Peter had never been more in love with Mary-Jane Watson. He had also never been more full of regret at the way things had gone down between them.

It had been a long series of regrets at this point. Regrets and miscommunications and a feeling that had been slowly building that she deserved better than him. The baby that MJ had wanted, the baby that Peter was so afraid to have with her, was the thing that finally solidified that thought. It had been funny, in a terrible, soul-crushing way to learn that this…was pretty much exactly the same train of thought that led to MJ agreeing to the divorce.

Wasn't that just funny?

And that thought, in turn, brought him right back around to the question of just how bad their communication had gotten with each other towards the end.

But that was just the thing, wasn't it? Their communication really had been so bad… Peter had not wanted to bother MJ and MJ had not wanted to bother Peter and they had just…drifted. And worse, they had thought that the other was better for it, when the one thing they had wanted was to pull the other close and never let go. It hadn't been helped by Peter's depression, or MJ's busy schedule that often clashed and compounded with his own busy schedule. So many things had been stacked against them, and instead of getting back up… For once in his life, Peter had resolved to lay back down.

It was one of the biggest mistakes of his life.

Peter had resolved to never let that happen again. It had been one of the many things that he had promised to himself as well as her, that they would never let their communication fall by the wayside like that again. It was why he had been so upset when he realized that he had just vanished on MJ. The reassurance MJ had made, the fact that she was used to it, was as much a knife in his chest as it was a balm.

There was so much that he needed to fix. There was so much that they needed to fix.

They had time, though, MJ had agreed to give them time. They would fix it. Peter had gotten back up and he would never lay back down again, not for anything. That, naturally, included helping a seventeen-year-old version of himself in his struggle against something that Peter couldn't touch, see, or hear.

He'd done scarier things. He was sure. Sometime or other in his life he had to have done something scarier. Either way, it had been five minutes and now was the time to call Porker.

MJ put her plate aside, looking at him expectantly, having finished the chilaquiles, and obviously ready to get this whole thing started. Peter took a breath, flicked through to the calling option and slid through the contacts to find Porker, selecting to call him. There was a pause as the line crackled, and then finally:

"Hello, you have reached the line of Peter Porker, thank you for calling, if you have any ideas about what to do with a small firecracker of a kid that's being forced into bartering parts of his own soul, please share with the class."

The quip was so dry and so expertly delivered that Peter gave a huff of laughter, grinning, MJ letting her own lips pull into their own smile.

"That sounds like a tough nut to crack," MJ said, dryly, leaning forward.

"Oh, hello!" Rio's voice sounded out. "Are you Mary-Jane?"

"That's me, yes, though you can call me MJ, are you Rio?"

"I am, yes," Rio answered. "Fue un placer conocerte. My husband, Jeff is here, too."

"Hello," Jeff said. "I'm sorry we took your…" there was a pause, a hesitation in his voice as he thought of what to call Peter, which was something that Peter understood. "Well, we're sorry we stole Peter B for so long," he finally settled on.

"Fue una gran ayuda," Rio said. "Honestly I don't know if we would have been able to wrangle all the kids without him."

Peter felt warm, grinning at the watch on his wrist. He didn't know if it was something said to try and calm the supposed wrath of MJ, or if they really meant it, but it felt nice to hear.

"I'm glad," MJ said, smiling. "It's also really no problem, I'm glad that he was able to help…" she sighed. "Now I understand we're somehow going to take on a god?"

"Somehow, someway!" Porker chimed. "I…don't really know how. I couldn't touch it. Honestly, I couldn't even sense it. No spidersense chime for me."

"I didn't have it either," Peter agreed. "Honestly, if it wasn't for his reaction, I wouldn't have thought it would harm us." He sighed heavily. "It's weird, you know? That he had such a strong reaction when none of us registered any threat from it."

"Didn't stop it from taking his eyes, though," Porker said dryly, and there was an immediate chorus of agreement that Peter leant his own voice towards. "But you're right, there wasn't any threat that I perceived, but like I said, I couldn't even touch it, or see it, or hear it for that matter, so maybe it's like… You know, in an alternate alternate dimension? But Pete's a bridge between it and us?"

"That's a thought," Peter hummed. "Maybe the reason he was so intense about it wasn't the fact that it was going to necessarily harm us then, but…" he hesitated.

