I am aware that Gwen Stacy's MJ is technically more commonly referred to as Em Jay, but seeing as how i think that's dumb and I hate it...XD XD I'm kidding. I honestly forgot that was the case until after I finished the document and then I went FUCK and tried to change it but then it was so fucking long I gave up and changed it back hhahahah XD XD I'm trying to remember if there's something else I wanted to mention... OH!

Warnings for: night terrors, discussed homophobia (Pete is not homophobic, this isn't about him) death, a bad home life, diiiiscrimination? I think I can call it that...


After it was decided that the rest of the Spiders were going to spend the night waiting for Pete to wake up, they began a one-by-one shuffle back to their own universes to get their things to stay the night. There was no need for Porker to present everyone with pajamas or their toothbrush this time. There was a level of trust there that hadn't been there the first time, and that extended to both sides.

The Spiders trusted that Rio and her family would truly do their best to take care of Pete, and Rio and her family trusted that the Spiders would be on their best behavior and posed no threat. There was quiet talk of who would wind up actually taking the guest room, naturally due to not wanting to leave Pete's side, but since it was on offer there was a general feeling that someone would have to use it.

Rio finally had pity on them after they had argued about it for long enough to reveal that none of them were going to leave Pete's side, and told them that they didn't have to. The circumstances being what they were, it made sense that they wouldn't want to. When everyone had come back with their pajamas and other things, Peni bringing a large stuffed spider, Gwen a sleep-mask, and Porker with an oversized unicorn, they did utilize the guest room as a temporary storage area. It wasn't quite time for bed yet, and there was plenty of catch-up to do. Particularly, Rio thought, in explaining what was likely to happen with Pete, and in asking a few questions to make sure.

The Spiders once again congregated in the kitchen, Peter leaning against the doorframe so he could look out at Pete and make sure that everything was alright with him. Jeff joined him on the other side of the doorway, the two men framing the door, mirrored concern in their features. Rio wished, not for the first time, that Pete would realize just how much her husband cared for him. But that, with a great deal of things, would likely take time.

As it was, they ordered a great deal of takeout, and set to waiting. And, more importantly, to Rio's questions.

"Peter," she started, gaining the man's attention. "You must have suffered a concussion before, yes?"

"Yeah," Peter agreed immediately with a nod. "Absolutely, I've had quite a few. More than I want to think about if I'm being honest… I think I'm lucky my healing is as good as it is, because I do not think I would be moving if it wasn't. Luckily, I can also state that I don't have to worry about brain damage."

"So, Pete's likely to remember everything that happened?" Rio asked, leaning forward against the table from where she sat.

"Oh…" Peter said, frowning, before scratching at the back of his head. "Well, actually…no. I…don't think he will. While I don't usually forget the events leading up to the concussion, I tend to forget what happened afterwards. I can't begin to tell you the number of times I've been in a fight, got a major conk on the head, and then found myself swinging through central park, or curled up with MJ without knowing how I got there, or why."

"Short term memory loss is definitely something we can expect, then?" Rio asked.

"Yes."

"And temporary mood change?" Rio asked. Peter hesitated, before sighing, looking at Pete quietly.

"Yeah," he agreed. "MJ always told me I seemed happier after a concussion. Like being drunk, only…not."

There was a quiet pause after that statement, the whole of them taking that in.

"He won't remember any of this, huh?" Miles asked.

"No," Rio affirmed, shaking her head. "I don't think he will."

"He is going to be so confused when he wakes up," Porker said, his voice almost gleeful. "We'll have to be sure to set him straight, though."

"Should we tell him what he told us?" Peni asked. "Some of it…" she hesitated. "Well, if it was me, I don't think I would have wanted to say it if I was Pete."

"We should tell him that he told us that he was spying on the KKK, that he had a friend named Robbie, and that he was working with Luke Cage, Matthew Murdock, and Jessica Jones," Jeff said. "If he asks specifics on what else he said, or what happened to his front tooth…"

There was a smattering of nervous laughter.

"I can't believe he just pulled it out like that…" Gwen whispered, her hands pressed to her face.

"I hated getting my teeth pulled when I was a kid," Miles said, frowning.

"You still are a kid," Porker said, Miles, Peni, and Gwen all booed at him, and Porker laughed. "I agree though, that's definitely one way to get rid of a bad tooth, and it's a bad way, too."

"Do we have a spare toothbrush already?" Rio asked, looking to her husband, who after a moment of contemplation nodded.

"Yeah, we do, I'll go get it, put his name on it, too." Jeff made his way through the living room then, being extra quiet in order to not wake Pete.

"We need to do more things like that, I think…" Porker said.

"What do you mean?"

"Calling things his," Porker answered, frowning at Rio thoughtfully. "He said something about not being worth anything if he couldn't give anything."

"I wonder who the hell put that into his head," Gwen said, frowning. "I don't want anything from him…" she paused. "Well, I guess I want friendship, but that's more him being him, not…anything tangible."

"I think what with the culture that Pete comes from, and the world that he lives in…" Peter started softly, frowning, "I think that there's a lot put on objects and services. People don't have homes, they don't have food, they don't have jobs… Pete's living in a world where at the moment, the only thing that matters is what you can do, particularly when you have nothing else. Pete…he's got nothing else."

"Do you think that's the reason he kept cleaning everything?" Miles asked. "He's trying to offer payment in the only way he can?"

"I'm almost positive that's why he was doing it," Porker agreed, nodding. "Never mind the fact that we just wanted to make sure he was eating and that was payment enough… To him, that's just taking, and that's just not right."

"It's something to work on," Rio said, giving a firm nod. "But that's alright."

"We'll get there eventually," Peter said with a shrug, and there was a quiet confirmation.

The conversation faded naturally, and Miles went to get his homework which he'd failed to finish due to Pete's sudden appearance. At the sight of that, both Gwen and Peni made a sound of realization, and both of them gave brief apologies, before jumping through individual portals. When they returned, both of the girls had came back bearing their own homework, which they dropped onto the table with Miles.

Rio couldn't help the warm smile that spread across her face at seeing the way they immediately put their heads together. Peter, after a few long glances towards Pete, and then Jeff, made his way over to the table, looking at Peni's homework curiously. Rio hadn't even looked; she had a feeling that it would just hurt her head. Judging by the way Peter's eyebrows shot up, she was right.

Rio watched in increasing amusement as those eyebrows rose higher and higher, and then pinched together as Peter's head tilted one way, and then the other, and finally he just shook his head and walked away. Rio burst out laughing, Peter giving her a look, Porker stifling his own grin. The kids looked vaguely confused at first, having not noticed what was happening, but Jeff clapped Peter's shoulder sympathetically when he returned to his point of vigil.

"You all suck," Peter stated very clearly, "but he's my favorite," Peter said, pointing to Jeff, and there was another quiet burst of laughter. It would take a while for Pete to wake up, but there were things to do before that finally happened. The food arrived, and the Spiders got to eating. Pete remained asleep, and likely would for a while. They made sure to keep some leftovers for him to eat when he finally did wake up.


Peter woke up to the feeling that something was very wrong.

After dinner they had spent some time quietly playing games and doing other things to pass the time, before finally getting ready to go to sleep. The Spiders had created the typical cuddle-pile, and due to Rio's insistence that she wanted to be there due to the nature of Pete's injuries, she was asleep curled up on the comfortable armchair in the corner. Naturally, Jeff had joined them after that, and then Miles, who had joined up with Gwen, Peni, and Porker in the pile. That brought Peter here, where he had opened his eyes after a sudden painful throb from his spidersense.

There was someone standing above him.

Peter immediately launched himself backwards, rolling to his feet, only to find that the figure hadn't moved, and then he realized that it was on the ceiling. After another moment where Peter stared in shock, he realized that it was Pete.

"…Pete?" Peter whispered, staring at him as he stood upside down, swaying slightly, his arms at his sides. "Pete, what's wrong?"

To Peter's horror Pete started bending back, back, back, until he was staring at him with wide and wild gray eyes, his arms still so close to his body, blood trickling down from his nose, and then he opened his mouth.

The scream that left Pete's mouth was one of the most horrifying things Peter had ever heard, his mouth opening so wide it began to stretch his stitches. All three of Pete's missing teeth were seen, all of them in various states of growing back, creating their own pool of black blood. For just a moment Peter jolted back as though struck, and then came to realize that Pete wasn't awake. The other Spiders, Jeff, and Rio immediately woke, all seeing Pete at around the same time and making various noises of surprise and alarm. Peter leapt onto the ceiling, climbing towards him and carefully wrapping his arms around Pete, doing his best to try and coax him out of that awful position, yelling his name, finally pulling him back towards him enough to get Pete to basically fall into his lap sideways.

Pete wouldn't stop screaming, and then his hands went up towards his head. Peter didn't quite have enough time to stop him from gripping his hair and starting to pull, but he did manage to grab hold of him before he could pull entire fistfuls of it out. Peter crossed his arms over Pete's chest to pin his arms, once again doing his best to restrain Pete.

"He's having a night terror!" Rio was finally heard shouting over the sound of Pete screaming. "It's like a nightmare, he's still asleep, oh dios, it's a night terror!"

Peter changed tactic, not just restraining but desperately trying to comfort, whispering in Pete's ear, rocking them back and forth on the ceiling. Gwen leapt up to him, too, followed by Porker, the two of them both reaching out, pressing their hands to his face, to his shoulders, hushing him, trying to tell him that they were there, that it was okay, he was dreaming.

Miles had stood up, Peni doing so as well, Peni unable to climb up due to the lack of that particular power-set, and Miles simply because his parents were in the room, but all of them began whispering Pete's name, all of them reaching out.

Peter felt it then, buzzing gently in the back of his skull, something so odd, yet so warm, something that was and was not like the spidersense that he knew, something that spoke of family and home and safety. Pete finally stopped screaming, the sound turning to panted gasps, his chest heaving against Peter, and finally Peter felt hands grip his shirt. They pulled and twisted the fabric, almost enough to tear, but mostly enough to ground. There were damp patches on his shirt he could feel. Peter didn't know if it was tears, or if it was blood, or if it was both as Pete buried his head into Peter's shoulder and finally started whimpering. Gwen and Porker both started rubbing his back then, softly whispering to him.

Jeff, and Rio approached carefully then, Miles and Peni doing the same, and Peter felt as Pete fell completely limp against him, shuddering. Pete let out a quiet moan, and Peter immediately hushed him.

"Pete…" Peter started. "Pete are you…are you okay?" he finally managed, swallowing, adrenaline pumping through his heart, but he could hardly imagine how it was for Pete, who was still shaking. Pete finally pushed himself away slightly, staring around at them all with bleary eyes. Peter then discovered that it had been both making his shirt wet, not just the tears that he could see still leaking from gray eyes, but blood from his popped stitches and his nose, both of which he could see in the moonlight coming from the window.

To his shock, Pete finally turned around to Peter, looking at him with those black-rimmed eyes, bruised, and exhausted. "Am I still dreaming?" he asked, his voice shaking, cracked from screaming. "Is this real?"

"No, you're not dreaming, and this is very real," Peter answered, shaking his head.

Pete looked around at them all, Rio turning on a light on the table, causing him to flinch at the sudden brightness. At the light being turned on, they could better see what Pete had done to himself, and just how pale he had become. The realization that he'd actually paled due to trauma or fear was quite obvious then, his skin almost bloodless, leading to an even more chalk-white face than they usually saw, even for Pete. There were scratches running up his arms and across his chest, black inflamed things, and Peter wondered how he had not noticed. How Pete had gotten away with tearing himself up like that when they were right there. His stitches across his mouth had been popped, blood sluggishly trickling down from them, though his nose seemed to have stopped bleeding. Rio handed him a tissue and Pete took it.

"I…" Pete hesitated. "How did I get here?"

"You came here, Pete," Porker said, sitting back slightly, watching him with worry in blue eyes. "After getting busted. You ran after the KKK was properly overrun."

"I told you about that?" Pete asked, his eyebrows pinching.

"Told us how you were brave enough to infiltrate a group that hated you in order to keep them from getting a foothold in New York, you mean?" Jeff asked.

Pete stared at Jeff with wide eyes, almost shrinking into himself.

"Hey, no," Jeff said softly. "There's nothing to be ashamed of. You did…you did a very good thing, even if it might not have felt like it. You came back to us afterwards…I… Well, we're all proud of you."

