Chapter Text
“Rocky?!” Grace looked at the man incredulously. “How– Why–”
The tour guide from S.H.I.E.L.D. waved, a big smile on his face. “Hi, Grace! You have powers now! I come in, no one else know I am here.”
Rocky pushed past Grace without another word.
“Whoa, whoa, hang on!”
“I saw you last week, and you were not so buff. That is fact.” Rocky grabbed one of Grace’s arms and lifted it high, then pulled him forward to examine his wrist. “Have you had trouble adjusting to changes?”
“I– well, at first, but–”
“Are these your notes?” Rocky moved to study the whiteboard and notebooks from Grace’s studies. He poked at the piles of papers with one of his crutches, knocking it over. “Very messy. No organization.”
“That’s just mean. Wait, Rocky–”
“You saved kids! Very good!”
“Thank you, but how–”
Rocky had already grabbed one of the notebooks and flopped down on the couch, reading so fast Grace couldn’t imagine he was actually taking in any of the information. Never in his life had he become so overwhelmed by one single human being in such a short amount of time. Not even his brother could accomplish such a feat.
Grace took a deep breath. “Okay, Rocky, stop! One, two, three, eyes on me!”
Rocky looked up at Grace over his glasses. “Yes, Grace?”
“Before you get too comfortable, just answer a few questions. First, how did you find out where I live?”
“I work for S.H.I.E.L.D.” Rocky cocked his head, rethinking. “Correction, work with S.H.I.E.L.D. I do not like them much; very bossy, very mean. Have access to many databases that are easy to access.”
“So you hacked their system to find my address, cool. Do they know you’re here?” Grace didn’t like the idea of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents coming to his home in the middle of the night. He’d already had enough on his plate without factoring that in.
“No, no, no. This was personal decision. They do not know about you and the spider.”
“And that, how do you know I have powers?”
Rocky blinked and then chucked the notebook at Grace, who didn’t move in time before it hit him square in the face.
“Ow!”
“Apology. I thought Grace would catch it.”
“Why would you think I would catch it?! You threw a book at me!”
“Spiders are very fast. Thought you would have enhanced reflexes.”
“I do. Again, how do you know about all that?”
“You got bit by spider last week at Alchemax testing site. This week, man who shoots spider webs out of hands appears on news and saves school. It is not hard to figure out.”
“It’s on the news?!” Grace fumbled his phone out of his pocket and began searching. Sure enough, there it was.
Mysterious Yellow Coat Hero Saves the Day
This afternoon at approximately 12:34pm, San Francisco was struck by a 6.2 magnitude earthquake. While seismologists report that the upper Bay area is not at risk of any more tremors, attention has been drawn to a local science museum.
Students from Grover Cleavland Middle School were on an annual field trip to the Bay Area Science Museum when the earthquake struck. The shaking caused a newly-installed solar system model to fall on top of them, separating eight of the students and one teacher from the rest of their classmates. But miraculously, all nine of them made it out with no injuries. They say that they were rescued by a masked man who shot spider webs out of his hands.
"It was amazing! He came out of nowhere and caught the entire system in a net!” one student reported. “He’s a total star!”
“He helped us out of the cafeteria and then we got to break a window to get out. Then he lowered us down like they do on TV. It was [explicitive] awesome!” another told our reporters.
Whether or not this was fact or tall tale remains to be seen. Authorities have begun to clear the rubble for any sign of this mysterious Star Spider.
(Identities of students has been made anonymous by request)
Grace sat down hard next to Rocky, reading the article over and over again.
“I told you,” Rocky said quietly. “It is on news. Grace is hero.”
“No! I mean, I guess. But I'm not a hero.” He shook his head. “I saved them, but I needed to! They were going to die!”
“You have power to help! You did! That is hero!”
Grace laughed, rubbing at his eyes. “I guess…”
They sat for a moment, then Rocky patted his shoulder awkwardly. “Good job.”
“Thanks.”
