Chapter 43: Time to Tell
I am so sorry I've kept you all on a cliffhanger for so long. I can blame life and finals and all sorts of things, and I shall blame those things. But on the bright side I've been through enough personal drama to decide where to take the ending.
Also, I need to stop reading and watching earth-shattering and mindboggling stories. A quarter of the trauma is my own fault.
Guest: First, thank you! That's one the best things an author can hear! Second,aw man! Just when I think I've got it, there's something else I got wrong. Thanks for the correction though. I'm sure I'll fine some other opportunity to blame a character and fix the information.
Fan: Venom is saved for the sequel :)
Ava rushed to get dressed in her suit and leave the Med Bay. Having a seizure was not fun, and having doctors fuss over you was even less fun, but now she was cleared to go, and she had to go now.
They finally had some more info on Peter. They didn't know where he was, but they did know where he'd been and what he'd been through.
Ava had tried not to think about the latter too much the past few days, but she had considered a few possibilities. Taskmaster could have had Peter locked in a room. Or bound to a wall. Or he could have forced Peter to train to be an assassin. Or he could have been torturing Peter, breaking him so he would be nothing more than an empty shell.
All of that was pure conjecture though. Ava didn't know anyone who'd been kidnapped by Taskmaster. That was the problem. Whenever he dealt with Shield agents, the agent usually didn't live to tell the tale.
This was different though. Taskmaster was recruiting teenagers, they were meant to be kept alive, and one of them was already safe. Amadeus had told Fury everything he knew. Ava had not been so lucky as to hear it the first time around. That's why she had to go to the meeting with May, Fury, and the guys. The guys had had the chance to hear it all while Ava had been asleep, but they chose to wait until they were all together. Which was sweet, Ava supposed. Although it did make her feel like she was the one late for the party, which wasn't a good feeling.
Who was she kidding? None of this was good. Things had looked terrible from the start. What was one more bad feeling?
Ava stopped at the door to her destination, taking a few deep breaths. Being anxious wasn't going to help. She needed a clear, calm mind to take in the information and use it fully.
Oh well, it was a good thing that a written report of Amadeus's story would be available afterwards. Ava always did retain more from reading.
She entered, immediately noticing that she wasn't the only anxious person in the room. Everyone was at least a little on edge, even Danny, even Fury. Then again, Fury usually had some level of fear underneath his cool and collected exterior. Danny had once said that's what made Fury so good. No matter how terrifying a situation was, Fury could remain level-headed about it and plan without hindrance.
Ava sighed. She wanted that. She wanted to be a perfect agent too, ready for anything. She wasn't yet, but she wanted to be so badly.
May was the exact opposite of Fury, wearing her emotions on her sleeve. Her eyes would have been on the brink of tears had it not looked like she cried them all already. She offered Ava a small smile that was probably meant to be reassuring. Ava tried to give one back.
The boys sat between the two, looking braced for the worst. Had they learned anything during the time Ava was unconscious? Did they already know everything.
Ugh, talk about FOMO.
Ava took the remaining free seat next to Luke, opposite Danny and Sam. They exchanged a couple pleasantries about how nice it was to see Ava make such a quick recovery, which was odd. Why wasn't Fury getting down to business right away like he usually did?
She cleared her throat awkwardly. "You know I'm fine. We can cut straight to the chase."
"We're waiting on Amadeus," Fury said as he glanced at his watch. "Which is why you must keep your masks on. Cho is aware that you all know Parker, but he doesn't know that you're all students at Midtown."
Wait, what? So that's why he requested that they all come in costume? Ava hadn't really taken the time to question that. And why was Amadeus going to tell them himself? Why wasn't Fury simply relaying the facts?
"Is Amadeus okay with reliving the memories again so soon?" Mrs. Parker asked, voicing Ava's worry.
"Oh yeah, he'll be fine," Sam assured them with a roll of his eyes.
"And you know Parker better than I do," Fury added. "I need to extrapolate as much information as possible. So if anything seems off, don't hesitate to ask questions."
That was . . . interesting . . . Maybe if Ava hadn't been in such a rush, she would have predicted this, but this all felt so sudden. Those hours spent recovering felt like lost time.
Sure enough, Amadeus walked in very calmly several minutes later. "Sorry I'm late," he said. "I had some extra questions for the doctor regarding my injury, but he said I'll make a full recovery."
Ava looked him over in search of that injury. His hand was the only thing with bandages. He must have tried to punch someone much too powerful. Typical male injury.
Fury stood and motioned for Amadeus to sit beside him. "Cho, this is May Parker, Parker's aunt and legal guardian. Mrs. Parker, this is Amadeus Cho. I'm sure you recall he was taken along with Parker."