"Maybe it could get him to harm us?" Rio asked, and there was a wary undercurrent to her voice.

"Well, that's not horrifying or anything," Porker said. "But I think we're jumping the gun a little."

"Agreed," Jeff said. "If it was able to make him hurt us like we're thinking, I think he would have tried a lot harder to get away. This is the kid that tried to throw himself out the damn window after coming back from having his mind screwed with and losing about enough blood to floor a regular man, remember? I think that it's not what it can make him do now, it's what it can potentially make him do later."

"I think you're onto something," Peter hummed. "This is the kid that thought a good prevention method was suicide."

"He thought what?" MJ asked, her voice choked. Peter immediately reached over to take her hand, recognizing the horror in green eyes and instinctively wanting to lessen it. She took his hand, squeezing. Peter ducked his head slightly and smiled.

"He thought that the best way to keep himself from going completely off the rails was to kill himself. How did he put it? He's "a sad #&#&ing story with a sad #*# ing ending?"" Porker hummed. "Say what you want about the kid, but he's got a flair for the dramatic."

"And the traumatizing," Peter agreed, squeezing MJ's hand as hers tightened around his.

"Probably because he's so damn traumatized, himself," Jeff hummed. "He's seventeen. I just…I can't get my mind around that. When my brother and I were seventeen we were…well. There were some things we got up to that wouldn't have been considered very normal seventeen-year-old behavior, but this is on a whole other level."

"Agreed," Peter said. "And I've been doing this gig since I was fifteen." Peter rubbed the back of his head, fighting for the words lodged in his throat. "I've seen my uncle die, my girlfriend die, the…" he took a breath. "The point is I've seen a lot of people die, and I've been fighting some things that are considered potentially too much for most kids, and I'm definitely paying for it now in more ways than I would like, but this is something else. This is something that I'd almost call soul crushing."

"It's obvious that he's suppressing his emotions," Rio added. "He…" Rio sighed. "He's in for either a breakdown or a meltdown or both. The point is he can't be doing this alone anymore."

"Agreed," came the resounding chorus.

"Maybe he shouldn't be doing this at all," Jeff added.

"Now that is something that I don't think you're going to pull off," Porker said.

"Forgetting the spider powers for a moment, which are their own separate topic," Peter said, leaning forward, "you have to remember his background before you start talking about getting him to quit. His parents were killed in a strike, and his aunt and uncle were doing the same damn thing. His uncle died for that cause. This kid's entire upbringing has been about sacrificing himself for something bigger, there's no way you can peel that away from him."

"Adding on the spider powers," Porker said, "there's no way the kid could potentially live an ordinary life because he's not ordinary. No matter what, people are going to tag him and mark him as different, even if they don't realize that they're doing it. And now that the transformations are taking on that physical element it's even more likely that someone is going to tag him for what he is. He'd be a ticking timebomb whose explosion is when people realize that he's not normal. And how the *#& is the 1930s going to treat someone like that? Are they gonna call him a monster? Run away from him? Experiment on him? It just isn't feasible."

"Agreed," MJ said, squeezing Peter's hand, "on both counts. Speaking as someone that was married to a Peter whose background also lead to him being extremely self-sacrificing, you could pull him away from that only by killing him. He might take a break from it for a while, but he will be extremely unhappy about it and it will eventually manifest in ways that you really don't want." Peter felt his heart constrict as she said this, meeting green eyes that stared into his and felt the warmth and love that she still held for him there, the complete lack of accusation. He did his best to give it back. What had he done to get so lucky? "As for the powers, if it's actually become physical there's no way that he can hide it anymore. They'll mark him for what he is as soon as they see him, and if he's been doing this long enough, he will obviously have enemies. What are they going to do when they realize who he is? Kill his last living relative? Go after whatever friends he used to have?"

"Alright, alright…" Jeff sighed. "That's all true, I just wish…I just wish there was something I could do."

"You can do something for him, though," MJ disagreed. "You can be there for him. If that means that we can't actually fight the spider god on our own, then we have to be there to back him up when he does. If that means that we can't actually physically interact with the threats he faces in his world, then we're there for the aftermath. The one thing we have to do, though, is work on communication. He can't think that he's really going at it alone. He can't think that the best thing to do is to leave because he could be putting us at risk. We have to make sure that he knows that both of those thoughts are wrong and that we love him."

