Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Preface

Nobody remembers the moment they are born. Rightly so, no one in their right mind would want to. Unless you were not born but made. If you were made, the first time you opened your eyes everything would be new and it would make an impact so strong it would not be easily forgotten. In time you could learn. With knowledge would come the realization that you would eventually come to, the fact that you were made in a lab from the DNA of another. And the idea that there is another you—not a copy but the original—would change everything that you've learned. Your entire existence would be based on a lie. Because the other, the progenitor, would not be aware that a part of them was stolen to create someone else. Flesh from their flesh. Or in this case, an entire human person from their DNA. The clone could potentially become obsessed with finding their ancestor.

That is the case of the main character of this story. He has been kept under lock and key since his genesis. He has been learning. Watching. Kept under scrutiny; while he developed a sense of awareness. Gaining the knowledge of right and wrong. Realizing at some point that he is a prisoner. Everyone speaks of him, but no one speaks to him. Except for the one who made him. The first person he saw when he gained his senses. But he thinks back and remembers that from the very beginning, the very first breath, he was just a lab rat. But unlike the rats in their cages, he has the capability of higher thinking. Not to mention, knowledge of a life he's never lived. The knowledge of which he gained through dreams. Dreams of people he's never met. Places he's never been. Taste of food he'd never eaten. Sounds he only heard through the ears of another. The original. His ancestor. Peter Parker. Who, without being aware, shared his memories with his clone. Memories that empowered him to find Peter and tell him he exists so that he could then begin his own life. He's so tired of being alone. He craves an identity and interaction with others. So he patiently waits and plans to create the perfect opportunity for escape.

Chapter One

Who am I?

The question is at the forefront of his mind. He has no name. No identity. No sense of direction either from the looks of it. He'd been wandering aimlessly since he escaped from the lab. It had been easy. He was strong. He was lithe. He could jump high. And crawl on walls. So he easily slipped into the vents and followed a small animal—a mouse or lizard, he couldn't tell the difference in the darkness of the vent—until he was outside. The excitement of his breakout overwhelmed him. The alarms blaring from the building scared him. And the adrenaline coursing inside of him pushed him forward. So he ran. He ran so fast and so long that he had no idea where he was. But he was tired. He found himself in some sort of tunnel. He slowed to a stop when he saw a hollow in the wall where he hid and slept.

The sound of blaring horns woke him. He quickly got up and made his way towards the sound only to find himself on the edge of a road. Cars and big trucks sped passed him. He choked on the exhaust and ran towards the mouth of the tunnel. He kept to the edge where it was safe. He walked along the side of the road once he'd made it out of the tunnel until he was stopped by a man in a uniform who asked him his name.

Who am I?

"What's the matter, can't speak?" asked the officer as he eyed the teenage boy suspiciously. He was dirty like he'd fallen in mud and grime. But otherwise looked healthy. Not homeless but maybe a recent runaway the officer believed. Either that or he had a late rough night. It was a toss-up really.

"I…" he said, voice hoarse. He'd never had to speak out loud before. He heard the lab workers and the professor speaking and he understood language, but he'd never been spoken to directly. When he heard his own voice it distracted him, he smiled happily—a small smile—and nodded to the officer.

"What's your name, kid?" the officer asked patiently with a show of concern in his eyes.

He shook his head. "They didn't give me a name." He enunciated each word and spoke slowly.

The officer eyed him suspiciously then his mouth formed a tight line. "Where did you come from?"

"I don't know," he said with a slight frown as he looked around. He couldn't remember which direction he'd come from. "I escaped."

"Jesus," the officer said in alarm. Then he realized he'd alarmed the kid who'd taken a step back. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. He rubbed his head in frustration and then gestured for the kid to follow him. "Come with me, kid. I'll get you some help and hopefully, we can figure out who you are."

"Where...where are we going?" he said, shaking his head a little. "I don't want to be locked up again."

The officer dropped his hand and gestured to the patrol car. "I want to help you. But I can't do that if you don't come with me."

