You demanded it and I am inclined to obey! It's chapter two of the story that stole the hearts of millions…well, actually, five people but that's more than enough to make me give you guys what you want. Thank you for the reviews and for the coercion to continue. I hope you guys like where I'll take the story. Spidey's about to get a lot angstier (I know, that's not a word), but there'll still be occasions for humor, I promise you. Also, just so you know, I'm gonna be involving some of the characters from the Spider-Family in this fic. In fact, I aim to use a lot of well known Spider-Man supporting characters because that's just how I roll. Read on and tell me what you think.

Coming to Terms

"Seriously, why do you think this is gonna end differently from all the other times?" Anya Corazon, also known as Spider-Girl, called out.

The white costume clad 'professional' villainess she was chasing known as Screwball, didn't seem to pay attention to her question as she struggled to focus on losing the teenage hero. Despite her parkour skills, she was having trouble evading a patient and persistent Anya, who was determined to retrieve the money that Screwball had stolen from an armored car, taking the driver and his partner completely unawares. In her mind, Screwball couldn't help but think about how she hated Spider-Girl. I've been chased by Spider-Man for God sakes, she thought, jumping from a car top to a street lamp and swinging off in a single fluid motion, with Spider-Girl close in pursuit. Basically, her web hits had come to an all time low, primarily due to the fact that most people, who frequented her site, didn't like the switch from an A-lister legend like Spider-Man to a new comer like Anya. She couldn't understand how she had been in the big leagues and was suddenly given an eager-to-prove-herself amateur.

"Where the hell is your significant other?" Screwball finally blurted out. "I need him to chase me, not you!"

"Okay…first of all, Spider-Man is not my boyfriend…mainly cuz I'm way too young to ask him out" Anya revealed as she used her web grapple to swing further towards the fleeing criminal, eliminating even more distance between them. "Second of all, you are a big flaming sack of a crazy that people leave at other people's doorsteps, so if they'd step on it to put the fire out, they'd get crazy all over their shoes"

"Bite me, fat ass!" Screwball yelled.

"…That is just unacceptable" Spider-Girl said to herself as she felt a burst of renewed vigor. "Why'd you have to go and make it personal, huh Screwy? I mean, we were doing banter and then you go and say something like that." The distance separating them slowly became smaller and smaller, until Anya was right behind Screwball, who ran past people on the ground now, anxious to get away from her pursuer. Crap, she thought as she actually felt Spider-Girl reach for her. She was so close, so—

THUNK! A flash of black seemed to descend rapidly and Anya was shocked to see Screwball brought down swiftly and hard by a drop kick from nowhere. Realizing who it was seconds later, the young hero was shocked to see that Spidey was the assailant, donning a black costume. "Umm, that was a bit harsh. You knocked her out in one move." People had already started to leave from where they were standing, as some of them were a bit scared of a Spider-Man who was a lot similar to the one that terrorized city dwellers under Osborn's tenure as Nick Fury.

Stooping low to see just how bad Screwball had been tagged, she was shocked to see that her helmet was ruined and cracked and her jaw looked like it had been broken. "Like I said, a bit harsh, don't you think?" she asked looking up at Spider-Man who had not said a word since he had appeared. "Are…you sure that you're not…y'know, Venom?"

"…You tell me" Spider-Man finally said, his voice completely devoid of its usual up-beat charm. "You should return that money and take Screwball to the cops" he added seconds later.

"So, she can get some medical attention, right?"

"…Yeah, sure. Why not?"

Anya went over to where the money had dropped and picked it up. "Well you're not in a good mood today" she said, turning back to him. "What happened? Did the psycho Kraven family come back and organize another bonding ordeal like the Grim Hunt?" she laughed, remembering how when he had last worn the black suit, he was being pushed to the edge by a bunch of crazy people who thought they were hunters.

"…You could say that" he answered, abruptly turning to walk away. "Wait, are you serious?" she called after him. She was officially worried about him now. She thought about following him and asking him what was wrong but decided against it. Seconds later though, he stopped in his tracks and paused for a bit before looking back at her. "Have you happened to see Ana Kravinoff, at all?"

