Chapter 46: Reclaim

I love the word "ostensibly". It describes most things Peter says.

So . . . I am sorry for the two month wait. Coming up with an ending has been hard. Not to mention I finally went through that thing in grad school where it turns out that your current thesis won't work so you have to shift gears. And even though that's just the way the science works, you just feel guilty that it failed. That you failed.

Also, this is the first ever chapter to be beta read! Thank you to the future MoonstoneCatBlanc for your honesty!

Peter had asked for Ava to be the one to accompany him back home. Ostensibly, he just wanted someone there to break the tension with May without the entire team crowding around. A safe and quiet time. Thus Sam was not an option. And Danny's powers were still unsettling Peter, so he couldn't go either. And Luke, while understanding, just didn't know as much about Peter's situation.

This seemed reasonable to Ava even though she knew the real reason she was chosen.

He wanted to bring Phoebe out the moment he got home. And maybe he wanted to talk more about the hunt or some other spider related things. Or maybe he wouldn't want to bring up the hunt again. Maybe it was only Ava who wanted to discuss it more.

That seemed a lot more likely.

No, wait, she wasn't going to try to predict what he wanted to talk about this time. She'd made that mistake before and she wasn't going to do it again.

When they entered the Parker household, Peter immediately took a deep inhale. Ava understood. With enhanced senses, the smell of home was a lot more powerful. Not to mention that underground facilities always had a stale, lifeless scent to them. That must have been annoying, smelling the same nothingness day in and day out.

"I'm going to start dinner now. Any requests?" May asked as she placed her keys on the hallway table.

"Isn't it a bit early?" Peter asked.

"I'm making the whole thing from scratch to celebrate you being home. Oh, and I almost forgot, I made some wheat cakes this morning." She bustled off to the kitchen and returned with a platter of wheat cakes piled high. "Here you go, dear. Snack on these while I cook."

Peter happily took two, one in each hand, humming in delight. "I would tell you not to go through all this trouble, but I doubt you'll listen." He took a bite of both.

"You're no trouble at all, Peter. So, any requests? I stocked up on groceries last night. I'm thinking of a vegetarian lasagna and a turkey and some mashed potatoes and plenty of vegetables . . ."

"Well . . ." Peter finished chewing, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "Do you have pork or something? I'm not sure I'm in the mood for turkey . . ."

May's mouth formed a small 'o' shape. "Oh, of course. I'm sorry, sweetheart, I didn't even think—"

"Don't worry, it's fine! I'm sorry! It's not a huge deal! It's just—"

"No, I'll fix this. I have some pork ribs already seasoned. I'll just get something else for tomorrow and I can donate the turkey."

Peter frowned. "Please don't make a big change for me. It's really not a big deal. I love your turkeys!"

May shook her head. "I told you that you shouldn't relive any of that. Relax, it's not a problem at all. Go rest up." She patted his cheek and went back to the kitchen.

Ava watched her go, realizing that she had utterly failed to be the buffer between May and Peter as she was supposed to be. "Pete, you okay? Should I say anything to her?"

Peter stared resolutely at the floor. "No. Honestly, I do appreciate her changing the menu. I just wish she didn't word it that way."

Ava tried and failed to figure out what he was referring to. "Which part?"

"She keeps saying I shouldn't relive what happened at Taskmaster's, but—" He cut himself off, glancing at the doorway to the kitchen. He motioned for Ava to follow him up to his room. When they were upstairs, he continued. "Most things I did at Taskmasters were pretty normal. We talked, played games, heck, we even had meals together like it was one big messed up family!" He stopped at his closed door, leaning his head against the wood.

"So there's really no escaping reminders," Ava said.

"Nope."

"So what do you want to do about it?"

Peter didn't even hesitate. "I want to focus on Phoebe right now. I just need a moment to not be an internal mess."

Ava nodded silently. She didn't know how else to respond to that. Sure, they'd spent hours talking about his inner turmoil at this point, but to acknowledge it as a whole rather than to discuss the individual problems it consisted of . . . That seemed too big for words.

"Okay, I'm good now." Peter pushed the door open, took two steps in, and froze.

Was he taking another moment to calm down? Did something look out of place? Was Phoebe telling him something? The room was dead silent, and Ava felt very much out of the loop.

And then Peter took a fighting stance and let out a loud and prolonged hiss.

Ava jumped at the suddenness, crouching down to a fighting stance too. What was wrong? Was he noticing something that she wasn't? Was Taskmaster here? What was it?!

The answers came out of the woodwork. Quite literally.

The walls were suddenly dotted with spiders. There were several dozens of them crawling out from corners and crevices, from shelves and furniture. Most were tiny, the common types of jumping spiders, but some were a good inch or two long.

Peter turned slowly, still hissing at the small mass of spiders. When he turned enough, Ava could see his mouth was open, fangs completely bared.

Okay, yeah, maybe his hiss could match her growl in terms of intimidation when he did it right.

The spiders began to move towards the window, door, and other exits. Once Peter was apparently satisfied that they were leaving, he stalked over to the closet and flung the door open, grabbing Phoebe before repeating the hiss at however many other spiders might be in there.

Phoebe crawled out of his grip and climbed up to hug his neck, waving her front legs in a way Ava had come to understand meant she was excited.

"Are you okay, Phoebe?" Peter asked quietly now. "Did they hurt you?"

Ava kind of doubted that any of those spiders could have hurt Phoebe. She was easily about a hundred times their size. But she was still a baby, and many spider species were cannibals, so the worry was reasonable.

"Is everything okay up there?" May called up from the first floor.

