Peter shot up with a startle, gasping awake for the second time. He quickly roamed his hands all over his body to check if he was really alive and well, questioning whether the events that occurred actually happened again.
"OK, so it wasn't a dream then?"
He was starting to question his sanity; maybe he did die, and this was one long dream.
"No, 'cause you don't feel pain in dreams," He told himself after pinching himself for the third time since he woke.
"Yep, not a dream," He winced slightly as he rubbed his wrist, now red from the repeated self-inflicted pain. He let him fall back on his bed with closed eyes, taking deep breaths to calm himself down.
"So either I did meet Death which isn't likely or I walked back here all healed and just popped down on my bed with a new set of clothes that just so happen to look just like my old ones, but I know that's not possible because the serum's regenerative properties cannot REPAIR CLOTHES and I was too damaged for it to be THIS effective, I mean I don't even have any scars, even my old scars are gone, or Death was telling the truth and some other all-powerful being brought me back to life which would mean that I did meet Death but that just brings me back to square one...damn it, this is making my ache hurt" he groaned, messaging his temple, his head throbbing after every word, rolling around on the bed trying to make sense of his current predicament.
Knock, knock...
"Oof, ouch, shit, fudging, shit."
A noise startled him, causing him to fall off his bed swiftly and hit his head on his desk, sending him head-first into the floor in a mess of tangled limbs and bed sheets.
"Aahhh...tsk." Inhaling a breath, he simply stayed there for a while, tangled, just staring at the ceiling, ignoring the throbbing pain in his head. His internal turmoil faded as he gradually came to terms with his situation.
"So Death, huh...I think it's best if I don't think too much into this, I'm alive now, that's all that matters."
Knock, knock. The sound was coming from his door.
"Peter, you in there?" The gruff, deep voice of his uncle came through the closed door.
It's Uncle Ben. He thought to himself.
"Ah, yeah."
"You alright, I heard the noise from downstairs, you sure you're alright?"
"Yes, sorry, just tripped."
"OK then, if you're done, come downstairs, there's something your aunt and I have to talk to you about." Peter was now on full alert. Uncle Ben's voice sounded a little worried, and Uncle Ben rarely ever sounded worried, and when he did, it was always with reason. Something must have happened.
"Alright, will be down in a few," he quipped.
Just forget about it, Pete, focus on the now.
Untangling himself from his sheets, he picked himself up and glanced out his window. It was noon, almost night by the looks of it.
Deciding it would be best to think about what happened to him at a later date, or not at all, if anything, that would be best for his sanity.
He made his way downstairs. He found his aunt and uncle sitting on the couch with grim expressions on their face, along with a few well-dressed men making their way out the door.
Cops, if the badges around their necks were anything to go by, nope, FEDs, they were too well dressed to be cops.
Something must have happened.
He paused for a while, quietly standing by the stairs, and watched his uncle put his arm around his aunt, comforting her. It took everything in him not to run over there and hug the living daylight out of both of them. But he had to rein himself in, everything had to be normal.
Memories from past events were still fresh in his mind, flashes of the fight wormed their way in, blood, pain, broken bones, a fist against his face, his arms twisting. Pain, pain, PAIN. PAIN, Bone's breaking.
Flesh tearing...PAIN! Everything hurting.
IT HURTS, STOP IT, IT HUR-..
"Peter, Honey, are you ok?" the concerned voice of his aunt snapped him out of this memory.
"You don't look so good." May attempted to get up and check Peter's temperature for a fever.
Come on, keep it together, Pete, now is not the time or the place.
Now was not the time; he just had to smile through it. They didn't know, nor did they need to know. Whatever happened to him was his burden to bear, a result of his mistake; it was his fault to begin with anyway. He loved them too much to let anything hurt them. So he would play the part of the Peter they knew and loved. After some time, he was sure he'd figure out a way to deal with his own problems.
For now, he would focus entirely on them.
"Sorry, lost in thought, don't get up, please, it'll pass, I just slipped on my skateboard and bumped my head on the desk, that's all, clumsy me," he told them, forcing a smile on his face as strolled over and gave them both a hug.
"You should be more careful, I still don't know why you use that thing. It's dangerous, you could very easily fall off and hurt yourself. "
Even now, Aunt May seemed more worried about him; she held his wrist close to her chest and pulled him in to rustle his hair.
"Because it's stupid and dangerous, remember when we were stupid and dangerous," Uncle Ben snorted with a chuckle.
