Chapter 13: Points of View
IT IS DONE! Or, at least this chapter is done. Homework, papers, exams, work . . . Thanks, November, for giving me so much to do. I'm hoping it will take less than a month to get the next chapter up.
Guests: Thank you! Reviews will always put a smile on my face!
Pink Lemonade: I'm so glad the last chapter came out well! I always worry that I make action scenes without enough action. But you summed up most of what's happening so far. If my projections are correct (and I don't expand the chapters like I've been doing), then the end of Arc 1 is actually coming up soon, so you'll finally get to see a few of those plot seeds come into fruition. It's all coming together *rubs hands together evilly*
The Shield Helicarrier was bustling with slightly more activity than usual after the capture of Electro. Those in charge of containment were rushing in, double and triple checking the fortifications on the latest cell they had made for his particular power set. Those in charge of public affairs were rushing out to perform damage control. Peter was almost glad to be out of the way in the Med Bay. Almost.
He hissed for what felt like the millionth time as Dr. Cage cleaned his worst burn wounds.
Luke's dad was an excellent doctor, but no amount of medical school made wound cleansing hurt any less.
When they had first been saved from Hydra, Luke's parents had been interested in eschewing their dangerous research for living a normal life with their son. But when they realized that he was already involved at Shield, they decided they could be more helpful by continuing their careers for the good guys. Being more research scientists than anything, they usually focused on developing new treatments. But they were always happy to lend a hand when the Med Bay was full. And, like any parents, they were prone to overbear on their son when he managed to get hurt. Today, his mother had gotten a hold of Luke first, so Mr. Cage was assigned to Peter instead.
"I'm sorry," Mr. Cage said. "My wife has a much gentler touch."
"It's fine," Peter managed to say, voice strained. "I'm trying not to hiss."
"That's alright if you do. It's why I prefer treating you. I don't have to worry about someone screaming in my ear."
A yipe came from Sam's room, followed by a string of unintelligible words that Peter knew were cusses in various alien languages. He winced in empathy. "Maybe, I guess."
Mr. Cage put down the disinfectant at last, only to grab an ointment. "A few more stings, but now with a pleasant cooling sensation." Placing some on his fingers, he started with Peter's shoulder, where the largest burn was. His hand only needed to brush against the raw skin to illicit a sharp pain. Another hiss slipped past Peter's lips regardless of how hard he clenched his teeth. Then the so-called 'pleasant' cooling sensation kicked in. This time Peter managed to gasp instead, but that just allowed his fangs extend. Dr. Cage's hand flinched away. Peter shut his mouth again.
"Sorry," he muttered quickly. "I don't know why I have such a hard time controlling this."
"There's no reason to apologize. I know it hurts. Everyone has their own way of dealing with pain."
"But I don't want to deal with it this way. It's—It's—" Frustrating, annoying, scary. All sorts of words came to Peter's mind. He sighed. "I've had this for a while now, so why can't I control it yet?"
The doctor shrugged. "It's a reflex. Some reflexes can be trained like the gag reflex. But others can't. Absolutely no one can possibly keep their eyes open while sneezing. You can't control your spider sense, can you?"
"I sort of can. It's more of a guideline than a rule."
"I can see that." Mr. Cage glanced pointedly at Peter's burns with a dry grin. "But I bet it took practice to be able to ignore it."
"Well . . . yeah, I guess." It was true, although it hadn't taken too long. Peter acted as a human shield far too often to listen to his spider sense all the time. "And it is extra hard to ignore when something really dangerous is headed my way. But my spider sense makes sense. It's there to protect me. Hissing is just noise."
"Somehow I doubt that. All animals make noises for a reason. I would assume it has something to do with protection too."
Peter's shoulders sagged. The movement hurt almost as badly as the cleaning. Everything always felt worse in the Med Bay after the adrenaline stopped pumping. "Okay, yeah, you're right. Spiders hiss to scare away predators." A smile suddenly pulled at his lips. "And that apparently includes doctors with painful remedies too."
Dr. Cage laughed. "I'm a formidable threat, huh? You're lucky you don't need stitches today or you'd really be baring those fangs."
A thought occurred to Peter, and his smile dropped. "Oh, you probably ought to know that—uh—I have venom now. Not that I'm going to bite you," he added hurriedly. "But it seems like something you should know."
"Ah, Luke mentioned something about that." Mr. Cage took some more ointment in his hand, but didn't apply it yet. "You know, I was thinking of asking Dr. Connors if my wife and I can look over you DNA changes too. We've already been studying how our formula affected our son. Although I know the formula is likely very different from what happened to you, you're both genetically modified teenage boys. There might be some data to extrapolate from a comparison."
That was a curious idea. Connors had mentioned how . . . puberty might be involved. And Peter was always happy to help Science, even if he was the test subject instead of the scientist. "Okay, that sounds like a good idea. Um, speaking of studies, can you let Dr. Connors know when we're done? He needs to test my venom."
"No problem. I can take the sample now if you want."
Peter shook his head. "Nah, I'll wait for him. He probably wants to see how it works anyway."
"You're probably right. Ready for the rest of your treatment?"
"As ready as I'll ever be."
Dr. Cage smiled broadly. "That's the spirit!"
