Chapter 5: Breaking and Entering

The conversation Laura had with Logan was left unfinished as she abruptly left, taking his motorcycle with her.

She'd prove him that he was wrong.

She'd prove everyone wrong.

She kept her mind focused as she drove down highway six-seventy-eight. She couldn't smell Parker's scent but she knew the area code thanks to his phone number. As she continued to go down the highway, she caught a whiff of his scent, and a whiff, no matter how faint, was all she needed.

She took the nearest exit.

Her motorcycle echoed down the streets of Queens as she one track mindedly pursued the scent, disregarding the many red lights that stood in her way. The scent eventually brought her into a suburban neighborhood called "Forest Hills." Upon looking at the seemingly quiet neighborhood she slowed down considerably, not wanting to divert any attention to herself.

She traveled through the neighborhood before going down a long street. The presence of the outside world dwindled as she traveled through the neighborhood; Tall, lush green trees blocked out the horizon as the sound of leaves rustling drowned out all other noise.

It was calming.

Parker's scent grew exponentially stronger as she continued to go down.

She could see children ahead of her, laughing with each other as they played basketball on a singular basketball hoop. She came to a stop as she neared them and watched with little amusement in her eyes as they quickly scurried to the side while saying "sorry."

She let out a small nod, trying her best to gesture that it was alright.

This was a nice neighborhood.

She proceeded to go down the street until Parker's scent commanded her to turn left on Ingram street.

She went down the street for a couple of seconds until she abruptly stopped in front of a white house, the address on it was fifty-one. The house looked like any other one within this neighborhood. From the outside, it looked to be two stories high with an attic, presumably a basement if the window at the bottom of the house was anything to go by. There was a nicely kept garden in front of the house, one that rivaled Ms. Munroe's.

Parker lived here.

She got off her bike and approached the house, from what she could smell only two people resided within the average home. She quickly looked around noting how nobody was around before entering the grounds. She made no sound as she hurried down the small alleyway that led to the backyard of the house.

The backyard was of moderate size, housing multiple plants in a variety of pots with two chairs and a table on a stone pathway that led to a side door. She pressed her body against the wall of the house as she heard the clanging of plates right behind her. She moved swiftly until she reached the side door. She watched through the small window the door had and observed an elderly lady washing dishes who was completely oblivious to her existence.

If appearance was anything to go by, she was a frail woman who had long gray hair tied into a bun. She couldn't see him but she knew Parker was in the room with her, eating what she smelt was bacon and eggs.

She could assume that this was the aunt he was referring to yesterday.

"So what are you two going to be doing today?" she heard her ask. "Hang out I guess, play games," She heard Parker's answer but judging from his tone of voice she could tell he was lying.

But why though? What type of activities would he be doing that made have to lie? Was it Spider-Man related? Did she not know?

She remembers him saying that it was a secret identity but to what extent did that secret go to?

"That's all?"

"Well, I have to meet someone later," she narrowed her eyes at this.

"Who? Harry?" she could assume that this "Harry," was another one of his friends.

"No, it's someone you don't know. I uh…I met her yesterday," was he referring to her?

"Her?"

"Yea, her name's 'Laura,' I met her yesterday," He was.

"Really? In the storm?"

"Yeah, she uh, uh….she helped me when the storm got really bad," Laura narrowed her eyes even further as she heard this, "She didn't know," she thought as she climbed through a window. She could hear the conversation with ease as she entered a room with green walls full of vintage furniture. There was a queen-sized bed that had two pillows on each side of it as if it was occupied by two people but she could only detect the scent of one person on it.

"Laura…She sounds like a nice girl," his aunt said warmly which caught her off guard. "Little rough around the edges…" she heard Parker say and she immediately furrowed her brow in annoyance at the comment. "...but… she is," she heard him genuinely say which made her posture lighten significantly.

She was not a-

"No matter what she says," She let out a breath as a tender feeling washed over her.

Like yesterday, he was saying what he truly believed.

She couldn't help but remember how he thought she was a hero like him. She wasn't, but…she was more than what Logan thought of her and Parker's words helped reaffirm that belief.

She looked around the room she was in. There was a cross on the wall above the bed, beside it were two pictures of a couple holding hands. The first one was a black and white photo of a young woman in a wedding gown, holding the hand of a man in a suit as the both of them smiled widely.

She looked at the man in the black and white photo who she could only assume to be his uncle. He bore a resemblance to Peter, their smiles were so similar that it was almost uncanny. Photos of him and Peter's Aunt decorated the room, with one of them having the two holding a baby alongside another couple.

There was another photo next to that one, it was one of a young, brown-haired, blue-eyed boy, who wore almost comically large round glasses.

It was Parker.

He looked to be around the age of eleven, smiling wildly as he held a science award with his uncle behind him.

She looked at it for a bit wondering what his childhood was like.

When it came to such things she could only imagine for she never had one.

Although the smile he had when he was looking at his uncle, it reminded her of the ones she used to have with her mother….

She shook her head and left the room, remembering what her goal was.

She wanted to gather more information about Parker.

She exited the room, once again making no noise.

"So where are you two going to go?"

"... The zoo…" Parker said, lying again.

"The zoo?" Laura thought.

"To look at…alligators," Alligators? His attempts at lying were pathetic. It was as if he was just making things up as he goes.