May quickly responded with a light slap on the shoulder, shaking her head in disbelief, a slight smile forming on her face as if to remind herself of the reason she was married to this man again.
Peter walked over and pulled in a chair, never once taking his eyes off them, enjoying their actions with a joyful smile. He missed this, loved this, he would NEVER LET ANYTHING take this away from him. Never Let...His eyes glazed over as he took a seat, noticing a spider by the window.
Pain, bones cracking, flesh tearing, a kick to the stomach, spider-woman punching him, PAIN...
STOP IT, just focus on them, forget everything else, FOCUS ON THEM! I can do this, it'll be enough for now. He reassured himself.
Snapping himself back into reality, he tried banishing any thought related to the last few days from his mind.
He took a deep breath, he hoped they wouldn't notice his little miss hap, and focused back on them, his uncle Ben pulling his aunt May close to him again with a comforting hug, he covered his inner thoughts with a mask of concern, not that it needed any effort because he was already genuinely concerned for them now.
"Hey, did something happen?"
"Nothing's wrong, dear, just an accident at my work."
His aunt answered, the smile never once leaving her face. Dressed in a brown sweater and comfortable jeans, she had an aged face but looked well for someone in her late forties with long brunette hair, and youthful brown eyes behind her framed glasses that betrayed her age, her lips pursed in worry.
"No, May, he has the right to know. It's best if he does."
His uncle stated firmly, his face losing all playfulness, morphing into a serious frown; dressed in his favorite oversized blue denim jacket, white long long-sleeved button-down shirt, grey pants, and construction boots. He had an aged and wrinkled face, but like his aunt, he aged well for someone in their late fifties; his black hair with hints of grey mixed with white strands complemented the beard that covered his face in a roguishly handsome way.
He must have come back from work in a hurry. There was still wet cement on his boots.
"Okay, so something did happen." He moved his seat near the edge of the table, closer to them.
"Peter, everything is alright-" his Aunt tried to reassure him.
"No, May, Someone tried to ki-hurt you, everything is definitely not okay." His uncle interrupted her, his expression quickly turning furious.
"Those damn suits won't even do anything about it, a God damn reassurance is all we get, reassurance my ass, they care more about that dead city councilor than they do about you right now. Heck I bet if it wasn't that rich pompous ass but some average Joe that got get they wouldn't even be here, I get that their a little short-handed with the giant killer lizard and all, but still, a little protection isn't too much to ask for" he ranted on.
"What? Someone tried to hurt you, Aunt May? Are you ok? What happened? Who was it?" Peter asked, panic clear in his tone, his expression quickly matching his uncle's. He chose to ignore his uncle's mention of a giant lizard, weaving around the table close to his aunt and placing his hand on her shoulder.
"No, no one tried to hurt me, your uncle is just making this seem worse than it is. I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, but everything was okay. He never even saw me." May tried to calm the situation down as best she could, giving Peter's hand a reassuring squeeze.
"He?" Peter probed.
"Making things worse? May you witnessed a murder, not to mention you also saw the face of the killer, if anything, we should be careful from now on. At least until they catch the killer." Ben pressed, getting to his feet to check the windows suspiciously.
"You never know with stuff like this," Ben asserted, lowering the slides as he watched the cops slipping into their vehicles.
"Ben, you're just being paranoid, like I keep telling you, he never saw me in the first place, and besides, I left his description with the Feds, I'm sure by this time tomorrow he'll be behind bars." May rolled her eyes at her husband's antics.
"You don't know that," Ben grumbled, still watching the police car pull out into the driveway and drive off.
"OK, can someone please tell me what's going on?" Peter was fed up and confused, as if what happened last night wasn't enough, now someone tried to hurt his aunt.
"Your Aunt saw someone getting murdered at the hospital last night, even saw the face of the man who did it, the killer thought he could use the commotion this man lizard thing caused to get away with it." Ben let out a tired sigh as he made his way back to his chair, not noticing the slight twitch in Peter's actions.
"The FBI came to get her statement just now, that's them leaving, got what they wanted," he looked up at Peter with a tired expression.
" Are you serious?! Aunt May! This is serious, are you ok?" Peter exclaimed, checking his aunt for injuries of any kind. Again, playing dumb to his uncle's mention of his alter ego, not that he would ever assume that identity ever again.
Lesson learned that's for sure.
"What did the cops say? Are they sending someone to watch the house? You sure you're OK?"
