Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Normally for Peter, five months would go by in a blur of adrenaline, pain, and exhaustion. The last five months; however, went by way better. He was well-rested, well-fed, and slightly less injured. It was about time things started to calm down, with most of his villains in jail and a place to actually go home to every night.

Moving in with Sable had been a long and tedious process with her insisting that it was the best thing for him, and him not wanting to intrude. It wasn't until he went to visit her and found his duffle bags unpacked and put away in a new dresser, that he finally caved.

Now he was making himself more and more at home each and every day until it became normal. For them at least.

One bright and hot summer day, the attention of both her and her men were drawn to the somewhat brash and flustered yelling in the distance. A boy the men had never seen before, with messy brown hair and a dirty plaid shirt, came barreling down the dock with a brown paper bag and a tray containing two iced drinks in his hands.

The men looked from one to another; confused about who this poor child could be talking too. There were no other boats in port and certainly no one on board was the mysterious person he was looking for.

Or so they thought. Sable herself, dropped her signature scowl in favour of a more pleasant smile before she turned and jumped off of the side of the boat onto the wooden dock. He caught up to her just as she landed.

“Hey honey,” he said excitedly. “I brought you some lunch from that bistro down the street you like. It's open again! The owner finally came back from overseas! You remember Danny?”

“Of course I do. He always puts extra pickles on your sandwich without asking. Good man.”

“Very. He told me to tell you that he appreciates you setting up security at the restaurant while he was away. You never told me you did that.”

“I have to repay him somehow. Regardless of that, what did you bring? I am starving.”

“Right,” he laughed; handing her the bag. “Pulled pork on a kaiser with extra cheese and onions, just the way you like it. An iced coffee with whipped cream! P.S. it’s the coconut milk whipped cream! And lastly a white chocolate chip scone for dessert!”

“You also went to the bakery? Just to get me a scone?”

He was beaming excitedly. “Of course I did! They're your favourite. Well anyway babe, I gotta go.”

He raised his phone knowingly; as if that explained anything about why he was so frazzled. He took his own drink from the tray and started running away before he was stopped dead in his tracks by Sable's aggressive shout, “hey! Get back here!”

He turned slowly back towards her. “Yes, honey?”

“You did not give me a kiss. Come back here.” She pointed towards the ground in front of her with a raised eyebrow.

The fear in his eyes lessened. “Oh,” he chuckled; running up to her. “I thought you were mad at me.”

“I am not mad; not yet at least.” She pulled him in for a kiss by the collar of his shirt. “Stay safe out there or else. I mean it.”

“What are you going to do if I’m dead? Bring me back to life and kill me again? Wait; can you do that?” He looked desperately up at her men; still standing there, flabbergasted. “You guys can’t do that right?”

They shook their heads before Sable glared at them, causing them to stop immediately. “Ha!,” the boy joked anyway. “Knew it. Anyway, I have to go! Big things going on you know!” He kissed her once more before running off towards the city.

She jumped back on board; unwrapping her sandwich and took a long sip of her drink. “What?” she growled at them.

Again they shook their heads; not wanting to confront her about this mysterious lover. How long had that gone under their radar? How did she meet this poor innocent boy? Did he not know of her history? How is he not dead yet?

That was a conversation for another day.

Chapter Text

Peter had just stopped a gang of unruly drug dealers from tearing a chunk out of the New York City police force, leaving him weary. The city was quiet otherwise so he took his chances at going home.

He yawned as he changed carefully on the roof of Sables building and climbed down the fire escape. "Hey honey," he chirped as he climbed in the window.

She didn't even look up from the blueprints she was examining. "You are back early."

"Things settled down, hopefully for the whole night but I guess we'll see. But I wanted to see you and maybe go out on a date night. I know it's a little late but this is the best time to go out. Fewer people."

She perked up a little at the thought. "Yes, that does sound nice. Fewer people to explain to."

Peter laughed, "I had too okay? The look on your men's face was priceless! Plus you needed lunch and I needed an excuse to get a caramel iced frappe."

"You know they will not let it go. I have been asked at least a thousand questions about you and how we got together. What am I supposed to say?"

He crawled over the bed until he was beside her and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. "That I stole your heart the first time you looked in my eyes. I told Rio that we met when I was trying to jump one of your checkpoints and Electro attacked. I said you saved my life and let me go without being too mad."

"And she bought that?"

"She said she did but I'm not convinced. I'm sure she knows I lied but that's my story and I'm sticking to it."

"I will have to think of something else. My men would not buy that."

"Well think of it later. Let's go out."

"Where?"

"Well, it's four in the morning so the only places still open are 24-hour convenience stores and a few fast food places. So how about a coffee and a walk through central park?"

Sable nodded, "yes. That sounds very nice. I have been inside all day." She dropped the various blueprints she had been analyzing to the floor and stood up.

They set off down the streets in the direction of Central Park with no real destination in mind. Coffee was picked up from a convenience store along the way.

"Ugh," Peter recoiled in disgust. "This is really bad coffee. Maybe we should have walked more and found a better place."

"This will do."

"I guess. So how was your day? I didn't hear anything from you all day."

"Uninteresting. My troops have been at a standstill in Symkaria as negotiations are taking place with my father. He refuses to speak to me so my trained negotiator is set to meet with him again tomorrow morning. And sending my men who remain here in America, or myself could accidentally restart the war as he may see it as an incoming attack. As of right now, all of my operations are stopped."

"That's a good thing , isn't it? Maybe he's finally willing to listen. And your men get some time off. Or at least a chance to catch their breath."

"A pleasant thought, perhaps. But I have my doubts. He is most likely attempting some kind of scare or intimidation tactic. He knows I would not fall for it, thus he makes me send someone else."

"But your negotiator is a pro right?"

"She is." Sable took a long sip of her drink. "She is cold and unwavering, much like myself. More so in some situations, with a scowl that rivals my own."

Peters eyes widened, "that's almost terrifying to hear. How has she not made him cave yet?"

"She takes her time. Wears them down over time to the point that they feel their only way out is to give in."

"That sounds like a torture technique."

"Perhaps if used to harm. Negotiation with a ruling dictator is different. It's the only way to; what is the expression you Americans use? Get him off his high horse?"

"That's the one."

"The sooner she breaks him, the better."

"I really hope she does. I hate to see so much violence. I hate seeing you so upset. I hope your people are freed soon."

"Me too, Peter. Me too."

He continued walking, leading her to a playground; abandoned for the night as the early hours of the morning crept by. "Care to swing, m'lady?" He feigned the tipping of a hat while gesturing towards a swingset.

She raised an amused eyebrow. "Perhaps I will."

"This is the best place for a late-night chat you know." They sat down, not really swinging, just relaxing. "Can I ask you a question and you give me an honest answer?"

Sable nodded, taking another long swig of her coffee. "I never lie. I will be honest."

"Good." He paused, playing absentmindedly with the plastic lid of his cup. "Say that things go well and your father gives in. Your people are freed and you can start rebuilding. Are you- are you going to go back and stay there? I mean, you're the princess after all. You have a country and a huge company to run."

"I will have to come and go a lot more.”

“Will you be in America much? Like New York specifically.”

“Of course. Are you worried that I will cease contact with you?"

"Well, yeah. A little. I mean, long-distance relationships are okay but I'd miss you. We'd have to get some of those love bracelets. Or I can make some. You know morse code right?"

Though her tone was quite quizzical, her expression never gave away her confusion. "Love bracelets? What is that?"

"These bracelet things they make for long-distance relationships. When you tap on it, it sends a signal to the other person and it vibrates to let them know you're missing them. But I could program some to let us talk in morse code too. That way we could actually talk."

"And that would make you feel better about my long absences?"

"Yeah, a little. I thought about doing that with MJ back when we were a thing but she left so suddenly and I figured she'd be back soon enough anyway. But with you, I might not see you for a long time."

"Then you better make them. I do not know when I will be forced to return. I may have to leave in a hurry if all things go well."
"Great! I'll start as soon as I can." He tiptoed over to her while still sitting on the swing and gave her a light kiss on the cheek.

There was a bright flash from somewhere off in the park, making Peter's hair stand on end. Not danger by any means, but he had a feeling that it wasn't going to be good.

Chapter Text

Sable and her men were tense. News of negotiations could come in at any second. They sat silently in the communications room hoping for good news.

Sable received a message on her phone. Not one she was necessarily expecting, but one that wasn't surprised either. Not her negotiator, but rather a certain podcast had gone live.

One of her men chuckled in her ear as he leaned over her shoulder. "I love that podcast. That J.J asshole is a riot."

"Yes," she remarked without a hint of emotion in her voice. "He is interesting."

"We should listen to it," another of her men suggested. "You know, to give us a good laugh as we wait."

To their surprise, she clicked on the notification, leading to the podcast. J.J Jameson was already long into some sort of his one-sided argument. "But dear listeners. We have all been fooled! That's what Sable wants you to think!"

All attention turned to her.

"She's out there playing mind games on us, and I have proof! Most people see her around Spider-Man lately which has lead a lot of you to believe that they are an item, but just last night a young, up and coming reporter and fan of mine happened to catch her with someone else!

"Is she cheating on Spider-Man? Oh no. I don't think so. What she's doing is making us believe that she's with Spider-Man while she's actually with someone else. Why? Because a lot of people trust Spider-Man for some damn reason and if he's dating her then people will HAVE to trust her, right? That's how she's tricking us!

"So now you might be thinking, 'J. Jonah Jameson, how do you know all this? You said you have proof,' and listener, I do! Remember how I mentioned that someone saw her and this mysterious man smooching in Central Park? They took a picture which is now on my new official website! JARED! WHAT'S THE WEBSITE?!"

A quiet sigh echoed from behind J.J before Jared replied, "JustTheFacts-J.J.com"

"You heard it here folks! And before you click away, I have one more piece of information that I feel you should know. The man in the picture was my intern back from my days at the Bugle! And worse, a notorious Spider-Man fan! Maybe they're all in on it! So Peter Parker, if you're listening, and I'm sure you are, contact Jared so we can do an interview!"

"Actually," Jared cleared his throat. "He's on the line. He just called in."

Sable sighed and put her head in her hands. "He is so stupid. He is going to say something stupid."

The men chuckled and she had no energy or focus to be upset about it. She just listened.

"Peter Parker! It's been a long time! Still a fan of that menace?"

"You know it," that easily recognizable and joyful voice came through the speaker. "He and I are good friends actually and all of this stuff about Sable pretending to be in a relationship with him for power is totally wrong. She's just working with him J.J. No funny business."

"And how can you be so sure about that? Poor naïve Parker, you're the same as you were when you worked for me. Too blinded by your admiration of a so-called hero to see the truth."

Peter sighed, "J.J, you know I love you man, but you're wrong and I hope someday you can see that. Spider-man is just trying his best to help New York. He's not trying to impress anyone or get famous. He just wants to keep this place safe. And you know what? So is Sable.

"She's not a bad person. What happened during the Devils Breath thing was her doing what she thought was right to save the world. She's done more than enough in my mind to make up for what's happened and she's a great girlfriend who is not cheating on me."

"So you are confirming that she is, in fact, your girlfriend."

"Of course she is. You saw the picture. No point in trying to hide it."

"Well thank you for your blatant honesty. We always did disagree with each other about the menace but you were a good kid. With my new website, I'll need a freelance photographer again. You should come work for me!"

"Um," Peter paused. "I'll think about it. Anyway, I've gotta go. Please don't make this a big deal. It's our business. Nice talking to you J.J."

He hung up and J.J started his outro. Sable huffed and stood up; all of her men watching her movements cautiously.

"You okay, ma'am?" one asked.

"I do not know why Peter insists on making things worse in everything he does."

"He did seem like an idiot. How'd you even meet him anyway?"

"That is my business."

"Right. Sorry, ma'am." There was a long pause as the group sat in silence.

"I like that kid," one of her men added. "he's, you know, really sweet. Like you wouldn't hurt to fly but some part of me believes that he has the power to if he really wanted. I kind of like that. Definitely good for you, boss."

"Thank you. I think so as well."

Chapter Text

Peter was making headlines. It wasn't that he wasn't used to it, he just wasn't used to not being his masked alter ego in his front-page photo. Staring at the image of himself and Sable kissing on a swing set stirred something inside of him. He should be upset at the droves of reporters standing outside of Sable's apartment and calling his number on and off all day trying to get a statement from him, but nothing wavered his happiness.

Sable wasn't mad either. Moreso concerned about his safety, if not a little annoyed. Flipping one of the blinds up so she could see the crowd, she said, "you should have called me first. You should have known not to tell them."

"They already knew, honey. I was just hoping to skip the part where they hound us for answers. At least we're now just in the "they know but have a few questions" stage. Hype will die down a lot quicker now."

"You sound very sure of yourself."

"I am hon. I used to work in the new business, remember."

"As a photographer."

"I still knew the tricks. I had to so I knew what stories to focus on and get pictures of."

"If that is the case, how do we quiet them down quickly?"

"Well, we need to talk to them. To one actually. One who we trust not to blow this up and tell lies."

"Miss. Watson."

"Exactly." Sable shut the blinds and sauntered over to her computer leaving Peter confused. "What'cha doin'?" He asked.

"Miss. Watson and I have kept in touch since her capture in Symkaria."

"You talk to my ex-girlfriend?"

"Yes."

"Huh."

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"No actually. That's pretty awesome. I mean, she and I are still really good friends and if you and her are friends, then we can all hang out sometime. I'd hate for you to not like her." He paused for a second before continuing, "you guys don't, you know, talk about me right? Like in a mean or dirty way?"

She smirked behind the wall of hair shielding her face from his gaze. "We are never mean."

"Good." He laughed nervously. "Wait."

"No time now. We have an interview to do."

"No, no, no, I think I should-"

MJ's voice echoed through the speakers of the laptop, "hey Pete! What should you do?"

Sable had a warm smile as she explained, "he is worried that we talk about him when he is not around and say terrible things."

"Aww, don't worry. We love you, Pete. We'd never say terrible things about you. You just happen to be a prominent topic of conversation between you getting hurt all the time, and you two being in a relationship now. Speaking of, are you ready to talk about it?"

Sable nodded, "that is precisely the reason I called. Peter believes that it would be a good idea to make it public."

"I mean, I don't see why not. People are going to talk and the longer you go without answering their questions, the more they'll want it; the more they'll make up just to get it."

"I suppose that makes sense. Even my men are questioning me a fair amount because I have neglected to give them an explanation. I do not understand their obsession."

MJ giggled, "oh I do. If I didn't know you two personally, especially your secret, Peter, I'd be extremely interested in finding out how this happened. I mean, look at you two from an outside perspective. A terrifyingly powerful woman from a war-torn country who took over our city in a matter of hours with her international army personnel, dating a seemingly average; no offence, and fairly childish man who would never harm anyone and avoids conflict at all cost. It's an interesting development, to say the least.

"Especially since you're not very secretive about it," she added gleefully. "If you were trying to hide it and someone discovered the secret and you denied it, well that's an expected reaction but Peter just said you're together, plain and simple. I guess it just makes it unbelievable."

Peter joined Sable on the bed and smiled. "Told you we needed to talk to her. She knows everything about the industry plus way more people skills than you and I."

"Well," MJ smiled. "What lie are you going with for how you met? Tell me all the details!"

Peter looked deep in thought. "I told Rio, um, hon what did I tell Rio? Oh man, I'm going to need cue cards to remember everything."

"You told her we met when you tried to sneak past one of my checkpoints and I caught you."

MJ sighed, "that's a terrible lie."

"Thank you," Sable said. "I told him it was a ridiculous story."

"I don't see how it's that bad of a lie."

"We have a lot of work to do. Let's get started."

Chapter Text

Peter was swinging around the city with very little care, listening to the sounds of Sable training over his built-in phone system. He was almost always on the phone with her. Even if they didn’t speak a word to one another, there was some comfort in hearing them breathing and going about their business.

He was humming; the same song he had been humming for three days since the interview. One of the reporters from the Bugle had contacted him after MJ’s interview asking for some clarification on some of the answers he had given. He didn’t mind talking to the members of the Bugle so he answered freely. The conversation had turned over to little details at one point. Pet names, favourite movies to watch together, their song.

Peter had gotten stuck on that one. They didn’t really have pet names. Well he had pet names for her and he thought she might have one name for him in Symkarian but he wasn’t entirely sure. As for favourite movies, they had stopped attempting to watch Shrek after the fifth time and the millionth protest from Sable and instead elected to watch true crime documentaries and occasionally Hells Kitchen on YouTube. But a song? They didn’t have a song.

However; at that moment, he had blurted out the first song he thought of.

“Accidentally in love,” he mumbled as he hopped from one roof to another. “I’m accidentally in love.”

“You do enjoy that song.”

“I do,” he pleasantly agreed. “I think it was a stroke of genius that I said this song.”

“Why is that?”

“Because it’s perfect for us. Me at least. I don’t know about you.”

She let out a loud grunt and the sound of a punching bag being knocked to the ground echoed through the speakers. “And why is that?”

“Because I fell in love with you completely by accident and didn’t realize it at first but now I love it.”

A few seconds of silence went by before she responded in a huff. “Shut up.”

“Aww, are you blushing? I can always tell you know." Sable's response was interrupted by a soft beep. "Oh, sorry hon. I've got someone on the other line. Might be important Spider-Man business. One sec."

He put Sable on hold and switched it over to the new call. "Hello, Spider-Man official hotline."

"Save it."

His eyes widened. "Yuri?!"

"Yeah. It's me," her voice was drained.

"Yuri where have you been? Are you okay? Where are you?"

"I've," she sighed. "I've been busy. Not to mention on the run. Hammerheads men weren't exactly pleased with me."

"No, I can't imagine they would be."

"Meet me on top of the F.E.A.S.T shelter."

"Yeah." He set off with the shelter already in his sights. She was waiting for him on the roof with the phone pressed to her ear.