Peter swallowed the lump in his throat heavily, feeling tears prick at the back of his eyes as he finally looked away from those green eyes that burned into his so brightly and covered his face with a hand. The hand in his squeezed, and he had to choke back a soft sound. He didn't deserve MJ, but he was so glad she was there. He was so glad she had been willing to forgive him. He was so glad that she was able to give them practical solutions from years of experience dealing with him. He was glad that she didn't see it as dealing with him. She thought of it as loving him.

Peter hoped that she knew just how much he loved her. He'd have to do his best to show her. She had to know.

"Speaking from experience," Peter finally managed, clearing his throat, "I'd say that that works pretty well."

"So, we have a game plan then," Rio said. "Excellent, but what are we going to do about that thing? Is there something we can do?"

"I think Jeff was onto something when he said that it won't do anything against him if we're around," Porker hummed. "I think that the best thing to do is to let the kid know that he can stay with us anytime that he needs it."

"But what if he won't stay?" Rio asked. "What if he keeps trying to leave? Do we pressure him to stay around? Can we…oh, mierda…can we do anything?"

"We'd have to let him go," Peter said.

"We can't just force what we want on him," Porker agreed, "we have to pay attention to what he wants, or else he won't come back. I think you were onto something when you told him that he needs to come to you when he's injured. I'm going to tell him to come to me if he needs more spider training."

"Do you think he'll take you up on that?" Peter asked.

"He should, his webs are just sloppy enough I'd say that he needs it."

"I thought you said that his webs were good?" Jeff asked.

"They are for someone without any formal training," Porker answered. "But you don't tell that to a kiddo that's just starting out, particularly when they're like Pete and they seem like they haven't had any praise or encouragement in a long while. You encourage them and then offer correction when you think it's necessary or needed, and more importantly, when they ask for it. Particularly when it's notyourkid and he doesn't even know that he's doing something wrong. And besides, he doesn't even know lessons are on offer. And on a final note, his webs really were pretty good, it's not like his entiretechnique is bad, he just needs some tweaks here and there. Either way, I can teach him just fine."

"That makes sense, yeah, I think you should offer," MJ said, nodding even though they couldn't see it. "I understand that he produces his own silk?"

"He does," Jeff agreed. "I watched him do it. It was pretty impressive if you ask me."

"Antibacterial, as well, which is honestly rather amazing," Rio added. "The problem comes in when you consider the fact that it's obviously been eating away at him for a while."

"I saw the picture," MJ agreed softly. "He looks sick…"

"Part of that is because he lost what I'd estimate to be close to three pints of blood," Rio said. "In combination, naturally speaking, not just today. If it was just today, I don't think there would have been much I could do for him."

"I'm so glad that you were willing to help us, both of you," Peter said, leaning towards the watch, hoping that they heard just how sincere he was. "I mean it, really, thank you so much for everything that you did for us. Letting us stay, helping us with our injuries, the breakfast…"

"Oh, yes!" MJ added, "The chilaquiles were delicious, thank you so much for allowing Peter to take your Tupperware. I promise we'll give it back soon."

"It's really no problem, either of you, I'm so glad that you liked the chilaquiles," Rio said, and her voice was smiling.

"And you're welcome," Jeff added, "honestly I just," he sighed. "Honestly, I wish I'd met you all under different circumstances. You all seem like a good bunch, and I wish that we'd met because of happier things. But I'm glad that I did get to meet you and I'm more than willing to help out. I mean it. You need anything and you let me know and I'll see what I can do. At this point I think it's best that we come together to fix this whole thing. We all bring something different to the equation. I'm glad that you've got my back."

"Agreed," came another chorus.

"And if you need anything don't hesitate to…oh wait, you can't…" there was a pause as Peter realized that Jeff and Rio couldn't actually contact them on their own because they didn't have a goober. "We really need to get Peni to give us something to let you contact us regularly. And I definitely want to be able to talk to MJ when I'm in your world…"

"I'd want to meet you both in person," MJ added. "Do you think that it's possible that Peni would be able to make more goobers for us so we could talk face to face as well?"

There was a pause. "I think that we might be able to get her to…" Peter started.

"And there'd be two Spiders that are there that could offer protection if something super weird did happen," Porker added. "Not that you'd all necessarily need protection, but…"

"Some things we can't handle, I get that, it's okay," Jeff finished. "I saw that with the collider."

