Monday

February 8, 2016

Midtown School of Science and Technology

Cafeteria

"Holy shit...!" Ned squeals in an excited whisper. They'd just finished getting their lunch trays and had barely sat down when Ned had gone on about Spiderman's adventures last night. Which led to Morgan confiding in Peter and Ned that she had, in fact, met Spiderman last night.

"Seriously? You met Spiderman?!" Ned asks again. Morgan looks around to make sure none of the other students are paying attention. No one is.

"Yes, Ned. I told you that already. It was not long after I left Peter's place. I was headed home and the three thugs tried to rob me."

"Are you alright?" Peter asks, looking over at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Spiderman got there before anything happened."

"Was he cool, he had to be cool right? Did you fangirl because I wouldn't blame you for it. He's a superhero after all, he's bound to be use to that. How tall was he? Did you get his number?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down Ned. Cool, I guess. He seemed like a regular guy to me. No I didn't fangirl, who do you think I am? No taller than me or Peter I'd say and why would I get his number?"

"How was his costume? It looks homemade, is it?"

Morgan snorts. "It's a glorified onesie. It grunted to be homemade. Still I'm grateful for what he did, those guys were serious thugs. They were dangerous and now they're off the streets."

"Still talking about Spiderman?" Michelle Jones asks from her spot at the end of their table. She wasn't very social but Morgan always held her in high regards. MJ was smart and clever and her jabs at Flash were some of the best and it amused her greatly.

"Yeah, Morgs met him last night," Ned chirps happily.

"Really?"

"Yep. Saved me from a bunch of thugs. Though I wasn't a total damsel in distress y'know. I even gave him an invention of mine. The dude needs as much help as he can get. The only tech he's got are those webshooters so I gave him something to help out his crime fighting gig."

Ned squeals again. "This just keeps getting better and better. So what did you give him? The Morgan I know doesn't part with her tech."

"This new thing I was working on called a Pulsar. It lets out an electromagnetic pulse that can integrate with organic life to essentially knock people over or back. Just depends on the scenario."

"Awesome. You're gonna be such a great inventor. And I have the plus of already being your friend so when you're rich and famous I'll have VIP passes to all the wicked parties you're gonna throw. Right?"

Morgan laughs. "Of course, Ned. You and Peter are invited to all my future rich people parties. Who knows maybe you'll have a supermodel girlfriend by then and twenty expensive sports cars."

"Wouldn't that be great?" he sighs, dreamily.

Morgan turns her attention to Peter. "You seem quieter than usual. Everything okay?"

Peter nods. "Yeah, sorry. I just woke up a bit sore today. I must've slept wrong or something."

Morgan said nothing but she couldn't help the feeling of dishonesty at Peter's words. She must be overthinking again, surely Peter would tell her if something was wrong.

...

She didn't fail to notice the way Peter moved slowly like he was in pain. He said he'd slept wrong so that could be the reason but it just felt wrong. Like there was something else he was holding back. It has something to do with that secret he's been keeping from them.

It isn't until Coach Wilson class does she notice something. A large purple bruise peaking of from beneath Peter's gym shorts. If they were a touch shorter she could get a better glimpse of it. Even from what she can see though, it's pretty bad. Looks like blunt for trauma.

What could've happened to cause the sort of bruising?

Morgan shakes her head to banish the questions as she focuses back on her laps.

...

In chemistry, Morgan's thoughts kept drifting back to that bruise. She didn't even hear half of what Mr. Cobwell way saying. Not that she really cared. This was one of her least favorite classes. She just wasn't interested in it. Now her robotics class was another story.

Peter dropped out of robotics club and band. It happened so suddenly that she never bothered to really think about it. Why would he drop those? He enjoyed those things.

It's not like he has a job after school or anything. She'd asked him when he first dropped out and he'd denied that. He said he wanted more time to relax he'd said. If that was the reason, how come he was never around at night? Ned said he'd tried to call Peter last night and it went to voicemail.