As soon as he landed beside her, he embraced her in the tightest hug of his life. Remarkably; she didn't pull away.

"I missed you, Yuri."

When he let her go, he really got a good look at her face. She was tired and sick. Hadn't slept properly in days if not weeks. Plus the addition of one thin scar on her neck that plunged under clothing.

She knew he noticed. "Hammerheads men thought they could stop me. They were wrong."

In Peter's mind, all he could see was that body strung up on a roof with police tape and police files all around it as if it were nothing more than a Halloween display.

"You're still mad aren't you? I had to do it Spider-Man. I know you-"

"Yuri, don't. Listen, I have seen a lot in my relatively short life. I was getting shot at and regularly beaten by criminals at age fifteen and it's only gotten worse since then. If I held grudges, I wouldn't have any allies at all. And I can't exactly say that similar thoughts haven't crossed my mind. I'm not happy about what happened, but I won't stand here and pretend like I don't understand. I'm just glad you're safe. I worried about you. I never stopped worrying."

He embraced her again and this time; really savoured the moment. So did she.

"Thank you, Spider-Man. I-" She shook her head and leaned back on the railing with her arms crossed. "I thought I had really screwed things up. You've helped me a lot over the years and I thought I let you down."

"Oh, Yuri. Never. You've put up with me all these years, and all of my mistakes. I think I can move past you doing one thing."

“Even if it’s murder?”

“Don’t poke holes okay? I’ll make an exception because it’s you.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem. So what are you doing now?”

“I’ve been hiding away at F.E.A.S.T since I can’t go home right now and I figured, with how much you talk about it, it had to be good.”

“You’ve been at F.E.A.S.T? How did I not know?”

“I was very well hidden. You’d be amazed how easy it is to hide in plain sight. Well, I suppose you do know. You do it all the time.”

“It’s a little easier when you can climb walls. No one ever looks up.”

“I guess. Anyway, I’m starting back at the station now; at a lower pay grade of course. No one knows what I did though so no jail time as long as it stays that way.”

“Secret is safe with me Yuri.”

“And what about your secret?”

“My secret?”

She huffed before letting a smile creep onto her lips. “Before we get to that; did you hear about Silver Sable? She’s got herself a boyfriend. The current acting director of F.E.A.S.T. That Peter Parker kid.”

“Oh,” he mumbled. “Yeah, I heard about that. Good for them.”

“I watched the interview the other day. The one from Mary Jane Watson.”

“Yeah?”

“That reporter you occasionally work with.”

“What are you getting at?”

“Well, that Parker kid sounds an awful lot like you.”

“Yuri that’s-”

“I know what the kid I’ve worked with for eight years sounds like. Are you Peter Parker?”

“No, of course, I'm not.”

“You have to be.”

“Yuri I’m not-”

“I know you are. Don’t lie to me.”

He sighed, “I’m really tired of everyone surprising me with the fact that they figured it out. One of these days I'd like to tell someone.”

After making sure that he wasn’t being watched; he pulled the mask away to finally face Yuri for real. “It’s me,” he smiled weakly before perking up a little. “Nice to meet you!”

She chuckled, “why the formal introduction?”

“Because you and I have never been formally introduced. I’m Peter Parker.” He extended his hand for a handshake.

She rolled her eyes but played along anyway. “Yuriko Watanabe. I go by Yuri.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Yuri. How about we go inside and chat? It’s cold out here and I also hate standing outside without my mask on.”

“Fine but won’t it look suspicious if I walk inside with Spider-man?”

“Nope. Turn around for a sec and let me change.”

“Into what?”

“I always keep clothes up here. I have a bag under the bench. Look away.”

“Fine, fine.” She obliged.

When he had finished changing, they made their way down the stairs to the top floor of the shelter where he was quickly mobbed by a few of its residents. Between the many questions and comments he could only make out a few things and all of them were about him, Sable, and the interview.

“Sorry everyone,” he apologized. “I’m a little busy right now. We can talk later, I promise.”

They nodded and let him carry on with Yuri towards May's old office. He let her enter first and then closed the door behind him.

“You’ve become a celebrity,” she mocked.

“Yeah, kind of. It’s awful. I used to be a nameless, faceless body in a crowd and now I’m the first thing people look at. Really blows my cover."

She was only partially listening to him. Her attention was mostly focused on decorations around the room. Kids' drawings and photos scattered the room. No one ever stepped foot in this room or the other office with the exception of a few police officers and Peter once or twice. Now that she was in, it was easy to see why.

"Is this you?" She held up a picture of a young boy and an older gentleman building a birdhouse.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Me and my Uncle Ben. We used to do small projects together like birdhouses and circuit boards. I always liked making things. That's why I became a scientist."

"What about Spider-Man?"

"An accident actually. I was bitten by a radioactive spider. Not even one of my experiments. I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Or the right place."

"Depends on how you look at it. I love being Spider-Man but it's taken a lot away from me over the years."

"Would you ever give it up if you could?"

"Never."

“Then it was definitely the right time and place.” She picked up another picture of the man; so much younger than she had hoped, standing with another boy and a woman. The question that had been burning inside of her was suddenly too hard to bear. She had always thought he was dating the reporter so how? “How,” she said out loud. “How did you end up with Sable? Is she doesn’t know you’re Spider-man, then how did you actually end up together and how; if she does, has she not murdered you yet? She hates Spider-man.”

“I worked with her; she was grateful. Then I took her out to dinner and she was far more grateful. Then we just-” He shrugged. “Kept working together and before we knew it, I had moved in. I don’t really know how it happened.”

He walked over and sat on the edge of May's old desk and sighed. “Yuri, you probably know about the second time she and I fought Hammerhead. When she ended up in the hospital?”

“I remember reading the headlines.”

“Well, when I was sitting there waiting for her to wake up, I got scared. That’s when I realized; with a little prompting from MJ, that what I was feeling was more than what I thought. Often, I don’t get to say the things I’d like to the people I love before they die. And that day? That day I was terrified that I was never going to get to say I love you.”

“That’s sweet.”

She smiled at him and he reflected it right back at her.

“You know what else, Yuri? There’s something I never got to say to you before you left that I worried I’d never get a chance to say so here goes; I love you. Not in a romantic kind of way like Sable and I, but as a person; a friend. You were there for me when no one else was. You’ve helped me; saved me, and I can never thank you enough. Don’t run off again like that okay?”

“I won’t. I love you too, kid.” She playfully punched his arm. “And I do mean kid. If I had known there was a baby hiding behind that mask this whole time, I would never have let you get involved.”

“Oh yeah? Well, at least when I’m ninety I’ll still look twenty-five so who really wins here?”

“Oh fuck you.”

“You love me, Yuri.”

“I tolerate you.”

“Uh-huh. We all show it differently. Anyway,” he added before she could object. “Care to come over for dinner? I’d love to treat you to my very first homemade meal I've made in a long time. Sable wouldn’t mind.”

“Sure. Why not.”

Chapter Text

Peter and Yuri were walking and chatting pleasantly when they felt a sudden and very forceful rush of air. Before they had a second to blink, a hover jet appeared in front of them just as it touched down on the busy street.

“There you are,” Sable huffed as she jumped down from the cockpit.

“Oh, hey honey. Aww did you miss me that much that you had to come get me?”

“I was worried you ignorant, rohadék!"

“Aww, I’m sorry I made you worry babe.”

He gave her a tender kiss on the cheek that melted the anger in her eyes. “It is alright I suppose. You are not hurt.” She only seemed to register Yuri once her head started to clear. “Watanabe.”

“Sablinova,” Yuri nodded back.

“Oh my god, we are not doing formalities like that. Yuri this is Sable, Sable this is Yuri and we are all good close friends who’ve worked together before. No need to act like business partners.”

Neither of the women jumped at the idea so Peter tried his best tactic. Puppy dog eyes. The two stared at his sad eyes and individually surrendered to its charm.

“It is good to see you again.” Sable extended her hand for a handshake

“Yeah. Same to you.” She shook her hand.

“Great. Now that we’re all-” he got that tingle in the back of his skull. Something was wrong. “We’re all- Yuri do me a favour and pretend to tie your shoe."

"What? Why?"

All his senses told him to move. He pushed Yuri over onto the sidewalk just in time to miss the bullet that grazed the left side of his stomach. He winced at the initial shock but paid it barely any mind.

Both women drew their weapons and pointed towards the general direction the shot had come from but saw nothing. "Stay here," Sable barked as she jumped back into her jet and took off.

Peter’s heart raced while the warning signs got worse. He was in danger and he wasn't sure why. He was in civilian clothes, who wanted to kill Peter Parker over Spider-Man?

He rolled to the side as a bullet hit the pavement right where his heart would have been. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't exactly use his powers.

Another shot rang past his ear. That one scared him.

He lost track of Yuri and the people around him. They had scattered at the first shot. The ringing in his ears was too loud. He couldn't hear the sirens getting closer.

He tried to get to cover. Somewhere away from any civilians. No stores or coffee shops. His eyes locked on the entrance to the underground subway station. Perfect.

Apparently he wasn't the only one to think so. He ran for it and as soon as he lept to get over the guard rails on the side, a bullet hit him in his lower abdomen. He recoiled in pain automatically and tumbled down the remaining stairs. He felt his arm crack on one of the steps as he went.

"Ow," he moaned. "Why does this happen to me so often?"

"Are you okay?" asked a soft voice from the corner.

Peter peered over his heaving chest to see a young girl; maybe ten or eleven years old, crouched in one of the corners. "Yeah, I'm fine," he huffed. "You should go farther into the subway, kid."

She started to scoot closer to him.

"No, you don't want to see this, okay sweetheart? Where's your parents? You should go find them."

She seemed to shrink in size. "Not here."

"Oh." He tried to lift himself up on his elbows to no avail. He grunted as a sharp pain ran down his spine leading him to flop back down on the cold ground. "I'm sorry to hear that kiddo. You should run along though. Go find an adult."

"But you're hurt."

"It's okay." He gave her his best smile, only then registering the taste of blood on his lips.

The girl didn't listen and continued to move cautiously towards him before pressing down on the wound. "I can help. I've done it before.”

Peter really didn’t want a girl so young to be the one helping him through this, but he also wasn’t in the position to argue. “What’s your name?”

“Mia.”

“Nice to meet you, Mia. I’m Peter. I wish that this was a more pleasant introduction.”

She smiled, “me too.”

A familiar voice echoed down the stairs. “Peter what the-” She saw him lying on the floor. “Oh shit.”

“I’m fine, Yuri. You know I’ve been through worse.”

She dropped down beside him, “and how many times have you almost died because of it?”

Before he could comment, he coughed; accidentally spitting blood at Yuri. “Oh, nevermind. That’s pretty bad. Sorry.”

“Stuff it, Parker.” Yuri turned her attention to the kid still pressing down on Peter’s side. “Mia?”

“Hi, officer Watanabe.”

“You two know each other?” Every word he spoke sounded more and more hoarse and gritty. “That saves time.”

Yuri did not find it nearly as funny as he did. “Keep holding his wound. We’ll talk later.”

Mia nodded solemnly.

“I’m confu-”

“Shut up Peter. Steady your breathing. Breathe with me. In,” she inhaled deeply. “Out,” she exhaled just as deeply.

He hadn’t even realized how unstable he had become. If he were in Yuri’s position, he would be panicking. Yuri was different. She kept her cool and took control of the situation. He began to drift out of consciousness until he felt his broken arm being moved into a sling, Yuri was carefully constructing out of Mia’s scarf. “Fuck,” he sputtered through the blood and gritted teeth. “What are we looking at here captain?”

“I don’t think you want to know. Mia, go grab the officers and paramedics on the street. It should be safe now. Sable has the people responsible for this and I doubt any others would make a move now that they’ve been caught.”

She nodded and as soon as she let go of the wound, Yuri took her place. Once she was out of sight, Peter mumbled, “Yuri, you’ve got some ‘splaining to do.”

“Really? You’re making jokes now?”

“I have to do it now. You know, before Sable tenderly nurses me back to health and then kills me for getting hit in the first place. Just tell me; how do you know Mia?”

“She’s been in the center of a lot of cases. That’s all I’m telling you.”

He nodded before the first paramedic arrived.

Chapter Text

Peter didn’t remember much of the paramedics working on him, and the ambulance was just a noisy blur. At one point he heard Sable make some threats before she was allowed in with him but the words at that moment were meaningless.

As soon as they started working on him, he felt the pain he should have already been feeling. His arm ached and his wound was burning. Whatever they were doing just made it worse.

He let out an involuntary scream.

“Why is he still awake?” one of the paramedics asked. “He should be out.”

“Doesn’t work,” he coughed. “Can’t be put out.”

“What? Did you know about that?”

Sable sounded beyond pissed, “how dare you assume that I would not tell you if I knew.”

“Sorry, I’m just asking.” The girl turned her attention back to Peter and the others working on him. “You’re going to be okay Mr. Parker. We will be as careful as we can but it will hurt.”

Peter tried to nod, “done it before.”

His free hand found Sable’s; or perhaps, hers found his. Her grip was firm and comforting. Peter tried to smile up at her but the second they started working on him again, he lost all composure.

The ride to the hospital felt far too long and all the swaying and bright lights made him feel sick. His heaving chest only made the already painful situation worse, but he couldn't stop it.

When he was finally taken out and wheeled into the E.R, he was weary and wanted nothing more than to sleep. Then he heard the question.

"What do you mean he can't be put out with anesthesia? Is it an allergy?"

"He said it doesn't work on him and he definitely proved that on the way in."

"I'm fine," he lied.

Sable glared down at him; her hand still entwined with his. "Quiet love. You are not well." She turned back to the nurses in charge. "Save him or you will have me to answer to. Hurry up."

He was prepped and readied for surgery. His wounds cleaned; his clothes cut away. Then it began. He knew it was coming and he couldn’t stop it. The first incision.

His grip tightened around Sables hand as he cried out in pain. “I’ll heal. You don’t need to do this,” he practically begged.

Delicately, Sable brushed the stray, sweat-soaked hair out of his eyes. "I know it hurts. But you will be alright. It'll be over soon. Just let them work."

Peter sobbed as the feeling of fire in his gut only worsened. He could barely breathe.

He blinked and; as if out of nowhere, there were tubes and bags of fluid attached to him.

The cutting and digging into soft flesh never seemed to end. He grasped desperately for something; anything to lessen the pain.

“I know it hurts,” Sable whispered in his ear. “It is almost over. You are doing well.”

Peter wanted to be sick or to just stand up and leave but he knew he’d never make it. He could see the blood staining the gloves of the surgeon and nurses.

Once they removed the bullet; he finally passed out; much to the relief of the others in the room. No more screaming, no more flailing. Though; for Sable, her heart stopped. Only for a split second once his rock hard grip fell limp; bul it was still long enough to leave her panicked.

Peter woke up many hours later with the tubes still hanging around him. This time; however, it was dark and quiet. No nurses of doctors. No bright lights blinding him. Had it not been for the burning pain still consuming him, he might have even said it was nice.

Carefully, he looked around the room and quickly found who he was looking for. Sable sat, staring at the ground; as if in a trance. Unblinking.

“Sa-” his words barely made it past his lips. “Sable?”

She didn’t look up but he somehow knew he had gotten her attention. Something about her face changed.

“How could you?” She asked; her voice wavering.

“How co-”

“You did not tell me you were unaffected by anesthetic.”

“Never came up.” He tried to laugh.

“I thought you had died.” Sable was always blunt. He should have expected it. "I was worried."

Peter felt a small smile creep onto his face. "Come here."

She stood and slowly made her way over to his bed; her eyes quickly tracing the outline of her pistols on the table.

"You don't need to worry about protecting me. Come on," he lifted his arm. "Lie down with me.”

“I am not going to lie down with you. It will either hurt you or pull on your tubes.”

“It’s okay, I’ll lift them up. Please. I hate hospitals.”

She huffed but allowed herself to carefully make her way into the bed beside him. He wrapped his non-broken arm around her and snuggled into her neck. “I’m sorry I scared you, but thank you for being that worried about me.”

She didn’t respond.

“So what happened?”

“You were shot three times in the lower abdomen.”

“Three?!”

“Yes, three. They saw your escape plan; most likely before you ever even thought about it. They were trained that way.”

“How do you know that? One of your enemies?”

“They were my allies.”

“What?”

“I thought they were, at least. Men that were stationed in my country as guards to protect my negotiator.”

“Oh shit.”

“Oh shit, indeed. I have not had a chance yet to interrogate them, but I am not stupid. I have been betrayed and she is more than likely dead.”

“Oh, honey. I’m sorry to hear that.” He yawned; sending a jolt of pain down his spine. “What can we do now?”

“You will rest,” Sable whispered. “You’ve been through a lot. And I will have my scientists work on a painkiller for you.”

“Love you.”

There was a long silence after that. He couldn't sleep; the pain was getting worse, but he didn’t want her to know so he stayed as motionless as possible. Eventually, he felt her move slowly off the bed and over to the corner where he heard the click of the safety be switched off. “I will protect you next time my love. And they will suffer for what they have done to you. As will my father. Then things will be different.”

She placed a tender kiss on his forehead before storming out of the room.

Chapter Text

Sable was sitting beside Peter’s hospital bed; watching him as he slept. She was shaking slightly as the blood of the men who betrayed her trickled down her face and slowly dried on her jumpsuit.

When she heard footsteps outside the door, she jumped to her feet; pistols in hand. The door slowly crept open.

Sable sighed in relief as she recognized the face of Yuri Watanabe. “Captain,” she greeted in a slightly shaky voice.

“Christ, what the hell happened to you? How did they let you in here like that?”

“They did not let me. I let myself in. If they fear you enough, they will do nothing about it.”

Yuri nodded, “fair enough but you can’t be in here looking like that. I should be arresting you but I know why you did what you did, I get it; but at the very least, can you not purposely look like you just murdered three men?”

