Chapter Text
His head throbbed. It was like he was underwater, the sounds around him muted and somewhere far away. He felt light, like he was floating in nowhere particularly. Was this an out of body experience? He couldn’t see anything besides black and it was starting to freak him out.
Maybe he should open his eyes.
His eyelids were heavy which made this particular task harder than it had any right to be, but they stopped fluttering eventually and stayed open for a few seconds until he had to blink again.
“Good, you’re awake! You seriously scared us!” the blurry figure on his left that resembled Mr. Stark said. The figure leaned closer, hovering above him.
Peter groaned.
“Someone get him pain meds!”
He was laying on something soft and comfy, a bed. It had to be a bed. A bed that felt a lot more pleasant than his own bunk bed at home. So he wasn’t at home then.
The air smelled strongly of disinfectant. Hospital? No, med bay. Why was he at med bay again? His memory was hazy from waking up.
“What h-happened?” Peter asked, squinting his eyes against the bright light and looked around the white and pristine room. There was a window on his right side, sun still high on the sky.
“You fought a dragon with us and got hurt, in short. Remember?” Mr. Stark answered. His voice was soft. He was no longer blurry.
“Y-yeah. I think I do,” Peter said, trying to get into a sitting position, his ribs protesting.
Mr. Stark pushed him gently back into the soft mattress that almost swallowed him and tucked him in like a little kid. “No, no, you lay down.”
“’Tis but a scratch,” Peter pouted.
“Kid.”
“Old man.”
“Hey, don’t old man me!” the older man complained, smiling. The smile dropped soon, a worried expression taking its place. “But seriously, you hit your head and it’s a miracle there was no fracture.”
“Healing factor,” Peter explained. Without his healing abilities he’d probably look like a road roller had run over him every morning. He wasn’t capable of surviving that, though.
“It’s kinda freaky and fascinating to see your skin fix itself, by the way.”
Peter’s eyes widened. “You were watching me this whole time?” he squeaked. “How long was I out?”
Mr. Stark glanced at his watch that was probably super high tech and cost more than their apartment. “A few hours tops.”
“Boss, you have a hostile guest who is demanding to get to the med bay,” FRIDAY’s voice sounded from what Peter thought was the ceiling, startling them both.
Mr. Stark stood up from the (not plastic) chair that had been placed next to the hospital bed, blocking Peter’s view of the doorway. “What? Who?”
“It’s May Parker. I think you should let her through.”
Mr. Stark glanced worriedly at Peter who looked even more paler than before. “Sorry, Pete. Apparently, your hot aunt decided to grace us with her presence. Let the aunt in, FRI.”
“She’ll be here soon.”
The room was silent for a full second before Peter pushed himself upright. He would have honestly bolted straight out of the room through the window had his ribs not send a piercing pain through his body that made him wheeze.
“Easy there, kiddo,” Mr. Stark said, looking lost but putting a comporting hand on his shoulder nonetheless. It felt nice.
But even Mr. Stark wouldn’t be able to save him from May’s wrath.
“Oh my god, Mr. Stark! May’s gonna kill me! How am I supposed to explain being here in a hospital gown no less when I should be at school! She can’t see me!”
“You’re dying? Oh no, it’s me. You were hurt on my watch. Which is not okay for that matter and you should stop doing it before I go all gray.”
“Boss, would you like to make changes to your testament?”
Mr. Stark dragged a hand down his face. “Shut up.”
“Very well.”
The man Peter had come to know as his mentor collapsed with a heavy sigh back into the chair that must’ve been the most comfortable looking hospital chair Peter had ever seen. Not that he had seen many but that wasn’t the point. The point was that even though Mr. Stark had the best resources money could buy, Peter was still bedridden. No, that wasn’t what he wanted to think about. At the moment, he just felt so unbearably small and fragile, waiting for his doom.
He had thought about telling May, before. The timing just hadn’t been right. It wasn’t right now either.
“Did you tell her I’m here?” he asked.
“No.” May should’ve been at work at this time of the day. They both knew it.
“Then how does she know to come here?”
“Beats me.”
The sudden noises in the hallway was the only warning they got before a fuming woman Peter knew extremely well came barging into the room, followed by several nurses who were trying to calm her down. She paid them no mind. “Where’s my nephew?!”
May’s fury died down when she laid her eyes on Peter and rushed to check on him.
“Honey, are you okay?” she cried and pressed Peter close to her, hugging him as if he could disappear any second. Peter leaned his head on her shoulder and wrapped his hands around her. She was warm and safe and smelled faintly of strawberry shampoo. He smiled against her.
