Chapter 61

Peter took subway all the way to Queens to test out his new theory that he had superpowers. In all honesty, he wasn't all that sure what to think about it yet.

Despite his initial freak out, the subway ride was long enough to let him think about what it would mean for him to have superpowers.

He thought Toni Stark was the coolest person in the world before he'd even met her. She'd built herself armour and flew around the world saving them from bad guys. Her superpower was her brain, and the fact that she was possibly one of the smartest people in the entire world.

And he got to be mentored by her.

She'd chosen him to learn from her.

He stared down at his hands as the subway station announced they were at the stop just before the one he was planning to get off at, where he knew there was an abandoned building from his daily walk to school.

If he had these powers, and it truly wasn't a fluke, what was he going to do about it?

Would he put on a suit like Toni and fly around trying to help people?

He was only fourteen. But didn't he already feel like a grownup? Would he be any more grown up in four years?

He'd had to grow up a lot earlier than most kids. Aunt May and Uncle Ben never made him feel like he was any less than theirs despite being their nephew. But with Aunt May in the hospital, he couldn't help but worry about Uncle Ben. Would he ever recover if anything happened to her? They loved each other; it was very clear every time he saw the two of them interact.

And if anything ever happened to May…

Well he couldn't think like that.

The subway arrived at his stop, and he stood quickly as he followed the busy hustle of people out of the station.

He climbed up the steps, pulling up his hoodie as he walked a few blocks til he got to the building where he knew no one would be at.

Peter looked around, making sure no one saw him go into the building, as he took off his hood.

Okay, he'd read a lot of comics growing up. He'd read every Captain America one he could get his hand on. And he'd studied all the most famous superheroes in literature. He knew what the base superpowers were.

So he just had to test through them all and see which ones he had.

He took a deep breath, dropping his backpack to the ground and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

He closed his eyes for a moment, taking in his surroundings, as he began running.

He felt a rush of adrenaline as he bolted across the room, only coming to a stop when there was nowhere else to run to. He let out a whoop as he came to a halt, heart pounding, but not remotely out of breath.

Peter Parker was not an athlete.

He felt out of breath walking up a flight of stairs most days.

And he just ran across the room that was at least 300 yards in less than half a minute. He didn't have an exact time, and perhaps he'd need to grab a stopwatch to find out exactly how little time it took him to run that distance.

Either way, he very much was not able to run that fast before. When they had their running units in gym class Peter had always come second to last every single time, with Ned being the only one behind him.

Just to be safe though.

To make sure it wasn't some adrenaline-fueled fluke really.

He looked at his target across the room and ran to where his backpack was.

The air flew past his skin, and he felt a sense of calm as he returned to where he started, but he didn't stop.

He used the boost from his run to jump at the wall, curious if the sticky fingers he'd had would hold. He'd done some reading on spiders on the subway ride. Spiders could climb up walls due to hundreds of thousands of little hairs that allowed them to cling on using only what was essentially their fingers and toes.

And if his glasses got stuck to his fingers this morning.

He stuck his hands out to latch onto the wall, and when he landed, he half expected to fall immediately.

But he didn't.

He remained stuck on the wall.

He could feel the excitement coursing through him, as he tried to lift a hand up to place it above him.

Except the minute he got one hand unstuck from the wall enough to lift it up, the other immediate detached itself as well.

No!

Thankfully he wasn't all that high up, and only really dropped a few feet.

He landed on his feet, crouching down to lessen the impact.

Okay.

So clearly he was going to have to work on this.

He looked at his hands, and couldn't see any of the tiny hairs on them.

So they weren't there constantly.

That was good; definitely did not want to be getting stuck to everything in his life ever.

It made sense. Spiders were able to detach themselves or attach themselves at their will.

So he just needed to learn how to do the same thing.

He'd have to become one with the spider.

Okay, he could do this.

He placed a palm to the wall and felt the hairs on it stick to the wall. He lifted the second one and placed it slightly above.

Now the hard part. He tried lifting the first one again and felt his second detach as well.

He frowned, as he tried again, placing both palms on the wall. He took a deep breath. Be one with the spider.

He wanted to climb up the wall. He wanted to stick to the wall. He was going to climb up the wall.

To his surprise, this time when he picked the first hand back up off the wall, the second remained.

He grinned to himself, as he placed it slightly above the second hand. He began using his feet to help his grip as he lifted his right hand up to place above the second, bringing him off the floor at that point.

He moved up the wall slowly and carefully, not wanting to fall. The factory had an open layout and there was a second story he could climb through.

When he reached the railing for the second floor, he used his hands to swing himself up to the landing.

He looked down below him and felt a sense of pride for having climbed that high.