"I think that's a lot of good reasons for us to be able to get Peni to make a goober for you three," Peter said, and he was grinning. He paused as a thought hit him and frowned slightly. "Though perhaps we should still have her fix our cellphones. There's no reason to consistently be coming to different universes unless we set something up, and we can't talk in public with the goobers, so having our cellphones be able to contact each other would be a good way around that."

"Agreed, that's a good point," Jeff said, his voice pleased. "It'll be good to be able to talk when we're out. Goober to cell communication is also a must, as Pete doesn't have a cellphone."

Another chorus of agreement came and a lull in the conversation formed.

This would be good. There were all the makings of a strong friendship between the five of them, which would be so much more helpful for dealing with the kids and helping them out. There was the added potential for Gwen Stacy's dad, and Peni's aunt and uncle to be a part of their group as well, but they would have to talk to them specifically. Peter didn't know if he'd be the best one to talk to Gwen's dad in particular, but maybe Porker? "What about Gwen's dad and Peni's aunt and uncle?" he asked. "Are we telling…?"

"Ay perdon, se me olvido mencionar. We sent Gwen and Peni home to their parents, and the girls are talking to their own guardians about what happened with each other. We should potentially get a text or call from them at some point asking questions if they need us," Rio said.

"That's good!" Peter said. "I hadn't even thought of how long they'd been away from home. I'm glad you sent them back."

"It's alright, we understand that you were an absolute hellion at that age, there's no reason to expect for you to remember," Rio teased, and Peter gave a burst of surprised laughter.

"I mean, you're not really wrong," he finally managed. "I'm glad someone has themselves put together."

"You haven't seen me after a forty-eight-hour shift, Parker," Rio said, and there was a further laugh from all of them. "Thank you, though. Honestly, it's more my own thinking as a mother. I'd hate to not know where my baby was for two days."

Peter made a slight face, holding up a hand to MJ after realizing that he hadn't told her that they hadn't told them about Miles. MJ raised an eyebrow and Peter exaggeratedly mouthed the word 'Miles,' and then sliced two fingers across his neck. MJ's eyes widened, understanding.

"Would you still allow him to stay over with supervision, if the kids want to host a sleepover or something?" Peter asked. "Or would you prefer that they come to your house?"

"I think at first we'd prefer that they come to our house if they want to stay with Miles," Jeff said. "You're also welcome to come babysit or chaperone, Peter. Same to you, Porker. I understand that you're both an integral part of the Spiders."

"Oh, great! My rate is $20 per hour, and I charge double on weekends!" Porker called out, and there was a bright burst of laughter.

"That's lowball, I charge $40 an hour and $10 per extra head," Peter said, eyes sparking with mischief to a further laugh.

"We'll consider it, thank you, Porker, Peter," Rio laughed.

"Thank you," Porker's grin was audible. "Now, we all in agreement for what to do with Pete?"

"Yes," came the agreement. "I think we've got a solid plan. Or as solid as we can make it given what we're facing," Peter said.

"True," MJ said. "But don't underestimate the importance of what we're doing. A strong foundation is integral to him, it sounds like, particularly if the thing he's running towards is a breakdown."

"Agreed," Peter said to a quiet chorus.

"Alright, excellent," Porker clapped his hands, the sound close and bright. "Unfortunately for all, I really have to go back to my own universe."

"Oh, but…!" Jeff started.

"I'm sorry," Porker interrupted, and his voice sounded it, a heavy kind of sadness in it that was felt as much as it was heard. "I've got a job I have to do back in my own world, and it's… been long enough that they're probably talking about my absence. I've got to make my excuses and do my best to make sure my boss doesn't drag me to the pound."

"…Can…can he do that?" Rio asked.

"I don't wanna find out!" Porker replied, brightly. "I'd take the kid with me, but I'm afraid that…what with the sudden change in environment, and the fact that I won't be there…"

"No, those are both good reasons," Rio sighed. "I still have to remove his stitches and there's too much that I'm worried about to let him leave here. Will you both check on him periodically?"

"Absolutely," Peter and Porker responded at the exact same time, their voices blending in with each other.

"Besides, being completely honest I don't expect for him to wake up for a long time," Porker said.