Pete stared at him, then flicked his eyes to all of them, before pressing his hands to his mouth. Water was still leaking from his eyes, though it could be due to adrenaline and fear, and there was no doubt that it was not something he would have ever expected to hear. He shuddered, before his hands ran up to press against his head, trailing black up his cheeks. They needed to re-stitch Pete's mouth…

"I…" Pete started so softly. "Thank…thank you," he finally said.

"Is this what you meant by your dreams started getting bad?" Porker asked.

"Did I say that?" Pete asked, looking to Porker, his brows pinched. "I honestly don't…I don't remember." He paused, finally taking in the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt, taking in the soft basketball shorts that he was wearing instead and finally looking up at them with confusion on his face as well as something like mortification. "The hell happened to my clothes?"

"Apparently you ran directly from the meeting," Rio answered, pointing to where they had folded Pete's Klan robe. After learning what Pete had used it to do, there wasn't as much distaste for it, so they had folded it to be carried better. They still wanted to watch it burn. "You borrowed some of Miles' shorts because, according to you, you couldn't stand to wear it anymore, and sat on the rug waiting for me to come home."

Pete then began doing the opposite of paling.

Pete started blushing.

His skin flushed black from his chest up his neck, to the very tips of his ears, and finally he covered his head with his hands and gave a quiet, and yet still very vehement, "Fuck."

It was honestly a struggle not to laugh at him, but there was a very strong feeling that laughing would potentially cause him to jump from their world entirely, and they didn't want that. Porker pulled a shirt out for him in preparation, a nice oversized one that he could use to sleep in. Pete pulled it on without question. And then promptly hid behind his hands again.

Peter patted his back in solidarity once he was clothed in the shirt. "Concussion-me is a dumbass, too, Pete, don't feel bad. And to be fair, I don't think you did anything wrong."

"Not at all," Rio agreed. "You came to get help, and you got rid of the thing that was causing you so much pain. Both of these things are very important, and I'm very proud of you."

"I don't mind that you took my shorts," Miles added, shaking his head. "I'm glad you did!"

Pete started peaking between his fingers finally and huffed out a sigh. "Okay," he agreed. He paused then, licking his teeth, and in particular the front one, which to Peter's non-surprise, and everyone else's mild surprise, had begun poking its way through his gums. None of the Spiders had lost a tooth before, aside from Porker, Peter suspected, though Porker perhaps didn't believe they would regrow teeth as well. "What…" Pete paused, "what happened here?" he asked, pointing to it. "I don't…I don't remember getting hit there?"

"You pulled it clean out," Porker said with a raised eyebrow.

"You were trying to make the point that your teeth can grow back," Jeff explained. "And what you do when you can't brush your teeth. Speaking of, Pete, you have a toothbrush here in the bathroom right over there." He pointed to it. "It's got your name right on it, and you can use it whenever you need it."

"You've got one in all our houses," Porker assured.

Pete stared at him, then stared at them, and finally, with a frown, "How do I punch concussed-me in the fucking face?"

Miles wheezed, which soon turned to all-out laughter, and finally they were all falling into wheezes and cackles, and Pete kept that same deadpan expression. Peter had figured that once Pete recovered from the concussion he would probably revert to the quiet and almost understated young man that he knew, but that was fine. Pete would open up eventually, and they'd all be waiting for when it came. Until then, they were all just happy that Pete was still with them.

"I'm sorry…about the um…dream." Pete finally said after they had stopped laughing.

"It's fine, Pete," Rio assured.

"Yeah, you can't help what you dream," Peni agreed.

"Do you often get night terrors?" Jeff asked.

"Is that what they're called?" Pete asked, blinking. "I always…well, we called them nightmares with a bit more kick."

"So, you did have them?" Peter asked to clarify.

"I never had them very often," Pete answered. "I…the first one I really remember was when I was fourteen," Pete said, frowning. "Uncle Ben…he helped me with that one. We'd seen Frankenstein. I don't…I don't know why it affected me so much, but that was the first time I can remember waking up restrained."

"Frankenstein, huh?" Peter asked with a raised eyebrow.

"In retrospect that's probably something that shouldn't have affected me as much as it did." Pete said, shrugging. "I've got plenty to be scared of. But it did."

"Did…did you recently get out of the Hooverville when you had that night terror?" Rio asked. Pete looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah," he answered, looking mildly surprised at her guess. "We'd gotten the new house, finished settling in, which took an amazing amount of time. I hadn't realized how much stuff there was to have. Why not watch a movie to celebrate?"

"That may be why you had the night terror," Rio said thoughtfully. "You'd had a significant source of stress removed and when that happens the brain…tends to relax enough that all of the hormones and all of the ways your body has been preparing for something bad to happen fall away. When that happens, people are more likely to get sick, they're more likely to experience migraines, all sorts of things."

"…" Pete stared at her for a moment. "You're telling me that suddenly not being stressed leads to sickness, and apparently night terrors."

"Yes."

"That's fucked."

"You're right, Pete. It isn't a good thing." Jeff said. "However, you know what else isn't good?" Jeff asked.

Pete blinked, before looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "No, what?"

"My neck if you all don't get back on the ground so I don't have to keep looking up at all of you."

Peter, Gwen, and Porker all blinked, Peter registering the fact that they were all still on the ceiling and immediately dropped down to their feet a moment later. Peter came to realize that Pete seemed stuck for a moment, before, without warning, he suddenly fell as though a string had been cut. Rio gave a call of surprise, the rest of them moving forward, but Jeff was the one who caught him having been closer initially, carefully ducking with Pete, and swinging him up into a bridal carry before he could crash onto the floor.

That wasn't good.

"It wasn't that serious, Pete!" Jeff said, hiking him up a bit more, only to pause. "Rio!" he called, his voice an odd tone that made the hairs on the back of Peter's neck stand up.

Rio seemed to recognize that tone instantaneously, because she immediately ran for the wastebasket, which she emptied, before running back. Jeff moved Pete into position, and after a moment where Pete seemed to rebel against it, he was promptly sick. A sympathetic murmur rose up, Jeff lowering him down carefully to the ground, rubbing his back soothingly as Rio lowered the wastebasket down before him. Peter reached out to carefully pet through sweaty hair, hushing him, and falling into a crouch before him, not caring about the sick.

Rio came back with a glass of water a moment later.

Pete huffed under his breath, taking it from her, before taking a sip, swishing it around in order to spit the taste out of his mouth a second later in the can. "I don't think my concussion is completely gone," he said, his breathing rough. He looked half dead, as though he had spat out the last of his energy, and Peter thought now was a good as any to try and go back to sleep.

"Do you want to try and sleep again?" Rio asked as she lowered herself down to Pete's level, reaching out to pet through his hair, showing she was right on his wavelength, "do you think you'd be able to?"

Pete hesitated, before giving a miserable shrug. "I don't know," he said, almost instinctively leaning into Rio's petting. It was a fair statement, if Peter had had a nightmare that bad, he wouldn't have any desire to sleep, but at the same time…

"Pete…" Rio whispered then, blinking, running her hand through his hair again in such a way that it caught the light, revealing that even with the length, it all looked remarkably…even. "Did you get your hair cut?"

Pete blinked at her, before giving a shaky nod. "I did. They also, well… I have clothes that fit me better now. Apparently, I can't do a very good job as a spy if I look like I don't have any influence or money. My hair has grown out by now, I think, but it's not, well, I didn't chop it."

"It's nice," Rio said, smiling. "Much better than it was. We'll have to make sure we can maintain it."

Pete hummed, looking a bit like he was about to fall asleep where he sat.

"Well…" Peter started, frowning slightly. "While that sounds like a plan, we have to do something about sleeping now, I think… We didn't actually stay in physical contact…" he hesitated, looking at Pete with his head tilted. "How's about we give that a try? I think it's about time we all try and go back to sleep anyway. It's been a long night."

Pete seemed to consider this, frowning.

"Do you still feel sick?" Porker asked in concern.

Pete hesitated, before giving another small shrug. "I don't know. I didn't think that…" he hesitated, before giving a small motion.

"Did you lose control of your stick?" Gwen asked, her eyebrows pinched.

"I felt stuck for a moment," Pete confirmed. "And then I dropped and…"

Jeff's expression pinched. "I was the one who caught you, huh?" Jeff asked. "Your spidersense still rebels against me, doesn't it, bud?"

"I'm sorry," Pete whispered.

"Pete," Jeff started, heaving a sigh. "It's alright. You've been through more traumatic experiences than I want to count, you've spent the entirety of two months trying to spy on the KKK, being in constant danger the entire time, and you have a natural fear of cops. I. Do. Not. Blame. You." Jeff looked very much like he'd like to reach out and hug him, or take Pete's shoulders in his hands, but he refrained. Pete nodded miserably.

"Alright," Peter said, sighing. "Let's pile in, then. Do you want to be in the middle, Pete, or on the edge?"

Pete hesitated for a moment, and to Peter's surprise, he realized Pete's expression was torn. Pete finally sighed and said, "the edge. If I'm sick again I don't want to…well…"

"Sensible," Rio said, nodding. "I'm going to clean this out and get you another bucket, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say you're not really sick, just…dizzy. But we'll keep it for you just in case. I'm going to stitch your mouth up really quickly before we go to sleep, and then we can all settle."

Pete nodded, sitting there with his legs crossed underneath him. Rio came back with the wastebasket cleaned out, as well as her gloves and medical kit. Pete leaned forward, following her directions as she carefully re-stitched the gash, before carefully washing his face of the blood.

"I'm so sorry, Pete," Rio said softly as she delicately ran the cloth over his face. "If it wasn't going to scar before, it's definitely going to now."

"It's fine," Pete said, shrugging after she began packing the supplies up again. "They won't be lonely anymore."

Porker made a triumphant sound. "I knew it!" he cried out. "You do have a sense of humor! It wasn't just the concussion!"

Pete stared at him with a nonplussed expression. "I'm sorry, were you supposed to have said something funny?" he asked.

Porker's mouth dropped, as the rest of the Spiders wheezed, the whole of them giving out giggles and cackles.

"I don't think I've ever been more offended in my entire life," Porker stated very evenly, pursing his lips, and looking at Pete with the most unimpressed gaze they had ever seen. Pete hesitated, curling inward, and then Porker cracked, grinning at him as widely as possible. "The delivery was perfect," he said, making an okay sign. "I'd hug you, but I think you're probably hurt everywhere."

"You're not wrong," Pete nodded.

"Alright, bedtime," Rio said, clapping her hands together decisively. "We're going to have a wonderful breakfast in the morning, but we've got to work the appetite up for it first. Sleep works wonders for that." She hesitated, looking to Jeff. "Do you think we should alert the neighbors?"

"I'll do that," Jeff said, nodding.

"I'm sorry…" Pete started.

"Don't worry about it," Jeff said before he could finish, "it's fine. It really is fine." Pete nodded.

"Thank you," he said instead, and curled up.

They started curling up then with a series of wordless agreements, Peni carefully moving so she could press against Pete's side. Pete seemed startled by this at first, but quickly relaxed, wrapping an arm around her, his hand taken by Gwen, who stretched across Peter to do it, leaning her head against Peter's chest as a pillow. Miles curled up above Peter, reaching out to put his hand in Pete's hair, Porker curling up in the gap between Peter and Peni Miles and Pete. Pillows were placed under the heads of those that weren't using someone else as a pillow, and they were once again covered up by Jeff, who left soon after to alert the neighbors to what had happened.

A while later Jeff came back with a slightly funny look on his face, but something flashed in his eyes that might have been amusement and might have been pride. He looked to Pete then, smiling at him slightly, and giving him a slight nod.

To Peter's mild surprise Jeff and Rio took a place a little outside the tangle of Spiders, but close enough to reach out and touch. They slowly fell asleep like that, breathing in sync, a warm buzzing in the back of the Spider's skulls that spoke of home, and family, and safety.

There were no more nightmares.


Miles was ecstatic.

Pete had agreed to meet Miles, Peni, and Gwen in Miles' world, the teen Spiders planning on seeing the sights, now that things were relatively quiet. And, to top things off, Miles' parents had agreed for Miles to be fitted with a goober, so long as either one of the adults – Peter or Porker, were with him, or all three of the Spider-Teens – Pete, Gwen and Peni. Pete had been quietly offended at first, but when it was gently pointed out that he had spent the entire time he'd been on his own looking after himself only, Pete had agreed with a greater amount of grace. Either way, Miles had been able to visit both Peni and Gwen in their own worlds now, having met their respective guardians with Peter B or Porker as chaperone, and it had been a great deal of fun.