"Does she like alligators?" his aunt asked.

"Um….I think so," she did not like alligators, "...and motorcycles," he added, which caused her to shake her head.

"And what does your friend Johnny like?" She raised a brow at this, so she knew about Storm, it would stand to reason that Storm also knew who Parker is. She would listen attentively to what would be said next as learning what the Human Torch is like would prove to be valuable information as well.

"Cars," That wasn't much.

"That's all?" her thoughts mimicked his aunt's words.

"Cars and girls," Based on that description Storm sounded like Drake.

She didn't like Drake.

She stopped at the end of the hallway in front of the door where his scent was the strongest. She looked around, wondering if there were any traps but there weren't. She opened the door knob slowly, careful as to not make any noise that would alert others to her presence.

She entered the room.

The fragrance of his scent was intertwined with that of cheap air freshener that poorly masked the faint smell of chemicals.

The walls were coloured light blue as clothes littered the floor. There were countless posters ranging from Albert Einstein to Captain America adorned on his walls. He had a full-sized bed that sat on an oak bed frame and a headboard that housed multiple books. They were all about science, each book covering each field with some covering all the various disciplines such as biochemistry and biophysics.

"He studies science," she thought, advanced science.

It would explain the faint smell of chemicals she detected when she entered his room.

Across from his bed was a table where his computer sat. Above it were shelves that housed even more books and awards, all relating to science however most of them were uncleaned and covered in a small layer of dust save for a simple microscope which was in pristine shape.

Beside that though was a massive box that caught her attention. It was a massive black box that had a picture of an old TV connected to one of those systems Drake uses on the main T.V back in the mansion. She reached for it with the contents of the box shaking as she did.

'Nintendo entertainment system' it read in yellow font with the top left reading 'Lego'.

What was this?

She shook her head, she was getting off track. She put it back in its place and continued observing her surroundings.

She walked towards his window and noticed small droplets of dried-up blood that had blended themselves within the dark oak frame. Judging from the smell they were from battles long ago.

She decided to follow the faint smell of chemicals.

They came from his closet.

She opened it and was greeted with multiple boxes, she scoured through each one gently. On the left side of the closet was a box that took up most of the space, it was an old and beaten box that was simply labeled 'Parker.' It contained beakers and flasks, among all the other necessary components when it came to mixing chemicals. On the right side, there were boxes that her nose told her housed graphic novels but beneath them all was one that contained metals.

She moved all the boxes to the side in a quick and efficient manner, remembering each and every spot they were in. Eventually, she reached the box she was looking for and grabbed it with care.

She placed it on the ground and took the lid off, only to be greeted with two metallic objects that she could only describe as 'bracelets'. She grabbed them and observed every angle of them. They seemed to be some type of weapon due to the nozzle and the trigger but she hasn't seen anything like this before.

The closest thing that resembled them were the gauntlets the KGB supplied its agents, but those were rudimentary.

Despite the bracelets being bulky, taking up almost all of the lower wrist, they were ingeniously made. The trigger perfectly mirrored the shape of her upper palm, while the nozzle barely stook out, making it easy to conceal. There was also an interchangeable cartridge on each device. As she tried taking it out it had instantly jolted out of its place.

She picked it up and put it back in, watching how it snapped back in its place instantaneously.

"Interesting," she thought.

Whoever made this was a genius, the placement of the trigger made it so that unintentional activation was impossible and that if needed, changing cartridges would be fast and efficient. She didn't know what was inside the cartridges, nor what happened if the trigger were to be pressed but she was bound to find out.

Although they piqued her interest immensely, she decided to place them on the ground and move on. The next object was a belt made with the same craftsmanship as the bracelets. The belt contained the same cartridges that the bracelets used, although instead of just one, there were thirty. It didn't just house cartridges though as there was a digital camera alongside a USB but in between both of those, at the center of the belt was a symbol.

She's never seen Parker in costume but she's seen what it looks like thanks to Pryde's newspaper clippings. The symbol looked to be a simplified version of his mask, although what interested her was how it was caved in and made from the same protective glass found on flashlights.

There was a button right above it.

She reluctantly pressed it and the moment she did a red light shined through the belt, illuminating his room. She looked up to find that the symbol on the belt was now on the ceiling, bigger and brighter than ever.

She looked at it blankly.

What purpose did this serve?

She shook her head and put it away, grabbing the final contents of the box which was a simple notebook. Despite knowing she's already taken too long, she decided that she would risk it and browse through the contents of the book. She flipped through the pages mindlessly, stopping only when she recognized certain things. There was a diagram of the bracelets, according to the notebook they were called 'web-shooters,' and it described almost every little detail and function of the device.

The cartridges were high-pressure containers for 'web fluid' with the nozzle having an adjustment ring to change the patterns of webbing. She read the notes, each cartridge contained a mixture of chemicals that when exposed to oxygen would form a thin, tough, and flexible adhesive that resembles a spider's webbing which would dissolve after an hour.

She was so lost in reading about these "web-shooters" that she didn't hear the clanging of Peter washing the dishes.

She flipped through the pages more, the light on the belt was called 'The Spider-Signal,' according to the text underneath it served no real purpose, he just thought it was a 'cool' thing to have.

"Parker made all of this," she thought.

Maybe he wasn't so much of an idiot after all.

