Summary: Peter's finally adjusting to his life at Dana's home. He's actually having a great day for once...that is until his Spidey-sense starts tingling while he's walking back from school.
Chapter 2: It Was a Good Day, or So He Thought
Peter is sitting on the beach, enjoying the warmth of the grains of sand shifting through his fingers. A man on his right is sweating profusely in the sun while attempting to build sand castles with a set of buckets of varying sizes. It is clear the man hasn't had much experience building them before, as the sand blocks just collapse as soon as he lifts the buckets. The man groans, but Peter giggles away and claps his hands a couple times as encouragement.
"Never thought I'd ever see THE Happy building a sand castle for anyone."
A familiar figure approaches Peter and scoops him up in her arm. It's his mother. Peter smiles up at her, and then melts into her arms, soaking up the embrace.
"Well, baby Addie isn't anyone," the man mumbles while attempting to scoop the fallen sand back into a bucket with his hands.
"I knew my baby would have you wrapped up around his little fingers too sooner or later. Though I'd use wet sand for my next attempt if I were you," the woman replies with amusement while gently patting Peter's back. Peter starts playing with his mother's golden locks, admiring how they gleamed in the sun.
The man groans again, dumping the sand away from the bucket and getting up. Peter laughs like it's the funniest sound he's ever heard.
"Yeah, I admit it's hard to say no to those big doe eyes he got going on," the man chuckles slightly.
The woman seems shocked to see the usually grumpy man laughing along with her son.
"Addie's really lucky to have you as his uncle, Happy. I appreciate you joining us on his first trip to the beach."
"Well, I just can't pass up the opportunity to become Addie's favorite uncle," the man replies.
They stay silent for a while just listening to the waves of the ocean, and Peter falls asleep in his mother's embrace while his mother gently pats his back to the rhythm of the waves.
"Peter, time to get up! You'll be late to school!"
Peter opened his eyes and realized that he was dreaming. For the first time in a while, he didn't want to get out of bed. It's been too long since he had dreamt of his mother, and he tried to grasp onto every last detail. Most of his dreams the past couple of months were nightmares about Uncle Ben and Aunt May's deaths and he was tormented constantly from the guilt from failing to save them both despite his abilities.
'It's a little strange that mom's hair was blonde and not dark brown,' Peter wondered. He didn't have many memories of Mary and Richard Parker, as they both passed away when Peter just turned seven years old in a plane accident. However, from the picture he kept on his dresser since he was little (and now propped up next to the picture of ten-year-old Peter smiling happily while holding on to May and Ben Parker's hands), he knew that Mary's hair was curly and brown just like Peter's hair, the complete opposite of the straight strawberry blonde locks of his mother from his dreams.
'And I wonder why she kept calling me Addie,' Peter ponders. His parents were never big on nicknames and always called Peter, well, Peter. Addie didn't even sound remotely close to Peter, but why did the nickname sound so familiar...
"Peter, are you up? Your pancakes are getting cold!" the voice called out again.
"Sorry Mrs. Dawn! I'm up! I'll be down soon!" Peter replied while hastily getting out of bed. He changed into a red sweater and jeans, jogged to the bathroom, splashed some water on his face, and hurried downstairs.
His stomach grumbled when he smelled the chocolate chip pancakes waiting for him. He quickly joined his eight-year-old foster sibling at the table and took a big bite of the chocolatey goodness.
"Morning Jakey, did you sleep ok?"
"Yep! How 'bout you Peter?"
"I actually slept really well today! No nightmares or anything."
"That's good to hear Peter," Dana said while zipping up two lunch boxes on the counter. "You both should finish up those pancakes soon if you don't want to be late to school."
"Will do, Mrs. Dawn! Thanks for the pancakes. They are so bomb!" Peter replied while shoving the last piece of pancake in his mouth and washing it down with some orange juice.
"And Peter, I'm going to get off work a little late today so don't wait up on me for dinner. Make sure you two eat some veggies today! There's frozen broccoli and asparagus in the fridge, so remember to heat them up."
"But veggies are gross," Jake whined.
