1 Week Later

He had torn the ferry apart.

All Peter wanted was to help someone, anyone, and chasing down the Vulture had seemed like the right thing to do. Maybe if Peter had caught him, then he wouldn't feel so alone. He couldn't stand the thought that he was sick and would soon be unable to do anything. Maybe if he caught the Vulture, then he wouldn't feel so worthless.

Mr. Stark's suit flew up behind him.

"Previously on 'Peter Screws the Pooch' I told you to stay away from this. Instead, you hacked a multi-million dollar suit so you could sneak around behind my back doing the one thing I told you not to do."

"Is everyone okay?" Peter asked, feeling guilt and anger boil inside of him.

"No thanks to you," the suit responded.

Peter felt his anger boil over. "No thanks to me?!" he exclaimed, "Those weapons were out there and I tried to tell you about it but you didn't listen! None of this would've happened if you had just listened to me! If you even cared, you'd actually be here."

The Iron Man suit opened and the one and only Tony Stark stepped out, anger plastered all over his face.

Peter stepped back, trying not to put his weight on his right leg so he wouldn't aggravate his hip.

"I did listen, Kid. Who do you think called the FBI, huh? Do you know that I was the only one who believed in you? Everyone else thought I was crazy to recruit a fourteen year old kid."

"I'm fifteen," Peter mumbled, unable to let that mistake slide.

"No, this is where you zip it!" Mr. Stark exclaimed, getting into Peter's face, "Alright, the adult is talking. What if somebody had died tonight? Different story right? Cause that's on you. And if you die, I feel like that's on me."

Peter swallowed hard. Now was definitely not the right time to tell Mr. Stark that he could be dying. But his death was not going to be on Mr. Stark. It was going to be on an illness neither of them could control.

"I don't need that on my conscience."

"Yes, sir." Peter responded, trying to hold himself together. He could not cry in front of his mentor. If he did, he'd have to tell him everything.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it."

"I just wanted to be like you!" For as much time as I have left, he thought.

"And I wanted you to be better." Mr. Stark responded.

Peter looked away. He couldn't bear to look his mentor in the eyes after a statement like that.

"Okay, it's not working out, I'm going to need the suit back," Mr. Stark said almost nonchalantly.

"For how long?" Peter said in disbelief. He needed to be Spider-man for as long as he possibly could, because soon he would be too sick.

"Forever."

"No, no, no, please, please, please you don't understand! Please, this is all I have! I'm nothing without this suit!" Especially now.

"If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it."

Then I'm nothing.

—

After a long and tiring walk back to his apartment, which he admittedly shouldn't have taken in his condition, but he was too prideful, Peter knocked on his apartment door.

May stormed off as soon as she saw him.

"I've been calling you all day, but you didn't answer your phone!" she cried, "You can't do that! And then this ferry thing happens. I've called five police stations. Five! I called five of your friends, I called Ned's mother…"

"May! I'm okay!" he answered, tears in his eyes again, "Honestly, just relax, I'm fine!"

"Cut the B.S.!" She said, making a slicing motion with her hand, "I know you left detention. I know you left the hotel room in Washington. I know you sneak out of this house every night. That's not fine. Peter, you have to tell me what's going on! I know your diagnosis was hard on you, it's hard on me too, but…"

"I lost the Stark internship," Peter said, tears finally falling.

"What?"

"Yeah."

"What happened?"

"I just thought I could work really hard, and he wouldn't, you know."

"Oh, it's okay, it's okay," May said, rubbing his back. "Have you told him about your diagnosis? Was that it?"

"No, I haven't told him! It wasn't that. I screwed it up. I'm sorry I made you worry."

"You know, I'm not trying to ruin your life."

"Yeah, I know," Peter sighed, "Cancer is though."

"It is, but that's no excuse. I used to sneak out, too. It doesn't help anything, it really doesn't."

"Okay," Peter replied, nodding.

"Okay. Go take a shower. You smell like garbage."

—

May convinced him. He had told her how much he liked Liz and she had encouraged him to ask her to the Homecoming dance. He never, ever thought that she would actually say yes.

At least he got one more fun thing to do as a normal kid before his treatments started. Who was he kidding? He had never been normal.

Peter was all set for the night. He bought a boutonniere and knocked on Liz's door, fully prepared to have the night of his life.

But then he had been there.

The Vulture.

If he had met the Vulture as Peter instead of Spider-man and Liz hadn't been there, he knew he would have reacted differently. But Liz was there and the Vulture was her dad.

So Peter had to play it cool so that she would not find out. He managed until they arrived at school.

"You head in there, gumdrop. I'm going to give Peter the 'dad talk'."

Peter couldn't help but swallow convulsively.

"Don't let him intimidate you," Liz said, rolling her eyes. "Love you," she said, kissing her dad on the cheek.

"Love you, gumdrop."

