A/N: Holy crap I'm alive!

Sorry for the wait, had a lot of life developments that I had to focus on, and had very little time to work on my stories. I actually started writing this chapter almost immediately after I released the last one, but had no time until recently to actually sit down for longer than 10 minutes to work on it. I've already started writing the next chapter as well, so hopefully that will come out (relatively) shortly.

Thanks for supporting this story, and I hope you enjoy!

Also No Way Home was awesome and there will be absolutely zero spoilers of that here. You're completely safe here.

"You should've called. I was worried."

"I know. I'm so sorry, I just wasn't thinking."

Peter was sitting in the kitchen of his house, a bandage on his cheek, a few bruises on his face, and his long sleeved shirt and pants thankfully covering the worse of his injuries from his Aunt. It was early in the morning, and after a long night, Claire had released Peter from her makeshift office on the condition that he doesn't do anything strenuous for the next few days. Which, of course, means no Spidey stuff. However, he wasn't worried about that at the moment. He had a bigger issue to deal with.

An upset May.

"You know that I'm more than ok with you spending the night with Harry," his aunt told him, "but I had to watch on the news that that crazy Scorpion person and that awful Spider-Man attacked Oscorp, and you didn't even call! I couldn't help but assume the worst!"

"It's ok Aunt May, Harry and I were never over there," Peter lied, feeling a bit guilty for doing so. "We were hanging out at his penthouse the entire time. We had no idea what was happening at the time."

May looked at her nephew, before giving a sigh. "You nearly gave me a heart attack when I saw those bruises."

"Sorry. I...fell down some stairs."

The older woman gave a small smile. "You always were a bit of a klutz."

Peter smiled back. "Learned it from watching you, May," he joked.

"I'll have you know the only time I'm clumsy is when I'm knitting...which is still a lot better than yours, young man." May smiled as she turned towards the stove, calm enough to properly focus on making breakfast for the both of them. "I'm not going to ground you, but in the future if you're going to be out late or not coming home, you need to call. Hopefully that doesn't happen that often. Alright Peter?"

"Sure thing Aunt May," Peter said, inwardly sighing in relief that he not only got through the conversation without revealing his secret, but that he was also able to have his aunt relax a bit after not knowing where he was for a few days. Now that was an achievement. One he will probably never be able to do ever again.

Interrupting his thoughts, the doorbell suddenly rang, grabbing Peter's attention. Aunt May, still finishing up breakfast, turned her head slightly. "Can you get that dear?" She asked.

However, Peter was already getting out of his chair before she finished her sentence, as he walked towards the front door, opening it to reveal Harry Osborn, smiling. "Hey man, good morning!" The son of a millionaire greeted.

"Hey!" Peter responded with a smile on his face, surprised to be seeing him. "What are you doing here?"

"I came by to pick up MJ for school," he answered. "I wanted to see if you needed a ride."

"That sounds great!" Peter said. He knows that swinging to school would likely have been faster, but one, Claire told him no Spider-Man stuff for a few days and he figured that meant web slinging, and two, he wanted to have more time to hang out with Harry and MJ. He hasn't really had the chance lately, with the whole being shot into space and hunted down by six, or seven, of his most dangerous enemies thing.

Man his life was weird.

"Is that Harry?" Aunt May called from the kitchen, making the two teenagers look in the direction her voice came from.

"Yes it is Mrs. Parker!" Harry responded, over Peter's shoulder.

"Would you like to join us for breakfast?" She asked, loud enough for him to hear her.

Peter then looked back at Harry. "She's making wheatcakes..." he said, tempting him.

Harry was quickly considering it. "Well, MJ does take a bit to get ready in the morning...and I haven't had your aunt's wheatcakes in a long time..."

Peter chuckled a little. "Come on in," he told him, as he let the redhead into the house, and led him into the kitchen. Once in the room, they saw Aunt May preparing the three plates, which led to Peter grabbing some napkins, and pouring a few glasses of milk. Harry smiled at the two, as he pulled out a chair and sat down at their dinner table.

