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Chapter Five

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Tony finally breathed a sigh of relief now that he had Peter… safe in his arms. He had waited until the red-headed girl had closed the door to her apartment before he had finally turned to the door right next to it…

Peter had been missing in the apartment next door the entire time… It would have been funny in its irony if Tony and May hadn't been so worried about him.

Tony walked up to the Parker's door, and opened it with any preamble. May Parker was just as he had left her - pacing and biting her nails with anxiety.

But that stopped as soon as she noticed Tony standing in the doorway, with a spider-clad superhero draped over his shoulder…

"Oh, thank God!" May exclaimed, stepping forward immediately, as though she intended to take Peter right out from Tony's arms and into her own.

"Careful," Tony said, as he closed the door behind him, then proceeded to walk forward towards Peter's bedroom. "Apparently, he has hit his head… He might not be fully healed, yet."

May nodded, and ran forward to get the door to Peter's bedroom open.

The room was a mess… just as Tony expected any teen-aged boy's room to be. But that hardly concerned him now, as he set Peter down onto the single-bed mattress.

"Do you know what happened?" May asked anxiously behind him.

Tony hit the spider emblem on Peter's chest, loosening the suit so that he could get it off of him. "Well, a girl had found him unconscious in an alleyway… She told me that a building had exploded and that she saw Spider-Man hit his head on a metal garbage can, before falling to the ground. He must have been thrown through the air by the impact of the blast." Tony slipped the loose red and blue material off of the teen's body, leaving him clad in only his boxer briefs. A quick scan of Peter's body told him that the girl had been right that he had only a few scrapes and bruises. There had to have been a real nasty bruise on his right side, but it was now a dark, yellowish color… meaning that it was almost healed.
Then, finally, Tony took off the mask… revealing the blissfully unaware face of Peter Parker as he slept.

Tony looked over to May, and it was clear that she was trying to keep her emotions in check… for the sake of finding out answers. "So… So, he hasn't woken up since?"

Tony shook his head. "No. The girl that found him said that he was awake a little while ago, and actually very talkative… which is a good sign. Normal behavior for Peter."

May's brows furrowed in confusion. "Then why didn't he come home? Or at the very least, call! He had to have known that we were worried about him…!"

Sighing, Tony ran a hand down in face. This was going to be difficult… "Well, the girl said that… well, he has amnesia, May."

May's eyes widened, and she just stared at him as though he had grown two heads. When she finally moved, it was to pull out the desk chair so that she could fall into it. She bent over, resting her head in her hands, looking thoroughly exhausted. "Am-Amnesia?"

Tony nodded, even though she wasn't even looking at him. "But the girl also said that memories were starting to come back to him." Tony tried to reassure. "It's his super healing ability at work. She even said that he remembers bits and pieces of me, so it won't be too long before he regains all of his memories. What would take the average person months to years to remember, it will only take Peter up to a couple of weeks, at the most."

May finally looked up, her face set fresh with a whole new set of worries. "So, this girl… who found him… we have to worry about her knowing his secret identity?"

Tony shook his head as he smiled slightly at the integrity of the red-headed girl who had saved and protected his honorary-almost-son. "She said that it didn't feel right to take the mask off when Peter was so helpless. He could have been found by someone worse… we're lucky he didn't."

May nodded, looking relieved. "I'm just glad that he's alright…"

"Yeah…" Tony said, looking at Peter with masked emotion. "He'll be alright. He's strong." Then he turned to May, and held out his hand to her, helping her to her feet.

"Let him rest… His mind, and body for that matter, needs it." He led her to the door, May looking back at her nephew as though she were reluctant to leave him, even for a second. Tony smiled, May was a good Aunt. "Besides, you look like you could use a strong cup of coffee."

May looked at him then, and finally smiled slightly at him. "I think that I'm going to need something a lot stronger than coffee…"

Tony nodded, as he closed the bedroom door behind him, leading them both to the kitchen. "Irish coffee, it is!"

…

The first feelings of awareness that had reached him was that he was too hot. Almost unbearably so. Enough for it to wake him out of sleep. It had to have come from the thick blanket that he felt draped over his body. He wondered when that was put on him.

The second thing that he was aware of were the fingers running through his hair, brushing it away from his forehead.

It felt nice.

"Hmmm…" He groaned out, his eyes still closed, enjoying the comforting feeling. "Mary Jane…"

The fingers paused, before a voice rang out, interrupting his half-sleep. "Who's Mary Jane?"

His eyes snapped open wide.

It wasn't a voice that he was familiar with… only… at the same time, it was familiar.