“I cannot leave.”

“He’s safe for now.”

“No.”

“What if I stay here and watch him.”

“I am not leaving him for that long.”

Both women instinctively crossed their arms sternly; trying to get their points across.

Yuri sighed but didn’t lose her composure. “It seems we’re at an impasse.”

“It seems we are.”

Peter grumbled in his sleep causing them to worry they had woken him. Yuri dropped her arms to her side and whispered, “listen, he wouldn’t want to see you like this. You know about his one rule. If he couldn’t forgive me for months because of what I did, I’d hate to hear what he would say to you. Do it for him.”

Sable stopped to think while glancing at Peter’s pained expression. “I suppose you are right. I will go shower and change. You stay and watch him.”

Yuri took a seat in the chair closest to Peter’s bed. “I was already planning on it.”

They parted ways and Yuri sat in silence while she waited for something to happen. For Peter to wake up, or for Sable to return; as long as it wasn’t another attack. Her hand; however, was still ready at her holster just in case.

She watched his chest rise and fall in rigid movements as he struggled to breathe. "You really scared us, kid," she found herself saying without thinking. He really was a kid. Some part of her always knew that. If she stretched her memory, she could remember the first time they met, when his voice was still cracking the way only a poor pubescent teen boys voice could.

He still looked so young and helpless with all the tubes and medical equipment hanging from him. "You scared Sable, and she's not easily frightened. I guess you know that though."

She sighed and took his hand in hers; rubbing soothing circles with her thumb. "I think we're all just glad you have that… whatever you called it. Spider-sense? Not that spiders can sense danger like that. Being a genius, I thought you'd know that." She found herself smiling at herself.

"Either way, I'm glad you're okay. Or, will be. No one's really telling me what happened but I know it was rough. It really took something out of Sable. I think it's because you couldn't be put out. I wish I could have told them but you were taken away so fast and I had to take care of Mia."

She glanced over at the side table where Mia’s blood-stained scarf was sitting. "She's a good kid. A little jaded. Life's been hard for her, you know. No, you don't know. Why would you know? I'm sorry, I'm not good at this comfort thing."

Yuri suddenly stood up and looked out the window as her paranoia kicked up. "I thought it was Hammerheads men coming back for me again, but then the bullets followed you. Now we have people following you as Peter too. You're a popular kid."

The door creaked open and Yuri watched the reflection in the mirror out of the corner of her eye just in case it was someone unfavourable. "Oh, Miss Watson? From the Daily Bugle? How did you get in here? He's not supposed to have visitors."

She smiled, "I have my ways. You're Yuri Watanabe, right? Peter's talked a lot about you."

"Oh yeah?" She moved away from the window to shake her hand with her eyebrows raised. "He talks about me? How much bad stuff do you know about me?"

"Nothing bad. He never talks bad about anyone. Even the people he doesn't like."

"Even his villains?"

"Oh," MJ softly mumbled. "You know?"

"Yes. I figured it out when I watched your interview with him."

"Well, that's, honestly pretty awesome. It's nice to not have to worry about saying something that'll ruin his secret."

"I'm sure it must be difficult. I suppose I'll have to start worrying about that too."

"Don't worry, actually. With how little he's in civilian clothes, you'll basically only know him as Spider-Man anyway. The only time I ever really get to see him without the mask is when he's like this." They looked over to the bed and MJ's expression soured. "I-" she could barely get the words out. "I wish I didn't always have to see him so broken."

"It is unfortunate. There were many times when I would see him with injuries that were life-threatening and would beg him to go to a hospital or let me patch him up just to be refused. I can't imagine knowing him as Peter and not being able to help. At least when Spider-Man said he was okay, it actually felt like it was."

"Trust me, Yuri, you have no idea the kind of stress he's put me through. Especially when he was only Peter Parker to me. Seeing your best friend limp into class, bleeding through his shirt and not telling anyone why; oh my god it nearly stops your heart."

They shared a soft laugh. "So he's always been like that?"

"Even before the powers. They just made it worse. I think it's just that he, well, he feels this overwhelming sense of responsibility to help other people and he often forgets that he's allowed to stop and think about himself."

"I wish he would take care of himself a bit more."

"So do I Yuri. So do I. Well I think I need a coffee. Let me buy you one and I'll tell you more stories of Pete and I growing up. You'd be amazed how many times one very stubborn boy can fling himself face-first into your window by accident."

They left the room and hadn't been gone for even three minutes when they heard a commotion and saw nurses running towards Peter's room. They rushed over; fearing the worst. But all they saw was an open window, empty bed, and some very confused nurses.

Chapter Text

He nearly had a heart attack when he answered his cellphone just to hear, “PETER MIDDLE NAME PARKER YOU GET BACK TO THIS HOSPITAL RIGHT NOW!”

He chuckled once her words registered. “Yuri, did you just call me ‘Peter Middle Name Parker?”

“I DON’T KNOW YOUR MIDDLE NAME BUT YOU ARE IN BIG TROUBLE!”

He heard MJ’s distant voice through the receiver. “His middle name is Benjamin.”

“PETER BENJAMIN PARKER! GET BACK TO THIS HOSPITAL NOW BEFORE YOU GET YOURSELF KILLED OR SABLE KILLS US!”

“Listen, Yuri, I know why you and MJ are upset, and I know that Sable will kill me but I can’t be in the hospital right now okay? I hate hospitals and I have more important things to do.”

“What could be-”

His suit beeped, notifying him of a message from Sable International’s information distribution system. “Sorry, Yuri I gotta go. Don’t tell Sable.”

He hung up before she had a chance to yell anything more at him, and listened to the pre-recorded message sent out by Sable.

‘Unit 717-A will be returning to Symkaria
to escort Silver Bird back to home base.
Time of Departure: 2100 hours.’

“Sable, you’re going home?” he asked out loud despite no one being able to hear him.

‘Unit 401-C is to escort cargo plane
YT-22 back to home base.
Time of departure: 2300 hours”

Peter stopped listening to the rest of the commands for the agents because that was all he needed to hear. She was returning to Symkaria? It sounds like he had a cargo plane to catch. But first; he had things to do.

He groaned as his injuries ached and pulled with each quick step he took. The closer he got to his apartment, the slower his steps became. He was tired and already regretting his decisions but pushed on nonetheless.

Once he reached the apartment, he carefully made his way inside incase Sable was waiting for him on the other side of the door. The way was clear so he grabbed a back-up suit and dressed to the best of his abilities with one arm in a cast; throwing a sweater overtop.

"Gotta love New York. Probably the only place in the world you can see a man in nothing but a hospital gown and a cast running through the streets and no one cares. I love this place."

He wrapped the scarf he had grabbed before leaving the hospital around his neck and leapt out the window.

Yuri and MJ were still calling him on his physical phone as well as his suits built-in phone. He ignored them and called Miles instead.

"Peter?"

"Yeah it's me," he grunted as all of his injuries pulled and strained.

"Dude, I saw the news! Are you okay?!"

"I've been through worse. Don't worry about me okay?"

"How can I not?! You got shot, man!"

"Miles, listen. I really need you to calm down and just let me talk okay? This is really, insanely important and I need you to be mature and honest with me."

Miles took a deep, nervous breath. "Okay. Yeah, okay. What is it? What can I do to help?"

"I have to leave the city and I don't know how long I'll be gone. I just need to know if you think you can handle things here. Deep down in your heart, do you think you're ready to be Spider-Man?"

He gave him time to think. It wasn't surprising that Miles couldn't answer right away. It was a big responsibility and knowing that he wouldn't have back up, it made things different, to say the least.

"Yes. I can do it."

"That's what I like to hear Miles. You're going to do great. Listen, there's a suit in a duffle bag on the roof of the F.E.A.S.T Shelter. It's all yours. You'll have to make a few adjustments to it but that’s your first official Spider-Man suit. Congrats."

"That's so cool! Thanks, Pete! But… are you sure you should go? I mean, you're hurt. And I haven't gotten that much training. Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"You'll be great, Miles. Don't worry."

"I know you're Spider-Man but I still have to worry. It's not like a black eye where its a bit sore but not life-threatening. This is."

"If I gave up every time I had a life-threatening injury, we would have a lot more problems in this city."

"Just be safe, alright? I know we don't say it but mom and I consider you part of this family and I know dad would've too."

"May and I would say the same thing. I love you and Rio."

"Love you too man. So please stay alive."

"Don't worry. The only thing that can kill me is Sable herself and lucky for me, she loves me just enough to not do that.”

“You sure about that?”

“100%" His eyes locked onto an alleyway with precisely the person he was looking for. "Anyway; I need to go. Bye Miles.”

He swung into the alley; startling its only occupant. "Sorry, I'm not as graceful as I usually am. Are you okay? It's Mia right?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"I'm Spider-Man. Nice to meet you. I'd like to thank you for saving my good friend Peter Parker. He's going to be just fine because of you."

"Just wanna help."

"And you did a great job." He unravelled the scarf from around his neck and handed it back to her. "Listen, I'm not sure if it's true, no one ever told me, and I'm not the most observant but I think I know what's going on. Are you…" he knelt down beside her and took one of her hands in his. "Are you homeless?"

She nodded with tears growing in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Mia. That must be very hard. I-I know a place you can go."

"I'm not going back to a place that doesn't care about me."

"Where have you been living?"

"I keep getting handed off to families that pretend they care but don't. No one cares!"

"I care."

"Only because I helped your friend."

"No. Oh no, Mia. There are people out there who care about you and want to help. I know sometimes it doesn't feel like it. Maybe more like everyone is against you but.. they're not. And I'm not. I want everyone to live happy, safe lives. You included; regardless of whether you helped my friend or not. But thank you again for that."

She pulled her legs closer to her chest; whimpering. "I'm not," she sobbed. "I'm not going back."

"Fine. You don't have to. But I have a place you can go. I know people who can help you."

"Who?"

"F.E.A.S.T."

"No."

"Will you do it for him then?"

"Him?"

"Peter? The man you helped? He runs the shelter now and he'd really like to thank you properly. I can't see any better way to start than that. Or, if it makes you feel better; here.”

He searched through his pockets to find a set of keys. “Here; I’ll leave these with you. The address is on the keychain. It’s Peter and Sable’s apartment. They’ll be away for a while so you can stay for a while and it won’t be awkward. I know they’d like you to use it to stay safe; okay?”

He didn’t wait for an answer. He just handed her the keys.

She; on the other hand, couldn’t take her eyes off the keys. “Are you sure? I-I can’t just…”

“Sure you can. And if there’s any food in the fridge, you can eat it. Oh! Actually, in the bedroom there’s a jar full of money under the bed. Buy some food.”

“I can’t!”

“You can! And you will because I said so and you need to return my keys anyway right? And you don’t know when I’ll be back so the smartest thing to do is stay where I’ll come back to, right? So there. It’s settled. You’re staying. Shake on it?”

Slowly she reached out to shake his hand. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Now if you don’t mind, I have a flight to catch. Stay safe kiddo.”

Chapter Text

The cargo hold was freezing. Even with the heater in his suit, he still found himself shivering violently. He was lucky that the cabin was pressurized enough that he could breathe without issue but every second crept by feeling like minutes as he quivered. Suddenly the door swung open. Peter hadn’t even realized that the jet had landed until then.

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING HERE?!” came a very familiar voice.

He tried to wave but found it too hard to pull his arms away from his body. “H-H-Hi honey.”

She grabbed him by his collar and hoisted him into the air. “YOU ARE IN SO MUCH- my god; you are freezing. Come here.” She set him down gently and pulled him close so he was leaning on her for support as she threw off her coat and swung it around his shoulders.

"I am going to kill you," she continued. "You could have died! You could have been caught! You should be in the hospital!"

She practically carried him out of the jet and onto the makeshift landing pad they had; hidden away with a wall of trees on either side. Her men moved quickly to build a fire once she began yelling at them in Symkarian. Peter swore he could understand some words. He was learning, and he was sure she’d be proud of him if she weren’t absolutely pissed at him.

“Get me a blanket. Spider-Man, have you eaten? When was the last time you drank water? You are a mess!”

“Actually, right now it’s more like you a-I DIDN’T MEAN THAT!”

She threw a bag of rations at him before swaddling him in emergency blankets. “I cannot believe you would do this.”

He rubbed his cheek where the package made contact before looking up at her curiously. “Really? This seems exactly like something I would do. And I mean- I did do it.”

“You could have died,” she stated firmly, coming down to his level. “You should be resting, and you should absolutely not be in Symkaria. It is dangerous here and you are weak.”

“Sable,” he sighed. “I know what I did was dumb, okay? But I couldn’t let you come to an active war zone alone. Especially when you’re upset. I am and will be fine. We’re partners, remember? We work together, we fight together.”

“And die together?”

“If I have to. But if I can; I’ll make sure we never have to do that.”

She stared at the shutters on his eyes for what felt like hours until her hard gaze softened. “Yes. I suppose that makes sense.”

“So you forgive me?”

“Of course I do. I should have known you would find your way here.”

“No offence, but yeah, you should have. So what’s the plan boss? How are we approaching this?”

She and her men gathered around the fire; giving Peter a lot of time to warm up and pick at the rations pack, while she explained her plan. He wanted to interject a few times but he had to remember; this was no longer his city, his villains, or just some silly little street fight. It was a full out war.

The sky around them was dark with smoke; far worse than anything the Sinister Six had done. His Spidey sense was screaming at him from all angles; making his head throb. This was not going to be the same as stopping Fisk from escaping in a helicopter or giving Vulture a new bruise. This was war.

“Do you understand?”

“Yes Ma’am!” her men shouted in unison.

“Then start the preparations. You have five minutes.”

Once they left she moved from the log she was sitting on, to the ground beside Peter. “Are you absolutely sure you will be able to go through with this?”

“Of course I can.”

“This will involve murder.”

“I-I know.”

“There will be much bloodshed.”

“I know.”

“Destruction beyond belief.”

“I’m willing to do it to stop a war. Well; maybe not the murder part. You know I’ll disarm instead of kill but, I will do whatever it takes to free a country.”

She leaned back on her arms with her legs out; staring up at the smoggy sky. “This is not how I wanted you to see Symkaria.”

He followed her lead, leaning back, looking up at what should have been a beautiful; star-filled sky. “Someday I’ll be able to come back here and see the real Symkaria. The Symkaria that’s rebuilt from a war. A Symkaria you built.”

“It was glorious.”

“And it will be again.”

“Not the way it was.”

“No. Not the same, but isn’t that good? It’ll take some time, but it’ll be great. You’ll love it. Weren’t you the one who said you loved seeing places you’ve freed be rebuilt.?”

“Yes,” she smiled. “Yes, I did.”

“So soon you’ll get to see that. You’ll see the strength of your people. And you; being their fearless leader; will become a queen they’ll be telling stories about for decades. That sounds nice, doesn’t it?”

“If not selfish.”

“You’re allowed to be a little selfish.”

“When are you selfish?”

“When I decided to come here.”

“How is that-”

“I left everything to come here because I didn’t want you to fight this war alone. I left Miles alone to take my place while I’m gone, I left Yuri and MJ to worry about me, I upset you, I left the city with a virtually untrained hero, and I left without saying goodbye to my aunt and uncle. I always talk to them. I know it’s stupid; to talk to a set of gravestones, but I know in some way, they hear me. They know it. And I left without saying goodbye.”

“They’d forgive you, I am sure.”

“May knew I was Spider-Man so she’d know I would have to do it. Ben too. He always told me that ‘with great power, comes great responsibility,’ so he would be proud of me.”

“I am proud of you too.”

“And I’m proud of you. Goodluck kiss before we go?”

She sat up and peeled his mask up to his nose; hesitating to feel his warm breath on her lips. “You are coming back alive or else I will crawl my way into hell and drag you back to the land of the living by your ear; like the stubborn child you are.”

“And I won’t mind one bit.”

She pulled him into a deep kiss. “Let’s go take down my father.”

Chapter Text

He shuddered as the slowly freezing mud caked his suit. He was crawling through what was once beautiful and vibrant streets of Symkaria; now in ruins. He tried not to focus on the outlines of rubble and what he hoped weren’t the bodies of fallen civilians. There were bits and pieces of Sable’s armoured vans and suits everywhere that made soft clacking noises as they bumped into each other when he moved carefully over them. The sounds carried over the streets as the only noise left to be heard.

His throat became tight as he held back a wave of tears that threatened to fall.

“Sable,” he whispered.

“You are doing very well. Not much farther,” she whispered back. “We are very close to our mark. Once you get inside, your only job is shutting down his defences so do not worry about us.”

His blood ran cold as a spotlight from the security towers barely missed him. “Sable, I’m not often scared by a few guns and spotlights but this looks worse than anything I’ve ever dealt with. I’m not even sure what kind of weapons he’s got up there; and worse, I can’t see anyone. I can usually see them with the lenses of my suit but it’s almost like they don’t have any body heat.”

“I doubt it would be unmanned. There are ways to hide from thermal vision; though not well. Keep an eye out for any changes or any suspicious figures.”

“I know.” When he was sure that any potential onlookers’ attention was away from his position, he picked up his pace again. He missed New York already. The tall building he could swing from; the resounding noise in the city streets. “Man,” he sighed; turning off his comm device so Sable couldn’t hear him. “I hope I don’t die here. I really don’t want to die here.”

He was finally at the perimeter of the castle grounds. As he stood, he grazed his hands over the solid stone wall and all of the eerie scratches, traces of blood, and the gaps where a chunk was broken off. “What happened here,” Peter mumbled.

“Focus Pete, focus.”

He closed his eyes and let his Spidey-sense guide him over the wall without getting caught. No noise could be made, and no hunch could go ignored. Once he was on the other side; he opened his eyes and marvelled at the monument in front of him. He was sure the castle had to be made almost entirely out of the world’s finest marble. The detailing in the columns and arches looked like they came straight out of a Disney movie.