Peter whipped around to look at Ava, eyes wide and afraid. His mouth moved as if to say something, but maybe he was out of excuses for once.

"Everything's fine!" Ava yelled back to May, hoping she didn't ask for an explanation.

"Are you sure? I thought I heard a hiss!" Her footsteps creaked towards the stairs.

"Pete just stubbed his toe!" Ava blurted out. "He was rushing!"

"Okay, please be more careful, dear! I would like you to stay safe for at least one full day!" May's footsteps retreated.

Ava let out a breath. She hadn't thought that would work.

Peter leaned against the wall and sank to the floor. His eyes were still as wide as saucers. "Thank you," he whispered. "I don't—I don't know what came over me. They were all screaming at me. They were threatening me. And Phoebe. I—" He started breathing quickly, possibly on the brink of a panic attack.

"It's fine! It's okay!" Ava entered, stepping over some stragglers and shutting the door. "Those are entirely reasonable reasons to scare them away! I'm sorry that I never noticed all those spiders! I didn't even think to search your room for invading spiders." It wasn't an excuse. It was a simple fact. Peter had only been gone a few days. Where had all those spiders come from?

"I don't blame you. They were hidden." Peter took a couple of deep breaths. "They thought this was, like, prime spider real estate because I lived here and always had crickets. They thought I was gone for good and they could just take over my room." His gaze flickered down to Phoebe. "They tried to get into Phoebe's Jungle Box to steal her food."

Ava gasped softly. "I'm so sorry. I never saw spiders by her terrarium."

Peter shook his head. "Phoebe says they never got close. Another spider was fighting them off. Phoebe, could you tell me which spider protected you? I want to thank them."

And suddenly Peter was giggling.

Ava stood there patiently and awkwardly, waiting for the giggles to subside before she could be in on the joke.

At least she was the only one here. She was certain that Peter would have grabbed Phoebe regardless of who else was in the room. Also, anyone else would probably think he was a little insane if they saw this.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Peter said at last, struggling to get rid of his smile. "It's just that Phoebe named this other spider Charlotte despite how much she hates the name. It was only because she let the spider pick. It's—I'm sorry, it's a bit of an inside joke."

He was right. Ava didn't fully understand it, but she smiled anyway. "So this Charlotte kept the other spiders away from Phoebe?"

"Yeah. Hold on, a moment. Phoebe, did I scare Charlotte away too? Do you know where she is?" A pause. "Really? Are you sure I didn't scare her away? Are you—Did I scare you too?" His smile disappeared as he began biting his lip. His fangs were still longer than usual.

Ava opened her mouth to say that it was fine because Peter had done it to protect Phoebe, but then she remembered that he was asking Phoebe and not her. For all she knew, Phoebe was giving a reply better than Ava's.

Finally, Peter let out a sigh of relief. "That's good. I mean, I wouldn't blame you if you were scared. Frankly, I scared myself."

Ava joined him on the floor and lightly punched his shoulder. "Let's be real here. You weren't that scary. I'm still way better at intimidation."

Peter refused to look at her. "I saw the way you reacted," he admitted quietly.

"I was startled, not scared. There's a difference. I thought you had sensed a real threat."

He shifted uncomfortably. "I keep overreacting to nothing."

Oh no. Ava had managed to say something bad again. "I'm not saying you overreacted. I meant that I thought you had sensed a threat that you needed my help to fight. Having a bunch of spiders take over your room is a threat too, especially since I know you wouldn't be willing to squish them. And you said they were yelling at you. Imagine dealing with that on a daily basis. You did the right thing."

Phoebe climbed up to the top of Peter's head, leaving him free to hug his knees to his chest. "That—I don't—Is this what it's like to be territorial?"

Ava hummed thoughtfully, thinking back to her early adolescence when her room became totally off limits to her family except by invitation only. It wasn't because she was doing anything secret. It was because her dad let her use the amulet more, and tigers began to stake out their territory at that age. "That depends. Did you do it because all those spiders were in your room, or because Phoebe was in danger? What were you feeling?"

Peter's brow furrowed. "Um . . . maybe a mix of both? Like, I was thinking: 'how dare all these spiders try to steal my room?'. But I was also thinking: 'Phoebe! Phoebe! Must protect Phoebe!'. It . . . well, the first one sounds weird. Wrong. It made me so angry. But I can't—I can't tell why . . ." Tears began forming in his eyes.

"Neither of those are wrong. Who wouldn't be upset that their room was practically stolen from them? And who wouldn't want to protect precious little Phoebe?" Ava reached up to pat Phoebe on the head. She was getting better at making contact with spiders without flinching.

"How do you feel when you're territorial?"

"Mostly angry," she admitted. "It depends on who invades my space. If it's anyone on the team, then I'm more annoyed. For anyone else then I have to remind myself not to growl. Another cat has never tried to take my room though. But I always wondered what it would be like to have a pet cat. Would I accept their presence? Or would I always consider it trespassing?" She said that part casually, as if it were merely an interesting question, but deep down she was afraid that she wouldn't be as accommodating as Peter was to Phoebe.

That made Peter perk up slightly. "I know someone who can give you a cat to see if you can share."

"Someone's giving away kittens?" She shouldn't get her hopes up. Tigers, like most Big Cats, weren't great with adoption.

"Sort of. Felicia has way more cats than her apartment can handle."

"Felicia? As in, Black Cat Felicia?" Ava had read Amadeus's full report which included a first name for the mysterious and infuriating cat burglar.

"You're still angry at her for getting away?" Peter asked, giving her a concerned sidelong look.

Ava noticed that she had automatically bared her teeth at the name, even though her amulet wasn't active to give her full fangs. She closed her mouth. "That's only part of it now, Pete. I may be glad she saved you in the end, but during the ambush . . ." She growled, allowing it for Peter's sake.