"I'm a bit surprised seeing you Harry," May told the teenager, a smile on her face as she served him breakfast. "Haven't you boys spent enough time together the last few days?"

Peter froze for a second, right while he was handing Harry his napkin. The son of a millionaire gave a quick, quizzical look to Peter, as he noticed the almost pleading look on his face. "Well you know what they say," Harry started. "No such thing as too much fun!"

May gave a small chuckle. "I suppose it's only fair hosting you after you had Peter for so long. Heaven knows he will try to eat you out of house and home."

"Hey, I'm a growing boy," Peter joked, relieved as he sat down, eating the food that May served him. The soft, spongy cake's sweet and slightly syrupy flavor danced on his tongue, as delicious as usual. The brunette savored the moment. He was home, he was enjoying his favorite breakfast, and he was surrounded by some of the people who mattered most to him. When he was in the base of the Sinister Six, drowning and being crushed by tons of metal, he had no idea if he was ever going to enjoy this again, and he's not going to take it for granted now that he's here.

At this moment in time, everything was right.

"Everything is wrong."

"What are you talking about?"

Luke Cage and Iron Fist were in the front office of a storage unit complex that had recently been hit, still investigating the Black Cat. Hearing this place got robbed the other night, the Heroes for Hire decided it would be best to check it out. However, the office clerk apparently didn't think so, and rushed the two with a knife.

Which led to Luke Cage casually holding him in a headlock while Iron Fist went through the office's records.

"This ledger," the martial artist stated. "Most of these storage units have incomplete information. Either the name of the renter is omitted, or the items, or both. Apparently they haven't received rent from some of these units for years, but they're still holding materials. "

"Got any explanation for that?" Cage asked the clerk, who was still struggling to get free, and failing miserable.

"Ain't got nothing to say," the clerk simply stated.

"Drop the tough guy act bro," Cage told him, "I can flex my bicep and crack your head like a walnut."

The clerk stopped for a second, and considered this. Eventually he sighed. "Fine, but you can't let this get out otherwise they'll kill me. This storage complex used to belong to Silvermane, but when he croaked, it was taken over by Kingpin."

"That tears it," Cage said. "This is definitely about Kingpin. Every one of her targets have been owned by him, or involve him."

"This place seems pretty inconspicuous though," Iron Fist stated. "I don't know how likely it is that she found this place without knowing someone who already knew about it."

"You think whoever she's working with used to know Silvermane?" Luke asked.

"I think it's pretty likely."

"Hey, can you let me go now?" The Clerk asked, still trying to break free.

"You gonna try to stab us again?" Cage questioned, looking at him.

"No."

"You swear?"

"Yes I swear dammit, please let me go!"

"He did say please," Iron Fist said.

"That he did," Luke agreed, as he let the clerk go. As the clerk rubbed his throat, Cage smirked. "Thank you so much for your time. Hope you have a nice day."

"Screw you," the clerk said, as he sat back at his desk, trying to relax.

"What a lovely guy," Danny said to his friend, as they left the office. They knew they were hot on the trail, but they have no idea how big this situation actually is, or what to do when they finally catch up to the cat thief. All they know is, they need to figure this out, and fast.

"So, Tiger was sneaking around for a few days, huh?"

Peter was in the backseat of Harry's red sports car, the top down as the wind was gently blowing at them as they drove down the streets of Queens, heading closer and closer to Midtown High. In the front seat was Harry, having the time of his life driving, and MJ, who's really enjoying teasing Peter about his situation, which Harry gladly informed her about.

"Apparently," Harry said, a goofy smile on his face. "Told his aunt that he was over at my place the last few days. Want to know where he was?" He asked his girlfriend.

"Yes, yes I would," Mary Jane asked, giving a teasing glance at Peter, who just gave an exasperated look in response.

"Not at my place, that's for sure," Harry answered, giving Peter a look through the rear view window.

"Hmmmmm," Mary Jane dramatically wondered aloud. "And that whole Sinister Six thing was going on while he was gone, right? I think I know where he was."