Peter clicked his comm system back on. “Wow. Sable, I totally see what you mean now. I wish I had seen it in its prime.”

“It was once a paradise but now is not the time. Can you take out the guards?”

“I can see a way into the castle actually. Well, one I can enter through. You guys would be stuck down here.”

“You are not going in without us. Take out the guards and open the gate.”

“I could take out the guards inside and apprehend your father. No murder. No-”

“NO, YOU WILL NOT!” Her voice was still hushed in a whisper but he felt the scream as if it had been full volume.

“It’s safer.”

“It is not safer; it is a suicide mission.”

“It feels like this whole attack is a suicide mission. Listen, he knows you’re coming. He knows you have an army and Mayor Osbornes funding. And he knows you’re probably beyond pissed at him for sending hitmen to murder your boyfriend. He doesn’t know that I’m here. There’s still a Spider-Man in New York. Why would he suspect something different?”

“Do not go in there alone.”

He felt a tingle in the back of his head as he came very close to the sight of a sniper rifle. “I’m sorry, Sable. If I hang around here much longer; they’re going to spot me. I’m going in and you’re staying where it’s safe.”

Once again, he turned the comms off so her tirade wouldn’t distract him as he skillfully crawled in through an open window. The pain in the back of his head intensified in the new area and he knew he had to tread carefully.

Following no particular path; he set out through the winding corridors and rooms looking for something; anything really. It seemed like the castle was deserted. There didn’t seem to be anyone roaming the grounds and every room seemed to be empty.

He climbed the first set of stairs he saw; looking through the windows as he passed them. He was climbing higher and higher in a tower. “I’m not getting such a good feeling about this plan anymore,” he said to no one.

Finally; after what seemed like an eternity had passed, he reached saw a faint glow, and heard a crackle of a fireplace. “Hello Spider-Man,” a gruff voice called from the room.

“Shit.” He came out into the open where presumably Sable’s father stood in a bloodstained white suit; watching the fire.

“Do not be frightened. I had anticipated your arrival. Trying to impress my daughter perhaps? Many men do try,” there was a hint of malice in his voice that cut through the cheery demeanour. “Somehow that Parker kid did. You know him?”

“Uh- yeah I do. Listen; I’m not here for small talk.”

“No. To kill me I assume?”

“No.” The man turned his head slightly towards Peter as if he hadn’t heard what he said. “I don’t kill. I’m here to reason with you.”

“Pathetic. You think your superhero act will win me over?”

“I’ve faced a lot of criminals in my time but never one so cruel. These are your people, sir, and they depend on you. Yet all you did was turn them against one another. Against your own daughter. How could you?”

“I do not need to explain myself to you, Spider-Man. If you were a king; if you knew the disrespect, the stress. Perhaps then you would know why I did what I did. I am fighting a war you, nor my daughter could ever understand.”

“You started a war because your people didn’t respect you? Ever think that maybe there was a reason for it?”

Slowly he inched towards the king.

“Of course there is a reason. There is always a reason. Like why you are here. Let us go back to that. Why are you here, Spider-Man? What reason did you come up with to sneak your way into a different country? A war zone? That is a far way to go for nothing. In fact, that is quite illegal. Or do rules not apply to you because you are a superhero? Or does it not matter to you?”

“I go where I’m needed.” One step after the other; slowly and methodically brought him closer to the madman. “Sometimes what’s right and what’s legal don’t go hand in hand but men like me have a duty to do the right thing.”

Why did that sentence hurt him to say?

"Sable is right and she needed my help so here I am."

"I knew it was to impress her."

"Not everything a man does is to impress a woman."

He took one step too close and Sable’s father took the advantage. Peter was punched in the gut; right where the worst of his wounds were, before being thrown against the wall with a hand around his throat. He tried not to make his cry of pain obvious but he couldn’t. He couldn’t breathe and could feel his wounds opening again. Not to mention the way his arm threatened to bend the wrong way again. He had hoped it had healed enough in the nine or more hour flight but that was clearly not the case.

Her father huffed and a wicked smile crept onto his face as he pressed on the wound again. “What is wrong, Spider-Man?" Suddenly; as his hands traced the stitches underneath the suit, his eyes lit up in realization. "You are Peter Parker? Things are beginning to make much more sense now."

Peter kicked one of the kings’ legs, opening a window of opportunity to escape. The mans’ grip had been hard around his throat, leaving him gasping. "I don't," he gasped. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh come now, Spider-Man. I am not stupid.” With a grunt; he threw a hard punch that Peter was easily able to dodge before retaliating with an equally hard kick to the stomach.

“Come on,” Peter whimpered; resting a hand delicately over his bleeding midsection. “Don’t make me fight you. I don’t want to do this.”

“You will fight and this will end tonight."

"Have it your way then." Peter leapt forward with the intention to disarm while her father went for the kill.

Each hit Peter sustained took more and more out of him. He steadied himself and pressed on; knocking the king to the ground. He retaliated quickly; jumping back to his feet and producing a small metal device from his pocket. Peter's senses instantly warned him to dodge, but as he tried the pain in his torso intensified.

He heard the click of the button just before his screams of pain swallowed the silence. He dropped to his knees, trying to fight the rope that had enveloped him. It stung like he was being electrocuted, and once his mind came back to him, he recognized the technology as something similar to what Sables men; most notably the ones using jetpacks used.

"P-Please," he whimpered. "Stop this."

"And why should I? Give me one good reason.”

Peter tried to think but the excruciating stinging across his body prohibited his thought process. Instead, he took a shaky breath and tried to speak as clearly and with as much power as he could. “I can’t- I can’t give you any reason that will make you change your mind. But please- Please do it for your daughter. I love-I love her.”

He chuckled darkly, “of course you do, Peter Parker. Why would you not? But it is-”

A powerful boom reverberated around the room and Sable’s father dropped to his knees; letting go of the device which in turn, released the bindings around Peter. “What-” he started to panic. “What happened?” That’s when he saw Sable approaching from the doorway with her pistols raised and a splash of red tinting her all-white outfit. “Sable?”

She grabbed her father’s arm; swinging him around to face her before roughly throwing him to the ground. “You let your emotions cloud your judgement, father. I am disappointed in you.”

His breathing became more ragged and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. Still; he found the strength to smile. “Ah, my daughter. How far you have come.”

“And how far you have fallen. I only wish I could have made you pay more for your crimes. From this day on; I am Symkarias Queen and I will rebuild what you have brought to rubble.”

Peter could tell the man didn’t have much time left. His shaking was calming down and his eyes seemed to be glazing over. That’s when he used his last ounce of strength. Lying in a pool of blood; no longer focusing on Sable, herself; he whispered something in Symkarian. Something Peter understood fully. Something he heard from Sable regularly. A single; wistful, “I love you.”

Sable stood over the body; his last words replaying over and over again until she could stand it any longer. Tears started falling; though she tried to hold them back. Once her first audible sob was heard; Peter rushed to her side, embracing her tightly. She cried heavily into his shoulder; as tremours overtook her and she was no longer able to stay standing on her own.

He placed a gentle kiss to her forehead and let her cry; stroking her hair just enough to remind her that he was there for her. That she could let it out and not be ashamed. That he would stand there as long as she needed him to. And he did.

Chapter Text

Peter was shaking; allowing heavy tears and sobs to escape as he recounted the events of a few days ago to MJ. He held the phone so tightly in his grip that; with his super strength, it threatened to snap in half.

“It was awful MJ” he whimpered. “I’ve never seen her cry. I never wanted to. There was blood everywhere and I just- MJ I don’t know how to deal with it. I can’t sleep. I don’t even know many days it’s been anymore. They won’t let me leave the infirmary because my wounds got infected and I can’t even go see Sable and I know she’s out there tearing herself apart.”

“It’s not your fault, Pete. Absolutely nothing that happened was your fault.”

“I don’t- I don’t blame myself. I just- I can’t stop thinking about everything. There was just so much death."

"I'm sorry you had to see all of that. War is- well it's hard to deal with. I still have nightmares and no one will blame you for having them. I know it's hard but whenever it gets overwhelming; just try to take a deep breath and focus on the positives."

"Which are?"

"You're still alive. Sable is alive. You stopped a nationwide genocide. You saved a country."

"It doesn't feel like it."

"I know, and I'm sorry I can't help much. I'm just trying to remember what my therapist said, but everyone is different. When you come back home, you should go see her. She's really good."

"I don't have time to go to therapy."

"Yes, you do. There's always time for your health. You have to make time for it. It'll really help. Sable too. You should get her to go."

"I don't know MJ."

"Well then put your faith in me. I do. I know."

A smile threatened to creep onto his lips. "Yeah," he sniffled. "I'll trust you. When I get back you can force my dumbass to go."

"Good."

"So, how have things been since I've been gone. How's Miles? Yuri? You?"

"Well the city is still standing so there's something. Miles has a very embarrassing video going viral of him getting hit in the face with a drone."

Peter laughed, grabbing his stomach to stop the pain that shot through him from his injuries. "How did that happen?"

"He tried to do a trick while swinging like you sometimes do, but he didn't see the drone that was flying out from under a billboard so, yeah. And you know the drone had a camera on it so, yeah. He's pretty embarrassed, to say the least."

"Poor kid. I'll never forget my first embarrassing viral video."

"Which one was first? The toilet paper stuck to your foot or accidentally webbing your foot to a crane?"

"The time I dropped my cellphone off the fire escape of your building and fell flat on my face trying to catch it."

"Oh yeah! All I hear is 'NO!' bang bang thud."

"I saved my phone."

"And broke your nose."

"And May nearly killed me when I came home with blood all down my front. I think she was more upset that it stained my shirt than me breaking my nose. Probably because she was used to me doing stupid things at that point."

MJ laughed. "We all were at that point. Remember the time Flash was yelling insults at you from across the hall and when you turned away from your locker he saw the fourteen stitches you had on your face and the black eye and you told him it was because you had passed out from exhaustion while studying for finals and banged your face on the desk?"

"Yeah! He spent the whole day trying to get me to skip class to take a nap! If only he had known it was actually from Vultures wing smacking me in a fight."

"I think he might have passed out if he did. He is Spider-Mans number one fan you know."

"Yeah. Yeah, I definitely know."

Peter's smile faded as the pain in his abdomen slowly started making itself known again. "MJ do you think it'll ever be the same again? Like, us just hanging out. No villains, no war. We can just relax?”

“It won’t ever be the way it was back in high school or even a year ago, but it’s not a bad thing. We’ll get over this and then things will be different. We’ve got Sable and Yuri; who is really worried about who two by the way. I’d call her too.”

“I will.”

He hopped off of the bed and looked out the window towards another tower of the castle; cascaded in a backdrop of stars in the dark night.

“You okay, Pete?”

“Yeah. I-I had an idea. Sorry MJ, just a lot on my mind."

"I get it. Go on. Go do whatever stupid and potentially dangerous thing you're about to do. Just make sure you don't give Sable a heart attack."

"I'll try. Goodnight MJ. I'll let you know when I'm coming back to New York."

"Stay safe Pete."

He hung up and carefully pulled on his freshly cleaned suit. It was still battered and stained with a few holes in it, but those issues would have to wait for another day. It took a lot of prying to get the lock off of the window that they had put on to keep him inside on Sable’s orders. He laughed as it cracked open.

He climbed around the building; looking in through the windows until he found Sable. She was pacing around a room with a huge canopy bed and intricately carved white trim. “Pst.” He pulled on some of the drapery framing the open window. “Sable it’s me.”

She didn’t seem to notice him at first. Her eyes were dark and empty and she was noticeably thinner.

“Sable!” He whispered a little louder; seeming to startle her. “Sorry hun, you were really out of it.” She barely registered him as he climbed in the window and made his way over to her but when he opened his arms; she fell into them without hesitation. “Oh honey, it’s okay. It’s time to sleep okay?”

She was shaking and her skin felt cold. Carefully he guided her over to the bed and helped her take her jacket off. “I hate seeing you like this, Sable. We’ll get through this though. Don’t worry.”

They both curled up together under the thick, plush, royal blankets while he stared out the window at the stars. “I love Symkaria already and it’s already starting to get better because of you. But you just focus on sleeping okay? And don’t be afraid. I’ll be awake; watching over you so nothing can happen to you. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“You must- must be protected,” she drawled.

“Not always. Not tonight. It’s my turn to protect you.”

Chapter Text

The next few days were hard. Sable had slept well once out of sheer exhaustion but otherwise; both were riddled with nightmares and unable to stay focused during the day. Peter was just thankful for all the help given to him by the people at the castle. They all seemed to have their own reactions to losing their king; not all of which were positive leading Peter to assume that there was more to the story of the Symkarian royal family.

It wasn’t his place to get involved with the politics of another country so he never asked.

He walked in on Sable commanding some of her men in some sort of relief and clean-up effort. She was amazing in front of them. Pretending that nothing in the previous weeks hurt. As if the bags under her eyes were a choice and not a reminder of how little sleep she was able to get through the nightmares.

“Sable,” he interrupted.

She jumped ever so slightly. “Spider-Man, I thought you were rebuilding houses with my team.”

He noticed how dismayed she sounded; though tried to hide. “I was but they called it a night. We couldn’t get enough light to see what we were doing since the sun started setting. And my suits busted so any night vision I had has been put on indefinite hold until I figure out what the problem is. Pretty sure it was mud in the exposed circuitry that fried it but I haven’t gotten a chance to look at it, really.”

“Oh,” she nodded uncharacteristically. “In that case, you should get your rations pack and rest for tomorrow.”

Peter almost caught himself nodding and wandering off to follow the rut of menial tasks to keep him distracted but when he looked down and saw the tufts of grass peeking out from the settling soil, he had a better idea. “No.”

She glared at him. “No?”

“We can’t keep doing this. We can’t just keep pretending like we’re fine! Just doing menial labour every day to distract from what happened is only making it worse.”

“And what do you expect to do to fix it?”

“Let’s go- let’s go do something. Go on a walk.”

“Just to see more destruction of my fallen country? It does not sound appealing to me.”

“Come on, it’s more than that. Let’s focus on the regrowth. The grass is growing again.”

Sable opened her mouth to argue when his word caught up to her. “It-” She looked down. “It is.”

“Come on, I’ll show you the progress we’re making. I even found something you might want to see."

"Fine. If it'll keep you quiet."

He took her arm tenderly and guided her away from all of the madness. There was a large hill not far out of the main areas of the town that gave a beautiful view of the sunset over the forest in the valley below. "Your country is beautiful. I like it here a lot. I've never been somewhere where I could just… relax. In New York, there's always noise and people. It's kind of weird being somewhere where I can hear the birds and not much else."

They took a seat at the highest point of the hill. "Does it bother you? You say you have never been away from the city."

"It's definitely strange, that's for sure."

"I think you should go home, Peter."

"What?!" He exclaimed.

"You are meant for the city. You were never meant for this. Your home is America, and that is where you should be."

He took a moment to regain his composure and pulled her in for an embrace. "You ever heard the saying, 'the home is where the heart is?'"

She shook her head.

"Basically, it means that home isn't physical. It's where the people you love are. Where you feel loved. And New York, well it's where I was born, where I grew up, and the place I've been afraid to leave for so many years. But it's not where my heart is. Sure there's people I care about, like Miles and Rio, Yuri and MJ. But my home is with you, Sable. And wherever you go, my heart follows."

She leaned into his chest and grumbled out a, "you are stupidly sappy."

"Yeah." She could feel the rumble in his chest as he spoke and the increased heartbeat as she rested on him. "I am a little bit sappy."

"What about the stupid part?"

"I'm plenty of that too."

"I still think you should return to New York."

"Why?"

"It worries me, having you here now. I know your arm did not heal correctly and you will not show me your other wounds. My men are also getting suspicious about you. I have overheard them talking about you and your relationship with me. I already have enough on my mind, I do not need your identity being one of them."

"I can't just leave you, Sable."

"I would prefer to know you are safe in New York than here where all we're doing is trying to rebuild and hope my fathers’ supporters do not attempt something."

"Okay, you can't say something like that and expect me to just leave! You worry about me because of a couple of wounds, and you expect me not to worry about you with the possibility of a firefight?!"

"I would be fine."

"You can't be sure!"

"I can."

He pulled away from her and lifted his mask to reveal his face. He looked into her eyes in desperation. "Sable, you are an amazingly powerful leader. You have brute strength, intelligence, and no fear. You can lead a million armies with no hesitation. But you are still human. Humans make errors, they believe that they can do things when they can't or can't do things when they can. They sometimes push themselves to the edge just because they can. Or because they are afraid that if they admit that they can't do something, they'll be looked at like they're weak."

She lowered her gaze and allowed his hands to wrap around hers. "I have to lead them."

"And you do. You always will. But there's nothing wrong with admitting that you're hurting. I-I didn't give myself time to mourn my aunt and you told me that there was nothing wrong with showing that I'm still human; spider-powers or not. So you can too."

She sighed and leaned into him again, holding him as tightly as she could. "I miss my father. I thought it would feel better with him gone, and in some ways I do. But I keep remembering the good times he and I had together. I focused on the negative for so long that I forgot he was still my father."

He ran a hand through her hair while the other held her tight. "Do you regret what happened?"

"No. He needed to be stopped. I suppose I just did not feel as relieved as I thought I would. It felt as if it was the wrong decision even though I know it was right."

"It's okay to be conflicted."

"He said he loved me."

"Does that bother you?" He could feel her nod under his chin. "What bothers you about it?"

"If he had been angry like I had always anticipated. If he had just cursed my name and passed on, I would have felt better. But he still cared for me. As he died he felt the need to tell me." She grumbled as she thought about it more. "That manipulative bastard."

Peter sighed in relief, "I'm so glad you were thinking the same thing as me. I didn't want to be the one to say it."