Mrs. Parker nodded. "I'm sorry you had to go through all that, Amadeus, but I'm glad you can shed some light on my nephew whereabouts."
Amadeus nodded as well. "It's the least I can do. I'm sorry we lost track of Peter."
The guys' eyes were mostly hidden, but Ava was sure they were glaring at Amadeus. Why were they upset at him?
"And I'm sure you've met the heroes here," Fury continued.
"Most of them, yes, but White Tiger was unconscious by the time we had a chance to talk," Amadeus said.
"Right, nice to meet you," Ava said, just barely catching Luke mumble 'lucky'. Okay, so the boys were definitely upset at Amadeus, but why?
"Cho is aware of Peter's superhero identity—" Fury tried to continue, but was cut off by gasps and exclamations of shock.
"You neglected to tell us before!" Danny said.
"Why didn't you warn us?!" Sam accused.
"Does Taskmaster know?" Luke demanded.
Amadeus responded calmly. "I didn't say anything earlier because I didn't know if any of you also knew his identity. It shouldn't be so shocking since I probably could have figured it out on my own, although I admit that Peter did tell me himself. And no, Taskmaster seems to be unaware of this information. May I continue?"
Ava nodded slowly with the others. Five seconds in and they were already surprised. What else were they about to learn?
So Amadeus told his story, and it started off great. Ava felt extremely relieved when he confirmed that Peter had made up a lie good enough to make Taskmaster believe it. It was actually downright epic. Shield agents would be talking about this for years to come!
It was even funnier since Peter got to safely eat dinner with Taskmaster afterwards. Ava was personally glad that Peter had gotten some much needed insects to eat. Maybe Peter actually had an okay time there. That would be good. Here Ava had been worried that Peter was suffering, and he hadn't. Maybe sometimes his 'Parker Luck' was good.
Then Amadeus started telling them about the next morning and how Peter had awoken . . . feral?
That was . . . no, Peter never would have . . . but the wound was there for everyone to see . . . what . . . why . . .
Everyone interrupted at that point.
"What do you mean, 'feral'?" was the general gist of their overlapping questions.
"I mean that Peter woke up disoriented and resorted to an animalistic state of mind, attacking whoever came near him," Amadeus clarified as if he were reading from a dictionary. "I assumed this might be a common occurrence?
"Peter doesn't do that," May said firmly. "He may get frightened, but he doesn't lose his mind."
"I would postulate that acting based on instincts is merely a switching of mental states rather than losing your mind, but yes, he did. You can't refute that, and I would honestly be surprised if he's never gone feral before."
Ava wanted to say that he hadn't, but the truth was that Peter had gone completely feral in the Savage Lands. Not that it was Peter's fault; the poison did that. But Peter had mentioned something about that, about fearing that the poison had only released a part of him that was already there . . . Was this what he had meant? Had he known that it could happen again even without the poison? Had he known deep down that he was capable of hurting an innocent person for no reason?
Ava hadn't believed it at the time. None of them did. It just seemed so impossible.
And yet . . .
"Did—did Peter get better?" May asked. "Did anyone help him?"
Ava clenched her fists. She didn't like Mrs. Parker's wording, but she couldn't think of anything else. Because if Peter really could go savage on his own, then that sort of was a problem that he would need help with. But it wasn't an illness to get better from either.
She turned to Fury, hoping he would say something to defend his top teenage agent, but his brow was only creased in thought. Of course he was entertaining the notion of Peter going feral. Fury never let a potential danger slip past him.
"That's when the other problem started," Amadeus answered May's question. "Tandy has powers that allow her to block all negative emotions. When she used her powers on Peter, he became very happy and was able to channel his instincts into less harmful practices."
There were different reactions to this. The team asked "He felt no negative emotions at all?!" while Mrs. Parker asked "Channel his instincts? What are you talking about?" and Fury said "You call what he did later less harmful?"
Amadeus looked at them all shrewdly. "I'm going to go in order here. Yes to the team. Absolutely all negative emotions were blocked, including at a minimum anger, fear, and worry. I can't tell if Mrs. Parker's question is merely rhetorical. And yes, Director Fury, I do consider it less harmful because no other people were harmed, and millions of livestock are killed every day regardless."
The team and May began to ask about what livestock had to do with this.
"I can tell you some things, but I only witnessed the aftermath of that particular occurrence." Amadeus told them about how Peter went on some unknown excursion with Adrien and returned proudly with a web sac after a presumable hunt of some sort, and then proceeded to drink his liquified meal in his web like . . . like a spider.
Ava couldn't believe it. After all the reluctance Peter showed when Phoebe asked him to try a live cricket, he killed a chicken the moment Adrien asked him to? Had they forced him to? Was it Tandy's influence? Or did he just do it to keep up his lies to Taskmaster?