"Oh, Peter, not you too, I told your uncle and now I'm telling you that I'm alright, I've seen worse things at the hospital, I am a nurse, you know, I don't need both of my boys all worried about something like this." She sighed softly. She abruptly stood up, drawing both their attention, swiftly moving out of Peter's embrace, and making her way to Ben.
She took his hands in hers and motioned for Peter to come closer.
"Now, both of you look here, today was supposed to be our anniversary, we have one day a year for this, and we've been planning it for weeks. I won't let some would-be killer ruin it, Ben, look at me." She looked at him with a soft, loving smile.
"Everything is okay, the FEDs said they would send a unit tomorrow to watch the house, so for tonight, we go down to that Chinese place you both like," glancing back at Peter.
" We'll have a nice meal, stop by the park to watch the fireworks, and come back, everyone's celebrating you know, the news said whatever that killer lizard is, it's gone now," she pulled them both into a hug.
Peter hid a wince and hugged them both a little tighter.
"Now let's get dressed and get going, it'll take another three months to make another reservation at that restaurant. Come on, boys, you ready to show a girl a good time?" She smiled sultrily at her husband.
"Well, when you put it like that, who am I to refuse?" Ben smiled back and leaned in for a quick kiss.
"Okay... You two, get a room, seriously." He averted his gaze and feeling a bit embarrassed by their open display of affection. Peter shrugged their arms off with a smile, as they continued, much to his embarrassment.
"Now, Peter, when you get yourself someone special, you'll be doing this too, all the time, trust me, son," His uncle said in between his affectionate smooches.
"First off, that's disgusting, and second off, please I would be more discreet about it, and not sucking each other's faces in the living room in front of the oh-so-very innocent teenager that happens to be living with them, case and point." He all but scrambled up the stairs to get ready for the night, dogging his uncle's attempt at another hug.
"Oh-so-very-innocent, he says, I've seen your browsing history, Peter. Nothing innocent about them." May all but snorted at her adoptive son.
"Hey! Those are supposed to be private women! And you promised not to mention that. It was one time, one time, god, left my laptop open one time and you ransacked it for that, so what if I got a little curious, come on, Aunt May, stay out of my room!" Peter shouted down from the top of the stairs, his face popping out of the corner with an accusing glare before deliberately stomping up the stairs for dramatic effect.
He stopped in front of his door to take in a shaky breath.
Focus on the now, that's all you need. He told himself.
"I would if you kept it clean, young man. It's like a pig stays in there sometimes, and bring your dirty laundry down when it's full, we talked about this, equal responsibility, Peter." May called out after the teen.
"Yes, Mother! Of course, Mother! I heard you the first three hundred times, and again it was one time," the teen shouted out behind his closed door.
Her husband tried to cover his laughter, one that faded gradually as he looked at his wife.
Ben once more pulled May in, looking at her with eyes full of worry, his face portrayed an expression he would only show his wife, the love of his life. He didn't want Peter to see this side of him, he had an example to set for the growing boy after all.
"Are you sure about this? We could just do this next year, May, please," He pleaded with her.
"Ben I'm fine, I keep telling you, it's not just one night, it's the NIGHT in this whole year, let's go have our fun, we'll worry about this tomorrow," she told him, his walls crumbling as she gently held his left cheek in her palm.
Ben leaned into her touch and sighed, he could never win with her, probably why he married her in the first place, he thought to himself.
"Alright, let's go get ready and go. I'll call a cab."
May smiled at him, a swift kiss on the cheek, and left to prepare herself for the evening without a care in the world.
"Women, can't figure them out, can't live without 'em, maybe I am getting too old for this."
Ben made his way to the phone to call a cab, passing the TV in the process. He paid no mind to it, opting to switch it off; best not to let it ruin the mood.
"Recent reports left most in shock and awe after the astrological events that lit up the skies of New York last night, an amazing event that left many astronomers baffled. Attempts were made to study the captured astral phenomenon. Something to look forward to in this dark hour. In other News, nothing has been discovered as of yet about the mysterious lizard monster that left dozens of officers and civilians dead and injured…" A sharply dressed woman was on the news, but Ben switched it off before long.
...
- Three hours later -
"Come on, admit it, you had fun," May gloated at her husband, her head resting on his shoulder. Both of them were sitting on a bench waiting for the bus.
"OK, so maybe I did enjoy myself, just a tiny bit," Ben stated, his face plastered with an annoyed frown. He was still against the idea of them coming out, and he would be damn if he let his wife think otherwise.
