The next morning, Peter got right to work in his new lab. Granted, most of the time he spent was more about getting set up and making sure things were working properly, but that didn't stop the exciting feeling that sent adrenaline coursing through his veins. He couldn't believe that this was actually happening; after so many years, it felt like this dream would never become a reality, yet here he was.

The biggest thing he focused on as he got underway was safety. He'd spent a large chunk of the last day or two reading through the long list of requirements the city needed him to meet in order for him to even get up and running at all, so he spent a large part of the day focused on that. He checked, double checked and even triple checked each major piece of equipment he set up to make sure that everything was installed correctly and had all the proper parameters in place. What he was working on didn't inherently warrant much risk compared to if he were working with chemicals or something that required a ton of power, but if it meant keeping the city's officials off his case, it was more than worth the effort to him.

Once all the major components he'd managed to acquire were already in place, Peter brought out a few personal things he'd brought along. He pulled out a sign Mary Jane had bought for him that read, "Keep Out: Genius at Work," searching for just the right place to hang it up, eventually finding a spot on the wall not too far from the entrance. He then took out a few pictures of him and M.J, him and May, even one of Flash and him from graduation, one he'd chosen specifically as a reminder of why it was that he was doing this.

Peter finally came to the last picture in the box, slowly reaching up and taking it out. It was one of him and Eddie from the night they'd won an award for one of the stories they'd worked on together almost two years ago. He found himself just staring at it for several seconds, seemingly unable to move at the bittersweet memories the image presented. It was hard for him to believe the path that Eddie had gone down that led to him becoming Venom, perhaps the greatest enemy he'd ever faced. He contemplated putting the picture back in the box, but finally opted against this, setting it in a free spot on what would be his primary work area with the other pictures.

Even now, he still had to believe that his friend had come back.

With the personal touches complete, Peter, having still a few hours left in the day before he intended to leave, began playing around with some things while conducting some research to see what additional materials he may require. He'd only developed a loose idea of what he believed could work, having had to split his focus in several directions just to get ready for this day while still completing his time at the Bugle to really build on his initial thoughts. The main thing was that he knew that he was going for a new kind of implant, one that relied on as little technology as it could. Granted, he would likely need some supplemental mechanical materials, but he primarily hoped to use organic matter as much as possible.

At one point, Peter glanced at the time, realizing that he might have lost track of it due to getting lost in his research. He saw that it was already just after six o'clock, meaning he had indeed been there later than intended. He hurriedly shut things down for the night before packing up what he needed to, but before he shut the door behind him, he turned and glanced back at his new workspace, taking in its reality one more time before shutting the door and locking it behind him.


Completing the check in process, Peter made his way to the room that held Eddie's containment chamber. He made his way in the room, finding his friend in the same state he'd been in for quite a while now: lying unconscious and seemingly no closer to rejoining the world any time soon. Granted, Peter was aware that this could change at any moment, for better or worse. It was hard not to be at least partially tense every time he entered, knowing what resided within Eddie's body, but if that day indeed came, he would be ready. He had to be.

"Hey man," Peter spoke up lightly. "I, uh, I started up my own lab today. I wish I could show you; it's not much right now, but it's a lot more than I would've even allowed myself to dream about a few years ago. Mary Jane got me a nice little sign to hang up in there that says, 'Genius at Work'. I can totally picture you buying one just like it and the two of you going back and forth on which one I should use. Spoiler alert: you would have still lost, but I'm sure I would have found some use for it."

He was met with only silence, and Peter let out a heavy sigh.

"I'm sorry," he spoke up again. "I'm sorry that this happened to you, and I'm sorry for my part in it. I guess I'm just hoping that one day, we'll both get a second chance."

Peter then heard the door to the room open; he turned, expecting to find one of the doctors entering. Instead, the priest he'd seen the other day started to come in before pausing as the two of them locked eyes.

"I'm sorry; I didn't know anyone else was in here."

"It's okay," Peter said. "You can go ahead and come in if you want; I probably won't be much longer anyway."

The man silently agreed, closing the door behind him and walking up alongside Peter, the two of them remaining silent for a time, both seemingly focused on the one in front of them.

"He came to the church one night," the man suddenly spoke up. "He clearly needed help, but I was late to getting home to see my family. I told him that he needed to make an appointment for a confession, which is our policy, but looking back, I...it was just an excuse, a selfish excuse."

The man then gave a sniff before continuing.

"I apologize; I just haven't talked about this too much," the man apologized.

"It's okay," Peter assured him.

"All this had led me to question a lot of things," the man said. "I've been praying every day for God to forgive me, and for him to free Eddie from the monster inside of him. I wish I could do more, but it's all I can think of right now."

"Yeah," Peter replied, turning back to his friend. "I guess it is."


After that, Peter went out for his evening patrol. He intended only to do a quick swing through to make sure no major crisis was going on that required his attention. While it had been a good day, it had also been long, and he really wanted to get back home to see Mary Jane. He had no idea how long the honeymoon phase of marriage was typically supposed to last, but he and his wife still seemed to have a very, very strong case of it.

All seemed well when, out of nowhere, Peter caught sight of a shady-looking vehicle pulling into an alley. Perhaps it was stereotypical of him to think of a big and black car as "shady," but history had proven that it tended to be a stereotype for a reason. Changing direction, he landed on a rooftop just in time to see the vehicle actually turn from the alley into a large building through a garage door, which all but confirmed in his mind that something illegal was going on. Finding his usual means of eavesdropping, Peter popped open the entrance to the ventilation unit in the building, and it wasn't long before he found who he was looking for.