Nothing added up. What could Peter be doing that has him out at night but not at a job? Unable to answer his phone but ends with him being bruised up?

Unconsciously she began to nibble on her bottom lip.

She felt like she was standing on the edge of a chasm and all she needs is something to grasp onto but there's nothing there. It's like she's missing one piece to complete the puzzle.

...

Queens, New York

Peter Parker's Apartment

3:15 PM

Peter and Ned are at the desk building some Lego Star Wars thing and Morgan was seated on Peter's bed with her physics homework in her lap. She must've read the same equation twenty-five times and her brain is still on a completely different topic.

Damnit, she couldn't concentrate. All this Peter drama was driving her mental. She needed to get to the bottom of this now or she was gonna tank for GPA. She can't just come out and ask him though. He'd deny anything being wrong and it'd get her nowhere.

She also couldn't snoop through his room. Mostly because he was currently here and also because it would be an invasion of his privacy. Plus he was a teenage boy. She could only imagine what horrors she would find.

Peter extracted himself from the desk. "I'm going to the bathroom, be right back."

After Peter left, Ned picked up the Lego they were working on and presented it grandly at her. It looked like a gray trapezoid to her but she didn't say that aloud. As he was heading back to to put the thing down he knocked over Peter's backpack which hung precariously to the chair by its' straps.

The backpack clatters to the floor, spilling a good number of things as it hadn't been zipped. there were loose paper and some scattered school books but what caught her eye was the small bracelet like device with grooves carved into the metal. I made that. I gave that to Spiderman...

It all clicked.

That explained the sudden dropping of extra-curriculars. Why he was always MIA anytime after school unless they planned something in advance. The injuries. He always seemed to have something going on. And that bruise. It had to be from the crowbar.

Shit.

And then the bedroom door opens.

"Sorry, Aunt May needed me to-" he trails off seeing his backpack on the floor, it's contents everywhere. He's probably trying to see if his Spiderman costume is visible, Morgan thinks. She stands suddenly and marches forward to swipe the bracelet off the floor. Morgan hold it out to him.

"Is there something you'd like to share with the class Parker?" Morgan's eyes narrow as she watches Peter pale under her unwavering gaze.

Ned glance between the two. "I feel like I'm missing something here."

Peter pushes the door closed. "I-I can explain..."

Morgan places the Pulsar down on the desk and drop down onto the chair. She waits for Peter to sit at the edge of his bed. He's fidgeting more that usual. Probably nervous. A minute passes, then two.

"Well are you going to say it or do I have to?" Morgan says after they near five minutes of complete silence. She hated having to be the bad guy, but she needed to know once and for all. Maybe she was crazy, but by the way he's acting Morgan call tell she's hit the nail on the head.

"I-I'm Spiderman."

Ned freezes and Morgan sighs. That's what she figured.

"Wait, you're joking right?" Ned asks, looking from Peter to Morgan. "Wait, you're serious. My best friend's Spiderman!"

"Sssh!" Peter hisses, glancing worriedly at the door.

"Yeah Ned, could you be any louder. I don't think the people in the next apartment heard you," Morgan says nodding to the wall beside her.

"Sorry," he said, sounding chastised. "So it's true then? You really are Spiderman? This is awesome. How did that even happen? What about those webs you shoot? They don't come out of you do they? That means you have super strength right? Ooh are you gonna be an Avenger?"

Peter looked frazzled by the onslaught of questions. "Yeah I'm seriously Spiderman. No the web don't come out of me. It's a synthetic web fluid that I made secretly during chemistry class. And how it happened, well that's a bit of a long story."

"It's not like we don't have time," Morgan says, shifting to get more comfortable.

"Remember that field trip to Oscorp?"

"The one where you got lost, yep."

Peter shoots a withering glare at her. "Yeah well I ended up in the room full of different insects and animals. Well I knocked over one of the containers holding a spider and I didn't want to get in trouble so I picked it up to put it away and it bit me."

Ned and Morgan stare bewildered at him.

"You mean you got bit by some crazy science spider and you didn't tell anyone?" Ned asked.