Pete had attempted to enter Peni's world exactly once, which was why the four teens hadn't gone together. The color palette had affected Pete so badly he had promptly thrown up in a trashcan and jumped back to his world to stop his skull from trying to split open, as he called it. Peni had called him up and been nearly frantic with apologies, but Pete had assured her that it was okay…

He had an idea.

Pete's idea, as it turned out, was a variety of tinted lenses for his goggles, which would protect his eyes from some of the more intense colors. As it was, though, Pete was still not very enthused about the idea of meeting Peni's Aunt May and Uncle Ben in person.

After hearing what they had said, Miles didn't blame him at all. Miles thought Pete was technically being very gracious when he had attempted the first time.

As it was, Pete tended to refuse the option to go into Gwen's or Peni's world, at least so far, and so they had been stuck going to Miles' world together, but they hadn't been able to get Pete to do much in the way of actually hanging out.

Pete had been training with the others finally, as well as getting special lessons from Porker in attempts to learn how to use his spinnerets properly, and the bruising had definitely started to fade, which was a real relief. Pete had also been patrolling with Miles on his own as well as with the group, when he wasn't spending time in his own world, or otherwise with Peni.

Gwen was still avoiding Pete a little, and Miles didn't quite understand that. He knew that Gwen cared for Pete as much as they did, but there was a distance that she was keeping that was, well…noticeable. Pete didn't act like he minded, but Miles knew that he was also spending time with Peter, and Porker, and it seemed like the three Peters traded information a lot. Miles thought that they knew the reason for Gwen's hesitance, but they were keeping her secrets. Miles could respect that. The most exciting thing about Pete swinging with him, though, was that Pete was a bit like a bloodhound for cops.

Pete knew exactly when cops were around, and in particular, when his dad was near, and he had been a remarkable help in keeping Miles updated. Miles had been able to avoid his dad in ways that he hadn't when Pete hadn't been around, and during their swings together, Pete had asked Miles more questions about his world and his life and answered some of Miles'. It had been…it had been amazing, all told. Pete had some amazing stories, and the more that Miles heard the more…well, the more he looked up to him, and the more amazed he was that Pete even gave him the time of day.

Pete had been through so much and to still be swinging like he was, and with such a 'fuck you' attitude towards anything that came against him, while at the same time caring so much for other people? There was something amazing about that. Pete just called it spite. Miles called it incredible. He wondered, sometimes, if this was what it was like to have an older brother that actually stuck around and cared about you, but Miles also knew he'd never tell Pete about it. Peni's 'oniichan' had stuck in his head and he couldn't avoid it even if he wanted to, but he had a feeling that Pete would call it 'dingy' in that dated slang of his that sometimes made him sound like a detective in an old movie.

The fact that he was a detective in what basically amounted to an old movie sometimes filled Miles with a sense of hilarity, and also a sense of awe.

All told, the last few weeks had been like a healing balm. Miles wasn't worried about where Pete was anymore, as he was in contact as often as possible, and Pete would often send him pictures of things that Pete spotted, including, and this was the exciting thing, tags in the 1930s.

Pete had explained that they didn't have spray paint in his world, but that didn't stop people from expressing themselves on walls. Miles had laughed at some of the things that Pete had sent, including what looked like a date book where they traded information on places to go and who to never date again. Miles was shocked in some ways, at just how much people hadn't changed, and even more interestingly, just how similar people were even across the multiverse.

And he was mostly still shocked at how much Pete cared enough to send him these things.

As it was, Miles, Peni, and Gwen had already met, and were happily discussing where they wanted to take Pete to first.

"I think we should take him to the art museum," Miles said.

"The museum's cool, but what about the botanical gardens?" Peni countered.

"Does Pete even like flowers?" Gwen asked, wrinkling her nose.

"He loves them!" Peni enthused. "He told me that he actually used to…well, he took care of plants before he was changed."

"No fooling?" Miles asked, blinking. "Well that's just not fair, he didn't tell me about that."

"Did you ask?" Peni asked.

"Well…no…" Miles asked, internally chastising himself for not asking more questions. Just because Pete asked the most didn't mean he couldn't reciprocate. And besides, he liked flowers? Miles would have to tease him a little for it, sometimes his reactions were funny.

"That's your problem," Peni said, nodding her head. "You have to ask Pete lots of questions or else you won't find out anything. He doesn't talk about himself unless you make him."

True enough, Miles thought to himself with an internal sigh. "What else did you learn?"

"That he prefers to be asked rather than talked about," Pete's voice called over to them, and they all winced sheepishly before turning around to see Pete walking up to them. He was wearing round sunglasses that looked a bit like his old glasses, and covered his eyes, which was honestly rather brilliant. He was still having trouble with his world, and Miles idly wondered if they really were his old glasses. Pete was wearing the shirt that his mom had bought him, Miles recognized, as well as what looked like a new pair of pants and his boots. He was also wearing his hat, but from what Pete had said, wearing hats in public was just polite in the 1930s.

The problem came in, however, when Miles began noticing just how much people were…well, noticing Pete.

Miles thought that it made sense, Pete was literally black and white, and while he wasn't wearing anything too outlandish, no suspenders, and no bow - like the three of them had been debating that he would wear – he was still…noticeable. Pete was chalk white, with visibly gray lips and numerous scars, and what with the way his glasses reflected the light in that odd way that only happened in anime, literally becoming white with the reflected glare…

"Oh, man, Pete…" Miles whispered as Pete finally came level with them. The wind blew, the smell of rain came with it. People turned to stare.

Pete had that nonplussed look, his mouth twisting, and Gwen and Peni both looked like they were ready to bundle Pete in something that hid him completely. Miles led them into an alley. No one followed, but it was something they noticed.

Pete sighed. "They've been staring at me since I got here," Pete explained. "One of them asked if I was a ghost. The wind doesn't help."

There was a moment where they considered that, before Miles frowned. "Well, are you going to let them bully you into hiding?" he asked. "Are you going to let them push you around and stick you in a little box? No? Then come on, let's go anyway. Let them stare," he said, his chin rising. "You don't owe them nothing."

Pete's head tilted slightly, before his mouth pulled into the twisted grin that they were becoming much more familiar with. It was funny, even with the missing teeth, the smiles Pete had given them with his concussion were so much more genuine. It was helpful, though, to think that somewhere in there, Pete still had that feeling. "You said it, pally," Pete said, bumping Miles' shoulder with his elbow. "You lead the way, I'll follow."

Miles turned on his heel and lead the way. He saw Peni reach up to Pete, and after a moment of hesitation, Pete swung her up to sit on his shoulder. It naturally would get more attention, but Pete pulled his glasses back down and pulled his hat lower, his gait even and loose. Miles knew better, though, Pete was never off his guard, and with the scars that he had, he knew that other people would be seeing that pretty quickly.

Gwen walked next to him, the two of them creating an initial barrier between Pete and everyone else. Miles remembered what Pete had said about passing, and wondered if the staring was making him uncomfortable, or making him feel very vulnerable. It had to be weird to go from someone who could infiltrate the damn Ku Klux Klan to someone that was so obviously different that he was immediately recognized as other. The thing about it was, Pete had always been on the outside, he just looked otherwise, and that was a big difference.

Miles didn't know what it was to have that barrier in place between what he was and what people saw, and he'd never have the ability to use that barrier to protect others, but he was also a lot more used to the way people would stare. It didn't happen often, New York was a big place and there were so many people with so many cultures, and from so many places that it only rarely happened if Miles was trying to go to somewhere quote on quote fancy, and usually that went over poorly with other people. Most of the time he could just blend into a crowd and be overlooked. He had thought, what with the way Peter had been able to wear a visible Spider-suit, that no one would pay attention to Pete… But he supposed there was just enough weird about him that it wasn't going to be something that could be avoided.

Pete took to it like a champ, though, expression the usual deadpan, quietly speaking to Peni and Gwen, and asking questions of Miles. If people turned around to stare at him, Pete would tilt his head in their direction, staring back. The lenses flashed white. They looked away quick. Miles had to cover up a laugh. Miles took them to the botanical gardens, and found to his surprise, that Pete really did like plants.

Pete loved the colors in particular and had to very carefully remove his sunglasses to make sure that it wouldn't hurt his eyes, but he stared at all of the plants and the flowers with awed eyes. He was even able to identify plants that were in his own world, and that was interesting. Pete promised to send them pictures of his version, so they could see what they looked like in black and white.

However, it was also when Pete took off his glasses that the real trouble started.

Miles hadn't considered the fact that Pete looked like a black-and-white Peter. Miles hadn't thought of the fact that Pete was the living embodiment of New York's dead hero in a way that Peter was not due to age, and due to the fact that Pete was black-and-white, he attracted attention like a magnet. Then…they started noticing Peni.

Peni came from a place where this sort of staring would never be acceptable, where racism and ostracism of appearance had basically been ground to a halt. She stated that there were other things that you could be discriminated for, because wherever you went, people were people, but this was completely out of her experience. It was starting to make her cry.

That was the point when they decided to leave and to leave quickly. There were whisperings of ghosts and the potential of aliens, and that they were connected to the Spiders, and that was not something that was wanted. Spidersenses flared before pictures could start being taken, and that was one of the main things that the four of them were very grateful for, it allowed them to duck and keep out of sight.

After they escaped, they all moved to get up high and regroup and catch their breath. Pete stood with them on top of the building for a while, watching them all quietly, but he had transferred Peni into a proper hug and was shushing her. Miles and Gwen both joined in, too. After a while Peni wiped her eyes and informed all three of them that:

"People can be awful."

Miles had to agree.

"I think it might be best that we don't do that again," Pete finally said, looking at Peni with nothing but regret in his eyes. "I'm sorry, fellas, it was fun."

"No, hold up," Miles said, shaking his head in denial, trying to think of something that might make this trip salvageable. "We could go to the movies or something. It's dark in there, no one would notice you."

"…Well…" Pete said, frowning. "Alright."

They noticed. Pete reflected light like a beacon. It would have been hilarious if it wasn't so immediately noticeable.

They ran all over the city. Pete stood out like a sore thumb, and there was nothing they could do about it.

Miles was frankly pretty tired of it.


Gwen was tired of ghosts. Everywhere she went she saw ghosts, and now there was a ghost haunting her friend. A ghost that she saw whenever she looked at him, though not for the same reasons as everyone else.

"Look, fellas," Pete finally sighed after they ran what had to be the twelfth gambit of trying to outrun the dead, his voice tired. "I would love to go with you, you know I would, but… Well, I stand out. Everywhere we've tried to go I attract attention, which leads to Peni getting attention, and that just isn't good for anybody else, particularly when she passes just fine when she's the only one with you guys. I just…don't think I should go with you."

"But that's not fair!" Peni started, and while Gwen agreed with the sentiment, she knew that that particular phrase wouldn't work. Pete had been through too much to ever think that anything was fair. Sure enough, Pete shrugged.

"It is what it is, Peni. I'm sorry," he said, and there was that crease between his eyebrows that showed he was just as upset about it as they were. She wished that there was something that they could do, something that could hide…

"Maybe it doesn't have to be," Gwen said thoughtfully, frowning at Pete, an idea percolating in the back of her mind. "I might have an idea."

"What's your idea, Gwanda?" Miles asked, grinning at her, putting on a brave face even through the frustration.

"I don't know, Decembruary," Gwen returned, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Decembruary?" Pete and Peni both parroted.

"Hey! I told you that in confidence, you weren't supposed to rat me out!" Miles complained, but there was a smile in his eyes past the irritation.

"Stop calling me Gwanda," Gwen returned, grinning at him in turn, and then looked to Pete and Peni who were still very confused. "He put it on a test he was trying to fail. And chose all the wrong answers, which…naturally meant that he knew the right ones."

"But that's…" Pete started, his eyes flashing in confusion, before looking at Miles with a half-grin on his face. "You know, there are better ways to get kicked out of school, Miles."

"Yeah," Miles returned, his eyebrows raising in challenge. "And what did you do?"

"Set my desk on fire," Pete answered, shrugging. There was a collective wheeze, shortly followed by cackling laughter.

"Why would you set your desk on fire? I thought you were a giant nerd and you loved school!" Gwen demanded through laughter.

"I do love school," Pete returned. "I just don't love getting beat." The laughter stuttered slightly, but Pete gave one of his half-grins. "It's alright. My Uncle actually…he bought me ice cream. Said it was important on a hot day." He paused. "It was the middle of February."

They laughed again, bright and happy, until it finally died out naturally, a good sound, a good feeling.

"But anyway…" Gwen started again, frowning at Pete. "I have an idea."