He resumed applying the ointment, and Peter went back to trying to ignore the pain. He also thought about what Mr. Cage had said. Somehow, Peter had nearly forgotten that every part of a spider had a purpose, just like most animals. Everything was built for survival, durability. Maybe some things like hissing didn't have obvious uses in a human lifestyle, but it wasn't completely useless either. To be honest, it might actually come in handy for his lifestyle, Peter mused. All those times his team or the doctors knew he was in pain was probably because he had hissed, despite his consistent protests that he was fine.
It sure explained how they always seemed to know when he was lying about that.
That was . . . one way to look at it . . .
Once Mr. Cage finished with the worst burns, the rest of the treatment went much less painfully and much more smoothly. When they were nearly done, Peter could hear the commotion of most of the rest of team leaving the Med Bay. Sam probably had to stay a bit longer since he had suffered the worst shock. Mr. Cage smirked when he overheard Luke convincing his mother that he was fine. Shortly after that, Peter was done with his immediate medical care, and Mr. Cage switched places with Dr. Connors.
"Hello, Peter," Connors greeted amiably. "I hear your venom has come in. How were you able to secrete it? We're going to need to fill at least one of these vials." He held up two small glass bottles in his hand.
"Uh—I don't actually know how to do it," Peter admitted, squirming in his seat. He proceeded to tell Connors about the mutilation of his pillow and May's theory and his dream which disproved her theory. His gaze slipped down to the floor when Connor's eyebrows shot upward in surprise. "So . . . yeah. I know I've got it. I know it works. I just don't know how."
There was an uncomfortable moment of silence.
"I see," Connors said. "Well, I'm sure it won't be too hard to figure out. I imagine you're a bit unsettled by such a morning though."
"You could say that."
"Frankly, I agree with your aunt to some extent. You probably began to teethe first during the night, which inspired the dream. But I suppose that argument can't really be settled to your satisfaction."
Peter shrugged. "It's not really that important anyway. I mean, it was just a dream." He paused. He had already said a lot. Perhaps it was enough to finally get an expert opinion on the topic. "Do you think I may actually have or gain spider knowledge? And if that is possible, could it ever progress into, say, cognitive disfunction? Or . . . insanity?"
Connors face twisted. Not quite a smile, not quite a grimace. "You're thinking of the Lizard, aren't you?"
"Sorry if that stirs bad memories," Peter said sympathetically.
"No, no, it was just one of the most egregious errors of my life, and the regret will likely never go away." Connors cleared his throat. "But we're not here to talk about me. Or at least, not primarily. This discussion will require some detailed explanation. Because it took some time, but I eventually figured out where I went wrong. Not that the information did me much good," he added grimly. "I did that research before I became the Lizard the second time."
"What did you find out?"
"What should have been obvious to me from the beginning. Setting aside a few unique scenarios I'm aware of, humans, or adult humans specifically, are not made to be modified. Remember how I said your being in the throes of puberty is to thank for your relatively smooth initial mutation?"
Peter put a hand to his forehead. "It's hard to forget when you keep reminding me."
"It happens to come up quite often. Anyway, your body was already changing, so it wasn't too hard to accommodate a few more changes. Adults, however, are more resistant to genetic changes. It takes very concentrated formulas or radiation to begin the process, which, in my theory, usually ends up overpowering the human DNA. That's what happened to me. I wanted a small mutation, but it became a massive one. And a side effect of such extensive mutation is the exhaustion of the body's nutrient reserve. It could have killed me. Thankfully I'm healthy enough that it didn't, but it still took a lot out of me. All of my energy reserves went into the transformation and sustaining my bigger body, which pretty much starved my brain. That," Connors said triumphantly, "is what caused me to slip away from sanity." Then he blinked and coughed into his hand. "Or that's what I believe caused it anyway. And if it is right, you will be pleased to know that it proves that self-mutation is not a viable route for re-growing limbs."
It took a minute for Peter to fully understand Connor's mini genetics lecture. "You mean . . . I shouldn't really have to worry about that happening to me because I'm not an adult yet? But then what about what happened in the Savage Lands?"
"That might have worked on the same principle. The poison instigated a massive mutation within seconds. That takes a toll, even for already enhanced individuals like you. And the poison itself may have affected your brain. I've been trying to get my hands on a sample, but no luck so far. It's a very rare substance, which may also ease your worries."
"That . . . does make me feel better. Thanks."
"My pleasure! I know it's not fun to worry about such things. Perhaps you'll gain one or two helpful instincts not too dissimilar to your spider sense, but I highly doubt you'll face anything else as drastic as what the poison did." Connors held up one of the vials. "Can I get a sample of your venom now?"
Peter swallowed. "Okay, should I just, like, insert my fangs in the glass?"
"That's how most people do it. I watched some videos on snake and spider venom collection last night. It looks simple enough."
Very much doubting that statement, Peter took the offered vials. Flexing his fangs experimentally, he placed the vials over them, letting them curl around the rims. He didn't feel anything coming out, but then he hadn't last night either. He attempted to ask Connors if it was working, but talking with his fangs sticking out was as bad as talking with a full mouth. "Ith id 'omi'g ou'?"
