Beca couldn't sleep that night. It was like everything was turned up to its max, on high volume and Beca could barely hear herself think. She was sitting in her bed, hugging her knees close to her chest when she heard a soft flutter in her ear. Beca whipped her head to the side to look out her window and there she saw a bird descending from the sky to perch itself on the portico. The bird eyed her curiously, its head twitching as it hooted. Beca scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, it was as if the bird knew something was off with her, like there was a change in natures balance.

Beca's eyes flicked away from the bird when the activity coming from outside was hard to ignore. She heard the soft chimes coming from the neighbors wind chime, she felt the presence of someone across the street throwing out their trash, and Beca whined when she flinched at the sound of a fire truck from two blocks away.

It was going to be a long night.

"Beca, honey. Time for breakfast!" Aunt May knocked on her nieces door and smiled when she heard Beca groan from inside her bedroom, "Up and at 'em, sweetheart. Greet the day with a smile!"

Once Beca was sure her aunt had gone back downstairs, she took a moment to stare blankly at the ceiling. Her eyes were bloodshot and her stomach was growling like she's gone weeks without eating.

When she heard footsteps leaving the kitchen and making their way towards the stairs, Beca pushed herself up and quickly got dressed before meeting her Uncle Ben who went to knock on her door.

"Oh!" Uncle Ben said startled when Beca suddenly opened the door, "Come on, kiddo. Or you'll be late to school."

"I just need to brush my teeth." Beca smiled at her uncle as he patted her head affectionately.

The teenager made her way into the bathroom and with a sigh she leaned against the sink, thinking the feeling of cold water would help wake her up. She reached for her tooth brush and leveled it in front of her with the toothpaste she was holding, with what she thought was a light squeeze of the tube, a glob of paste shot out of the nozzle and landed on the mirror.

Beca glared hard at the nerve this toothpaste had to add on to her list of why was already hating this day. She scooped up the toothpaste and sighed.

When she turned the faucet, the handle came off in her grip and before she had the time to look down at it confused, Beca was splashed in the face with uncontrollable sprays of water.

"Fu-! You've got to be kidding me!" Beca shielded herself behind her arm as she reached for the towel rack beside her. Pulling at the soft material, she heard a clank as the rack dropped to the floor when she retrieved the towel.

Beca brought the towel over to the faucet and stopped the water from spraying, with a relieved sigh she backed away from the sink. She put the toothbrush in her mouth and looked around at the bathroom, the floor was wet and things were broken. She was better off finishing downstairs in the kitchen.

"Why are you all wet?" Aunt May asked once Beca walked into the kitchen in drenched clothes.

"The, um, faucet in the bathroom like popped off," Beca explained, "So weird." She went over to the sink and finished brushing her teeth, thankful that the water was already on.

Uncle Ben frowned, "Hm. I'll take a look at it."

"Here, honey." Aunt May placed a plate of eggs, sausage, and toast in front of Beca, "Eat up before school."

Beca's eyes bulged in hunger as she dug in to devour the food. Uncle Ben and Aunt May watched with amusement.

"Careful, Beca! You'll choke!" Aunt May shook her head and smiled as she turned to take a seat, her elbow tapped against Beca's cup of coffee that she had set out for her and just when she thought it was bound to shatter and splatter the caffeine all over the kitchen floor, Beca swooped in effortlessly with one hand as she caught the mug in midair.

"Wow, nice catch!" Uncle Ben said as he raised his mug.

Beca laughed nervously, "Thanks." she cleared her throat and stuffed her face with the remaining of her breakfast before she scooped up her plate and mug, drinking about half of the coffee, before she placed everything in the sink.

"Bye!"

"Have a great day, honey!" Aunt May called after her.

Uncle Ben watched his niece leave in a hurry and chuckled lightly.

"Wonder what's got her in such a rush."

Beca stood in front of her locker, her headphones hanging around her neck while she hummed softly along to the song flowing out of them. She stacked her math book inside and pulled out her Chemistry notebook to get ready for her lab in ten minutes.

"Oye, Shorty!" Amy came up beside her with Jesse who looked around for any onlookers.

"Have you been feeling okay?" Jesse asked, trying to act concerned but his overall interest with the fact that his best friend was just bitten by a radioactive spider made him internally squeal with excitement.

Beca looked at him confused, "Yes?"

"Excuse me," Amy lightly nudged her, "Need I remind you what happened over the weekend?"

"Don't hold back, Bec," Jesse bit his lip with anticipation, "We want all the details!"

Beca sighed, amused, "Fine." she paused, "Things are...changing." she said in a hushed tone as she shut her locker so the three of them can proceed down the hall, "I couldn't sleep last night because it was like everything was heightened. I was so aware of everything and it freaked me out! Not the mention I broke the faucet this morning trying to brush my teeth."

