read the paper," he said, passing the paper.

As Aunt May sat down with her plate, she took the paper, gave it one glance, and basically had the same reaction as Peter.

"What on Earth?!" she exclaimed.

"I know, it's unfair!" Peter spat angrily. "Why, of all people, would they release Ben's killer?"

Aunt May sighed. "The judicial system can be spotty at times," she explained. "Sometimes they release the most ruthless killers even if they don't deserve the amount of mercy the world's showing them."

"Then you must be as angry as I am," Peter said through clenched teeth, folding his fists.

"...To tell the truth, yes," Aunt May stated surprisingly calmly despite the circumstances. "But I wouldn't let that ruin my day. Whatever happens, I'm sure whoever released him has good intentions."

Peter huffed a few controlled breaths. He did not want to lose his cool in front of his aunt knowing how she would scold him for being so.

"...You're right. I may be getting carried away," Peter sighed. "Perhaps a good breakfast and a shower will help calm me down."

"Whatever you say, dear," Aunt May affirmed.

Peter and May continued to talk about more casual topics such as how things were going at school, upcoming events, as well as his status with Gwen. During their conversation, Peter managed to keep a cool head despite the earth-shattering, potentially dangerous news he just learned as he knew it was what Aunt May wanted. Despite that, he took a shower with one thing on his mind: take the paper to school and show Gwen - the one person he trusted with his secrets. She may have known he was Spider-Man for a little over a week, but the info he relayed to her only scratched the surface of what he had done since adopting his secret identity. Although he did share the part where the spider bite gave him his powers, he had not yet shared that the reason he did what he did was to make up for his uncle's death.

Whatever the case, she had to know.

While Aunt May was attending to other business following Peter's shower, Peter snuck the newspaper away from her and packed it in his bag to bring to school. As per routine, he swung there as Spider-Man as the sun rose on the horizon, the golden hues highlighting areas of interest in Midtown Manhattan. They had just barely begun to rise above the buildings as he approached Midtown Manhattan High School, sitting there in the shadow of the towering buildings nearby.

In order to not get caught by his usual tormentors, Peter changed in the school's back alley and took the back entrance into the building. Whatever happened, today was not a good day for Flash to catch him and bully him for no good reason.

To his relief, Peter found Gwen studying in their little study corner at the window sill near the front of the school. She stared up from her book smiling as Peter approached, but Peter remained tense from the news he just heard and barely said a word.

"Hey, Pete," she said. "What's happening today?"

"What's happening?" Peter asked, agitated. "Did you see the paper?!"

"I don't typically see the paper since dad reads it before I get up and my mom isn't really a paper reader. Did you bring it with you by chance?"

"Here," he reached into his bag with a look of anger and disinterest in anything else she had to say. Rustling around, he felt for the newspaper and pulled it out, unfolding it and handing it to her without having to offer.

Gwen scanned the headline and text, expressing a look of shock mixed with confusion. "They released a killer from prison? What the hell?!" Gwen exclaimed. "Who is Dennis Carradine anyway?"

Peter sighed. "He's the man who murdered my uncle!" he spat.

"What?!"

"You remember how my uncle died, right? Back in March?"

"I remember. You said a criminal killed him after forcibly ejecting him from his car?"

"There's more to it than that," Peter started, preparing himself to get the truth off his chest. "You see, I'm… Kind of the reason he got away with that."

"...What do you mean?!" Gwen asked, shocked.

Peter motioned her to come closer, not wanting anyone to hear the story of how he became Spider-Man.

"It was a hell of a week and I've never told anyone the full story so bare with me and don't tell anyone, got it?"

Gwen nodded and performed a zipping motion over her lips before throwing away the imaginary key.

"I had just acquired my powers the week before. I nearly blew my secret when I injured Flash in the cafeteria fight and served detention for a week. During that time, I paid visits to the library to research spider abilities when Uncle Ben had noticed how much of a distant loner I had become. It got so bad that I refused to answer his calls to go with Aunt May and pick him up from work. I got home one night to Ben scolding me for not answering and refusing to accept responsibility for my family. An argument ensued and I stormed out of the house to run away to Manhattan temporarily.