Honestly, having the opportunity, Ava would have hunted too . . .
"Peter killed an animal?" Mrs. Parker asked weakly, face pale.
"Yes, a chicken, if I heard him correctly."
Mrs. Parker began shaking her head. "No, that's not—Peter wouldn't have done that. Peter doesn't kill things! What did they do to him?!"
Amadeus shrugged. "Like I said, I didn't witness the event itself, so they could have done all sorts of things to him. However, Adrien and Tandy both praised Peter for his success, so it seems likely that Peter at least thought the action was his own."
And it likely was his own, Ava realized. He did need to consciously decide to use venom. And aside from a handful of mentions, he hadn't really spoken to anyone about his hunting instincts. All he had said was that he was scared of them. For all they knew, he was only afraid because he did want to hunt. It was entirely possible that he had used this excuse to do what he'd previously been afraid to do.
It was difficult to say, knowing that Peter was an excellent liar and actor, but also had every right to do these things.
"What else did they do to him?" May asked.
"Not much else. The next day went rather normally, all things considered, until my plan went into motion. I had made a device to mimic Ty and Tandy's powers, and I used it to remove Tandy's effect on Peter. After a moment to adjust to his full range of emotions again, and after Deadpool appeared and put a wrench in my plans, Peter told me he was Spider-Man." Amadeus tilted his head thoughtfully. "Judging from his actions, I think he was only using the information to try to win a domination contest with me or something."
Luke raised an eyebrow. "Just because he tells you his secret identity doesn't mean—"
"Peter also bared his fangs at me and never blinked when we made eye contact," Amadeus cut him off. "Very classic traits of a pack leader, which isn't common for spiders, but he must have assumed the role after leading this team."
Ava exhaled sharply in disbelief. "Peter may be team leader, but he has never shown any signs of being some sort of alpha."
Amadeus turned to her. "Is he protective? Does he get upset when someone ignores his orders?"
"That's just what a good leader does, right Fury?" Sam said.
Fury eyed them all. "Nova has a point. Is there anything else, Cho?"
"That's about it. The—uh—the ceiling came down about that time."
Fury nodded. "Thank you for your time, Cho. The agent outside will direct you to your temporary quarters."
Ava wanted to stop Amadeus, to corner him and demand even more details, but she didn't know what else to ask. And Amadeus hadn't even seen the hunt, which was the crucial part. Had Peter truly hunted it, Ava wanted to know. Did he chase after it? Or build another web? Or ambushed it? He must have used his venom, but had he done anything else? Ava could just imagine how satisfying it would feel to have your prey go limp in your jaws—
Her cheeks burned bright red when she realized where her thoughts were heading, but thankfully she was still wearing her mask.
A few moments after Amadeus was out the door, Mrs. Parker took a deep, shuddering breath. "What did they do to Peter?" she muttered. "What did they do to my baby boy?"
"Tandy's influence could potentially be at fault for all of his behavior," Fury said. "Or it could have nothing to do with it. Do the rest of you have any insights into this?" he addressed the team.
Ava blanched. She looked at her teammates, waiting for some gestures of 'yes' or 'no'. She didn't want to be the one to oust Peter's secrets yet again.
Plus, she kept thinking about that nightmare she had a few weeks back, the one where Fury wanted to lock up her and Peter for being too dangerous. She didn't want to say something that would make the nightmare bleed into reality.
"I'll be more specific," Fury tried again when there was only silence. "Has Parker mentioned any new instincts, particularly since the Savage Lands incident?"
Ava bit her lip. This was the first time she wanted to withhold information from the Director, and a part of her kept shouting 'traitor' for it.
"Well," Danny answered carefully. "Peter confessed his fear of such a thing happening."
Okay, that was pretty safe to say.
"A fear? So Peter felt that it was possible he might end up in some feral state again?"
Wait, no, that's—well, that was true, but it sounded bad. And it was still too new and surprising. Ava had been so busy trying to help Peter feel better that she never stopped to consider that he could be right. His thoughts had seemed so driven by anxiety and paranoia that they couldn't be real. But Peter's behavior lately was in favor of his instincts being able to take over on occasion.
On very rare occasions.
"I think it was a 'if it happened once, it can happen again' sort of situation," Luke said in Peter's defence. "You know how paranoid he can be. And besides, Pete had told Taskmaster that story about him being more spidery than Spider-Man. What if everything was just part of the act?"
"So Parker willingly chose to bite Amadeus?" Fury said dubiously.
Luke grimaced. "Um . . . maybe . . .?"
