Chapter 34: Creature Comforts

Would you look at that, another chapter so soon! How could this be?!

Answer: I moved into my dorm of 4 roommates. One decided not to dorm, another is off visiting her boyfriend all the time, and the other came a week later. I was alone and bored with nothing but my scientific research to comfort me. So, like my favorite scientist, I became obsessed with Spider-Man and wrote a lot.

Doc Ock. My favorite scientist is Doc Ock. And Richard Feynman, but he doesn't have extra arms.


Peter's team won.

There was a lot of yelling when the game concluded. Adrien was whooping victoriously, Tandy was congratulating team Cat Vider, Amadeus was still arguing about some of the goofier trivia. Peter cringed from all the noise, forcing a smile. The game had succeeded in calming him down, which was now making him nervous again because what was he doing relaxing here?! This was all part of Taskmaster's manipulation. Peter knew it and he despised it, but it also frustrated him because he couldn't do anything about it.

Reassuringly, despite how he no longer felt at risk of a heart attack, his spider sense had never let up. It continued buzzing the entire time, sharpening on occasion whenever certain people moved. It didn't flare up so much around Tandy and Adrien, which was good since they were on either side of Peter. But sudden movements from Felicia, Taskmaster, Ty, and Amadeus, almost made Peter jump at times.

Taskmaster stood, causing Peter to focus on him abruptly. "Alright everyone, good game. We should consider making this a weekly thing, but for now I think it's time for bed. Our new members must be very tired, and the rest of you have training early tomorrow. Good night. Rest well."

The others responded back in kind, and they all started to make their way to the door. Tandy ushered Peter and Amadeus in the right direction.

"Come on, boys," she said cheerily. "You're the new guys so you get first dibs on the bathroom. You should have everything you need in your closets, but if there's anything we missed just let us know, okay?"

Peter nodded. He had already checked the entire closet when he was looking for bugging devices earlier. Aside from the clothes, he'd been surprised to find towels and underwear and deodorant and socks and notebooks and everything else necessary for a basic lifestyle.

This place was made for prolonged stays, which was not good at all.

Peter decided to take a shower because being terrified worked up more of a sweat than a good workout, and he also needed more time to just have his retainers and contacts out. His eyes were itching so badly. He locked the door, removed everything, and jumped in the shower, letting the hot water soothe his tense muscles. He opened his mouth wide to let his fangs stretch out before gargling some water.

If he closed his eyes and focused on the sound of the water, he could almost believe he was back at home, or maybe even at the locker showers in the school gym or Shield. But his other senses could still find too many differences. The soap had a weaker scent of vanilla than May always got. The rhythm of the water drops hitting the floor was offbeat. The tiles were smooth and seamless, missing the cracks and texture present in places that were truly lived in.

And when he got out of the shower, the toothpaste was peppermint. Peter didn't brush his teeth nearly as well as he should have, but he just didn't want to deal with that awful flavor right now. He'd been through enough today.

By the time he was done, Peter was feeling more and more aware of how exhausted he was. He had no idea what time it was, but it felt like he'd been awake for way too long. So, instead of spending more precious time alone, he put his veneers and contacts back in (again) and marched to his bed.

Apparently, Adrien slept across from him. The boy smiled and waved from where he was laying, reading a book. Peter returned the smile as best as he could, climbing into his own bed.

"Um, Pete," Adrien began softly. "You're not nocturnal, are you? We can totally work around your schedule if you are. Felicia already spends most of the day napping."

Peter went on his side so he could look at Adrien. "I'm a little nocturnal, I guess, but I'm used to a regular sleep cycle. Sometimes it takes longer for me to fall asleep though." That was mostly just a fair warning. As sleepy as he was, Peter had a feeling that he might not be able to sleep in this strange place with all these strangers around.

It was probably going to be a long night. But at least he had a soft bed to lay in.

"Is there anything else different about how you sleep? Like, do you prefer a web? Or do you need earplugs? Or—I don't know, anything really. I don't know a whole lot about spiders."

"A web?" Peter repeated hopefully before he could stop himself. He remembered how wonderful and safe his webs were and how perfect they would be to keep him safe here. Then he remembered how he lost his last true web. Not to mention how Amadeus would gawk at the spectacle . . . "Um—no—I don't really need anything like that."

Adrien raised a dubious eyebrow. "Are you sure? You seriously don't need to hide that sort of stuff here. I sometimes sleep as the Vulture with my head tucked under my wing. It doesn't seem comfortable to others, but when I'm in a bird mood it just works for me."

