Chapter 7

Good morning everyone! Hope you are all having a wonderful day, I know I only released a new chapter yesterday but i'm just in the writing mood at the moment. This is the last one I have written already so gonna be spending the rest of the day working on chapter 8. Wish me luck!

"Spectacular" = Speech

'Spectacular' = Thoughts

"What is a 'Hero' though?" = Speach with a quote

*BANG* = Important Noise?

-Flashback- = Flashback setting

"I love you" = Written words

{4:00am} = Important Time/ Date

Disclaimer: Spider-man, Marvel and related IP belong to their respective owners. The author of this story owns jack-shit and holds no fantasy that they ever will.
_

It was a cloudy day, the barest hint of rain on the air. Sitting on a bus that was stuck in traffic gave Peter plenty of time to think things through. As he gazed out at the rain drops sitting on the window though his secondary thought was definitely regret at not brining an umbrella.

'Guess this is what I get for being distracted' Peter thought as he rested his head against the bus' window, ignoring the idle chatter from the other people around him whilst the bus jutted forward slowly in the evening rush-hour.

'Maybe I should've just swung there, definitely would have gotten me there faster...on second thought maybe this pace is fine...'

Evidently Peter was in a less than thrilled mood today as he waited on the bus, head rested on the window and hands fidgetting constantly whilst stops flew by drawing closer and closer to his one.

*DING*

Well that was sooner than expected. Standing up Peter began the usual awkward maneuver of dodging people on a packed bus as he tip toed his way to the front and the exit, sweat building and breathing coming more rapid as he made his way off the bus.

As the bus pulled off and Peter stood on the sidewalk he could do nothing to calm his rapid breathing, sweat dripping off his forehead as he gazed up at the imposing wrought iron sign above him.

"Ravencroft Institute."

Stepping into the buildings foyer, Peter looked around at the seemingly standard old building. High ceilings and an old set of wooden benches sat surrounding a circular oak table pilled high with magazines. 'Pretty sure they're older than me...'

Making his way further into the room Peter came to a stop at the reception desk, a kindly old woman sat behind it lost in her work as she typed away on the computer infront of her.

"Hello, pardon me but could you please direct me to the visiting centre please?"

Nothing. The woman barely flinched as she ignored Peter to keep typing away.

"Excuse me?"

Maybe she was deaf? That might explain the situation although if that was the case then Peter really didn't have an idea on how to politely get her attention. Checking his phone Peter bit back a curse. 'My appointment is in two minutes!'

Gazing around at the table top Peter spotted a bell sitting innocently on the counter infront of him, seeing nothing else to do he decided to tap it. Worst case scenario she continues ignoring him so what's the harm.

*DING*

"Huh? Oh hello, what can I help you with?" Was the womans dry response, finally looking up to acknowledge Peters presence. Great so not deaf, just rude. 'Wonderful' Peter thought.

"Hello, em I made an application for visiting a patient here and I wondering if you could show me where to go please."

"Newbie then? Was your application approved?" Inquired the woman, only to nod satisfied when Peter showed her the text he received at the Silver Spoon. "Name?"

"Peter Parker"

"Parker, Parker, where have I heard that name before?" The woman asked herself as she typed away at her computer screen, probably looking at the details for his visit.

"No clue" Was Peter's innocent response, although he had a pretty good idea of where she might've been hearing his name...

"Nevertheless, I found you in the system. You're late" The woman said as she turned to glare at the young man standing infront of her.

'Yeah, thanks to you' "Sorry" Said Peter in contrast to his thoughts as he watched the woman print something out on a machine to her right, nearly knocking over a coffee cup in her way that she barely payed attention too.

"Apologise to the person you're visiting, not me. I've been working here for twenty years and if there is one thing I know, it's that residents hate being kept waiting." The woman informed Peter as she worked away behind the desk. "Especially when they're only told someone's here for them, not who. Bit cruel if you ask me but that's above my paygrade."

'Wonderful' Thought Peter, wincing at the notion that the person he was visiting would be pissed before he even got in the room.

"Done, here you are" The woman said, handing Peter a laminated pass with his photo on it, stuck above that were the words 'Visitor pass'. Evidently security was a bit tighter than he had presumed. Can you blame him though? The amount of times that someone had broken out of this place was getting a tad ridiculous.

"Now just head down there, show your pass to the guards and head through the metal detector. The guards will take you from there." Informed the woman as she pointed at a nearby hallway.

Waving goodby to the woman Peter began his trek into the unknown as he went deeper into the building, unable to keep his hands from fidgeting with his new visitors pass the further he walked.

"Halt!" Well there's the guard station.