"I hate him."

"I know. And that's okay. You're allowed to hate him."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the sounds of the forest. It was still barren and quiet but it was all they needed.

“I’ll go if you really want me too,” he finally whispered. “I know it makes you nervous, having me here during such a sensitive time, but I want you to come back to New York soon. As soon as possible.”

“It is a deal then.”

“Good. And I guess this is a good time to test out something I’ve been working on in my spare time.”

Peter unclipped one of his web-shooters and handed it to Sable. “It doesn’t have a display yet but the lights and everything else works.”

“What is it?”

Instead of explaining it, he tapped a message in morse code on a small touchpad. She felt the bracelet in her hand vibrate, ‘I love you.’

With a smile, she tapped back, 'I love you too.'

"Keep in touch with me okay? That way I know everything's ok."

"I will. I promise."

"I guess that means you have me here for one more night. You want to cuddle?"

"That," she nodded. "Sounds lovely."

Chapter Text

Peter spent the entire flight home holding back tears.even as he talked to MJ, arranging a pickup with her and Yuri, he couldn't help but feel the tears welling up in his eyes every time he so much as mentioned Sable’s name. he didn't want to worry them however, so he didn't let any of the tears fall and to the best of his abilities, he didn't allow his voice to waver.

Sable’s men were also staring. Even though he wasn't the type who cared if other people saw him cry, something about the way her men were staring at him, especially after everything that happened in the past few months or week alone, made him not want to show that kind of weakness in front of them. So when he finally got off the plane and saw Yuri and MJ before him, he couldn't help but break down.

She hugged them both tightly and they did their best to calm him. It was hard to get a word in from all three parties as none of them really knew what to say. The women knew what he had been through before he even had to say it anyway, so he did not need to explain himself anyway.

"It's okay Peter," MJ soothed. "It's over. You're home."

"What if she gets hurt?"

"She won't. She knows better."

Yuri took his arm tenderly, "come on. Let's take you home."

He nodded and followed them back to her car; climbing in the backseat.

"Do you need anything?"

"My girlfriend back."

"Anything I can actually get you?"

He thought for a moment. "I'd really like a milkshake. Chocolate? From McDonald's?"

He caught the hint of a smile on her lips when she glanced back at him. "Yeah, we can definitely do that." They got him his drink before driving back to his apartment.

"Will you guys come in and keep me company?"

"Of course."

He searched for his keys but couldn't find them. He checked all the usual places. Under the mat, stuck to the roof, he just couldn't seem to find them. Shrugging, he entered through the top floor bathroom window which was always left unlocked for times like this but what he found when walking into the attached bedroom, shocked him. There was a girl sitting on Sable’s bed.

"Um… hello."

She jerked around to face him. "Spider-Man! You're back!"

He sighed a breath of relief. "Oh, Mia it's you. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I just forgot I gave you my keys. I'm a little jumpy right now."

"Is it over? Did you save her? Princess Sablinova?"

"Well more like she saved me, plus she's actually a queen now. Well, I think so, at least. I don't know if there's some sort of ceremony we need to do first but she's definitely going to be the queen if she’s not already.”

Mia’s face seemed to light up. “Cool!” she exclaimed.

“Well, um, anyway can I let my friends in? Or would that make you uncomfortable? One of them is Captain Watanabe so I’m not sure if you’d be okay with that.”

“Oh,” her excitement diminished.

“I can tell them to leave. It’s okay.”

“I don’t wanna overstep.”

“No-no-no it’s okay. Just stay up here and I’ll get rid of them, but they aren’t that bad, I promise. Yuri’sreally nice-”

“I know she is. I just- she always tries to ‘save’ me by sending me back to my social worker.”

“She is trying to help.”

“I’d rather be on the street.”

“Oh, that bad huh?” The look on her face gave him all the answers he needed. “Okay I’ll send ‘em home and you can stay here again tonight.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah! Why not? Sounds fun. As long as you don’t think it’s weird hangin’ out with a lonely superhero.” He paused, “I really don’t know how to phrase that without sounding creepy. I didn’t mean for it to sound that creepy.”

She giggled, “it’s okay. I know what you meant.”

Peter could hear an aggressive knock on the door downstairs. “I’ll be right back.”

He ran down the stairs quickly and threw open the door; starling MJ and Yuri. “Christ, you scared me!” Yuri yelled.

“Sorry guys, I just got a message from Sable and we’re gonna video chat. I’m just not all there right now.”

MJ put her hand on his shoulder. “Are you sure you’re okay here, Pete?”

“Yeah. Can I call you guys if I need anything?”

“Of course.”

“Thank’s guys. I appreciate that.” They all turned to go when Peter paused. “Actually, MJ you have Disney Plus right?”

“Yeah.”

“Can I watch some stuff on your account?”

“Sure. I’ll send you a text with my password.”

“Thanks a bunch.”

“No problem, Pete. Stay sane in there okay?”

“I will.”

When they left, Peter closed the door and yelled, “you can come down now!” And while he waited, he set up the projector and screen he had set up for movie nights, months ago.

Chapter Text

One night turned into a week; and even still, there was no sign of Mia leaving. Not that she didn't offer to leave every day just in case Peter had changed his mind. But he hadn't. Truth be told; he quite enjoyed having her there. It made the gaps between the messages from Sable a little more bearable.

"Hey Mia!" he called. "Dinner's ready!"

He chuckled as he heard the pitter-patter of her feet running down the stairs. "What's for dinner?"

"I made lasagna soup."

She turned up her nose, "lasagna soup? What's that?"

"All the ingredients of a lasagna in a broth. With little, teeny-tiny, baby size lasagna noodles. I can't guarantee it'll taste good but I can confirm that it is most definitely not burnt."

"Finally, something you didn't burn."

"Hey be nice. I try my best." He placed a bowl in front of her and turned to get his own portion and she mumbled something he didn't catch. "Sorry, kiddo?"

"Thanks."

"Oh no, pr-"

"For everything. You know, letting me stay here and stuff."

"You don't need to keep thanking me. If anything I should still be thanking you. But how about we both call it even? You helped me, I helped you." He sat down across from her and rolled up his mask enough to smile at her before stuffing his face with soup. "Deal?"

She smiled, "deal."

They ate for a few minutes before Peter hummed. "By the way, we can't keep living off of the one box of food MJ brought me so I was thinking, tomorrow morning we go shopping. And while we're out we can get you something new to wear. Not that Sable would mind you borrowing all of her sweaters and sweat pants but they don't exactly fit you very well. So what do you think?"

"I… you can't just buy me clothes. You're already letting me stay here."

"Why not?"

"I've already taken so much from you."

Peter batted at the air as if throwing away her words before they reached him. "Nonsense."

"I don't like taking handouts."

"It's not a handout. Consider it a present."

"No! I shouldn't even be here! I keep taking your stuff! You just wanna 'save me' like Yuri did! I don't need to be saved!"

"I know you don't."

"How do you know?!"

"Because I've been homeless before too."

"What?" her voice softened and her rock hard grip on her spoon seemed to lessen.

He shrugged, "I've been homeless too. A few times actually. I've had to couch surf before, sleep in the shelter, sometimes I sleep on top of buildings or I just don't sleep at all. The most I've ever had in my bank account before Sable hired me was probably two hundred dollars that I won in a contest.

"No matter what, I hated sleeping in the shelters. It felt wrong. If I didn't feel bad for taking stuff that people less fortunate than me could be taking; I just felt bad for needing it in the first place."

"But you're a superhero."

"Being a superhero doesn't pay. Even if it did, I can't take money from people. That would be wrong. I don't do it for the money. I do it because it's the right thing to do. Like my uncle said before he died. 'With great power comes great responsibility.' And I live by that." She seemed to ponder his words for a while giving him the chance to finish his bowl and go back for a second serving.

"I still feel bad."

"Don't. Everyone needs a little help sometimes."

"Okay… it would be nice to have some new clothes. But won't it seem weird if a superhero takes a random kid shopping?"

He nodded, "yeah probably. But it wouldn't be if the man in charge of the homeless shelter did."

"What?"

"Can you keep a secret for me?"

"Uh-huh."

He pulled back the mask revealing his whole face. "Hey, Mia. I'm your friendly neighbourhood, Peter Parker."

A light seemed to shine in her eyes. "Oh! That makes so much sense!"

"But you can't tell anyone okay?"

"I won't! I promise!"

"Thanks. So what do you say? Shopping tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I'd like that."

The next day they leisurely set out on their adventure around noon. Not knowing where to start, they just wandered around the Manhattan Mall. When something caught their eye, they would stop. Mia seemed to like the t-shirts with bright colours and dark coloured jackets. While they were picking out a pair of pyjamas, Peter missed the slight tingle of his spidey senses trying to tell him something wasn't right.

"Peter what are you doing?"

"Uh-oh," he said without turning around. "I know that voice. I'm in trouble" He turned around and was face-to-face with MJ. "Hey MJ, how are you? What'cha doing here?"

"I was going to pick up some stuff for you, but then I saw you walking around with a child and you could say I got curious. What are you up to?"

“I really don’t want to answer that because no matter what I say, I feel like you’re going to think I went insane and call Yuri.”

“Can you blame me?”

“I’m not crazy okay?”

“Who is she, Peter? What are you doing?”

“This is Mia,” he gestured to her meekly hiding behind him. “She’s the one who helped me when I got shot. I know this will seem weird but I’ve been giving her a place to stay since I left but I felt bad if I kicked her out.”

MJ’s expression was unreadable until she painted a fake smile on her cheeks. “Nice to meet you, Mia. Can I have a moment alone with my friend, please? You should go try on that pineapple print shirt. It’s cute.”

Mia nodded and tottered off towards the dressing room.

MJ’s smile faltered the second she walked away. In nothing more than an aggravated whisper, she scorned him, “what the actual hell do you think you're doing?! You're left alone for a few days and you kidnap a child?!"

"I didn't kidnap anyone! She's homeless."

"And she can't go to F.E.A.S.T why?"

"She refused to go."

"She's a child. She can't refuse to go!"

"Yes, she can! She’s still her own person. A person who would run away again and potentially get hurt or worse because the people she should be able to trust forced her to go somewhere she felt uncomfortable. There’s nothing wrong with me helping her, MJ. And maybe I’m selfish but it’s also helping me; having her around. I’m not just sitting in an empty apartment every day waiting to either hear that my girlfriend is on her way home or dead.

“I'm scared right now, MJ, and I don’t know how to handle it. Maybe this is weird but the only times in my life I’ve ever felt right is when I’m helping people and right now she needs help. So what if that means making grilled cheese and tomato soup while watching Disney movies all day.”

MJ was stunned. “I cannot believe that your answer to your problems was adopting a child. What will Sable think?”

Peter’s face flushed a violent red. “I didn’t-”

“Really? Because it seems like you did.”

“That’s not-”

“Listen; I think this is really weird but I’m not opposed to the idea of her getting help. So fine, Pete. I trust you and I know you’re not some creep okay? But you have to promise me you’ll help her by convincing her to go to F.E.A.S.T and you will finally call that therapist we talked about.”

“Fine.”

“Good. And in return, I won’t tell Sable about this.”

“Sable would agree with me actually.”

“Sure she would, champ. Well, I’ll leave you to shopping.”

She walked away and Peter sighed. “Maybe I am going crazy.”

Before he returned to Mia, he tapped a message into his bracelet. ‘Are you coming home soon?’

‘Soon, my love. Soon.’

Chapter Text

He looked around the cemetery to make sure no one was watching. It would be odd to see a young man lying between two gravestones and he didn't really want to explain himself. When he was sure no one was looking, he sat down with Ben and Mays grave on either side and stared up at the clouds rolling by up above.

"Hey May, hey Ben. Sorry I haven't visited lately. I've been really busy. You wouldn't believe the past few months I've had! I got shot three times; don't worry, I'm fine. But then I went to Symkaria and fought in a civil war. I had to do it. For the people of Symkaria… and for Sable.

"I'm with her, you know. We've been together for close to a year and," he glanced down at May's tombstone. "I know you would have loved her. Eventually of course. I wouldn't blame you for being a little- well okay; a lot upset with her after Devils Breath, but you'd have come around once you saw how sweet she actually is."

He smiled slightly. “She’d love to meet you too. I think she’s the love of my life,” he laughed. “Isn’t that funny? It’s always something crazy in my life. The woman who almost killed me a few times and then became my greatest ally? Of course, she would be the love of my life. Everything in my life is crazy.

“MJ thinks I’m crazy now. Well; she probably always did but now even more so. I don’t think helping someone is weird! It’s not! I’m not! Right?” He paused. “I am crazy. I’m screaming about my problems in a graveyard… I should probably talk to a live person.”

Peter stood up and brushed the dirt off of his pants. "Goodbye May. Goodbye Ben. I love you both."

After staring at the gravestones a few seconds longer, he finally set out on his way. It didn't feel like a long trip; as he had something on his mind the entire trip. He didn't remember knocking on the door or being let in.

"Hello, Peter," Rio warmly greeted. "It's been a while. How have you been? I was so worried after I heard you were hurt! And worse when you left the hospital!"

Peter chuckled, "yeah I tend to do that… I'm sorry but I wasn't really in the right headspace. Things have been… they've been…"

"I understand. It's okay, you don't have to explain anything to me."

"Thanks, Rio. I'm so glad to see you again."

"I'm glad to see you too. Come on in."

They went inside and settled down on the couch. Rip made some tea and passed a cup to Peter. She knew something was coming, that there was something he needed to talk about. He always had a very discernible look when he needed someone to talk to.

"So?" she started. "What's going on?"
Peter sighed, "can I ask you for some advice on what to do? I feel like I'm lost and maybe in the wrong about something."

"If Sable said you-"

"No, it's not Sable. Well sort of but it's more about something else."

"Okay, what is it?"

"When I was shot that day, a little girl named Mia was there and she helped me."

"Yes, I remember hearing about her."

"Well, she's homeless."

"Oh, the poor thing."

Peter rubbed the back of his neck and let out a sigh. "She didn't want to go to F.E.A.S.T. or back to the foster care system so… she's been staying with me."

He braced himself for her to yell at him or tell him he's crazy. Instead, she smiled. "Isn't that sweet; though I wouldn't have expected any less from you."

"Wait," he mumbled. "You're okay with that?"

"Of course I am. Should I not be?"

"MJ wasn't. She said it was crazy."

"Crazy? Why would it be crazy?"

"So you agree? You think it's a good thing right?!"

"Yes of course! It's amazing what you're doing for her!"

“Thank you.”

Rio lightly cupped his cheek. “What is it? What has you so upset?"

"What MJ said," Peter grumbled. "I've always had a good sense of what's right and what's wrong and she's always been on my side. I guess hearing her say she doesn't approve of me caring for Mia really made me wonder if I am going crazy.

"I'm-I'm really not so sure I'm okay anymore, Rio. Maybe I'm not thinking straight. Ever since Fisks' arrest, it feels like everything's going wrong. Like every time I take a step forward, I take two back and I don't know what to do."

He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. "I saw Symkaria. I was there. That's why I left the hospital. I couldn't let Sable go alone, but what I saw there and what I saw when Devil's Breath happened.. they haunt me. Sable's still there and I know she's struggling. I'm so worried about her and how she's dealing with everything that happened.

"I never wanted to fight in a war, Rio."

She pulled him in close. "Of course you didn't. No one does. You're not crazy, and it's okay to feel the way you do. It's okay to be scared and worried about the people around you but you should worry about yourself for a while."

"I don't know how. I've always worried about everyone and everything else. Besides; I can't just leave Mia. She needs my help."

Rio smiled softly, "you're such a good man. Too good. Just listen to what your heart tells you. You are doing an amazing job and you are a wonderful person. MJ might not see it but I do; and Miles, and Mia, and of course; so does Sable. I may not quite understand how you and Sable got together but I certainly understand why you would stay together."

"Thanks, Rio. I really needed that."

"Anytime, Peter. Now I have an idea. Tonight you and Mia should have dinner here and introduce her to Miles. Then if you ever need some time to yourself, he can babysit."

"That- that's actually a great idea. I have been thinking about maybe talking to the therapist that MJ told me about so at least if I know Miles is with Mia while I'm at my sessions, I wouldn't have her to worry about."

"Then it's settled. Be here around four-thirty."

"Okay. Thanks again, Rio. I'll see you soon."

Chapter Text

The dinner went extremely well. Rio and Miles, as always were very pleasant to be around. Mia quite enjoyed the evening at least to Peters best guess as she was smiling the entire evening. They make pleasant conversation, avoiding any subjects that might be awkward such a Sable being in Symkaria or Mia's family.

“Okay, I promise I’ll get him to eat it!” Mia laughed as Rio handed her a stack of leftovers in Tupperware containers.

“Good. I always make extra when he comes to visit. I swear that boy could eat my entire pantry; spice rack and all and still be hungry.”

“I know,” she laughed. “The last time he made meatloaf, he actually made two and we didn't have any leftovers."

"Oh yeah?" She turned to look at Peter who was drying and putting away the dishes. "You're becoming a chef huh?"

"I'm getting better," he chuckled nervously. "I dug out some of Aunt May’s old recipes and picked the easiest ones. But I don't think I'm doing too bad."

Mia piped up, "no it's really good! I really liked the scalloped potatoes."

"Oh me too. Maybe I'll make it again soon.”

“I’d like that!”

Rio let out a soft giggle. “You two are becoming close aren’t you?”

Mia nodded. “We are,” she said. “I like staying with him. It's much better than my foster family. I don’t think the dad wanted to take me in but she made him.”

Rio delicately brushed her cheek, “well it’s a good thing you two ran into each other even if it wasn’t under the best circumstances. Peter will take very good care of you, and of course; you can always come here as well. Our door is always open. Right Miles?”

Miles looked up from the leftovers he was wrapping up for later. "Huh? Oh, yeah of course! Whenever you need me just call.”