"For the tenth time, Jake. You need to eat a balanced diet to stay healthy, and a diet consisting of just pizza and grilled cheese every day won't cut it," Dana responded sternly while putting on her jacket. "Peter, make sure Jake eats at least three broccolis during dinner."
"Yes ma'am," Peter fake saluted her while getting up to put his dishes in the sink.
Dana patted Jake's slouched back a couple times and gave Peter a side hug.
"I'm heading out now. Hope you boys have a good day." Dana paused and looked towards Peter. "Oh, and Peter, I know you have that Spanish test today. I expect you to do better than last time."
"...sí, señora," Peter mumbled while packing up his school bag. Dana had Peter's teachers constantly e-mail her updates regarding Peter's assignments and test scores after she found out Peter was almost failing his Spanish and English classes in the beginning of the semester, back when he convinced himself that searching for Ben's murderer was much more important than finishing his stupid homework or studying. Dana made it abundantly clear, at least to his backside, that she disagreed. In the past month and a half, he managed to bring his English grade up to a B and his Spanish grade up to a B-. Peter needed to get at least an A- average in all his classes at the end of the semester in order to maintain his scholarship.
A part of Peter felt really embarrassed that Dana was still in constant contact with his teachers. He's always been a straight A student before this semester, and his grades have never been an issue to his aunt and uncle. However, another part of him feels grateful that she made sure Peter brought his grades up after September. Aunt May and Uncle Ben would be so disappointed if he lost the scholarship. And there's no way that he could come up with the money to pay Midtown's hefty tuition in order to keep going to school with his friends without it. Ned and MJ were all he had left of his old life now, so he had to keep the scholarship no matter what.
"Peter, I'll race you out the door!" Jake squealed while stuffing his lunchbox into his backpack.
"Sure thing, Jakey," Peter chuckles and pretends to run out the door trailing right behind his foster brother.
"Peter!" Ned chirped, initiating their signiture handshake they've made up in the fifth grade of elementary school.
"Hey Ned, what's up?" Peter replied mid-handshake.
"I brought Lola's special Oreo cookies today! She said we should share them during lunch!"
"Dude really? Awesome! You know how much I love those cookies!" Peter exclaimed.
"Mornin' losers," MJ said, stopping in front of the duo, eyes still glued to her phone.
"Morning MJ! What are you watching?" Ned asked.
"You losers know Buzfeed Unsolved? I've been binge watching episodes nonstop since yesterday."
"Yeah, I do! Which episode are you watching?"
"It's the new one on Aidan Stark. You know, since today's the tenth year anniversary."
"Tenth year anniversary of what?" Peter asked, tilting his head against the lockers.
"Of his kidnapping, duh," MJ replied.
Peter scratched his head. "Oh yeah. I forgot Tony Stark had a son who was kidnapped. It's been 10 years already?"
"Yeah, dude. It's insane. Who do you think had the guts to take the son of THE FREAKING TONY STARK?" Ned exclaimed.
"They think it could have been HYDRA, or this guy named Obadiah Stane who was Tony's former mentor of sorts," MJ mused.
"Whoa, I bet Aidan's being brainwashed to become the next Winter Soldier. I bet HYDRA's training him to take down the Avengers," Ned whispered, his eyes wide open. "He's going to show up out of the blue one day and attack Iron Man, and there's going to be a whole 'I am your father' scene straight out of Star Wars, but like, the son's on the dark side and it'll be in real life."
"That would be so sick," Peter grinned at his friend, sharing in his excitement.
MJ shook her head in feigned disappointment. "Stop reminding me that I'm friends with the biggest nerds ever at a school that's already filled to the brim with geeks and nerds. It's been 10 years. He's probably long gone by now."
"I guess so," Peter responded. "Poor Mr. Stark, it must be tough to lose your child like that."
Ned hummed in agreement while MJ stated that she didn't feel that sorry for Tony Stark since he's a pompous jerk, but that she did feel bad for her badass icon, the one and only Pepper Potts.
Things were definitely looking up today, at least for Peter. He aced his Spanish test, and Lola's cookies were as delicious as ever, so he ate four of them at lunch. The decatholon practice also went by smoothly, and Peter answered most of the questions right, much to the dismay of Flash Thompson. Before he knew it, it was 6 p.m. and time for Peter to head home.