"Not since last month when she tried to kick my ass to Kingdom come. Seriously, is there another one of those 'Grim Hunt' thingies going down?" she inquired, the fear and anxiety clear in her voice.

"Don't worry about it, kid" he told her, leaping into the air and swinging away before she could ask him any more questions, leaving her with an unconscious Screwball, a bag full of money and a lot of concern for his well being. A couple of cops were now running towards the tiny crowd gathered round her but she couldn't help ignore them, her mind telling her that Spidey might in trouble. Just before the police could reach her however, she grapple-swung her way from them, with the money in her hand, hoping that she could return it and put the whole Spider-Man encounter out of her mind.

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Walking through the halls to his apartment, Peter Parker could not help but think how especially screwed he was at the present. He had been unfocused all day at the office and he was thankful that Max Modell, his boss, was too busy to check up on him, because he would've seen how distracted he was. Actually, he had purposefully been avoiding all friends and family knowing that if they saw him like this, it would be just a matter of time before they would figure that something was wrong. And then he'd have to lie and explain his moodiness away, which was something that he really did not want to bother with at the moment. I have a freakin daughter, he thought, the very fact making him woozy. He didn't even know what kind of conversation he would have to have with Mary Jane eventually. Even Spider-Girl, a person with whom he didn't really hang out much could tell that he wasn't quite himself. He briefly thought back to their encounter earlier in the day and despite himself, hoped that she wouldn't worry about Kraven's agenda like he knew that she probably would.

Nobody should worry about Kraven, he thought as he approached his door and lingered for a moment before brandishing his key. Because when I find him, I won't make the same mistake twice.

Stepping into the dark parlor, he felt for the light switch and flicked it on. "Oh God!" was the next thing to come out of his mouth, because immediately the room got illuminated, the figure of a woman in a red turtle neck and black loose-fitting pants sitting on his couch temporarily scared him out of his wits. That particular feeling didn't last seconds, and due to his state of mind and how he had been feeling lately, it rapidly changed into anger. The thought that it might be Kraven or any other baddie stupid enough to make a play right now enraged him even more.

"Don't worry. I'm not a bad guy, 'Spider-man'. Not at all" came the person's voice and that's when recognition flooded the wall crawler's brain and he realized who it was. "…Julia? What're you doing here?" he asked calming down.

Staring into the distance as she brushed her hair behind her ear, an amused smirk appeared on her features. "Paying the 'Center of the Web' a visit, what else?"

"Oh, that's right. You're the New Madame Web. I keep forgetting that" he said, walking toward her and dropping his bag on the table in front of the couch. "So, what's going on in the world of magic?" he asked curiously, sitting next to her. "Is it something that I should be worried about?" Still staring into the distance, she shook her head in silence, the smile refusing to leave her lips. "Peter, it's okay. I know" she calmly let out.

"…Know about what?"

"Peter, stop it. It's partly why I'm here" she explained. "You mind?" she asked out of the blue, holding out her over coat for him to take.

"Hmmm. So you can magically appear in an apartment, but you can't magically put a coat on a coat rack? Magic blows" Peter said, as he took the coat, making Julia laugh lightly. "You are such a dummy. That's not how it works and you know it" she teasingly admonished.

"Speaking of clothes—why the black suit since the Kraven thing?" she questioned, arching an eyebrow.

"It's the only one I have that isn't ripped right now. Besides, it kinda felt appropriate, y'know?"

She nodded and then patted the space beside her on the couch, indicating she wanted him to sit back down. When he did, she went quiet for a while and he just waited for her to say something. Suddenly inhaling sharply and then sighing, she attempted to remove her dark glasses, exposing her completely white eyes. "…Sorry" she apologized. "It's just that, even now I still struggle from time to time with being…y'know, blind and all. I just wish…I wish that I could look at you as we talked" she finished, sighing again as she did. Peter opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted when she continued talking again. "But don't worry about it. I'm totally digging the new 'job' actually. It has a lot more certainty to it than anything I ever did."