"But where are we going?" he said staring at the officer with wide pleading eyes.

"The precinct," the officer said and when he saw the kid frown he elaborated. "I can call ahead to have a social worker meet us there."

"A social worker?"

"Yes, a social worker." At the kid's confused look the officer patiently explained. "A person who provides help and support for those in need. They can help you find a home, a family. What do you say? That sound good?"

"Yes," he said with a small nod and then his stomach growled.

"We'll make a pit stop on the way. How does a burger sound?"

He knew what a burger was and he emphatically nodded. The officer smiled at him kindly and walked to the patrol car. He opened the door to the backseat and gestured for the kid to get in.

He eyed the vehicle skeptically but followed the officer nonetheless. He didn't quite trust the man but he was hungry and he really wanted a burger.

The officer didn't just buy him a burger but also fries and a fizzy drink. He was so happy to be experiencing the taste in real life and not just in dreams. He didn't know that the sense of taste could overpower him so completely. Before he knew it, he was happily humming and ignoring everything around him. Sounds. Sights. Until the backdoor of the patrol car opened again and the officer told him to get out. And then everything slammed into him so fast and loud that he cried out. The city was so bright and very very loud. A sensation he only felt at the lab prior to his escape shot up his spine and made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. But he couldn't react. He was in shock. And in pain. He covered his ears and closed his eyes tight. He spilled his drink into his lap but he hardly noticed. It was too much.

make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop!

Then it did. He felt heavy. Lightheaded. His arms dropped to his side. Darkness enveloped him and he welcomed it.

The smell of chemicals forced him to wake up. He didn't know why or how he ended up back at the lab but he needed to flee. He removed all the sticky tabs connected to him and also a needle that had been inserted into his forearm. He jumped out of the bed and crept to the door. He allowed his instinct to guide him out of the room and into a corridor that led to a staircase. He didn't run into anyone but the sounds of an alarm alerted those close by to his escape. He ran up the stairs with his gown billowing behind him. He was barefoot and the floor was cold but he hardly noticed. Not until he'd made it to the rooftop and the wind blew his gown up.

He shivered and pinched the gown behind him to keep it steady. He didn't know where he was supposed to go from there. He was twenty stories up. But as he edged closer to the roof railing, he took in all the lights. It was twilight but the city was busy with colors, sounds, and aromas. It was a little overwhelming but not as scary as it had been before. He couldn't remember what had happened before but he was going to have to get used to the sensory overload of the busy city. And he felt good. Like he was home.

This place wasn't the lab he realized. When he'd escaped the lab the outside wasn't bustling with people like this place. Not inside and definitely not outside. His heart started to beat faster as he looked down. The height made him dizzy. He thought about crawling down the side of the building but another gust of wind blew past him. Goosebumps covered every inch of his skin and he huddled into himself for warmth. He couldn't hang on to the wall and his gown. Especially not when he was shivering. He didn't want to go back inside. He wasn't sure if it was safe to be seen. He gripped the railing unsure of what to do. But then he heard a soft footfall behind him and he turned towards the noise.

He stared wide-eyed at the figure who stood before him. A man dressed from head to toe in a red suit with horns. His heart hammered in his chest.

"It's okay," said the red-clad man. "I'm here to help."

"Help?" he asked in a small voice and pressed himself closer to the railing.

"Yes," the man said in a low tone and gestured with his hand. "Do you mind stepping away from the edge for me?"

"Huh?" he said and looked from the man to the railing. "Why?"

"I would just feel a lot more comfortable if you weren't standing so close to the edge," said the man as he stepped closer still reaching out his hand.

"Why-why are you dressed like that?" he asked still pressed to the railing. The mask the man was wearing was unnerving. He couldn't even see the man's eyes. It just looked like an endless pool of darkness.

The man stilled and dropped his hand. He looked askance in the kid's general direction. "You've never heard of me?"

"Uh, no?" he said with some uncertainty. He couldn't remember ever dreaming of anyone who looked like this guy. But then again his dreams hadn't clued him in on much of anything he'd seen or heard outside the lab. "I'm new." He wasn't sure how to explain he had just been made so he figured the less he said...uh, the better?