Fury scrutinized each of them even though he could only see partial faces. Then he sighed. "I understand that teams can invoke a sense of confidentiality, but any information at all would be useful right now. I hope you know that I will of course wait for Parker's view of events before making any conclusions. I've dealt with far too many 'he said, she said' scenarios to think that one person can have all the answers."
Ava held back her sigh of relief. She wanted to give Fury a full report just like she always did, but she had spent the past month scared that she didn't understand Peter at all. She couldn't possibly give such subpar info.
"Well," Mrs. Parker said quietly. "There were a couple times when Peter told me he was afraid that he had some instincts like hunting instincts. Do you think . . . could the poison have . . . it already had other lasting effects . . ."
Ava made sure she didn't facepalm. So Peter had tried to explain his situation to May, but she also had her own opinions, just like Peter had feared. The team knew that for a fact now.
And they would have to tell Peter when he got back, didn't they? They had to, though Ava had no idea how to tell Peter that his aunt honestly resented his spider side.
"I see," Fury said. "Did he give any specifics?"
"No, I told him not to worry about it, that he would never—" Mrs. Parker held back a sob. "My boy doesn't kill things!" she said again.
"I mean, it was just a chicken," Sam said.
Mrs. Parker turned to him, face aghast. "That's not the point, Sam! Peter liquified an animal and ate it! That's not like him at all!"
Sam's aura fluctuated as he shrank into his chair.
Fury set his mouth in a grim line. "Alright, I think that's enough for today. If any of you have anything else to say, we can talk privately."
They all offered some reassurances to May that they would really find Peter this time, but the words felt hollow, at least for Ava. Because they had absolutely no leads, and Amadeus wasn't there to hack through the signal scrambler.
Not to mention that though Peter would undoubtedly be ecstatic to be home, he was going to have to deal with whatever his aunt and Fury thought of him.
Ava went to lead the way out, subtly gesturing for the guys to follow her, but Sam hurried past her, subtly gesturing for them all to follow him. They ended up at his bedroom, which made Ava want to keep her mask on in an attempt to block out the stench, but the others were already taking theirs off.
"I think I figured it out!" Sam declared the moment the door was closed.
The others blinked at him. "Figured what out?" Ava asked.
"What happened to Pete!"
Some glances were exchanged.
"That's what Amadeus just explained to us," Luke pointed out.
"I mean I figured out why Pete did those things! Amadeus said Tandy's powers are to block all negative emotions, which means that Pete was sort of forced to be happy, or at least not mad. And then he started doing all that spidery stuff that he normally doesn't do! It's exactly the same!"
They waited a moment for Sam to elaborate, but he just stood there triumphantly. "The same as what?" Danny was forced to ask.
"The Purr-fume! Don't you remember? When I gave Pete my sweater drenched in the stuff?"
Luke frowned. "But that only made him, like, mellow or however he said it."
"Exactly! He was mellow and calm when he should have been angry at me! He wasn't able to be angry at me no matter what I did that day." Sam looked at them expectantly, waiting for the epiphany to hit them too.
Ava thought she was beginning to see the resemblance. "So your Purr-fume basically stopped him from being angry, and because he was calm he probably wasn't feeling other negative emotions . . . Okay, so it was similar, but then the only thing that happened was—"
"He purred for the first time, his spider sense wasn't working, he was eating silk when I went to see him, and he used way too much strength when we were fighting!" Sam explained excitedly. "It's the same!"
The room was quiet as this was thought through. Ava wouldn't say the two situations were identical, but there were some correlations. Peter didn't feel bad, followed by him doing extra spidery things, and even unintentionally hurting someone.
"You may be right, Sam," Ava said slowly. "It all fits."
"But there is one problem," Danny said. "According to Amadeus, Tandy only began to use her powers on Peter after the first day, after he bit Amadeus."
"Can we really trust Amadeus, though?" Luke asked. "He wasn't with Pete the entire time, plus he's withheld info before."
"When?" Ava demanded.
"I'll explain later."
"Okay, so do you all agree with me, then?" Sam asked. "Do you agree that this wasn't Peter's fault at all?" The team nodded and Sam smiled. "Then we have proof that Peter didn't just go savage on his own."
Ava tilted her hand in a so-so gesture. "It's not proof until we can actually prove it to Fury and Dr. Connors. Danny, would you be able to make another batch of the Purr-fume?"
"I can. But would it need to be administered to Peter again?"
"I don't know. Maybe. I know we promised never to make it again, but if Fury or Mrs. Parker have any worries about Peter's spider side, this should be able to convince them that he's fine."
Sam continued grinning about his cunning. "Pete is going to kill me for this! Alright, I'm taking my nap now so I don't knock over this batch of the stuff."