Rocky returned to flipping through the notebook, staying quiet this time.
“So you show up to my apartment unannounced, tell me that it took you less than 12 hours to figure out I was a super hero. Did I really hide it that badly?”
Rocky laughed. “No, I just have resource. You need help, so Rocky help. I bring equipment to help study Grace powers!”
“What kind of equipment?”
First it was a wagon full of computers and monitors. Then it was two more trips for different kinds of lab equipment. And on, and on, and on, until Rocky's belongings were spilling out of the living room and into the kitchen and bedroom. The amount of stuff Rocky brought in (well, that Grace carried in and Rocky instructed on where to put) made Grace's old set up feel downright abandoned.
Even with his enhanced abilities, he was getting worn out by the constant back and forth.
“Are you moving in with me?” Grace asked, setting down a box of test tubes and wiping the sweat off his brow. Rocky was engrossed in setting up his electronics and gave a casual hum.
“Mmm, no. Rocky has home with Adrian. Just brought essentials to Grace's apartment.”
“Essentials?!”
“Yes, yes, yes! We will find cause of changes and fix!”
Rocky whistled happily as half a dozen computers, monitors, and 3-D printers whirred to life. Instantly, Grace's lights flickered dangerously.
“You're going to reimburse me for the electricity bill, right?”
Instead of answering, Rocky said, “Can you set up lab equipment in empty area there?”
“You mean my dining area.”
“Yes, that. Need space for biological experiments.”
Grace quickly learned that in addition to Rocky being so bossy and largely unhelpful, he also liked things in a very particular way.
“No! Put centrifuge next to vials. Helps make more space.”
“But if I put that next to those, then where am I going to put these?!” Grace shook the box of micropipettes at Rocky.
“Find space on floor.”
Grace rolled his eyes, shoving the box underneath the nearest folding table. “I've got a question, Rocky. You can study me all you want, but we don't have a catalyst or even a baseline to compare our findings to.”
“No, no, is here! I have.”
“You have? Have wh– OH MY GOD.”
Grace leapt back from the table, almost rocketing onto the wall as Rocky pulled a plastic baggie from a lunchbox at his feet. Inside was the largest, hairiest spider Grace had ever seen. Most of its legs were curled in on itself, but some had broken off in transit and were bouncing around the bag.
“Have catalyst!” Rocky said proudly, setting the baggie down between them.
Grace scooped it up gently and held it at a distance. Even in its deceased state, Grace recognized it as the very spider that had bitten him not even a week ago. “You've been keeping it in a plastic bag? There's better ways of storing a specimen y'know.”
“Did not have resources. Grace put catalyst in fridge?”
“I'm not storing that thing next to my dinner! I'll grab an ice pack and put it back in the lunchbox.”
“Is important to keep sterile. Grace have gloves while moving equipment?”
“I’ll stop by the store tomorrow and get some tarp. I don’t want experiments all over my apartment." Grace shuddered at the thought of his landlord coming in for a surprise visit. "You said you’ve got a home with someone, Adrian? Why don’t we just do this stuff there?”
“Adrian does not like experiments in home. Tried to do one with new power source, destroyed breaker box.”
“So you decided to destroy my breaker box instead? Does Adrian know what you’re doing at some stranger’s house?”
“Yes, Rocky tell Adrian everything. Do not worry, Adrian keeps secret.”
Grace shook his head. “I’ve never met Adrian– I’ve barely met you! And now you’re telling me you both know about all this?! That’s pretty uncool, man.”
Rocky nodded his head. “Apology, Grace. Was difficult decision, but important. You need help with this, could not let you do alone. I promise that no one will find out if you do not want. Needed to help.”
“You didn’t need to do anything, Rocky. I met you once.”
“Was my responsibility you got hurt.” Rocky closed the book, looking forlorn. “I was supposed to keep you and group safe on tour. Grace got bit and went to hospital. Now mutated.”