Jesse and Amy looked at her with shock before they jumped in excitement, earning a few glances and stares from their fellow peers.

"Do you know what this means?" Jesse asked as they pushed through the set of double doors to enter the next hallway where Beca and Amy's lab was located.

"What does it mean?" Beca asked, deciding to humor her friends.

"You have abilities, Bec," Jesse said, "Sticking to surfaces like in the train, improved agility, heightened senses, and the strength to apparently tear off a faucet!"

"You're basically half spider, Shorty." Amy chimed in.

Beca raised an eyebrow, "We don't even know the side effects to being bitten by the spiders. For all we know, all this shit happening could be symptoms that lead to like...-"

"Alright," Jesse stopped her there, "Let's not think negative. But you're right, we should learn more about this. Maybe meeting with Curt Connors would be a good idea now."

"But before we do that," Amy grinned, "let's have some fun."

"Oh boy." Beca sighed as Amy ushered her into their lab room while Jesse panicked at the sound of the bell and began sprinting his way to the other side of the school for class.

"Rejected!"

The gymnasium echoed Bumpers triumphant cry, making several people glance over at the basketball players in time to see the basketball, that had been intersected by Bumper, bounce its way towards a girl hunched over a large banner that she had been painting.

The girl gasped when the ball knocked over her can of blue paint, the thick liquid smearing over the center of the banner, leaving a massive blob that left the phrase Go, Tigers! hard to read.

Bumper and his friends snorted at the sight of the girl scrambling off the floor.

"You did that on purpose, Bumper!" She cried.

Bumper scoffed as he went to retrieve the ball, "Not at all. But I should've. Maybe next time you'll take the arts and crafts back to the art room."

The girl rolled her eyes and frowned at her ruined banner.

Over by the bleachers, Beca and her friends had seen the entire scene unfold and the brunette holding her now fixed camera shook her head and sighed.

"He needs to be put in his place."

"No kiddin'" Jesse responded, watching the basketball player dribble the ball as if he owned the court.

Amy hummed, "Hm. Remember when I said we should have some fun?"

Beca and Jesse nodded while they waited for Amy to elaborate.

"I think," she pointed towards the girl who seemed to have given up on her banner, "you can start by helping her out over there."

Not entirely understanding where Amy was going with this or even understanding what Amy thought was going to happen, Beca handed Jesse her camera before she walked over to the girl who she then realized to be Julie from her history class.

"Hey, Julie." Beca smiled as she bent down to picked up the knocked over can of paint.

"Hi, Beca." Julie offered the photographer a small smile.

"Bumper's a jerk. Don't give him the satisfaction of showing you care by throwing in the towel with your banner. Make an even better one." Beca winked at her before she stood back up straight while Julie hid a blush by ducking her head.

Something began to tingle against Beca's temple and before she knew it, she found herself reaching to the right and grabbing the basketball Bumper had purposely thrown over to them.

Beca brought her hand back to her side where she looked down at the ball suctioned to her fingertips. She looked down at Julie who stared up in wonder, she looked over at her friends who were watching engagingly to see what Beca was going to do next.

Beca heard Bumper clear his throat and she turned around, seeing him gesture for her to pass him the ball. His face was scrunched up in annoyance, obviously pissed off that his joke didn't follow through.

"Give us back the ball, Mitchell. Some time today would be nice."

An idea popped in her head and Beca grinned as she walked over to the half court line.

Bumper's eye slowly following her movements as he tried to figure out what she was planning.

"I got a better idea, Bumper." Beca smirked. She slapped her hand mockingly against the ball in her hand, "Try taking it from me." she challenged.

Bumper and his teammates snickered at the brunettes boldness but out of pure amusement and interest in seeing where this would go, Bumper stepped up to Beca and smirked down at her.

"Have it your way." Bumper said.

Beca felt a shift, a force about to come at the object she was determined to keep away from him. With a swift motion, Beca brought the hand holding the ball behind her back where she caught it in her other hand just as Bumper went to reach for it in its previous location.

With a blink of confusion, Bumper looked at her with narrowed eyes. He heard his teammates chuckle lightly and suddenly this wasn't a game anymore. He wasn't about to let Beca undermine his ego.

So when he went for the ball again he was shocked to have walked right into Beca's trick once again as she raised the ball behind her.

"Am I too fast for ya, dude?"

Bumper huffed, "Just give me the damn ball." he lunged forward but Beca was quick to act and pretended to throw the ball over his head with a swoop of her arm, making Bumper do a full spin around, looking confused when he didn't see the ball.

"I told you to take it." Beca said as she bounced the ball off Bumpers back, making the basketball player jerk in surprise before he growled and spun back around.

"Fine. Here." Beca took a step towards him with her arm stretched out but Bumper kept his eyes trained on the brunette as he suspected this to be another one of her tricks.

"Just take it." Beca insisted, making sure her fingertips were firmly pressed against the ball.