Peter didn't want to wake up. Every inch of him was throbbing in pain in time with his heartbeat. He could feel it all even through the haze of sleep. He didn't want to wake up. And yet he was waking up anyway no matter how hard he tried to hold onto sleep.
As he woke up, he began to notice some odd things beyond the pain. There was a strange but somewhat familiar scent in the air, something he had smelled before but never so intensely. There were sounds too. Someone was talking in hushed whispers, and there were some noises of vibrations and high-pitched whines. Were they mechanical? And aside from pain, there were patches of warmth along his body. Wait, that usually wasn't good. Warm patches could mean pools of blood. Was he bleeding? Why? What happened? He couldn't remember. He couldn't—
Peter braced against any brightness and forced his eyes open. It wasn't as bright as expected. In fact, it was quite dim. Certainly not bright enough to be anywhere in the Helicarrier. It actually looked like some sort of apartment, but not one he knew. Okay, that was bad. Time to assess his wounds so he could get out of here. He looked down at his body.
Mounds of various colored fur were on him. One shifted and two glowing eyes appeared and Peter's brain was too sluggish to realize what it was, so he screamed in surprise and hissed at the mounds. The mounds jumped away from him and . . . hissed back? Peter blinked slowly at them, trying to comprehend what he was seeing.
"He's awake!" someone squealed before they were shushed and possibly smacked. Peter tried to sit up and look around, but he was so sore and dizzy too. The world spun as soon as his head was upright. He slumped back to regain his bearings.
People finally walked into view: Felicia and Deadpool. Peter redoubled his efforts to get up, but standing was even worse. He began to fall over. He stuck to the cushions he'd been on, but the cushions weren't stuck to the rest of the sofa, so he fell with the pillows landing on top of him. He groaned. Even such a small fall caused the pain to sharpen.
"Hey, you alright?" Felicia's voice was softer than usual.
"I feel like I was crushed by a steamroller," Peter replied, voice muffled by the pillow on his face. "Where am I? Why am I here?"
"Sorry, Kitten, that's what a collapsed ceiling will do to you." She lifted the pillows off him. Even her face looked kinder than Peter had ever seen it.
"Yeah, you've dealt with them before," Deadpool added. "Or at least another version of you did. Plus you didn't get your skull crushed which is totes awesome. Regrowing your head causes a nasty headache on top of everything else."
"Right, I'm sure that's awful." Peter allowed himself to be pulled into a sitting position with his back against the bottom of the couch. He may not have gotten his skull crushed, but he most definitely had a concussion if the occasional spin of the room was anything to go by.
"You have more than a few fractured bones," Felicia told him. "None broke completely though."
"Yay . . ." Peter said blearily. He took another look at the mounds of hair and realized that they were cats. Many cats. Dozens of cats. "Am I seeing doubles and quadruples, or are there a bunch of cats in here?"
Felicia smiled wide. "These are my precious babies that I've rescued from the streets. I can introduce you to everyone."
Peter frowned, blinking sluggishly at the windows. "Wait, I have some questions first. We're not underground anymore . . ."
"Nope, I saved you!" Deadpool said as he posed heroically. "No need to thank me. Carrying you across town was thanks enough."
"We're in my apartment," Felicia said. "We'll have a conversation about that once you're a bit more awake. For now, let's start with Moe." She grabbed a large orange tabby and placed it on Peter's lap. The cat instantly melted against him, rubbing its head anywhere it could reach. "Moe is the sweetest, most nicest kitty you will ever meet. Isn't that right, my little Moe-Moe?"
Moe let out a tiny meow in contrast to his size.
"And this is Mr. T." Felicia carried another cat over to him, this one a brownish gray tabby and thinner. "He is also the sweetest most nicest kitty in the world. He and Moe are tied for that honor, and both are too nice to try to beat the other."
Peter couldn't help it, he had to giggle at that. And the wet nose sniffing his hand also tickled as Mr. T asked to be pet.
From there he met Shadow, a mysterious gray tabby that looked incredibly intimidating; Butter, a creamsicle sweetie pie who liked to climb and then stay stuck up high for hours; Twix, Butter's calico sister that also climbed but came down faster for food; Mr. and Mrs. Puss, who were the proud parents of most of the other adult cats here; Duplo, Mrs. Puss's evil twin sister; Ninja, a mass of nearly pitch black darkness; Cow, a black and white cat with a coat that resembled her namesake; Sox, a classic cat with socks; and Sundae and Gravy, the mothers of the kittens.
The kittens were without a doubt Peter's favorites.
Peter held newborn kittens for the first time. Ronald and Ginny were twin orange tabbies that could fit in the palm of his hand. He had never held something so delicate yet so alive before. It made him very conscious of his strength. He didn't even try to close his fingers around them, content to let them sit in his open palm, occasionally using some of his stickiness when they tried to crawl off.