“I’m okay, Aunt May.”
May combed her fingers through his soft locks which made Peter feel like everything was okay after all and he had no need to worry anymore. May’s fury had ceased the moment she had seen him.
She released him but stayed beside him on the bed.
“Never do that again. Ever,” she said, serious. Her gaze held so much concern and unshed tears when it met Peter’s brown eyes.
For a moment Peter had forgotten the real reason why they were here and why he should be concerned for his mentor’s safety and the gravity of the situation. He had solely focused on the fact that she was still warm and here and alive. He thought that May might have felt something like that too.
But May had known he was here and apparently also what had brought him here. Suddenly the room was too small, the walls too white and the temperature not cold enough and at the same time not warm enough.
Mr. Stark coughed from the doorway where he had awkwardly retreated. “What brings you here, Mrs. Parker?” he asked even if he knew. You couldn’t be called a genius if you didn’t have at least a little bit of common sense regardless of what Pepper claimed.
Now that she knew her nephew was safe, she leveled the billionaire with a glare that left no room for excuses.
“Don’t play innocent, Stark. I know. I know how you’ve been using my nephew behind my back and left me in the dark.”
“Mr. Stark didn’t-”
May crossed her arms. “Peter Benjamin Parker, you owe me an explanation,” she said sternly.
Peter fiddled the hem of his hospital gown, eyes downcast. “Is this where you say, ‘I know what you are’ and I’ll answer, ‘say it, out loud’?” he dared to joke.
“Was that a pop culture reference because I remember banning them?” Mr. Stark smirked. They needed this normality at the moment.
“Peter.”
Peter mimicked zipping his lips shut. Humor had always been his way to get out of unpleasant situations.
If May knew he was Spider-Man and didn’t want him to continue, he wouldn’t know what to do. He would still be Spider-Man, would still have his abilities if he didn’t have his suit. He had the ability to prevent accidents from happening, to save someone’s life, and if he didn’t act when he could, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.
So, he looked at his mother figure and waited for the inevitable to happen.
But May didn’t yell at him for ‘pretending’ to be a superhero. She didn’t blame him for his mishaps. Instead, her face crumbled as tears rolled down her cheeks, ruining her make-up. Strong arms were wrapped around him again. “Y-you weren’t at school today.” A sob escaped her. “I’d had my doubts already and—and I turned the television on…”
“Please don’t cry. I’ll cry too if you cry,” Peter said.
“… And then I saw that horrible monster sm— I saw it smash you into a… into a building. You didn’t… didn’t get up.”
“I’m here, May. I’m here.”
And he would be for years to come if it was up to him. May didn’t deserve to lose another family member.
“I’ll leave you two to it,” Mr. Stark said awkwardly before he exited the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. Peter had honestly forgotten he was still here and felt a bit bad.
The room was silent, the walls were soundproof to keep all outside noises away, making May’s occasional sniffs the only sound in the vast space. The two of them hugged until May calmed down.
“Why do you do it?” she asked with a quiet voice.
Peter didn’t have to think about it for long. “If you can do the things I can but you don’t act, the bad things that happen are your fault.” He remembered telling Mr. Stark something similar. “It’s like what Ben used to say; with great power comes great responsibility.”
May disentangled them and put her hands gently on his shoulders instead, smiling sadly.
“You shouldn’t have that kind of responsibility. Peter, you’re brilliant and have the kindest heart but you’re only fifteen!” She sighed. “What is it that you can do that makes you risk your life almost every day?”
Then her mouth formed a little “o” and it seemed like she had pieced something together.
“You don’t mean… the invention that you got from Stark! Oh my god, are you crawling the sides of hundred-feet-high buildings with the help of some glue?” Her grip on his shoulders tightened.
Oh. She thought Peter had really gotten some new Stark technology super glue and was using it to mess around and fight literal dragons. That actually wasn’t far from the truth now that he thought about it. Except for the glue part. How should he explain what he was?
“No, May, no. There’s no glue, just me. I have, uh, adhesive fingertips. The glue was a lie.” He fought down the urge to do jazz hands.
She blinked. That was a completely normal thing to do and even recommendable unless you wanted your eyes to dry, but this was different. She blinked slowly, a confused expression on her face that didn’t go away. If she thought gravity defying glue was a new and weird thing, this was on a whole new level.
“Are you saying you’re… a mutant?” May asked.
“Not exactly. More like… enhanced. Yeah. I got bitten by a radioactive spider a year ago.”