Bumper huffed and rolled his eyes, reaching over to take the ball out of her hand and go back to his team only to be pulled back when the ball wouldn't budge from her grip.

Bumper placed his other hand on the ball and tugged it forward, but to no avail. Beca was smiling smugly at him, she felt a rush of pride course through her as she marveled at the fact that she finally gained the upper hand.

"What's the matter?" Beca chuckled when Bumper began to slowly back away. She dribbled the ball a few times, pursing her lips as she showed Bumper that there was no reason why he couldn't pry it out of her hand. Well, to his knowledge anyway. But to hers and her friends, this was amusing to watch.

"Alright," Bumper grinned and he slapped his hands together in frustration, "Bring it! Come on, Mitchell!"

Beca didn't have to be told twice. She went off in full sprint while she dribbled the ball towards Bumper who was prepared and waiting to knock her off her feet. But once they came face to face, Beca flipped over him and with the ball over her head she dunked it through the hoop but her moment of victory only lasted up until the hoop came down with her. The glass of the backboard shattered upon impact with the immense force Beca brought upon it.

Everyone in the gym stopped and stared as Beca slowly looked up at the damage from her place under the hoop. Her flannel was coated in glass and she started to consider the fact that maybe she went a little bit too far.

"Well she had fun," Amy nodded, "that's what's important right?"

"I dunno." Jesse sighed ,"Ask her after she gets billed for destruction of property."

Beca sheepishly walked behind her Uncle Ben after they left the principle's office that afternoon. Beca knew the lecture that was coming, if not here, then later at home. But so far all she's gotten was a puzzled face that kept looking back at her and Beca knew she had disappointed her uncle.

"You gonna tell me what the hell that was about?" Uncle Ben finally said once they were near the exit.

Beca shoved her hands into her front pockets and swayed back and forth.

"It was...a freak thing. I dunno.."

Uncle Ben nodded but wasn't convinced.

"Let me ask you this, then. Was Bumper the one that broke your camera? Was this whole thing just to humiliate him?" Uncle Ben watched Beca's eyes flicker upwards to peer at his and he saw what he had suspected from the teenager: guilt but pure satisfaction.

Beca shrugged, "He deserved it." She confessed. Bumper has made it a hobby to make sure her days in school were miserable and now that he finally got a taste of his own medicine, Beca would be lying if it didn't make her feel good.

Uncle Ben sighed, "Maybe he did. But don't you think this makes you no better than him?"

Beca took a moment to consider her uncle's words before she shifted her weight from one leg to another, averting her eyes because too much eye contact was making her uncomfortable.

"It won't happen again." Beca muttered. Her eyes looked over her uncle's shoulder at the figure of a girl coming to a stop at the lockers behind them. The red hair was an identifier all on its own before the girl turned her head to show that it was Chloe.

Uncle Ben nodded, "Yeah, it better not." He squinted his eyes when he noticed Beca's attention was elsewhere. Looking over his shoulder, Uncle Ben smirked when he saw a rather pretty girl quickly looking away and pretending she hadn't seen them.

"That your girlfriend?" Uncle Ben asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk that Beca just wanted to slap off because he was being a bit too loud for her liking.

"No! God!" Beca hissed.

"Why not?" Uncle Ben pried, "You need me to put in a good word for you?"

Beca's face lit up in fear, "Absolutely not. No no, I'm okay."

Uncle Ben grinned wickedly as he began to step back, "Are you sure? We're Mitchell's, Beca. Lady magnets for generations."

Beca shook her head frantically, "Don't call it that- oh my god."

"Consider this your punishment." Uncle Ben whispered before he turned around to face Chloe while Beca bit her knuckles and spun around in her best attempt of pretending to not know who this man was.

"Hello. My name is Ben. Beca's probation officer." Uncle Ben smiled at Chloe who welcomed his greeting with a sweet smile. The small brunette she spotted through her peripheral vision shook her head with a hand covering her face.

"Hi, I'm Chloe." The redhead tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, smiling, she asked, "Um, probation officer?"

Uncle Ben grinned, "Believe it or not." He turned around to Beca who was hiding behind her hand, wishing her existence would vanish from the face of the earth.

Beca felt a hand on her shoulder followed by a whispered, "Since your stunt made me move shifts at work...you'll be picking up your Aunt May at 9. See ya at home."

Beca slid her hand down her face and followed her uncle with her eyes before she looked over at the redhead smiling at her, the look of amusement on her face made Beca's stomach turn and she wasn't sure if it was a good sign or if Chloe was just giving her pitty.

"Sorry about that." Beca apologized as Chloe walked up to her. "That, um, that was my uncle. He likes to think he's funny."

Chloe giggled, "I guess funny is another common trait you Mitchell's have aside from being lady magnets." Chloe gave Beca a suggestive grin before she burst out in laughter at the horrified face the brunette made.