"Have a safe flight."

Mr. Allen turned around with a gun in his hand as soon as Liz had closed the door behind her and gone up the stairs.

"Does she know?" he asked.

"Know what?" Peter tried to feign confusion.

"So she doesn't," Mr. Allen or the Vulture, responded. "Good. Close to the vest. I admire that."

Peter took a deep breath. This wasn't how he wanted tonight to go.

"I've got a few secrets of my own," Mr. Allen continued, "Of all the reasons I didn't want my daughter to date," he shrugged, making a face.

"Peter, nothing is more important than family. You saved my daughter's life. And I could never forget something like that, so I'm going to give you one chance. You ready? Walk through those doors and you forget any of this happened. And don't you ever, ever interfere with my business again. Cause if you do, I'll kill you and everybody you love. I'll kill you dead. That's what I'll do to protect my family, Pete. You understand."

Peter nodded, looking down. He couldn't help but feel like a little kid afraid of the monster under his bed.

"Hey," the man continued, "I just saved your life. Now what do you say?"

Peter slowly looked up, realizing that his last night of freedom to be a normal kid was shot. He couldn't not stop the man now.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," the man nodded. "Now, you go in there and you show my daughter a good time. Just not too good," he said, a slightly wicked grin on his face.

Peter walked into the school building, a sense of dread overtaking him.

"I have to go," he told Liz as soon as he approached her.

He then ran to the back of the building, retrieving his original suit and web shooters as he went.

—

There was fire, smoke, and ash all around him. It was hazy and dark and he could barely see.

Peter shifted, trying to get the heavy weight off of himself.

He peeled his mask off and breathed heavily, trying to see better and get a better feel for his surroundings. He felt desperate, afraid, alone. He panicked.

"Hello?!" he called, hoping someone would answer and save him.

"Hello! Please, somebody, please! I'm down here, I'm stuck! I'm stuck, I can't move!"

His breathing slowed as he tried to calm down. He found himself gazing into a puddle of water below him.

In it, he saw his own reflection. His face looked scared and alone. Like a terrified little kid. His mask had dropped into the water and covered half of his reflection. When he saw that, he remembered who he was.

"If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it." He heard Mr. Stark's voice say in his head.

"Come on, Peter," he whispered to himself, slowly gaining courage.

"Come on, Spider-man. Come on, Spider-man. Come on, Spider-Man." He chanted the mantra over and over, until he knocked the concrete off his back and stood in the rubble.

As soon as it was off, he chased after the Vulture. He had a villain to catch, after all.

—

Peter couldn't help but pass out when he hit the ground. His whole body ached. More than usual, in fact. That makes sense, he thought groggily to himself, you did just fall from the sky.

As soon as he woke up, he peeled the mask away from his face and stood up, attempting to get rid of the vertigo threatening to take him under again.

The next thing he knew, the Vulture was flying right at him.

"Hey Pedro," he said cruelly, flying towards Peter again.

Peter rolled of the way as quickly as he could, which admittedly, wasn't that fast because he just fell from the sky.

Suddenly, the Vulture had Peter in his talons and was hitting him on the side of the head. Peter grimaced as the Vulture swooped up. He reached for the talons so he could free himself.

He succeeded, but ended up in a free fall which landed him on the sandy ground.

The Vulture grabbed him again and pounded him mercilessly into the ground.

Peter rolled over and spat sand out of his mouth and tried to remember how to breathe as the Vulture picked him up by the hood like a rag doll.

He was then unceremoniously dropped and Peter could vaguely hear the Vulture say, "Bingo."

Peter looked up slowly to see the Vulture stealing a box. He didn't care about that anymore. What he found he cared about, however, was the fact that Mr. Allen's wings were about to explode.

"Your wings, sir!" he yelled, "Your wings are going to explode!"

He slowly lifted his throbbing arm and shot a web at the Vulture.

"Time to go home, Pete," the Vulture said, smiling.

"I'm trying to save you!" Peter yelled, insisting as he was thrown back when the Vulture cut his web.

He tried in vain to shoot again, but he was out of fluid.

So he covered his head as the wings exploded.

He stood up and adrenaline took over as he ran into the flames to find the father of the girl he liked.

Peter lifted the burning rubble off of the man and carried him out of danger. He did what the Vulture did not do. He saved his life.

He lay on the sand coughing and he found just enough strength to stand and do what needed to be done. He webbed the man to a stack of crates and left a note that read, "FOUND. Flying Vulture Guy. Spider-man. P.S. Sorry about your plane."

Peter walked a few steps away before his body couldn't take it anymore and he fell into darkness.

—

A/N: I'm really sorry if anyone's bored with cannon things as this is an AU, but this is probably one of the last chapters that is heavily cannon. Other cannon events will make an appearance eventually, but probably not as heavily.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the reviews!