Okay so he was fast, and he could climb up walls. Not bad as far as superpowers went. He wondered though how fast he was.

Was he fast enough that he'd be able to jump across buildings?

He'd always thought it was so cool in action movies when spies threw themselves from building to building, and well if he could build up the momentum to run fast enough then he should theoretically be able to launch himself across to the neighbouring roof right? The factory was a larger complex, with a few different buildings, and if he planned it right, he'd be able to jump across them.

He walked to the back of the factory, deciding to see if he could scale up the walls to make it to the roof.

He was still a little slow in his movements, and it took him some time to get to the top of building. And honestly, part of him was still a little terrified that at any seconds his hands could unstick again and he'd fall to his death. He really didn't think his family could take a death right now. Especially, if any part of this went wrong, the climbing, or the running jump attempt, then it would be very hard to draw a conclusion that didn't just make it seem like he'd committed suicide. And the very last thing he wanted for his family to think was that he'd committed suicide. Not when he wasn't depressed and had a lot he still wanted to live for.

He made it to the top slowly but surely, and as he stood on the roof of the building, he looked around the city. He could see the New York skyline, and Stark Tower in the distance, as a sense of guilt filled him.

Toni thought he was doing his homework and simply stepped out for some fresh air.

And here he was trying to figure out exactly what was going on with him. She'd done so much for him, but he was hiding whatever this was from her.

He shook his head. Now was not the time to think about that. Now was the time to figure out what he wanted to do about any of this. He walked to the ledge of the building and looked over at the neighbouring one. It wasn't more than five yards away, and he should be able to launch himself over it easily. But still, the factory was rather high up. If he fell, it would be a long way down.

He tried to go back several feet; to give himself enough room to have a decent running start. But as he ran forward and made it to the edge, he found himself staggering to a stop. He looked down below him, as a sense of panic set in then.

He gulped as he took a few steps backwards.

He tried to give himself a running start several more times, each time, halting at the same place,

Why couldn't he do this? All he had to do was make it to the edge and jump over. It wasn't even that big of a deal. And yet, standing here, he found himself grow terrified. What if he couldn't do it? What if he couldn't make it to the other side? What if he fell before he even had the chance to try?

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

He could do this. All he had to do was launch himself into the air and hope that whatever superpowers he seemed to have gotten from this spider would be enough to get to the other side.

No big deal, right? He could do it. He could do it.

He looked at the building on the other side.

He closed his eyes. He could hear the cars on the street a few blocks out. he could hear the honking that was so familiar to him in the busy city. He could hear the birds in the sky above him, and the sound of the people talking a few streets over.

He could do this.

He had these powers, and he could do this.

He opened his eyes then and looked over at the building across from him. He took several steps backwards, and this time when he ran forward, he didn't stop.

He launched himself into the air and towards the building across from him. As he hurled through the air, he let out a whooping cheer.

His landing was in no way smooth, he fell onto the rooftop, but he'd done it.

He made it across the building. He stood up as pride filled him.

He scaled his way off the roof then, and back onto the ground, not wanting to push his luck too much.

So he established he was decently fast.

But was he strong?

Captain America was fast and strong.

He looked over and saw a metal beam on the floor.

Well regular Peter was also really weak.

But was new Peter?

He walked over to it, and picked it up, raising it above his head.

He grinned, as he held it above him, before throwing it across the room.

It landed with a thud and laughed in excitement.

So his powers were definitely legit.

Could he fly? Cause that would be beyond awesome.

He knew better than to throw himself off a building though and hope he didn't fall.

He stood on the ground, bending his knees, and tried to push himself up off the ground with a jump.

Only to come back down again.

Well it took him a few tries to be able to climb up the wall.

So he tried a few more times.

And once again, nothing.

He tried to not be too disappointed by that. He had a lot of other really cool powers, and that was still pretty amazing.

He looked down at his phone then and saw a text from Toni on it.

'Are you okay?' she'd typed to him. A few seconds later another text came through to him. 'Let me know if you want me to come pick you up. You're still getting better, and should be taking it easy.'

He waited a few minutes before replying, but also didn't want her to worry, 'I'm fine, I promise. I'm on my way home now. Just needed some fresh air after being inside for so long. Should be back in the Tower soon.'

His phone buzzed again, 'Okay, let me know if you need anything. I'm starting on lunch now and it'll be ready when you get back.'

He decided to call it a day after that and head back. He knew what he was capable of now. He just needed to put it to use.


Seeing Aunt May in the hospital after he'd recovered from his fever was rough. He knew both Uncle Ben and Aunt May were worried about him, and while his aunt was obviously unable to take care of him, his Uncle wanted him to know that he'd be there for him next time. That if Peter had gotten sick again, he promised not to leave him alone.