"Come closer, slowly" Said the nearest guard from his seat, behind what Peter presumed was a bullet proof screen.

Reaching the protected guard Peter found his eyes drawn to a sign stuck near the bullet proof glass which read 'Please provide your pass to the guard behind the screen'. Those were some pretty easy to follow instructions.

Taking the pass out of his fidgeting hands, Peter passed it through a tiny grate to the guard sitting infront of him.

"Peter Parker, here to visit...patient 348" The man trailed off, eyeing Peter warily as if he knew something that Peter didn't whilst returning his visitors pass to him.

"If you could head over to the metal detector, remove anything metallic and wait to be called through that'd be great." The guard said, pointing to Peters right where a singular huge metal detector stood dominating majority of the room, wrought iron bar stood on either side of it splitting the room in half except for the tiny conveyor belt which would take his stuff through to the other side.

Stepping away from the bullet proof glass and the guard behind it Peter would swear he heard someone whisper "Goodluck" as he made his way towards the metal detector. Choosing to ignore it Peter finally reached the conveyor belt and made eye contact with the guard on the other side of the bars.

"Place any metallic objects in the bin please and send it through, then walk though the metal detector slowly yourself when the light flashes green above it." The guard drawled on, bags under his eyes as prominent as a raccoons. Either there was a staff shortage or this guy had just had a newborn baby.

Placing his phone, belt and wallet in the bin provided Peter began patting himself to see if anything else he had on him would set the machine off. Usually his web shooters would be the primary thing he'd need to be careful of in these scenarios yet he'd forgotten them in his panic this morning alongside the didn't know if that was a good or bad thing however despite the current situation suggesting it was in his best interest.

*CLICK*

Well there's the green light. Stepping into the machine, Peter walked slowly through to the other side, collecting his stuff once given the go ahead by the security guard. Thankfully everything seemed to be going okay so far which meant hopefully he wouldn't be too much longer getting to his visit. 'Then again, is that a good thing?' Peter thought.

Walking side by side with the guard as they delved further and further into the confusing maze that was Ravencroft Peter was plagued by many intrusive thoughts at the thought of the place. 'Is this were Gobby deserves to be, should I have tried harder to get him here?...No, I tried my best just to survive, there's no way I could have gotten him here...Right?'

It was as these thoughts plagued his mind that Peter was ushered to the side as a patient was escorted down the hall, his hands and arms bound in a straightjacket as he was lead somewhere that Peter didn't care. The sight of the man having shook him from his thoughts and brought him back to the land of the living just in time to glare daggers at the man walking towards him.

"What is it boy, scared to see me?" Asked one Doctor Octopus jovially, apparently taking some sick satisfaction at seeing the look on Peters face.

"Just disgusted to see a would-be murderer like yourself" Was Peters harsh retort, his glare deepening as the Ravencroft staff just looked on unflinchingly as if they couldn't care less what happened here.

"Ah yes, you're refering to the spawn of that cretin Osborn, how surprising that you care for that insignificant life. If you ask me, some people deserve it." Doctor Octopus said, laughing at the look of outrage on Peters face.

"You sick bastard! You and that posé of yours nearly killed my Aunt!" Peter quickly ground out through clenched teeth without thinking, furious at the thoughts of the man infront of him. Sure he'd faced him multiple times since the sinister six incident but for the man to imply that Aunt May had deserved to die was another matter entirely. This wasn't Spider-man he was confronting. This was Peter Parker, a young man who very nearly lost the only family he had left.

"Oh really? And how are you gonna blame me for that, did I throw some rubble at her, or was it one of my other bumbling companions fault that you blame me?" Doc Oc asked curiously with a superior tone, as if he was talking to a toddler.

"You gave her a heartattack" Peter spat out, barely restraining himself from punching the man in the face. Oh next time he broke out he was gonna get one heck of a haymaker from Spider-man, he could count on it.

"...A heartattack..." Was that genuine remorse that flashed in the doctors eyes right there? Peter would swear he was imagining it but he couldn't help but be surprised when Doctor Octopus remained quiet following that remark, his tone lost as he turned away.

"Come on Parker, you've got a visitor waiting" Peter's guard said gesturing to Peter to hurry up, evidently he'd finally had enough of listening to what he probably deemed a petty squabble.

Releasing his glare from Doctor Octopus' back, Peter began following his guard again towards his appointment. Heedless and ignorant to the look being sent his way as they turned the corner going deeper into the building.

Standing outside a nondescript door the guard turned to Peter.

"You have 30 minutes left for your appointment, please make sure to try avoid antagonising the patient. Should it be required there is a button on the back wall to signal me if anything goes awry."