Waiting patiently, Peter listened and observed what he could. It soon became clear to him that this was some kind of money laundering operation. One party of those in question appeared to be selling some big-ticket items, such as luxury cars, and they even were making agreements over land rights. Deciding to try something out, Peter dropped out of the shaft and onto the floor, making his entrance.

"Excuse me," he spoke up, getting their attention. "I'm sorry, I think I must've made a wrong turn at some point, but I'm curious, can anyone jump in on this?"

In response, nearly every man in the room went for their guns.

"Okay, guess that answers that," Peter said. He then webbed away the guns of the two individuals closest to him, leaping and running along the wall ahead of the gunfire of the others. Eventually finding an opening, Peter dropped back down, kicking two guys at once and sending them flying in opposite directions, their bodies slamming into a wall and a car. He then moved onto the rest, swiftly dispatching them like the veteran superhero he was, hardly breaking a sweat in the process.

Once he had taken out everyone in the room, Peter surveyed all that was around him. Fancy cars and other expensive items were a lot more physical evidence than what he was used to seeing. He thought back to the detective he'd met the other night; normally, he'd just leave a note for the police, sometimes making an anonymous call if necessary, but this just felt like something that she might be able to use.

Taking his chances, Peter took out her card and, after making sure that his number would be properly hidden, dialed it.

"Detective Lee," the lady answered.

"Hey," Peter replied. "It's your new partner. I think I found something that you might be interested in."

"Where are you?" she asked.

Peter gave her the location, as well as some of the details of what he'd found. She assured him that she was on her way and, sure enough, she arrived not even ten minutes later. Having webbed up and left all the criminals outside the place, the area was now free to inspect.

"I'm glad to know that you weren't just pranking me when you gave me that card the other night," Peter said as the woman began her inspection. She didn't respond, clearly not wanting to be disturbed. The detective eventually came to the cars, examining the plates in particular.

"Well, if these plates are any indication, your theory just might be right," she spoke up.

"So, it is a money laundering operation?" Peter questioned

"It certainly has the appearance of one," the detective replied. "Selling really high-end stuff like this, paying in cash, it all adds up."

"You can use this then?" Peter asked, a glimmer of hope in his tone.

"Maybe," the detective answered, somewhat killing his hopes. "Since this operation was stopped by a vigilante, it's fifty-fifty on whether any charges will stick. The good news however is that we should hopefully be able to keep all this stuff long enough to be able to trace where it might have come from. The money here is the real prize; the department has been trying to sniff out a money laundering operation going on for a while now. With any luck, we can trace this back to its source, or at least one of them."

"This is probably connected to the drug operation going on too," Peter assured her.

"It's possible, yes," the woman responded. "On the surface, that operation seems to be run by a different crime group, but that doesn't rule out the possibility of one person controlling both, plus who knows what else."

"Looks like this little partnership just might work out after all," Peter said, holding up his hand for a high five. The detective just looked at him, and he soon put it back down.

"One piece of advice: next time, try and call me before you bust up one of these things," she said, gesturing to the area around them.

"I just thought that me taking the brunt of all their gunfire and stuff would be a good thing," Peter replied, "since, you know, I'm really fast and stuff."

"True, but I'm able to make it look a lot more like a typical anonymous tip or something if you let me know as a crime is happening instead of after, since, you know, that's mostly what regular people do," the detective countered.

"Okay, you got me there," Peter said.

"Anyway," she continued, "since you're not a paid employee by the city, why don't you go ahead and get out of here? I can have reinforcements here in minutes to take care of all this stuff. Plus, it might be better if you let me handle any questions."

He kind of felt bad to leave her with everything, but at the same time, home did sound great, plus Peter knew she was right about the reinforcements. He opted to take her up on it, starting to head out.

"And Spider-Man..."

Peter turned back to her.

"...just for the record, nice work."


Even as Hammerhead came into the office, Tombstone didn't take his eyes off his computer as he continued to work.

"What is it?"

"I just got a call from one of our guys on this inside at the police station," Hammerhead explained. "He claims that the cops might be onto our money laundering operation specifically."

"Onto us how?" Tombstone asked, seeking clarification.

"Spider-Man busted up one of our major deals earlier this evening," Hammerhead answered. "The cops impounded everything. Our guys says that the charges may not be likely to stick, but it's put a few of the more fervent ones down there on our trail."

"Does he believe we can buy them off?" Tombstone questioned, still typing away.

"Some of them maybe," Hammerhead replied, "but he knows there's at least one for sure we won't."

Tombstone let out a sigh, finally pausing his work.

"Is everything in place for you to carry out your plan?" he asked, finally locking eyes with his second in command.

"It's already been set up, boss," the man explained. "The boys in blue just need to be pointed in the right direction."

"Very well, you may proceed," Tombstone said. "But Hammerhead, this is a big gamble you are taking. I hope that you are prepared to face the consequences if things go south."

"Don't worry, boss," Hammerhead said, his confidence seemingly not shaken in the least. "This will all be handled soon."


Hope you're still enjoying it!

Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!

"so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him." Hebrews 9:28