Chapter 5

Two days. Two days of worry and tension. Peter Parker your perfectly ordinary high school student on summer vacation had had a rough 48 hours, he was convinced that that the other shoe was going to drop and when it did, it would turn out to be an extra large clown shoe with steel toe caps. His secret was not safe and there was no way he could fix it. While Xavier was wrong about him being a mutant it was still too close to the truth. That was why he was sitting in the lunch area on the roof of his school in the middle of summer vacation, he needed to be alone and have some space to think and hopefully set his mind to rest. He had chosen his school because nobody would be there and well he always did well in school.

"Okay, what am I going to do?"

...

"Okay I have no idea what to do. I really need to finish my costume then at least I can go talk my problems out with Bruce that would help me get my head straight. Should I be worried that the thing I talk to about my life the most is a stone gargoyle?"

Pondering this he quickly made is way down the side of the building using the fire escape as he had avoided using his powers completely during the last two days. It wasn't because he was paranoid, paranoid meant you thought something or someone is out to get you. Peter knew there was a phone book worth of people who were out to get him or his alter ego, most of them having threatened him repeatedly.

'Okay I need to calm down it's been two days if anything was going to happen it would have happened by now.' Thought Peter as he started his way down the street not even looking where he was going as he made his way to the bus stop. He was so lost in his own thoughts that when he felt a hand on his shoulder he nearly jumped 10 feet in the air.

"Whoa tiger! What's the problem?" MJ was trying to keep a look of pleasure off her face, it wasn't often she made Peter jump out of his skin and she got some perverse pleasure from seeing him so startled.

"Oh hey MJ." His voice was normal but MJ could tell it was forced. "I guess I didn't see you there. So what are you doing here?"

"I just had lunch with Glory. You going back home?" Peter nodded and turned trying to keep an eye out for the bus. Mary Jane had now known Peter for nearly a year and in the last few months especially they had gotten much closer and they now counted each other among their best friends. Therefore she had become attuned to Peter's moods and could tell when something was brothering him and now his attitude screamed there was something on his mind and it was bringing him down.

"Huh? Oh yeah home right."

"Peter you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be it summer vacation, 'no worries' just kick back and relax. Coollio."

MJ raised an eyebrow "Coollio?"

"Yeah I'm not good at slang. Oh look here's the bus."

They got on in silence. Sat down in silence and as soon as MJ open her mouth to speak Peter's head turned to look out the window. However Mary Jane was not the type of girl to give up. "Tiger that might work on some people but do you really think it's going to work on me?"

"..."

"Look I know you've got a lot on your plate and you like to try and deal with stuff on your own. But you got too stop trying to shut people out. For one thing you know I'm not going to let you cut yourself off from me even if I have to tie us together."

"MJ I know you're trying to help but please could we just ignore it, I mean it's nothing you could possibly help with and I'd rather just try to get my mind off my problems."

Mary Jane nodded she could understand the desire, sometimes when life got to complex the best thing was to simply take a step back and have some fun before tackling life with full force. "You know there is a party tonight. My drama friends are going and you're welcome to come, I'd like it if you came, but I know you might have plans..."

"Is it so I can be used as a diversion so losers won't hit on you? Or do you need someone to carry you home again?" Peter suddenly realised he'd made a big mistake, he'd answered on automatic letting his natural snark take over and there was no way MJ was going to let him get away with that.

She looked him square in the eyes and gave him her version of the Look! She had been working on it and was quite proud of it. While she couldn't match Gwen the Look was still very useful in dealing with a genius teenager with a big mouth.

"How about we pretend I didn't say that? That way you don't have to go to the bother of killing me and then trying to hide the body." Said Peter as he tried to back away, unfortunately unless he ripped the window off and dived out he wasn't going anywhere.

"MJ stop giving me the Look, please."

She let up but the look on her face was still fairly close to the Look. "Peter I'm going to ignore your last comment so long as you talk to me."

"I thought you had dropped the whole making me talk thing."

"I did but then you decided to be a jerk, so start talking, now." The last word was a command.

"MJ it's not that simple. I mean my life is a mess in so many ways right now."

Mary Jane raised an eyebrow indicating that that was not good enough.

"I mean for one thing you're my only real friend right now."

"Peter that's not true, you got lots of friends..." Peter interrupted her by raising his hand.