"Oh. What happened?"

"Cat fight."

"Oh," Peter said like he understood, but Ava could tell he only half understood. No boy could truly understand, especially not one as kind as him. "Well, if you don't want a kitten from her, then maybe you can hang out with Zabu once he's done with basic training. He's the saber toothed tiger I told you about."

Ah yes, Zabu, whom she hadn't met yet as the Fury from her nightmare had pointed out. Ava decided to change the topic. "It's fine. Anyway, Phoebe must be glad to have her Speter back."

Peter turned to her, shocked. "How did you know?!"

Ava smiled devilishly. "How else? Phoebe only writes your name out the one way. I think it's rather cute that she has a nickname for you. And I really like the fact that she called me Ava Tiger. If I didn't need to keep my identity a secret, I would change my name to that."

Phoebe smiled with her mandibles.

"Yeah, well, that nickname is reserved solely for Phoebe," Peter said. "And Charlotte too, I guess, since Phoebe probably told her the same thing."

"Oh, so it's exclusive to your spider friends?"

"Because no one else can hear them say it. You're lucky Phoebe told you."

Ava raised an eyebrow. "She told me everyone's nicknames. Bucket Sam, Danny Fist, and Luke Power. Phoebe is a genius with nicknames."

"She learned from the best." Peter winked up at Phoebe.

"Sure, let's say she did." Ava rolled her eyes.

Peter did not take the bait to start a friendly argument. "Well, this was not the homecoming I had imagined."

Ava sighed softly. "Me neither. I wish I had known so I could run some pest control before you came."

"It's fine. I don't even know how anyone else could have managed to do it so quickly and without pesticides."

"Fair point. You should start a business." She held up her hands, palms out as if presenting a headline. "Got a million spiders in your house, or a supervillain in your bank? Just call Spider-Man's Pest Control!"

Peter did laugh at that, which might be a good sign or might be a mood swing. Ava was just glad to hear him laugh.

Things were quiet after that. Ava wondered if Peter just wanted to relax in silence for a while, but then he let out a small, frustrated whine.

"I—I—no, Phoebe, you can, but I—no," Peter said petulantly.

"What's she asking?" Ava asked.

"She wants me to go upside down with her. Like, on a silk strand."

Ava was going to reply, 'Go ahead', but then changed her mind. "And why are you avoiding that?"

Peter opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, bit his lip, realized he was biting his lip, closed it one more time, then spoke. "I . . . don't know . . . It just . . . I start avoiding things like that whenever I feel like I've been acting too spidery lately."

"But you've had a tough weekend. Why not cut yourself some slack?" She honestly was having some trouble understanding this. Being upside down made him feel safer, and Ava knew that if she'd been kidnapped she would want to feel as safe as possible afterwards.

He shook his head. "I was doing spidery things all weekend. I shouldn't now."

Either Ava was really bad at understanding today, or Peter wasn't making any sense. "You were also doing board games and having group dinners. You said you want to reclaim all these things. Why not your spidery stuff too?"

"Because then it's too much spidery stuff."

Now that she had heard before from him. "Do you still feel like you have an allotment of how spidery you can act in a week?"

"No! Well, sort of . . . but also . . ." Peter glanced up at the ceiling with a mix of longing at distrust. "Taskmaster and Tandy cornered me in the bathroom after I b—bit Amadeus. I was freaking out from guilt and fear, and I climbed up to stay away from everyone, but then . . . I got stuck. I tried to come down so Tandy wouldn't be forced to use her powers on me, but I couldn't. I couldn't unstick because I was so afraid . . ."

Oh. "I'm sorry, that sounds terrible." It did. She couldn't imagine being trapped by your own fear like that. "But . . . this isn't the same. You're going upside down just to feel a little better and make Phoebe happy. There's nothing for you to fear coming down, and if you do get stuck, I am more than capable of pulling you down." She flexed her muscles and her claws. Or she tried with the claws. She only got retractable claws when the amulet was active.

Peter considered this. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm letting Taskmaster take that from me too."

Ava paused to consider which way she should take this. On one hand, she still remembered Peter being angry at her for suggesting he should allow himself to act more spidery. But on the other hand, climbing and being upside down really were his things, and Taskmaster shouldn't take away any part of Peter. "Yeah, if you want to take back family dinners, then you can take this back too."

"Well . . . okay, I sort of could use something calming after the spider infestation. Ready, Phoebe? Hold on." Peter moved into a crouch, then jumped straight to the ceiling before lowering himself down on a single strand. Phoebe stayed securely on top of his head the whole time.

"How's it feel?" Ava asked, then realized that maybe three seconds was way too soon to ask such a question.

"Not bad," Peter answered anyway. He closed his eyes and tilted his head to sway softly. "It's nice. It's . . . definitely not the same as what happed at Taskmaster's."

Ava breathed a small sigh of relief. "Good."

"Do you girls want to tell me more about what you were up to while I was away?"

Ava looked at Phoebe, apparently sharing a smile if the curve of her mandibles were any indication. "Would Phoebe like to do the honors?"

"Sort of, yeah."

"Okay, but let me know when she's done. I have a couple things to say too."

So Ava laid back while Peter stayed upside down, listening to Phoebe's story.

Luke started on his second helping of everything and glanced down the table at Peter again.

The night had started off well. Once Luke and the rest of the team had arrived, they all had a simple conversation in the living room as they waited for dinner to be ready. The topics were purposefully light: the latest celebrity drama, any new episodes of shows Peter had missed, and the newest pictures from the James Webb telescope.