"You heard that?" Beca shut her eyes and bit her lip.

"I heard a lot of things." Chloe muttered.

Beca laughed nervously and suddenly she wished she never listened to Amy.

"That's frightening." Beca averted her eyes, "Again, I'm sorry."

Chloe shook her head, "Don't be."

Beca couldn't decipher the look on Chloe's face. It was a genuine smile, yes, but there was something in her eyes that seemed to be asking for something. But Beca couldn't quite put her finger on what it could possibly be.

Chloe sighed through her nose and pointed behind her.

"I should get going then."

The redhead turned around, hesitantly almost, and Beca bit her lip because she wanted to ask her something. Actually, she's been wanting to ask her something for the last few years and when will she have this opportunity to do so? They were alone. No interruptions. The answer is never.

So Beca surged forward, a hand wrapped around the back of her neck while the other hung onto the strap of her back pack for support.

"Wait- um..."

Chloe spun back around, "Yeah?"

Beca blinked a few times and her mouth opened and closed as she searched for words that would be both comprehensible and smooth...or at least she tried.

"Do you maybe, uh...," Beca shrugged, "We could uh...I can- or we can um..."

Chloe smiled, "Are you asking me out?"

"Yes," Beca sighed, "I am."

Chloe lulled her head to the side as she enjoyed the sight in front of her. In truth, she's noticed the brunette for a while. Beca's talent with photography and the magic she makes with music has always drawn Chloe to the brunette. So she was more than happy to have Beca finally, sorta, ask her out.

"I'd love to." Chloe smiled.

Beca blinked, not expecting a positive outcome to her rambling.

"Really?"

"Totes," Chloe giggled, "Do you have anything in mind?"

"Dinner and a movie?" Beca asked with a shrug.

Chloe frowned, "You hate movies."

Beca grinned, "How'd you- "

"Bec, we've been classmates for a while. I pay attention." Chloe winked and Beca was surprised to see herself still standing because she was sure her knees went weak.

Beca cleared her throat, "Then, um, how about-"

"How about," Chloe jumped in with a hand reaching for Beca's arm, "I handle it from here. I'll text you."

Beca watched her pull out her phone and hand it to her. She typed in her number into Chloe's phone and the redhead smiled, telling her that she'd see her tomorrow. Beca stood there with a lingering smile on her face as she watched Chloe walk down the hall. Never would she have predicted this to happen and to think it was all thanks to Uncle Ben but she wouldn't tell him that.

Beca was sitting at her desk with her laptop open and her mixing equipment laid out in front of her. Her headphones were covering her ears and her eyes were focused on the screen in front of her.

"Beca?" A distant voice called for her.

The teenager's eyes flicked to the side as she felt her uncle's presence approaching her locked door. She reached over to the switch in front of her; the locks on her door were activated and Uncle Ben can hear the beep from the hallway just as he was about to knock.

When the door was opened, he peered inside and smiled at his niece.

"What're you working on?" Uncle Ben asked.

The music can be heard from the headphones that were now hanging around Beca's neck.

"Letting off some steam is all." Beca answered, "What's up?"

Uncle Ben glanced down the hallway and heard the distinct sounds of rustling in the kitchen, telling him that Aunt May was still out of ear shot.

"Listen, kiddo," Uncle Ben began, "I'm sorry about the whole brief case thing."

Beca shook her head, "No no. It's fine-"

"No, it's not fine." Uncle Ben perched himself on the corner of Beca's desk and laced his fingers together on his lap, "They're your parents and you deserve to know more about them."

Beca nodded as she waited for her uncle to speak. Her stomach was turning in anticipation as she leaned back into her chair, pausing her mix so there were no interruptions.

"Curt Connors is the man in the photo with your dad. Richard and Norman Osborn came up with the idea of cross species genetics. It was a pretty complex idea but when Norman got sick, Richard had Dr. Connors assist him with the project in hopes of healing Norman. When your dad...well," Uncle Ben gave her a knowing look and Beca nodded with her head down, "Dr. Connors apparently took over the experiment. With the same goal in mind, to my knowledge. Unless things have changed, I don't know."

Beca was slightly disappointed. The majority of what her uncle was telling her, she already found out on her own. But that can't be everything, can it?

"That's it?" Beca asked.

Uncle Ben shifted a bit and Beca noticed this subtle movement and before she could pry a little harder, Uncle Ben stood up and made his way to the door.

"Beca, all you need to know is that your father was a brilliant man. He loved his family, you meant a great deal to him. To grow up without him and your mother I can't even imagine how - I wish I could be more." Uncle Ben smiled at her, tapping the doorframe and turning to make his way back downstairs.

"Uncle Ben," Beca called out just as the man stepped into the hallway. He peered back inside and Beca smiled, "You and Aunt May are more than enough."