"Any particularly sweet perks?"

"All the 'Spider-Family' TV that you could ever wish for. No cable bills or installation required" she joked, brushing her sandy blonde hair behind her ear yet again.

"Spider-Family TV? Sounds dirty" he shot back, making her playfully hit him even as they both laughed. "You've always been a goof, haven't you?"

Peter didn't answer but simply stared at the beautiful super heroine turned seer sitting on his couch. Somewhere at the back of his mind, he wondered how he would explain her to Carlie if she happened to come around. "I know you're staring, Peter. Cease and desist."

"Sorry. So, if you see us Spiders while we live our lives and all, that means…"

"Yeah, I know all about you. In fact, I'm also privy to your past. Damn near all of it" she finished, her tone low and contemplative. "All of it, huh?" he thought out loud.

"And you know what?" she started, turning to face him though she couldn't see. "You're…you're the most incredible man I've ever known"

"Julia…"

"No, wait, don't interrupt. I need to say this" Stopping for while to breathe in deeply, she exhaled and proceeded to continue. "I…know all about it, Peter. About the exhibit…the Spider, the powers and trying to cash in on them. How you let…how you let the burglar go and then he…" At that, Peter shifted his focus to the floor in front of him. He never got used to thinking about his screwed up history, much less hearing it told to him by somebody. He was a little surprised when he felt Julia's right hand on his cheek, bringing his face back up to her level. "I know what you resolved to do after that. The Power and Responsibility thing. I saw what you endured all that time: being an outcast, being down and out and still having the good heart to risk your lives for others, even those that hated you. I know about the Green Goblin, and the rest of the freaks who made your life a constant struggle and I saw…I saw you resist—every single time—the urge to kill them and be done with it. Taking the high road even though it made everything twenty times worse. I saw how you lost Gwen, and…and how even at that, the point when any of us would flip out, you managed to keep it together. Just like you will now" she said, alluding to her knowing about his plan to give Kraven his just reward.

Convinced that he had been rendered speechless, Peter was shocked to hear himself talk. "So in short…you know everything that has ever happened to me?"

"It kind of feels like it's always been there and I just recently found access to it. Sometimes I…even have nightmares about some of the stuff that's happened to you…stuff that might happen"

"Julia, you shouldn't be worrying yourself to a pulp over me—"

"You're worth it, Peter" she said, causing both of them to stay silent for a while. It was then that Peter realized that tears were rolling down her cheeks. "I swear, if anyone on this God forsaken planet is worth it, then it's you. I mean, you were seventeen when you started all this! When all of us were still dealing with issues and just thinking about ourselves, you knew that there had to be someone who would use their gifts to protect the innocent. Who realizes that at seventeen, especially when there aren't other heroes to guide him?" she asked rhetorically.

"…Umm…technically, the, uh, Fantastic Four were the first to—"

"I swear to God, I will hit you, Peter Parker" she warned, removing her hand from his cheek and pointing a finger in his face, smiling and crying at the same time.

"Of course you will. Most women in my life hate my guts after they get to know me"

"I don't hate you, I love—" Julia began, only to stop herself mid-sentence when she realized what she was saying. Peter's hand went up to the back of his head as the atmosphere suddenly became tense after her near-confession, which made him nervous as hell. Luckily, Julia quickly saved the situation. "Sorry about the crying. I kinda got too emotional" she said while cleaning her cheeks and eyes, gracefully changing the subject.

"No problem. Actually, I should be thanking you. You kinda shook me out of my funk"

"…Don't worry. You'll find her, Peter" she assured him.

"It's been two days!" he exclaimed, getting up and starting to pace. "What if something's happened to her?" he let out worryingly, a bit taken aback when he saw that she was grinning again. "What is it? Why are you smiling?"

"This is a girl that has tried to kill you on several occasions before. And just like that, you realize she's your daughter and you start to care, forgetting whatever she's done to you" she said, emphasizing her previous point about him.