His aunt would probably chastise him for bad manners.
"I'm assuming you're asking if it's working?" Connors asked amusedly. He leaned down to look at the vials. "I'm afraid not. Try a little harder?"
With a bit of effort, Peter made his fangs curl more. Still nothing. Maybe if he made those new muscles flex—
Oh. That felt weird.
Connors gave him a thumbs up. "There we go! A few more drops and . . . yes, that's enough."
Curling his lips, Peter made his fangs release the vials. The glasses nearly slipped out of his grip, but he quickly stuck his fingers to them. He held one vial up at eye level. It was nearly full of clear blue liquid. The hue was almost the same as his eye color. Or what had been his eye color until last week.
That seemed like a cruel joke.
He handed the vials off to Connors, who capped them. "Um, Doc," Peter said. "How much venom do you think I have? Because I swear I injected like a gallon into my pillow."
"I'll be able to calculate the volume of your venom sacs once we perform the MRI. We can get that out of the way right now if you want. It shouldn't take too long."
"Sounds good. Thanks. And—uh—one more question. Do you think it would be a good idea to just get rid of all my venom in one shot? Store it in vials or something?"
The doctor tilted his head in a so-so gesture. "That sounds good in theory, but there are repercussions to exhausting your venom supplies. Your body would simply make more, which might make you hungrier."
"But I thought you said spiders could run out of venom!" Peter argued somewhat petulantly.
"They can, temporarily. It may take weeks or months to reproduce venom, but it can be done. Spiders would die if they simply ran out of venom for the rest of their lives. As it is, they can still starve if they don't have a large enough meal to carry them over until they have venom again."
"So I'm going to remake all the venom I used today?"
"Probably. Between that and gaining the ability in the first place, you might find yourself eating a bit more. I can update your nutritional plan after I analyze the samples, but until then you might want to add some more insects to your diet. That's the only thing I know for sure that has all of the necessary proteins."
Peter remembered the handful of crickets that he had not eaten that morning. Of all the days to skip it. At least he didn't feel overtly hungry yet. It would probably be another hour before he really felt the hunger brought on when his healing factor had to work overtime.
Yup, this was his life: making sure he ate about a buffet's worth of food each day.
Okay, he was being dramatic again. He didn't mind that much at all. He could eat anything he wanted without ever worrying about his weight.
"I'll keep that in mind, Doc. So that's a no for getting rid of the venom, then?"
Connors nodded. "Sorry, Peter. I just don't think it would be healthy for you when your body is still growing in other ways."
"Wait, you don't mean—"
"No! No spider stuff!" Connors corrected himself quickly. "At least, I don't believe so. There are a few changes in your DNA I'm keeping an eye on, but I haven't been able to connect them to anything on the macroscopic scale. All I mean is that you're still growing into a fine young man."
Peter covered his face with his hands. "Must you keep bringing that up?"
Connors laughed. "Sorry, sorry. Let's get you to an MRI, hm?"
Ava entered one of Shield's private conference rooms, which also doubled as a lounge if you were tired enough to sleep in an office chair. That was true for nearly any agent who came in post-mission, so these rooms were often informally called the Lounges. Peter had told them to wait for him here. Although there really wasn't anywhere else for them to be anyway. Principal Coulson would likely close the school, no matter how much the decision pained him.
Who knew that managing a high school was more stressful than managing Shield?
In any case, there was a benefit to these rooms being considered lounges. A fully stocked refrigerator was present in each and every one. And today Ava was the first one here. She took advantage of this and grabbed a sandwich and several water bottles. Her amulet was still active to help with her healing, which had the side effect of exaggerating her craving for meat. She didn't mind at all. It turned even a mundane meal like this dry sandwich into a much more pleasant experience than it would be otherwise.
Savoring her first bite, Ava sat at the table. She had some time to herself. Time that would be spent thinking about boys. This was exactly the sort of thing she had been hoping to avoid in high school, but at least she wasn't pining over anyone. She was only worrying about most of the guys she knew.
Sam had been hurt pretty badly, and as immature he was Ava still cared about him. He was like the annoying brother she had never wanted. And although the doctors said he would be perfectly fine within a day or so, Ava knew he must be in pain right now. That meant he would probably act like more of a pain than usual once he got out of the Med Bay.
She knew him too well to think this would hamper his personality.
Ava also had her suspicions about Harry. To set up an entire protest was a bit extreme for the so-called laidback son of a billionaire, not to mention he had agreed with Electro's fallacious reasoning way too much. Harry must really believe that Spider-Man was to blame for everything that had happened to him and his dad. When he had first started saying that, Ava hadn't really believed that he believed it. But now it was obvious that Harry was serious about it, and Peter didn't need that extra dollop of angst added to his life right now.
And no one else on the team knew about Peter's underlying spider angst except Ava.
She sighed, already sensing another intense discussion whenever she and Pete had a moment alone. This was why she usually didn't get close to people.
Okay, that wasn't really true. Having to deal with all of that was annoying, but bearable. If she hadn't given up on harder things like her superhero lifestyle yet, she wasn't about to give up on a friend.
