Fionn the Otaku: Thanks, I thought Johnny would be someone Peter would feel comfortable talking to about being a good uncle. The Gene chapter was interesting to write and I liked getting into his head. It was a lot more fun than I thought it'd be. At this point Peters' just trying to spend time with his nephew and not bring anyone else in. It's important to him that they create a bond especially since he didn't treat Reilly well as Darkdevil.
smergrl3495: Peter's lucky to have Mary Jane sort things out when they get out of control with Kaine. While there's tension between them I don't think they would (usually) have a brawl in the house where their family could get hurt. They'd get on each others' nerves though. No conversations between the two about Ben in this chapter as neither of them are quite ready to bond with each other just yet. This is mainly a peace offering for the family. While it's never been explored in the comics I've always been under the impression that Benjy dislikes April because he senses she's part symbiote and he went through that horrible situation with Carnage. I think something like that needs a lot of time to get over. The April story is going to take awhile to come out so hopefully it'll turn out good.
Christmas with the Parkers and Kaine under the same roof was the most surreal thing he ever experienced. Reilly winced as Kaine smugly ate the last of the sausage much to Peters' annoyance. Neither man took their eyes off each other in whatever weird stalemate they had. Next to them April was trying to hog Mary Jane to herself wanting to have as much time with "Auntie M" as possible. May was content to play with her baby brother who giggled as she dangled tinsel from her finger tips. Feeling more than a little left out (even if he didn't want any part of Kaine and Peters' pettiness) Reilly slipped away from the table.
Only someone did notice him this time. "Hold on Reilly," Mary Jane cleared her throat to get her husbands' attention giving a meaningful nod. Peters' eyes widen for a second then his expression brightened considerably.
"Come on girls, it's time we make the christmas cookies." Peter gave out instructions for the girls to get various items. April didn't complain following the commands with barely hidden curiosity. "Are you going to make yourself useful Kaine or just take up space?"
The taller man tsked. "Really Parker I'm just interested in seeing how good a home maker you are. By all means continue your lesson."
May sighed. "Oh boy."
As Peters' voice got higher Mary Jane grabbed Reilly and headed for the door. "I think that's our cue."
"Where are we going?" On Christmas there wasn't much open, nothing he could think of at any rate. All of the decorations were up (including the ones with his pictures in them. He wasn't even aware of taking that many pictures growing up.) They had plenty of food, he knows because they already went shopping for more to prepare for Kaines' arrival.
Mary Jane smiled. "It's a surprise honey. Hey don't look worried it's not bad, really."
In his experience surprises were rarely good but he followed her regardless. It was hard living under the same roof as this family and not feeling something for it's members. But he tried all the same because deep down Reilly knew it was only a matter of time before it all went tumbling down. It always did.
They zig zagged through the streets so much that Reilly stopped paying attention to their location. His only real focus was listening to Mary Janes' teasing voice as she went on about all the fun they would have on Christmas. Approaching an alley way his attention returned to their destination wondering why she was taking him to a side entrance. When he turned to get a better look at the surroundings she tsked. "Don't ruin the surprise. "
Reaching into her coat pocket Mary Jane took out a ring of keys that jingled as she flipped through them to find the one she was looking for. Giving a triumphant cry she inserted the right one into the key slot, flicked her wrist and gestured for the youth to follow her inside. Reilly echoed her steps, not something he needed to do with a danger sense but he always liked to be alert instead of being dependent on his powers. He could make out shapes inside that looked like human forms but he knew he would have sensed them if they were alive. Mary Jane grumbled as she moved with a practice ease around the darkened area.
"Ah ha! There it is!" There was a small click as she hit a switch and one set of lights turned on overheard. The dim light was only bright enough to let the figures come into focus. They looked rather ominous as they cast long shadows before slowly bleeding away into the darkness.
"Welcome to the Spider Shopee! I don't know if anyone told you this but I own the store. Long story short: Peter and I decided to finally cash in on the money already being made in our familys' name. The profits went to May and Benjys' college funds of course. But recently we've been thinking of different ways to distribute the income."