Nodding in the affirmative that he understood the instructions, Peter was let into the room, a solitary window sitting on the far wall providing atleast a semblance of natural light despite the bars on it.

*CLICK, THUNK*

With the door now closed Peter decided to glance at the person sitting on the other side of the rooms bulletproof screen. Said Person just sat there glaring murderously at Peter as he slowly crept closer and sat down infront of his side of the glass.

"Hey...Bro" Said Eddie angrily, his eyes displaying a whirlwind of emotions as Peter gazed back at him. The only emotion Peter could confidently discern however was anger, something which led to him wincing while Eddie looked on.

"What, the sight of me too much to bear for the oh so spectacular Spider-man?" Asked Eddie mockingly as he gestured to himself and the white padded clothes he was forced to wear as a patient.

Truth be told, it was actually hard for Peter to look at him. He'd been dreading this encounter ever since he sent in the application following his fight with Doctor Octopus, and the sight of Eddie who used to be so put together stuck here dishevled because of venom was almost too much for him.

'It's all my fault'

"Eddie, look I'm so sorry about everything, I ju-" Peter began, trying to explain himself only for him to be interrupted by a barking laugh as Eddie began talking.

"Cut the crap Parker, what are you here for? You left me waiting, like usual, all so you could come spout this bullshit?" Peter winced at the response. 'He's right, I left him waiting, and for what?'

The silence that spread between the two was deafening, Peter sat there with his eyes downcast whilst Eddie looked on with a glare as if he knew Peter didn't have a good response for him.

"...I'm here for you Eddie. I know I left you waiting today and everyday since you got in here, I should have been here sooner." Peter said, his eyes still downcast so that he could avoid Eddie's piercing glare as he sized him up.

"I'm sorry for that, I shouldn't have left you here alone and I will always regret that." Peter continued, raising his head to meet Eddies who sat there watching silently.

"But, I'm here now and I won't leave you alone, not whilst I can help it." Peter finished resolutely, his eyes matching Eddies glare as the two stared at each other from different worlds but similar worlds. Each one confined to something and hoping for something that seems out of their reach.

Peters words did little but earn a scoff from the adjacent blonde, tearing his gaze away from Peter as he chose to instead stare out of the rooms window.

"Yeah right..." Eddie said quietly, starting a silence which would last until the end of Peters time in the room.

As the guard came in to remove Peter, Eddie simply watched as he turned his back on him again. Only this time, Peter turned around to face him quickly before leaving. "S-so yeah, I'll see you next week?"

Eddie only glared in response as Peter was lead out of the room.

Standing outside with the guard, Peter knew one thing was for sure. He'd had the strength to do it once, he'd have to have it again next time because he couldn't just abandon his brother after all they've been through, not without giving it his all.

Walking into the Daily Bugle through the elevator always felt weird to Peter, he was much more accustomed to simply crawling in the window but something in his gut told him it might be best to simply walk in today.

Stepping out of the elevator into the newspapers offices, Peter was met with the usual hustle and bustle of a busy staff. People running past with papers pilled high, phonecalls ringing incessantly and interviews happening all over the place.

What wasn't common however was the man in a trench coat currently shouting at Jamesson in his office. It seemed like the entire office could hear it but were trying their best to ignore the disturbance.

"I followed him for weeks Jamesson and he just acted like a regular teen! I lost track of him a few times sure but there's just no way." Shouted the strange but kinda familiar man.

"I don't care what you say Mac Gargan! Your own report says you didn't even keep tracks on him all the time, how can I trust anything else in this rubbish pile?" Jamesson responded at an equal volume, his face bright red.

"Rubbish?" The man roared slamming his hands on the desk, the noise reverberating out into the rest of the office. "I did as much as I could without being spotted! And i'm telling you, the evidence is circumstancial at best, there's no hope unless you get something concrete!"

"Bah, excuses, excuses! It was up to you to get that concrete evidence and you give me this half assed report, time and time again! You're fired! I'll make sure you never work in this town again!" Shouted Jamesson as he threw his hand in the direction of the door whilst security made their way inside, evidently they didn't know how trench coat man, otherwise known as MacGargann, would take it.

Credit to him in Peter's eyes however as from his perspective it just looked like the man glared daggers into Jamesson's soul then stormed out bashing into anyone would stood in his way until his eyes met Peters.

"You need a better job kid." Was all he said as he made it to the elevator, the doors closing like a blanket over the room as everything went silent.

Atleast until Jamesson walked out.

"Back to work people, nothing to see here!" He shouted towards the slightly stunned workers. Some wondering how well he'd do in a metal band with lungs like that on him.