Speaking of friends, Danny entered the room. Ava sent him a small wave and he bowed his head in acknowledgement. His monk habits were no longer strange to her or most people at school who knew him, although he did earn his fair share of stares when students outside of their classes heard him talk. She had once heard someone say that he sounded like Simon and Garfunkel reading off fortune cookies. The analogy wasn't too bad, which was the only reason Ava hadn't threatened them away. In her opinion, high school would be a lot more pleasant if more guys spoke like Danny.
"How is everyone else doing?" she asked him as he sat across from her.
"Sam is still getting bandages. Peter is also staying in the Medical Bay to receive a test. Luke should be coming soon after he is done talking to his parents. He told me he has something he would like to discuss."
Ava quirked an eyebrow. Was everyone in a talky mood now? "What does he want to talk about?"
"I am not sure. I would not be surprised if he wants to discuss Harry's . . . opinions." Danny's usually neutral voice hardened just a bit on the last word. Ava nodded in agreement.
"It pains me to hear him unintentionally diss his best friend. Or at least, Peter calls him his best friend."
"They have known each other for years. Peter is one of the few people in Harry's inner circle."
Ava frowned at her sandwich. "Yeah, well, just because it's Harry's inner circle doesn't mean he really has Pete's best interests at heart. Remember that Harry nearly gave Pete the cold shoulder just because he was spending extra time with us."
As Danny pondered what was likely some open-minded statement to say on Harry's behalf, Luke came in. He walked briskly to the microwave instead of the fridge, popping in a plastic container. Ava sniffed the air.
"Is that lasagna?"
Luke smirked proudly. "Homemade. My dad's cooking makes up for how much they bother me in the Med Bay." His smirk quickly faded. "I mean—sorry."
Ava shrugged to let him know it didn't matter. Luke was now the only member of the team who still had both of his parents alive, nearby, and willing to care for him. But he still knew what it felt like to think he had lost his parents, and he didn't like to boast about how he got them back. Ava felt happy for him, just like everyone else did. That didn't stop her from feeling just a small twinge of jealousy though. A little doubt, a little hope that maybe just maybe . . .
Silly father-daughter reunion fantasies.
She blinked hard to refocus. "Um, I heard you've got something to say."
"Yeah, I was hoping to have Sam join us. But we kind of need to have this conversation before Pete comes. It's about him."
Ava froze midbite. They were going to have this conversation now? Now that she had the inside scoop on their leader? Typical.
"What must be discussed behind Peter's back?" Danny asked.
"Nothing bad. I was just talking to him before, and he told me he has venom, and . . . he doesn't sound too happy."
Ava chose to take another bite of her sandwich now.
"Think about it," Luke continued as the microwave hummed softly behind him. "We asked him to be honest about that stuff, and between him and Doc Connors we've been getting all the updates. But have we ever once paused to just ask him how he feels?"
Ava chewed slowly. Had she even asked Peter that question last night? Yes she had. After it became exceedingly obvious that he wasn't feeling perfectly okay with everything. Luke was so much better at this than she was.
"I suppose you have a point," Danny said. "However, he seems to be handling it very well, accepting everything as it comes."
"I know, and that's all well and good. But even if he's accepted it, it doesn't mean he has to be happy about it. He acts that way sometimes, but he's Pete. He can act happy even with impending doom."
"You've got that right," Ava said, careful not to mention specifically which parts she knew was right.
"Who's right?" The door opened wide and Sam wheeled in on a wheelchair. "I'm assuming I'm right, but what about?"
"Sweet Christmas, you're hurt that bad?" Luke asked, distracted from his previous train of thought.
"Hm? Oh, you mean the wheelchair?" Sam asked as he rolled to the fridge. He opened the door and stood to reach something in the back. "Nah, I'm fine. I just took this while no one was looking. So what were you guys talking about?"
Luke removed his food from the microwave and sat across from Danny on Ava's other side. "I was thinking we should take some time to talk to Peter about his changes. To understand what he's going through. He's listened to our woes on more than one occasion, even the woes of villains, and I want to return the favor."
Sam thought about that for a second. "That's a cool idea. Then I can finally ask some questions about his new stuff."
Ava cringed internally. Judging from what he had said last night, Peter wasn't going to be too keen about this. He hadn't wanted anyone else to know yet. She hoped he wouldn't think that this had been her idea. She was actually doing a great job of keeping his secrets. "Don't ask about anything too embarrassing, Sam," she said warningly.
"Cut me some slack. I'm not nearly that tactless," he replied a little more seriously. He got a hold of the soda he wanted and sat back in the wheelchair. "He's my friend too."
Ava took a long sip of her water. Could even Sam be better than her at this sort of thing?
"And what does our resident guru think?" Luke asked Danny.
"Peter may appreciate this, so long as we do not push him too far."
"Danny's got a point," Ava said, hoping to retain some her friend status. "Pete doesn't like to make a big deal about himself."
Luke opened his mouth to say something, but their communicators buzzed then. It was Peter letting them know he was on his way. Everyone tried to look as casual as possible as he walked in. He pulled his mask off, revealing a slightly tired but rather jubilant face.
"Hey, team! I've got some good news. But first, Sam, could you grab me some lunch?"