"Agreed," Peter added. "If he's anything like me and my healing, and I know he is, what's going to happen is he's going to crash harder than a bus plowed into by Rhino. So, you probably shouldn't worry about him waking up anytime soon. Once he does, remove his stitches, and have him call us. He's got a goober; he'll be able to. We can decide what to do from there."

"Alright," came the soft agreement. "You don't think that he'll have any issues with us?"

"I'll come in and check on him as soon as I can," Peter said. "You won't have to worry about taking care of him all alone. I just…also shouldn't be off work for as long as I have been." Peter sighed, thinking of the excuses he would have to make.

"Do you get weekends, Peter?"

"Occasionally, it's variable, but I do have them this week, provided I don't get grilled for missing a day of work. If all goes well, I might be able to pop in tomorrow or the day after."

"Alright, we'll have to work on seeing about meeting up schedules. I won't be available tomorrow or Sunday, but Rio will. You can meet her if you wind up coming over. I think we should definitely start keeping communication as open as we possibly can. I've got a feeling we're going to need it," Jeff sighed.

"Agreed," came the inevitable chorus.

"Alright, well, time to sign off, talk to you all later," Porker said. "Thanks for being in this."

"No place I'd rather be," Peter answered without thought.

"I hear that," Rio sighed. "Thank you for everything, we'll see you later, Peter B, Porker. MJ, I hope that we'll get to meet face to face, soon."

"Goodbye!" MJ called out, "It was absolutely wonderful to hear all of your voices. Thank you for sending Peter home to me, and for the chilaquiles. It's been a pleasure. It was also very nice to hear from you, Porker, Peter told me about you, so it was very good to hear your voice."

"Oh! Well, it was good to hear yours, too! Peter B's absolutely smitten with you, so it's nice to hear that you live up to the hype," he teased, and MJ laughed. "Goodbye, guys."

"Goodbye!" Came the chorus and they finally hung up. For a moment silence rang in the kitchen as they digested what had just happened, the plan, such as it was, and where it would take them.

Peter sighed, giving MJ's hand a last firm squeeze.

"Thank you," Peter said softly. "For giving us another chance, for…for forgiving me when I really don't deserve it… Thank you for being there."

"There's no place I'd rather be."

…..

Rio huffed a sigh as the line went dead and Porker hopped from his place on the dresser.

"Thank you both for being so willing, I promise that as soon as I can I'll be back to help you out with things. You've got lives, too, none of us want to encroach," Porker said, smiling up at them.

"It's no trouble, really," Rio said, and her voice was firm. "I appreciate what you did for my son, and we saw you move to protect us when you thought we might be in danger. I appreciate what you've done as well."

"Rio's right, it could have turned out so much worse if you hadn't been there," Jeff said. "Really, we don't mind."

"Good, okay. Do you mind if I say goodbye to Miles before I leave?" Porker asked. "Pete's probably still going to be out of it, but you've got a good kid on your hands, I'd like to say bye."

"Of course!" Rio said, waving her hands.

"Absolutely, I'm sure he would be glad you said goodbye, too," Jeff said. "We meant what we said about babysitting, though I'm not that sure you'd be able to use our currency," he said with a big smile on his face and a tease in his eyes..

"Currency?" Porker asked, frowning, and then blinked. "Oh! No, no, I was really, honestly joking. Hanging out with those kids is reward enough for me. I like the opportunity to help them. It's…nice."

Rio smiled, unable to help it as Porker gave a shrug and then turned on his heel smartly and marched out of the room. Jeff leaned into her then, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Love you," he hummed in her ear. "I don't know how I got lucky enough to have you."

Rio laughed, before kissing him in turn. "I think the same thing to myself every day. Now come on, Cursi, let's go say goodbye and check on the kids."

"Coming," Jeff said, grinning, and followed her out, his hand in hers.

Porker was in the middle of tiptoeing towards Miles, the exaggerated movements almost enough to send their kid into fits of laughter. He was pressing a hand to his mouth, eyes bright with mirth as he watched Porker take steps that were so giant, they were taller than the pig was, each foot placement as slow as he could make it. Pete was in a nest of pillows and blankets that Miles was resting against, obviously deeply asleep. Rio took her phone out and snapped a few photos, smiling as wide as possible, leaning back against Jeff as she watched.