She browsed through the contents of the book more, it contained designs for other tools called 'spider-tracers,' although there was a big note saying 'needs funding,' another page contained a potential formula for a pseudo-metallic compound if she understood it properly, although it wasn't finished, it also had a note saying 'needs funding.' After that it only contained costume designs that were… horrible, to say the least.

She put everything back exactly where it was before shutting the closet.

She's learned a lot in these past couple of minutes but almost all of her questions have gone unanswered. The only thing she gained that was new was that Parker was a genius, everything else was just reaffirmation on what he had told her yesterday.

She already believed him due to her being able to decipher a lie with ease but this just reinforced her beliefs.

She noticed the red and blue sleeve that was poking out from underneath his bed.

She went on her knees and grabbed it.

She pulled it out and came face to face with a torn and tattered costume that had traces of blood, a lot of blood, alongside nitroglycerin which a normal person couldn't detect thanks to the overwhelming stench of it being unwashed. There were dark spots on it, the webbed design that stood over it was peeling, and the small spider-logo was almost indecipherable thanks to the diagonal tears. The part that would cover his right bicep was completely torn and the translucent nylon that had a webbed design underneath his pits didn't fare any better.

She looked at the costume with a searching gaze.

Why does he do it?

The people hate him and yet he chooses to help everyone he can if Summers was correct.

She wanted to know what he meant by "because I can, meaning I have to." She had a rough understanding as to what he meant but that wasn't enough. Because you have the power to help you should, but who says you should?

She put his costume gently underneath his bed.

She didn't quite understand his powers but from what she's seen, he was able to do whatever he wanted and yet here he was, helping people because he could.

She was taken out of thought as she heard the doorknob to his room begin to turn. She whipped her head towards his window and contemplated jumping out of it but at the pace his door was opened there was no doubt in her mind that Parker would see her do this and that would cause problems.

So she decided to stay put not wanting to cause a misunderstanding.

She watched how he, through otherworldly means, didn't notice her right away.

In the midst of recognizing his genius, she had forgotten something she learned when she was with him.

She glared at him as he shut the door.

He is an idiot and she could have left without him recognizing a thing.

Her emerald eyes met his blue ones for what felt like an eternity. She watched how he blinked repeatedly as if his brain was still comprehending the situation.

"AHHHHHH!" he girlishly yelled as he pressed his back to his door. She looked at him with a blank expression however that would soon change into one of interest as his sheepish yell would turn into one of agonizing pain.

She looked at what caused the sudden cry and looked on with surprise as two bone-like skewers had protruded out of his arm

She observed them; they seemed to have been a new development due to his response to them coming out. The shape of them resembled that of a blade and from what she could see, they were around sixteen inches long.

After a couple of seconds Peter had recovered from the still overwhelming pain and the unexpected shock of seeing Laura in his room. His pained expression soon morphed into one of urgency as he looked at her with a glare of his own.

"Wh-wha-what are you doing here!" Peter angrily whispered to her.

"What hap-" she tried to ask in her regular voice but he shushed her. "Shhhh! My aunt!" he said in a low but urgent tone. "Peter, is everything alright? Is it the centipede again?" his aunt asked from downstairs as she had heard his yell. "No! Just…just…" he tried to come up with something as he looked at Laura who had an impassive look on her face. "She doesn't know you are Spider-Man," she stated to Peter who frantically responded with, "Of course she doesn't know, she's my aunt! I'm the only piece of family she has. She'd have a heart attack if she learned her nephew fought super-criminals!"

So he keeps it a secret so as to not worry her.

"Peter?" his aunt said once again.

And that secret was in jeopardy.

"Spider," she said in a low and flat tone, "What?" he was confused as to what she said. "They are the most common things people are scared of," she added.

He looked at her skeptically for a second before saying:

"...Just got scared by a spider!" he yelled back at his aunt.

"It fell on you," she said, he narrowed his eyes and said "You're a terrible liar," before reiterating what she said, "It fell on me!"

"You killed it."

He let out a sigh, this was just getting worse and worse. If he was going to expand upon an already half-baked lie he would at least put a twist that his aunt would like.

"Don't worry though, I'm putting it outside right now!"

"Good!" His aunt said back before continuing with her own activities.

"Why would anyone go through the hassle of putting an insect through a window?" She asked herself. She pushed that thought to the side as Peter let out a "whew," causing his stingers to go up his body. Peter turned his attention to Laura, a look of relief all over his face as her lie had seemingly worked.

"...T-thanks," he said to her before immediately furrowing his brow and saying, "What are you doing in my house? I remember saying seven in the afternoon at Washington square park, not eleven forty-five in my bedroom."

"I wanted to learn more about you," she said to him flatly and honestly, "So you broke into my house!" he said bewilderedly, she nodded. "Yo-you have the internet! Heck, you have my phone number! You could've just asked instead of breaking into my house!" he said in a frustrated and baffled tone which caused his stingers to pop out yet again.

He winced in pain again as well.

"What happened?" she asked as she looked at his new developments. "I was hoping you could tell me," he said as he looked at the girl. "I come back home from a team-up, go to bed and then I wake up with new powers!'' he said in an overexaggerated voice.

He let out a sigh.