"A bird mood?" Peter asked in order to steer the conversation away from webs.

"Yeah. It's when my bird side shows more. I can always act human when I need to, but I'm also part vulture, so I need to give in to that side sometimes. It helps me feel better, more relaxed, happier." Adrien tilted his head curiously. "Do you have spider moods?"

Peter . . . did not know how to answer that. Did he have spider moods? He hadn't thought so. Since the Savage Lands, he'd just been afraid that his instincts were always a problem, but maybe that wasn't the case. He certainly didn't struggle against his instincts every hour of the day. There were only certain times here and there when he could really say he felt spidery urges, like when he did build that web with Phoebe. Or when Ava got him to hunt. Or when he'd been out in Central Park at night, surrounded by insects.

Spider moods . . . The idea was appealing. It would mean that Peter wasn't fully losing his humanity. He only had mood swings. Mood swings where he purred and hissed and curled up with Phoebe and hung upside down . . .

"You don't have to tell me if you're not ready," Adrien went on when Peter didn't say anything. "I just wanted to let you know I understand. I mean, you probably have better control of your spider moods since you go to school. I don't think I could go to regular school. I'd probably start preening my feathers during lunch or something." He chuckled good-naturedly.

It hurt to hear that Adrien didn't consider himself human enough to go to school. "Oh—uh—thank you, I appreciate you telling me that. I've never really considered my instincts to be a mood before, you know? But I'm sure you could go to school if you wanted to. You seem to have great control over everything."

Adrien shook his head. "Yeah, maybe if I really put my mind to it, I could pretend I was a normal human, but why bother? I have everything I need right here, and I can be myself at all times. I don't want to waste time acting like someone I'm not."

Talking to Adrien was like looking at the world through a funhouse mirror. His ideas overlapped with Peter's and yet were completely different. How could someone just give up on being human? But had Adrien really given up? Or had he just not given up on his bird side? "I—I don't understand. We're still people—"

"Of course we're people," Adrien agreed immediately. "I'm just saying that we're not normal people, so why try to pretend? Normal people can't fly, but I can, and let me tell you, it's the best feeling in the world. I would never give that up just so I can fit in."

Well, that did make sense. Peter would never give up web swinging. But he did still have a secret identity to keep, so maybe that was where their difference in opinion lay.

Amadeus came out of the bathroom then. Peter decided not to continue the conversation past that point, and Adrien didn't push it.

When everyone was ready and waiting in their respective beds, the lights went out. Peter blinked several times. It wasn't absolute darkness because lights behind the bathroom doors were on, but it was dark enough that it eased his headache.

"Good night!" the others chorused asynchronously. Peter joined them.

And then he laid there. Awake.

Yup, he'd suspected as much.

At least he had some time to ponder over everything that had happened today.

A long time.


Ava was exhausted, but she couldn't sleep, not yet. She finally had some time to sneak into Peter's bedroom to feed Phoebe.

She climbed in through the window (which was difficult to do when there were guards posted outside) and went to the closet. Phoebe's terrarium was in the same place it had been last time, under a thick jacket. The spider was holding an Iron Man doll as she looked up at Ava. Then she waved a small leg.

"Hi, Phoebe," Ava whispered as she set the glass tank down silently. She went back to the closet to search for the crickets. "Peter couldn't make it tonight, so he asked me to feed you."

Last time, it felt ridiculous to have a one-sided conversation with a spider. But today . . .

Ava turned her head sharply when the small light turned on. For a second she was afraid she'd been caught. Then she realized the light was just a tablet screen in the terrarium. "What's that? Did Pete give you a tablet to play games on? Typical. I just hope he kept it educational, or else he's going to get you addicted to that thing." With cricket jar in hand, she went back to the terrarium and sprinkled some in, glimpsing at the screen out of curiosity.

Phoebe was not, in fact, playing a game.

The tablet was open to a simple note taking app with the words 'where Speter?'

Ava's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Phoebe, did you write that all by yourself just now?"

Phoebe tapped at the onscreen keyboard. 'yup'

"Huh." Ava had not expected this. Why hadn't Peter told her that he had taught Phoebe how to write? It made the idea of Phoebe being intelligent a gazillion times more real. And also . . . "Okay then, this is a surprise. Congratulations on learning how to write! Quick question though, when you wrote Speter, did you mean Peter?"

This sentence was longer so Ava had to wait. 'Speter Ava Tiger friend Phoebe miss Speter'

Despite everything that had happened, Ava managed to smile and even had to hold back a laugh. Peter had neglected to divulge Phoebe's nickname for him. It was downright adorable, and Ava would tease him for it to no end. "I see. I love how you call him Speter! But, like I said, Pe—Speter is . . . busy tonight, so he won't be here."