Sometimes it was good that Peter was such a nerd, because he never forgot his troubles more than when he was geeking out over something.

But once dinner started, the mood shifted ever so slightly. Peter began to lose focus on the conversation, zoning out from time to time. This did not go unnoticed, and so an unease spread to the others. Mostly it was awkwardness, because one can only reiterate a question so many times before you start to feel self-conscious. Luke knew no one blamed Peter for that. They all understood that he had every right to be preoccupied. No, the true unease came from how May stared at Peter when he was lost in his own thoughts.

If there was one guilty pleasure Luke could be accused of, it was his mini obsession with home improvement shows. Not the ones that fixed things, but the ones that redecorated for no reason. They were useless and ridiculous and Luke loved to laugh at the crazy designs that the homeowners were forced to accept due to their contracts with the show. All those types of shows had one thing in common: the beginning sequence where they showed the home as it was, and the host walked around, staring at everything criticizingly, deciding exactly how they would remodel it all.

Maybe it was Luke's imagination, but that's how he thought May was looking at her nephew: wondering how to improve him.

And just like those home improvement shows, Luke wasn't sure if he would consider them 'improvements'.

Peter finished his second glass of juice as he stared absently out the dining room window.

"Would you like something else to drink, Peter, dear?" May asked, saying his name slightly louder so he would notice.

Peter blinked back to reality, glancing at May and then at his glass. "Oh, um, I guess I can just take water or something."

"I bought your favorite soda."

"Uh, okay, that sounds good."

The bottle was passed down the table and soon enough Peter was taking a sip of his favorite soda and swallowing it quickly as his eyes teared slightly.

"Are you okay, sweetie?"

"I'm fine. Really, I'm fine. Can I—um—get some more lasagna, please?"

Luke gulped down the last of his soda. "I'll have some juice then."

"So will I," Sam declared.

Peter gave them both a small smile.

Dinner continued relatively peacefully after that. Peter's half full glass of soda did not go unnoticed, though. Luke was not alone in rushing Peter back to the living room in order to avoid May's questioning stare.

Yes, Peter deserved peace with his aunt, but he had made it clear yesterday that he didn't know what that peace would entail yet. So Luke would make sure the issue was avoided until everyone was ready for it.

Sweet Christmas. Months ago, when the team was still staying at the Parker residence, they had all thought Peter was the luckiest kid in the world with someone like May taking care of him. They'd all stolen a bit more than their fair share of 'May time'.

Now they were avoiding her. Oh how the tables turn.

Or how the turn tables.

Peter's terrible sense of humor was rubbing off on him.

"So what do you want to do, now?" Ava asked. "If you don't want to play games, we can watch a movie or something."

"I don't know. What would we even watch?" Peter said as he traced a hand over the bookcase where May kept all the entertainment supplies. "And I don't want to rule out games just because . . . just because."

Ava had whispered to the team quickly and quietly when they first arrived here that Peter was trying to reclaim the fundamental family activities that Taskmaster had his prisoners do. Luke was all for helping Peter get through it. And with something like this? Luke wasn't going to rush him, but he understood if Pete wanted to rip the Band-Aid off sooner rather than later.

"Perhaps charades?" Danny suggested.

Peter shook his head.

"Family feud?" Ava chipped in.

He shook his head harder.

"Monopoly?" Luke tried to guess a game Taskmaster wouldn't have had.

A pause, but then another shake of the head.

"Uno." Sam threw the pack of cards dramatically on the coffee table. "With the rules of no mercy."

Peter stared at the cards. "Okay, we can at least start off with a best of two out of three."

They were forced to do six rounds to determine a winner because 'no mercy' rules in this house meant that all special cards could be countered and piled up with as many 'draw 2's as possible. And they played with two and half packs, so there were plenty of special cards.

In one game, Ava's tactics paid off and she reached Uno first while all the guys had about twenty cards each. In the next game, a lucky break left her to pick up sixteen. Peter made sure to sit to Sam's left so that he could reverse most things back onto Sam. Danny played 'fairly', only using his special cards in retaliation. Luke usually ended up using tactics intermittently, knowing that he should save up his special cards for an ultimate win, but being too tempted to start up the chain of 'draw-two's that happened at least once a game.

By the second round, they were all yelling at each other about foul plays. It was all in good fun though. Any and all outrage they presented here was fake. Mostly.

There was nothing quite like the feeling of betrayal when someone put down a wild card, looked straight at you and your two cards left, and then called out the one color you did not have.

That was why, in the end, either Sam or Ava usually won because they were the most ruthless. This time Ava was victorious, and she rubbed it in their faces appropriately.

When they were done, the night was still young, so Peter suggested they switch over to playing Mario Brothers. He'd specifically modded his game so that a fifth character could be added, making the line-up Mario, Luigi, Toad, Princess Peach, and Princess Daisy.

Peter had claimed he added her because she wasn't seen enough in the games, but the real reason was that her tendency to gloat in Mario Kart made her his favorite character.

One of the only times Peter gloated outside of his Spidey suit was when he was demolishing the team in Mario.

Now, playing a platform game like Mario with four players was hard enough. Adding another and giving her the ability to laugh mockingly whenever she caused another player's death?

It was complete and utter chaos.

To say that they argued would be an understatement. The neighbors could probably hear them, and if they could, they might assume a war was happening inside the house.

As it neared midnight, May came in before they started the next level. "Well," she said. "I'm glad everyone is having a good time, if betraying each other in Mario can count as a good time." She smiled knowingly.

"It is quite a blast," Danny confirmed.

"Or it would be if someone stopped throwing me off of cliffs," Sam muttered, causing Peter to giggle.