Sam still had his wheelchair parked in front of the fridge. He stood again to open the door, shooting Peter a slightly questioning look. "Okay Mr. Brightside, what do you want?"
"Juice. Any kind of fruit juice will do. And whatever food is left." He caught the mango juice and burrito thrown his way, twisting open the bottle to take a long swig. "Ah, thanks. Now I can talk."
Ava couldn't help but stare. This was a far cry from the emotional wreck she had spoken to last night. "Are you feeling all right?"
Peter smiled at her. "I do feel all right. I mean, I have venom now, and that's all kinds of weird. Dr. Connors ran a few preliminary tests on it. I'm part spider mutt, so my venom is like a cocktail from a few species. It'll probably cause pain first, then numbness in the immediate area, and finally a lesion of dead skin that'll scab over in a few days. I was freaking out about that at first, but then Connors told me that it's a lot like the venom of these two species from Brazil and Australia, and their venom is currently being studied as a cancer treatment. So there's a chance mine may have the same benefits!" He took a few measured breaths after his announcement, obviously waiting for their feedback.
Sam was the first to speak. "Now I understand that dopey smile on your face. You're just happy that you can one-up us by saving more lives."
"Well, I don't know if it'll work yet. There are a lot of tests that need to be done."
"Still, that is wonderful news!" Danny said.
Luke chuckled. "I bet Connors is having a field day with the stuff."
"He is. He's probably going to be holed up in the lab for the rest of the day." Peter sat down next to Luke. "So that's the update for today. Oh, and he'll have antivenoms for us to carry in four or five days. But that's pretty much the breakdown, so . . . yeah."
Ava smiled. She was glad he was taking this so well. With any luck, Luke would decide they didn't need to have any deep talks and Peter could just ride this happy wave for the rest of the day. "See? We told you that venom wouldn't be a huge deal. Or at least not a bad huge deal. Fighting cancer is good."
"Also, I like the term 'spider mutt'," Sam added. "That's gonna be your alternate nickname from now on."
Peter rolled his eyes, but his smile didn't go away. "No, that's going to be the name of my dog sidekick."
"Since when have you wanted a dog sidekick?"
"Who doesn't want a dog sidekick? Aside from Ava, obviously," Peter added in response to her glare. "Besides, a super dog would follow orders way better than you, Sam."
"I resent that."
Peter snorted as he took another sip of his juice. This was great, Ava mused. This was how things were supposed to be. Maybe venting to her had helped Peter after all. The thought gave her a warm feeling in her chest not unlike what she felt when she saved lives.
"That's really cool. So there are still new perks to get from your spider side," Luke said casually. Ava gave him a look to tell him to cut it right there, but the guys never could understand her looks. "How does it feel to have that extra stuff in your mouth?"
The edges of Peter's lips sagged slightly, although he chuckled a little. "Aside from a little discomfort this morning, I can hardly tell the difference. It feels weird to—to make it come out. I kind of hope the cancer thing works out. Then I'll have something to use it for. Did I mention that it'll be a virtually limitless supply of venom? Like-um-I can have about 50 milliliters at a time, and it'll regenerate." Another, more awkward sip.
"That'll be perfect if it does work out as a treatment then," Ava said with as much finality as possible. Surely Luke would get the hint now.
"Wait a second, question," Sam said, raising his hand. Ava glared daggers at him. "Have you ever bitten your tongue with your fangs? And if you did that now, would you poison yourself?"
"That's two questions, Bucket Head," Peter replied with a roll of his eyes. He looked down at the nearly empty bottle of juice in front of him. He hadn't even opened his burrito yet. "But the answer to both is no. Most—um—venomous creatures are immune to their own venom. It'd be pretty embarrassing if they weren't."
Ava tried again to end the conversation, "Good, because we worry about you enough."
"Does this help you appreciate these unexpected changes as the potential benefits they are?" Danny asked.
Peter's eyes narrowed then, and Ava just barely stopped herself from kicking the others under the table. Pete glanced at her, but not long enough to garner suspicion.
"Okay," he said. "One or two questions is innocent enough, but you all seem rather interested in this all of a sudden. What gives?"
They all turned to Luke, who shrugged. "We were just trying to have a friendly conversation. You haven't really opened up about any of this since we caught you red-handed with those crickets. We want you to know you don't have to hide anything from us."
Peter's glare softened into something appreciative and almost guilty. "Oh, well, I appreciate the gesture . . ."
"Aha!" Sam declared, standing and pointing a finger dramatically at Peter. "So you are hiding stuff from us!"
"I didn't say that!"
"You didn't not say it!"
"Says the guy who tried to sneak out in the middle of the night to help his old raccoon and tree colleagues!"
"Says the guy who has a lock on his diary!"
There was a moment of awful silence as all sorts of emotions flashed through Peter's eyes. When he spoke, his voice was level and quiet. Too level and quiet.
"For your information, the only 'diary' in my room is the journal Uncle Ben used to write down all of his good quotes. I convinced him to put a lock on it when I learned that phrases could be trademarked. I thought everything he said was worth a million bucks, and I still do, which is why it's still locked."
Sam swallowed thickly. "Oh," was all he said.
Luke cleared his throat. "Look, don't listen to Sam. We're not accusing you of keeping secrets. But we're a team, and we stick together. You don't have to handle anything alone."