"Oh, new in town, huh?" the masked man said, taking another cautious step closer. "That makes sense. Well, I'm Daredevil."

"Daredevil," he said giving the man a skeptical look. "Is that what you are or your just your name?"

"Yeah, it's my name while I wear this," he gestured to his outfit, "to keep my identity hidden. It keeps my family and friends safe."

"Why are your ears so far forward? Are you deformed or something?"

"No," Daredevil said and huffed out a laugh. He pointed at his helmet. "They're horns."

"So you have...horns?"

"No," Daredevil replied with a smirk. "It's just part of the headpiece. A decoration because of the devil motif."

"I've never seen a devil before. They have horns?"

"I'm not really sure. I've never seen one either but the Devil is depicted with horns and a tail in art going as far back as I can remember."

He craned his neck trying to see Daredevil's back. "You have a tail too?"

"No, no tail," Daredevil replied amusedly.

"Oh," he said and let his shoulders sag like he was disappointed.

"What about you, kid?"

"Uh, no. I don't have a tail. My ancestor didn't have one either," he said in surprise. People didn't have tails, right? "I'm just trying to keep this gown from blowing up in the wind."

"No," Daredevil said with a wave of his hand. He was smiling. "I meant, your name. Care to share."

Who am I?

Chapter Text

"I don't have a name," he said truthfully. He still didn't know who he was. Maybe his progenitor could give him a name since the professor at the lab hadn't.

"Do you have amnesia? Is that why you're here at the hospital?"

"Uh, no. I didn't forget. The professor at the lab didn't give me a name," he said with a shrug.

"The professor?"

"Yeah, I…" he looked away from the man and back towards the city. He didn't want to talk about it. "I need to find my family. That's why I escaped the lab."

"The lab," Daredevil said in a low menacing voice. He was standing beside the kid now so that he was at arms reach. "Is the lab here in this hospital?"

"No," he said and looked at the masked man. "I don't know where the lab is or how I got here." He shook his head a little when he remembered the lab. This building, the hospital, reminded him of it a little too much. "I need to leave this place before the professor finds me again. But I…" he looked down and shivered. "I don't think I can make it down from here." Not while he was in a gown, anyway. He could easily crawl down if he had use of both hands.

"I'll help you," Daredevil told him, knowing that the kid was telling him the truth. "Do you have somewhere to go tonight?"

He shook his head. "I'm good at hiding though. So once I get down there," he pointed to the street below. "I can find a place to hide until I can look for my family."

"I have a friend who can take you in for the night," Daredevil told him. "And tomorrow, if you're willing, he'll take you to see someone who can help you find your family."

"Um," he looked down and rubbed his arm before he shrugged and looked at Daredevil again.

"I can keep you safe, kid," Daredevil said in a softer tone. "So, what do you say? Will you let me help you?"

"I guess. Sure."

"First things first, let me get you some pants," Daredevil said and pulled him away from the edge towards the staircase opening. They went into the staircase away from the biting wind. Then Daredevil jumped over the staircase railing and disappeared.

He smiled and looked over the railing. Daredevil could move like him. Incredible. He thought he was the only one. But he figured it was best to keep that part about him to himself. He didn't want to end up a lab rat again. Maybe Daredevil was right to wear a suit that hid his identity. It was something to consider. But he didn't know why he'd have to hide his identity other than to hide from the professor. In a city with as many people like the one he was in, maybe he wouldn't be found so easily.

"Alright kid, this is the best I could do," Daredevil handed him some scrubs and a windbreaker. Then he stepped outside to give him privacy to change. When the kid came back out, Daredevil was waiting off to the side and gestured for him to follow. "Do you see that building over there?" He nodded. "We're going to jump over to that roof and then head down the fire-escape down to the street level." When the kid didn't say anything Daredevil looked over at him curiously. "I really hope you're not afraid of heights."

