"Harry?" Peter spoke up. "What are you doing at...if you've hurt her, I swear, I'll..."

"If you want to save your aunt, then hurry up and get over here," Harry replied in a somewhat hushed voice. "I have some information you'll want to know."

"Wait, Harry..."

Peter didn't get to finish; the line died almost as soon as Harry finished speaking. Plagued with uncertainty, his body unleashed a fresh flow of adrenaline that gave him a renewed strength. He quickly grabbed some clothes to throw on over his suit, starting to throw his shirt on before he remembered that the top half of his costume was still back in the living room. Grabbing a pair of jeans and some socks, he sprinted back out, quickly grabbing the rest of the suit.

"Woah, is everything okay?" M.J. asked, her tone controlled but urgent.

"I just got a call," Peter said as he fought against the skintight nature of his costume, finally getting it over his head. "I might have a lead, or it might be a trap; I'm honestly not sure right now, but I have to get to the hospital."

"Are you sure rushing off like this is a good idea?" M.J. asked. "You're still hurt and exhausted; you might not be thinking straight."

"All true," Peter said as he shoved on his jeans and t-shirt, "but this might be my last chance to save her, so I don't think I have much choice."

Once he was as put together as he could get right now, Peter exited through the door with M.J. He was about to take off but stopped himself quickly enough to turn and face her.

"M.J," he said, but found himself stuck there. She didn't say anything though, her expression giving the impression she was holding back her eagerness over what he might say next.

"Thank you," he finally managed to get out. He wanted to say a lot more, but the rest would have to wait for now.

"You're welcome," M.J. replied, her smile tired but no less genuine. She then nodded in the direction of the exit.

"Go get em', Tiger."

Peter didn't need to hear any more as he turned and headed towards the elevator. He had no idea what he was about to walk into, but with May's life more on the line now than ever, he would brace himself for whatever Harry was up to, good or bad.

When he got to the hospital, Peter expected to find Harry waiting for him outside in the front area or something. It made sense to him at least that, if his former best friend wanted to show him that he was indeed on his side, he would try to meet him somewhere relatively public. However, there was no sign of Harry either just outside or in the lobby area, so Peter went straight for May's room, guessing that was where he would find Harry.

Sure enough, when he arrived, Peter saw a hooded figure standing over May's bed, who turned around to show his face.

"Pete, I..."

He wasn't able to get out anything more before Peter grabbed him by his shirt and shoved him up against a nearby wall.

"Alright, here's the deal," Peter spoke up, "you have sixty seconds to tell me why you're here before I haul you straight back to the Vault. Go."

"I saw the news report about your aunt; I know who has the serum," Harry explained, "and I know where you can find them."

"Why should I believe you?" Peter questioned. "How did you even get out anyway?"

"The warden was really someone under Otto Octavius's pay," Harry clarified. "He had him bring me out and take me to where he'd been hiding out at. I managed to get away after we got there, and that's when I started looking for you."

"Doc Ock?" Peter asked. "What would he need May's brain treatment for?"

"I'm not sure," Harry answered, "I got away before he had the chance to explain."

Peter's sleep-deprived brain tried to process all this information. Doctor Octopus had the serum, with some unknown use still intended for it, if he hadn't used it already. It didn't make a lot of sense; even before the accident that turned the formerly timid doctor into the mad, multi-armed scientist he was today, the man had been more focused on technology than anything medicinal. Could this be a trap that they had used Harry to set up?

Then again, Octavius and the other former members of the Six likely didn't care too much for the younger Osborn since, as the Goblin, he had used devices to control them so that they could not rebel against him, faithfully obeying every command of his until the end. It did make sense that they would all want some form of revenge on Harry at least.

Could Peter really trust him now though, when he had given him no reason to?

Peter slowly let Harry down from the wall, at least deducing that he wasn't a threat for the time being.

"Look, we don't have much time," Harry continued, "we need to g..."

They were interrupted by the main doctor who'd been attending to May walking in.

"Peter?" the man questioned. "Where have you been?"

"Sorry doc; I thought maybe I could get the treatment before it was stolen, but I guess I was wrong," Peter replied. No part of what he said was a lie, but he recognized why the doctor was looking at him in a confused manner. The man's face shifted quickly though, looking as if he came bearing bad news.

"Doc," Peter added, "what is it?"

The doc looked past Peter towards Harry, causing him to glance back as well.

"Oh, he's fine," Peter said. "He's with me."

For now, at least.

"Peter, your aunt slipped into a coma a few hours ago," the doctor explained.

Peter just stared at the doctor for a moment before his eyes drifted over to May, his body slowly moving over until he was by her bedside. He looked down at her; she was so peaceful, so content looking, but he couldn't help but wonder if she truly felt that way on the inside.

"What does this mean?" Peter asked, turning back to the doctor. "How much time does she have left?"

The man's expression remained as stoic as he could muster it.