“No, that wasn’t your fault, Rocky. Colt told me that someone else was supposed to take care of all of that.”
“No, my responsibility. You got hurt. I want to help Grace understand new abilities. Maybe…” he hummed, thinking of what he wanted to say. “Maybe find way to reverse process.”
“Reverse it? Get rid of this?” He looked down at his wrist, at the almost invisible line where his webbing would shoot out of at a moment's notice.
“Yes. Make you normal. Is possibility. You have good understanding of abilities already. I provide equipment to study more in-depth.”
Grace looked around the now-crowded room and laughed. “Well, provide you have. I wish you had asked me before telling your partner, but seriously, thank you.”
He yawned suddenly, realizing that all of the events of the museum had happened less than a day ago and he had barely gotten any sleep.
Rocky noticed and pushed him gently. “Go rest. I will take care of unpacking.”
“Are you sure?”
Rocky nodded, already grabbing some more boxes to organize. “Will be more efficient without you.”
“Ha ha.”
By the time Grace woke up hours later, not only had Rocky completely unpacked and organized his equipment, he had also digitized all of Grace’s original notes and created a new litany of tests he wanted to run. At least Rocky let him eat breakfast while he rattled off the list of ideas.
“I do still have a job. Papers to grade, emails to send.”
“No worry! Grace can complete work while test results are analyzed. First, I need fluid sample.”
Grace choked on his coffee. “Fluid?”
“Yes, yes. Web fluid. You produce web, so have spinnerets. Need fluid from silk gland and from–”
“Okay, okay. Just give me the stuff.”
He ended up providing skin samples from his palms and soles of his feet, multiple vials of blood, spun web, and then web fluid from the silk gland on his forearm. For something that only required him to be a pin cushion, Grace was exhausted by the tests.
“Grace, do you have tensiometer?”
“No, Rocky. Why would I have a tensiometer?”
Rocky groaned dramatically and stood. “Need to test web strength. We go to car dump.”
“Why?”
“Rocky just said: need to test web strength. Did spider affect Grace hearing?”
“No, I'm just surprised by it. Are you driving?”
“No, don't have license.”
“Then how did you–”
“Hurry, hurry, hurry! Grace drive to car dump!”
Rocky led Grace a few miles outside of town to an abandoned salvage yard. Glass crunched under their shoes as they walked between towers of crushed cars. There was a clearing somewhere near the middle, with a towering magnetic crane and a few buses scattered around the area. Grace pulled out an old camcorder he had found in his search for equipment and stuck it to a van door with some webs.
Once sure it was recording, he waved to the red light. “Hi, I’m Grace. We’re here to test out the limits of my physical capabilities. So I was able to–”
“What is Grace doing?”
“I’m video recording. I know that you’re writing everything down, but a visual aide would be helpful.”
“Ah.” Rocky came up behind Grace and waved to the camera. “Hello!”
“You do know there’s no one watching these, this is a recording not a stream.”
Rocky looked genuinely offended by the implication. “I know. I am just establishing I am here too.”
Grace chuckled. “As I was saying, I was able to lower around 100 pounds down a five story building six times, then myself and another 100 down that same distance. I didn't feel any strain during or after that, though that might have been the adrenaline.”
“How much could Grace lift before bite?”
“Not nearly that much. I had trouble with groceries.”
Grace eyed a nearby car, an older model from when he was a kid, and knocked on the hood. “In theory, I could lift this, but I don’t want to start with too much.”
“No, do it!”
Rocky moved back and forth, looking at Grace expectantly. He reminded him of some of his students when he was about to perform an experiment.
“Okay, but if I get hurt, this is on you.” He rubbed his hands together and grabbed the car under the bumper. He let out a puff of air and lifted. He expected the car to be as heavy as, well, a car, but to his surprise, the entire thing lifted off the ground with ease. He kept raising his arms little-by-little until the entire vehicle was above his head. He felt the weight pressing down on him, but he didn’t feel like the entire thing was about to come crashing down on top of him if he eased up a bit.
“Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!” Rocky crowed.
“You’re joking,” Grace said, looking at the bottom of the car.
“How does it feel?”
“It feels like nothing!” he laughed, moving the car back down to the ground. “Let me try…”
He grabbed the car with one hand and lifted, managing to get it about halfway up before staggering over. The car fell to the ground with a crash.
“Gotta work on that,” he groaned, dusting himself off.
“Grace, try pile here.” Rocky pointed at a stack of three or four cars nearby, all about the same size as the one he had just lifted.
“You’re crazy, Rocky.”
“For science!”
And with that excellent reason, Grace lifted the pile of cars. It was much harder than just the one car, but the fact that he could even do it was incredible.
“Okay, I have to admit, I am having way too much fun with this,” Grace said to the camera once he’d walked the cars across the clearing and placed them on top of another stack. “But this is informative!”
“This one now, Grace!”
They spent the entire afternoon messing around in the scrap yard. Grace became more and more confident in his strength, even taking on a medium-sized school bus at one point, though he almost dropped it on his toes.
“Weight limit approximately 9.5 tons,” Rocky reported. “That is without pushing limit and at Grace beginning level. Potential for growth if he trains.”
“I'll get right on that,” Grace said from his position against a BMW.
“Can Grace use webs now? Rocky want to see web tension.”
“I don't think that's necessary. When I was at the museum, the webs were able to stop and support the entire solar system model. That must've been a couple hundred pounds of dead weight, with the added force of it dropping. We'll learn more from the makeup than we will with physical tests.”
Rocky grumbled but conceded. “How jumping strength? Fell two stories and was fine.”
“It was actually four, but point taken. I guess I can test that out too.”
Grace clambered to the top of a three car pile, sticking easily to the rusty metal, feeling confident until he looked at the drop. He crawled to the center of the cars, clutching his rolling stomach.
“Uh, never mind, Rocky. I think I can pass on this one.”
“No, no, no! Need to test! Need to see how strong Grace bones are!”
“But this is too far.”
“Is 15 feet!”
“Too high! Even for science, it's too high.”
Rocky hummed thoughtfully as Grace struggled to find a way down the car pile. Despite their age, the cars were still quite slick and any normal person would have fallen right off. But his hands and feet clung to the sides like magnets. He was getting better at controlling that ability, though it still freaked him out.
Rocky whistled suddenly. “Grace! Have idea!”
“What is it, Rock?” Grace called down from the middle of the second cars hood.
“Use webs at anchor! That way when you fall, you won't hit ground!”
Grace stopped, drumming his fingers against the metal nervously.
“I guess I can try that.”
He climbed back up and shot a web onto the trunk of the car, keeping the web still attached to his wrist. His heart pounded in his chest as he looked at the drop again, but he tightened his grip on the web.
“Okay! Okay! Oh-KAY” he took a running leap off the car and for a moment, he was weightless. Then he realized he had jumped way too far and was soaring over the clearing, the web trailing behind him. Rocky watched slack-jawed as Grace flailed in the air, screaming his lungs out. Somewhere in his panic, he knew he would keep going if he didn't stop himself soon.
He looked around wildly, spotted the magnetic crane, and flung out his hand towards it. A web fired out of his wrist, sailing across the yard and latching onto the arm. The line went taut, pulling his arm.
For a moment, it was fun. The flying sensation, the joy, but reality came crashing in as Grace’s mind caught up to the situation. Because if there was one thing he knew, it was science. And science said that what goes up must come back down.
He reached the peak of his arc, hung there for a moment, then started to fall again. He yelled, reaching out his other arm and latching a shorter web onto the crane, and with his next swing, somehow ended up on top of the crane, much, much higher than where he had started.
Grace heard a faint WHOOP from Rocky below him.
His legs trembled violently and his head was spinning as he looked down at the ground below.
“Please tell me you got that on camera,” Grace begged.
Then his knees gave out and he fell.