Peter froze for a split second, not liking where this was going. "You do?" He asked, suddenly a bit worried.

"I do," Mary Jane said, turning around in her seat to look right at him. "You were with Gwen, weren't you?"

Harry suddenly exploded in laughter. "What!?" He asked, incredulously.

"Think about it," MJ said, "Gwen's dad was probably out of the house the entire time dealing with that stuff, her mom is out of the country for work, and May is home every night. So we have innocent little Gwen, home, alone, and we have a red blooded man known as Peter Parker, who has his first real girlfriend."

"But, it's Peter, there's no way-"

"You got me," Peter quickly stated. "That's exactly what happened."

Harry was completely shocked, as Mary Jane took her turn to laugh hysterically. "Look at you!" MJ said in between laughs. "Getting out of your shell."

"Didn't know you had it in you," Harry said, still trying to shake off the surprise of his best friend doing this.

"Yeah, neither did I," Peter said, knowing he has to let Gwen know about this as soon as possible. Hopefully he can send a sneaky text when his friends stop focusing on him.

Harry looked at the brunette teenager through the rear view mirror again. He was honestly surprised that Peter would do something like this. After the past few months of the two's friendship being strained, he guessed there's a chance that Peter changed a little during that time. It might explain some things, honestly. He should probably hang out with him one on one soon, something they haven't really done since they started really talking again.

Mary Jane spoke up, breaking his train of thought. "Think we could pull that off?" She asked her boyfriend, a flirtatious tone in her voice.

Harry chuckled a little. "You kidding? Dad would kill me."

"I'm sure Stormin' Norman wouldn't be that bad," MJ stated.

"Then you obviously don't know him," Harry told her, a little seriously.

Noticing how the conversation was going, Peter decided to cut in. "So, excited to get back to school? I know you are," he asked, joking.

"Puh-lease," MJ intentionally drawled out, "I'd rather go out partying or stay at home doing nothing. You know how great it's been not having homework the past month? I was actually able to relax."

"You know they're gonna go overboard to make up for lost time," Harry chimed in.

"Ugh, don't remind me," Mary Jane said, before looking over at Peter. "Any chance our resident nerds can help us out, or will they be too busy canoodling?"

"Definitely too busy canoodling," Peter teased. "Just going to canoodle away. No time for homework, only the canoodle."

"Please stop saying canoodle," Harry asked.

MJ smirked. "Ca-" she started.

"-noodle," Peter finished.

"I will make you walk," Harry warned, a smile on his face.

"We must say, this recent news is a bit...upsetting."

Norman Osborn was deep in his lab, talking to various government agents and officials via his virtual meeting room. All of their faces were on various screens, as Norman stood before them in his lab coat, arms crossed and a deep frown on his face, a pen in his hand that he absentmindedly clicked every so often.

"Mac Gargan attacking the lab, destroying your work," one official started, "it seems your company might be too volatile for this project."

"I assure you sir," Norman said, trying to keep his composure and temper under control, "that was a one time fluke. We have been getting proper results, our work environment is safe, all employees have been properly vetted to make sure there are no corporate or political spies, and we upgrading our external security to prevent this from happening again."

"And the serum itself?" Another official asked.

"We were able to replicate our latest version very quickly," the millionaire stated, clicking his pen. "There are still some issues we are working on though. We have no current ETA on when they will be fixed, but we are making steady progress. Are there any other questions?"

"Yes," another official, this one with his screen off, a faceless avatar replacing it, said. "Do you know who Mac Gargan is?"

Osborn stopped for a moment, and clenched his teeth. "As I made clear, Gargan-"

"Gargan was a petty criminal who was sent to Ryker's for repeated counts of carjacking, petty theft, assault, and breaking and entering," the official continued. "I have his record in front of me. Sentenced to 20 years, but was put into some kind of work release program by prison officials. About a month or so later, he emerged as the Scorpion."

"I don't see how this relates to me," Norman tersely told him, as he started clicking the pen a bit faster.