He looked over to the adjacent building while Daredevil pulled something off his belt. The other building was only about three stories lower than the one they were on. He figured he could make the jump easily. He backed up to get a running start and went for it.

"Kid, what are y—kid!" Daredevil shouted when he saw what the young man was doing and then he saw him jump. He hurried to follow in sheer horror. He should have told him he was going to carry him over. Oh god. What was I thinking? Mental note: Be more explicit with explanations with this kid.

He tucked into a ball and rolled. The momentum carried him until he hit an AC unit.

"Ow," he said and then just lay there waiting for the pain to pass. It was a longer jump than he thought it would be.

"Kid, hey kid, are you okay?" Daredevil said as he crouched beside the boy. He looked left and right trying to assess with his senses whether or not the kid had injured himself.

"I'm fine," he said and sat up rubbing his side where he'd hit the AC unit. "I think I need more practice."

"Please, don't ever do anything so reckless again. You could've killed yourself," Daredevil said as he rubbed his face.

"But you said—"

"I know, but I didn't mean for you to jump on your own. I have a grapple—"

"A what?" he looked at Daredevil curiously.

"Jesus, kid," Daredevil said, rubbing his chest. This kid almost gave me a heart attack! "Just don't jump off any more roofs. Please, I'm begging you."

"Yeah, okay. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, come on. Let me help you up," Daredevil said and helped him up. Once they were standing, Daredevil wrapped an arm around the boy's waist and released his grapple to swing them down to street level.

"Woo hoo!"

"Shh! Jesus. Keep your voice down," Daredevil said but he was smiling a little.

"Sorry, sorry," he said, still feeling giddy.

"If I would've known you would enjoy that," Daredevil said then shook his head. "Never mind. It's cold. You're not wearing shoes. Let me call a cab."

"A cab?"

Daredevil looked at him but didn't answer.

It's like he's never been outside. Dear God, what if he's never been outside? How long did this professor have him captive?

Daredevil guided the kid with a hand on his shoulder until they were by the road and flagged down a cab.

"Get in," Daredevil said and rattled off an address to the cabbie who only looked at them for a beat before he drove off.

They didn't speak anymore after that. When they arrived at their destination, Daredevil paid the cabbie and walked up to a man waiting on the sidewalk in front of an apartment building.

"Kid, this is Foggie. He's going to take you up to the apartment," Daredevil told him.

"Oh, um, okay," he said looking at Daredevil a little sadly. "Will I see you again?"

"I'll make sure my friend gives you a way to contact me if you need to, okay?" Daredevil said with a slight frown.

He nodded and smiled. "Thank you, you know, for the help and the flying—!"

"Flying?!" Foggie said looking at Daredevil with his head cocked and raised brows. "You can fly?"

"No, I can't fly," Daredevil said with a scoff. "I grappled down a building with him."

"Hmm," Foggie said skeptically and then looked at the kid. "Well, are you ready to go up?" He gestured to the door.

"Up?" he said looking up at the apartment building then at Daredevil.

"You're taking the stairs," Daredevil said sternly and ruffled the kid's hair when he saw him pout. "I'm not an amusement park ride, kid. Now, go on up."

"Amusement park ride?"

"You don't know what an amusement park is?" Foggie said with a short huff laugh. "What? You've been living under a rock or something?"

"Foggie!"

"What?" Foggie said then looked from Daredevil's stern face to the kid who shook his head.

"Not under a rock," he said honestly. "In a lab."

"A lab?" Foggie said and looked the kid over noticing for the first time what he was wearing and not wearing. Then he looked at Daredevil appalled. "What the hell is going on, Ma—Daredevil?"

"It's cold outside," Daredevil said, gesturing to the kid's feet. "Take him up, please."

Foggie sighed and placed a hand on the kid's shoulder to guide him to the door.

"Bye," he said with a small wave to Daredevil who just nodded and then stepped away from the building into the shadows disappearing from sight. "Uh, where'd he go?"

"He likes dramatic exits and entrances, and everything else. Hence the suit with the horns," Foggie said in annoyance as they stepped into the building.

