As soon as May arrived at the Avengers' Compound early the next morning she demanded answers.

"Stark!" she yelled, chasing after him as soon a she got out of the car that had taken her there.

"Mrs. Parker."

She stared him down, fully prepared to slap him if necessary.

"Don't, Stark. Where's my kid?"

"He's…" Tony sighed. This was going to be harder than he thought.

"He got hurt last night."

May's eyes widened, just now noticing the redness around Tony's eyes.

"How? Where? When?"

Tony sighed again and ran his hand over his eyes tiredly.

"There's a lot I need to fill you in on."

Her shoulders slumped in defeat. "Me too."

Tony smiled a little. "I think I know yours, but I highly doubt you know mine."

May sighed and crossed her arms. "Just tell me what's wrong with my kid."

"He was crushed under a building, crash landed a plane, and then pulled a grown man out of a fire."

May looked at Tony incredulously.

"I don't have time for games, Stark! What really happened?"

Tony sighed. "You're going to have to ask him."

May nodded and uncrossed her arms. "Oh, I intend to."

—

Peter sulked in bed. He wanted to be anywhere other than a hospital bed, especially since they were about to become his new normal.

He sighed deeply and winced as the movement hurt his ribs.

Mr. Stark walked into the room. "Good morning, kid!"

Peter groaned. "You're up too early. Especially for you."

"Up too late, you mean. Worrying about you," Mr. Stark replied, a pointed look on his face.

Peter groaned again, then winced again when it shifted his ribs painfully.

"Easy there, kid. Need I remind you of how you spent last night?"

Peter rubbed his eyes. "No."

"Good. Since you're awake, I'll tell you the news."

Peter tried to sit up. "What news?"

Mr. Stark clapped his hands in front of him. "Bruce said that you can start chemo today, as planned."

Peter groaned and laid back down. "Now I wish I hadn't gotten up today."

Mr. Stark sighed. "Don't say that kid. You know you need to start chemo sooner rather than later. It's the only way you can start to get better."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I just spent all night with Bruce trying to find a type of chemo that would work for your spider system. And we did. So, you're starting treatments today."

Peter sulked. "Fine, but you should at least call May."

Mr. Stark grinned. "She's already here." He went over to the door and opened it. "Come on in, Mrs. Parker."

Without any delay, May rushed into the room and Tony made a discreet exit.

"Oh my goodness Peter, what happened?"

Peter sighed as his shoulders slumped with defeat. He did not want to deal with this, not now. He had never wanted May to know. He had never wanted May to worry. And now she had to know because he was pretty sure that the same radioactive spider bite that gave him his powers also gave him his cancer. May deserved to know the truth.

Peter looked up at her, very close to tears. "I'm Spider-man."

"What?" May's lips parted slightly and her eyes widened in disbelief, "I'm sorry, what?"

Peter looked her straight in the eyes. "I'm Spider-man."

May looked at him, "You're serious?"

Peter nodded, eyes wide and serious.

"What the f-, Peter?" May cried, still looking her nephew in the eyes, "How is that possible?"

Peter sighed, tears threatening to fall.

"You remember when I went on that field trip to Oscorp and when I came home I got the flu?"

May nodded solemnly.

Peter nodded, "When I was there, I was bitten by an experimental radioactive spider. When I got better from the flu, I found out that I had powers and so I decided to do good with them. That's when I became Spider-man and started saving people."

May looked at him. "So all this time, you've been late to school, skipping classes, and staying out way too late because you're Spider-man?"

Peter nodded.

"Thank you for finally being honest with me. Is there something else you wanted to tell me?"

Peter nodded again, tear finally starting to fall. "I'm pretty sure the radioactivity from the spider is also causing my cancer."

May's eyes widen again. "What?" she practically whispered.

Peter nodded again, tears now flowing freely. "One of my powers is super healing, meaning I heal from injuries super fast. For a while before I was diagnosed, my healing had started to work less and less. Now it's not working at all. Both Tony and Bruce agree with my hypothesis that it's because of the cancer."

May took a deep breath. "Oh, baby," she said, squeezing his hand. "We'll get through this."

"How do you know?"

May reached out and wiped away his tears. "Because there's nothing we can't get through together."