Reilly silently stared at the mannequins littered throughout the store. Every single design anyone in the superhero community who ever had any connection to a spider was used. The Spider-Women, Spider-Girl, Spider-Man, even a few that looked like Kaines' old outfit (Reilly was vaguely amused to note it was made into a womens' line.) At the center was the Scarlet Spider costume.
"We did consider giving the proceeds of the Drew designs to Jessica in case there was any difficulty with financing Gerrys' medical procedures. But Julia-the second Spider-Woman,"she added just in case Reilly didn't know,"said their well off. Of course that was back when we were just in the planning stages. Since then our family has grown. There's still time to save up for Benjys' college fund so May currently has a nice sum. I started to set aside an account for April but since she's still unsure about her future I thought it would be best to wait before telling her. Let her decide what she wants."
Feeling very out of place in this setting talking causally about financial matters Reilly shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. No adult treated him like this when he looked like a teen. There was something oddly frank about this discussion he liked. Honest but not pushy. Mary Jane did a little twirl to indicate the space they were in.
"Naturally things changed not too long ago."
Reilly frowned. "There's isn't enough business?"
"Oh no," she shook her head with a smile,"quite the opposite. Well we're not doing well enough to make a franchise but we're fine."
He really hoped there wasn't a franchise, although he was in the clear as he doubted they would ever sell any Darkdevil products. Just the thought was revolting. "Then what's the problem?"
"There's no problem, Reilly. Peter and I just realized that things couldn't keep going like they had. Fair is fair after all. This store was my way of being part of the legacy, of honoring the legacy of heroes like Peter that were either family or friends of his. It became apparent to us that there was one legacy that overshadowed everything else. You can see it dominating the store, it's reflected in our life everyday. It inspired two young heroes to take on two seperate identities and recently we learned that it goes even further."
She smiled sadly at the Scarlet Spider costume idly patting the hoodie before meeting his gaze. "Your father changed our lives, Reilly. He's the reason we have a family. Yes a big section of the store is dedicated to Spider-Girl but he designed the costume. Actually he designed a lot of the looks I created here, many of these were ideas he never got around to making. Peter and I want to do the right thing and give you half of the earnings."
Reilly blinked not sure if he heard right. "I...I don't have anything to do with this."
"Your father did. I'm pretty sure he'd want his son to have the earnings."
"I can't except payment for something I didn't contribute to." He had no idea how much money they were talking about but the idea made him squirm uncomfortably. "I don't need it anyway, Matt gave me his account-"
"Which you barely use, right?" It seemed to be a real effort on her part not to laugh at his stunned expression. "Integrity is a family trait-"
"Tell that to Kaine."Reilly grumbled.
"-and you strike me as someone who honors the sacrifices of others. Let me guess. It was easier to take from the account when you shared, umm, spiritual space. You likely reasoned that it was still being used by him. But now you only use it on charities in his name, correct?"
That was scarily spot on, he was partially amused that the mother was better at figuring people out than her daughter. Her hands covered his unknowingly mimicking Mays' actions when she was desperately trying to connect with him. Mary Jane wasn't trying to force anything but her eyes were a little too knowing for his liking.
"Like I said it's a family trait. Peter can't stand borrowing money and I know your father made an effort of repaying a debt as small as twenty-five cents because he believed in honoring kindness. But this does belong to you. I'm pretty sure there's some cases you came across where the heir would get such a sum if not more for a parents' efforts." The sly grin was contiguous and he tried to cover his own smile. She was good at this. A shame she never become a costume crime fighter or a lawyer because Mary Jane Parker had a sharp mind.
The trek back to the Parker residence was silent and peaceful. Inside the noise of bickering family members made Reilly wince. Mary Jane moved around the chaos smiling faintly as Kaine and Peter argued about some silly thing. Perhaps it would have been more threatening if the men weren't covered in flour. Seeing their arrival April let out a relieved sigh asking if they could finally open their presents now. Sitting around the tree gifts were exchanged and both girls were pleased with their gifts. April had gotten the cell phone she had been begging for ("with limited minutes and texting" Peter had added), an i-pod, a bunch of random goodies from May, a few movies and lastly an envelope from Reilly.