Porker finally made it level with them and said something quietly, Miles' smile finally visible as he lowered his hand. He nodded his head and held his phone out, showing Porker something, which caused an exaggerated double-take before he began nodding his head, saying something affirming that they couldn't hear. Porker hesitated, and then held his arms out in an offer, Miles immediately hugging the pig tightly, before they pulled away and Miles grinned at him again, holding out a fist that the pig bumped and then the two of them parted.

Porker walked over to Jeff and Rio, gave them a nod each, "I'll remind Peni to let us keep in touch," he whispered, and then called on a portal. Porker saluted, before jumping into the portal, vanishing as soon as it closed.

The only one left was Pete.

Miles looked up at them, his eyes warm, and then looked down at Pete with a slight frown. Rio made her way over, sitting down next to the two of them. Jeff was right behind her, though he stood a little bit away from the both of them. The incident with the spidersense was hard to forget.

"Hola, mijo," she hummed softly, and Miles gave her a lazy grin.

"Hola, mami," he responded equally softly.

"How's the patient?" She asked, reaching out to ruffle Miles' hair. Miles ducked away, laughing quietly.

"Sleeping," Miles whispered. "He hasn't woken up at all. I think he's exhausted."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Rio hummed. She looked at Pete, feeling a desire to run her fingers through that black, chopped-up mess he called hair, but refraining. She didn't know how he would react, and she didn't want to wake him. "How are you, Miles?" She asked. "It's been a very busy couple of days. It had to have been so scary…"

"It was," Miles agreed. "But it was also kind of nice…" he paused. "I got to meet a bunch of new people, you know? And they're all superheroes, so that's pretty cool." He gave a lazy sort of grin and Rio laughed under her breath, hearing Jeff give his own huff of laughter behind her. "Thank you for letting them stay. Will…will they come back; do you think?"

"They've got a standing invite," Jeff said. "Porker and Peter B both have offered to babysit," he teased.

"Aw, dad, I don't need a babysitter," Miles immediately complained, Rio and Jeff both laughing under their breath.

"Whatever you say, mijo," Rio laughed. "What have you been up to?"

Miles held up his phone immediately, showing… "Looking up black and white photography," he explained, scrolling up and showing them the small photo gallery he had made that showed different black and white photographs. The photos depicted everything from birds, to architecture, to people. "I also looked up the history of television so I could show Pete how we got from a mechanical television to the one we had now. Did you know that television used to run on radio waves?" He asked, staring at her with wide eyes. "At least the first one did. It was also an inch by inch screen that was projected onto a spinning disk!"

"No, I had no idea," Rio shook her head, her eyebrows arched in interest at the new knowledge. "That is pretty loco. Why the photography?"

Miles hesitated, looking at Pete and then looking at Jeff and then back to her. He leaned a little closer to her, Rio and Jeff immediately leaning towards him. "He saw a black and white movie earlier and asked if our world had been like his," Miles whispered. "He was…pretty upset when I told him it wasn't. I wanted to show him how big black and white photography is here, even in a world filled with color. I think he'd like to see that we think that it's still…" he hesitated, holding a hand out as though grasping for a word, "Fresh, or beautiful, or something, I don't know what word he'd get."

"I think that's a wonderful idea, Miles," Jeff praised. "I think he'd really like that."

"I was also thinking of showing him a bit of color theory," Miles said, grinning brightly after the original praise. "He wants to learn colors, and it would be nice to do, especially if he's going to be stuck here for a while."

"That's good, Miles, that's a great idea, where does your homework feature into that?"

"Aw, dad, it's a Friday. I'll pick up my homework tomorrow from Ganke and I'll be able to do it over the weekend. It won't be a big deal," Miles protested. "I'll have plenty of time to do that and hang with Pete."

"That's true," Jeff acknowledged, smiling. "I'm going to help your mom with the dishes and get stuff cleaned up."

Miles eyes widened, "Oh man, I didn't even think about that!" he said softly. "You sent them away before they had time to help… I'm sure they would have…"

"It's alright, Miles, a lot of it was already cleaned up by the time we finished. They practically licked the plates clean," Rio said, grinning. "Though Porker's table… Maybe we can push it off to the side later? Pete might be able to help us move it when he wakes up, provided he can even stand upright. It's awkward and I don't want your dad to move it on his own, it might scratch up the linoleum."

"I can help," Miles immediately said, holding his hand up.