He went on to tell her how he had felt sick the first few days after the bite and then one morning woken up with super strength (there went his first alarm clock) and the ability to stick to any surface.
May stroked his cheek tenderly and he leaned automatically into her touch.
“Oh Peter, why didn’t you tell me, tell us?” She hugged him tighter.
“It didn’t feel like the right moment. I don’t know. And then Ben— he…” He had to blink repeatedly and look at the white ceiling. “I- I could have done something. I… I could have stopped him. Saved him.” One of the tears escaped, leaving a wet trail on his cheek.
“But I didn’t…” Not having the courage to look May in the eye, Peter turned his gaze from the ceiling to the white sheets. “I’m sorry,” he sniffled.
“No, honey, I’m sorry. You had to live with this for so long and I had no idea.” She smiled through her own tears. “None of it is your fault. It was that criminal’s fault and no one else should be blamed but him.”
“But—”
She shushed him by placing a finger on his lips. “Ben would say the same. He would be proud of you and what you do to help others. I am, too.”
It was quiet again, but it was a comfortable silence. Peter rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn. Their conversation had been tiring and he could feel his headache coming back.
“Maybe you should continue sleeping,” May said softly, already trying to tuck him in.
May had gone to another room to yell at Mr. Stark, or as she called it, ‘have a civil, mature conversation between two adults’. She let him stay the night though because he did get hit on the head. He also did have a gauze wrapped around his middle, but she didn’t know that. Yet.
A nurse had deemed it safe to enter his room to give him medication for his headache and aching ribs, so he felt sleepy and pain free.
Just as he was about to get some shut-eye, he remembered something important. His phone. Which he didn’t have. It was in his pack back with his clothes. Which he didn’t have either.
He could only imagine the huge amount of worried messages from Ned and MJ they must have sent in his absence.
Oh no! His friends. His friends who he was only now thinking about. His friends who had encouraged him to suit up and help which had resulted in him getting injured. It was in no way their fault, but Peter could imagine them fretting over what had happened.
“FRIDAY,” Peter whispered, looking at the white and smooth ceiling where he thought the voice must come from.
“Yes, Peter?” the voice of a woman answered for the first time after being told to be quiet.
“Can you call my friend Ned? His number is—”
“Calling Ned.” Apparently, FRIDAY already knew Ned’s number and had called him before Peter had time to utter a single number.
The call was instantly picked up.
“Oh my god, dude! Are you okay?!” Ned’s loud voice came from who knows where. Peter’s ears hurt.
“Hi, Ned! Yeah, I’m okay now. No need to yell.”
“That hit you took looked really dangerous! You lost conscious! MJ screamed! We both screamed!”
Peter felt bad. “I thought I had it under control… What happened after I was unconscious?”
“Oh! S.H.I.E.L.D came just after that! That awesome—I mean not awesome dragon was actually revealed to be a scientist turned into a monster! They didn’t disclose anything else about the incident, though.”
“Good thing they caught it even without me.”
“You were a great help! They thanked you on TV!” Ned paused his excited gushing. “But are you really okay? Where are you? You’re not in pain, are you? Nothing’s broken?”
“Of course, nothing’s broken! You know how my healing is. I’m at med bay but they’ll let me leave tomorrow. I’m just tired that’s all. Oh, and Ned?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you tell MJ I’m fine?”
Rustling could be heard from the other line like someone had forcefully taken the phone from Ned’s hand. Before Peter could ask what happened, Michelle’s harsh voice came from the speaker. “Tell me that yourself, nerd! We’re at Ned’s place eating chips and worrying because someone didn’t answer his calls! I mean, that’s understandable and all if you were unconscious but we even called May and Happy and no one answered! You should’ve just told us Tony Stark’s number!”
Peter squirmed in his hospital bed. “Sorry.”
“We’re also sorry.”
They were silent for a moment until Peter coughed quietly. “Uh, by the way, Aunt May also knows now. About me.”
“Who doesn’t at this point,” Michelle sneered.
“You’re not in home arrest, are you?” Ned asked over Michelle.
“I don’t think so…”
Peter was, in fact, in home arrest. That was something Aunt May and Mr. Stark had both agreed on. It was going to last only for a few weeks, but Peter felt like it was going the be the longest two weeks in his life.
Home arrest meant he would go to school in the morning and come back in the afternoon and spend the rest of the day at home, hopefully doing his homework. No superheroing.