She scowled before opening it then let out a squeal of delight. "You got me a subscription to Today Fashion!"
At the surprised looks the others gave him Reilly sighed then explained the gift. "I knew what everyone else was giving her. April likes clothes but since she's a shapeshifter it was kind of pointless so,"he gestured to the envelope,"this way she can copy whatever she likes."
The present exchange was a little different than it was on tv or any actual christmas he had been apart of. The Parkers seems to open presents in a certain order with one person opening all their gifts at once so they could get the full affect of the persons' reactions. May received clothes from her mother, who assured her with a sigh that they were the type May liked. A few DVDs from her father and much to her dismay Kaine gave her a new suit.
"It's made from studier material acting more like an armor and more lightweight." At her confused look he rolled his eyes. "I do have experience in the field of science. Don't worry it's been tested by members of my team."
Peter stroked his chin thoughtfully, "Are they a variation of the updated suits Reed was tinkering with?" At Kaines' nod Peter smiled at the costume approvingly.
When it came to Reillys' gift she beamed in his direction as he tried to cover his nervousness. This had been the first time he really tried to find gifts the Parkers would like. It had been hard to make them personal especially May. Getting something related to crime fighting seemed like something Darkdevil would do. Helpful but distant. This had to be a gift that May Parker would like, at least he hoped so. Her mouth dropped as she looked into the contents of the box. "Oh wow..."
Inside was a signed picture of her favorite female basketball team. Not meeting their astonished gaze he shrugged admitting their coach was friends with Mr. Nelson. May was speechless blue eyes glittering like they did when she asked to know something about him. Why was she sad? Did he get it wrong? Was it because he still knew more about her than she knew of Reilly Tyne?
April was the opposite of Reilly when it came to gift giving, little thought seemed to go into her choices. To May she gave a dress she'd never wear (one Peter would kill her for if she tried), Mary Jane silently switched her sweater for it. As it turned out Reilly was the last one to be given his gifts and as fate would have it his first one came from April. The paper was barely pulled back when his eyes widened in alarm. Curious at the reaction May innocently asked what it was. Feeling fairly confident of her choice April bragged that she had asked five boys at school what they wanted and learned of this magazine stating that all of them already had an issue in their locker. May didn't get it but the others did and before Peter could lose his temper Reilly wordless exchanged it for Kaines' gift card.
Seeing the gifts from Mary Jane and Peter his eyes shifted to Kaine who pointedly ignored the knowing look. Reilly was well aware of his uncle keeping tabs of his life but never gave him too much credit for how much he researched. How else could anyone know his favorite movies? No one noticed Kaine slid Reillys' gift towards him and he didn't have to look to know it was a plain version of the suit he gave May. All that was left was Mays' present to him. The paper seemed to fall away in an instant. All he could do was stare at the image and his own reflection gaping back at him.
"I wanted to get you something personal to make it special. After you told me about Mr. Murdock I had a friend look for that gym he used to go to with his dad. It's been bought out and the new owner wouldn't tell me if it's being tore down or not. It took awhile but I managed to talk him into giving me this. I know he meant a lot to you and this way the whole family could be here, so to speak. I'm babbling."
"Yes you are." His fingers caressed the tiny Matt Murdock under the glass as he was lifted in the air by his father. "Thank you."
On the floor Benjy ignored his toys to play with the box as his mother lowered the mugs of apple cider. Peters' own eyes seemed rather watery as he cleared his throat. "To our family. No matter where they are their always be in our hearts."
A strong reassuring hand gripped Reillys' shoulder before he could object. Reilly sighed because despite his claims Kaine really did know him too well. His father and Matt weren't the only ones on his mind then. It might not be a perfect Christmas without those people but it was the best one he ever had. And no super villians to boot.