"I think you have a disease," he joked. "You're stupider than I thought you were if you believe this to be my doing," she flatly retorted, she was not to blame for these new developments. "Stupid? I'm not the one who broke into someone's house to learn more about them," he replied back to her with disbelief. There were multiple reasons why infiltrating someone's home was one of the most efficient ways of learning about an individual but before she could voice them Parker decided to speak up. "I told you who I was so you didn't have to break into my home…" he frustratingly said, however, he took a pause as his demeanor lightened up a bit, "...You know…you're lucky I trust you."

She was caught off guard by this.

He trusted her?

"You… trust me?" she asked in a surprised tone. "I let out a girlish scream instead of punching you in the face, of course I trust you… and I'm the one who's stupid," he mumbled the last part underneath his breath.

She heard that but decided not to say anything.

"Why?" she asked him, Logan didn't trust her. "Cause I got a good feeling about you," he said to her as he looked into her eyes with a small smile. "Despite you breaking into my house," he added in an annoyed tone and immediately furrowing his brow.

"You…shouldn't," she said in a low voice. "Yeah well, I still will," he said confidently which had raised her spirits. "You doing this though isn't helping," he stated as he pointed his finger at her. Just because he trusted her, didn't mean he liked the fact that she broke into his house.

She looked at him with a contemplative gaze upon hearing his words.

"Sit," she simply commanded.

"What?"

"Sit," she firmly said again as she found a place on his floor. "Why?" he asked as he watched her cross her legs. "You said I wasn't helping. I want to help," she genuinely stated as she looked at him with a passive look. He was taken aback by her statement but let out a small smile as all the previous frustrations quickly faded.

"You can't control your…" Laura said as she couldn't find a proper name to describe his new additions. "Stingers," Peter said. She thought about it, "stingers" was an adequate name for his new add ons.

"The best I can do is have them go back inside by putting them in contact with my body," Peter said as he displayed the act. She raised a brow at this which promoted Peter to explain how he came to this. "I found that out because it was either my aunt finds out I have built-in hotdog skewers or I impale my legs," he said to the girl in an unpleased voice.

She looked at them, comparing his stingers to her claws. She had a similar problem a lifetime ago although that was corrected quickly. "Your singers come out when the muscles that surround them contract. You need to relax them if you wish to have them go back in," She explained in a matter-of-fact voice.

"And how do you do that?" Peter asked her as that was easier said than done.

"Close your eyes," she commanded and he obliged. "Empty your mind and alleviate your wrist muscles," he tried doing that. He was good at control, not too many people can comprehend how careful you have to be when you can lift a car with one hand. His stingers were different from his strength though which was only shown by his attempts at seething them earlier. He was lucky that he had Laura though, someone who conveniently had expertise in having knives come out your body.

He wondered if Laura felt the same excruciating pain he felt whenever her claws came out.

Maybe that's why she had a temper.

Or maybe he just met her during "that" time of the month.

He wondered about a lot of things that concerned Laura, like how did she break into his house without him noticing? Did she really have to break into his house too? Didn't she know fans? Couldn't she have asked them instead of breaking in?

Where was she from? Must be close by if she was in New York the other day. Did she really have to break into his house?

Like why does everyone have to break into his house the moment they find out who he is?

"Clear your mind and focus," Laura reiterated as no progress was being made much to her annoyance. "I am, they aren't going down," he replied.

"Then you're not focusing," she replied in an aggressive tone, her patience was thinning, "Maybe you're just a bad teacher," he retorted.

"Maybe you're just brain-damaged," she said angrily, however she still controlled her volume so as to not have his aunt be aware of her presence. "Excuse me, but I actually have an IQ of two-hundred and fifty. Do you know who else had an IQ that high at the age of sixteen? Reed Richards! the smartest man on the planet," he said proudly.

She scoffed at that.

He furrowed his brow in annoyance "Can you tell me about the physics of Pym Particles?" he asked rhetorically.

"Can you?" she challenged.

"Pym particles work by putting matter in the Kosmos dimension if you want to shrink things, and taking matter away from the dimension if you want to enlarge them," Peter confidently answered with a tiny smirk.

She didn't answer as she didn't know how Pym particles worked.

Upon her saying nothing Peter simply asked, "Now who's the one that's damaged?" with a proud smile on his face.

She fought the urge to gut his tongue out right then and there.

She let out a sigh, this was going nowhere and she didn't like that. She looked at his stingers, while they do work on muscle control they can also be instinctual if one does not have the proper control. She recalled the countless stories and fairy tales her mother used to read to her. The heroes within the stories always had someone they fought for, someone they could never hurt.

"Try thinking of someone you could never hurt," she said, getting back to the point.

That wasn't a half-bad idea actually.

He thought about his uncle and his aunt, and as he did this he could feel his stingers going down. He thought about Johnny and immediately discarded that thought as he felt them going back up again. He thought about Gwen…he thought about the strange, really strange, and aggressive girl who broke into his house.

Who is currently helping him.

The girl watched his stingers slowly go back into his body, satisfied with the results. As they fully went back into his forearms Peter smiled at Laura, "Would you look at that, you aren't that bad of a teacher after all," he said in amazement. "You are still an idiot," she said letting out a small breath.

He rolled his eyes, "You've called me that at least a hundred times for the brief period I've known you," he pointed out.

"And?" she said as she raised a brow at his statement.

"You're not going to stop calling me that are you?"

"No," she simply said, causing him to chuckle.

She let out a smirk before getting back to what they were doing.