He'd reassured his uncle that it was fine. He could hardly tell him that he'd been bitten by a radioactive spider and now he'd had superpowers.

Besides, he was fine now. Nothing had been seriously wrong with him anyways, and while the fever had lasted a few days, he'd been fine after.

But Aunt May on the other hand.

It was easy to tell she wasn't doing well.

He wasn't a kid anymore.

And despite how much they tried to shield him from the harsh reality of it all, he could see she was doing worse.

She hadn't come home from the hospital in months, and honestly, he wasn't sure he even wanted to ask if she'd ever be able to come home anymore.

But still, Uncle Ben and Aunt May put up a strong front in front of him.

"How are you doing, Peter?" Aunt May asked him, as she sat up in her bed.

He sat beside her and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I've been good, Aunt May. I got a 98% on my chemistry test!"

"That's amazing, Peter!" Aunt May said with an encouraging smile. "How is Ned doing? It's been a while since I've seen him."

"Ned's good," Peter said with a soft smile. "Toni got tickets for him and I to be able to see the new Star Wars on opening night. We're going to go in costume and everything."

"Sounds like it's going to be an incredible time," Aunt May said, as she strained herself, trying to sit up.

"You should lie down," Peter said, a bit concerned.

"I'll be fine," she said, trying to brush it off. "Do you have any plans for the winter holidays yet other than that? I know you still have a few months before then. But do you remember that year when we went to Malibu? Maybe we can do that this year again. It was a lot of fun, even just watching you spend a lot of time with Toni. You were so small and so eager to learn everything you could from her, even as a young child. But that trip was such a fun time for us all, and I think we could use another vacation, don't you?"

He forced himself to smile at that. At her optimism that she would be able to go on another trip with them.

"Maybe when things calm down a bit," Uncle Ben said, giving her a gentle smile, and part of him felt like he was going to be sick.

There was a deep, sinking feeling in his stomach. One that he couldn't seem to get rid of, no matter how hard he tried, no matter how hard he forced himself to. Because nothing could make it go away.

What if things didn't 'calm down'? What if that trip to Malibu was their last?

Would Aunt May be getting out of the hospital anytime soon? Would she ever get out of the hospital?

He saw the way the nurses looked at her when they came in to check in on her. He heard the doctors talking when they thought he couldn't hear.

Aunt May wasn't doing well.

"Sounds nice," he said, forcing out the words, not wanting to upset his aunt. He couldn't bear to think about it any further. To think about the fact that she might not be around by December. Or if she was, she'd still be stuck here, in this room that Toni had been so kind to pay for, like she'd selflessly paid for all of his aunt's other expenses.

They talked for a little longer, and he wished he could tell her everything. Wished that he could talk to her about all the things he wanted to. He wanted to tell them both about the powers that he had now. About the field trip. About the spiders. But they had so much to worry about.

And he didn't want to add any more stress in their lives.

Not when his aunt was lying here in the hospital bed, fighting for her life.

So instead, he kept the topics light. Told her about Academic Decathlon practices and how Liz was an amazing captain.


It was a few hours before Uncle Ben and Peter left the hospital. He'd tried telling them both that he was fine to stay the night alone so Uncle Ben could stay with Aunt May, but they both insisted on it.

"What do you say we stop at Delmar's on the way home?" Uncle Ben asked him as the pulled up into one of the parking spots. "We can get some dinner."

"Sounds good to me," Peter said, as Uncle Ben went to take off his seatbelt, "I can handle it, don't worry. Besides, it's been a little while since I've seen Mr Delmar so it'll be nice to see him."

Uncle Ben ruffled Peter's hair a bit at that, "You're a good kid, Peter," he told him.

He swallowed a bit at that, "Uncle Ben?" he asked his uncle, a bit nervously.

"Yes Peter?" his Uncle answered, glancing over at him.

"Do you think all superheroes fight because they have powers? Do you think there are people out there that just have powers and want to live a normal life?" Peter asked him. Uncle Ben gave him a searching look at that, and he quickly backtracked. "I'm debating it with Ned. Like for all the superheroes we know, there must be plenty out there who don't want to be known. Who want to stay back in the shadows and still just be a normal person, even if they are nothing but normal anymore."

"I think that each person has a right to do what they want with their lives," Uncle Ben told him, after a moment. "The Avengers have saved the world many times, especially in recent years. But it also means that life for the regular citizen has been changed. The fact that you have alien drills in school in case of another attack. Life isn't as simple as it was back then, and it's not because of people with powers or people without them. It's because the world as we know it is changing. And I think if a person has powers or gifts, and they want to make that difference, then they shouldn't make that choice lightly. Because with great power, comes great responsibility. And I think that can be applied to every aspect of life."