Phoebe typed so quickly she had to erase the misspelled words multiple times. 'Speter hurt?'

"No." Technically Ava didn't know if he was hurt or not.

'Kraven hurt Speter?'

Phoebe knew about Kraven too? Peter really shouldn't have told her about that. "No, Kraven is still in jail. Or locked up, or however you know the phrase."

'Where Speter? Phoebe scared'

Ava hesitated. Last time, Peter had been safe and sound by the time she had to tell Phoebe anything. This time they knew almost nothing. And Phoebe was a child. How do you break news like this to a child? It was already hard enough dealing with her own fear and the team's fear and May's fear.

Ugh, and now this fear of telling Phoebe.

Oh, whatever. If they didn't find Pete by tomorrow (which was sadly very likely), then Ava was going to have to deal with Phoebe for a lot longer than this. She might as well say it now.

"Pete's been kidnapped. Taken. Um—We think he's okay though. It's just really hard to find him."

'Speter taken?'

"Yes. I'm sorry."

Phoebe was still for a long time. Ava stayed quiet too. What was she supposed to do now? There was no discernible body language for her to pick up on, nothing that she would understand anyway. But, as another surprise, Phoebe did do something recognizable. She ran into a tiny bed that was partially covered in leaves and webs, and which had not been there last time either. Peter was really spoiling her.

"Hey, don't worry. It's probably going to be okay. Peter's been kidnapped a bunch of times, and we've always found him." Ava removed the lid of the terrarium, brushing away some of the leaves Phoebe had hidden under. "Peter will be back, okay?"

Phoebe wrapped one of her legs around Ava's fingers. Ava cringed at the unexpected contact but didn't pull away. Maybe spiders liked contact as much as people did. Phoebe did like crawling all over Peter.

"Are you . . . Are you okay? I understand you might be scared or sad or . . . I don't know if there are any other emotions for this situation, but I know it's difficult to hear." Ava shifted from foot to foot. Phoebe's natural silence was getting very awkward. "If you have anything you need to say, you can type it. I'll stay with you for a little while."

Phoebe turned as if she was looking up at Ava. Then she let go of her hand and went back to the tablet. 'Phoebe miss Speter Phoebe feel sad Speter promise Bug Game Speter promise story Speter promise safe'

Wow, that was a lot to unpack. Peter needed to teach her more about punctuation. "I miss him too. I know he always does things with you, but all that's going to have to wait until we get him back. And you're going to stay safe, okay? This house is still super safe, and I'll come around at least once a day."

'Ava Tiger help Phoebe?'

"Yeah." Peter would kill her if she didn't. Or he would at least give her a really long speech on responsibility. "And we can even do the Bug Game if it'll make you feel better."

'yay Bug Game thanks Phoebe hungry now'

Ava blinked. Well, that was abrupt, but it was better than dealing with a depressed spider. "Okay, how many crickets does Peter usually give you now?"

'2^2'

"Oh my god, he taught you exponents and how to use them constantly. That is just like Pete." Ava went back to the close to get the chirping jar. "When Sam gets too impatient with questions, Pete starts answering any numerical questions with equations, which only makes Sam more impatient."

'Bucket Sam?' Phoebe wrote.

Ava snorted despite her covert operation. Maybe they could distract each other with idle conversation just like regular people did. "Yeah, Bucket Sam. When you're done eating, you're going to have to tell me what Peter—I'm sorry, Speter—has told you about the team."

'okay Phoebe ready Bug Game'

Working carefully, Ava managed to only let about ten crickets go, more than she had intended, but a reasonable amount. She crouched down to the floor as Phoebe crawled out of her terrarium.

Ava had felt like she'd been hunting since they found out Peter was missing. Patrolling the streets earlier had done almost nothing to relieve the restless feeling of a failed hunt, but this . . . They might only be crickets, but this was her job, her responsibility in Peter's absence.

This was something she could do. She knew it. And the certainty brought her some level of comfort.


Peter's prediction had been right. He couldn't sleep.

He couldn't blame himself. There was still the threat of Taskmaster or Black Cat sneaking into the room. Or Amadeus getting up in the middle of the night with more questions. And it wasn't just those hypotheticals that were keeping him awake. The sounds of other, unfamiliar people in the room were bothering him. Every breath was a reminder that he was surrounded by people who weren't his team, and he'd never been so aware of that in his entire life. He could walk through the streets and go to school, hearing all the different rhythms of breath and movement, but it never seemed so terrifying as it did now.