"Wonderful! Then I'll leave you kids to play the night away, but these old bones aren't happy with all-nighters anymore. I'm off to bed. Goodnight, everyone." She ruffled Peter's hair. "Goodnight, sweetie."

"Night, May," everyone echoed.

When May was gone, Peter didn't start the next level right away. "If you guys are tired, then don't stay up just because of me."

"We're fine," Luke said. Maybe he was a bit tired, but he could hold on for several more hours.

"I slept for practically a whole day while you all were working overtime," Peter countered.

"We're fine," Ava said more firmly.

"Is everyone fine?" Peter looked at Danny and Sam.

"I slept in, so I'm good," Sam answered.

"You do not need to worry about us," Danny added. "We would tell you if we needed rest."

Peter nodded begrudgingly. "Okay, fine. It's just . . . I want to invite MJ and Harry over tomorrow, and I was hoping you'd all come too."

Luke's eyebrows rose. "Already?"

"Well, now that MJ knows I'm Spider-Man, I'm sure she has a bunch of questions. But if I invite her, then I have to invite Harry or else he'll think I'm playing favorites. And with only MJ knowing everything it'll get awkward real fast, so it'd be nice if you were all there to smooth things out."

"But what if MJ lets something slip in front of Harry? Do you really want to risk that?" Ava asked.

"I'll talk to her alone afterwards. I know she'll wait until then. I trust her."

Luke considered if that was realistic. MJ was extremely nosy, and her enthusiasm the other day made it hard to believe that she could hold out for so long. Then again, she had suspected Peter was Spider-Man for a long while and hadn't confronted him before. Maybe she would wait, especially if he asked her to.

"If you trust MJ, then we do as well," Danny said, mirroring Luke's thoughts. "Though I must ask if you are willing to talk to them so soon. Conversation may become difficult with both."

"I know. But it won't get any easier no matter how much time passes. Besides, I'm . . . Well, I'm nervous about MJ mostly." Peter bit his lip. "I don't know what she's thinking about me, and I would like to tell her the truth before she develops her own story."

Ah, so that's what was bothering him the most. "When we spoke to her, it sounded like she was holding off on any conclusions until she spoke to you," Luke told him. "You know she's a fair journalist. And you're her friend. She's not going come up with any crazy conspiracies about you."

Peter bit his lip harder. "She doesn't have to. The truth is bad enough."

Ava frowned. "Stop saying that! The truth is not bad!"

Peter's ears burned red. "But—I wanted—I was going to—"

"You wanna ask her out," Sam finished for him. "The answer is still: it doesn't matter."

Peter's ears went redder. "I didn't say that!" he exclaimed, his voice pitched much higher than usual. He cleared his throat. "I mean, even if I did, what if she doesn't want to date a human hybrid?"

The team exchanged knowing looks.

"Pete." Luke put a hand on Peter's shoulder. "I think we all know that's not gonna be a problem."

"We don't know that!" Peter insisted.

"We kind of do," Ava said, smirking.

The blush was spreading past Peter's ears. "How?! What did she say? What did you guys talk about when I wasn't here?!"

"Some things do not need to be discussed to be known," Danny replied with a small smirk.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "I bet that the moment Harry's gone, she's gonna sweep you off your feet and say 'Oh, Peter, you beautiful, spidery man!'" He grabbed a pillow off of the sofa to mime the motion, planting a big kiss on the fabric.

"That's it! I'm out!" Peter stood abruptly. "I'm gonna go, and when I get back this topic will be long forgotten!" He stalked out, and eventually the door to the bathroom could be heard slamming shut.

Luke looked at the others. "Did we take it too far?"

"Actually, I believe it helped him, just a little, at least," Danny said.

"He wanted normalcy, and we gave it to him," Ava said. Then she pointed at Sam. "You, however, are not normal."

Sam put a hand to his chest in mock offense. "I just said it how it is!"

After several minutes, Peter did come back, and he looked calmer and vengeful. "Alright, next level. I'm going to kill all of you."

Phoebe wriggled happily when Speter next let her out of her Jungle Box. He smiled at her as he lifted her out, although he felt tired. It wasn't a sleepy kind of tired. Phoebe was learning the different types of tired, and Speter was often the 'stressed' kind of tired. Phoebe wasn't entirely sure what 'stress' was yet, but for Speter it usually meant that he was thinking a lot of things that made him angry and sad and worried at the same time.

Hm, wasn't that sort of how Phoebe felt whenever Speter was hurt or taken?

Yay! Phoebe was learning!

She smiled back up at Speter to help him feel better.

"Hey, Phoebe. Sorry it's so late. I had to catch up with my friends, but now I'm all yours for the rest of the night." He set her down on one end of his bed and flopped down on the other, causing Phoebe to bounce and giggle.

And behind the words, in a soft message that would have easily went unheard if it had been vocal, she overheard thoughts that could be translated into: Regret. Phoebe needs more time. But Team Friends helped more than expected.

It okay. Phoebe joy Speter okay. She crawled over his disheveled sheets to stick onto his cheek.

Speter gently rubbed her back with one finger, earning a purr. "We can play with your toys if you like. But if you don't mind, I'd like to just lay here for a bit." Missed this. So happy.

Okay! And Phoebe friend come soon. Speter teach Phoebe friend play too?

"Oh, I can finally meet your mysterious protector? Cool. And sure, we can try, but if they don't want to play then we can't force them." Thank goodness for Phoebe Protector.

Okay, yay! Phoebe went over to Speter's chest to check if he was purring. He was. Good. Joy.