"I can't be around Harry or Gwen because of how it hurts, I can't be around Liz because of how I've hurt her, Eddie's ... getting help and if I'm around anyone else they just want to know about all the drama."

Mary Jane looked at Peter and for the first time in months felt like she really saw him. She had known about how bad he felt about what went down with him Gwen, Liz and Harry, that's why she had made an effort to become closer to him so he knew he had someone there for him. But the dark cloud hadn't lifted in the passing months, sure it had gotten lighter but it was still there.

She was trying to figure out the right thing to say when Peter began again. "Last year really did suck didn't it? I lost Gwen and Liz; I lost Eddie and Harry in other ways. You and Liz lost Mark and hell Harry lost his dad..."

And in Peter's mind the list went on '... because I killed him by accident but it's still my fault, just like it's my fault Eddie got infected by the symbiote, like I couldn't save John Jameson...'

"Peter listen to me. Yes this year's been tough, on all of us, but that doesn't mean you should deal with everything by yourself."

Peter lowered his head and started staring at his hands as he tried to think of what to say. What could he say? That he had to deal with everything by himself because he was the masked hero Spider-Man and he couldn't risk anybody getting hurt simply by knowing his secret. Yeah that would go down well. Summoning his courage Peter looked Mary Jane in the face. "Mary Jane I know I don't have to deal with my problems by myself but the fact is it's probably best for everyone right now if I just work out my problems, but I promise you if I think, for even a second, that I have a problem that you could help with I will barge down your door."

To Mary Jane it sounded like he was being sincere so she nodded and started to tell him all the gossip she had gotten from Glory knowing full well he didn't care but wouldn't risk changing the subject in fear of her trying to get him to talk about his problems.

FORREST HILLS

Peter had just said goodbye to Mary Jane and was walking up his drive when the front door opened to reveal his Aunt May. "Oh Peter your home just in time, there is someone I want you to meet."

Peter hurried to door gave his Aunt a smile and put his bag on the hook by the door. "Well I trust your judgement pretty lady. You were right about Mary Jane, but I'd prefer little warning instead of being ambushed by a blind date. I have this thing about being ambushed."

'Mainly because of all the super villains.' He added in the privacy of his head as he walked to the living room.

Aunt May closed the door and saw that Peter had stopped in the middle of the doorway so she took the opportunity to introduce the guests. "Peter this is Professor Charles Xavier, his employees Mr Logan and Miss Monroe and one of his students Jean Grey." She couldn't see Peter's face and therefore continued unaware of the look of horror that her nephew had. "Professor Xavier has come to offer you a place at his school."

"Hello Peter I've been looking forward to meeting you." Said Professor Xavier has he rolled to towards him in his wheelchair.

Peter managed to get his face under control as he gave Xavier a handshake. 'I think the other shoe just fell on my head.'

Aunt May had gone to check on the tea she had been making and the second she was out of the room he scowled at the people sitting down facing him. The professor and the burly man from before were looking at him impassively, the stunning black woman who had been introduced as Miss Monroe was giving him a beautiful smile and the red headed girl, a few years older than him, was definitely the one who had breached his mind last week. Peter faced the professor. "I thought we had a deal you leave me alone I don't go to the press and what do you think you're doing coming to talk to my aunt, she has a heart condition."

"I'm aware of your aunt's medical problems Peter and I assure you that I would never intentionally cause harm to her. That is why I've decided not to tell your aunt the truth as the shock may lead too..."

The door opened and Aunt May came in holding a tray filled with cups of tea and a plate of cookies. Peter got up and helped his aunt hand out the tea.

"As I was saying Mrs Parker I believe Peter would be a perfect fit for my school." Xavier sipped his tea and smiled. "His grades and internship at ESU while managing a job, shows just how dedicated he is to his education and I'd like the chance to further his education."

"I'm sorry Professor Xavier but the fact is I can't leave my aunt right now and to be honest we can't afford to send me to private school." Said Peter and in his mind added, 'take that'.

"Peter don't say that, I have a responsibility has your aunt to provide for you to the best of my ability. While things haven't gone as smoothly as they could have since Ben died, as soon as my cook book starts making money we will be much better off."

"Mrs Parker, Peter, I take in students from all walks of life, some are orphans that live at the school year round while most are like Jean here who have normal working class families. As I fund the school myself with my family's fortune there are no fees."