"What is it?" Pete asked.

"We go to MJ," Gwen answered, her expression set.

"Peter B's MJ?" Miles asked, his eyebrows shooting up.

"No, though…" Gwen hesitated. "She could probably do it, but I know my MJ's got an eye for it and has a good understanding of a lot of different styles."

"Styles?" Peni asked, looking interested. Miles and Pete both tilted their heads slightly. Gwen took a breath.

"Pete, I think we need to give you a makeover."

There was a pause.

"A what?" Pete asked, his eyebrows shooting up. "A makeover? As in…like, makeup?"

Gwen made a face; she hadn't thought of that. Pete was hardly from the most open of times, it would make sense that he might have some natural aversion towards putting on something that was so specifically tailored to women. It wasn't even his fault, it was just the way he had been raised, and she should have considered that before offering it as a suggestion. "Oh, yeah, I forgot you're from the 1930s…" she said, looking away, trying not to pressure him into anything he wasn't comfortable with due to whatever disappointment might appear on her face. "That's fine, I understand that you have different standards and comfort zones, and I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"Now, hold on, wait…" Pete said, putting a hand on her shoulder, drawing her attention back. His eyebrow had raised, a quietly thoughtful expression on his face. "I'm not opposed because of like…gender standards, or something like that. I thought that we established that I tend to say: 'fuck the system' more often than I'm a part of it."

They laughed. "Yeah, that's true," Gwen agreed, brightening, and turning to face him fully. "What was the problem then?"

"Well…" Pete hesitated, frowning. "I mean, I'm black and white, right? If we did use makeup, wouldn't it have to cover up all of my visible skin, not just my face? And wouldn't that mean it would get all over everything that I touch because it's on my hands? Or is there a fashion where I can get away with wearing gloves at all times? Or is there something I can do to disguise it?"

"And that is why we need to talk to MJ," Gwen said with a wide grin. "She'll be able to tell us exactly what we can get away with, and I bet that she'll even be able to figure out how to do a makeup look that won't be so intrusive. Because you're right. I don't wear much, and I can still have issues with my eyeliner smearing because I rubbed it or something."

"Well…honestly that sounds pretty ace, I'm down to try…" Pete said, shrugging. Gwen brightened, grinning. This might actually be kind of fun, she had been hoping to introduce MJ to her other friends, and while MJ could definitely be a bit…much, she was also a lot of fun.

"Was…was she close with your Peter?" Miles asked suddenly, his face pulled into a slight frown. Gwen hesitated.

"Oh," she said finally, taking a breath. It was a good question, honestly, there had been a two-for-two on human Peters being married to MJs... But this… 'Fuck the system, fuck the system.' "MJ wasn't actually. She, um. She's dating Glory Grant…sh-she plays the keys in our band."

"Oh, she's queer then," Pete said brightly, nodding. "That'd make sense why she wouldn't be interested."

The bright rush of relief that flooded through her made her almost feel mad at herself. Pete had shown time and time again that he wasn't what anyone expected him to be, why was she still being surprised? He would use an outdated slur every once in a while, but he always did his best to correct himself once told it was now considered offensive. It wasn't fair waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"But…is it safe to out her like that?" Pete asked, his voice quiet, that wrinkle between his eyebrows back. "I mean…isn't it still…dangerous? I ran interference for a few queers a while back, but what if I hadn't been with it? She could get arrested or killed for that kind of thing. That just…isn't a very safe way to play that sort of thing, Gwen."

Oh, there was the other shoe. Not him, or his own beliefs, just the time period he came from, and what he was used to. And then it was up to them to tell him how another thing that probably caused him pain just wasn't a problem. Or at least, not as much of a problem. MJ's dad was something else, but that wasn't even because of who his daughter was dating, but more…just him. Miles, Gwen and Peni all shared glances, and Pete straightened, looking between them all with a raised eyebrow.

"Is it?" Pete asked finally, his voice quiet.

"Oh, Pete…" Gwen started, hesitating.

"It's legal here," Miles said. "They can get married and everything. We've got a pride month every year. It's…still kind of controversial…"

"But it's nothing like it was in your time," Gwen finished, her brows pinched. "They're in a very committed and out relationship, as in everyone who's close to them knows. Her dad…well, he doesn't know, and isn't going to be told, and eventually she's going to get the hell out of there. She tends to stay at our houses more than she does her own at this point… But that's not because she's lesbian, or…well, queer, it's because he's just…a giant asshole."

Pete was quiet for a moment. "Well, if nothing else I'm glad she has friends like you."

Gwen blinked, somehow finding herself shocked at the sentiment, before finally smiling at him. "Yeah… I'm glad she does, too. I'm glad she's my friend, honestly, just because she's a really great person. But yeah, no, it can get kind of bad, but it's not…it's nowhere near as bad as it is in your time."

"In my time most of the homophobia has fizzled out, actually," Peni said. "It's…just too common anymore. People love who they want. It's nice."

They waited, watching as Pete's lips pursed slightly, thinking, before he finally gave one of his half-smiles. "Yeah," he agreed. "It is nice. I'm glad. It's…there's nothing more demoralizing than having someone arrested or killed for loving someone they somehow shouldn't. I'm glad that changes."

Peni hugged him tightly, grinning, Pete blinking in surprise, before giving the Spider in her hair a very hard look. It was one thing to have it in her hair when it was somewhere he couldn't see, quite another when it was so close, it seemed. Gwen had noticed that Pete tended to regard all spiders with suspicion. It raised its pedipalps in something like surrender, backing up slightly. Gwen idly reflected that it would be funny that Pete had such a dislike of spiders, if the reason for it wasn't quite so traumatizing. Pete finally raised a hand and put it on Peni's back, patting her twice, which made her laugh, and finally back away.

"So, not likely to open up too many wounds with her, then?" Pete asked, clearing his throat and looking back at Gwen with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah," Gwen smiled at him. "They knew each other, but it wasn't… Well it wasn't like what the other Peters had. I don't even know if she was particularly close with him, but maybe I'm wrong. You're right, though, Miles, she did know him, so we might have to be careful in how we approach…well…you in general, Pete, not just like…romantically, I guess."

"I'll follow your lead," Pete shrugged.

Gwen smiled, standing up. "Well, why not now?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips. "We'll take a swing around my city and then head over to MJ. She knows who I am now, so it'll be a good way to introduce you as allies, and even show that…well, she can stop worrying already, because I have friends that help me."

They laughed at her, a soft teasing thing. Gwen had to smile herself.

"Sounds good to me, just…let me make a call to my parents first so they know that I won't be home until late," Miles said. "Maybe we can bring Pete over to dinner when we're finished with the look? See what they think and how they react to it?"

"That sounds like an excellent test!" Peni cheered, grinning wide. "I'm excited! I haven't been to your world in a while, it'll be nice to really get a good look at it!"

"What um…what's the color palette like?" Pete asked hesitantly. Gwen snapped her fingers. For a moment she closed her eyes, trying to get an image of her own universe in her mind, comparing it with Miles' and Peter B's.

"You might need to go with the extra tinted lenses," Gwen finally said, frowning thoughtfully as she spoke. "It's definitely a bit bright, very neon, pinks and blues being the primary colors that are seen everywhere. I think it might be a bit much."

"Alright," Pete agreed, nodding. "Meet back in ten?" He asked. The Spiders gave a murmur of agreement and went to get ready, coming back later dressed in their proper costumes. Pete fished in his pockets until he pulled out the satchel that contained his extra lenses, taking the goggles off the top of his head where he had rested them and popping out the lenses. The tinted lenses were locked into place, the slightly less tinted ones slid back into the satchel and stuffed back into his coat. As he was doing that Miles called his parents, telling them that he was going to be visiting Gwen's universe for a little bit in order to meet one of her friends and hang out a bit with her band, following up by asking if they could be invited to dinner at his house. After getting confirmation he flashed them all a thumbs-up and a wide grin, hanging up with a quick 'thanks, love you, bye.' Pete finally stood up, pulling the mask into place, and the goggles over it, Gwen standing up and pulling her mask on as Miles pulled his into place and threw his hood up, Peni leaping into her SP/dr mech.

"We ready?" Gwen asked, a grin wide on her face under the mask, her hand poised over her goober.

"Let's do it!" Miles cheered, and Gwen slammed her hand down on the watch, twisting it to her universe, and opening the portal wide for passengers with the customary double-tap. Peni gave a bright cheer, SP/dr leaping forwards, all of the Spiders clinging onto her as she fell into the portal. The void opened up around them, tangled webs all around, stretching out into infinity, but they fell collectively to one web in particular.

Pink and blue flashed and crackled before them, and they fell into it, tumbling in the open air for a moment as SP/dr's gyros and sensors fought to orient them after falling through an abyss. It was dazzling, nuclear cotton-candy cooling to a soft hue, brilliant and bold…

It was home.

The Spiders leapt from Peni's Mech collectively, launching webs as they fell towards any available surface, following Gwen's wide and almost dizzying arc, falling into flips, or spins, or arm-up threat poses as they reached the top, and let gravity catch them again. Gwen led them on a tour of the best sights, swinging them around towers and bridges, running across beams in construction sites, and almost dancing across fountains.

It was a romp. A romp they could run without worrying about the stares, without worrying about blending.

A romp when staring was almost the point.

They tore across the city in a way that felt more defiant than anything Gwen had done before. I'm here, it said, I'm here, I exist, I have friends, I'm not alone, and none of you can stop me. And she felt the ringing in her head of her spidersense that reflected they did, too, Pete loosening up in ways she hadn't seen, turning flips and corkscrews to whoops and cheers from the other Spiders, throwing their own into the midst. However, like all good things, it eventually began dying down, changing into a more secretive pattern that kept them away from most eyes, Peni utilizing her Mech to hide them from any radar or sensors in the area, and they began properly disappearing.

Like a ghost, the thought came unbidden, and Gwen almost laughed aloud. It was wonderful to show her fellow Spiders her home. They finally came to a winded halt on an apartment building a good distance away from the apartment MJ lived at with her dad. They collectively took a moment to breathe, grins wide on visible faces as Miles pushed his mask up out of the way and Gwen did the same. Pete stood as usual, dramatically poised against the dwindling cotton-candy-blue-turning-purple of the sunset, staring out at it. She'd tease him about it, if she wasn't aware of the fact that his costume made it impossible to stand any way but dramatically.

Pete carefully began pulling at the goggles, and Gwen watched with bated breath as he finally peeled them up. Pupils constricted as they were hit with light, and she watched as they danced across the skyline, before finally closing, the goggles pulled securely on.

"Yeah," Pete said. "I needed the tinted lenses."

There was a bright, if not out-of-breath laugh that followed, and finally they straightened out, turning to Gwen. She flipped her cellphone out, and dialed MJ number, hoping that she was home, or if not, willing to meet them.

"Gwen!" came the bright voice of Mary Jane, Gwen smiling at the sound. "What's going on?"

"Well, I brought a few of my friends over and I was wondering if you'd like to meet some of them…"

"Friends? Have I met these friends?"

"Not at all," Gwen laughed. "Actually…well, a lot of them are like me."

"Like you? Okay, this is getting crazy, you better spill the deets, girl, you've been keeping more secrets, and that's not going to fly!"

"Alright, alright," Gwen laughed, "if I let you meet them, would that take away the guilt for not telling you about them?"

"Yes," MJ practically hissed. "They're all like you?"

"Sort of, and not quite all," Gwen said, sighing. "Are you home? I've actually got a favor to ask of you…"

"You know I don't stay there if I don't have to," MJ said, her voice quieter than usual. Gwen winced, knowing that her friend's home life was…not very good.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I just…do you think you could bring your makeup? I've got a question regarding a makeover, and I thought you'd be the best one to help."

"For that, Gwen Stacy, I will gladly brave the main room of the apartment," MJ said. "I am down for whatever this is. I feel like it's going to be fun."

"Cool! So, we'll meet in your room, or should we meet somewhere else?" she hesitated, looking around for the others, and finding they had actually hopped a few buildings down sometime after she started her phone call. Probably Pete's influence, that seemed like something he would care about, and it made her briefly very fond of all of them. "Your dad isn't going to care if you have guys over, will he, if he hears them?" she finally asked softly. "Two of my friends are boys and…I know your dad is a little…"

"Oblivious?" MJ sighed. "I don't think he'll notice. My bet is he'll be drinking."