"No, that's kind of you, but that's a pretty big table. It feels like solid oak, honestly. I have no idea how Porker fit it into his pocket…" Rio frowned, putting her hands on her hips.

"It's a pocket dimension," Jeff said, grinning, and there was a brief round of snickering. "Alright, I'm gonna help your mom clean up…"

Pete shifted suddenly at the words spoken above the low murmur they had been using this far, giving a soft sound, and actively going to push himself up. Miles freaked, jumping up and away from him, the movement completely unexpected. Rio immediately went to grab Pete under the arm before he could fall and hurt himself, Pete jerking back from her reach, the movement sloppy, but effective. Rio hadn't even gotten a chance to touch him, which was lucky. It looked like he wasn't quite able to control his sticking, one of the pillows stuck to his chest. If she had touched him and he stuck to her as he pulled away, he might have hurt her. He turned blurry eyes her way, blinking heavily, and letting out a sleepy mumble that she couldn't understand.

"Pete," Rio started, her voice low and soft. "What's wrong? Are you okay? What happened?"

Pete rubbed his face with both hands, before looking at her over his fingertips. "Clean?" he finally managed, the word muddled and foggy.

"Oh, Pete, no," Rio hummed, shaking her head. "No, you don't need to help, you need to rest."

"Many hands," he mumbled, drooping further. "Help."

"Nope," Jeff said, taking a step forward. He seemed to realize what he had done almost as soon as Rio did, the both of them freezing to see what he would do, how Pete would react. Pete flinched, leaning away from Jeff, but didn't make a move towards him, his hands moving to the back of his head near the base of his neck as though it pained him. The thought that that was where his spidersense originated from hit her, but he didn't seem to know why it was happening. This led to another thought, a much more somber thought.

He'd only been like this for a little over a year, likely not enough time to engrain what was happening to him in his head properly when he was so tired. Whatever he had reacted to before, however, had been something that was a little more entrenched in his brain. But why would he feel like he needed to clean? Jeff kept his distance, but repeated, "nope. You don't need to help, it's okay. We all have this. You just need to rest."

Pete glared up at him thoughtfully, before shrugging weakly. "'Kay," he slurred. "Sleep now?"

"Ye-"

"No, hold on," Miles said suddenly, her son holding his hands out towards Pete. "Come on, you're with me."

Pete allowed Miles to touch him, slinging his arm over his shoulder, stumbling to his feet as Miles helped him upright. Miles helped walk him to his bedroom, Jeff and Rio both following as he walked, and Pete stumbled towards it. They watched from the doorway as Miles shoved the door open wide with his foot and brought Pete over to the bed. Pete flopped face-first into it immediately as soon as his knees knocked into it, just barely avoiding hitting his head on the wall. Miles had been pulled with him, and the two lay in a tangle of sheets and limbs for a moment. Miles flailed slightly before almost seeming to give up, becoming boneless.

"Help," he muffled into the sheets.

Jeff snorted with laughter and moved to help extricate him as Rio hid a laugh behind her hand. The fact that Pete didn't react beyond another soft hiss as Jeff carefully lifted an arm off of his son was enough to let them know that he'd likely sleep for a long time, and probably not remember what happened when he woke up. Jeff picked Pete up carefully once Miles was away from the taller teen and placed Pete on the bed properly as Miles pulled the sheets down, easily covering Pete up after he laid him down with his head on the pillow.

Pete hummed, and curled up almost immediately, his back to the wall, occupying as little space on the bed as possible. He was dead to the world within seconds.

"Well…" Jeff said, sighing, and taking the pillow that had fallen off of Pete as soon as they'd gotten him on the bed, in his hands. "I guess that's one way to get him to go to bed."

"It's odd that he'd react like that," Rio said softly, frowning. "He's obviously had it drilled into him that he's supposed to help. I wonder by who."

"Or what for," Jeff added. "Why here, Miles?" he finally asked, looking at his son with a raised eyebrow.

"He wouldn't have to climb the stairs, and I can teach him color theory easier whenever he wakes up. Besides, the sheets are all clean, it's fine," Miles waved off the question. "Now I can help you clean."

"Alright," Rio agreed. "Thank you, Miles. You're right, this is probably a good place for him to rest, now come on, we've got some cleaning to do. We'll talk about our own personal game plan as a family before he wakes up. We've got a lot to discuss."