Seeing the looks on the Parkers faces was very interesting, May's was a picture of happiness while Peter's resembled someone who had the floor pulled out from under him.

"However this is a unique situation as Peter is a bread winner for this household we are willing to treat him as a special case. We are willing to use funds we have for orphans, instead of providing an allowance for Peter we shall send the funds to you Mrs Parker."

"YOU'RE BRIBING ME TO GO TO YOUR SCHOOL!"

Aunt May turned around and lightly scolded her nephew. "Peter I know you're excited but there is no reason to shout like that."

Peter looked his aunt in the eye and swallowed. "Aunt May I don't want to go to this school, my life is here, my friends and then there's the fact I can't just leave you here all by yourself."

"Peter we haven't decided anything yet, but I want to make one thing very clear. You need to stop worrying about me so much, we Parkers are made of tougher stuff than you think. Anyway you're going to be leaving this house soon anyway."

Peter tried to interrupt but Aunt May just steamrolled over him. "When you go to College I want you to have then full college experience, not staying here worrying about me."

"I agree with your aunt Peter College is an eye opening experience and one that shouldn't be missed especially for someone with your intelligence." Said Professor Xavier as he picked up a cookie and took a bite.

"However Ben and me decided a long time ago we wanted Peter to have a normal life as possible. When we first discovered that Peter was gifted the school asked us to consider Peter skipping a grade or maybe two, but Ben made it clear he wasn't fond of skipping grades because of the fact it forces the child to have mature faster and would make him to leave his friends behind. Not to mention it was not long after Peter came to live with us and we didn't want to give his life yet another upheaval."

Miss Monroe, who up until now had been slowly sipping her tea, smiled at Aunt May. "I agree with you completely, it is important that a child have stability in life and while education is important, you shouldn't forget that part of the school environment is about learning social skills for later life as well."

"You people do know I'm right here, right? I haven't suddenly turned invisible or something, have I?" Peter had been getting more annoyed for the last few minutes. These people were talking to his aunt when he had told them he wasn't interested in what they were selling, and to make matters worse his aunt was taking them seriously and was discussing his upbringing with them.

Aunt May looked like she was going to tell him not to be rude but was beaten to the punch by Mr Logan. "The kids got a point you know, he should be doing a part of the talking seeing as this affects him the most."

The professor put down his cup and said. "Logan is right we are being rude not including Peter in this discussion, I apologize for that. But before we continue I would just like to say that my school does realise the importance of social interaction. Peter ,if he decides to join us, will be attending Bayville High the local high school but he will also be given extra classes at the institute in a variety of subjects such as physics, chemistry, biology, psychology and natural studies and many others taught by myself and my instructors."

Aunt May was once again beaming and turned to Mr Logan and Miss Monroe. "So what do you two teach?" She asked politely.

"I teach a variety of subjects, whatever needs teaching that day really." Answered Miss Monroe, as she gave Aunt May one her beautiful smiles, she then gave Mr Logan a small prod with her elbow.

He gave an annoyed grunt, shot her look and with a bored voice spoke. "Physical education, survival skills and self defence."

Aunt May looked at the professor hoping for an explanation. "We believe in a full education and a healthy mind requires a healthy body not to mention in this world it is important to have to the basic skills to defend and provide for yourself."

"So basically if I accept your offer I still have to deal with a normal high school, still have to do extra work like I do in my internship, do what sounds like a boot camp, move away from all my friends and family and probably have to bed in a dorm with a bunch of other guys. Yeah that sounds great." Peter smiled at the room, his aunt now didn't look quite as sure as before, so if he played his cards right he would never have to see these people again.

However his hopes took a nosedive when the professor chuckled and mentioned for Jean to hand his aunt something. It turned out to be a brochure and when his aunt open it she let and out an "Oh my!"

Peter took the brochure and looked inside. The pictures were of a large lavish mansion. There were pictures of four poster beds, a swimming pool, a basketball court, a baseball field and a game room.

He was drawn out of his stupor by Jean's voice. We all get our own private bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms and we have full use of the facilities.

"Though we do require the students to do chores such as helping with meals and general cleaning." Said Miss Monroe, to which Peter just groaned.

A little while later Peter was left alone with the professor, Mr Logan and Jean. Miss Monroe had offered to help his aunt with the washing up. This little get together had just gone from strength to strength with Aunt May getting very excited at the thought of him getting all these new opportunities and luxury she couldn't give him.