Peter sat in the dark, eyes open and beginning to itch from dryness. He was curled up in one corner of the bunk.

Hours had passed since the lights went out. It had to have been hours. A billion terrible thoughts had crossed Peter's mind. He must have been thinking for hours to go through all these terrible scenarios.

What if he couldn't get out of here? What if it took days, weeks, months, years? What if Taskmaster eventually was able to kidnap May in order to get Peter to do what he wanted? What if something else bad happened to her while he was gone? What if Phoebe was found? What if Phoebe starved? What if another world-threatening event happened and the team was terribly hurt? What if they died? What if Harry finally left school to take over the company? What if MJ moved on and forgot about Peter? What if Peter never got to see anyone he cared about ever again?

It was ridiculous. Every single one of those thoughts was completely absurd.

And yet he couldn't think of anything else.

He couldn't take it anymore. It was too much, and he could do too little.

He couldn't do anything at all.

He couldn't even sleep.

But Peter did want to sleep now. He didn't care if something bad happened. Taskmaster had the upper hand regardless. Peter just needed to sleep so his brain could stop going in these sad and terrifying and dizzying circles!

So how was he going to fall asleep?

Safe. Safety. He needed safety. That's the only other thought that could cut through all the others. His spider sense was telling him to be safe.

It always said that. Even when all the rest of Peter's self-preservation went out the window, his spider sense had his back.

It knew what to do.

Under normal circumstances, Peter would have shoved down the obviously spidery thoughts his spider sense was encouraging, but this was nowhere close to normal.

Besides, maybe Adrien was right. Maybe this was only a spider mood. Maybe these thoughts could naturally come and go just like any other mood.

Finally, some vaguely hopeful thoughts. Peter took several deep breaths before shooting out his first strands of silk.

If he could make a web here, even a simple one, then everything would be so much better. Peter would be able to sense anyone trying to grab him, and he could even use it as a makeshift trap. It would be the one thing he could be in control of here. A web was perfect for this one, specific, unique situation.

Interestingly, the act of making a web was calming in and of itself. Peter focused on the weaving, placing every anchoring strand in a strategic location. One on the exit, one near every occupied bed, a few on the floor.

His right spinneret still hurt, more so now that he was really using it. But this was good. This was safe. This was right.

Perhaps Peter made his web a little larger than intended. That was fine. Better even. It was more secure than anything else he'd ever made.

Peter settled in the center when he was done. The different threads vibrated ever so gently with the fluctuations in the air, caused by so many people breathing and the small air vent he hadn't noticed near the ceiling. But now all those noises were okay, because Peter could feel them and accept them. He could sleep now. He could sleep until one of those vibrations changed. Then he would know exactly what was going on.

All his anxiety drained away as he fell asleep almost immediately.


Felicia kicked her feet up on Anthony's desk, sighing as if this cheap chair was the most luxuriously comfortable throne in the world.

Anthony's lips twitched downward, the only sign that he was annoyed by her shenanigans. Felicia didn't care how minimally a man reacted so long as she could get such reactions on demand.

"What do you think of those two?" Anthony asked, all business right from the beginning. Felicia respected that as much as she hated it.

"The nerdy one has too much of a temper if you ask me, but the spider? He's a cutie."

"This isn't the Bachelorette. You know what I'm looking for."

Felicia rolled her eyes. "Oh please, what do you take me for? They're minors. I'm just stating a few obvious facts."

"Which makes those facts irrelevant in this conversation." Anthony typed away at his computer, likely updating the files he had on everyone. "Amadeus seems to trust this operation with little doubt, though I'm aware we can never trust him fully. He's too narcissistic to depend upon."

"That's an understatement. Did you see him during trivia? It was as if he's never played a game by someone else's rules before! I don't see him being much of a field guy anyway. You better just let him play around with tech down here."

"I agree." He paused to type some more. "And Peter . . . How well do you think he manages his instincts?"

Not for the first time, Felicia wished these were swivel chairs. Squeaky swivel chairs. Anything to punctuate the humdrum way Anthony went about his supposedly exciting business. "The poor boy was extremely uptight. I bet you he's so used to hiding his abilities at school that he's never really had some fun with them."

"Did you watch the video of our interactions in this office?"

"Yes. His little hissy fit was adorable. He's like a kitten." The idea of kittens reminded her of the other, younger women in the 'study' she had been a part of. The ones who had been so scared they leaned too much on instincts they didn't understand. The ones who hissed and scratched but never got to purr. The memory was sad, so Felicia smiled toothily instead. "Can we keep him? Can I put a little bell collar around his precious neck?"