"She's my daughter! Besides, some people would call that 'gullible', Julia"

"Well, you're not some people, Peter… Anyway, I guess I should probably start playing the seer, like I'm supposed to" She closed her eyes and clasped her hands together, beginning her meditations. When she began talking minutes later, Peter knew that it wasn't Julia speaking. "…Now, Spider-Man, listen closely to my words: the Web has been broken…and rearranged. A new Spider joins the clan, one that is a direct spawn of you"

"Meaning…?"

"Her very existence now as a self aware Spider has changed both hers and your destinies forever. The Web is new, full of exciting and strange moments, some pleasant, some…horrible. New foes arise, as well as new allies. The Dawn of a New Age is here, Spider-Man, one that may prove to be better than the last…or it will be your very undoing"

"Just how I love my prophecies; vague and unclear" he said to himself. "Do you know where Ana is?" he tried to find out in the most direct manner possible.

"She roams the city, looking for many things; a home, a sign to tell her what she should do, and also an end to her confusion on where she belongs. It is imperative that you find her before Kraven does. He too searches for her with his black magic and he will soon find her" Hearing about Kraven's plan to look for Ana brought the anger rushing back for Peter. He calmly walked over to his windows and stared out of them for a while. "Looks like we're just gonna have to find her first" he said at last, determination set in his eyes. He would not fail his daughter. Not again.

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The old man sat close to a fire that burnt from a drum, doing its best to warm those that huddled close to it. Here, it was the homeless and the destitute that found comfort with one another. The old man looked around him and saw that all his friends were sleeping but he knew that some of them had passed out from alcohol. "Lousy fellas" he muttered. "They'll never be ready if S.H.I.E.L.D comes swoopin' in, angling to bust me. Stupid S.H.I.E.L.D, thinking they can get to me. But I got friends in high places" he reasoned out loud to himself. "Yup. I even know Spider-Man" he said, remembering when a freak storm had forced him and Spidey plus a couple of his friends to team-up. Wrapping his arms around himself because of a chilly wind that blew, he looked down and chuckled when he saw the jacket that Spider-Man had given him back then. "One of the good guys, that Spider-Man" he concluded. "Definitely one of the—"

CLANG! A startling sound suddenly came from the alleyway behind him. Getting up quietly and picking up a baseball bat, he tip toed softly toward the disturbance as sweat ran down his brow and the hairs on the back of his neck stood tall. "Oh Lord. Who's there?" he called out, scared out of his mind. He was now in the middle of the alley way, eyes darting back and forth in expectance of danger. "…Whoever you are…you're not with S.H.I.E.L.D, are you?"

Only silence met his questions. But just when he thought he might be seeing and hearing things, he heard a voice in the overwhelming dark cut through the eerie silence. "Here" the Russian accented voice simply said at first.

"Holy Christ!" the man yelled as he turned to where the voice was coming from. Straining his eyes in the absence of light, he squinted at a window ledge some distance above his head and finally made out a piercing blue-eyed stare directed straight at him. "Who're…who're you?" he croaked out.

The gaze of the person did not waver for a second as moments passed, building the tension and getting the old man riled up even more. "I said, who're you?"

"…I…do not know" the voice said again and the man could've sworn that he was hearing the voice of a girl, most likely in her early teens. But the voice carried a maturity, oozing experience in its tone. It was a voice that belonged to a girl that had seen and done things that most people hadn't. That most people shouldn't.

Thankfully, the old man's brain was working faster than his fear was spreading. Instead of doing anything rash, he decided to make an ally of whoever it was. "…So…umm, 'No-name'…would you like some of my baloney sandwich? I was…sort of saving it for tomorrow, but…I guess if you're here and you're not S.H.I.E.L.D…you can stay" he offered. After some minutes, when he thought that the girl had ignored his proposal, she suddenly came down gracefully from the ledge, flipping in the air before landing in a crouch. Standing to her feet slowly while the man lowered his bat, her face remained expressionless. Getting a good look at his new guest, the man assumed that she was a runaway from a circus or something because her garb was something that he hadn't seen before, even amongst the crazy kids of the city that he noticed from time to time. To his surprise he also observed that she was barefoot. But despite all that, he noticed how pretty her blond hair she was and how she exuded confidence. How could someone abandon such a beautiful kid, he asked himself.