"The chemical infection has picked up speed, causing many of her lower brain functions to shut down," the doctor explained. "Unless somehow that treatment is recovered and she receives it in the next twenty-four hours, she won't make it."

Peter couldn't believe what he was hearing. Ever since the incident that put May in here as a patient rather than a nurse, he knew that she had a timetable, but now, hearing how down to the wire it had gotten, it almost felt like he was the one about to lose his life.

"I'd either start praying for a miracle or think about saying goodbye if I were you," the doctor replied. "I'm truly sorry, Peter."

Peter offered no response, his tongue seemingly locking up, restricting him from speaking. Appearing to understand this, the doctor took his leave, leaving Peter alone with Harry again. He put his arms over his head, weighing his options. He turned and looked at his former best friend, who seemed to be at a loss for words as well yet was looking at him with an almost pleading expression.

Letting his arms fall to his sides, Peter made his decision.

"Alright," he said. Harry nodded, leading the two of them out of the room and down the hall. Before long, the two of them had exited the building, but just before they could make the turn to go anywhere, Peter's spider-sense went off. He held out his arm, stopping Harry as well.

"What?" he asked.

A second later, they were approached by a police officer.

"There you are," the man proclaimed. "Alright, turn around Osborn. Looks like I have to read you your rights again."

Peter looked at Harry, who seemed to be pleading without words for him to do something. He was unsure what he was supposed to do without instantly becoming an accomplice at best though.

"I said turn around," the officer repeated a little more sternly. "Put your hands up."

Harry reluctantly did so, but as the man approached him with cuffs in hand, Peter's spider-sense went off a second time.

What was going on?

"Hold on," Peter spoke up, sticking his arm out in front of the officer, who gave him a questioning look.

"Don't make me arrest you too, son," the man warned. "I don't want any more trouble than I've already got."

"I'm sorry," Peter apologized, removing his arm. "It's just...are you sure this is the right guy? He told me his name was, uh, Ben, Ben Reilly."

"I'm sure," the officer replied, his tone short.

"Come on, don't you want to be absolutely sure?" Peter asked, doing everything he could to stall while his brain tried to deduce what about the man was setting off his spider-sense. "At least ask him to show you an ID or something."

"I'm sure, and I don't have to prove it to you," the officer explained as he cuffed Harry's wrist. "Alright, back to the Vault for you."

As the man turned Harry around and began to walk off with him, Peter's spider-sense went off again, this time even stronger than the previous instances.

"I really hope I don't regret this," he quietly muttered to himself as he decided to act on a hunch he suddenly came up with. Reaching out, he grabbed the officer's arm with one hand while sticking his other one to the man's face, peeling it off to reveal none other than the Chameleon underneath. The man tried to draw a gun on Peter, but Harry came from behind, striking him in the back of the head with both fists, knocking the man to the ground. He tried to get up, but Peter delivered a quick blow of his own, finishing the job and knocking the man out.

"Come on," Peter said, grabbing Harry and quickly taking him to the nearest alley he could find.

"I should've known it was him," Harry remarked.

"Fortunately, that's where a little spider-sense comes in handy," Peter replied.

Once they were deep enough into the alley where they likely couldn't be seen, Peter broke the cuffs from Harry's wrist, with the latter rubbing them with his hands immediately afterward.

"Thanks, by the way," Harry said.

"Don't mention it," Peter replied. "Now, where exactly are we off to?"

About twenty minutes of swinging later, and they had arrived at their destination: an old building over the pier. It was out just a little into the Bay; the surprisingly large building had once been a popular place for hosting fishing contests to see who had the largest catch of the day, though it had since been abandoned, lying unused for many years.

All that to say, it wasn't exactly where Peter had pictured the eight-armed mastermind and his henchmen hiding out, the man's nickname notwithstanding.

"Are you sure this is it?" Peter asked after they landed.

"I'm sure," Harry answered. "This is where Chameleon took me to before I was able to get away."

"Yeah, how did you pull that off anyway?" Peter asked, turning to him. "I know the doc's got an ego, but he's not careless enough to just let someone escape."

"I never saw him," Harry explained, "or any of them. I took the 'warden' out around here and took off in his car before anyone else saw me."

"Wait, you mean you didn't even see any of them?" Peter questioned, his voice rising in agitation.

"He said that there were people in here that wanted to see me?" Harry explained. "Could that really mean anybody else?"

Peter had to admit, he did have a point. He didn't like the thought of basically going blind into a situation like this, not knowing exactly what might await him. This was for May more than anything else though, so he didn't see any other choice.

"Alright," Peter said, turning and webbing Harry's hand to a nearby rail.

"What are you..."

"Making sure you don't go anywhere," Peter explained. "Once this is over, you still have to go back."

Harry looked disappointed only for a moment before his expression turned into one of acceptance.

Peter then leapt up, firing a web to swing headlong into what was likely his last hope at saving May's life.

So, for now I think that we'll wrap up at 29 chapters, but that could change as needed. Regardless, we're almost there!

Hope you all are still enjoying it!

Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." Ephesians 4:2