Peter took a deep breath. "Thanks, I really do appreciate it. It's just . . ."
"The path to self-discovery is too narrow for a caravan?" Danny supplied.
"Um, yeah, that sounds about right. I mean, I'm not saying I'm a one-man army or anything like that. But some things are . . . more personal."
"Right, of course, sorry if we're stepping out of bounds," Luke apologized. "I didn't really stop to think that Doc Connors must keep relating everything back to puberty for a reason."
A blush bloomed on Peter's cheeks. "It's really not that related."
Sam grinned. "Hey, does anyone know how spiders attract mates?"
Everyone looked at him in disbelief. Luke shook his head. "Seriously Sam, you're just digging yourself a deeper grave."
Sam only shrugged in response.
"Well," Peter said, picking up his mask. "I was planning on going home to get some homework done, so . . . I'll see you guys tomorrow. And, um, thanks again for the offer."
The others waved awkwardly as he pulled on his mask, leaving it rolled up above his mouth. He gave them another smile as he unwrapped his burrito and left. Ava tried to appear as calm as possible while she finished her sandwich. She felt like she ought to be running damage control with Pete, even though this hadn't even been her idea. But that was a big reason why she had to go talk to him. She couldn't let him think that she had tattled on him less than twenty four hours after they had last spoken. However, following Peter out now would attract too much attention. And taking a few minutes to figure out what to say could only help.
She was still being selfish but helpful. Maybe you didn't really have to be completely selfless to be kind.
"I think that went well," Sam said, reclining in his wheelchair.
Luke huffed. "Until you opened your mouth."
"Agree to disagree."
That started off an argument between the two. After a few unsuccessful attempts to diffuse the situation, Danny left to meditate. Ava left right after him, rushing to intercept Peter before he got to the port. Thankfully she knew the Helicarrier like the back of her hand, so it didn't take long for her to catch up. Spider-Man looked surprised to see her.
"Hey, Ava, you didn't come running after me, did you?"
"Not immediately. Nobody knows I'm here. Come on, I need to clear a few things up." She grabbed the arm that wasn't holding a half-eaten burrito, dragging him over to the nearest closet.
"That's right, we do. Was it your idea to talk about my spider stuff?"
"No! Of course not! What do you take me for? It was all Luke's idea. You're good at lying, Spidey, but you're not that good." She shut the door tightly so they were in darkness, reaching her hand up to grab his mask. "Okay, masks off. Your lenses are disturbing in the dark."
"Are not," Peter scoffed. He blinked at her once his face was revealed again. "I . . . I thought my eyes would be more disturbing."
Ava rolled her eyes, pushing some buckets out of the way to make some more space. "My amulet is still on. Take a look at my eyes." She tilted her head so he could see them from a few angles. "I'm more than used to glowing eyes."
"Yours are yellowish."
"A rather flattering color, in my opinion. But getting back on topic, you believe me, right?"
"Yeah, I do. It's still quite a coincidence, but I do."
"It's not a huge coincidence. You did get venom today, and the guys were concerned about you. Even Sam was, believe it or not."
Peter raised an eyebrow. "I don't believe it."
"Believe it. He may express feelings in his own weird ways, but he does feel them. I think." She pushed a some stray hair out of her face. "I hope that didn't ruin your happy mood."
He smirked. "It's been a day of ups and downs."
"Multiple ups?" Ava prompted.
"Um . . . okay, now that I think about it there's just the one up with the medical thing. Although I guess I did do a pretty good job of catching Electro off guard."
"You weren't too shabby," she said teasingly. "Could have been a bit quicker with the web building."
"Sorry."
Ava rolled her eyes. "I'm joking."
"I know. It's just . . . I probably could have done it faster, but I overcomplicated it too much. That's actually one of the instinct things I was planning to tell you about. I can make really intricate webs without even thinking about the geometry. But if I get too ambitious, I do start thinking about the math and that makes it harder than it has to be."
Ava hummed thoughtfully. He didn't make webs too often during patrols or training. "You make webs for fun?"
He shrugged. "They're handy for catching bad guys, so I practice. Not that I needed much practice, but . . . it did take me a while to figure out how to make a properly balanced hammock."
She shook her head. "You managed to synthesize this super strong compound that scientists have been puzzling over for years, and you use it to make hammocks."
"I'll have you know they're very comfy hammocks. Besides, I make a lot more than that."
That was true. From tourniquets to makeshift bridges, Pete's web creativity had saved them on more than one occasion. But if she ever told him that outright, his ego might become as large as he pretended it was as Spider-Man. "Okay Mr. Arts and Crafts, So what have been the downs of today?"
Another shrug. "It's deep territory again. I don't know if you want to get into that right now."
Ava hoped she wasn't going to regret pushing him. "You asked me to help you out with this, but I can't do that if you don't talk to me."
"That's such a cliché."
"Because it's true."
Peter gave a long sigh. "I had a dream about the Savage Lands last night, and I ripped apart my pillow. With my teeth and venom. And I didn't even notice until I woke up."
Warmth bloomed on Ava's cheeks, and she wondered if he could see her blush in the supposed darkness. "You don't have to feel ashamed about that. I've done it on occasion."