"After seeing these records for Mr. Gargan, I had my men do some digging, and we saw that the work release program he was put into had other members. Namely, Flint Marko, AKA the Sandman, and the man just known as the Rhino. Of course, both went on to have fights with the Avengers, and Spider-Man. These men, along with Adrian Toomes becoming the Vulture while working with you, show a very concerning pattern."

"As I previously told the government, those men were given their powers by Toomes, who then retaliated against me for bringing his actions to light," Osborn stated, matter-of-factly.

"We are aware of this, Mister Osborn," the official continued. "However, with everything going on, some of us are starting to have second thoughts."

"What are you trying to say?" Norman asked, starting to let his contained anger slip out, the clicking of the pen speeding up.

"What my colleague is saying," another official interrupted, "is that we have been very patient with you, but we are starting to have our reservations. We need actual results, and we need them soon. Otherwise, we will dig more into your actions. And I think we both know you don't want that to happen."

Osborn started at the screens, silent, frustration taking over his face as the clicking kept going and going.

"We will talk to you soon, Osborn," the official finished, before the call ended, the government officials disappearing from Norman's sight.

Osborn grunted in anger, clenching his fist tight and cracking the pen in half, ink dripping from his hand. The government is getting suspicious of him. He needs to figure something out, and fast.

And when he does, they're going to treat the name of Norman Osborn with the respect it deserves.

"You couldn't come up with a better lie?"

"I really couldn't."

The newly returned students bustled through the halls at Midtown High, some happy to be back, some disappointed. Peter and Gwen walked through the halls side by side, as the brunette brought his girlfriend up to speed about his current situation.

"You know Mary Jane is going to bug me aaaallll week about this, right?" Gwen told her boyfriend.

"Try living next to her," Peter told her. "She'll knock on my front door just to gossip." The two kept walking down the halls, looking around at their classmates as they rushed around, chatted with each other, and sifting through their lockers. "It's kinda weird to be back."

"I know," Gwen replied. "I had just got used to not having school, and now here we are. Did not miss the homework. Did miss Doctor Connors though. Did you hear that he has an opening for a paid internship at his lab?"

"Whoa, really?" Peter asked.

"Yeah," Gwen continued. "Apparently Stark Industries donated an extraterrestrial spacecraft to them. Any idea where that came from?"

Peter rubbed the back of his head, "Well, I might have a theory..."

"It was the coolest!"

The pair looked over, to see Flash Thompson talking to Kenny Kong, and a few other people who were on the Football team. "I was walking downtown, trying to find the perfect jacket for coming back to school, and that giant beam of light lit up the sky! It was just like when that alien invasion thing happened a few years back."

"We know Flash," Kong told him. "We all saw it."

"I know you know!" Flash replied, annoyed. "I'm saying that beam was caused by Doctor Octopus! And you know who stopped him?"

"Who?" Randy Robertson asked, apparently not up to date on the news.

"Spider-Man!" Flash told the others. "He kicked the Sinister Six's butts in some underwater base thing and saved the city! By himself! He's the coolest!"

Gwen and Peter just eavesdropped, the jocks not noticing them at all. "That...has to be pretty weird listening to," Gwen stated.

"It really is," Peter replied. "Everyone hates me except the guy who hates me."

"Hey, that might not be true soon," Gwen told him. "I guess the news is reporting that you stopped the Sinister Six."

"I'm sure the Daily Bugle isn't, they would have probably said I was helping them, or..."

Gwen furrowed her brow when she noticed Peter trailed off. "Peter?"

"I was supposed to come into the Bugle every day last week to help out with things," Peter explained, realization etched on his face. "But then..."

"Oh. Oh no."

"I need to get there the second school ends," Peter said, before putting his face in his hands. "I am so fired."

"You're fired!"

He called it.

Like Peter said he would, he had immediately went to the Daily Bugle the second he was done with school for the day, and he was standing before Jonah and Robbie in Jameson's office, noises of construction filling the air as the building was being fixed from the Sinister Six's attack.

"Mr. Jameson, please-" Peter pleaded.