"A costumed wrestling match happening that night caught my attention so I put on a discarded thug mask to enter, unexpectedly winning through use of my powers. However, I got cheated out of the prize money only for the wrestling manager to get robbed by a criminal. I let him go when I shouldn't have… I later found Uncle Ben dead, tracked the killer… Only to discover that he was the same guy I let get away. I could've killed him, stopped him there, but instead I had him arrested. At that point, I finally learned to accept responsibility for other people… It was too late to save Ben, but I had to do something to make up for it. That's why I became Spider-Man: to do what I could not do for Ben."

"Peter, I'm so sorry," Gwen said. "I knew it was rough, but to carry these secrets inside you for so long… You must be under a ton of stress."

"Not just stress, but…" Peter stood up, folding his fists. "I'm mad that the judicial system is showing this much grace to my uncle's killer of all things!"

Gwen stood up to place a hand on Peter's shoulder. "Peter…"

"Don't Peter me!" he snapped, dipping his shoulder under her hand. "It's enough that they made superheroes legal, but now they're allowing killers to walk free?! I don't think so!"

Gwen stood back and gawked as if she hardly knew how to calm Peter down. Peter then folded his hands in disgust.

"Nevermind, I just… I'm a little outraged right now," he said in a calmer tone.

"...I don't know what to say. I can't say I agree with their decision either, but if there's anything I know from dad it's that what the police say goes."

"What makes you say it was the police's doing?" he asked in disdain.

"They're the ones forwarding the paroles and sometimes they have a good reason. Other times they might be manipulated into doing so."

"And what if it was your dad's doing?"

"Whether it was him or someone else I can't say for sure. He mostly keeps that stuff classified unless it concerns our family directly."

"Would it be too much to ask him yourself?"

Gwen paused, unsure of how to respond. "I'm not sure how willing he'd be to divulge that information to me. Why? Do you plan to talk to him yourself?"

This gave Peter the bright idea to visit Captain Stacy's precinct and perhaps pull some strings to get him to admit whether he was responsible for Carradine's release.

"Perhaps, now that you mention it, it could be worth looking into," Peter divulged. "Do you have any idea where he is today?"

"He's at the midtown precinct last I heard. What's up? Do you plan to get him to change his mind about something again?"

"He might have listened to me persuade him to my side once, but I highly doubt he'll be so susceptible a second time. Trust me when I say I won't unmask myself."

"Right…" she said shyly.

He was about to turn to walk away when she called out to him again.

"But wait, Peter," she said, signaling him to stay and resume eye contact. "Why do you feel the need to get wrapped up in this? Isn't there bigger shit to worry about than the release of your uncle's killer?"

Peter slumped, fearing this could somehow lead to an argument, but he spoke anyway.

"I just feel like there's a bigger story somewhere. Like someone could have set it up to be this way. If there's some kind of ulterior motive or hidden agenda, figuring it out may stop more people from getting hurt."

"I see what you mean, but what if there's a chance Carradine changed for the better? Shouldn't Sp-" she stopped, looking around to ensure no one heard her. She whispered, "Shouldn't Spider-Man stay out of the rehab business?"

"Uncle Ben always said, 'with great power comes great responsibility'. I don't expect you to understand, but if worse comes to worst, I don't want anyone, especially you, getting hurt because I stand aside and do nothing."

"But what if you get hurt yourself? What if someone figures out your secret? Wouldn't that just get you into more trouble?"

"It would, no doubt, but just remember, I do this not for myself, but for other people. And if I don't then who else would? The Avengers aren't gonna worry about some random killer when I'm the one with personal ties to him. And, Gwen, I really don't wanna argue about this. I don't wanna see us separated by tension. I just need you to understand that I need to do what's right. What the police cannot do by themselves. I swear, it'll be for everyone's safety."

Gwen breathed a heavy sigh. She folded her hands as if still wanting to fight, but Peter hoped her words reached her somehow.

"You do what you need to, Peter… But don't blame me if it blows up in your face."

Peter slumped, putting his hands in his pockets. He responded with a simple "Okay," to diffuse the tension and walked off to class. Though he tried to push it aside, something told him this wouldn't be the last time Gwen tried to call him out for his actions.

As Peter aimed to head to first period chemistry, he threw his hood up, not wanting to be bothered by anyone noticing him or asking questions. All he needed was some time to reflect on his circumstances and ponder what his next move should be. He wouldn't let this distract from finding a job, though he couldn't let this one slide either. He knew he must do what was right whether or not his soon-to-be girlfriend agreed with him.

What he would give to win her to his side.