They were waiting for Peter, who left to get them both some hot dogs, but the teen was taking his time.
Ben enjoyed himself more than just a tiny bit. After a satisfying and rather expensive dinner, they went for a movie, one of the scary ones, one that had May screaming in her seat, and after that, they did some light shopping.
He even got a new jacket, May stated his old one was looking a bit worn, he never understood her need to frequently update his wardrobe, Peter, yes, he was a growing boy, but him, it seemed like a waste of his hard-earned cash but he long since learned not to argue with his dear wife about clothes.
God forbid the countless hours of lectures he sat through, and her shopping sprees when they were younger left him all but traumatized, with even the slightest mention of clothing discount prices giving him flashbacks. He learned the secret to any good conversations with his wife when clothes were involved was to simply smile and nod, and tell her it looked good on her.
"But I still think we should have waited. We could have done this next year," he replied with a slight smile on his face from the memory, despite his worry.
"Come on, love. You had fun, Peter had the time of his life, I had a blast—now all that's left are the fireworks. Then we can go home, and you can go back to being Mr. Overprotective and paranoid. Just... let this play out, for me—and Peter. He's having such a great time."Huffing slightly at him. She pushed herself up and looked at him expectantly.
"I haven't seen him this happy in forever, and you may not have noticed, but something is going on with Peter. He seemed distant. Almost like you after the war. I just can't seem to put my finger on it, but I know something is wrong, I can just feel it." May grabbed his hands and gave them a tender squeeze, trying to find the words to explain what she felt.
She knew something was wrong the moment she looked into Peter's eyes. They looked haunted. He acted like Peter, but he wasn't Peter. Almost like the Peter she was looking at was just not the boy she raised, as if something changed in a single moment when she took her eyes off him.
Ben returned the tender squeeze with his one.
"Fine, I'll try, but after this, we go to the station first thing in the morning," his lips thinned but slowly grew into a playful smirk.
"And Peter's fine, maybe the boy's having some girl trouble at school or something. I remember someone saying, and I quote,' How far would you go if you knew you could not fail, just ask her out, you'll never know unless you try.' now that has to be the best dating advice I've ever heard, almost like it came from a certain magazine. Look at you already prepared to handle teen-oaf oh hahaha they grow u so fast…haha… look at us now, who would have thought…" He teased her with a peal of gleeful laughter, wiggling his eyebrows. He received a playful shrug from his wife.
"Oh, stop it, you big lug, I'll have you know I am more than capable of giving dating advice to my teenage...son..." She paused as she noticed a black Mercedes with tinted glass pull up, and time seemed to slow down to a crawl. May's eyes widened in recognition and horror.
...
Peter felt content. He was having more fun than he thought he could. His flashes have all but stopped and Aunt May, God bless her heart, for whatever reason was paying more attention to him today than ever before.
Despite what was happening to her, she made the day all about him, and Uncle Ben was, well, being Uncle Ben. Yeah, he loved them to death.
He watched them on the bench as he made his way toward them, two hot dogs, one in each hand, his smile getting even bigger than should be humanly possible, watching Aunt May playfully shove Uncle Ben, who teased her over something he could not hear.
He wondered if he'd ever have a relationship like that one day. Seeing them filled him with so much hope.
He watched as a black Mercedes with tinted glass slowed to a crawl next to them, the glass sliding down as a tattooed hand came out, holding something dark.
The hot dogs slipped from his hands. They never even touched the ground before his voice, a loud and desperate shout, bellowed out. His legs moved before his mind had even processed his action.
"AUNT MAY!, UNCLE BEN!, WATCH OUT! HE'S GOT A-" The words didn't make it out of his mouth fast enough, his legs didn't carry him fast enough. His warning came out too late, his aunt turned to him in horror, her mouth parted, trying to call his name as if to warn HIM. His uncle grabbed her close as if to shield her, his eyes locking with his, pleading with HIM to stay away.
Uncle Ben's mouth parted, lips quivering. Peter couldn't hear what he was saying, but he knew what he said, his seen him say it so many times.
"Peter. No."
Even in the face of death, they cared more for him than they did for themselves.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Six gunshots loudly echoed out into the streets, followed by screams of fear, panic, and the running feet of fleeing bystanders.
All this would pale in comparison to the horror-stricken cry that would later fill the street when the broken, distraught teen finally reached his family.
-End of Chapter-