"If there's going to be information about Peter's dad." Harry informed them. "It's probably going to be buried deep in Oscorp's files. After all, it happened nine years, so-"

"If they have it on file," Gwen interrupted. "I'll find it. It'll just take some time."

"And time is limited." Peter added, leaning against the back of Gwen's chair. He frowned at the computer. "We need to find those files fast, before someone in Oscorp realize that they've been hacked."

"So, no pressure." Liz said.

Gwen cracked her fingers. "Please. That's the best way I work."

"I'm really confused."

Peter paused from sliding the frozen pizzas in the oven. "Hm?"

Liz fiddled with a fruit sticker. "Watson mentioned your dad, but it sounds to me like...like he's alive."

The brunette paused.

'Shit.' Peter thought.

The freckled teen studied the oven.

"It's...complicated." Peter admitted.

"You think I don't get complicated?" Liz asked.

They studied each other.

"Okay, how about this?" Liz sat herself on the counter. "You tell me your secret, and I'll tell you mine. Go."

Peter paused. He glanced around the house, before reminding himself that no one was there. Captain Stacy was at work. Mrs. Stacy was taking Gwen's little brothers shopping.

"You...You can't tell anyone about this." Peter finally said.

Liz raised an eyebrow. "You mean like how I can't tell anyone about the nine million other secrets that I have been keeping for you?"

The brunette gulped. "Right...Well...My mom, she kind of...Well...I don't know for sure, but my mom probably cheated on my dad."

Liz whistled. "Oh. So, you're homewrecker baby."

Peter cringed. "You just made that up."

The blackette paused.

"Sorry." She said.

"It's...It's fine." Peter glanced at the oven. "That joke was terrible, though."

Liz shrugged and blushed.

"But yeah," Peter said. "I'm a…'homewrecker baby'."

"And you know who your dad is?" Liz raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah...but I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"You won't believe me."

"Oh yeah?" Liz leaned forward. "Well, I hate to break it to you, Peter, but aliens exist. So do gods. There isn't much that surprises me now-a-days."

Peter glanced at her. He studied her for a moment.

"Tony Stark." He said.

Liz froze. Her eyes widened. She stared at Peter for a very long time, before saying, "You're right. I don't believe you."

"Knew you wouldn't." The brunette glanced away.

But Liz wasn't done.

"I mean...what are the odds? You, being related to-to Iron-Man?" Liz continued. "I mean-C'mon. That isn't real life."

"I'm not going to try to prove to you that I'm related to him, Liz."

"But-but-That is such a huge claim! Do you understand how crazy that is?"

"Can we get to your secret now?"

"I mean...like...yeah, Stark is known to be a playboy…"

"Wow, you hear that? It's the changing of subjects. Let's do that."

"And...I mean, how can that be true, though? Tony Stark is one of the richest men, like, ever! Your face would be plastered everywhere!"

Peter winced. "That comes with the implications that he'd even want me in the first place."

Pause.

"Yeah, sorry, I really don't believe you." Liz finished off.

Peter sighed. "That's okay."

Another pause.

"Wanna-wanna tell me your secret now?"

"Nope."

"What? But I-"

"You told me a lie." Liz leaned back. "The rules to the game was a legit secret."

Peter huffed. "But I did-Okay, you know what? Nevermind."

"I shall forever remain a mystery."

"That has the implications of me wanting to solve that mystery in the first place."

"Holy shit, ouch, man."

Peter's smile faded. "Wait! That was a joke, Liz! I didn't mean-I'm sorry-"

"It's fine." Liz interrupted. "I'm not an idiot, Pete. I know that you were joking."

"Oh."

The sounds of footsteps made Peter's ears prick.

"What?" Liz asked. "You have a weird look on your face."

Peter cleared his throat. "It's nothing."

Liz frowned at him.

"What's your favorite color?" He suddenly blurted out.

The blackette blinked. "I...what?"

He glanced at her. "I kind of...We've known each other, for like, a month. I feel like I barely know you."

A weird expression flickered on Liz's faces. She studied Peter for a moment.

"You...want to get to know me." She said.

Peter shrugged. "I mean...we are friends now, right?"

Liz stared at him. "Just...just friends?"

"Uh...yeah?"

"You're not-like-into me?"