As he entered the first period chemistry, he scanned his surroundings to see if any of the jocks in the classroom noticed his subtle entrance. From what he could see, Flash was reading the paper while Rand Robertson and Kenny Kong gathered around him giggling at something he couldn't make out even with Spider Sense. He made his way for his seat as they continued to mutter under their breath.

"Here it is, Spider-Man in action!" Flash announced after flipping the paper to the interior.

Peter's stomach lurched. Whether Flash was talking about him or saw a part of his suit hanging out was beyond him, but he needed to play it safe.

"What? Where?!" Peter asked, jolted with surprise.

"Relax, I wasn't talking about you, Geek Head," said Flash condescendingly. "There's an ad in the Bugle for a contest: anyone who brings in decent pictures of Spider-Man in action wins prize money and gets hired on as part of an internship program. A snazzy deal if I say so myself."

Peter sighed in relief. Had Flash seen any trace of his suit, he'd no doubt have a heart attack.

"Well, Flash, think you'd be up to the challenge?" Peter asked slyly.

"Dude, I'm a big Spider-Man aficionado, but have no skill with photography or time on my hands. Besides, this big dude's busy practicing for the playoffs this week. I don't see any reason to endanger my high school football career by getting a job now."

Peter smirked at how "responsibly" Flash was portraying himself for a change. From what Peter gathered, all he cared about was fame, status, and winning chicks with his amazing quarterback skills.

"Fair enough. Your loss, Flash," Peter said before taking his seat.

Peter heard nothing in response, but something, whether it be heightened instinct or his imagination, told him that Flash must be livid at his snide comment insulting his status as school jock. As he unpacked his supplies from his book bag, the familiar alarm trigger of Spider Sense went off in the back of his skull, alerting him that Flash had gone on the offensive. From what he could gather, Flash was about to throw a football at the back of his head.

"Oops!" Peter uttered as he pretended to drop a pencil.

He knelt to the floor, watching as Flash's football passed over his head and flew toward the chemical beakers on the teacher's desk. The football unfortunately made contact with one of them, sending it falling to the floor with a loud shatter. Shards of glass fell to the floor and could be heard throughout the classroom and into the hallway. Within two seconds, the teacher stepped into the room.

"What just happened?!" the teacher exclaimed. "Who shattered one of my new beakers?"

Peter got up from his fake drop to the floor and immediately pointed to Flash expressionless. Flash's mouth gaped open at Peter's silent, but deadly accusation.

"I-what-he, no! I was aiming for him!" Flash exclaimed, trying to excuse himself.

The teacher darted his eyes toward Peter.

"Mr. Parker, if I may kindly ask you to sit outside of Mr. Thompson's line of fire," the teacher suggested.

"Yes, sir!" Peter affirmed, signaling to the teacher. He picked up his school bag and supplies and scurried off to the back of the room while listening to the remainder of the conversation.

"As for you, Mr. Thompson…" the teacher jabbed, folding his arms. "No footballs allowed in my classroom! Now if you'll be so kind as to let me confiscate it until the end of first period."

Flash slumped, defeated by the teacher's punishment.

"Yes, sir," he choked.

Peter watched as Flash limped over to the teacher to hand him his football.

"Thank you," the teacher said as he took the football. "Now if you would be so kind as to clean up your mess you made, I'd very much appreciate it."

Peter smirked as he relished seeing his top tormentor do dirty work for the teacher as punishment for his bullying. Given the way things were in both his hero and personal life today, Peter needed justice served to someone trying to ruin his life on a daily basis. He wouldn't let this distract from getting to the bottom of whoever decided to reopen old wounds for him though. He had to obtain some kind of lead as to what was going on.

After Gwen and the others arrived in first period class to Flash cleaning up his mess, Peter decided he needed to give it a rest with Gwen for now due to the earlier tension between them. They might have been getting closer, but even he knew she needed her space to process things on her own time. And after the last thing she said to him, he didn't wish to escalate things any further.

Following the first period, Peter went through the motions of a typical school day: attending other classes, going to precalc with Harry, getting some Spider-Man activity during open lunch, jogging up a sweat in gym class, you name it! Nothing too noteworthy came up during the day, but that left him with more anticipation to stop by Captain Stacy's precinct immediately following school. However much his flame disagreed with him, this had to be the right thing to do.