Peter loved the way Mia’s eyes shined when she heard that. She looked so happy.

"Well," Rio continued looking at the clock. "It is getting late. Will you two be staying the night or heading home?"

Peter put the dishtowel on the stoves handle to dry. “We should probably head home. Mia promised to restart school on Monday so we're picking up some school supplies tomorrow and doing things like telling Yuri what's going on because I feel like that’s probably something I should do. I don’t really know the legality of becoming her guardian. Plus I definitely have to let Sable know."

"You haven't told her yet?"

He awkwardly shook his head, "no. Not yet."

"Peter-"

"I know, I know. Please don't use the mom voice. I just don't know how to tell her. She's stressed and with everything going on I don't know what to do."

Rio sighed, "just be honest with her. You'll be okay."

"I know we will be, I just don't want to overwhelm her."

"That's understandable. Do it when it feels right."

"I will. At least I'll try to do it at the right time."

"Good," she smiled softly at him. "You know she'll be happy. Anyway, before you go; take some of the leftovers. We won't eat all of it.”

“Sounds good; thanks, Rio. Mia, you ready to go?”

“Yep!”

They all said their goodbyes and packed up their stuff before heading back home. When they got there Peter sighed. “Oh no, I left my keys at Rio’s place.”

“Do you have a spare?”

“That was the spare. I lost the other one on the subway the other day. Do you have yours?”

“I didn’t bring it because you had one.”

"Okay stand back." He braced himself and kicked the door in with very little effort on his part. "I'll just fix it after we put-"

"PETER BENJAMIN PARKER! DID YOU JUST KICK IN MY DOOR?!"

His blood ran cold before he realized that hearing that voice could only mean one thing. "S-Sable! You're back!" The items in his hands were dropped to the ground and he bounded into the apartment, wrapping her in his arms tightly.

She smiled and hugged him back. "You are an idiot and you are going to fix my door immediately."

"I will. I promise."

She could tell from his voice that he was holding back tears unsuccessfully which; to her dismay, caused her to tear up as well. "Stop crying. You are making me cry and I do not cry."

"I missed you."

"I missed you too."

He cupped her face tenderly. "Are you okay?"

"I am fine."

"Are you sure? Are you hurt?"

"Just need some rest. I am fine. What about you? Have you healed well?"

He nodded, "all healed up."

They stood there enjoying each other's presence for a while before Mia cleared her throat, and they both looked up at her while she mumbled, "should I go?"

Peter perked up, "oh no! No, don't go. Sable, meet Mia. She's the one who helped me when I got shot. She’s been staying here with me while you were gone.”

“She has been staying here? What abo-”

“I’ll explain later,” he whispered.

She caught onto the urgency in his voice and knew not to push it. “Well then, since you are staying here we should get acquainted. Silver Sablinova; new queen of Symkaria.”

“Wow! A real queen! That’s so cool!”

“Yes, well it is very nice to meet you Mia but I think it is time we all go to bed. I had a very long flight. We can all get acquainted in the morning.”

Peter smiled and gently intertwined their hands together. “I agree.”

Sable glanced down at their hands and let the slightest smile cross her lips. “It is good to be back already.”

“I couldn’t agree more. Goodnight Mia. We’ll see you in the morning and if you hear power tools while you’re falling asleep; it’s just me fixing the door. So don’t worry about it. And then in the morning, I'll make breakfast”

Sable shot him a skeptical look. “You? You will cook breakfast.”

“Yup!” he chimed happily. “Trust me, you’ll love it!”

“We shall see about that.”

“I love you. I’d never poison you with my bad cooking.”

“I love you too.”

Chapter Text

Mia had slept upstairs in the bed while Peter had insisted on cuddling with Sable on the sofa downstairs. While they laid in each other’s arms, he had all the time in the world to clear the air. Sable had taken the news exceptionally well compared to what Peter had expected. In fact; she seemed fairly excited. However, that wasn't without its concerns.

"I don't see where you're expecting us all to stay," she said as she put the bread in the toaster. "Not that I don't enjoy cuddling with you on the couch; but forgive me for thinking it may get a bit cramped over time."

Peter flipped the pancakes, nodding along to show he was listening. "Well, we could get her a bed."

"And put the bed where?"

"In our room I guess. We can't put it in the living room."

"Oh no, she cannot stay in our bedroom. You could barely keep yourself together last night on the couch."

Peter stopped what he was doing to look at her and pout; making sure she had seen him before he continued. "In my defence, I hadn't seen you in a long time."

She crossed her arms and grunted back, "you are a horny idiot."

"Your idiot," he reminded her. "But you're right. I'm not convinced that I'd survive. But there is another option."

“If you say something stupid like a spider web in the corner or something-”

“We have Mays house.”

The toast popped out of the toaster and she took her time buttering it before she asked, “would you be okay with that?”

“It,” he sighed. “It might be a little difficult to adjust to, and moving her stuff out… I don’t think that I could do it by myself. But it would give us more space and get us out of the busiest part of the city. Not to mention that it’s what May would want. If she were here, I know she’d want us to have that space. It’s not the biggest house but it gives us a room and Mia her own space.”

“That is a good idea.”

“Great!” he exclaimed. “We’ll go after breakfast.”

“Where are you going?” Mia asked; poking her head into the kitchen.

Peter put a pile of pancakes down on the table just as she sat down. “Well, we figured that since there’s the three of us now and not all that much space, we should-”

“I can go if you want.”

“What? No! We were just thinking that we should move. My aunt had a house that she gave to me when she passed so I think we should go there. You’d have your own room and it’s an easy bus ride to school.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

She looked up at him gingerly; almost afraid to look him in the eyes as she spoke. “I’d like that. I’ve never had my own room before.”

“Good, then it’s settled. We’ll eat, go clean up the house and then maybe do some shopping.”

And so they did. They cleaned their plates quickly and drove over to that familiar street in Queens where May’s house was in more disrepair than Peter remembered from all those months ago. The lawn was unkempt and there were bags of garbage presumably from people dumping their trash.

Sable looked at Peter expecting to see him heartbroken, but instead, he smiled and placed his hands on his hips. “I guess I’ll start here. On your way in make sure there are no condemned notices. It’s definitely not in that bad of shape but sometimes the neighbours would complain to the city about our house looking ‘trashy’ when Ben wouldn’t mow every few days. I’m not sure if they’ve moved, or passed away, or hopefully just chilled out but if there are any notices I should probably take care of that.”

Sable nodded and lead Mia inside. "I suppose we should start in the bedrooms. I imagine that Peter will be passing on his room to you so we'll do that first."

"Is he sure we can move everything out? I mean," she paused. "It is his room and all his stuff."

“And he wants you to have it. He is the one who suggested we move here after all.”

“Do you want to move here?”

Sable gave herself the time to think by opening the door to Peter’s old bedroom. It looked exactly the same as the way they left it. With Peters old glasses on the bedside table, the indents in the bedding from where they had slept, and the bloodstains from where she had bled through some of her bandages. She looked around at all the awards from science fairs and various experiments gone wrong.

It almost reminded her of the room she had when her mother was still alive. Successes and failures alike. Fantasies that lead nowhere and ideas she still used to this day. She missed those days. Before the murder, before her father no longer allowed her to make failures. Before she was left alone on the street.

She glanced down at Mia and smiled. “I do want to move here. I think it is what we all need right now.”

“We?”

“Yes, we. Peter needs some space to call his own. Out of the hustle and bustle of the city. Somewhere quiet. At least not as loud as what we’re used to. And you need a safe place to live.”

“But-but what about you? What do you need?”

She let out a subtle sigh as she began taking the bed apart. “No need to worry about that. I am still getting what I need. And in time; maybe I will tell you.”

Chapter Text

Peter seemed to be taking the changes to May's house very well. If anything; he was very excited to be a homeowner. Sable had taken Mia to school and by the time she returned he had removed almost every fixture and tile in the bathroom.

"I was thinking about a stand-up shower with a rain head. What do you think?"

“Hm,” she hummed. “I think it would be better than what we have now. I think your aunt might have liked the colour green a bit too much."

He shrugged, "well the house was built a long time ago and I think she just wanted to keep it the way it was when Ben was alive. But I also know that it's not functional for us and honestly; it's ugly. So I know that she wouldn't mind us fixing the place up. Actually, I think she'd be ecstatic that we are finally going to be living here. She always wanted me to have kids and find someone who loved me and was willing to be there through even the hardest of times. And now that I found that; no matter how odd this family is, I know she would want us to make the most out of it."

"Family?"

"Hm?"

"You consider us a family?"

"Well," he hesitated. "Of course I do. Don't you?"

"I do. In a way."

Peter dropped what he was holding and looked up at her. "What do you mean?"

"I never had a family growing up. When my mother was alive I had her and then I had no one. Not my father or my subordinates. They were there for the money not for me, just as I was there for my own reasons and not for them. So when you say, family… I do not really understand it the way you do."

Peter's expression changed from that of fear to a soft happiness. "Oh honey, I understand what you mean. And that's definitely okay. We're not exactly a normal family by any means but that doesn't mean we aren't a family. And that's okay. Even if it takes a little while to get used to."

He took her hands in his and pulled her closer until she was nestled under his chin. "I don't know how Mia feels about this either but there's always room for changes," he chuckled. "And even if it doesn't last forever, that's okay too. I'd be sad but that is life."

"I don't think she'll want to leave any time soon. Although she doesn't feel very comfortable taking my word for it when it comes to you allowing her to move your stuff. You should probably move it or tell her it is okay for her to do."

"Noted. When she gets home I'll help her drag out some stuff. For now, we should finish this bathroom."

"Right. Do you have any plans on how to get all of this out of here?"

Peter laughed and went back to moving the sink out. "I figure somewhere between my super strength and your security van, we can probably get everything we need ASAP. Oh and your deep pockets."

Sable raised an eyebrow at him, "is that all I am to you? Deep pockets and moving vans?"

Peter wasn't falling for that. "I have fifty kisses with your name on it that beg to differ."

"You are on thin ice."

Peter climbed onto the ceiling and stretched just enough that their eyes met, "I'm actually on the ceiling but I'll give you all the kisses. I always wanted to try an upside-down kiss."

He puckered his lips but instead of kissing him back, she put her hands over his lips. "Thinner ice."

"One hundred kisses then? A million? Fifty million?"

"I'll tell you when it's enough. But as for right now, we must finish this disgusting bathroom or else we will need to borrow someone else's shower tonight." Peter nodded and got right back to work. "By the way," Sable started again. "Don't you go thinking that our funds are endless. My contract with Osborne ends very soon and given the current climate between the two of us, I do not expect him to sign another."

"So what does that mean?"

"In order to earn my wage, I will have to leave New York on occasion. In order to maintain my reputation, I must fight alongside my men. I am their leader after all."

"Oh," he paused to think about it. "Well, I could also get a job if it'll make it easier on you. With Miles being the eager new Spider-Man he is, I figure I'd have some time to get a job."

"Are you sure you want to go through all of that again?"

He shrugged. "Honestly I kind of miss working. Especially in a lab. It's fun brainstorming and sharing ideas with others."

Sable nodded; finally pulling him down for that kiss. "Then you should. Whatever makes you happy my darling. Perhaps someday we will be like a normal family."

"Normal is boring."

"I couldn't agree more."

They spent the rest of the day throwing out what they didn't need anymore and moving in the new stuff. By the time they were done it was just about time to pick Mia up from school. Peter wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled at Sable. "We did a great job."

"How did you get paint on your teeth?"

"I bit the paintbrush by accident."

"You what?"

"Anyway, you should go get Mia! I hope her first day back wasn't so bad… it must have been pretty nerve-wracking. But I have a surprise for her when she gets back!"

"You can't eat paint."

"Enough with the paint! Please just go get her. I'll be waiting here."

"Fine but we will be discussing this later."

"Of course. I expect nothing less from you."

They shared a kiss and then she left, leaving Peter to excitedly get his surprise ready.

Chapter Text

"How was your first official day back?" Sable questioned as Mia climbed into the passenger side.

"Okay," she mumbled; slumping down in her seat.

"Mm-hm. I know that look all too well. Peter has it as well. The 'everything was terrible but I do not want to bother anyone,' kind of look. Why are you troubled?"

Mia crossed her arms and looked longingly out the window. "Everyone kept asking me where I was for so long and all my old friends I haven't seen since I ran away weren't leaving my side which sounds great but was really annoying. And I'm so behind; I don't know anything we're learning so every class was confusing. I don't know it just all sucked. Plus I think my teacher called the cops."

"And did they come?"

"No. Or maybe they did but I snuck around them."

Sable hummed pleasantly, "you were a thief on the streets weren't you?"

"Well… sometimes."

“I can see it. It is a hard set of skills to learn but incredibly useful. You are a smart girl and once you get used to the classroom setting again you will surely pick up on the curriculum. However; you are right. You are behind. I can get you a private tutor if you’d like.”

Sable could see in her peripheral vision that Mia had looked over at her. “But why?”

“Because you are behind.”

“No; you know what I meant by that.”

“Because Peter and I are investing in your future.” They stopped at a red light so she took the moment to look back at Mia. “Peter considers you family; you know. He told me this morning.”

“He-he considers me family?”

“He does.”

“Why?”

The light turned green and she turned her attention back to driving. “You tell me. After all; you were here with him while I was away. I can, however; guess as to why. Peter is a strange and trusting man. Trusting to a fault. He trusted me even when he knew that I could and most likely would turn on him at any moment. He trusted me when I returned to America and blamed him for my own problems.” Her voice became softer, “he trusted me when I could not even trust myself.”

She cleared her throat and allowed a small smile to creep onto her lips, “he often sees the good in people before he sees anything else. I can see that you are used to seeing the bad. It protects you. Just as I learned at your age. When the world seems to be against you; you have to be against the world. There is always someone after you or an ulterior motive for their kindness. He does not see it like that. He sees everyone and everything as a positive. Even when the only thing good about it is a learning experience.

“He was injured the day he met you. He could have died, but you were there and you helped him. A kindness he does not often receive; being a superhero and all. He remembers that and he sees that girl in you when he looks at you. He does not see whatever you think people see you as. Just as he never saw me as a dangerous mercenary for hire when he met me. And he never lets me forget it.

“I suppose,” she hummed. “He sees you as a part of this family because he likes you; and growing up without parents himself, he can see himself in your shoes. Or perhaps for other reasons. I cannot always figure him out. His motivations confuse me. But how he feels is not for me to decide. You are very much a part of this family as he has explained it to me and I agree. As long as you are with us, you are a part of this family."

Mia leaned back in her seat; finally starting to calm down. "I don't- I don't understand why."

Sable shrugged, "because sometimes that is just how life goes. I was unaware that Peter enjoyed my company until one day we kissed. That was…" She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel while she thought. "Definitely an unexpected turn of events."

"Like it didn't feel real?"

"Like it didn't feel real," she repeated.

"This doesn't feel real. You help a guy who just so happens to be a superhero; then his girlfriend who is a princess. Then they let you live with them? Sounds made up. Like a bad Hallmark movie."

"Or one of those stories online that people write about Peter and me. He's shown me a few that were concerning, to say the least."

Mia giggled, "yeah kind of like that."

"Well I give you my word; as a Sablinova, CEO of Sable international, and Queen of Symkaria, our intentions are exactly what we say. You deserve a better life and we will try our best to provide that for you."

"Well," she went back to looking out the window. "Thank you. I guess it wouldn't be too bad having a tutor… but I hate school."

"We can make it interesting."

Finally, they pulled into the driveway of their little house in Queens. Aside from the gaudy green bathtub currently residing on the curb, the front of the house looked new and fresh compared to the state it had been in before. "Wow. You guys were working hard."

"Peter more than I; I will admit. Put his powers to use. Speaking of Peter, I think you should head in before me. I can bring in your stuff. He has some big surprise for you."

"A surprise? For me?"

“Yes. You better run inside and see what it is. He seemed very excited to show you. I would do it soon before he explodes.”

Mia’s expression lit up and she ran inside to find what Peter had waiting for her. “Mr. Parker?”

Peter yelled excitedly from the top of the stairs, “oh good, you’re home! I’m up here!”

Mia had a moment’s hesitation as her hand hovered over the handrail of the stairs before she shook the fear out of her head and rushed up to the room Peter was standing in. It took her a second to understand what she was looking at. Something was different. But then she realized what was wrong. Where there once was science fair prizes and various experiments were clean shelves filled with all new books and a hanging chair to read in. The posters on the wall were replaced with framed prints of New York. And the old mattress was replaced alongside the bed frame to make room for a loft bed with a desk underneath.

"I know it's not much right now but I figured it's a good start. And there's still enough floor space for some other stuff since the loft eliminated the need for desk and bed space. I hope you like it."

"I do!" She flung herself at him for a discombobulated hug. "Thank you! But what about all your stuff?"

He hugged her back softly. "The important stuff was put away and the rest was thrown out. It's time for a new era, I think.”

“Thank you! I love it.”

“I’m glad.”

“Do you think you could help me with my homework? I guess I need to put the desk to use right?”

“Absolutely! I’ll go get your backpack. You get comfy.”

He left to get her stuff from Sable; happily giving her a kiss once he was close enough. “She likes the surprise.”

“I heard. You better not have thro-”

“I didn’t throw out my glasses. I don’t know why you like them so much. I mean; they make me look like a nerd.”

“You always look like a nerd.”

“Oh hush.”

“You hush. I will make dinner while you two focus on her work. She needs help. Go on.”

“Love you, babe.”

“Go!” She waited until he was up the stairs and hopefully out of earshot before she said, “I love you too,” but somehow she knew that he had heard it.

Chapter Text

"Oh, it's good to see you again Mia. Please take a seat."

"Sorry I'm late." She put her bookbag down at the door.

"Not a problem. I've heard you picked up a few clubs over the past month so I figured you were at one of those."