Jonah raised up his hand, cutting him off. Despite the look on his face, Jonah spoke relatively calmly. "Robbie told you our situation. More than I would've liked, but he told you. And even after knowing that, and even after being asked to come in every day, you didn't show up."

Peter went quiet. Jonah's completely right, at least from his perspective. They had no idea that Peter was fighting the Sinister Six. They had no idea that he was recovering from his injuries. He had completely flaked on them when they needed him most, and he had no reason to give for it that didn't involve Spider-Man. Peter looked over at Mr. Robertson, who was looking at the floor with his arms crossed, not angry, but definitely disappointed with the teenager. And that was definitely worse.

"I...I'm sorry," Peter said, not able to say anything else.

Jonah just looked at him, steely-eyed. "Grab anything you have here, say your goodbyes, and leave," he ordered.

Peter simply nodded, and turned around, slowly making his way out of the office. When he left, he walked past Betty, would shared an apologetic look with him, before the teenager left the building, dejected.

Back in his office, Jonah opened his desk drawer, and pulled out a cigar, placing it in his mouth as he looked to find his book of matches.

"It really is a shame," Robbie said, finally uncrossing his arms, breaking the silence in the room.

Jonah, finding his matches, lit one up, lighting up his cigar, and taking a big drag of it. "It is," the editor in chief agreed. "But if we want the Bugle to keep going, we need everyone to be giving their all. Parker's a teenager, they're naturally undependable. Even the good ones..."

Robbie sighed, hating that he has to agree with him. "You have to admit, it's a good thing he wasn't here the other day."

"...yes, it was," Jonah said, as he slowly turned towards the window in his office, as he started to stare off into space. His company is on a worrying downward spiral, he had to fire a photographer he really liked, and he has no idea how to fix things. Jonah took another drag of his cigar. He had a long road ahead of him if he was going to save his life's work.

But first, he needed to put an ad out. If the Bugle was going to last, he needs a photographer he can rely one.

"Robbie, get the word out," Jameson ordered. "The Bugle is officially hiring."

"I have to say Michael, these results are...dire."

In Doctor Connor's personal office in his lab at Empire State University, he and his colleague Micheal Morbius were both sitting down at Curt's old, wooden desk, studying multiple documents that showed some results from a blood test. Curt was absolutely baffled.

"These samples you brought in," Curt started, holding a few of the papers in his only hand and examining them closely, "they're unlike anything I've ever seen. It's almost like blood poisoning, but there's no sign of any type of bacteria that could be causing it. The white blood cells seem to be getting weaker, the red blood cells seem to be carrying less oxygen, it's like...it's like the blood is just failing."

Micheal nodded his head, as he gently brought a mug of coffee to his lips, sipping it as he looked at his friend. "Now you see why I wanted you to look at this," Michael said.

"Of course," Curt agreed, rifling through the papers some more. "Where did you get these samples from in the first place?"

Michael stopped, and calmly set his mug down. "They're from me, Curt. It's my blood."

Dr. Connors froze, before he looked up at the other scientist, his eyes wide. "Michael, I...I'm so sorry. How long...?"

"A few years," Michael said. "I felt sick, but every doctor I went to could not figure out what was happening to me. When I decided to take matters into my own hands, I found this. Unfortunately, that's the only thing I have over those men and women. I can't figure out how to fix it. But you, you're a geneticist like myself. One of the best I ever had the pleasure of working with."

"Michael, I'm flattered," The one armed scientist told him, sorting through the material, "but I honestly have no idea where to even begin."

"You don't understand," Michael said, becoming desperate. "I had blood transfusions, radiotherapy, every kind of modern medicine you can think of. I've run out of options."

The two quietly stared at each other, the gravity of the situation feeling heavy on the two.

"Please Curt, I don't want to die."

"You aren't going to-" Curt cut himself off, before he sighed, looking at the results one final time before putting them down. "Listen, I have an experiment I have been working on. If we alter it a bit, we could help your condition. But I'll need your help to do it. "

Michael smiled in relief. "Thank you, Curt. You're a good man."

"I'm just a scientist," Curt humbly said, before shaking the hand of his friend. "Now how about we change the world?"