They lay there in silence for some time. Phoebe didn't quite understand how to read clocks yet. She understood that the numbers meant time and that subtraction helped you find out how much time, but it was still so weird to her. Sometimes thirty minutes passed and Speter had barely started her lessons. Then other times thirty minutes passed and it felt like a whole day. She would ask Speter about that someday.

Also, they weren't exactly laying in silence. There were sounds from outside, and the sound of Speter's breathing, not to mention his thoughts were practically buzzing out of his head. Maybe Phoebe should try that 'privacy' he'd explained to her, but she was curious and he was thinking so loud.

Oh, so that's why Speter was so stressed. He'd bitten someone again. And he—he hunted?! Speter hunted a real chicken?! Phoebe was so excited to hear about that! But . . . but Speter was only a little excited. He was also sad and scared. Maybe he wanted to talk about it like he did with Kraven? Phoebe couldn't pretend like she understood everything, but Speter didn't understand either, and she did know how frustrating it could be to not understand.

Speter want unload? She encouraged.

Speter lifted his head so he could look at her. "I appreciate the offer, but I don't really want to make you worry." No. Not again. Not with joy.

Not with joy? What did that mean? Speter sure?

"Yes, I'm sure. I don't want you to . . . Wait a minute. You already know, don't you? Have you been reading my mind again?"

Phoebe curled in on herself, suddenly feeling that bad feeling Speter called 'guilt'. Phoebe not mean to . . .

"Hey, it's okay, I get it. It's just the way telepathy works. What do you know? We can talk about it if it's making you worried."

She knew she should probably start kindly and slowly, but she was way too curious. The first thought out of her mind was Speter hunted! Speter used venom for food! Speter cool!

Speter laid his head back, obscuring his face from view. Then he sat up, pulling Phoebe into his hands and looking her in the eyes. Seeing her eyes was important to him when they talked.

"Yeah, I hunted. And I had a feeling you would be happy to hear about it, but I don't know if I'm as happy about it." So good. So bad.

Well, Speter was happy about it. He was just unhappy about it too. Phoebe hadn't known you could feel both happy and unhappy at the same time. Speter had fun playing chicken game?

He chuckled. "I bet Adrien would call it the Chicken Game. But um . . . it's complicated. I—I—Yes, at the time I had fun, but the bad people weren't letting me feel things right, and I think that if I was feeling normally then I wouldn't have had fun." Fun. So fun. Taste so good.

Speter often thought differently than he spoke, but Phoebe had learned that he did it to protect her. He didn't want her to know the sadder things about life. Whenever he started avoiding a topic and his thoughts became serious, Phoebe knew to listen to his voice more than his head. This time, though, his thoughts were way less sad than his words. But Speter like Bug Game. And Speter won Chicken Game.

"Well, Adrien made the Chicken Game easy for me. It wasn't much of a challenge. Not that I wanted a challenge." Wish there was chase. Or web. Excitement.

If Phoebe had eyelids, she would have narrowed them. So Speter like Chicken Game.

"No! No, I just was okay with it at the time. That's all. I don't like it. I didn't like it. They made me like it. There's a difference." Peter don't like it. Peter like it. Peter hunt. Peter proud.

This was getting very confusing. But Speter like chicken. Phoebe knows.

"Sure, I like chicken when May makes it, but—"

No, Speter like hunt chicken. Why Speter not say truth?

"I'm—Of course I'm saying the truth. It's just complicated!" No, no, no!

But Speter thoughts happy. Why Speter not happy?

"My thoughts aren't—They're not—" Speter stopped, considering. "No. I'm not. I'm definitely not." Don't listen. Don't think it.

But Speter happy! Phoebe stamped each of her feet against Speter's hands. He never just ignored her like this! He always made sure to listen to what she had to say. If she was wrong, he explained what was really going on. But he wasn't even trying to explain anything here!

"You can't tell me how to feel. That's not nice." Stop the topic. Run away. Fight back. No more.

Speter happy! Phoebe knows!

"No I'm—" Speter's mind was working very fast. See Phoebe. See Phoebe's emotions. Know. Always know. Don't want to know. "Or maybe—maybe . . ." Wait. Calm. Phoebe sad. Stop. He sighed deeply. The wind ruffled Phoebe's hair. "I'm sorry, I don't think I'm ready to talk about this with you. I'm not ready to face what I'm really feeling. I'm sorry." Sorry. Bad. Bad Peter. He bowed his head, resting his forehead against Phoebe's.

She nuzzled him comfortingly, a little surprised by his sudden change of heart. It okay.

"No, it's not okay. Thinking about this gets me frustrated and then I was starting to take it out on you . . . I shouldn't be angry at you. None of this is your fault and you're only trying to help. I'm really sorry for raising my voice and saying you were wrong." Never hurt Phoebe. Bad Peter. Terrible.

It okay. Phoebe only want Speter be joy. Sure, she was a little upset he hadn't listened, but now he apologized. She didn't want him to feel bad for a temporary mistake.

Speter pulled back, looking away. "No, it's . . ." Horrible. Bad mentor. Bad bad bad.

It hard for Speter. No more unload.

Speter nodded. "Yeah, let's just put a raincheck on that. Although . . ." He groaned. "Seeing a therapist is gonna to be the worst." Speter thought a lot of things that he associated with several four-letter words, but he'd told Phoebe not to use those words.

Um . . . Phoebe was quiet for a moment, wondering what else they could do. Luckily, someone called her name. Joy! Phoebe friend here now!

"Good timing. Where are they?"

Phoebe pointed to the closet. Speter stood and opened the door. "Hello? Any nice spiders in here?"

Attaching a web line to Speter's hand first, Phoebe dropped down to her Jungle Box. Come! Speter no hurt. Speter welcome!