His gaze met with the brown eyes of a middle-aged woman. She had long, brown hair which was parted down the middle, and pinned up by a large hair clip.

He panicked. Shooting up from his prone position on the bed, he jumped back so that he latched onto the wall - cornering himself protectively, just as a spider would.

"Wh-Who are you?!" He exclaimed as he stared holes into the strange woman's face. "Where's Mary Jane?!"

He started to hyperventilate, his chest heaving as he took in his surroundings. It wasn't the room he had fallen asleep in. "Where even are we?!"

The woman stared back at him, her mouth open, as though she intended to speak - but couldn't find the words - and her eyes were sad…

Why were they sad?

"What did you do to Mary Jane?!" He exclaimed, his tone getting sharper as the urgency of the situation started to settle in. "If you hurt her, I'll-"

"I haven't hurt anyone." The woman interrupted, seeming to finally have found her voice. Her voice consoling, though it sounded forced. "I was just in here to make sure that you were alright."

This caused him to pause. And he looked at her skeptically, trying to study her to see if she were actually being truthful with him.

When out of the corner of his eye, he noticed his arm… his bare arm!

He gasped as he looked down at himself. What happened to his suit?!

No, no, no, no, no! This was a nightmare! Now this strange woman knew his secret identity! Mary Jane had told him that he shouldn't take his suit off, but here he woke up in a strange place without it!

"Where's my suit?!" He asked, panicking, his chest heaving once again.

When suddenly, the door opened…

"Hey, Kid," Tony Stark said from the open doorway, holding his hands up in a reassuring manner. Apparently trying to calm him down.

"T-Tony?" He asked, completely shocked by the man's sudden appearance.

Tony nodded, smiling slightly as he walked closer. "That's right, Kid. Look, I know that it must be scary and disorienting to wake up in a place that you don't recognize, but you are safe here… in fact, this is your bedroom."

He looked around the small room with new eyes… it wasn't familiar to him at all. But it had to be his, because Tony said that it was.

His eyes shot back to the woman, who was staring back at him with sad and imploring eyes. "Th- I mean, if you say that this is a safe place, then who is she?"

He nodded at the woman with his head, indicating to her, as his hands still kept him attached to the wall.

Tony frowned at the question. "Now don't go hurting her feelings, Kid… This is your aunt. Don't you remember anything about her?"

He stared back at the woman, eyes going wide as it was revealed what she was to him.

"A-Aunt…?"

Then suddenly, a memory came to him.

It was the woman - his aunt - in front of him. He was young… no older than seven years old.

His aunt walked towards him, a slight, sad smile on her lips, and her eyes red-rimmed.

Then she had knelt down in front of him, getting right to eye-level as she took both of his hands into hers. "Peter… you-you're going to be staying with your Uncle Ben and I from now on…"

His younger self started to cry, and shook his head fervently. "No... I don't want to! I want to live with my mom and dad...!"

He saw as tears slipped down his aunt's cheeks, as she looked down at their clasped hands. "Your parents, Peter… they loved you so very much. But they are in a better place now, a place they can't come back from."

He started to cry even harder. Not wanting to believe it.

"I know it's hard…" His aunt continued. "And I know that your Uncle Ben and I can't ever replace your mom and dad, but we are going to love you just as much as they did. In fact, we already do. As though you are our own son… We love you, Peter…"

He was brought back from the memory… and just as the others, it had been so vivid as it played in his mind.

And he realized that tears had leaked out from his eyes and onto his cheeks as he was brought back to the present.

"A-Aunt May?" He said, as he looked at the woman before him who had practically raised him.

A relieved smile came to his Aunt May's tear-stained face. "Y-You remember me?"

He nodded slowly, and let himself slide down from his position on the wall, landing on the mattress. "I remembered the day you told me that I was going to live with you and Uncle Ben…"

He brought a hand up and rubbed at his head, as though he were trying to will more memories to come back to him. Then he looked back up at the two adults who were willing him to say more with their eyes. "M-My name is Peter, isn't it?"

Aunt May grinned and nodded excessively, choosing to stand and went to sit next to him as she grabbed his hands in both of hers. "Yes, Peter. That's your name. Thank God it's starting to come back to you! I was starting to worry that it wouldn't come back to you, at all!"

She let go of his hands and pulled him into her arms, squeezing him tight against her. Peter followed willfully, even though he hardly knew much about the woman who was holding him… But it still felt nice to be cared for in this very confusing time.

"My parents are dead… aren't they?" He said suddenly, his voice emotionless. Aunt May froze as his tactless remark registered with her.

"Yes."

Her answer sounded simple, but held within it a voiceless, heavy weight.