Little Luke T was their gray brother, who for some reason was walking way too much for a kitten only a couple weeks old. Within a few minutes of Peter being distracted by his siblings, Little Luke T almost succeeded in following his mother across the room.
Winken and Blinken were the last two in Little Luke T's batch. Winken had an eye infection that put her in a perpetual state of winking until the treatment worked. Both of Blinken's eyes worked, and she watched as Felicia showed Peter how to administer eyedrops to a kitten.
Then Peter was surprised by another batch of kittens! These were a month older than the others. Swirly Jr. had a literal gray swirl right on either side of his chubby little stomach. Peter traced the pattern, marveling at how soft the fur was. Ocean Eyes was a simple calico in coloring, but what set her apart were her humongous eyes. They looked as exaggerated as manga cat eyes, and they were so blue. Peter would have stared into her eyes for hours if tiny little Meowsie hadn't stolen his attention. Meowsie was the runt, an orange puff ball half the size of the other kittens, closer to the size of a mouse. Even his meows were tiny, and Peter decided he would do anything for Meowsie in that moment.
Throughout the mass of introductions, Peter gradually began to feel a little better. The room spun a little less, the pain hurt a little less, there was a little less fog in his brain.
So by the time the last kitten was on his lap he felt a lot more aware of the situation and how potentially disastrous it was.
He continued to pet the cats that were near him as he mentally took note of the exits. There were several windows he could smash through, plus apartments normally had entrances near the kitchen, and Deadpool had made the kitchen's location known when he retrieved a gigantic bowl of chips.
Peter ate most of the chips. He couldn't help it. He needed the calories to heal!
So now he had some food in his stomach and some escape routes. But he also still had major bruising and soreness and fractured bones and a very puzzling situation.
Back in the workshop, Deadpool had said Felicia was betraying Taskmaster. Or had betrayed. The fight must have been hours ago. The team must have—
His team. He had missed them. He had waited all those days for them, they came, and he missed them. It wasn't fair! Why did he end up with these weirdos when he could have been safe with his aunt and weirdo friends by now?!
No, he couldn't focus on that, he couldn't cry. Crying wasn't going to help because he probably wouldn't be able to stop once he started. Asking questions was going to help because even if Felicia didn't want to answer, nobody could keep Deadpool quiet.
"Okay," Peter said, finally ready to figure out whatever was going on. "What do you two want from me?"
Deadpool's lenses grew wide. "Oh how kind of you to ask! I would personally say—" Felicia elbowed him in the stomach. Hard. "—that this is entirely Felicia's plot and I am only the beauty and brawn of this operation," he finished, wheezing.
Huh, apparently there was one person who could keep Deadpool quiet.
"The extra beauty and brawn," Felicia corrected. "But close enough." She knelt beside Peter again. He would have liked to move away, but there were too many cats on his lap. "First, I want you to know that I never really wanted to work with Anthony. I only did it because he saved me from the people who made me this way, and he got some leverage against me along the way. I was going to leave him, but when he started talking about taking in teenagers and children . . . I decided to stay to see what was going on." Mr. T rubbed against her side, and she pulled him onto her lap. "I didn't trust him with kids, and I was right. He wanted to turn you all into an army."
"Well, thanks," Peter said. "That's very brave and kind of you. And I should thank you for getting me out of the rubble."
Felicia grinned. "I do like a boy who compliments me for more than my looks. To further brag, Anthony has likely already requested money from some of his offshore accounts to build a new hideout, and he's going to find exactly six dollars and sixty-six cents in each."
Peter grinned. "Okay, that's awesome."
"I am awesome, aren't I?" Felicia pet Mr. T a couple times before looking back at Peter very seriously. "Also, I know you're Spider-Man."
Peter gasped and nearly choked on the gasp. "What?! How?! I'm—I mean—I'm not—"
Felicia smirked. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me . . . for a price."
Peter groaned and turned to Deadpool. "This is your fault, isn't it? You big blabbermouth!"
Deadpool gasped in mock offense. "How dare you? I'll have you know that I never told Felicia anything! I'm actually very good at keeping secrets. You know how three can keep a secret when two are dead? Well the two boxes are only in my head, and I can die anytime I want, so all three of us can be dead which makes me the ultimate secret keeper!"
"He's actually right about the first thing," Felicia agreed. "He didn't tell me. I deduced it from a little slip up your team made. They used robots to take your place, and one exploded."
"Oh no, does Taskmaster—"
"Anthony knows that the first Spidey on the scene was a robot, but he doesn't know that the replacement was also a robot." She examined her nails. "He didn't ask, and I wasn't gonna tell him."
"Are you absolutely sure he doesn't know? My life and my aunt's life literally depend on this."