Welcome? The furry little brown spider came out from under the sleeve of an old sweater.

"Hello there!" Speter greeted quietly. "Are you Charlotte?"

Yes. Hello, Speter, Progenitor of Phoebe.

Charlotte didn't know as many words as Phoebe, but she did know more concepts, and Speter's thoughts could now translate those big concepts into equally big words.

"P—progenitor? Oh no, I'm not her dad! We're not related! I'm just taking care of her."

Guardian, then?

"Yeah, that works. And you guarded Phoebe too. I would like to thank you for that." Thank you thank you thank you. Speter almost offered his hand to shake, but then settled for bowing his head.

Charlotte followed his lead and bowed as well. Of course. I have cared for many of my own young, and it was a pleasure to protect such a nice spiderling.

Phoebe shuffled around. What was the word for this feeling? Maybe 'embarassed'.

"Phoebe is very nice." Speter ran a finger down her back. "Can I ask why you chose to protect her when all those other spiders just wanted to take over my room?"

Charlotte considered him. Speter does not know?

"I don't know a lot of things, especially about spiders, apparently."

Charlotte understand. See, spiders have their places in the Web. Most places are hunting, waiting, trapping. The Chasers and Weavers came to take Speter's space. Charlotte came to Mother. She paused. Well, Charlotte came to chase first, but came to Phoebe to mother.

"I think I understand. So that's why you're having a conversation with me? I think I talked to Weavers last time, and they just told me to go away." So rude.

Yes, Weavers avoid other spiders. Chasers sometimes friendly. Charlotte is a Chaser and a Mother.

"You're a wolf spider. You . . . you hold your children on your back. I'm sure you're very good mother."

Charlotte knows, she said as she projected how pleased she was with the compliment.

"So how can I thank you for protecting Phoebe?"

Thank? What thank?

Speter got that look on his face whenever he thought really hard. "To thank someone is to show how much you appreciate what they did. Sometimes saying 'thank you' is enough, but when it's big enough, usually you give them something or do something for them in return." Charlotte thanks. Must thank. Make happy. Help Charlotte.

Charlotte's head tilted. Hm, Charlotte didn't do much. Jungle Box protect Phoebe well. Charlotte only protect around Jungle Box, only protect Phoebe from fear, not threat.

"That still means a lot to me. I'm extremely glad that Phoebe wasn't scared." So glad. Fear bad. Want Phoebe never be afraid.

Phoebe smiled gratefully, which earned her a glance from Charlotte. Charlotte nor the other spiders had heard of smiles before. Phoebe supposed it was more of a human thing. It had taken a while to learn how to curl her pedipalps into the right shape, but it made Speter so happy when she did it.

Charlotte doesn't need much . . .

"Well, I can give you crickets. Heck, I can give you a lifetime supply of crickets. Or maybe protection in return? You're more than welcome to stay here in my room. Or . . . um . . . honestly, I don't know what else I can do for you, but if you have any ideas don't hesitate to ask."

Charlotte considered his offers. Can Charlotte care for Phoebe and Speter?

Speter blinked a few times. "Are you sure? Only Phoebe needs care right now. I can take care of myself. And this doesn't exactly seem like a way to thank you since it would give you more work to do."

Egg season over, and Charlotte ate last mate. Caring is something to do in cold season. Charlotte comes into house anyway in cold season.

"Oh." Speter seemed a little lost on how to react to that information. "Well, if that's what you want, sure. You can stay here. But really, you don't need to waste your time with me."

Charlotte had that same emotion Speter got when he raised only one eyebrow. Charlotte watched Speter go hunting at night. Never came back full. Never came back with food. Made Charlotte sad.

Speter frowned. "Hunting? Do you mean when I went out at night through my window? I wasn't hunting. I was going on patrol. I'm a superhero, which means I go out and protect people."

Mhm. And Speter never washes.

"What?! I do wash! I clean my room and I take showers and I brush my teeth!"

Those not proper wash. Water bad.

"When you're a small spider I'm sure water seems bad, but for me it's not a problem."

No, water bad for all spiders. Muffles senses. Rub legs and feel difference. Charlotte demonstrated the motion, rubbing her legs along her abdomen. She'd taught Phoebe the process last night, and it worked very well.

Speter still frowned, but now he was curious. "Alright, I'll try your method. Should I just rub my hands on my clothes then?"

Clothes not right. Speter have hairy hard parts?

"Not on me . . . oh, I know." He left for a moment, rummaging through his drawers, then returned, sitting cross-legged in the doorway to his closet. "Sam gave me a boar bristle brush for Christmas, and now I finally have a reason to use it." Funny. Ironic. Nice.

Charlotte guided him through the simple procedure. It wasn't complicated at all. You simply rubbed your limbs, scraping off any dirt that muffled vibrations.

Speter complained a little at first, saying that it felt weird. Charlotte told him that he would get used to it. After several minutes, he did, starting to brush up his arms too.

"That does sort of feel nice," Speter admitted. "What now?"

Now stop and wait for senses to settle.

Speter set the brush aside and did as he was told. His leg bounced whenever he waited impatiently, so Phoebe jumped onto his knee to have a bumpy ride. They laughed together for a bit before Speter abruptly went completely still.

Speter okay? Phoebe asked, sensing his worry.

His eyes were wide. "I think my senses settled," he said in a small whisper. "This isn't what I was expecting. This—it's so much. Too much. Too much feeling." Too much so loud not sound vibrations feeling too much like Taskmasters too much all around no trust bad things around—!

It proper feeling, Charlotte said patiently. Speter muffled whole time. Now free.