"Try and bring your stingers out," she asked in a lighter tone of voice than normally.

"Sure," he nodded as he proceeded to comply with her request, trying his best to bring out his new lethal additions to his vast superpower arsenal.

He clenched his fists as he's seen the girl do numerous times but to no avail. An idea crossed his mind though: if someone he liked made it so his stingers would retract then the thought of someone he hated should do the opposite.

He thought of the middle-aged man who for some otherworldly reason had waves.

Out came his stingers and the immense pain that came with them; The girl looked at him with a satisfied look on her face.

However, all he could say was:

"Why do they hurt so much?" he asked her in a comedic way. She let out an amused 'hmph' before sticking her right hand out, withdrawing her own claws to show the blood that briefly spilled out her knuckles, "You get used to it."

"Woah…" he was left speechless which surprised her, she didn't think he was capable of that.

"...I don't think I will but…thanks," he said as he smiled, genuinely grateful towards Laura. "You see? This is why I have a good feeling about you," She looked away for a moment, "It's nothing…you do significantly more for others."

"That doesn't change the fact that you helped me. If it weren't for you I would've stabbed more things than just my bed. I could've accidentally cut something off while peeing!" he said with a mock shiver.

She let out another breath at that, that would have caused problems.

"So thank you," he said to her sincerely. She accepted his thanks with a simple nod and once again found herself shifting to get more comfortable on his floor by bringing her knees close to her chest. He did the same, opting to lean back on his hands.

"So anyways… you said you broke into my house to find out more about me right?" she nodded. "While I'm still not happy about that, since you're here… shoot," he told her, she looked at him perplexed, "shoot?" she asked him. "Yea, 'shoot.' It's an expression for asking a question," she raised a brow to that, "...like…someone says 'I have a question,' the recipient goes like, 'alright then, shoot' like, shoot me your question," he tried explaining to her.

She found it both amusing and interesting how he explained this expression to her; she would remember it. She let her thoughts drift about the questions she had earlier, there were so many that she couldn't possibly ask him all at once. There was her question as to why he did this, why does he believe her to be things she knows she isn't, who is Gwen? However, out of all those options though, she chose to ask something else…

"The spider," she said out of nowhere.

"What?" he said as he raised a brow at her words.

"You said that you threw the spider out, if the circumstances were real, would you have done it?"

He tilted his head at this, what was this about?

"Um…yea," he was unsure as to why she was asking this.

"Why?" she asked immediately.

"...be-because it's alive?"

"It's an insect," she adamantly said.

"It's still alive…" what was this conversation about, wasn't this common knowledge? "...it can feel things like you and me and despite the fact that it's different, it's still a-a…sentient being…and it deserves to live its life-why are you asking me this?" When did this conversation become one about philosophy?

"All spiders do is kill."

"Yea, but that's the only thing they know how to do. You can't really fault someone for doing the only thing they know. And even if they do kill,..it's still a sentient being, so its life still matters," Peter said as he wholeheartedly expressed his beliefs.

"So because it is sentient its life is valuable?" Laura asked as she decided to pursue another route to this conversation.

"Yes…sentience is one of the many things that makes a life valuable," Peter said as he started collecting his thoughts. Whatever this was about he didn't know but he did offer Laura a question so he was obliged to answer. "Like look at plants for example: they are also alive, they eat, they reproduce but they can't feel pain, they can't perceive things like we can. They just sit there and flow with the wind or get stuck to your butt if it's burs. We can though, we can experience all the things the world has to offer, we have a sense of self and that alone makes our lives important. And while other species have it to a lesser extent it still makes their lives important too," He finished with confidence in his answer.

"Are the lives of killers important?" she asked him out of the blue.

He paused for a moment, she watched how he collected his thoughts, gripping her knees even tighter as she anticipated his answer.

"...yes, I-I would say that their lives are important," he said with a mix of uncertainty and firmness as he looked at her. "All they do is take lives away," she said fiercely. "And taking theirs won't bring those lives back…" he said as he thought about Gwen. Norman's passing didn't bring Gwen back, nor did it make him feel any better.

It just made him feel empty, washed out, angry, and just a little bit more alone.

"...I say this…after a maniac killed someone dear to me…" he said softly to her which caused her to look at him sympathetically. He must be referring to the Gwen girl and the Goblin.

She wouldn't ask any questions that could possibly concern her.

She looked down as she asked him another question.

"What… would you do if I told you that I was a killer?" she asked softly as she held her knees tightly at the sound of her heart growing ever so loudly. Why was this happening? She did not care what he thought of her.

She raised her head up immediately as she heard him laugh.

"I'd say you tell bad jokes, 'cause last time I checked killers don't run into a fire to help people," he said playfully before changing his tone to a more sincere one, "Heroes do," he said with a smile as he looked at her sincerely. She widened her eyes before facing towards his floor, losing her grip on herself as she could feel a small brimming smile.

She let her emerald eyes travel around his room yet again.

"This is your room?"

"Yea," Peter said as he looked around it with her. "It's messy," she states as she looked at the multiple shirts that were sprawled all over the floor. "Yea…" Peter said as he scratched the back of his head. "In all fairness, I wasn't expecting a guest and I'm pretty sure I was going through depression," he said light-heartedly.

"..."

"Hm?" Peter said as he noticed the girl wanted to say something.