Peter immediately blushed. "I...No? Uh...not that I don't think that you're pretty! Cause I do! But like…No. No no no. I think of you only as a friend."

Much to his surprise, Liz's eyes began to water.

"Oh." She said, with a soft smile. "Oh."

"Are-are you okay?"

"Yup. Fine. Completely okay." Liz quickly wiped her eyes.

Peter opened his mouth, but the kitchen door interrupted them.

Mary Jane glanced at the pair of them.

"Gwen needs your help." She stated drily to Peter.

"Oh." Peter replied. He glanced at Liz. "Um-"

"I'll help her with lunch." MJ interrupted.

Peter's face turned hot. He felt Liz's eyes on him, as he said, "Uh...Mary-"

"Gwen really needs your help." Mary Jane stared at him coldly.

"Oh...Right." Peter tucked his hands into his pockets. He turned to Liz. "Talk to you later?"

Liz nodded nervously. "Purple."

The brunette paused before smiling, and nodding. Peter glanced back at Mary Jane to say...Well, what was he supposed to say? But her back was turned to him.

With nothing else to do, Peter walked out of the kitchen, and back to Gwen's room.

"She hates me." Peter declared once he closed the door.

"Yup." Harry replied from his spot on Gwen's bed.

"Without any doubt." Gwen replied. She was frowning.

"Gee, thanks, guys."

"Pete, I need help with this password encryption."

With a nod, Peter rushed up to Gwen's computer. After studying the code for ten minutes, Peter whistled.

"Jesus." He muttered.

"Jesus, indeed." Gwen replied.

The pair stared at the encryption, before talking about different codes they could use to break in.

Harry sighed. "I have a headache."

"Yeah, you're not the only one." Gwen replied.

Peter frowned. "So, what now? Are we stuck?"

"Little bit." Gwen admitted.

Harry stood up. He strolled over to the computer, and frowned at it.

Both Gwen and Peter glanced at him, as he frowned intensely at the codes.

"I don't understand any of this." Harry concluded.

Gwen and Peter groaned.

"Has MJ looked at this?" Peter asked Gwen.

"Yeah, she didn't get it either." She groaned.

Peter sighed. He frowned at the encryption for another ten minutes.

"Wait," He muttered. "Why don't we guess the password?"

Gwen frowned. "No. If we get it wrong once, it'll set off alarm bells. Besides, someone will probably see that we're logged in."

Peter sighed again.

Suddenly, Gwen brightened.

"Wait, let me try something…"

She quickly typed something onto her keyboard, before pressing enter.

They were in.

Gwen grinned at Peter and Harry's stunned faces.

"You know," She said, as she leaned back. "I impress myself sometimes."

"No kidding." Harry replied.

"Okay," Gwen cracked her fingers. "We're in."

She clicked on a search bar, and typed the name, 'Richard Parker'.

Many files appeared.

"Jackpot!" Peter muttered.

Gwen quickly downloaded at many as she could.

"Okay." She said. "Now that we got the goods, we need to get out of here-"

"Without leaving any traces." Peter added.

"Right." Gwen nodded.

Harry nodded slowly. "So...we're not done yet?"

Gwen sighed. "Not even close."

They printed out all the files on Gwen's printer. And as it turned out, a majority of the information was blocked out.

Peter groaned. "Are you kidding me?"

"I know," Liz added. "More reading. How fun."

"It's okay." Gwen pulled out highlighters from her drawer. "Just...highlight and write down anything that sounds important."

"How are we supposed to know what sounds important?" Harry frowned.

"Guess?" Liz said.

"No! Do not guess!" Peter replied. "Just...you'll know it when you see it."

Mary Jane snorted. "That's specific."

So, they began their search.

Peter glanced nervously at his friends, as he plucked up a report.

'This is going to be interesting.' He thought.

And it was.

The more they read, the more it became clear what exactly Oscorp wanted.

"A super soldier serum?" Gwen gasped.

"Wait...like Captain America?" Liz guessed.

"Like Captain America." Peter agreed. He stared at his paper. "Oscorp had ties with the military back then, too, right? So if-"

"If they perfected that serum," Mary Jane continued. "Than...that would mean…."

There was a horrified pause.