Peter swallowed. "H-How?"

Aunt May pressed him further into her, running her fingers through his hair once again. "It was a plane crash…"

Peter nodded, not really knowing what to feel. If anything, he felt terrible for not remembering anything about the two people who had created him.

"And Uncle Ben…?" Peter asked, his voice quiet. "Where is he?"

Aunt May stiffened, and Peter knew that he had his answer.

"It's just us then?" Peter asked, before she was forced to say anything to him that brought up painful memories for her.

Aunt May nodded against him, the movement causing her head to hit against his own.

Tony chose that moment to clear his throat. "Look, I may not be family… but, well, the two of you aren't alone."

Peter peaked over at the man before him, somehow knowing that it was uncomfortable for Tony to reveal so much about his feelings… and it meant all the more to Peter knowing that Tony only did so because he cared about them.

So, Peter smiled at Tony… a closed mouth one that let the man know that he understood, and felt the same way.

Peter backed away from Aunt May's embrace, looking down at his hands with a thoughtful expression. "I know that this isn't going to be easy… with my memory on the fritz for a while. And I'm sorry for how I acted when I woke up, May. But I'm really going to be needing your help for a while…"

May nodded excessively, her hand went back up to brush back his hair. "You can take all the time that you need, sweetheart. We'll be there for you every step of the way." She looked up at Tony, an imploring look in her gaze. "Isn't that right, Mr. Stark?"

Tony stared at them, seeming to be at a loss for words, before he softened. "Of course. I'll just have to speak to Happy and Pepper… work a few things around."

Peter beamed at him, and that look seemed to make it all worth it to Tony. Tony turned, cell phone in hand, going to the other room to make the intended calls.

When Peter and Aunt May were alone, Peter turned towards her, questions in his eyes. "So… What did happen to Mary Jane?"

Aunt May frowned. "I'm not sure who you are talking about, Pete."

Peter's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, thinking about the beautiful, red-headed girl who had taken care of him in his time of need. "She was the girl that found me in the alleyway."

"Oh!" Aunt May's entire expression lightened. "I'm not sure… I didn't meet her. All I know is that Tony left to get you last night, and he came back with you. You were draped over his shoulder, so deep asleep and blissfully unaware to the world…"

She poked him teasingly, but Peter didn't have the heart to even muster a smile.

"So… We didn't even get the chance to say goodbye?"

….

"Fucking Spider-Man…" Flint Marko muttered, sitting in his jail cell next to some hot shot named Mac Gargan.

Flint was royally pissed. And when he wasn't pissed, he was downright terrified of the Big Man coming after them.

After Spider-Man had swung off the night before, leaving them all webbed to surfaces inside of the van, they had waited for Tony Stark's men - or robots - to come collect them for the Avengers Prison.

Only, they hadn't shown up…

Instead, the cops had been the ones to show up.

"There has to be some mistake!" Flint had yelled as they police cuffed him. "Tony Stark is supposed to be coming for us for the Avengers Prison!"

"Sure, sure…" One of the cops said, his voice thick with bored sarcasm, as he pushed Flint's head down to get him in the back of the cruiser. "And I've got a secret love-child with the Hulk."

Now he was a sitting duck in this jail cell… waiting for the Big Man to arrive to make him a dead duck…

"I hear you on that one." Mac Gargan commented over on his bed. "That dumbass Wall-Crawler is the reason I'm here in the first place."

Flint grunted, turning his back to his cellmate. "No one cares, Gargan."

Mac let out an annoyed sound, before continuing talking anyways. "You know… the Vulture is here is this joint, as well…"

"Again with the not caring…" Flint hissed, his fists clenching in his annoyance.

If this was how he was going to spend his last hours, he wanted it to be in relative peace.

"I have a theory that my old friend, Toomes, knows the Web-Head's identity."

This peaked Flint's interest, finally turning his head to look at his cellmate. "You don't say…?"

If he had the Spider's identity, maybe he could trade his life for it when the Big Man came for him…!

"Yeah… Toomes says he doesn't know it. Swears up and down. But, you never know…"

Flint scowled, and turned back on his side. A hunch was no information, at all…

"I'm serious, you can tell that he-"

BOOM!

Both men cried out as an explosion blasted the wall out, both cowering and covering their heads.

"Hello, Marko…" A menacing voice came from beyond the flames of the gaping hole.

Flint uncovered his head, staring in horror at the masked man before him.

His time was up…

The Big Man… He was here.

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A/N: I would really appreciate it if you all left me a review! It really encourages me to continue on with this story. Thanks to those of you who already leave me your lovely comments! :)

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