"What do you mean?" Peter asked him curiously.

"Look at Toni Stark," Uncle Ben said, "And compare her to Justin Hammer. Stark Industries was a weapons company, led by one of the smartest engineers in the world, but she shifted her entire company's focus because she felt that she needed to use that power responsibly, and after Afghanistan, weapons didn't seem like the responsible choice. So she shifted to technology and clean energy. To medical technology. And all those fields have boomed in the last half decade. Whereas Hammer Industries solely makes weapons. Not good ones, but they do. And when faced with the same ethical decisions of Stark Industries, they don't change their focus or stop their weapons from falling into enemy hands. They write off responsibility and say once they sell the weapons it's out of their hands."

Peter didn't say anything for a while, and Uncle Ben nudged him.

"You know you can tell me anything, right Peter?" Uncle Ben asked him. "If something is going on with you, you can talk to me. I know Aunt May and I have been there far less lately, but you're still our nephew and we love you. If you ever need to talk, you can still talk to us."

"I know," Peter smiled at him. "I will if I need to, I promise."

Uncle Ben handed him a twenty-dollar bill then, "If there's any change left over, keep it," he told him.

"You're the best," Peter grinned as he exited the car and walked into Delmar's.

"Peter!" Mr Delmar said as he walked through the door, "Been a little while since I've seen you around. How's your aunt and uncle?"

"They're doing good," Peter said with a nod as he walked up to the counter.

"So what'll it be for you today?" Mr Delmar asked him.

"Could I get two Grilled Pastrami sandwiches?" Peter asked, as he placed the twenty on the counter. He heard the chime of the door behind him, and the hairs on back of his neck stood up.

Something was wrong.

He couldn't explain it, but suddenly, he was filled with a feeling of dread. That something bad was going to happen.

He looked over his shoulder then and saw a man coming towards him.

"Just give me a minute to prep the young man's sandwiches, and I'll be right with you," Mr Delmar said, not looking up from the sandwich he was assembling.

"Oh, I'm not here for a sandwich," the man said, as he pulled out a gun, pointing at the cash register, "Give me everything you have in there. And if you even think about trying to be smart, I won't hesitate to pull the trigger."

Peter froze then, as he stared at the man.

"What are you staring at, Kid?" the man demanded.

"N-nothing," Peter stammered out.

"I'll give you what you want," Mr Delmar told him, "Leave the boy alone. He's just a child."

He couldn't move. He knew he should do something. He had these powers after all. He should be able to stop the man. He'd lifted a metal beam! He'd jumped across buildings and climbed up walls.

But with the gun standing there in front of him, he couldn't move. Couldn't bring himself to move. So he stood there, frozen.

Mr Delmar handed the man all the money he'd had on him, including the twenty that Uncle Ben had given him for their sandwiches.

"If you call the cops, I'll kill you," the man said, before bolting out of the store.

"Take the sandwiches, Peter," Mr Delmar said, a little tiredly, as he handed him the bag.

"Aren't you going to call the cops?" Peter asked, a little surprised, and Mr Delmar shook his head.

"It happens every few weeks or so," Mr Delmar told him, "The man's face is always hidden from cameras, and I can't afford to get new ones that are more hidden. So they're never able to do anything about it. I've just taken to emptying out the til more frequently so there's never too much in there."

"That's not right!" Peter exclaimed, a little upset, "Someone should do something about this!"

"It's just how the world goes," Mr Delmar told him.

He was about to protest, but he heard a gunshot go off then, and he felt a sense of panic.

He ran out the door and saw Uncle Ben lying on the parking lot floor, car missing, as blood was coming from his chest.

"Uncle Ben!" Peter shouted as he ran towards the man. "No! Uncle Ben!"

"It's going to be alright, Peter," Uncle Ben told him as Peter got down to the ground and tried to dial 911.

"Please, you have to be okay," Peter said, shaking, as tears fell down his face.

"I love you, so much," Uncle Ben told him, "Just remember. With great power, comes great responsibility. I know you're going to be a great man, Peter. I just wish I'll be there to see it happen."

"You will," Peter said desperately, "You will be there. Please, Uncle Ben. You can't leave me. You can't leave Aunt May."

"Be a good man," Uncle Ben told him, sounding weaker, before going limp in his arms.

The scream that Peter let out was nothing but pure agony and despair.


A/N: Uncle Ben! This was heartbreaking to write, but somethings cannot change, like what gives Peter the drive to be Spiderman