"You have?"
"When I get nightmares, yeah. I even ripped up my mattress once. But I had fallen asleep with the amulet that time. And Kraven had gotten away that day. And maybe I'm biased, but I'm pretty sure it's normal for people like you or me. Regular people toss and turn at night. We have the ability to cause a bit more damage while doing so."
Peter was quiet for a second. "I guess that makes sense."
"Anything else I need to convince you not to worry about?"
"Um . . ." he looked away thoughtfully. Ava thought she had an idea of what else might be bothering him.
"Please don't tell me that you're actually thinking about what Harry said."
Peter scoffed. "I know most of what he said isn't true."
There was a blazing loophole there. "Most? Pete, none of that was true!"
He leaned against the wall, knocking over a mop but catching it quickly. "There were one or two things that were true."
"Like what?" Ava demanded.
Peter's gaze became distant. "Venom. I mean the symbiote Venom. Doc Ock made it from my blood. And a slightly different concoction with my blood turned Harry's dad into the Goblin. And—and I turned into something wild with just a bit of poison. It's—There must be something in my blood that can make monsters."
Ava bit her lip, her fangs nearly drawing blood. Some of those thoughts had crossed her mind months ago when the events had just happened. The entire team had been at least a little suspicious. But she certainly didn't believe it now. "It wasn't your pure blood. Doc Ock chemically twisted your blood into something—well, I don't know what it classifies as, but it was an entirely different substance."
"It's still made from my blood."
"Not by any natural process! An evil supervillain engineered it to be bad! Knowing Doc Ock, he probably took the most dangerous and powerful parts of your blood and isolated them. So—so Venom and Goblin are the result of concentrated power extracted from your blood. And they chose to use that power for evil because even if there's a gene for responsibility, Doc Ock would never include that in his formulas. And you, Peter, are not just made of power. You have everything else that makes you . . . you."
"Wow," he said. "That was . . . that was a really good pep talk. Like, Uncle Ben worthy. Thanks."
Ava was more than a little surprised to hear that. "You really think so?"
"Yeah. Do you really think what you said is true?"
"I promised to be honest with you. I'm not going to lie just to make you a little happy. If I really thought that your blood spawned more super villains than toxic waste, I would have said something ages ago. And for the record, the Savage Lands thing doesn't count because it was the poison's fault. Ka-Zar said that it would affect anyone pretty much the same way. Except most people look more like sasquatch when they're exposed to it. But you have spider genes which changed that up."
Peter rubbed the back of his neck. "Ka-Zar told me something similar. I guess I just added that in there since most people wouldn't have had . . . lasting effects."
"Lasting effects which are helpful. You can see in the dark now and possibly save lives without lifting a finger. Pete, maybe you feel jealous about how I can turn my amulet off at any time, but even when it's on I can't do the same things that you do. So no more freaking out, okay?"
"I'm not freaking out right now. I was just . . . worrying."
"You worry too much. Go home, gorge on some more food, including insects if your stomach desires it, and have some fun with Phoebe. I'll see you tomorrow in training."
Peter saluted her with his burrito. "Aye aye, captain."
"You are nuts. Now go!"
He slipped his mask on again and left the closet. Ava squinted against the sudden light until the door closed again. Taking some measured breaths, she decided she had done a pretty good job today. At this rate, Peter would be all smiles again in no time and she would be a social expert. Yes, she would enjoy adding another item to her list of strengths.
To think that she had been afraid that she would never be able to help him. Opening the door, Ava hummed a little song as she went to get some much needed rest in her room.
Peter decided to swing home, because why not? The creams Dr. Cage had applied were finally alleviating the pain, his aunt was still at work, and he wanted to get home to Phoebe quickly so he could make up the time they had lost this morning.
He felt pretty good. The day seemed better now than when it had started. Yes, he felt very good.
He had an idea of how to make Phoebe happy.
So he swung through the streets, waving back at tourists and giving his good side to any Daily Bugle reporters he saw. That reminded him of the footage Electro had supposedly sent to the Bugle. Peter had forgotten to ask someone at Shield about it, but right now he found that he didn't really care even if Jameson got a chance to play it. The entire team had done a pretty good job with Electro, and if Jameson could spin that into criticism, that would actually be impressive in a strange way.
Maybe Jameson didn't deserve an Emmy, but he had a good command of the English language.
It didn't take long until Peter was perched on his windowsill. He climbed inside and went straight to the closet, pulling his mask off along the way and throwing it onto the bed. The door was hardly an inch open before Phoebe greeted him.
Speter home!
"That I am. How are you?"
Phoebe good. Hungry.
"Did you eat all the crickets I gave you this morning?"
Yup.
A little dubious, Peter examined the crickets as he cleaned up her terrarium. They were all empty, so she must be telling the truth. Three crickets usually held her over until long after school was over. Was she getting hungrier? Perhaps . . . bigger?
Well, all he could do was wait and see. In the meantime, this was actually very opportune.
"Do you want to try some live crickets again?"
Phoebe lifted her front legs into the air. Yup! Yay!