Felicia's smile became softer again. "I'm sure, Spider."
Sighing in relief, Peter obliged Moe's request to be pet again. "Okay, thank you," he said much more genuinely.
"So I went through the trouble to keep your secret, which is why I would like a little favor in return," Felicia brought that topic back up.
"Okay . . . like what?" Peter was willing to give a lot for his aunt's safety, but there was always something that would be too much. If Felicia asked him to help her steal or get revenge on someone or betray Shield . . . Peter wasn't sure if he would do those things.
"Relax, all I ask is that you don't tell Shield where I live, and maybe to help throw them off my trail if they get too close. I like to live a very independent life, and Shield would just get in my way, you know?"
Peter narrowed his eyes. "That's all?"
"Sure. I mean, maybe I'll also want to hang out with you from time to time. Us experiments need to stick together." Felicia winked.
Blushing, Peter briefly debated if he should let her believe that, or if he should be honest. He decided he didn't want Felicia's kindness to be built on lies. "I was never experimented on, actually. Or at least, not when I got my powers. Doctor Octopus likes to experiment on me, but getting my powers was just an accident."
"Well aren't you a lucky boy? I'm glad you didn't have to suffer, at least not at the beginning. But I know for a fact that you still have the whole half-animal thing to deal with."
He couldn't dispute that, unfortunately. "Yeah, I guess."
Deadpool raised his hand in the air and started to squirm where he was sitting. Felicia sighed and indicated he could speak. "Can we make like a mutant club?! We can be 'The Various XY Combinations of Semi-Humans' because honestly, did Prof X never notice that people with only X chromosomes are born female? And yet they're called the X-Men. Unless the X part is for the women but then it would be Women-Men which makes them all sound bi and doesn't truly convey the diversity of their group."
Felicia laughed. "I think that's the most intelligent thing you've ever said."
"So you'll be vice president?"
"No."
"Aw, fu—copulation."
"Excuse me?"
"The author has censored me."
"And there goes your nonsense." Felicia turned her head, making it abundantly clear she was back to ignoring Deadpool.
Peter cleared his throat. "Um, since you're technically blackmailing me and all . . . if I fail and Shield finds you, you'll tell Taskmaster my identity?"
Felicia sighed. "Well, maybe not Anthony. I don't necessarily want you dead. I just want some peace and quiet while I get my affairs in order. I don't want to be a supervillain."
"Just a super thief?" Peter asked wryly.
Felicia smirked. "Well, sure, maybe a little. But mostly I want to regain control of my home turf."
"You want to be a crime lord?" That would be difficult living with the knowledge that he was protecting someone who propagated crime.
"Oh no! Quite the opposite, to be honest . . ." Felicia looked away.
"You want to be a hero?!"
"I don't like the label of 'hero'. But . . . A gang has overtaken the area, using honest businesses as fronts for their unsavory activities. In my absence, they took complete control of my bar. It's still legally mine, I just need to get rid of the current pests. And then I need to clean up the streets enough so customers come back . . ."
Peter smiled brightly at her. "You're going to save that community!"
There was possibly a very light blush on Felicia's cheeks as she snorted derisively. "I'm just going to take my business back using money from some rich jerks who cheat the system. Heroes don't do that."
"If you're not a villain and you're helping people, then you're a hero in my book."
"My bar is still a criminal hotspot though, albeit a more sophisticated one," Felicia continued stubbornly. "I used to eavesdrop all the time to steal heist plans, and I plan to again once my preferred clientele returns."
"You sound like Rocket."
"Who?"
"A raccoon up in space. He's part of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and while he's recognized as a galactic hero, he still steals from places all the time."
"How's that working out for him? Won't the planets ever get tired of dealing with him?"
Peter shrugged, which hurt. Maybe his collarbone was one of the fractured bones. "He steals the most stuff from the bad guys, plus he never says no to rewards from the people he helps. So yeah, it's working great for him."
Felicia hummed thoughtfully. "That doesn't sound like a bad gig."
Deadpool was raising his hand again. This time he didn't wait for permission to speak. "I'm also an anti-hero! Like, hello, I'm basically the anti-hero poster-boy! You should see the poster! I looked so cute as a kid!"
"Zip it, Wade."
"Zipping!" Deadpool mimed zipping his mouth shut with full sound effects.
"Alright," Felicia said as she stood up. "How about you both stop insulting me with this hero nonsense, and I take you home, Peter."
Peter immediately brightened. "Sounds good to me! But I can make it home myself."
Felicia smiled knowingly. "We're forty minutes away from Queens by car and you don't have your suit to go swinging. Not to mention that even walking would be a terrible idea in your state."
"Oh."
"Don't worry, I have a vehicle."