"I'm…"

"Don't say it, Stacy," MJ said. "It is what it is. I'll get famous, get out of here, and go my own way. Hiccup on the road to success, that's all this is. He doesn't even really care anyway. He just pretends he does."

The silence stretched brittle and yet heavy between them, before finally MJ said, "Can we meet at your house? Practice spot in the basement? I'll bring all the makeup I've got as well as a few spare blenders and brushes. Never hurts to be prepared. I'm guessing you don't have any?"

"Not much," Gwen agreed. "Thank you so much, MJ, I owe you."

"You're introducing me to your friends, Stacy, and I've been after you about getting more friends for months. I'm also going to give someone or something a makeover. If you think for one second I'm not excited about this, you are wrong."

Gwen laughed, "Alright, MJ, thank you. Very much."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll see you in maybe twenty minutes," MJ said, laughter in her own voice.

Gwen hung up and looked over to the Spiders, grin wide on her mouth. "Come on," she called out. "I'm going to take you back to my house!" She leapt off the building, the others following her lead, still doing their best to keep out of sight.

Gwen worried a little about what would happen if her neighbors were out. So far, she had been lucky in that Mr. and Mrs. Parker were never home and they had been spared the trauma of seeing their nephew back from the grave, and their nephew had been spared the shock of them. Sooner or later she would need to fess up to that particular bit of information, but it would not be today. She couldn't. None of them had the emotional capacity for it, and Pete definitely wasn't ready for it. She'd have to do her best to make sure they weren't out and wouldn't see.

Gwen took them down a bit from her house, away from her neighbors, Miles zipping up his hoodie and handing his mask to Pete for safe keeping. Pete tossed him the spare white socks he kept in a pocket just in case of this specific thing, shoving the mask in the same pocket, and Miles pulled the socks on over the webbing that went up his shins before shoving his feet back into his Nikes. He gave them a thumbs-up, and they laughed, Pete offering his hand as he ducked a little, Miles immediately climbing up into a piggyback.

"Alright, let's go." Gwen took off, the others following after, Miles laughing as Pete almost immediately leapt onto the nearest wall, pushing off and flipping into a web-swing. Completely unnecessary, but it was a good way to get the wind-swept look that was expected from a maskless individual. They made it over to Gwen's, their spidersense on the lookout for any onlookers as they dropped behind her fence, Peni's SP/dr camouflaging into the background as she jumped out, the three Spiders running up to the door, one hanging off Pete as a happy tag-along. Her dad stood there with a small smile on his face, opening the door for them and letting the four of them in. Pete let Miles drop to the floor as soon as the door was closed.

"Miles, Peni, it's great to see you both," her dad said, grinning at them and shaking both of their hands, the two of them laughing and shaking his hand very solemnly. He turned to Pete then, that smile still wide on his face.

"Hello, Mr. Stacy," Pete said, before he could say anything, holding his hand out for a handshake. Her dad laughed, clapping Pete's hand in his and shaking it brightly.

"Hello," her dad said, smiling widely. "I'm guessing you're Pete; your voice is pretty distinctive. It's nice to finally meet you in person. I've met Miles, Peni, Peter B and even Porker, so it's nice to finally meet the last of the Spiders."

"It's nice to meet you, as well," Pete said, taking his goggles and mask off, carefully putting them in a pocket that didn't contain Miles' mask. Her dad did a good job hiding the natural way his body started at the sight of Pete fully. The black of his hair was odd, but what with his naturally white skin-tone and the gray, it was definitely something else seeing him in the flesh. Everything about today had proved that. Even with the picture that Gwen had sent him, there was something about seeing him in person that really drove home the fact that he… Sure enough, her dad's eyes saddened, taking in the one that looked so much like her friend. "I admittedly don't remember anything of the conversation that I supposedly had with all of you. My concussion was bad." Pete explained.

"I completely understand," her dad said. "It sounded bad. Have you had any other ill effects?"

"No, sir," Pete answered, shaking his head. "I remember everything leading up to that, and I remember everything after that night, but the conversation is beyond my ability to recall." He sighed, "I'm sorry I didn't come to meet you earlier," Pete started, looking away. "I…" he paused.

"Have plenty of reasons to not like any members of the police, and a new universe takes a bit longer for you to adjust to because of the color. I completely understand, and no offense is taken," her dad finished for him, falling into natural reassurances in the same breath. "I'm just glad that you eventually came to visit. I'm…so glad that you seem to have recovered so well since I last saw your picture. I was worried about you for quite a while. Gwen assured me that you were doing well and had healed nicely, but…well, you looked pretty bad." He paused, taking a deep breath. "I'm sure Gwen has told you, but you look…so much like the Peter I knew. Peter was…he was a good kid. Hurting, definitely hurting…but good all the same, and an amazing friend to Gwen. You take care of yourself, alright, Pete?"

Pete blinked once, twice, and finally "Um…thank you, Mr. Stacy? I have heard I look like him. I'm sorry for any memories that might call up. I will do my best to take care of myself."

Her dad smiled at him softly, clapping him on the shoulder heavily, giving him a nod. "You're welcome, though I assure you, once again since you can't remember, that you can call me George. And so long as you do your best, that's fine with me, as for any memories…they're almost all good, don't worry about that." He gave Pete another nod and a sigh before stepping back. "You know me," he started, turning to Gwen, "I have to ask: what's the occasion?"

"We're meeting MJ, dad," Gwen answered, pulling her mask off. "We need a way for Pete to blend in more," she explained. "He still stands out too much, even for people in a hurry, and MJ's good for that kind of thing."

"The literal black and white is kind of telling," Miles added, grinning.

"Yeah, that would definitely do it," her dad agreed, nodding. "You'll all be in the basement then?"

"If that's okay!" Gwen answered.

"Absolutely, I'll let her know where you are when she gets here." He smiled at them all. "It really is good to see you again, if you all would like to start coming to Gwen's world more often, I wouldn't complain."

"We'll try, Mr. Stacy," Miles said. "It's mostly my fault they can't. My parents only want me going with the whole group of us, or if Peter B or Porker are with us."

"That makes perfect sense," her dad said. "If it wasn't for the fact she was acting as Spider-Woman for almost two years without my knowledge I might have imposed similar rules. As it is, I know what she's capable of. Two or more Spiders in the same place is enough for me. It helps that she texts me periodically." He gave her a pointed look and Gwen smiled.

"More updates, got it," Gwen agreed, holding her hand pinky out, her dad wrapping his around hers, and they shook. "We'll be downstairs."

"Have fun," her dad said, smiling. They followed Gwen into the basement. She flicked the lights on as she opened the door, revealing their practice set-up as well as her prized drum-set in the corner. The basement was carpeted and furnished with a few squishy armchairs placed on one half of the basement for when they weren't practicing. She gestured for them to sit, and most of them did so, Gwen flopping onto her own drum chair, almost reflexively picking up her sticks. Pete remained standing, but she had expected that. He hadn't been in her house before and didn't know anything about the complicated wire and pedal set-up the Mary Janes had worked on fixing up together.

A mixture of birthday money, chores, and outright begging.

Naturally, with anything vaguely technical, Peter was all over it. She smiled as he tracked the wires to the distortion pedals, following them back to the three amps, and then looking at the microphone for MJ. He looked at her, and she nodded, waving for him to give it a go. After a brief period of searching he turned on the microphone and tapped it a few times, listening to the sound it made.

"Sing something!" Peni called out loudly, laughter in her voice. Pete blinked, before looking at her.

"I'm sorry, doll," he said, deliberately pitching his voice lower, rumbling it through the mic, Gwen immediately accompanying the sound by creating a rolling buzz on the hi-hat, just under his volume. "I'm afraid I'm not much good at singing. Got my throat cut." Gwen's beat stuttered. "Can't carry a tune in a bucket."

Gwen threw a spare stick at him, he caught it. "Sing anyway!" Gwen called out. "Nazis suck and their attempts to silence us should be met with defiance!"

Pete laughed. "You're not wrong sister, but I'm going to spare you regardless." He stepped away from the microphone. "I'm not really comfortable singing," he said. "I play doghouse a little, but…"

"Doghouse?" Miles asked, tilting his head.

"Oh, um…" Pete hesitated. "Bass, upright bass, I guess you'd call it."

"Bass?" Miles parroted.

"Play?" Peni squawked.

"You play?" Gwen pointed at him, her eyes wide and bright.

"I…a bit?" Pete finally managed, blinking. "I'm self-taught, and most of it's done by ear, but…"

Gwen was on her feet in an instant, looking to see if Betty had by some miracle left her bass behind. She mainly played guitar, but often provided the bass licks when they needed them, and as such wasn't as focused on it. She also was very chill about letting people mess with her instruments, which was very nice of her, and particularly good for Gwen. After a brief search, however, she found that it wasn't there.

"Rats," she hissed. "You got off lucky!" she said, pointing at Pete. "I was about to make you play something." Gwen blinked in realization. "Wait, you play upright bass? Do you have one?"

Pete almost seemed to shrink, but was saved from answering as her dad's voice rang out.

"Gwen, kids, MJ's here! I'm sending her down!"

"Thank you!" Gwen called back and then pointed at Pete. "We'll talk about this later, for now…maybe it's best you keep out of sight for a second and put your mask back on. I think…I think it might be best to break it to her gently." Pete nodded, and immediately leapt up onto the ceiling, crawling his way to press into the corner above the door into the basement. He pulled the mask back on, but left the goggles off, which was something she nodded at. It'd be a good way to break the idea to her gently.

Peters collectively all had unusually expressive eyes, be they brown, or blue, or gray.

MJ entered the basement as the rest of the Spiders went to meet her, carrying two bags slung over her shoulder. One of them contained a variety of makeup brushes and blenders. The other was a clear plastic bag with dividers all filled with a wide variety of cosmetics, as well as a few small hand mirrors. Gwen beamed as wide as possible. Leave it to MJ.

"Hey, MJ!" Gwen called out, pulling her friend into a hug.

"Hey!" MJ called right back, laughing. She pulled back and looked at the other two she could see. "Hi, I'm Mary Jane Watson, it's a pleasure to meet you, please call me MJ," she said, sticking her hand out. "I understand you're both friends of Gwen?" she hesitated, sending furtive looks towards Gwen, before crashing through just like she usually did. "Are you like Gwen?"

"Yeah!" Peni agreed, grasping MJ's hand in hers. "My name's Peni Parker, hajimemashite!" she called out brightly. She pointed to the Spider in her hair. "This is Spider, I've got a telepathic link with him and we pilot the SP/dr mech. It's outside right now, but I might be able to show you later. I am like Gwen, in a way," Peni agreed, smiling widely. "We save the world in another dimension. I know that sounds kind of crazy, but your friend has spider powers, right? How crazy can it actually be?"

"That's crazy enough!" MJ exclaimed, before laughing, "And pretty dang cool, you're definitely right about the fact that Gwen being able to stick to ceilings is way crazy, too. But still, another dimension?" She turned to Gwen then, and Gwen had to smother a laugh at the force of her ire suddenly being placed all on her. "Is this where you've been all this time, Gwen Stacy?" She hadn't even blinked at the Spider, instead giving him a brief nod, which immediately brightened Peni to her. Gwen gave a brief shrug and a nod, a smile that was definitely smug spreading across her face, and finally MJ had to turn her attention back to Miles and Peni, her eyes still so wide. "That's insane! What's it like? I can…I can kind of tell, you look…" she backpedaled carefully in the way that they had been working on, waving her hands in front of her, "not that I mean anything by it, it's just…wow!" she shook her head, her eyes wide. "That's so amazing!" Peni laughed. "Are you from a different dimension, too?" MJ asked, looking to Miles.

"Yeah," Miles agreed with a wide smile. "I don't have spider powers, though," he said, holding his hands up. "I just…happened to be in the wrong place at the right time and wound up meeting everyone in the worst kind of freak accident imaginable. We've been friends pretty much ever since. I've been wanting to meet you; Gwen talks about you all the time."

"She hasn't said anything about either of you," MJ returned, an eyebrow rising at Gwen pointedly. "But it's nice to meet both of you. Are you the ones I'm going to makeover?" she asked.

Miles laughed. "Nah, no thanks, I'm not that interested, and even if I was, I don't think you've got the…" MJ held a finger up, a smug grin on her face, and flipped the plastic bag around, showing an extensive section exclusively paired to darker skin tones. "Oh, wow," Miles exclaimed, leaning close to see them all.

"I don't know if I'll have your exact skin tone," MJ said, frowning. "Makeup companies need to get their act together when it comes to darker skin tones. I'm getting frustrated with the fact that you can barely find a decent concealer. But I can give it a shot, if you want?"