"Yeah." She sat down in her usual seat. "Peter thought I should get back into that stuff, so I joined an art club. It’s just a couple of us and a teacher that stays late grading stuff while we draw and paint but it’s kinda nice."

"That does sound nice." She tapped her pen on her desk. "That does remind me of something I've been meaning to ask. You've been living with Mr. Parker and Miss Sablinova for a few months now. How is that going? Are you enjoying it?"

Mia smiled, “yeah I am.”

“That’s great! Tell me about it. How are they?”

“Well Peter’s pretty weird and Sable is the voice of reason I guess. He’s always doing stupid stuff like getting hurt and getting pancakes stuck to the ceiling.” She couldn’t help but giggle at the memory. “He’s getting better but there's a lot of marks on the ceiling from food getting stuck there. And the walls too.

"It's really nice though. He and Sable are really busy with work all the time but they always make sure that at least one of them is there to take me to school in the morning and bring me home at night. And breakfast and dinner every day is pretty awesome. I can't remember a time when I had that much food before."

"I see." The doctor took a few minutes to write something down. "So they're good providers then?"

"Great! Too great actually."

"What do you mean?

"It's," she sighed. "I don't know how to explain it. It's just too good. It's wrong. I don't deserve this."

"Why do you think that?"

"I’m just some kid they met. They don’t need to give me all of this just because they know me. Just because I helped him when he got shot? They’re past the point of repaying me.”

The therapist tapped her pen on the desk again. “Maybe they see more than that in you. Maybe they like you. You said a while ago that they thought of you as family. How do you feel about them? Do you feel the same?”

Mia pondered the question. “Yeah, I think so. I’ve never really had a family like them before but I think it’s what I’m supposed to feel like.”

“How do you mean?”

“I don’t remember my real parents acting like they do. They hold hands when they walk through malls and kiss all the time. My parents never did that. They hated each other. But Peter and Sable are so… so different. It’s all the time. They say they love each other all the time. And they mean it too.

“It’s the little things too. Like Peter dropping whatever he’s doing to help Sable bring groceries in or Sable bringing him a snack when he’s been working on his inventions all day. A couple of weekends ago we all had time off so they wanted to go on a drive, just to get out of the city. We did some sightseeing but then it started getting late so we started driving home. We were all tired so no one was talking but when I looked up at them, I saw Sable reach over and put her hand on Peters’ leg. He smiled really wide and put his hand on top of hers. They just looked so… happy.”

“They do seem to be very in love.”

“They are. I’ve just never seen that before. It kind of bothers me.”

“You’re just not used to it. It’s normal to find something unnerving when you aren’t used to it.”

“It’s just really weird."

"Yes. It is but sometimes the things that are weird to us are exactly what we needed. Do you think that spending time with them is helping you?"

"Yeah, " she smiled pleasantly. "I do. I like spending time with them. It makes the time outside of school not feel so bad. I have fun when I'm with them.”

“That’s excellent.” She looked down at her phone. “Well, I think that’s all the time we have for today, unfortunately. I’m glad you’re in a happier place than the last time we met. I hope you have a great week Mia. Until the next time.” She giggled, “and do try to be on time please.”

“I will. Bye.”

Mia left the office; grabbing her bag on her way out, before heading out to catch the bus home. Once she got there she could smell the food cooking on the stove inside; as well as hear the soft music playing from within. ‘Accidentally In Love.’ Yep, they were definitely dancing again.

She swung the door open to see Peter currently mid dip. “Oh Mia!” he looked up at her. “Good, you’re home! We planned something very special.”

“Oh? What’s the occasion?”

Sable pulled him back up so that they were chest to chest once more. “You will see. Come sit.”

She dropped her bag at the door and sat at the table. Soon she found herself surrounded by all of her favourite foods. “Okay, seriously, what’s the deal?”

Peter smiled at Sable, “well we’ve been- oh I don’t want to ruin it. Sable and I thought that- no let me think. I’ll get it right.”

“What he means to say,” Sable continued for him. “Is that we have done a lot of thinking about our past few months together. We’ve enjoyed having you here and we’d like to ask you something. Would you-”

Peter; bursting with excitement, yelled out, “do you want to be adopted by us?”

Mia felt all the colour leave her face. “W-What?” she whispered.

Peters’ excitement melted away just as quickly. “Only if you want to of course! You don’t have to. That’s why we wanted to ask you.”

Sable placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. “This is your choice as it is your life. If you would like to, we can get the paperwork in order and legally adopt you or we can keep our situation just the way it is.”

She felt burning tears well up in her eyes.

"Um," Peter mumbled. "I'm sorry if you don't want to."

She flung herself at them; entangling them in a tight hug. "Yes! I do want that! I do!"

The adults seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "Great!" Peter added; starting to cry his own tears of joy. "I'm going to have a daughter! My beautiful girlfriend," he kissed Sable on the cheek, "and an amazing daughter!"

"Well, about that," Sable chimed in.

"NO! NO YOU CAN'T BREAK UP WITH ME WHEN WE JUST PROMISED TO ADOPT A CHILD!"

"That's not what I am trying to say. I was thinking about us as a family like you said and I think you were right. So perhaps; we could make it official."

"W-What are you saying?"

"Peter Parker," she broke away from the hug and pulled a small box out of her pocket.

"No, what are you doing Sable?"

Slowly she got down on one knee and opened the box to reveal a black and blue ring with a circuit board pattern carved into it. "Peter, will you do me the honour of becoming my husband?"

The scream Peter let out, shook the house. "YES! OH MY GOD YES! I HAVE A DAUGHTER AND A WIFE! I HAVE A WIFE! I FEEL SO AMAZING! THAT'S MY WIFE! THAT'S MY DAUGHTER! I HAVE A FAMILY AGAIN!” He pulled them back into their tight embrace.

“I can’t wait to have a mom and a dad again!”

“Wait! Whose last name is she taking? Are we taking each other’s names? I don’t think we should. I can’t be a Sablinova! You’re royalty.”

Sable rolled her eyes. “If this is a question on worth, you are more than worthy of taking my name. I do like you enough to marry you, after all.”

“But it’s just- I don’t know. I don’t feel like I deserve it. Besides; as the last living Parker, I feel like I have an obligation to keep it. You know what I mean? But I also think it should die with me so you two should have Sablinova. Queen and Princess.”

Mia and Sable smiled. “Sounds good,” they said at the same time.

“Holy shit.” Peter’s eyes went wide. “I’m marrying a Queen… That means.”

“Uh-huh. You will be the king of Symkaria.”

Peter fainted.

Chapter Text

"Oh no, not at all. I don't think anyone expected you to get married at all. Certainly not me," Yuri laughed over the rim of her wine glass.

"I had been thinking about it since we moved into the house. I had never had marriage on the mind until then, and I know that it was something Peter would want to do. But I was also aware that he would never ask me since he knew that it was not on my to-do list."

"That's sweet," MJ chimed in. "I bet he really appreciated that."

"Based on his current social media posts, the number of random people who stop me on the street to congratulate me, and my men gossiping about me behind my back, I would agree. I think he appreciated it and unfortunately wants absolutely every human being on this planet to know."

"I don't think-"

"He has an interview scheduled with the local news station to announce it."

"You chose him," Yuri reminded her.

Sable smiled, "I did. And I haven't regretted it yet."

"And a child," MJ butted in. "I didn't even think Peter wanted children. He always told me he was afraid to have any because of the Spider-Man thing."

Yuri nodded, "he used to tell me the same thing as Spider-Man. That he didn't think he could ever have any without the threat of supervillains hurting them."

Sable sipped her wine and shrugged. "Well, I suppose this is different. It's not that we are taking the time to raise a child from birth, which is the most time-consuming part of raising a child. As well as the fact that; however, unfortunately, she may already be targeted because of her help in saving him from my father. It is already much safer for her in here than if she were out on the street."

She took another long sip of her drink. "And his saviour complex more than likely drove his behaviour so far."

"So how do you feel about a kid in the house?"

Sable thought for a few moments. "I like her. She has a strong will and perseverance. She does not take anyone’s crap. Not mine. Not Peters.”

MJ tilted her head in confusion. “You, I get. I totally get what kind of crap you might give out; no offence but you absolutely know what I mean. But Peter? He’s the most accommodating person I’ve ever met. I’m pretty sure if a villain asked nicely enough, he’d let them out of jail no questions asked.”

“You would be surprised. He has taken an interest in cooking as of recently and if you have the courage to tell that smiling puppy-dog face that you aren’t hungry you absolutely will regret it. However, our biggest struggle was the cat. Mia made a friend on the streets long before she came to live with us and now she wants to keep it."

Yuri shrugged, "I'm more of a dog person but it can't be that bad."

"Peter is lucky to still have an eye after it attacked him this morning. It is overprotective, to say the least."

"Shouldn't he be in the hospital getting checked out? If it's a street cat it could be sick."

Sable rolled her eyes, "Watanabe you have known that boy far longer than I. If you have found a way to get him to go to a hospital and stay there, I would love to hear it."

"Good point. Just make sure he doesn't add cat powers to his roster. When he was dating the cat I had nightmares about what a kid with both power sets would be. I still do."

Sable moved her hand in the air as if to brush away the thought. "He will be fine. The cat? I think it might be back on the street soon."

MJ huffed, "then Mia will be upset. You just have to give it time and probably a trip to the vets. If it likes her, she can probably get it to relax enough to get some shots." Sable hummed in lieu of a response, although she was clearly putting a considerable amount of thought into what MJ had suggested.

Yuri decided this was her opportunity to swing the conversation back. "So what are you doing for your wedding? Are you going traditional Symkarian or a New York wedding?"

She pulled herself out of the thoughts of the cat situation to smile at Yuri. "Both actually. Peter is planning our wedding here and I am planning the one in Symkaria. We both get what we want."

"What do you want? What part are you most excited about?" MJ asked.

"Easy," Sable responded, smiling. "Seeing Peter in his royal outfit. As the future king, he is expected to look a certain way when in the palace and… I am very excited to see him in them."

"Oh? Do tell. What will he be wearing? And while you're at it. What will you be wearing?"

"I-" she paused to take a sip of her wine. “He will be wearing a traditional corset vest and the finest hand-embroidered blazer jacket. I will be wearing an armoured dress. It’s of my own design as well. An armoured chest plate, gauntlets and a flowing skirt that can easily and quickly be shortened if the need to fight were to present itself.”

MJ raised a skeptical eyebrow. “And why would that be the first thing on your mind?”

“It is not an unusual occurrence for a suitor to attempt a final fight for our hands in marriage. Should someone attempt to steal Peter from me, they will very quickly find themselves without a head.”

“I know Peter’s cute and all but do you really think that would happen?”

“You can never be sure. After all, he became quite the favourite amongst the staff at the castle and the local vendors while we were there. All of them were fawning all over him before we left.”

MJ hummed; thinking about Peter already being treated like a king over in Symkaria. It was easy to imagine him like a character in cartoons; lounging on a plush chaise lounge chair, being fed grapes and being cooled off by women holding unbelievably large leaves fashioned together to make a fan. “Call me crazy but I don’t think Peter would be comfortable in that situation.”

“He is far too nice. I suppose that would be the reason they like him so much. They have spent many years in fear of my father and then suddenly has a boy who refuses to be waited on hand and foot, and actually pays for the food and novelties being sold at the markets. It is a very different experience for them.”

“See; now that,” MJ threw up her arms in an odd effort to accentuate her point. “Is the Peter Parker I know. That I can imagine more clearly. He probably has everyone’s names memorized too. Just like every damn person in this city. I think he knows everyone.”

Sable took a longer sip of her wine; finishing off that glass before pouring herself another. “Yes, that is precisely what he did. He knew them, their families, how they were doing, what their favourite foods were. Do I need to continue?”

“Nope. The picture is crystal clear.”

Yuri had also finished her glass of wine and switched to whatever hard liquor she had hidden away in the flask she brought. “Well, whatever happens; that lovestruck boy would never let anything come between you two. I’ve never seen him this excited about a romantic partner before and I had to listen to Spider-man go on and on about you; Watson and Black Cat when he was dating you guys.”

MJ blushed a vibrant shade of red. “He talked about us to you? How much did he tell you?”

“Never anything dirty if that’s your concern. Just a lot of mushy stuff. Date ideas, birthday presents, dating advice.”

“He gave you dating advice?”

“No! No of course not. I gave it to him because he’s an idiot.”

“You aren’t even dating.”

“I was engaged once.”

“You w-”

Peter came barreling through the door and over to the couch where he squished himself between MJ and Yuri. “No time to explain,” was all he said before turning on the T.V. and flipping it to the local news station. It seemed to be a recap from an interview with the former mayor; Norman Osborn. He didn’t seem to be saying anything interesting at first until asked about his relationship between Octavius and Spider-man. His words echoed through all of their minds.

“Originally I believed that Spider-Man was an enemy against our great city. He certainly wasn’t in a good light after The Raft incident. But he and I were quite the team in taking down Octavius. All part of the plan. I was the mayor after all. It was my job to keep citizens safe and so that is exactly what I did. I found a way to save New York.”

Chapter Text

“Why the hell did he say that?!”

“Peter please calm down.”

“How can I Sable? Did you hear what he just said? We were a team? We worked together? I don’t think so! He made my life hell! We were never a team! He caused all of that!” He was pacing back and forth in the living room around the couch and the coffee table. The more he spoke, the redder he became out of anger. “Does he not remember those secret labs of his?! Or the fact that he was against me the whole time?!”

Sable stood up and held onto him in an attempt to calm him down. “Peter, look at me. Breathe.”

He did look at her and he did breathe. The problem being that he was breathing erratically. “I hate that man!”

“I know darling; I know.” She gently cupped his cheeks with her hands. “As far as I am concerned; we all do. But he is a spineless man who only cares about his personal image. I doubt that many; if any people believe him.”

MJ got up to comfort him as well. “She’s right Pete. Everyone saw the real Osborn during Devil’s Breath. They know that you weren’t working together. That’s ridiculous.”

Peter seemed to be calming down a little bit. “I guess- I guess you’re right. Why would anyone believe him? Maybe Jameson but I already don’t listen to him so why should I now?”

“Exactly.”

“Osborn is such an ass.”

“He really is. To think we used to spend so much time with him.”

“Yeah.” Peter sighed and sat back down on the couch looking as if he had just aged a few years. His eyes were brimming with tears and he looked so tired. “Another betrayal of trust.”

“Oh, Peter. It’s not like he knew it was you.”

“Do you think if he knew it would change anything? He’d probably use it against me.”

MJ sighed, “yeah. You’re probably right. But who cares what he thinks, Peter. He’s a lying, cheating, self-centred ass who uses people and hides the truth. Don’t let him stress you out. You deserve better than that.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Why can’t people just leave me alone once and a while?”

Yuri let out a soft chuckle. “Because if they did you would be bored out of your mind. Come drink with us and relax for once.”

He couldn’t help but to smile and join in on their conversation which he quickly derailed into a few games of ‘never have I ever.’ He; of course, played with a glass of chocolate milk as opposed to wine or Yuri's mysterious liquor. That way he could still pick Mia up after school.

It wasn't long until he had forgotten his problems. But all was not well in the city; unfortunately. Over at the Raft, a murmur of the recent news turned into outrage led by one individual. The mayor and Spider-man were working together huh? It all started to make sense.

Peter was out waiting for Mia to be done school when he heard it. Haunting memories came flooding back from the night the Sinister Six had escaped from the Raft. That’s exactly what it sounded like, and when he abandoned the car to climb to higher ground; that’s exactly what it looked like. Disgusting black smoke billowed out from a large hole in the side of the building.

“Not again. Please, not again,” he begged to the open air.

It was already too late. He could tell that at the very least some of the inmates had escaped. He texted Mia to stay inside and to keep everyone else inside if they could help it before he swung towards the prison. This time Yuri wasn’t there. There was no helicopter to help him get there any faster. Not that he made it there anyway.

He had only made it a few streets over when he felt like he was being watched and if it weren’t for his Spidey sense and his limbs acting on impulse; he surely would have been entangled in the mess of mechanical limbs that came flying at him.

They weren’t as sleek in design as they had been when they were made at the lab. They looked trashy and pieced together from scraps. And that was more than likely how they came to be in the first place. Scraps that Otto had picked up and somehow managed to hide when no one was looking. Of course, he managed that. Why would they pay attention to the old man who could barely move? Even if he was New York’s most recent criminal mastermind.

“Otto what are you doing?!” Peter shouted in disbelief as shards of razor-sharp shrapnel were spit at him by the broken machinery.

“Getting my revenge, Parker! I always knew there was something about you! I knew you were stealing my ideas! I knew that you were working with my enemies! And now to have him openly admit that; as if to mock me!” His voice was low and more gravelly than the last time they had spoken. It was no longer a broken plea. It was lined with rage.

Peter dodged one of the arms and landed with a heavy thunk on a nearby rooftop. “You mean what Osborn said? He was lying, Otto! He was just as much out for me as you and your boyband were!”

“Likely story Parker! I knew you were a rat! How many times did you laugh at me behind my back with him?! How many times?!”

A small crowd had started to form in the streets below. Reporters of course; trying to get the story.

“Never, Otto,” Peter tried desperately to put as much sincerity in his answer as possible. He just wanted Otto to know he wasn’t lying. “I cared about you! You were like a father to me Otto! Why are you so hellbent on not believing me?! All I ever wanted to do was make you proud! I didn’t betray you, Otto! You betrayed me!”

All words had left Otto and instead, he let out a scream of rage as he lunged at Peter. They sprang from ledge to ledge trying to get the upper hand on the other. Peter caught himself on a wall to the right as one of the metal limbs lashed out at him. He grabbed them in an effort to break them but he only felt white-hot, burning pain as they tore into his hands. Whatever scrap metal Otto had pieced these together with was serrated and shredded any skin or spider suit it came in contact with.