Peter shook his head. "No, the experiment was stopped. See? It was terminated because the head scientist died."

"Your father." Liz said softly.

Peter nodded. "Guess they couldn't figure it out once he was gone."

Pause.

"Hey, guys?" Harry said. "All the names were redacted, right?"

"So far, yeah." Gwen nodded.

"They forgot about someone." Harry handed the paper to Peter.

His eyes widened.

"Beck." He said out loud.

A memory of that dark haired man from two weeks ago flickered in Peter's mind.

Peter glanced at Gwen with a horrified expression.

"What?" Mary Jane asked.

He turned to his friends. "There's something else that I've been hiding from you guys."

Liz and Harry exchanged frowns.

Mary Jane snorted. "That's not surprising."

Peter ignored her, and quickly explained his visit with Dr. Conners. Harry and Liz didn't appear too happy with more hidden information. MJ's lips were pressed tightly in a line.

"So, you've met this Beck guy?" MJ finished off.

"Yeah." Peter nodded. "He didn't seem like he was on the best terms with Dr. Conners. He was acting pretty cold."

Everyone paused.

"So, what does this mean exactly?" Gwen asked.

"No clue." Peter frowned at the document. "It doesn't tell me much about what he was doing. What his role in all of this is."

Liz groaned. "So, we basically still have nothing."

"No, we know what this experiment is about." Gwen took the paper from Peter. "We know who was involved. We just don't know-"

"Who Fish-Bowl is." Liz said. "Or why he's after Peter."

The brunette frowned. He picked up another paper.

"Something must have went wrong." Peter said slowly. "Something other than Dad dying. Something really really bad must have happened."

"But what?" MJ asked.

"That's the million dollar question, huh?" Gwen asked.

Liz glanced at Peter. A frown entered her expressions, and she studied him like she was remembering something.

"What?" Peter asked.

"Nothing." She muttered.

A door slam.

Everyone froze.

Peter opened his backpack. "Quick! In here!"

The group scrambled to grab all the papers and notebooks. By the time the stairs started to creek, and Gwen's mother began to call for them, the room was cleaned up.

"You didn't need to walk me home." Mary Jane said dryly.

Peter shifted nervously. "The sun's going down. I didn't want you to-"

"Get hurt?" MJ replied. She rolled up her sleeve to reveal a strange looking watch. "I have it covered."

"Right." Peter replied. He shifted nervously. "Listen, MJ-"

"I'm still angry at you."

The brunette gulped. "I know."

Mary Jane kicked a can, before picking it up, and tossing it at a dumpster. "We're supposed to be best friends, and all you've been doing is keeping secrets."

"I know."

"Ever since your uncle died, it's like...it's like you're a completely different person!" She ran her fingers through her hair. "I just-I've known you for ten years, and yet, I feel like you're a complete stranger."

"I'm sorry-"

"You're clearly not! Because you're still keeping secrets!" Mary Jane paused. "I know you, Peter. I know you better than I know myself. And you...you keep hiding things from me, and from May, and I don't...I don't know if I can-"

She froze. She took a deep breath.

Peter felt dread drip in his stomach. "You don't want to be friends anymore…"

"No. That isn't what I-" She took another breath. "I just...I just wish you'd be honest with me again."

Peter stared at the distance.

'Ah. An impossible request.' He thought.

"Mary-"

His senses went off.

"Peter?"

'Someone's watching us.'

He grabbed her arm.

"I see someone." He muttered.

Mary Jane stiffened.

"Let's head to that store." He muttered.

"Should we call the cops?" She whispered.

"Not yet." Peter muttered. "But text the others."

They walked carefully to the small store across the street. They both studied the wares. Mary Jane casually glanced at her phone, and started to type on it.

"Do you see them?" She mumbled.

His senses went off. His eyes went to the store clerk, than outside.

"MJ." He muttered. "I-I think I saw Spider-Man passing us."

"What?"

Peter turned to her. "Stay here. I'm going to go get him."

"Are you crazy?" She gripped his shirt. "Peter, if there's someone after us-"

"Than Spider-Man will protect us." He grabbed her hand. "MJ, this is my battle. If you ever got hurt because of this…"

She stared at him.

"Stay here." He begged.

Peter let go. He glanced at the store clerk. "Lock the door."

He ran out the door.