"So…where you from? Cleveland? I know a lot of people from Cleveland"

It didn't surprise him that she completely disregarded his question. "…I smell him on you" she said simply.

"What? Who's on me?"

"The smell of the Spyder" she said matter-of-factly.

"Wait, you mean Spider-Man? I mean, yeah, I got this jacket from him" he said, showing it to her, "but I sure as hell don't smell like him"

Her expression finally changed into one of mild surprise. "You have encountered him?"

"Damn straight" he said, starting to walk back to his spot beside the drum-fire. "Spider-Man's a stand-up guy, he is. Saved my life and I was happy to repay the favor. Fair is fair" The wind began to blow slightly once again as he sat back down, duly followed by the girl, who tentatively followed suit and sat down beside him with her legs crossed. "Also, he gave me this jacket. Said it wasn't his but I knew he was just being kind"

"…Kind" the girl whispered, gazing at the fire. "He is…kind"

"That he is. I'm Vern, by the way. What's your name girlie?" he asked her while he looked through his stuff for the sandwich.

"Ana. I am…I was…a hunter"

"Really? What did you hunt?"

"Things that I thought…that I was told, needed to die" she clarified.

"Sad but true. Some things need to die, Ana. What's wrong with that?"

"…A man that I believed was my father forced me to hunt things that are the reason for me being alive. He lied to me even though I trusted him"

"Well then that's no good" Vern confessed, partly understanding what she was saying. He finally found the sandwich wrapped in foil and gave it to a hesitant Ana, who eventually accepted and almost immediately started eating it. "Wow. You haven't eaten in a while, have you?" Grunting in admission as she wolfed down what she was given, Vern continued to look at her, studying the way that she acted.

"So what are you going to do now that you're not a hunter?" he inquired as soon as she had finished eating.

"I do not know. All I can do is hunt. But if I was lied to about who my father was just so I could hunt, then maybe…maybe the reason for hunting those things is a lie as well. Maybe hunting…is wrong" she told him, clearly feeling completely lost.

"I understand how you feel. Not knowing what to believe and to distrust. Me, I don't trust a lot of things. But a couple things I do. Don't worry; you'll find something…or someone, that you can trust" Looking over at Ana, he saw that she was looking at him critically, as if weighing the words he had said against who he appeared to be. She then looked up into the night sky, as if she expected to see something. "I hope I do as well" she said as a final point, after considering his wisdom.

"Ol' Vern knows you will…and…wait, what're you…?" Vern trailed off, somewhat stunned to see that Ana had courageously put her head in his lap, preparing to sleep off. Shaking off his surprise, he promptly took of his Spider-Man gift jacket and covered her with it. Satisfied that she was comfortable, he sighed and braced himself for another night that he and his new friend had to face. Resolving to stay awake, he knew that he now had to keep her safe from S.H.I.E.L.D as well. There was no way he would let them get to her. Mumbling softly to himself, he didn't even notice that Ana had fallen asleep.

Coming to Terms

What a freakin long chapter! It was very hard to write but I gotta say, I enjoyed it. Since this is a fic that I continued solely because of the review opinions, this is more or less a reader driven story. So I want your suggestions, critiques and praise too. Don't forget the praise. Kidding. I really would like to hear any ideas you guys have. It's not that I'm blocked or anything; in fact it's quite the opposite. I have so many ideas for this that it could span tens of chapters, ideas for Spider-Man arcs that I could fit in here. But you guys are officially part of a team with me when it comes to the creative control. Suggest something, dammit!

Also, I would like to know if I nailed the characterization of most of the supporting dudes. The homeless guy was an addition from ASM #556-557. I just had to use him. The Julia scene was also something that seemed logical to me. I have no idea why main canon continuity creates complex, awesome characters and then ignores them for the most part (e.g Ultimate Spider-Woman, Blindfold, Lady Deadpool e.t.c). Okay maybe Lady Deadpool isn't a complex character, but she sure is awesome!