He slipped from his spot on the wall just in time to miss another one of the arms that were aiming for his chest; letting it slam against the brick. With little hesitation; and his feet barely hitting the pavement below, he leapt up; this time with his attention on Otto and Otto alone. To hell with the arms.

Using his webs to pull him forward with more momentum; he placed a single kick to Ottos’ chest; causing the doctor to lose balance. One of the arms tried to steady him by grabbing a streetlight but it instead tore itself in two; leaving one half wrapped around the light and the other squirming and jolting almost as if it were a real severed octopus limb.

Peter smiled slightly at the sight of the flying sparks and thought to himself, ‘okay. One down; three to go.’

By then; Otto had already reoriented himself and the loss of an arm only seemed to anger him more. “YOU-” he screamed; propelling himself forwards, “WILL-” the talons ripped up chunks of building and pavement with every stride, “PAY!”

Peter ripped a mailbox out of the ground and heaved it at the monster approaching. It bounced with a sickening screech of metal on metal. “YOU’RE BETTER THAN THIS OTTO! YOU’VE ALWAYS BEEN BETTER THAN THIS!”

“THE ONLY THING YOU EVER KNEW ABOUT ME WAS MY IDEAS! THE ONES YOU STOLE FROM ME!”

The man; standing feet off the ground, towered over him now. He webbed one of the arms to a building. “NO-” he webbed another; pulling them towards himself and sticking it to the ground, “I-” the third arm dived for him, “DIDN’T!” he screamed as he flipped out of the way just in time. The final arm hit the ground with such force that the ground shook and the casing around the wires shattered into hundreds of pieces.

“You’re blind, Otto. I never tried to hurt you. And I never did the things you claim that I did. Osborn is lying.”

“I am not the blind one. You live a life of lies. Lies so deep you’ve started to believe them yourself. Anything to make yourself the hero in every circumstance. Maybe I was wrong all that time ago in the lab. Maybe Jameson was right about you. A menace, a threat, a waste.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“I do. Pathetic. And far too trusting.”

Peter felt it coming, however; it was far too late. The sharp edges of the two remaining arms cut through the webs too fast for Peter to react. One arm clasped tightly around him; sending pain all throughout his body while the other one reached for his mask. With his arms pinned to his sides and blood beginning to seep out from under the suit; there was nothing he could do.

In front of the reporters, in front of the worried onlookers, in front of every person sitting behind their television or computer screen watching all sorts of live broadcasts and live stream; he was finally unmasked.

“BEHOLD YOUR SO-CALLED HERO,” Otto bellowed to the crowd. “SAY HELLO AND GOODBYE TO PETER PARKER!”

Peter’s vision went blurry and he didn’t know what had happened. All he knew was that this was the worst pain he had ever felt; until he didn’t feel anything anymore.

Chapter Text

“Peter? Peter, wake up.”

That voice was all too familiar yet seemed so far away. So airy. As if it were nothing more than a dream. He heard the voice call out to him again and it echoed in his ears; getting louder and louder until he finally felt as though the source was right in front of him.

“It’s okay Peter. We’re right here. Just open your eyes.”

He couldn’t. He wasn’t fully in control of his body yet. He felt nothing. Like he was suspended in midair. It wasn’t the same as web-slinging. There was no rush of adrenaline or whistle of air past his ears. This felt more like sinking through the water with no fear of drowning. He felt nothing.

Until he finally touched the bottom. The texture of soft grass tickled his fingers though it still had a ghostly texture like his hand might go right through it.

"Hello?" He asked; still hiding behind closed eyes. Afraid that if he opened them he'd be back to the agony of what had happened. Back to Doc Ock’s suffocating grip. To the searing pain of the arms through his chest that seemed all too distant now.

"Hello Peter," the voice called back again. This time so close he could feel the breath on his face.

"May?" His eyes shot open and met with another pair recognizing them immediately. “Oh my god, May!” He propped himself up on one elbow and threw his other arm around her. “May I’ve missed you so much!”

“I missed you too, Peter,” she said; also enveloping him in a hug.

She looked younger than the last time he had seen her. But her smile and the tenderness of her hug were all too familiar. “May what happened? Where am I? How are you here?” Peter looked around at his surroundings. It was New York; but quieter and more vibrant in colour. With no sky; only what looked like bright, puffy clouds.

Other people were standing there too. “Ben?! MOM?! DAD?!” he sprung to his feet and threw himself at them in a messy attempt at a hug.

“Yes; it’s us, Pete,” Ben declared happily.

“This is- this is impossible. Unless I’m… am I?”

“Unfortunately you are son,” his father answered remorsefully.

Peter’s heart sunk. “I always expected this to be the way I go but… I wasn’t ready.”

“No one ever is. I’m sorry kiddo. But you did so well. We are all so proud of you for everything you’ve done. And all that you’ve accomplished. Your mother and I always knew you were destined for greatness but I never would have expected that greatness to be in the form of a genius superhero. A scientist we definitely knew was going to happen. But- well, you were always full of surprises.

“And a child, and such a lovely wife as well. Only you could look past all the bad that someone has done and see the good. I’ll be the first to admit that I had no idea why you were trying so hard with her but I see now it was for the best.”

His mother chimed in; “we’re really happy you found someone that made you so happy. And we aren’t the only one either.”

Peter felt a new set of eyes looking at him and when he spun around, he almost convinced himself that he was staring at his fiance’s face. However; the more he focused on her; the more he realized the differences between them. The woman was older and taller than Sable had been. She had the same eyes as Sable but it wasn't the piercing gaze he was used to. It was softer.

"Mr. Parker," she spoke so softly it almost felt like a whisper on the gentle breeze.

"Hi-yeah-that's me. Are you Sable’s mother?"

"I am. Very nice to meet you, Mr. Parker.”

"You to… I never thought I'd get to meet you.”

She let out a soft giggle and reached out to him and he instinctively took her hand. As soon as he did; the environment began to change and he soon found himself looking at a thriving kingdom with rolling hills and happy people chattering away as if in another world; completely unaware of his presence.

“That’s the castle in Symkaria,” he stated.

“Yes. At least as it was before I lived there. It is beautiful this time of year.”

“It is. We’re rebuilding it now! Or; I guess she is.”

“And you are doing a wonderful job at it. I love how the kingdom is growing. How you two are making it your own. You are precisely the king they need right now Peter. And they will accept you. You are kind, caring, and above all else; you care. You want to make it a better place.

“I should also thank you for respecting my daughter. Many wish to marry her for the title of King or wealth. Especially the ones her father picked for her. Thank you for being true; and for genuinely loving my daughter.”

“If I'm being honest; I don't want to be king. I don't know how to be a king. I don't even think I'd be a good one. I just want to be… there, you know? She can run the country and I can cheer her on from the sidelines."

Anastasia's laugh caught the breeze again and floated his way, almost echoing in his ears. "I will not lie to you either. That's precisely what my little girl wants. She respects you of course; however, she wants to rebuild her country and lead it her way. Most likely; in her mind, to make up for what her father has done."

"Well, I'm quite happy just being arm candy. Or… at least I would have been."

"You're not at the end of your life yet."

Peter blinked, "really?"

"Of course. You haven't died yet. I imagine it feels strange here. Like you aren't quite grounded in this world?"

Peter looked around at his surroundings that still didn't seem all there. "I guess not. I’m not even sure whether this is real or all in the imagination of my dying mind. ”

She hummed pleasantly, “you may never know. But it doesn’t much matter. You must go back and live your life.”

May’s voice came from behind him once more, “you must be brave, Peter. It’s going to be painful, unfortunately. But you are strong and I know that you can do it.”

Peter hugged each member of his family one last time. “I’m going to miss you all again.”

“It’s okay Peter. We’ll always be with you. We love you so much.”

“And Mr. Parker?” Anastasia asked.

“Hm?”

“Take care of my little girl, please. Tell her I love her.”

“I will. I promise.”

He felt himself slipping away again; just the way it felt when he had arrived there. His feet felt like they had lifted off of the ground again and everything went dark for a long time until he felt the agony of his injuries rush over him. There was an awful sensation of throbbing throughout his body.

As soon as he could open his eyes; he did and took a look at his surroundings. It was a hospital room of course; but decorated with, flowers, and balloons with different variations of the phrase ‘Get Well Soon,’ on them.

Peter lifted his arm weakly to feel at the stitches on his chest and in doing so; roused both other occupants of the room from their sleep. Mia had been sitting on the chair next to him with her head on his bed while Sable sat by the window.

“Dad?”

His voice came out raspy and broken, “it’s me honey. It’s me.”

Chapter Text

Peter didn't know how long it had been since the first time he woke up in hospital. He fell asleep constantly and would sometimes wake up after a few hours and sometimes only a few minutes after falling asleep. The days seemed to melt together because of this and any amount of time could have passed since then.

When he finally had more of a handle on his senses he began the laborious yet exciting task of opening and reading through the mountain of cards littering every flat surface in the room including large portions of the floor. It seemed as if every single person in the city had sent him at least something. Even Martin Li had sent him a letter with what he assumed was some sort of apology. If he was being honest with himself, he still wasn't coherent enough to grasp every word he read. But the cards with drawings from his fans and simple words of praise or love made him forget about the pain he was in.

"Wow!" He remarked. "Look at this Sable! Someone drew us holding hands in a rose garden. We should frame this. It's beautiful."

She too was shuffling her way through the stacks, but she was doing more organizing than anything. "It is lovely. So that dream you had-"

"It was a great dream, honey. But there's not much more to say about it. I saw my family and your mother. Then I woke up in the hospital."

"What did my mother say again?"

"That she was proud of you. And loves you."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

He set down the card he was reading, making note of the signature 'T Lincoln,' and looked up at her. "I am undoubtedly, one hundred and fifty percent positive that she said that."

"But it could not have been real. It was just a dream."

"Maybe it was. But what does that matter? You know she's proud of you."

Sable turned away from him and continued rifling through the cards in her hand. "How could she be proud of me Peter? I bring nothing but destruction and chaos."

Peter sighed, " we literally have family game nights every week."

"And what about before all of that?"

Peter gave her a look that was hard to discern any meaning from. "Sable, isn't it you who always tells me that we can only learn from the past to better our future?"

"That sounds like a movie quote. Peter, I swear if that was a Shrek reference-"

"It wasn't! At least if it was, it wasn't intentional. I just think that blaming yourself for things in the past that either wasn’t your fault or were done because at the time you thought it was the right thing to do, is just tiring and not worth it."

Sable moved closer to him. "Peter?"

“Yes, honey?”

“That dream you had,” she took a seat on the edge of the bed. “It scares me."

He set the handful of cards down on the side table and patted the bed for her to come cuddle with him. She obliged and carefully climbed into the bed, avoiding all the wires and tubes coming out of her boyfriend. "Don't be scared," he cooed once she was stationary at his side.

"How can I not be scared Peter? Either it was all just a dream and it wasn't real… or it was real, and you died, and there is some sort of afterlife. And my mother has been watching me. And she knows what I've done! She would be disgusted."

Peter nuzzled his face into her neck. “There’s no way of knowing right now, honey. As much as I’d love to say that I know it was real and I know that I saw them; obviously I can’t. Maybe it was all entirely real and I saw them. They are ghosts or spirits in another life with windows into ours,” he hummed. “Or perhaps, it was all a dream of my dying mind. But either way, it’s okay. We live our lives every day; doing what we think is right. We do our best. And our families would be proud of that. They know the struggles of life. People change, opinions change. And as long as you keep learning and getting better, you should feel proud of yourself.”

“That is much easier said than done.”

“I know. And I won’t pretend like I don’t feel the same way you do. We all feel that way sometimes. And maybe I did get a lot of pleasure out of hearing my family say that to me, whether it was real or not. That’s okay. We’re all human. We need validation sometimes. And Sable? You’re doing a great job and we have a lot to look forward to together. Your mother would be very proud of you. I am proud of you.”

She smiled and began to play with his hair. “Thank you, Peter. I wish you knew how much that made me feel better.”

“Well, it’s true. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Now we should probably get back to opening all of these cards.”

“You just want more fanart of us to put on the walls.”

Peter chuckled, “maybe I do. We are a pretty adorable couple.”

“We are,” she agreed. As she picked up the pile he had previously been working on and flipped through some of the already open ones. “It worries me,” she started again after picking up on the name “Vulture” while she skimmed through them. “What all of your enemies are making of this. You have been revealed to the world now. Everyone knows who you are. How can you be so calm with that knowledge?”

“I guess it’s just because I can’t change it. Everyone knows and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I am worried about your and Mias’ safety but I always worried about that. Obviously, it’s a little more serious now but… I guess I just knew this day would come someday. One day I wouldn’t be able to hide it anymore… That something would happen. I’ll just have to deal with it day by day. And I know with you here to protect me, it won’t be scary."

"You put a lot of faith in me."

"I trust you with my whole life. I can’t wait to get married.”

“Me either. Once you're better we will get married immediately. Per my request."

"I'd like that."

There was a knock at the door and Peter called for them to enter; assuming it was one of the nurses or Yuri coming to visit. However, once the door swung open with a bit of a screech as the corner caught on the floor, it was neither of the people he expected. The figure was taller, wore a suit, and had entirely too recognizable facial hair.

"Jonah?" Peter asked in disbelief.

"Hello, Parker."

Chapter Text

If Peter could have physically lost more colour in his face, he surely would have. "Jonah," he said again as if that would resolve any confusion he may have.

"Hello, Parker." Jameson cleared his throat, clearly just as uncomfortable as Peter.

Sable's hand latched onto Peters very tightly in an act; he imagined, was an attempt to seem comforting. "Um… so what can I do for you?"

"I brought you a card. I don't trust the hospital staff to not look through it now that you're Spider-man-" he spat the last word out.

Peter crossed his arms. "I've been Spider-man since I was fifteen Jonah."

"That's not what I meant, Parker."

"So why are you here? I would have thought you'd be all over this breaking news on your show.”

Jameson grumbled. “I report on the things in this city that people really need to know about. I already talked about that octo-guy destroying downtown.”

Peter blinked in surprise. “Otto? Otto destroyed downtown?”

“You were there, weren’t you? Or did he hit you hard enough to finally knock the last of your lights out,” Jameson barked.

“I just can’t believe you’d blame anyone other than me.”

Jameson grew a strange expression on his face before his pride took control again and he switched back to his regular angry resting face. “I need to speak to you, Parker. Alone.”

Sables’ own ferocity rivalled that of Jamesons and she flew to oppose his request immediately. “And why would I allow a pompous liar like you who has a history of degrading my husband for monetary gain, to speak to him alone?! Under any circumstances but especially now?"

Jameson’s hands curled into a fist and his face began to turn a crimson red that Peter recognized immediately. "I-" he started.

"It's fine honey," Peter interjected. "I'll talk to him for twenty minutes. Maybe you can grab some lunch? Then he'll leave when you get back."

Sable seemed somewhat satisfied with that and said, "fine. What do you want?"

"Not hospital food. It's so gross.”

“I’ll grab something from the cafe down the street. You have twenty minutes, Jameson. Only twenty.”

He nodded at her as she left without another word. He waited until he could no longer hear the clicking of her boots down the hallway and the usual noise of a hospital carried on undisturbed.

“Parker, I would like to apologize for how I have treated you over the years.”

Peter’s heart stopped momentarily. “What?”

“Don’t interrupt me when I’m apologizing, son. It just makes it harder for both of us. I know I’m not the greatest at admitting when I’m wrong but I know I am. I shouldn’t have treated Spider-Man the way I did and I’ll be honest with you; had I known it was you under that hideous mask, I would have been a Spider-man supporter.”

“Really? Why?”

“Because you’re a good kid, Parker. I might not have known Spider-mans motivations but I like to believe I know Peter Parkers. And they are always good. You’ve always been the kind of kid I always knew would be better than the rest of us.”

Peter ignored the earlier warning and interrupted with, “Jonah, I don’t know what to say. That really means a lot to me. It was always kind of funny to me to listen to your podcast but sometimes it really hurt that you couldn’t see my side.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I don’t like admitting that I was wrong, but I definitely was. I was so blinded by the lies I was feeding to myself. It's a lot easier to blame someone else for the problems around you. But you’re a good kid and I never should have done that. I hope you can forgive me.”

Peter thought about it for a while; mostly spending his time just trying to wrap his head around what Jameson had just said. “Yeah. I do forgive you. Actually, it would be pretty nice to have your support.”

“And I will give it to you. You deserve it. Anything else I can do for you, Parker?”

Peter thought for a moment and smiled. “Come to my wedding?”

Jameson smiled, “I was hoping you’d ask! As a matter of fact, I was going to offer to pay for it. I know your gal is rich and all but I thought her paying for two weddings might get a bit costly.”

“I can’t ask you to pay for my wedding, Jonah.”

“Don’t be silly. You aren’t asking; I’m offering. So what do you say?”

“Uh, I can’t accept that.”

“Then only a few things. The catering, venue, and your outfits.”

“Isn’t that everything that goes into a wedding.”

“Oh you have a lot to learn, my boy,” Jameson chuckled as he put his arm delicately on Peter’s shoulder. “Hm, you’re bleeding through your bandages. I’ll handle it. NURSE! GET IN HERE AND FIX THIS BOY UP! IF YOU’RE GOING TO BE WORKING ON SPIDER-MAN YOU’D BEST PUT YOUR HEART AND SOUL INTO IT! HE’S THE ONE KEEPING THIS CITY ALIVE YOU KNOW! I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW-”

Although Peter could still hear Jameson yelling bloody murder down the hallway as he left to find the first, poor, unsuspecting nurse he could find; Peter ignored him and turned his attention to the window where he could see Sable hustling back up the street with a bag of food in one hand and the drinks in the other. “Ah,” he remarked. “It is good to be loved even if everyone who loves me is at least a little insane.”