"Parker, office, now!" Jamesson said, turning around and marching back to his desk. Well, that's his que. Rushing past security Peter slipped into the office right before the doors closed as he stood facing his boss.

"Everything okay sir?" Peter inquired, curious as to what he'd heard from the office not a few minutes ago.

"None of your business Parker! Just a disagreement." Jamesson grumbled to himself as he took a pill from a bottle on his desk, no doubt medicine to keep his body healthy despite his bouts of anger.

Raising his eyebrow in doubt Peter decided to let the topic drop, after all what were the chances he was involved?.

Passing over his newest haul of photos, a few robberies, one or two drug deals and an attempted murder. It had been a busy few weeks with the recent crime wave but atleast he'd been able to help these people when they'd needed him.

{The next day}

Peter and Gwen were working tirelessly in the ESU lab, Doctor Warren had promised the two the opportunity to examine his files regarding the recent cloning of a sheep in Scotland and they were itching at the bud to read in depth about such an achievement.

However, Harry on the other hand was stuck in the mans office, glaring at him as he was ignored in favour of the man staring out of his window at Gwen and Peter.

"Look Warren, what's the point of me even being here if you aren't going to teach me anything" Harry said irritated.

Removing his gaze from the window, Doctor Warren turned a pinched glare towards Harry. "You know , I'm wondering the same thing. They're are plenty of others who could be teaching you, so why me bother me?"

"How dare you talk to me like that!" Harry said quietly through gritted teeth, as his glare became fiercer and slightly unhinged as he thought of a response. "You worked closely with my father, I had hoped you'd actually be able to show me the same results you showed him."

If there was one thing Harry wasn't expecting after saying that, it was laughter. Doctor Warren bent himself in half as he had a gut wrenching laugh at the young Osborns words, wiping a non-existant tear from his eye as he stood back straight.

"Here's the problem 'Harry', you are not your father. You can't handle half the things he could. You're pathetic." Was Warren's scathing reply as he turned another glare onto Harry who recoiled at the harsh words.

Clenching his fists in anger, Harry spat out his reply with a barely a thought.

"Then let me prove myself! If I can't handle it then I'll leave you alone and we can't end this pointless charade." Challenged Harry, his eyes keeping careful watch on the doctor who turned to stare out his window into the lab at his words. What was that look in his eyes? He looked...hungry.

"Deal. Meet me here on Saturday at 9pm and we'll see if you can hold a candle to your father." Warren said, turning back to Harry as he pulled something out of his pocket, passing it to Harry after scribbling something on it.

"An address?" Said Harry as he read the card he'd just been handed. "Fine. I'll prove you wrong."

"We'll see." Warren said, turning his attention back into the lab and ignoring the still fuming Osborn behind him. Looks like he had a few debts to call in after all.

Sitting off to the side in a dingy pub was Mac Gargan, his tattered trench coat laying on the counter infront of him as his hands clutched a pint of Heniken tightly. Gulping down a hefty portion of his drink Mac Gargan hiccuped and slightly swayed on his seat before resting his forehead against the wooden counter infront of him.

"Bloody Jamesson, penny-pinching jackass wouldn't know good PI work if it bite him right in the ass. How the fuck does he expect me to prove a teenager is Spider-man in only 3 weeks?"

Raising his head off the counter and gazing at his relfection in the dirty mirror behind the bar, Mac finished off his pint before slowly fumbling around his trench coat pocket for a wallet. Finally finding it, he opened and there might aswell have been a moth flying out for how empty it was.

"Fucks sake, can't even afford more than one lousy pint..."

"Mac Gargan, I presume?" Well that didn't sound good.

Turning his head to look at the men beside him Mac Gargan could feel his heart drop into his stomach. Two large burly men stood side by side with a well dressed business man in between them, most likely the one who'd addressed him. Mac Gargan had an idea why they were here and it wasn't good.

"I'll take the silence as a yes, since you evidently have an idea why we're here judging by that look in your eyes." The man paused here as he unfolded a piece of paper from his pocket.

"You really don't have any sense of self preservation do you? Gambling away any funds you get." The well dressed man said as he raised one eyebrow to stare at the slightly tipsy Mac Gargan. "You owe the boss, ten thousand dollars Mac, I can call you Mac right? Good. People have wound up in the river for less you know."

Mac Gargan knew he was screwed. If he tried to reach for his coat or bolt, the two burly men would catch him in an instant, afterall this wasn't the first time he'd had this conversation but he was starting to worry that it might be his last.

"L-Look, I have most of it, honest, I'm just waiting on a backstabbing client to pay me what he owes. Two weeks, tops!" Gargan insisted, sweat beginning to build along his brow.