"Focus Felicia. What did you gather from the way he ate those insects?"

Another attempt at humor ruined. Tragic. "He wasn't kidding. He enjoys them immensely. I'm sure you saw his hesitation though. Like I said, the poor boy has probably only been repressing everything."

"What about his anger? He hides it, but I saw how he looked at Amadeus."

Felicia's smile morphed into a sneer. "I think we all wanted to punch Amadeus tonight. That kid is a regular Dr. Frankenstein."

"Do you think we can harness that in battle? I don't think he'll begin training willingly, but if we arrange for his first fight to be against Amadeus, things will go much faster."

"Are you sure battle is the best thing for Peter? He told you he's a scaredy cat. His instincts may not allow for it."

"Or they might enhance his fighting style. If Spider-Man is capable of it, then Peter must be too. Not all spiders sit and wait for their meals, after all. There are others that actively seek prey."

"I think Peter would be far better suited to assist me in my thefts. Imagine all the new places we can steal from with a kid who can walk on ceilings!"

Anthony finally looked at her. "Are you actually trying to keep Peter for yourself?"

Putting a hand to her chest in mock offense, Felicia scoffed. "Of course not! I'm only trying to optimize our team. Peter is obviously not suited for fighting."

"It's not so obvious. You didn't see how he tried to evade me at the school. There's something tactical and precise about how he handles danger. I believe there's a chance his instincts can make him an excellent fighter. The eventual goal would be an assassin, but that will take more time. We'll start with testing his abilities tomorrow. Then we'll know for sure."

Felicia's nails dug into her chair as she forced another smile on her face. "Anthony, darling, look at you, acting like a scientist! But I thought we had an agreement: No experimenting on anyone we take in."

"I'm not experimenting. You said it yourself. We need to optimize our team. To do that, we need to understand where they fit best, and we won't know that until we assess their aptitudes."

They stared at each other for a long moment. It was a contest. Felicia knew she was being played, had known it from the start. Anthony insisted he was a straightforward man, but it was statements like this which made it clear he had hidden depths. Hidden agendas. It would please Felicia to no end to turn on him and watch his tedious plans fall apart.

And yet she blinked, nodded, and was the first to look away.

It went against everything in Felicia to submit like this, but she knew she had to bide her time. Once she understood what was really going on here, she could turn the tables, take control.

Felicia liked to be in control. She never wanted to be used again.

Unfortunately, there were children involved. Again. And Felicia didn't want them to be used either. She hadn't been able to save the girls from those scientists, from those men. But she could protect these kids.

Well, maybe she wouldn't save Amadeus. He seemed all too likely to grow up to be like all those other scientists.

So she would save the rest of the kids; she wouldn't use them for her own agendas. She would take everything else Anthony had, every last dime and piece of property, but she would leave the children to their own devices.

Unless the spider did want to join her . . . She wouldn't say no to such an adorable little apprentice.

Felicia stretched out purposefully, wishing she had a tail to drape over the keyboard. Stealing things was her favorite hobby, including stealing people's attention, but she would have to make do with material possessions tonight.

"Are we done here, Anthony?"

"Yes. Off to bed?"

"Of course not!" Felicia laughed daintily as she stood. "Don't you know me at all? I'm off to go get us an easy million."

"I thought you would lay low for a little while." It was more of an order than a suggestion, but Felicia would only accept it as the latter.

"I would if I could, but it's going to cost thousands to feed this group, and I bet you already have plans to expand the gym."

Anthony begrudgingly inclined his head. "I suppose you're right. Go on."

Felicia was out the door before he even finished giving his permission.


Fun Facts:

- I can't remember if I ever mentioned how attuned to vibrations spiders are. Their hearing isn't great, neither is their eyesight, smell is mostly for mating, and taste . . . I don't know if anyone has ever studied their taste buds, but it's their sense of touch that's off the walls. That's why Peter feels safest when he's in a web that lets him feel extra vibrations.

- It's scientifically proven that most people don't sleep as well in a new place because they can notice all the ways it's different than their usual bedroom. So they sleep for less time and less effectively. Peter, with heightened senses, is feeling this ten times over.

- Have you ever noticed how conniving cats are? I can't find any scientific proof of that, but it's definitely true.

- Oh wait, there is scientific proof. Their meows evolved to reach a similar pitch to a human baby's cry, evoking a similar emotion of worry from any adult human in hearing range. Their meows are literally tailored to make us pay attention to them.