As Peter looked around during the uncomfortable silence he noticed that the three guests kept looking at each other in turn like they were having a conversation. While the Professor had been giving his sales pitch with assistance from Miss Monroe, Mr Logan had mostly kept quiet only answering questions that were asked, Jean had kept chiming in with how great the school was and how she had made such good friends there.

At least they hadn't mentioned anything about mutants or special abilities so his secret was safe for the moment, and speaking of abilities.

"Are you having a telepathic conversation?"

The sudden look of panic on Jean's face told him he was correct even if the professor and Logan hadn't moved a muscle. "Look I know you lot have planned this so my aunt will think this school of yours is the best thing since sliced bread but I told you I don't want to join this little training camp of yours."

The professor gave him a very calculating looking. "Peter I'm sorry you feel this way but we can't just leave you here by yourself with no one to guide you through what you going through. You must have lots of questions about what is happening to you."

"You can stop right there my Uncle Ben gave me the talk when I was 12 and I don't need a repeat."

Logan smiled in a way that wasn't 100% friendly. "This one's got an attitude chuck."

"I can understand that you have doubts, which is why I'm willing to offer you a compromise. You spent six months at my school and if you still wish to leave at that time you will be free to go and will never hear from us again."

'Well Aunt May seems to really want me to go and at least this way if I agree I have an out no matter what.' Thought Peter as he replied. "Yes six months would be best because that way I can transfer back to midtown high for the last semester."

At that Jean spoke up. "You shouldn't think like that. You should give is a chance, you may like what we have to offer."

"Says the girl who invaded my mind for no reason, anyway the only reason I'm agreeing to this is because you have people have made it impossible for me to refuse without my aunt forcing me to go."

"Peter the offer we have given you is very similar to offers we have given our other students, we do offer this to everyone we believe could benefit from our school. There is nothing sinister going on here we are merely trying to help you." The professor laid his hands on his lap and smiled at Peter.

Peter smiled back but where the professor's was an open smile of trust his had a mischievous glint in his. "So you're saying that you're trying to help me right?" A nod came from the professor.

"So you wouldn't mind if I had some conditions of my own right?"

"So long as they are reasonable and do not endanger anyone, I give you my word that I will uphold my part of the deal if you do the same."

"Okay then, first off I need a promise that no one will go into my mind."

"That is already a standard rule in my school for the mind is a private place."

Peter nodded satisfied. "Two, there will be no studying me or my biology."

The professor chuckled. "You make us sound like a secret government lab. Fear not we really are just a school and we are not going to study a mutant like you."

Peter thought about correcting him but changed his mind, the professor had promised not to study him there was no reason to give him a reason to want to study him.

"Three, I want my own lab." This was long shot but while he had basic equipment he had always wanted some high end gear and actual space to work. Somewhere secure so he had privacy to run some sensitive experiments. Seeing as these people really wanted him to come to this school might as get as much as he could out of the deal.

"We were prepared to offer you that anyway. We have plenty of workspace down in the lower levels that you are free to use and I'm sure Dr McCoy would be happy to help you set up your own lab. He was hoping we could convince you to join us, as he is eager to get to know you as young scientist."

Logan grunted and the professor looked at him and smiled towards Peter. "As Mr Logan has reminded me we do require that you make some promises to us as well."

"What kind of promises?"

"That you keep our school's true purpose a secret, that you will partake in all the training we provide and that you willing follow the instructions that we give and obey the rules we have in place."

Peter shrugged. "I can live with that for six months, then I'm outta there right?"

"If that is what you wish at that time then yes, you will be free to leave."

"Okay Professor Xavier you got yourself a deal." Peter got up and shook Xavier hand.

"Well then let's sort out the details with your aunt shall we. I'd like you to come to the school two weeks before the start of the school year so you can settle and we can begin your training."

AN: So its been six months since I last updated and I'm sorry to keep you waiting that long but I been busy with the 42 (life, universe and everything) and theres the fact i've watched the latest Spider-Man cartoon and went into state of depression that this cartoon replaced the Spectacular Spider-Man (this is a joke). As I said before you are too kind i've had numerous compliments and demands for updates. So to sum up it takes me ages to write a chapter, I'm sorry, feel free to review.