As he entered the official-looking building with enough confidence in his system, he took the stairs to the main office level, not wanting to look suspicious by climbing walls in his civilian clothes. The last thing he wanted was the captain - or any other cop - actually figuring out his identity. Once he entered the room full of cops and other admins hustling and bustling between cubicles, he scanned the area for Captain Stacy's office. He didn't need Spider Sense to discover the captain's office behind glass on the other side of the room where the captain himself sat chatting on the phone.

Before he could take another step forward, the admin at the desk called out to him.

"State your name and intention, dear," the female secretary called out to him in a deadpan voice.

Planting his foot down, Peter toe-heal turned to face the glasses-wearing woman and opened his mouth to speak. "My name is Peter Parker. I'm here to see Captain Stacy - I'm actually friends with him," he stated casually.

"May I see your ID, sir?" the woman asked, holding her hand out.

Peter froze. He never carried an ID due to not holding a license, but hopefully he could do something to ensure he reached the captain today.

"I don't carry an ID, but the captain does know me personally if that's enough," Peter stated with a meek smirk.

"Sorry, sir, we need to see some form of identification to let you interact with the police here. If you don't have one, I can't help you," the secretary stated plainly.

Just my luck, Peter thought. "Sorry, ma'am, I don't mean to waste your-"

"Peter Parker! How the hell are you?" a familiar gruff voice called out.

It was, indeed, Captain Stacy.

"Mr. Stacy! You're-you're here!" Peter exclaimed joyously.

"I can take him for a second, Donna!" Captain Stacy said to the secretary. "He'll be out of here in a bit, I promise."

"Okay then, sir," Donna said, in her deadpan inflection.

The captain pulled Peter aside to stand between the cubicles and faced him.

"Interesting you should show up to my precinct unannounced at this hour, but I would be glad to provide any assistance you may be in need of," John stated plainly.

"No worries, sir," Peter opened. "Thing is, I read the Daily Bugle this morning and, well, it said something about Dennis Carradine being released under Wilson Fisk's jurisdiction. Would you have anything to do with this by chance?"

"Well, Peter, I understand you're young and unaware of how the world works, but yes, I am the one who forwarded the parole."

"I knew it," Peter muttered under his breath, yet still loud enough that the captain could have heard him. "I-I mean, really? I didn't realize you were so… Forgiving. I mean, this was the guy who killed my uncle we're talking about."

"I understand these circumstances may be upsetting to you, but I can reassure you he's in good hands. Wilson Fisk has him in rehab for the sake of putting him back out into the world as a changed man."

Peter paused for a moment. In his mind, he thought the captain was bluffing, yet something told him he should stay away from trying to convince him this was wrong.

"...Interesting you should believe that," Peter finally said. "I was just wondering, is there any chance there could be some ulterior motive behind this? I don't want him coming after my aunt or anyone of the like."

"I was just on the phone with the mayor about these circumstances and I reassured her that Fisk is a humble entrepreneur with a healthy rehab center under his belt. He may have pulled a few strings to get Carradine out of Rikers, but I'll tell you what I told her: 'he has his reasons'. He's done no wrongdoing, broken any laws and if someone with an infamous past like Carradine were to step out of line, he'd be the first to know." John laid a hand on Peter's shoulder. "Trust me when I say that we're also keeping an eye on Carradine to make sure he's not planning anything stupid."

Peter pursed his lips, carefully monitoring what came out of his mouth.

"Then I guess… Everything should be okay for now, right?" Peter said.

"Exactly! Just remember there's nothing to worry about when the cops are responsible."

Peter half smiled hearing this from the captain. "Okay then, sir! And what's more, Halloween's coming up so maybe there won't be much criminal activity then."

"Crime is pretty random, but hopefully nothing major happens then. Now you go and enjoy the Halloween weekend with my daughter and your friends and don't worry about anything!"

"...Will do, sir," Peter uttered softly before shaking the captain's hand.

Although he hated to admit it, it looked like there was nothing Peter Parker could do in this scenario. If he were seen walking into the rehab facility to ask Carradine a few questions, he could be putting himself and his family and friends in jeopardy. There would be no more safety for him and possibly his identity. As he turned and walked away from the captain and out of the precinct, he brewed up in his head the idea to sneak into the rehab facility as Spider-Man and interrogate Carradine on what was really going on. If the only way to get something out of this was to kick the hornet's nest then so be it; Peter would stop at nothing to confront his past and learn the truth.

Thank you to whoever made it this far and I hope to see you in the next chapter!