"That's amazing," Miles said, his eyes wide. "I've never seen that many in one place that wasn't a store. Why do you have so much?"

"It's one of the things I'm working on perfecting," MJ answered. "Look is very important, and I believe it's extremely important to get a good handle on it. It's a brand, and when you're a part of a band, the brand is important. I do the makeup for the band, and practice on anyone else who's interested. Besides, I just…really love makeup. There's a level of…well, anonymity you can't get with other things. Not even a mask. It hides more in plain sight, I guess."

"That's cool," Peni enthused, grinning wide. "I really like that. I never really thought of makeup like that, but when you put it like that it's kind of impressive. I'd be interested, but…um…" she looked to Gwen.

"I…" Gwen paused, taking a breath. "I have another friend that's here, too, but…" Gwen hesitated.

"Well then, come on, spill. Where are they?" MJ started, looking around. Gwen put her hand on her shoulder before she could spot Pete, drawing her attention back.

"They're all from alternate dimensions, MJ," Gwen started, her eyebrows pinched slightly.

"Yeah, I get that, alternate dimensions where…" she paused. "Anything can happen," she finished softly. "Your friend…is it someone we know from here?" she asked.

"It…it was," Gwen finally confirmed softly. "I don't know how close you were to him, but…"

"Him?" MJ repeated, her brows pinching together. Pete took his cue to lower himself down behind her, waiting patiently, a good distance back so he didn't crowd her or get in her space. It was something that Gwen had found to be classic about Peters, but in this case, she agreed with the approach. It kept him far enough from their Peter, with his abilities being so prominent, that it would hopefully create a mental barrier between the two Peters and make it much easier to swallow.

She hoped.

Gwen turned MJ around carefully. "Oh!" MJ exclaimed, taking in Pete hanging upside-down from a black thread attached to the ceiling. "Hello…" she said softly, and then paused, staring into the revealed eyes.

Gwen watched and waited as MJ hesitated, before taking a few steps towards him. Pete watched as she approached him, keeping completely still. MJ took a breath, before finally reaching out.

"Can I?" she asked, pausing, her fingers near his mask. Pete nodded, and she took a hold of it just under his chin, carefully pulling it off. MJ froze, staring at his revealed face, and Gwen had no idea what it was that Pete saw, but Pete almost immediately dropped from the thread, standing upright. MJ stared up at him, for a moment completely still.

"Hi, MJ," Pete finally said when she didn't say anything, something so very uncharacteristic of her friend. "I'm…sorry for the secrecy. I just… We didn't know how close you were to your Peter Parker. We thought it might be best to introduce me last." He hesitated, obviously floundering in the weight of MJ's silence, shooting glances at Gwen, who found herself frozen in MJ's own immobility. "I…I'm sorry," he finally said. "I'm sorry that you lost someone you knew, and I'm sorry I share his face. I…I don't know how presumptuous this is of me to say, but I heard…about you and Gloria?" he hesitated. "I'm happy for you. It's nice that you have someone."

MJ gave a soft sound, and almost seemed to crumble, before throwing her arms around him, letting out a quiet, almost keening wail. Pete hesitated, stiffening under her initial hold, but almost immediately rallying to awkwardly take her into his own arms. He looked at Gwen with wide and uncertain eyes, carefully tightening the hug as MJ shifted, pressing her face into his shoulder and beginning to weep.

Gwen hadn't expected this. She hadn't expected this at all. She approached carefully and put a hand on MJ's shoulder, waiting. It was telling that MJ didn't immediately turn and latch onto her instead. She felt woefully unprepared. MJ had never mentioned Peter, had avoided going with her to visit his gravestone, but maybe this was why. MJ had never cried in front of her. She had never revealed weakness, not once, not even because she didn't have anything to cry about, but out of something else. Gwen wasn't sure if it was pride, or willful stubbornness that refused to give into the feelings deep inside.

Either way, she had never seen MJ cry, and it hurt her heart to see it now.

MJ finally cried herself out, backing away. "I'm sorry," she finally managed, wiping at her eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't…I didn't mean to attack you like that…Peter, I…" she turned to Gwen, the others, her face flushed from a combination of crying and what was most-likely embarrassment. Gwen wished she was able to tell her she didn't have to be embarrassed. "I'm sorry," she said again, bowing her head a little. "I… That was rude of me, you don't know me, and I shouldn't have…" she wiped her eyes. "God, you're Peter," she said so softly, turning back to look at Pete. "You're Peter. He…" she hesitated. "He was the first that…knew."

"I didn't know," Gwen said softly, feeling everything click into place and the picture it painted was painful. She felt she should have known. "I'm so sorry, if I had known, I…"

"No," MJ said, shaking her head. "I'm glad that…" she hesitated. "I guess I better start from the beginning…" she huffed a sigh. "This is just a bad first meeting, guys, I'm really sorry."

"No," Miles, Peni, and Pete all chorused at once. "It's okay," Pete said. "I'm…well, I'm a living incarnate of your dead friend…"

"That's it, though, he wasn't my friend," MJ said, shaking her head, her voice insistent, and that surprised Gwen. "I just…I just wish he had been. I wish that I hadn't been so…so stupid." MJ rubbed her face, and slowly sat down, putting her bags to the side. Gwen sat, too, the others following her lead, even as she carefully moved over so she could be right next to her friend in case she wanted someone to lean on. There was so much hurt that she could see, so much regret in MJ's face.

Gwen wasn't used to seeing either emotion.

Dead Peters…

"Peter…he was the first that knew because he wound up walking in on me kissing another girl. Lacey Grace, you might remember her," she said, looking at Gwen, who nodded. "Completely accidental, right? We were in the chemistry lab, and of course…nerdy Peter Parker," she sing-songed in the way that had been said so many times it made Gwen's heart clench, MJ's expression screaming of a bad taste in her mouth. Pete's face had no expression, just quietly listening. "He walked in on us. For a moment he was completely frozen, and then he turned around and left. By the time I unfroze and went to follow him, he was gone, and I had no idea where he went."

"He didn't hold it over you or anything, did he?" Pete asked, his eyebrows pinched, and eyes narrowed. It was so very like him to question. So much so that Gwen wanted to laugh, but she also wanted to cry, and she found herself leaning against MJ without thought. MJ pressed back.

"I thought he was going to," MJ said, her voice soft. "I kept waiting for it to get out. I kept waiting for him to spill, tell everyone that Mary Jane, the resident prep, beautiful, all around popular girl…was…" she paused, her face twisting, and Gwen nudged her gently. MJ took a breath. "Nothing ever came out. He never said a word. When I finally managed to confront him about it, when I finally cornered him I…" she hesitated, and the look on her face then was guilt.

"I wasn't ready to come out and I thought that he was just waiting for the perfect opportunity, and I just…I pushed him. I was so mad and so scared I pushed him. He hit his head against the wall and cussed at me, but didn't touch me, just stared at me, asking what I wanted."

MJ took a breath, rubbing at her face. "I asked him why he didn't tell. He just got…so quiet." MJ looked at Pete, and then just as quickly looked away. "'I'm not cruel, Mary Jane,' he said to me," she said, doing a very clumsy but passable imitation of his voice, one that told Gwen she had rehearsed this conversation in her head over and over again. Gwen knew that tone intimately, knew the sound of offense and wounded hurt that was somehow still so unimpressed. It was almost painful to hear. It reminded her of how little he ever expected from people, how much hurt he received. "'You don't like me, and I don't like you, but I'm not cruel. When you want to come out, you'll come out, but it's not going to be because of anything I say.'" MJ sighed, rubbing her eyes.

Gwen felt her heart clench, because even with all of the hurt, it was still so like Peter. She looked at her friend then, who leaned against her, her expression miserable, wet tear tracks leading down her face. Gwen wondered how long she had kept this inside of her without voice.

"I didn't dislike him," MJ finally continued softly. "I didn't like him, but I didn't…I didn't dislike him. It wasn't until that moment that I realized just how…utterly beneath my notice I thought he was, and how scared I was that he would just…" she paused. "Its funny. I'd keep telling myself that I needed to be more accepting of people. That I should care about them more, because if I could be so wrong about Peter…" she swallowed, and let her voice trail off, and Gwen felt her heart clench. "I wanted to get to know him. I decided that I had been wrong, and that I…and that I wanted to be friends." Her voice faded. "Then he died…and I never got that chance." She wiped her eyes, looking away. "I don't know. Hearing you say that…about Gloria…it reminded me of that. Of what I hoped for. Of what I can't have."

Gwen found herself completely speechless. She had never heard MJ talk like this, had never heard the regret pour out of her in this way. Dead Peters. Dead friends and the ghosts that never leave even after the ones that die were in the ground. Gwen thought she understood how seeing Pete could have caused the opening of old wounds. Pete was sometimes still a ghost to her, sometimes still a reflection of her dead friend in the way he looked at something, the way he smiled, the way he spoke. It wasn't fair. It would never be fair. But regrets were like that.

They clung.

Pete looked at Gwen for guidance she couldn't give, and then back to MJ, and finally opened his mouth.

"You can't…you can't have it with him, no," Pete finally said softly, his voice quiet, and that oddly uncertain it almost never got. "And I'm not…I'm not offering myself up as a substitute. I can't. I don't know who he was or what kind of person he was, honestly. We share a face and we share a name, but…there's more to a person than that…" and hearing that was like a blow to Gwen's heart. "But if…if you want…" Pete hesitated, before finally making a vague gesture with his hand. MJ laughed, a shaky sort of hollow thing, but a sound that was gaining strength.

"Are you saying we can be friends?" MJ asked, smiling at him, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as she did so.

"…I guess?" Pete paused, looking at the others. "I'm new to the…friend thing. I don't think I've ever asked."

Peters

MJ laughed, before smiling at him. "I'd like that. And um…thank you, for saying that about Gloria. Did…Gwen tell you?" MJ looked at her, green eyes somewhere between hurt and thankful, and Gwen felt like she should have thought about that. Should have thought that it was her friend that she was outing, and maybe she'd prefer to have done it herself.

"She did, I hope it wasn't…too forward of me to say that," Pete said and rubbed the back of his head, frowning slightly, drawing their attention back. "Please don't hold it against her for telling me," he said, and Gwen ducked her head. "I'm from the year 1933. There's a lot of things that are different between your world and mine and I've found that hearing the year I come from can make people a little…nervous as far as my tolerances go. Which is fair, I'm not complaining. I live there. But Gwen, I think, wanted to make sure that I wouldn't act like a total twit about queers. Since she was worried about it, I thought it would be better if I said it before it became an issue. I've got a list of things that I try and keep track of, in terms of things that are different between our universes and I need to be careful of, and that's the newest one."

"A list," MJ repeated, wiping her eyes, a slight smile on her face. "That's impressive, what's on it?"

"At the moment and in no particular order, I have no issue with women in the workforce and I also think that they should be equal to men, I try not to be a racist dick, I've got a list of slang that's inappropriate, I have no issue with queers of any type, and also…" Pete hesitated, pausing in his ticking off the list from his fingers to make eye contact. "I have no problem with the idea of wearing makeup, which, surprise, the makeover's for me."

MJ blinked, even as Gwen, Miles and Peni began laughing. It was good to hear, and Gwen felt warm, the jazz-hands he did adding a layer of absurdity to it that was wonderful.

"It's for you?" MJ asked, already beginning to look at Pete with calculative eyes.

"I…can't go outside normally in your universes," Pete finally said, sighing. "I attract too much attention, and that brings the attention onto Peni, and she gets looked at funny." Pete spread his hands out. "Gwen thought you might have an idea for how to make me…blend in a bit more, and maybe make it look so I look a lot less like a dead Peter."

"Yeah," Miles agreed. "Pete reflects light weird enough that people running to work have paused to do double-takes."

"So, you want him to look…well, normal, while also making him look different?" MJ asked, a look of confusion on her face.

"I don't like that term…" Pete said quietly. "I…" he hesitated.

"Remember the rule," Gwen said. "You have no obligation to explain unless you want to!" she reminded, Miles and Peni both nodded, Pete sinking into himself slightly. "And it's also not fair, MJ," she said, turning to look at her friend, who had gone quite pale at the realization of what she had said and how it came across. "He is normal for his universe."

"I don't know if you could call me normal," Pete said quietly, hunching slightly, which made her heart sting. Peni threw herself on top of him suddenly, Pete letting out an 'oof!' as she did so.