"...Sorry…for breaking into your house, Parker," she said with regret upon her choice of action. He let out a sigh, "It's alright, you made up for it plenty with this," he said as he withdrew his stingers with a friendly smile, they still hurt a lot but he was getting used to it already, "Next time you do it though, you better tell me first," he said with a small laugh.

"You should get better security," it was easy to break into his home. He laughed at this, "I can barely afford to pay the bills, you expect me to get security?"

"Do you not have enemies?" she asked him, he is a superhero, he should have people after him.

"Yea, but that's what the mask is for, plus I got something they don't," he said with a grin, she perked up at this. "Remember that sixth-sense I told you about yesterday?" he asked her as he tilted his head.

She nodded, recalling how he predicted the Lizard creature's attacks.

"Don't tell anyone, but that's my spider-sense," he told her in a whisper.

"Spider-sense?"

"Warns me about danger, maps out a whole entire area I'm in including the people in it, and any super-secret part of a building; It also does a whole other bunch of other neat stuff," he said as he listed off what it does. "How?" she asked him, if what he's saying is true then he had a form of precognition. "I automatically sense my surroundings while danger is a little tingling in my brain, sometimes a headache depending on the severity of danger I'm in. Really useful when I don't know where the enemies are or surprise attacks, and because It maps out a whole entire area like a second set of eyes that see everything, I can do anything blind," he said with a big smile.

She took all the information in, "cool right?"

It's was more than "cool," this spider-sense seemed to be powerful, a form of precognition so surprise attacks could never work on him. If you managed to blind him he could still fight without any hindrance.

To what extent could his spider-sense go to?

If it could map out an entire area how come he was caught off guard when she was in his room, why was that?

"How come you didn't know I was in your room then?" she asked.

"Oh, I just wasn't paying attention, plus, you didn't mean any danger so it didn't go off," he said casually as he shrugged.

The only known weakness to his spider-sense was distraction?

And if you don't mean any harm, it won't go off?

She wanted to test if this spider-sense was real.

He had his eyes closed as he shrugged and she immediately went to punch him in the face. He tilted his head to the left, a grin on his face as he effortlessly dodged her attack. She pulled her fist back, surprise on her face for a brief second before defaulting back to her usual stoicism.

"See?" he told her as he opened his eyes, still grinning. She crossed her arms, and let out a satisfied "hmph."

"Better than any piece of security which is good because I can't afford any. Pretty sure I only have twenty dollars to my name," he said offhandedly, Laura looked at him confused as to how he was flat broke. "What? I've got bills and an aunt to take care of and being Spider-Man doesn't pay squat, now unless you want to give me-"

"No," she answered immediately, "C'mon," he said in between small laughs, "You could be like, my sponsor-"

"No," she reiterated in the same flat tone.

He laughed at that, and then proceeded to put his palms in the air and make a rectangle gesture with them, "The Amazing Spider-Man, brought to you by Lau-"

"No!"

"I can run around with your pretty face as my new logo!" he said as he pointed at his chest with both hands. She looked at him blankly as he burst out laughing.

Her stoicism soon broke though as she let herself have a little smirk on her face.

He is an idiot.

She watched him laugh with interest, It was easy being with him. She noticed something different about him however as he laughed, something piqued her interest.

"Keep your mouth open," she commanded.

"Huh, why?" he asked her but to his surprise and confusion, the girl put her hand in his mouth and ran her thumb on his teeth.

"What are you-"

"You have fangs," she stated as she pulled out her hand and wiped the saliva off her hands using one of the many shirts on the floor.

"What?" Peter said in disbelief as he immediately put his hand in his mouth to feel his teeth. "I do!" he exclaimed as he immediately turned to his mirror. "They're massive!" he exclaimed, how did he not notice them before?

Did Aunt May see them? No, or else she would have asked him about them. "They are barely noticeable," Laura said as she watched him worry over his newfound fangs. "Really?" he asked her in an unsure voice.

She nodded which relieved his worries. These new additions were odd, and Parker seemed to have no idea what was happening to him?

Could he be a… no, he couldn't have been one.

There was a possibility though…she thought as she looked at him.

"How did you get your powers?" she asked him, how he got them would be the key to all of this. "I don't know about these new ones but my original powers came from a genetically engineered spider that bit me," he casually said.

"What?" did she miss something? A spider bite him and gave him his powers? Even with it being genetically engineered that was the stupidest thing she's ever heard.

"Yeah...I attended a science exhibition where it would bite me after breaking out of whatever was holding it," he said nonchalantly as he shrugged.

She said nothing as she gave him a deadpanned look.

"I'm not lying!" Peter exclaimed.

She was not amused.

"I know it sounds stupid but that's how it really happened! I was minding my own business when I felt something on my arm. I looked to see what it was and it was this decently sized spider just crawling on me. I panicked, it bit me before dying and I got powers," he said truthfully.

She believed his answer no matter how stupid it sounded. He wasn't what she thought he was, he wasn't given these powers through tests, nor birth, he got them by pure accident alone.

"What are those powers?"

"Super Strength which is proportional to the strength of a spider, the ability to cling to any surface, super speed, agility, stamina, enhanced reflexes, perfect vision and you already know my spider-sense," he listed off.