"Great, because Spider-Man is going to teach you how to catch them! Today is lesson one: web building. Today reminded me that it's pretty much the easiest way to catch stuff, and it'll probably be even more helpful to you just in case you're the type of spider that likes to live in webs, so . . . yeah, that's what we'll be doing."
Perfect!
Peter opened the hatch of her Jungle Box fully, lifting her out. Phoebe crawled up his arm to perch on his shoulder while he rummaged for the packages of crickets. He opened the regular one first, giving Phoebe one so she wouldn't be starving during the lesson. And he ate his own serving like Ava and Dr. Connors had suggested. Or maybe two. Because one burrito only did so much to appease his hunger, and he wasn't in the mood to raid the kitchen, and . . . maybe he just wanted to.
Then he opened the package of live crickets. Not all of them were alive anymore, which made sense considering he had kind of forgotten about them for days on end now. At least they were probably still good to eat, but he decided he should probably find a way to prolong their literal shelf life.
"Let's see . . . I'll teach you how to make a web out here in my room, and then you'll make your own in your Jungle Box to catch your dinner. Sound good?"
Great!
"Okay, I think we should start with a basic spiral web. I'll probably end up explaining the physics and chemistry of how it works, so let me know if anything I say doesn't make sense. Um . . ." Peter glanced around his room for some ideal anchor points. He would have plenty of time to make a web that stretched from floor to ceiling. And then he could show Phoebe how strong webs could be by throwing stuff at it like his notebooks and pillow—
He did a doubletake on the bed. There was a pillow, but it was obviously not the same one he had torn apart this morning. He picked it up. He could smell how new it was; May had probably taken it out of its packaging right after he left for school.
"Uh, Phoebe, do you still remember the dream I had last night?"
Yup.
"Could you show me?"
Okay! Dream was exciting!
Peter sat on the edge of his bed as Phoebe's vision began. It was as vivid as always, although a little confusing, but that was probably because she was mimicking whatever his dreamscape had been. There were city streets and buildings he frequently patrolled, huge trees in between, and his house was visible in the distance. None of it was geographically correct, but why would it be?
Wolverine appeared at a hotdog stand, sipping on a Coke with a kitten version of Zabu on his head. He told Peter to go home, and now he could see Aunt May waiting for him in the front doorway. The distance was easily traversed with a hop and a swing.
That's when the dinosaur burst out of the foliage.
It went straight towards May.
Peter (real Peter) nearly ran into the wall trying to stop it, but his spider sense stopped him in time. As it was, the image looked real enough that his spider sense continued to tingle gently. He reminded himself that it was just an . . . imaginary reenactment of his dream? That just about summed it up.
Scary part, Phoebe agreed.
Feeling his way back to his bed, Peter continued to watch as his dream-self rushed at the Tyrannosaurus Rex. It looked way bigger here than it had in real life, with jaws big enough to swallow May whole. And it was fast too. There wasn't enough time grab May and run. Dream Peter used his webs to slingshot onto the dinosaur's back. He looked ready to try to web the T-Rex in place, but by then it was nearly on top of May, swooping its head down—
Dream Peter's head moved faster.
Real Peter gasped as his attack started. His dream-self literally pulled a chunk of flesh away with the first bite. That T-Rex roared in pain, giving May enough time to escape into the house. Dream Peter took another few tearing bites before pausing to inject his venom. The dinosaur rampaged for a few minutes before it slowed, and then it was falling. Dream Peter jumped off and found himself inside his house. May was there and she was thanking him, hugging him.
The image faded to reveal his room. Peter was silent for a moment as he found himself staring at his poster of Einstein and Stark both sticking their tongues out.
Speter-Man hero!
Peter swallowed. "I—I try."
Truth be told, that had actually been less gory than he had feared. The dinosaur had remained much more intact than his pillow. Licking his lips, Peter opened his mouth to stretch his fangs out longer than he had in days. He ran his tongue over them. Sharp and smooth.
Sure, that had only been a dream, but he had used his venom to save May. And regardless of how weird (how scary) that was, she was worth it. A million times over, she was worth it.
Maybe Luke had been right about that after all.
"Well, Phoebe, you have just seen the Spider-Man Guide to Hunting Dinosaurs. Please don't try that at home. Taking down prey like that will be . . . it's a more advanced lesson, okay? We're still starting with web making today."
Phoebe giggled. Okay.
"All right, so step number one: location is everything. A web needs to be attached to sturdy things so it doesn't break easily. And it also needs to be somewhere that your prey can reach easily. Does that make sense so far?"
Yup!
Peter smiled at her. He couldn't quite tell when she was reading his thoughts, but it was obvious right now that he had her full attention. All of her eight eyes were focused on him. She was happy to learn something new, and even happier that it would involve food.
He could relate to that.
He continued speaking, and that was the beginning of what Peter would call life lessons and what Phoebe would call playing with food.
Fun facts:
- Spiders can regenerate venom slowly, so it can takes months to get full venom sacs again if they used it up too quickly.
- Many spider venoms are currently being tested for medicinal properties. Venom from two species from Brazil and Australia may be used to treat cancer in Tasmanian devils.
- Human skulls have a volume of about 3 liters, so I figure Peter's head can make room for about 0.05 liters of venom . . . I put way too much scientific thought into this chapter . . .