"No," Peni called out. "No existentialism! You're good and you're Peter and you're you!" She put both hands on his face, cupping his cheeks between them, and Pete looked mildly horrified. Gwen had to stifle a laugh.

"Yeah," Miles added, frowning, doing a much better job than she was at keeping a straight face. "You're just fine. Our worlds are weird to you, and there's nothing wrong with you. You're you! I'd be upset if you were any different, man. You're my friend and I like you."

"You're all right, and that was rude of me to put it like that," MJ said finally, her eyebrows pinched and her expression apologetic. "I didn't even think of how that would sound when I said it. I'm sorry I was so thoughtless."

"It's okay…" Pete said and cleared his throat, adjusting Peni so she was no longer hanging off of him and instead righting her in his lap. She smiled smugly and settled there happily. Gwen wondered if that was the plan all along. "Besides, I've been thinking about it…isn't the reason you all are so…oh, I don't know what to call it, but your skin…" he hesitated. "Peni, can I borrow your arm for a second?" He asked quietly. Peni immediately held it out with a grin, palm up, pulling her sleeve up. Pete rolled his own up, holding his arm next to hers.

It was funny how Gwen had somehow stopped realizing just how different Pete's skin tone was after continued exposure to him. Placed next to Peni, who had a warm complexion, Pete was about as different as night and day. His paper-white skin had none of the undertones that Peni's did, instead replaced by gray, and certainly none of the faint blue traces of veins underneath her skin, showing black under Pete's skin. The spinneret was also something very different, the way his muscles moved almost alien in comparison, but still so very him.

MJ leaned closer in order to see it properly, taking it all in. Pete hesitated, realizing the spinneret was there, too, starting to curl his hand back. MJ held his hand, giving him a slight smile, frowning at the spinneret thoughtfully.

"How sensitive is that?" she asked, indicating the hole there. Miles, Gwen and Peni all looked at Pete then, hoping that he would finally answer some of the questions that had lingered.

"My spinnerets…they're…pretty sensitive," Pete finally said after a long pause. "I don't like it when people touch them…"

"It's a literal hole in your wrist," MJ replied, smirking slightly, "I don't blame you for that. I wouldn't want people to touch it either. Can you put cloth over it or something?"

"Yes, I don't mind that, though cotton feels best…" Pete answered, hesitating. "Some of the other fabrics are just too…sleek? I don't know how to explain it properly, they just…feel funny."

"That makes sense." MJ nodded. "Well, for covering that up, there's no way we can use makeup. But, there's a bunch of things you could probably use, armbands and such, that will absolutely cover that so you can go around in short sleeves if you want. The muscles come together oddly, admittedly, but I don't think that they'll be something people focus on. But I do have to ask about your undertone, that's…it's very dark. Your skin is white, like…paper white, but that undertone…"

"I bleed black," Pete answered. "I'm guessing part of the reason for that undertone is the fact that black is literally right underneath the surface."

"That would definitely do it," MJ nodded, leaning back. She frowned at him for a moment, and then looked at Gwen. "You really couldn't figure out what would make him look like he…fit in our universe, what would probably stop him from looking like a Peter?" she asked, shooting a glance at Pete to make sure that the word choice was acceptable. He gave a brief nod. Gwen felt a brief spike of irritation.

"No, MJ, believe it or not I don't usually spend a lot of time thinking about fashion, and I don't know a lot about makeup," Gwen replied, raising an eyebrow. MJ beamed at them.

"It's obvious. Look at him," MJ said, gesturing at him. "The blackest black hair I've ever seen, skin literally white as a ghost, gray eyes…" she hesitated, looking at all of them, and then back to Pete. "He's the perfect base for a goth."

Gwen's eyes widened, her eyebrows shooting up, Miles clapping a hand to his mouth as Peni stood up from Pete's lap and stared at him with wide eyes.

"How the hell did I not see that?" Gwen finally exclaimed, pointing at him, feeling a rush of excitement start to build. A goth! It was perfect!

"We could even explain the lips!" Miles shouted out, standing upright. "If he's goth, people would expect him to wear a bit of lipstick!"

"We could even hide the waterline by giving him eyeliner!" Peni called out, beaming, her hands clapping together brightly. Spider was doing a victory dance in her hair.

"What would we do about the inside of his mouth though?" Gwen asked, looking at the others, the realization not dampening everything completely, but still a bit of a speedbump. The other Spiders started sinking a little as well.

"Easy," MJ said, waving a hand and reached into her actual purse. After some fishing she pulled out a cherry lollipop, removing the wrapper in an easy motion before holding it out with a grin. "Say ah?" she asked. Pete hesitated, before finally reaching out, taking it and sticking the lollipop in his mouth, starting to suck on it. Peni was bouncing up and down at that point, her eyes wide and excited with realization. Gwen had started to smile wide. She knew exactly what MJ was thinking now. Pete screwed his mouth up slightly and took it out after a while.

"That's so sweet," he complained, and Gwen, Miles, and Peni all gave a loud exclamation of glee.

"Pete!" Gwen called out, bouncing up and down. "Oh my god!" she grabbed a mirror from MJ, holding it out to him. "Ahh!" she enthused, prompting him to open his mouth, Pete frowning at her, before doing as told.

Pete looked at the mirror and then blinked, before taking it from her hand and looking at it better, opening his mouth wider. Gwen had never been so amused, or quite as gleeful. His mouth had turned the familiar, and yet somehow muted red that was the common symptom of sucking on a red lollipop. She assumed that the reason it looked so much more natural on him was the fact that the base was gray. Gwen laughed aloud at the sight of Pete sticking his tongue out and looking at it cross-eyed, abandoning the mirror entirely as though it was lying to him.

"Wht th fulk?" Pete managed around his tongue. The cackling that erupted was brilliant and bright.

"It's perfect!" Peni clapped her hands together. "I never thought the past's issue with red coloring getting everywhere would be something so helpful. I didn't even think about using something like that to hide what color your mouth was!"

"That's awesome," Miles enthused. "All we'd need to do is have a bunch of cherry popsicles or lollipops around, and all you've got to do is suck on that for a while, and no one will know! It's perfect!"

"MJ, you're the best," Gwen laughed.

"I know," MJ returned, beaming bright. "But I haven't even gotten to the makeup part." MJ grinned as wide as possible, wiggling her eyebrows. "Have you ever applied any makeup, Pete?"

"No," Pete answered, and it was so weird to see that bit of red in his mouth, but also so cool. "I'm not opposed to the idea, but I've never put it on myself."

"Well, lucky for you, I have an idea that I think is perfect and will be really simple," MJ said, grinning bright. "All we need…" she started, opening her makeup kit and beginning to dig around. "Is this," she finally finished, pulling out a single black compact. They all narrowed their eyes at it then, tilting their heads slightly.

"Just that?" Gwen asked. "I mean, I know you're good, MJ…" Gwen said softly. "But…"

"That's one thing?" Miles tilted his head. "Won't we need more than that? Like…I don't know, powders or something."

"Nope," MJ laughed, and opened the compact. Inside was a relatively untouched circle of product that was a beautiful black. There was a slight sheen to it, but otherwise it looked like the night sky in Peter B's world. MJ dabbed her finger in it carefully and then spread a small swatch on her skin. Gwen felt her eyes widen as MJ rotated her arm carefully, showing the small gray mark on her skin that blended in as a shadow, and more importantly… Fit Pete almost exactly, that sheen smoothing out beautifully into something that would make it look less like a natural skin tone, but wasn't overpowering.

"What is this witchcraft?" Miles asked with wide eyes.

MJ cackled. "Cream blush, contour, lipstick, and with a very careful hand, eyeliner. It's our lovely all in one, and it's going to be the easiest thing you have ever applied, Pete," MJ grinned. "It's exactly what you need." Pete hesitated, before carefully holding his hand out. MJ put the compact in his hand and grabbed a few brushes and a blender. "It's even got a mirror for you to use," she said, tapping the rim above the mirror itself. "I'm going to teach you how to apply it so it'll look like that gray shadow, how to perfectly blend out the color on your lips, because while Miles is right and there is gray lipstick, people that wear a lot of it will notice that you aren't. The thing we might have a bit of trouble with is the eyeliner, but that's just because it's a bit scary if you've never done it before."

Pete stared at the compact, and then stared at her as she held out one of the thicker brushes to him. He stared at the brush, and then looked back up at her, and Gwen wanted to laugh. He'd been so down for it, but he'd probably expected something a little more hands-off. Not with MJ.

MJ laughed. "Here," she moved around to sit next to him, leaving Gwen's side a bit colder. "Take this," she said, handing it to him. "Now just get a bit of color," she said, Pete doing as instructed. "Suck in your cheeks…" she started, and then paused, looking at him with pinched brows as she really took in Pete's face better now that she was closer. Pete looked better than he had, the semi-regular meals had helped, but he still looked pinched, and he still had dark circles under his eyes. "I take that back; your cheekbones are pretty well defined…" MJ said softly and took a breath. "That's what I have to do when I contour," she recovered, poking her dimpled cheeks carefully with a wide smile. "I got big cheeks," she puffed them out exaggeratedly, and they laughed, Pete giving her a smile.

"Now, put a line of it right under here," she ran her finger just under his cheekbone carefully without actually touching him. He repeated the motion with the makeup, putting a dark streak there. "Same on the other side and do your best to keep it even." He followed instructions. "Now you're going to take this…" she handed him the blender, "and carefully dab it, up and down, until you've blended it out. Go down, not up."

Pete followed instructions, carefully blending it out. The effect of the black makeup was almost immediately noticeable. That sheen made it look a little less like his natural coloration and a lot more like it was painted on, it also started making him look less like Peter. The Peter she knew would never, and it emphasized the differences in their face, namely how thin Pete was. The smile that spread across MJ's face was starting to turn smug, and Pete finally pulled the blender away, staring at it with shock on his face. Gwen, however, had never doubted, and the smile across her face was huge.

"That's unbelievable," Miles said softly his eyes wide. MJ laughed.

"That's the power of makeup," MJ grinned. "If you want to be extra careful about it, I'd put some under here…" she indicated along his jawline. "And here," she ran a finger down either side of his nose carefully, "and here…" pointing to the little dip above his cupids bow, "and here," she pointed along the top of his forehead. Pete stared at her with wide eyes and she burst out laughing. "Yeah, that's a lot. I think you can mainly get away with it right here," she indicated his hairline. "And here," under his jaw. "The rest should be fine. The technique is the same, just blend it out carefully." Pete frowned and followed her indicated pattern, carefully blending it out.

It was perfect. It somehow helped soften the shadows and draw more attention to Pete's pale as hell skin, making the undertone almost disappear.

"Now, this one is a lip brush," MJ said, handing over a smaller brush. "I'm going to show you how to apply it because it's a bit tricky. What we're going to be working on here is layering it up. What's cool about this stuff is the more layers you put on the darker it gets, and because it's buildable you can get some cool effects." She dabbed the brush carefully in the compact and then began painting it on the inside of her lips. "Now, I'm going to build this part up the most," she said as she did so, "and then smudge it out towards the edges carefully, without adding more color."

The eventual finished look was mildly horrifying, in Gwen's opinion. The black in the center of her lips made it particularly noticeable when she opened her mouth, making it look a bit like a maw, the carefully blended black almost creeping out from within. The gloss she put on at the end somehow made it worse. MJ pouted at the silence that had fallen as they stared at her, before making a few kissy faces, her hands clasped together under her chin. The awe broke and they laughed.

"Now, you don't have to do this look, you can just build it up black," MJ said, "but that's just an idea of how you can utilize the blending ability to make it less…monotonous?" she raised an eyebrow. "Regardless, this stuff is nice. Do you want to give it a go?"

Pete hesitated before taking another brush that she held out and carefully dabbing the brush in it.

"Alright, so what you're going to do is bottom lip first. Give it a nice even base, try and keep it within the lines. Your lips aren't very full, but overdrawing is hard to do right, and frankly the idea that you have to have full lips to wear lipstick is stupid anyway," MJ said, rolling her eyes. Pete carefully followed instructions, taking the compact so he could paint it easier. He went outside the lines a couple times, making a face each time.

"I swear I can actually stay in the lines," he said, pulling the lip brush away. They laughed.

"Don't worry," MJ reassured with a grin. "It's a hard skill to learn, lip pencils exist as well to help, but we're trying to keep this as simple as possible. Remember that skin isn't like paper."

Pete blinked, and Miles burst out laughing.

"She's hitting you with your own advice, Pete," Miles said, grinning wide.