Peter shook his head.

"And what if you had died? Oscorp is known for experimentation on animals, so I don't see why they wouldn't do the same to arachnids. There could've be any number of dangerous things in that bite. You could've died and we wouldn't have had any idea."

"But I didn't die, Morgs. I was really sick and feverish for a few days and the pain was agonizing but once it was over I didn't need my glasses anymore and I could hear ten times better. Plus the super strength," he winks at Ned.

"What can you hear right now?" Ned asks, completely missing the point.

"I can hear both your and Morgan's heartbeat."

"So cool..."

Morgan rolls her eyes. "Save the fanboy-ing for later Ned. This is serious. So that explains the powers but not why you decided to fight crime in a onesie."

"It's not a onesie," Peter mutters. "And it's my fault Uncle Ben died. W-we'd had a fight and I stormed off. I was down at the convenient store and I had this feeling about the guy who'd just robbed the place but instead of stopping him, I let him go and he... he shot him. Shot Ben and I watched him die. I had these powers and I didn't save him because I was selfish. I never wanted to do that again. When you can do the things I can, but you don't, and the the bad things happen, they happen because of you."

"You want to help people because you have the power too. Admirable. I can respect it, get behind it even."

"That was so deep," Ned said.

Peter stands up. "You guys cannot tell anyone do you get me. Nobody knows about this. Not even my Aunt May and if she finds out she'll freak out. And if she freaks out I'll freak out. Plus people try to kill me every night and there's no way she'll let me keep doing this. And if my identity gets out everyone I care about will be in danger."

"I'm going to be completely honest with you Peter, I don't think I can keep this a secret. This is literally the greatest thing to ever happen to me. Ow!" Ned swats Morgan's hand away. She was scowling more formidably. Has she always been able to scowl so menacingly?

"May cannot know, I cannot do that to her right now y'know. I mean everything that's happened with her... please.

"Okay."

"Swear it."

"I swear," Ned says and then two pair of eyes turn to her.

"Morgan?" Peter asks.

"Oh, I thought it was obvious. I'd rather die then speak a word of it. We're a team after all. What sort of friend would I be if I spilled your secrets? Don't ever lie to me again though Parker, or you'll regret it."

"Wait, if you're Spiderman that means you saved Morgan. You knew the entire time."

"I thought we already established that fact Ned," Morgan chimes, picking up the Pulsar from the desk and looking it over.

"Yeah, but they were trying to do more than rob you," Peter says suddenly and Morgan feels her face heat with humiliation.

"What do you mean?"

"One of them tried to rape me," Morgan blurts out. She wouldn't dodge around the question. If she wanted honesty from Peter and Ned then they deserved the same treatment from her.

Ned's eyes go wide. "Holy shit, are you alright?"

Morgan waves him off. "I'm fine. Peter saved me."

"You did a fair share of saving yourself, with that Pulsar. Why'd you have that on you anyways?"

"I was finishing up some minor upgrade in the robotics lab and never ended up taking it out of my pocket so I just so happened to have it. Lucky huh?"

"Do you want it back"

She shakes her head and hands it to Peter. "No. You'll need it."

"Does this mean I get to be the guy in the chair?" Ned asks. "I've always wanted to be the guy in the chair, we're like a very own superhero team!"

"What do you mean?"

"C'mon, Parker. You don't seriously think we're not going to help you out now that we're in the know. I'm gonna start working on some upgrades for that onesie and maybe some more tech to help you out. Maybe some sort of communication device in your suit so you can contact me or Ned if something happens."

"Really, you'd do that?" Peter looks at the two of them, stunned.

"You betcha. It's the three of us now. No more flying solo Spidey."

A/N:

There we go. One more chapter after this until Morgan's birthday reveal. Now Morgan and Ned know Peter is Spiderman. It feels a bit fast of a reveal but there's really no reason to prolong that reveal so it works. Plus I figure she'd likely notice some oddities in Peter's behavior so it works.

Anyways, until next chapter.