She thought about the powers he listed off. The proportionate strength of a spider was at least ten tons, he could smash a human skull with a flick if he wanted to. He could cling to any surface and was just about superhuman when it came to every category.

She was also considered to be "superhuman," her senses were far superior to that of a regular human which is why she could listen in while he and his aunt talked downstairs. She too had "super," speed and stamina, along with reflexes but if they were inferior, superior, or on the level of Parkers have remained to be seen.

On the topic of strength though, he was worlds ahead of her, coupled with his speed and other powers…he is dangerous.

"And your new powers?" she asked.

"You know just about as much as I do there. All I know is that I got stingers, fangs, and my eyesight got better which is funny because I didn't think it could get better," he said to her.

She dwelled upon this, his new set of powers could just be a secondary mutation of his original powers.

There had to be more though.

Peter let out a sigh, "I don't have the slightest idea what's happening to me and I'm gonna guess you don't either?" he asked her.

She nodded, keeping her own ideas to herself.

"I have a friend who can probably help," he said, gaining her interest.

"Who?"

"Reed Richards."

"You know the Fantastic Four?"

He let out a fond smile, "Yea, they're the only people who know who I am outside of you and two others. You up for it?

She didn't answer.

She was hesitant based on past experiences but…

"Do you trust them?" she asked him.

"Most of 'em," he said truthfully. She narrowed her eyes, she wanted a better answer. "Alright, all of them," he said as he noticed her glare. "One of them is just an idiot," he said with a small laugh as he got up.

Coming from Parker that meant something.

She was going to go into unfamiliar territory, she didn't like that.

She looked at the hand Parker gave her though.

If he trusted them then she'd go…

…because she trusted him.

"Okay, I'm up for it Parker," she said as she took his hand and got up from his floor. "For the last time it's 'Peter," he said firmly, "Keep calling me 'Parker,' and I'll start calling you 'Kinney,' see how you like it," he warned her lightheartedly.

Someone calling him "Parker," reminded him of two things: the principal calling him down whenever he had a late streak amd Jonah when he popped a blood vessel.

He didn't like either of those situations.

"Now get out of my house, I gotta get clothes," he said to her as he pointed at his window. "You're already wearing clothes," she pointed out. She didn't understand what he was referring to, "Just go, you'll see what I'm talking about later," he said excitedly as he ushered her out.

She didn't understand but obliged anyway.

A couple of minutes later she was outside on her motorcycle waiting for him to leave his house. She watched how the door opened with him leaving and his aunt in the doorway. "Be back by eleven this time, okay?" she heard his Aunt say. "I will!" Peter said in a confident tone. The woman raised a brow however, "I promise," Peter reassured as he went down the stairs of his porch.

"Have fun with your friends!" his aunt said as she bid farewell and shut the door.

She is a nice lady, Laura noted.

Peter was wearing the same clothes from earlier but she understood what he mean by "getting clothes," as the contents that were within his blue bag were ones she familiarized herself with. After exiting the grounds of his home he looked around until he found her parked to the left side of the house and he quickly made her way towards her. "What now," she asked him as he approached her. "There's an abandoned warehouse five minutes near here; it's a good place to changed," He said hoping that she'd understand and she showed she did with a simple nod. "Get on," she said as she put on her helmet. "What?" he asked. "Get on," she said again. He was planning on running there but as he saw her waiting for him to get on he let out a sigh.

He took a seat closely behind her, and by closely, really closely.

He let out a quiet yelp as she started to drive quickly down his neighborhood. He was hoping no one saw him like this, don't let the quiet neighborhood setting fool you, people talk. His hopes were let down though as he saw a group of kids he knew very well look at him and Laura as they played basketball.

"Oh no," he said quietly as the two came to a stop in front of the group of boys. Laura watched how the children decided to approach them instead of moving to the side this time. "Drive," he said urgently. "What?" she asked him, did he want her to run over children?

"I know these kids if they see me like th-"

"It's Peter!" one of the kids exclaimed as they ran in front of the bike, he let out a sigh "...Hi Lemar," he said awkwardly from Laura's backside. She looked at all the children who seemed to be overjoyed to see the brunette boy behind her.

"Is this your friend?" the boy named Lemar asked as he turned his attention to Laura. She turned her gaze back to him, wondering what his answer would be.

"Ye…yes?" he asked questioningly as he looked at her.

Was she his friend? She's helped him at every turn he's known her and she's going to help him track that Lizard monster. She knows who he is and cracks tiny little smirks at his jokes, but a friend?

She was more than an acquaintance, that's for sure.

She mimicked his thoughts.

"She's so cool," another boy said as they looked at her motorcycle. "Wanna play with us," one of the boys offered the both of them as they lifted the ball up.

She shook her head slowly.

"N-not not now, I'm-we're kinda...kinda busy right now," he said to the kids much to their displeasure, he quickly rectified his mistake upon seeing their disappointed faces. "But I promise I'll play with you when everything's all done okay?" he said to the kids with an enthusiastic grin and at this, their expressions lightened, "Promise?" one of the boys asked as they raised a pinky to him. "Only if you don't tell my Aunt about this," Peter said with a friendly grin. The boy nodded, and Peter intertwined his pinky with his, "Then I promise to beat you guys again later," he said light-heartedly.

"You always lose," another kid said with a laugh, "That's because it's one of me against you three little rats," he said with a laugh of his own. "You just suck," one of the boys said with a laugh. "I'm gonna remember that when I beat you," Peter said as the boys moved out of the way.