"I see that," Pete agreed, finally, smirking. "It's not like stitches, though…"

"Stitches? Like…stitching wounds shut stitches?" MJ asked.

"Yeah," Pete responded. "I'm pretty good at them, got steady hands. This is weird for whatever reason though…"

"Well…you've never done it before, you probably didn't think you would do it before, and frankly you're doing pretty well. Don't overthink it, it's fine," MJ grinned at him, and Pete followed instructions. It took three layers before it was a proper black and by the time he was finished with the second layer they could tell he was a bit more familiar with what was needed. It had also moved his appearance from other-dimensional to something that could be done with makeup and a bit of time.

It also, quite admittedly, made him striking as hell.

The black stood out against his skin starkly, joining with his hair to somehow make his overall look that much more even. And when he licked at his lips habitually it helped complete the look of someone just wearing makeup at the sight of that pink tongue. He made a face at the taste, though, and Gwen doubted he'd do it again. It made her laugh.

"There you go," MJ praised, grinning. "Now this is the hardest bit." She took a thin angled brush and carefully dabbed the makeup on. "You take the angled brush, and carefully, carefully…" she began lining her eyes, carefully sliding under the bottom lash line, and then carefully closing her eye to line the lid. Pete stared at this with wide and mildly horrified eyes, and Gwen didn't blame him. She hated eyeliner and had only just started perfecting it. MJ always making it look so easy wasn't helpful.

"How about no?" Pete asked, an eyebrow rising. "I mean, can't I just get away with this?" He looked at them, and Gwen made a face as she realized that he really couldn't.

"No," she said, shaking her head sympathetically. "I'm sorry Pete, it really made your eyes stand out, and the color of them…" and it was true, while the makeup had smoothed the otherworldly appearance of most of Pete's face, his eyes had really started to become a major focal point, even past the black of his lips. Pete made a face and looked at the angled brush MJ had prepared for him.

"Just don't stick it in your eye, man," Miles advised, his eyebrows scrunching up and his mouth twisting. Peni laughed, before nodding.

"Yeah, just don't stick it in your eye," she agreed with a wide smile.

"If I stick it in my eye, know that you have both jinxed me," Pete said, frowning at them. They laughed, and Pete finally took the brush. He stared at the angled tip and then looked at MJ. "Does this have to be super neat?"

"Luckily, no," MJ said, shaking her head. "Guyliner is generally pretty messy…"

"Guyliner?" Pete repeated, and MJ laughed.

"Yup, guyliner. It just means that you're a guy wearing eyeliner. It's also got a particular look to it, so if you want to smudge it out, don't be afraid to do so. Just be slow and careful."

Pete frowned at her, before doing as told. It was definitely a bit messy. At first, he didn't even get it right up against his lash line, and he made a face at that, but rallied well, getting it where it needed to be. Eventually what he came up with was a slightly messy, but a very passable attempt that made his already startlingly grey eyes stand out beautifully in a way that they couldn't be compared to blue or brown. Gwen was rather startled to realize that Pete made an absolutely perfect goth, and much more importantly, looked almost nothing like himself.

"Woah," Peni said, her eyes wide. "That is…so cool!" she exclaimed, jumping up, her Spider cheering with her.

"That's crazy," Miles said, leaning forward. "You look like a completely different person! It really…it really does look good, man, I like it. It compliments you pretty well, honestly."

"They're right," Gwen agreed, smiling wide. "It looks perfect."

"And because everything you're wearing is also black, then that's also perfect," MJ said, grinning. "You won't even need to change. Vintage clothing is perfect for a gothic look."

"But…" Pete hesitated. "But what if you…like…color?" he asked. MJ's eyes widened.

"You should have said something!" she exclaimed.

"Oh!" Pete exclaimed. "I'm sorry, will the…goth look not work anymore?"

"No! Oh no, you can absolutely do goth, we can just open up our look repertoire, because you see…it's really not just the makeup. It's the clothes, too…" MJ pulled out her phone, looking something up. "See," she finally said, holding her phone out to reveal… "This is pastel goth," MJ explained as they took in the various pictures. Most of them had black pants or some other black thing to build from, but they had added colorful clips, or sweaters, or pops of color on their lips, hair, or jewelry, or a combination of all of these. It was cute.

Pete frowned slightly. "Are the accessories necessary?" he asked.

MJ paused. "Oh, I didn't think the jewelry would be a problem…"

"It's not really," Pete shook his head. "It's just…all of that's something else to buy, and I just…" he made a face, spreading out his hands. "I just don't have the dough."

"Oh!" MJ exclaimed. "Oh, that's fine! Gwen and I can help you with some of this, I'm sure," Gwen was nodding at that point. "Get you a few clips and stuff that we don't use to get you started. You also don't have to add as much as they do. Just a wrist band or two to hide your spinnerets, and maybe a choker because that's a staple… You're not interested in getting your ears pierced, are you?" she asked.

Pete made a face. "I don't mind, much, but I don't think I'd be able to hide that in my world as easily…"

"That's a good point," MJ said. "You really wouldn't be able to hide it as well, which I suppose means you can't dye your hair. That's fine, by the way, just means we can't do anything too crazy. The only real expense I think we'd have to spend for you are a few skinny jeans, some bondage pants, and if you're comfortable with it, maybe a kilt?"

"Skinny jeans?" Peni repeated.

"Bondage pants?" Gwen squawked.

"Kilt?" Miles squeaked.

"I'm not comfortable with any of those things?" Pete managed softly.

MJ rolled her eyes. "Okay, first off, the skinny jeans don't have to be that skinny. We can probably get tapered ones and they'd work just fine. The bondage pants are just…they're strappy, they're called that because they're strappy," she explained, looking it up on her phone again and showing them. There was a collective "Oooooh!" that rang out at the sight of them. "They're not actually involved in bondage. I…don't think. It's just the name. They're pretty much a goth staple, so you have to have at least one pair. The kilt…"

"The kilt is a no," Pete said, shaking his head. "I'm not…I'm not comfortable with that."

"Even with leggings underneath?" MJ asked. "You don't have to wear a straight-up kilt. I can understand how it would be uncomfortable, but I think it can be pretty cute…"

"I…" Pete hesitated, his hands balling into slight fists, his eyes getting a far-away look to them that Gwen couldn't read. "No," he finally said softly. "No, I don't want a kilt…"

"That's fine, no kilt," MJ said, smiling. "Tapered pants, bondage pants, and…your boots would probably be perfect, actually, so there's no expense there. But the pants are probably going to be a bit expensive…" the smile she gave turned sly. "Unless we go thrifting."

"Can you find something like that in a thrift shop?" Gwen asked, her eyebrows shooting up.

"Oh, Gwen," MJ said, with a wide grin and twinkling eyes. "You can find anything in a thrift shop. You just have to know where to look." She turned to Pete with a serious look. "Are you ready to test the look out with the rest of New York, or do you want to wait for now?"

Pete hesitated, clearly thinking. "I…I think I want to wait."

"That's fine," MJ grinned. "If you want to give me your size I'll be on the lookout and I'll get some for you."

"You don't have to…"

"Nope! You're my friend now, Pete," MJ said, and her smile was fond, and her eyes were twinkling with something that wasn't laughter this time. "I get to spoil my friends."

Pete hesitated, that look on his face that was still so him even with the black painted over it, that confused, slightly unsettled look that only ever asked why. Why me, why this, why? It always hurt Gwen's heart when she saw it. MJ, however, bowled past it with all the grace that she ever did, a wide grin and a loud laugh, taking his hands in hers.

"You deserve to be spoiled," she said. "You're from the Great Depression, right? That's what the 1930s are? Well, whenever I'm depressed, I buy things, which means you need a lot of things," she laughed. "Retail therapy!" she pumped her fist in the air, and the laughter that followed was bright and warm, Pete giving her a slight grin. She checked her phone again and made a face. "That said, I…I have to go, guys… Thank you so much for giving me the privilege of making you over," MJ smiled at Pete. "Size?"

Pete told her begrudgingly, and she pushed the brushes and the blenders as well as the compact that he had been using all into Pete's hands. Pete stood there with wide eyes, cradling them to his chest. MJ laughed.

"Don't worry, I've got more of those, and I also have another Eclipse. If you need more let me know, and I'll get you more of it," she hesitated, and then sighed. "Can I…can I hug you?" Pete put the makeup and tools in a pocket, and opened his arms. She pressed in close, throwing her arms around him, squeezing tightly. "Thank you," she finally said softly. "Do you have a phone or…something?" she asked as she stepped back.

"I'll give him your number," Gwen promised. "Thank you so much, MJ, I'll see you later." She hugged her friend tightly. Miles and Peni both got a big hug, too, and then MJ left. Gwen took a breath and sighed it out. "I'm going to go tell dad that we're going over to your house for supper," Gwen said. "If you think I'm missing your parent's reactions to Pete you're wrong." They laughed. They wound up following behind MJ. Not soon enough to see her leave, but close enough they could smell her perfume lingering. Another ghost.

Peni got back into her SP/dr, and they opened another portal. Pete hesitated before pulling his mask on, making a face at the realization that he probably couldn't put it back on without smudging everything.

"I'm going to go through a tick after you, I think," Pete said, pulling the collar of his coat up and pulling his hat low. They nodded. Miles had unzipped his hoodie and pulled his mask on already after Pete handed it over, tossing the socks back, before leaping onto SP/dr's leg with Gwen doing the same on the opposite side.

"See you in a bit, Pete, if you want to arrive to my house last that might be the best way to do it," Miles grinned big and bright and Gwen felt amusement spread through her. Pete nodded in agreement and he still looked so odd, and yet so perfect, and then they leapt through and he was gone. Tumbling, tumbling through the void to the portal that burned black and red and blue, clinging tight to Peni's mech, and finally they burst through, once again falling into a swinging motion as soon as they steadied themselves.

There was no romp this time, but Gwen promised herself that she'd make Miles show her the place properly at some point, show it to them through his eyes, not just through training or through touristy things for Pete, even though he couldn't help his interest. She couldn't wait.

He climbed in his window carefully when they got to his house, and they waited for him to change, while standing on the roof. He came out a bit later and hurried around to knock on the door to be let in. Gwen and Peni both took the time to go to the window to wait patiently in order to be let in, Gwen carefully holding Peni tightly to her. Jeff was the one to finally open the window, grinning at them brightly.

"Hey, girls," he said. "Come on in, supper's just been put on the table."

"It smells delicious!" Peni enthused, sliding down from Gwen's hold. And it did, a lovely warm aroma that spread throughout the house.

"Thank you," Rio and Jeff both chorused, and Gwen had to laugh. "We were working on it for a while before you came here," Rio finished, and then paused. She frowned, looking for Pete, and then finally looked at Miles. "Miles, where's Pete?" she asked.

"Yeah, where is Pete?" Jeff asked, also looking around, before they both turned to frown at Miles. "You didn't go to Gwen's universe without Pete, did you?"

"No!" Miles immediately protested. "I know the rules, I went with Pete, and I came back with Pete."

"Then, where is…" there was a knock at the door.

Jeff and Rio both blinked, looked at each other, and then looked back at the door, and then looked at them. Gwen did her best to make her face look innocent. She doubted she did very well, she wanted to laugh so very badly. The suspicion on their faces ratcheted up with the raise of an eyebrow, and they finally looked at each other, before going over to open the door.

Gwen watched with a wide grin on her face as finally the two of them opened the door. For a moment they both stared blankly at Pete standing on their doorstep, looking like a complete stranger, before both of them took a step back in tandem with a loud cry of "Pete?"

The laughter that finally erupted was wonderful and heady and cleared Gwen's heart of lingering sadness, particularly when Rio made an approving noise and Jeff nodded his head thoughtfully, both eyebrows raised in a 'not bad' expression. It was good and it was right, particularly when they made Pete do a brief twirl and told him he looked sharp and appropriately menacing in the way parents did when they were trying to be supportive of your interests but couldn't quite understand the reasoning behind them. At least not until Pete said something, that pink flickering into view, and everything snapped into place with the force of a gunshot and they began taking a really good look at him. The good thing about that sort of immediate support meant it was still clear, even past the initial confusion that they loved you all the same, and it made Gwen's heart warm, particularly at the tiny smile that spread across Pete's face when they really took a good look at him and said they hadn't noticed the full effect at first.

They'd been too impressed by the guyliner.

Ghosts would still follow, a ghost still lived on with her friend, but there were new memories, and beautiful people, and Gwen was beginning to believe, to truly believe, that she could leave the ghosts in the grave where they belonged.