Felicia did have a vehicle, but she neglected to mention that it was a motorcycle which was definitely not built for two.
She was lucky he was Spider-Man, or he wouldn't have been able to hold on when they hit the highway. He had to use his stickiness to stay on the bike. And every inch of his body ached whenever they hit even the smallest potholes. Peter had started to count all of the sharp pains that indicated fractured bones, but stopped when he reached twenty.
Yeah, he was in bad shape.
But he was forty minutes from home. Thirty minutes. Twenty. Ten. Five.
As they slowed into the residential area, Peter began to realize . . .
This was it. This wasn't going to be just a reunion. This was going to be the first time in forever that Peter got to be the first to explain himself.
It was . . . scary. Daunting. What was she going to think of him once she knew what he'd done at Taskmaster's place? But at least Peter would be the one to tell her. He could say it his way, and maybe May could understand. Maybe she would only be disappointed and not afraid. Maybe . . .
"Okay, we're approaching your block. Is it okay if I drop you off while we're still moving? Shield set up a bigger perimeter than I expected, and I don't want to get caught right after we came to such a nice agreement."
Peter sighed. It would hurt, but he'd done crazier things while injured. "Yeah, I guess that's fine. Do you want the helmet back?"
"Nah, let's not make your concussion any worse. Besides, you're the only other person allowed to ride on my bike."
"Okay . . . thanks. I—I mean it, thank you. You got me home. Our agreement is a little weird, but . . . I think you deserve some peace and quiet after all this."
"Wow, you are cavity-levels of sweet, but no problem. Now you probably want to get off here. See ya, Spider!"
Peter pushed off and rolled into someone's lawn. The landing did hurt about as bad as expected, but it probably only caused a couple of extra bruises on top of everything else.
Immediately, Shield agents popped out of hiding. Some started pursuing Felicia, others came to Peter. He removed the helmet so they could identify him.
"Hey guys," Peter greeted tiredly. "I'm back. Can somebody let me in t—"
"Hands up! Don't move!" one of the agents demanded. "Agent Sullivan is going to perform some tests to identify you."
"Oh, of course. Sorry." Sometimes Peter forgot that you needed more than your face for identification, especially when Taskmaster was involved.
It didn't take long. A few fingerprints and DNA tests later and they let him into his house where several other agents had been restraining May from approaching him prematurely. They let her go, and then finally . . .
Finally.
May hugged Peter and he melted into her despite how the pressure hurt. He was just so glad to see her again, to see she was okay. He started to purr, and it was so strong he didn't think he could stop it even if he tried.
"Peter! Oh Peter! You're here! You're okay! Oh, I was so worried! How are you? Are you hurt? What am I saying, of course you're hurt! A jet was already called, so we'll take you to the Med Bay in just a few minutes, okay?"
Peter nodded against her, taking a moment to just listen to her heartbeat. "Thanks. I missed you so much." It was hard to say if it was his purring or crying that was making his voice sound a little weird.
"I missed you too. Oh god, I was so worried. I had feared the worst . . ."
"I'm—I'm—The worst didn't happen." Peter managed not to lie about being fine. He had to say the truth after all. "I can tell you everything. I promise I'll be honest this time. And then you won't have to worry about what happened."
May massaged a hand soothingly down his back, feeling the rumble of his chest. "Sh, sh, no, you don't have to say anything, Peter."
"Yes, I do. I have to. I promised I would tell you things, so I'm going to tell you."
"Really, Peter, you don't have to relive all that so soon. Amadeus already told us everything."
An icy ball of dread settled into Peter's stomach, putting an end to the purring. "What?"
"We all got to talk to Amadeus this morning. Your team and me. We already know everything you've been through these past few days. You really don't need to think about any of that right now. You only need to focus on recovering."
And just like that it felt like all the air left Peter's lungs.
They knew.
Everyone knew.
Once again, Peter failed to be the one to inform his aunt about his own life.
And Amadeus had told them.
And that made it worse, somehow.
Maybe because Amadeus had so many wrong opinions about Peter, like—like—
Oh god, Amadeus could have made Peter sound like a monster.
Why was Amadeus like this?! Maybe Peter should have used venom when he bit—
Oh god, Peter was a monster.
"Peter?" May said softly when she noticed that the rumble in his chest had turned into shaking sobs. "Peter, sweety, what's wrong?"
She tried to get Peter to look at her, but he held on tight as he cried into her sweater. His eyes were soaked, and his throat felt constricted. He couldn't look at her, he couldn't talk to her. He just cried through the emotions that had been plaguing him for days, weeks, months.
It wasn't until he cried himself to a dreamless sleep that the agents were able to unstick him from his aunt and take him up to the Med Bay.
