The first letter arrives at Peter's apartment precisely three weeks after Harry's funeral. Sealed in a crisp white envelope with the Osborn family crest, it stands out clearly amidst the pile of bills and junk mail.

Apartment #501, 187 Chrystie Street

Manhattan, New York City, NY

Dear Mr. Parker,

Let me begin by expressing my twofold condolences: firstly, for the loss of our dearest mutual friend, Harry Theopolis Osborn; and secondly, for my tardiness in sending you this letter. I hope that the past few weeks have found you as well as is possible given these tragic circumstances.

As you may imagine, Harry's unexpected passing has left the state of the Osborn family fortune in an uncertain situation. I need not burden you with details regarding the future of Oscorp Industries itself; rather, it is Harry's personal assets I wish to discuss with you. Understandably, given his young age, Harry left no will, nor did he have any dependents. As his nearest living relatives are distant cousins, New York law dictates that all his assets must pass to the State.

It is my belief that, had Harry's judgment throughout his final months not been impaired in the way we both knew it to be, he would have wished that much of his personal wealth be passed on to you, his closest friend. As this is regrettably not possible, I propose an alternative. An arrangement was made years ago by Harry's father that, if the Osborn line was to end abruptly, I was to receive part of the proceeds from the liquidation of the estate. This represents merely a fraction of the family's total assets, but, considering the value of Osborn Manor and its contents, it remains a substantial amount. I would be honored if you would accept the lion's share of this sum. I will, of course, retain enough to live comfortably, but I am an old man and my needs are few.

Please do not think of this as charity, but rather as recognition of the good that you have done for this family over the years. Having known Harry his entire life, I can say with certainty that your friendship did more for him than words can express. His school years in particular would have been very lonely without your company. I am only sorry that I was not able to remind him of this fact sooner. As for his father, I will say only that I am aware of what you did for us the night he died, and for that you have my deepest gratitude.

I do hope that you will accept this offer; if not for yourself then for Harry's memory. It is what he would have wanted.

Yours sincerely,

Bernard Houseman

Butler to the Osborn Estate

The second letter is found webbed to the inside of a sick child's bedroom door, strands of spider silk rustling in the draft from a window left ajar. A much larger, well-stuffed envelope dangles from the ceiling.

Emma and Penny Marko

31 Ann's Place

Brooklyn, NY

Hi Penny,

Hope this helps. Keep your chin up.

Your friendly neighborhood Spiderman


I'm not really even a part of this fandom but after rewatching the Raimi trilogy this summer/fall and then seeing No Way Home over Christmas, I've been in a bit of a Spider-Mood (TM). This idea came to me out of the blue one day and I just had to write it down, and then thought, well, why not post it? It's not something I put a great deal of time or energy into, and it could definitely be fleshed out more, but I figured I'd share it all the same.

I know that the butler was originally supposed to be a representation of Harry's conscience rather than a real person, but this fic is just going off of what was presented in the movie. I'm not sure how much the butler canonically knew about Peter's secret identity, but I'm going off of the assumption that he found out from Harry sometime during the third movie - probably after Peter injured Harry's face with the pumpkin bomb. Also, apparently in the novelization, Sandman's daughter's illness is incurable, but I'll leave it up to the reader to decide what happens to her. If nothing else, the money from Peter would hopefully be able to buy her better end-of-life care.

And in case it wasn't conveyed well, what the butler thanks Peter for doing the night Norman Osborn died is returning his body to the house for burial, when it would have been easier (and saved him a whole lot of trouble) simply to leave it behind.

Thanks for reading!