The weather was also amazing today—not too chilly for a November evening—and the sky was a lovely shade of red and orange as the sun was setting down. Peter decided he would walk home today to admire the sunset instead of taking the subway like he usually does.
As he walked home, Peter made a mental note to heat up some frozen pizza and some frozen veggies once he got home and to make sure Jake has at least a couple bites of the broccolli.
Suddenly, his Spidey-Sense tingled slightly. He looked around to see if anyone was in danger. Oh man. Peter realized he didn't have his suit or web shooters with him, having planned to go straight home today after decatholon practice. But he would always rather risk his identity than to risk someone getting seriously injured on his watch.
With his enhanced hearing, Peter identified a husky voice growling at someone from a dark alley nearby.
"I told you that you better have the money ready by today, you little shit," a menacing figure dressed in black was threatening a young man, seemingly in his early to mid twenties.
"Please. I...I have around three hundred, but I'll need a little more time to get the other two. Can you please just hand me a small dose today? I'm going through withdrawl, and I can't bear another day without them. I swear I'll pay for the drugs by next week...with interest."
Peter's ears perked up at the word drugs. He slowly approached the two men, hiding behind a dumpster.
"Do you think we always have an extra stock of Eureka just lying around? It takes us months to make a small supply and they sell out almost instantly. You either pay the whole five hundred today or you get nothing," the man in black replied.
Peter couldn't believe what he was hearing. The guy was part of the drug cartel that killed his uncle. This was his chance to finally get revenge for his uncle's death.
"Please, I'll...help your gang with making the drugs, distributing them, anything I can do, just say the word!"
Peter noticed the drug dealer reaching down for his gun. This would be so much easier if he had his web shooters to web up the guy's hand, Peter thought. But this might be his only chance to get a lead on the drug cartel's home base, so he had to do something.
Ok. Game plan. He had to make sure the young man didn't get shot. He did have a couple hundred dollar bills in his wallet. May gave him some money after Peter's middle school graduation so that Peter could get a new phone as a graduation gift. But he felt too bad to spend it in the wake of Uncle Ben's murder, so it remained untouched in his wallet despite how barely functional his current phone was after dropping it several times on his patrols.
He could pretend to be interested in paying the two hundred and sharing the drugs with the young man. He'll then try to get a phone number, a name, or any information by telling the drug dealer he wants to continue buying drugs from him.
Peter took a deep breath and slowly walked up to the two men from his hiding place while holding up his hands to show he is unarmed. "Um, excuse me, sir. I'm sorry, but I overheard you are selling Eureka."
The drug dealer instantly pointed his gun towards Peter. "Better mind you own fucking business, kid, if you don't want your brains blown out of your fucking head."
"Wait! Wait! I want to buy some! I...I have two hundred on me, and I was hoping I could share with the guy next to you! If we pay together, you'll have five hundred, right?"
The drug dealer paused for a moment to consider Peter's offer while still pointing his gun towards Peter.
Suddenly in the corner of his eyes, Peter saw the young man whip out a taser gun and tase the drug dealer while his attention was on Peter. The drug dealer fell unceremoniously to the ground with a loud thud.
The young man then quickly kicked away the gun from the drug dealer's hands, reached into his side pocket, and flipped open his police badge. Shit. The man was an undercover cop.
"You are under arrest for the distribution of illegal drugs. You have the right to remain silent," the man announced while handcuffing the drug dealer.
Oh no. What has he gotten himself into? Peter stays frozen in place, not knowing what to do.
"And you, young man, what were you thinking trying to purchase Eureka from a dangerous man carrying a gun of all things? Do you have any sense of self-preservation? And how old are you, twelve, thirteen?"
"Officer, sir, I'm, uh, fourteen, and I wasn't really trying to purchase drugs, sir. I...I was just pretending to cause you see..."
"I'll hear your excuses in the station after we call your parents. I'm sure they will love to hear what you have to say. Follow me."
Oh no. Peter was in deep shit. He felt very sorry for himself as he followed the police officer into his police car.