Peter was honestly scared of going back to school. He had skipped school yesterday, a day after jumping to the ceiling while at least Flash had seen him, and he had no doubt that the students were speculating something. They had to. There were far too many coincidences.
Ned and Michelle greeted him at the gates and they walked together to their lockers to get their books for the day.
Flash sauntered to them in his usual fashion but something in his being seemed subdued, like he was ashamed of something. Michelle glared at him as a silent warning to go away and leave them alone but Flash either didn’t notice the hint or didn’t care.
Peter ignored him and continued searching for his physics book that had someone gotten lost in his locker that he had for a while suspected was actually a black hole.
“Peter?” Flash called. He didn’t seem to be going away like they had hoped. Peter turned around with a sigh and arched an eyebrow. That was what Michelle often did and people were intimidated by her so he hoped it would work on Flash.
Flash didn’t look directly at him but somewhere on his left, avoiding eye contact.
"Hey? About yesterday... You're not Spider-Man, are you?" Flash asked almost timidly but didn’t waste any time in pleasantries or mocking him. He whispered the end of his inquiry like it was a secret. And a secret it had been until a moment ago.
And there it was. The question that would finally expose him and his secret identity. He had known someone would put two and two together but somehow, he still wasn’t prepared. Anyway, it was no use to lie. Despite Flash being a literal bully and more of a menace than Spider-Man could ever be, he wasn’t stupid.
Ned, bless him, eyes wide and close to bulging out of his head, pretended to be surprised. “What?! Peter?” he said in a high-pitched voice. “No way! What makes you think that, Flash? Peter plays with Legos! Legos!”
“Thanks, Ned,” Peter dead-panned. He took a deep breath as his friends looked at him worriedly.
"I knew secrets will always be revealed eventually. Yes, I am your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man," he said dramatically, reminiscent of Tony Stark, and turned around only to knock his head into his left open locker door. His school books sprawled on the floor, including one high school physics book. Massaging his sore forehead that would definitely bruise soon, Peter moaned, “Ow!”
Flash’s dumbstruck face changed immediately into one of amusement. He laughed boisterously, pointing at Peter. “Oh my god!” he wheezed. “Did you guys see? This guy just claimed he was Spider-Man and then hit his head right after on his locker!”
Several other students who were also in the same hallway laughed along with him. Peter’s face was starting to gain color and feel warm. He stopped massaging the sore spot in his head. The bruise was hidden by his hair so no one would notice its disappearance at the end of the school day. He bent down to pick up the scattered school materials. Ned and Michelle joined in to help.
"For a moment I thought puny Peter Parker was Spider-Man! What a joke!" Flash was still laughing in an ugly manner.
Pressing his school books close to his chest, Peter sighed. "Yeah... Ha ha."
The bell rang and Flash had to leave to his first class, still snickering alone as he went. Fortunately, they didn’t share a class in the morning, so Peter didn’t have to see him again for a few hours.
“Flash is an idiot,” Ned said, looking sympathetically at Peter.
“It’s better this way. Trust me.”
Michelle helped Peter up from the dirty floor. “Even if it is, that was uncalled for.”
“At least it cleared all suspicions about me,” Peter muttered, dusting off his trousers.
If Flash found his locker glued shut the next day, that was none of their business.
As soon as Peter opened the front door of their apartment, Aunt May’s smiling face greeted him. She was holding several small boxes in her hands.
“Ah, welcome home, Peter!” she said. “I decided to change all our light bulbs to more environmentally friendly ones today! It’s such a great idea, isn’t it?” As she said that, she opened one of the boxes and took out a LED light bulb, showing it to him like it was a great treasure.
“Uh, yeah…” Peter mumbled, a bit confused as to what had gotten Aunt May to enthuse about light bulbs. “Great.”
May nodded. “Mm. You’re going to help by changing them.”
“Okay?” He was taller than May so it made sense for him to change them, but she could have still waited for him to eat first. “I’ll grab a chair then and get to work…” He was going to move their sturdiest chair under the lamp but May stopped him.
“No, no. I deserve to see my boy in action,” she said, pointing at the ceiling and added, “but don’t leave footprints.”
Hesitating, Peter took his sneakers off. “Are you sure, Aunt May?”
“Do you not want to show this old aunt of yours what amazing things you can do?”
“Yeah, yeah.” He leaped up and pressed his fingers and toes firmly against the prickly surface. Aunt May obviously wanted to be a part of his other life too and Peter would gladly let her, now.
Aunt May laughed, the corners of her eyes wrinkled and eyes bright. “Wonderful!”