Speter shook his head once, then winced. "I think I prefer being muffled. I can't deal with—Eep!" He yelped when Phoebe patted his hand consolingly. She pulled back her leg immediately.

This wasn't good. Phoebe had never seen Speter this of upset before. How Speter fix problem? She asked Charlotte.

Charlotte not sure. Never tried on purpose. Maybe get dirty again? Charlotte never seen spider who didn't like clean.

Speter not spider, Phoebe said, and this time she thought she understood. Speter Speter.

She dropped from his knee to the floor, gathering some dust and trying to bring it up to Speter. He saw what she was doing and reached down to help her, but he moved very slowly, wincing and whimpering whenever he moved too fast.

It took some time, but finally his arms were covered enough again that Speter didn't seem overwhelmed anymore. He excused himself so he could wash the dirt off with water. Charlotte watched him go thoughtfully.

Spider not spider . . . she said pensively. Charlotte never met such thing.

Phoebe went to reply, then paused. She hadn't met many things at all, so everything was new to her. But out of the two of them, she had known Speter longest. This was like spinner training all over again. Speter was usually the expert, but he needed her help to learn about his spinners. Now Charlotte needed her help to understand Speter.

So Phoebe climbed up to Charlotte and stared down at her and tried to convey all the things she knew about Speter. How he liked the dark but preferred morning over night. How he liked bugs and juice and something called wheat cakes. How he loved his webs but loved his Aunt May more. How he was very afraid of biting things, although sometimes he really wanted to. How he only purred when you helped him forget about his worries. How he hurt a lot deep inside, in ways that Phoebe could never understand. How he did everything to help others be safe and happy, even if it added to his deep hurt.

When she finished, Charlotte was quiet for a moment. Unlike Speter, she knew how to fully block her thoughts when she wanted.

Charlotte sad for Speter.

Phoebe nodded, although Charlotte didn't understand the motion. Speter want Phoebe and Charlotte be happy.

Then Phoebe and Charlotte want Speter be happy. Charlotte help.

Charlotte sure? Phoebe asked. Charlotte was just a small spider after all, smaller than Phoebe even. She may want to help, but was it possible?

Charlotte was amused. Spiders know that little spider make big web, catch big food.

That metaphor?

Charlotte's head tilted. Metaphor? No, not riddle. Direct. Little spider do big things.

Phoebe smiled. She liked that idea.

"Okay, I'm back." Speter walked back and took his seat at the base of the closet again. "Yes, Phoebe, I feel a lot better now. I'm sorry, Charlotte, I appreciate that you tried to teach me something that helps you, but it just doesn't work for me. I'm not used to that level of feeling."

It okay, Charlotte assured him. Charlotte sorry for hurt Speter. Charlotte not know.

"It's not your fault. Neither of us could have known." Never know. Always surprise.

Speter show Charlotte Speter bed? Phoebe asked, hoping to help him focus on something happier.

"Sure, we can relax there and catch up on what the two of you have been up to lately. I would be curious to hear about your life, Charlotte. Have you always lived on this property?" Speter held out his hand, and the two spiders stepped on.

Charlotte not sure. Lived in little bare forest in warm seasons, and came to wood in cold seasons. Charlotte showed him some images for context.

"I think that looks like our yard, but I've never seen it from such a small point of view before. It looks huge!" Speter set them on his pillow and laid across the bed. "It's really cool, actually. It does look like a forest or jungle from that angle."

Not same trees. Still dangerous though.

"Dangerous? How?"

Charlotte told him various tales of her adventures in his backyard. Close shaves with birds, confrontations with other spiders, and attacks from gangs of ants. Speter listened raptly, even when he grew tired. Charlotte suggested he should go to his web to rest soundly, but Speter insisted he was fine, and his thoughts insisted that he didn't want to sleep or even think about webs tonight. So Charlotte continued her stories, and Phoebe joined in with accounts of what her dolls were up to, and Speter tried to stay awake, though he slipped into what he called his spider naps. And if he absentmindedly began to weave small patches of web, neither Phoebe or Charlotte bothered him with the fact.

Fun facts:

- For those wondering why Charlotte seems to know good English, she doesn't. My scapegoat here is that Phoebe and Charlotte were conversing in the image and concept based method that spiders typically use in this story. But now that Peter is there, he's translating all of that into words because that's the main way he knows how to communicate. Phoebe, being the curious little spider she is, then listens to Peter's translations in an attempt to learn more words.

- Spiders clean themselves by scraping the dust off their little hairs. Anything that muffles their senses is bad. But Peter has a lot more surface area and hair than a little spider, and he's not used to that level of input. Since he showers, his hairs get a coating soap and dust and . . . okay, I'm going to mostly blame this on his trauma with Taskmaster actually. He was hypervigilant over there in a way he usually doesn't do at home. Freeing up his senses at home reminded him too much of that, so he wasn't happy. Maybe someday he'll be able to handle it, but not today.

- Yesterday I discovered that in 1975, an album titled Spider-Man: Rock Reflections of a Hero came out. It has songs all about Spider-Man, and also narration from Stan Lee. Half of the songs are ridiculous, some aren't bad, but one song stole my heart. Dr. Octopus Part II. It . . . It's unlike any Doc Ock I've ever heard before. It's like if you were to take Steven Tyler and Freddie Mercury and fuse them with the arms. It's a Doc Ock who is more than comfortable on the stage. He says, and I kid you not "Thor and Black Panther, I'm gonna turn you into gogo dancers". Like, what is this?! I don't know what's going on, but I am going to write up an origin story for this version someday. Just you wait. Until then, enjoy the album and have a good laugh.