"Two weeks too late i'm afraid. Lucky for you, the boss is offering a different manner of payment."

This was starting to sound more and more like a deal with the devil to Mac Gargans ears but i guess he'd already made the deal, this was just the devil coming to collect.

Handing Mac Gargan a business card, the well dressed man turned on his heel and began to walk away whilst his large guards kept their eyes on the now focused Gargan.
"Either your backstabbing client comes through or you show up there on Saturday at 9pm, your choice. Either way the boss will be collecting your debt by then so choose wisely."

With his piece said the menacing trio left the dingy pub whilst Mac Gargan could only look on helplessly, glaring at the business card he'd just been presented with as all manner of ideas flew through his head. Most notably a prayer that he'd get the money before he'd be forced to follow through with whatever the hell this was.

"Come on Jamesson..."

"Hurry up Dudley, how hard is it to pick a fucking car lock?" A woman dressed in all black asked as her head darted up and down the street, keeping an eye out for any passerby.

"Oh shove it Molly, you think you'd have better look with this blasted thing?" Replied an equally dressed man crouched down low, picking at the lock of a fancy red car parked under a street lamp, it's light being the only illumination on the otherwise dark street.

"Why you!" The thug now known as Molly gritted out through yellow teeth, irritation evident.

Their bickering continued for a few minutes whilst Dudley worked on the lock with increasing fervor and Molly continued scanning the street for any snitches who might rat them out.

*CLICK*

"Aha got it!"

"Congrats, guess what you win!" Replied a voice from ontop of the street lamp. See here's the problem with Molly, she was so confident in herself looking left and right that she forgot an important rule of New York, always look up.

Sitting on top of the street lamp with his legs dangling was Spider-man in his red and blue garbed glory.

"Spider-man!/Oh fuck." Cried out Molly and Dudley respectively at the sight of the notorious vigilante.

"That's me but that's not the answer" Spider-man said as webbed Dudley's feet to the ground from his perch before turning to focus on Molly who looked ready to bolt at the slightest movement. "I was looking for: Prison!"

Clapping mockingly at the two thugs, Spider-man took his eyes off Molly to focus on Dudley who despite being stuck to the floor was reaching for his waistband.

"Not on my watch" Spider-man said as he webbed Dudley's hands to his pants.

"What the-damn it Spider-man, my fucking trousers are falling down, I don't have a gun!" Dudley cried in irritation as if the whole scenario wasn't something new to him which it probably wasn't.

Chuckling sheepishly Spider-man prepared to deliver a cheeky one liner when suddenly his spider-sense started going off.

*BANG*

Ducking down low, Spider-man avoided the bullet sent his way and turned quickly to face his attacker. Molly. Rather than run the woman had somehow worked up the courage to draw a gun on the masked crime fighter.

"I ain't afraid of you Spider-man" Molly said glaring daggers at Spider-man who she had her gun trained on. Meanwhile he was simply trying to wait for the opportune time to strike and get the weapon out of her hands.

"Now why is that? Thought you'd all be terrified after I took down Gobby and the Doc there recently." Spider-man said buying time.

"Bah, as if!" The woman cried mockingly as she waved her gun around whilst keeping it trained on the lamp posts occupant. "We all saw you leave the doc alive. You're too much of a coward to do what needs to be done, the Goblin probably blew himeself up and you took the credit!"

Well shit! Some people actually believed his side of the story, for the most part. Too bad it seems that the ones who believe him were the city's criminals. Parker luck strikes again it seems, woohoo.

"In fact, I bet you've lost your touch, why don't you just leave us alone and you won't have to deal with any lawsuits saying you threatened to kill us!" The woman suggested, an evil grin splitting her face as greed shone in her eyes at the thought, momentarily dropping her aim at the thought of such a big payday.

This distraction was all Spider-man needed however, quickly shooting some webs at the gun, Spider-man yanked it out of the womans grasp and away from Dudley who sat quietly stuck to the floor. You know he was starting to look familiar, maybe he was used to this?.

Eyes wide in alarm, Molly turned to run now that her leverage had been taken from her, only to for her to wind up blasted with a massive amount of webbing, sticking her to a nearby wall.

"Well, sorry to say but you're finished for the night" Spider-man said, pointing down the road where a squad car was approaching, no doubt having been called by the masked saviour himself. "Say hi to your friends in prison!"

And with his peace said, Spider-man swung off into the night looking for the next crime he could stop before his curfew kicked in and he had to make a mad dash home.

'Sadly, it probably won't take too long. This crime wave is never ending...'

Thanks for taking the time to read todays chapter everyone, hope you all have a wonderful day!