"God I feel awful."

Peter was walking to Avengers Tower, going down the busy streets of the city, making his way through the normal crowds of New Yorkers. He was on the phone with Gwen to pass the time, and to talk about what just happened.

"I'm sorry, Pete," Gwen sympathized.

"I mean, they were counting on me and I just completely let them down," Peter stated, slouched as he walked down the sidewalk.

"Babe, you can't beat yourself up over this, you were busy saving a city."

"I know, it's just...I haven't felt like I've been myself lately. Or I've only been a certain part of myself."

"You think you're spending too much time as Spider-Man?"

"I think so," Peter answered. "No school for a month, wasn't able to go into work for weeks, and then all the...other stuff that happened."

"You're walking around a bunch of people right now, aren't you?" Gwen asked, obviously a bit amused. "Hope that's not too weird for you."

"Honestly, I can't believe how weird it is, and that's the problem," Peter responded, as he almost bumped into a guy scrolling on his phone. "I need to be more normal."

"If it makes you feel better, you weren't that normal before you were a superhero either," Gwen joked.

"Thanks babe, you're always so loving and kind towards me," Peter sarcastically stated with a smile on his face, as he walked into the lobby of Stark Tower. "I'm going to see Tony and the others, I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, be nice to yourself!"

"Make me!"

The teenager hung up and shoved the phone back in his pocket, as he looked around the spacious lobby, seeing a few business men and women sitting on the stylish chairs, with even more of them hustling around. Peter, trying not to draw too much attention, walked through the lobby, and past the long, wooden reception desk. He noticed that their wasn't a receptionist behind there, and since he knew his way, he figured he would just go to the elevators. Once there, he reached to push the button to call one of them down.

"Hello, Mister Parker," JARVIS greeted, startling Peter and making him jump before he could press the button. "How are you today?"

"Uh, hey JARVIS," Peter said, as he regained his composure. He looked around, to see that a few people nearby had seen him jump, and were paying attention to his interaction with the AI. "I'm doing ok. Can I-"

"Are you here to see Mister Stark?" JARVIS asked, a bit too loudly for Peter's liking.

"Ah, yep, I have that coffee he ordered!" Peter quickly lied, seeing how many people were paying attention to him, a few obviously curious why a teenager has access to Iron Man himself. "You know, because I'm an intern. Normal intern."

"You do not seem to be carrying any sort of coffee," JARVIS stated, not understanding the situation that Peter was in.

"...I mean I'm here to get his coffee order!" Peter said, nervously chuckling, as a few of the interested people started to walk away. "Please JARVIS for the love of everything let me up there," he whispered.

"Calling elevator now."

"Oh thank god," Peter muttered to himself, slouching as the elevator doors dinged open, letting him quickly step inside before they closed again. He leaned against the wall, listening to the calm and generic elevator music, waiting until the doors dinged again, opening up on the penthouse. "Hey guys, I feel like we need to program JARVIS so he can understand the concept of 'secret identities.' He-"

Peter cut himself off, as he saw Tony, Steve, Natasha, and Clint looking, standing alongside a stoic Nick Fury. The group were all staring at the teenager, who could not read the expressions on their faces. However, the air in the room felt tense. Something was obviously very wrong.

"Is...everything ok?" Peter asked, concerned.

Steve immediately turned towards Fury. "Tell him," he told the director, his voice stern.

Fury cocked his head towards the living legend, silent.

"He's gone through enough, and he deserves to know," Steve stated, his voice hard as steel. "Tell him, or I will."

Fury kept his face neutral, before giving a small sigh, and turning his attention back to the brunette. "Parker, I need you to sit down," he said, as he gestured towards a couch.

"Why?" Peter questioned, suddenly feeling a uneasy.

"We need to have an honest conversation," Fury told him, as he once again gestured towards the couch.

Peter took a second, before he tentatively walked over to the couch, and took a seat. "Ok, what is going on?"

Nick sat down in a chair across from him, tenting his hands together. "We need to talk about your parents."