She waited for them to say their goodbyes before proceeding to her destination.

"Who are they?" Laura asked as she was intrigued with the relationship he had with those children, they liked him a lot from what she could see. "Those were Tyler, Henry, and Lemar, they're the neighbor's kids, I used to tutor them."

"You tutored them?" she asked questioningly. "Yea, they had some pretty bad grades but the parents couldn't afford a tutor so they asked my aunt if I could help them, she asked me, and I said 'yes.' I stopped a couple of months ago after they became the top students in their class," he said proudly. "Now we play ball every now and then."

"You always lose?" He furrowed his brow at that, "Only because I let them," he defended. "Why?" She was curious as to why he would let himself lose. "Because they need a win, it helps build confidence. If I just steamrolled them every game it wouldn't be fun for either party," that was kind of a no-brainer.

"That's…very kind of you," she said softly. He was taken aback by this, "Eh…it's nothing," he said, trying to downplay it as he was surprised by her comment. "...You're not that bad yourself you know," he said, trying to reciprocate her compliment. "Helping me with that 'thing' yesterday, and then my stingers today, I owe you a lot," he said with a smile.

"You owe me nothing," she stated.

He laughed at that, "Well if that's how it's going to be then at least let me say 'thank you."

"You already did," she said fondly.

"Well…I'll just… say it again."

"If you want to say 'thank you,' then save it for later, we are not done yet. We still… have an alligator to see," she finished with a lighthearted voice as she poked fun at his lie.

He laughed at that.

They made it to the abandoned warehouse he spoke off in a matter of minutes. She waited underneath a street light with her helmet in her hands as he scurried off to go change.

He excitedly ran into the desolate and abandoned building and into the only room that wasn't full of used needles or empty glass bottles. He placed his bag gently on the ground and went on one knee as he undid the zippers. The light from the window illuminated the room with a heavenly glow as it beamed down on Peter as he slowly grabbed the top half of the costume.

He smiled brightly as he started putting it on.

Meanwhile, Laura had her head tilted up as she thought about Parker

Par-Peter is nice.

She didn't get a chance to ask him why he did this, why he felt like he had to help others.

He knew what pain was, she already dwelled on this, but he's found a purpose for that pain.

Maybe if she stuck with him she'd find an answer with what to do with hers.

She turned her attention to the roof of the warehouse, where he slowly walked to the edge of it. She stared at him awestruck as he was wearing his tattered costume. He stood tall, the tattered cloth flowing with the wind as the sun shined right behind him making him look more heroic than he already did.

She knew he was grinning underneath the mask.

"You done?" she asked in an annoyed tone.

"Gimme two more seconds, it's been a while!" he shouted back at her, It felt good to wear the whole thing again. She crossed her arms and let out a sigh, they were wasting time but it wasn't a big deal, they had up to eleven at night and it was currently twelve.

She took this opportunity to observe his costume. It clung to his body, showing off his build and leaving little to the imagination. She already figured that he was athletically built due to his powerset but the baggy clothes she's only seen him wear did a better job at concealing his form than she thought.

He leaped into the air, doing an impressive upside-down twirl before landing on his knees right in front of her, ever so slightly cracking the cement ground with a loud 'thud.'

She rolled her eyes.

"What? It's the superhero landing," he told her as she got up. "It is an inefficient and stupid way to land," she commented. "Look, I know, everyone who does this knows, but we're super, we can handle it. Besides, it's not about efficiency, it's about looking cool and more importantly, feeling cool," he said with a grin underneath his mask.

"You look anything but 'cool," she said as she looked at the cracked lenses of his mask.

Getting what she was referencing he pointed a finger at her, "I'd like to see you stay pretty while a maniac throws exploding pumpkins at you," he said in an annoyed tone. She shook her head at that ridiculous statement and roared the engine of her motorcycle.

"Do you know where the Baxter building is?" he asked her as he loaded his web fluid. "The one with the giant four?" she asked as she thought about the ludicrous building she's only seen once.

"Bingo," he said as he rolled his glove down. "Remember the plan?" he asked her.

"Yes, Pa…Peter," she said. She wasn't on a first-name basis with anyone but it felt right being on one with Pa-Peter, she would have to get used to it though.

"You said my name," he said happily. "Now, I need you to remember one very important rule," he said to her as he brought his head close to hers.

She listened attentively.

"When in costume outside my house or the Baxter building it's 'Spider-Man,'" she looked at him once again with a deadpan expression causing him to add, "..Or Spidey… webhead, webs, wallcrawler, slinger…you get the gist," he said to her, "Just not webster," he hated that name.

"Fine, Spiderman-"

"Spider-Man," he corrected, "There's a hyphen between 'Spider' and 'Man," he said to her.

She glared at him.

"There's going to be a space if you keep talking," she said as she withdrew her claws.

Despite the fact that his spider-sense wasn't going off, he was still terrified.

"Spi-Spiderman is fine," he quickly corrected as he looked at her claws.

That's what she thought.

"Now are we going or not?" she impatiently said as she put on her helmet and roared her motorcycle once more.

"You ready?" he asked her as he tilted his head in excitement.

She nodded.

He grinned at that, he's kept the people of New York waiting for too long.

"It's showtime."