He chuckled. "I thought they were ears."

"Yeah?" Foggie said with a small smile. "He might as well get a tail and pitchfork."

"Pitchfork?"

"Oh, uh, you know, a pitchfork," he said gesturing lamely with his hands as if he were picking hay and throwing it. "Ah, nevermind. Ask Matt. He might—no, he wouldn't have any pictures because he's blind."

"Matt is blind," he repeated looking at Foggie curiously. "Who's Matt?"

"Right, so he's my best friend and he's going to let you stay with him, I guess," Foggie said, sounding unsure. Matt had called him earlier and asked him to meet at his apartment only saying that he needed him to escort someone up to his place and to bring food. He didn't say it was a kid or that something weird was up with the kid.

"That's really nice of him," he said with a small smile.

"Yeah, Matt is just a nice guy," Foggie said fondly and then knocked at a door once they reached the top floor.

A man wearing red-tinted glasses answered the door. His hair was messy and a little damp with sweat. And he smelled exactly like the Daredevil suit.

"Hey, Matt," Foggie said. "So this is," he gestured to the kid not having learned his name.

"I'll take it from here, Foggie, thank you," Matt said and opened the door wider so that the kid could walk in.

"Right, I'll just leave you two alone cause I have an early day tomorrow or something equally pointless because neither of you cares. So, goodnight," Foggie said awkwardly and left.

When Matt closed the door and turned towards the kid, he was looking right at him.

"So does your friend know you're Daredevil?" the kid said in a low conspiratorial voice.

"What?" Matt said, taken aback.

"I could smell your suit on you. And your voice isn't so different. It was just deeper before," he told him and walked further into the apartment.

Matt sighed heavily. Of course, the kid he brought home had great smelling and hearing, just his luck.

"He knows," Matt said in a serious tone. He was taking a huge risk by helping this kid. But he was just a kid and Matt couldn't just leave him on his own. "And I need you to keep my secret—"

"You want to protect him. I remember. It's the least I can do. You've been very kind to me," he looked away from Matt towards the window where a blaring neon light was filtering in. "Thank you."

Matt waved his hands in front of him. "You hungry? I ordered Chinese ahead of time. Foggie brought it up."

"Chinese?"

"Chinese food," Matt elaborated. "Come on, I'll show you."

Matt explained to him what he'd ordered and let him taste everything. But the kid ate everything with so much enthusiasm that all Matt could do was just let him enjoy the food. Afterward, they got ready for bed.

Matt had to have a serious talk with him the next day about what was going to happen moving forward. Because Matt couldn't harbor a kid illegally. Not unless he wanted to lose his license or end up with kidnapping charges. He was going to ask Karen Paige to look into the kid's family before he'd decide what to do. And he had to look into who this professor was because who knew how many more kids he'd taken.

He could probably ask Natasha Romanoff to help him out with that. Natasha had connections he didn't and could probably find the professor sooner. The only problem was that Natasha was currently off the grid. Matt inwardly sighed. Perhaps it was for the best. The fewer people who were aware of the kid and his circumstances, the better.

Chapter Text

After breakfast and a short explanation about what was going to happen that day, he found himself walking down the streets of Hell's Kitchen with Matt Murdock wearing slightly oversized sweatpants and a plain white tee. The sneakers Matt gave him to wear were worn and only a half size too big. But Matt stopped at a bodega on the way to his office to buy him new shoes. The only ones available in his size were red. He thought it was funny since the only other color in Matt's wardrobe outside of dark colors was red. He wiggled his toes in the shoes and smiled happily. Matt smiled at him and ruffled his hair before he paid for the shoes.

He held onto Matt's arm as they made their way down the street not because Matt needed a guide but because he was prone to becoming distracted and had gotten separated a couple of times when something caught his attention.

The last time he was distracted, he bumped into a large fellow who scared the shit out of him. He clung to the wall and couldn't decide whether to scamper up or get down and crawl away until he found a place to hide. Matt stepped in as the man shouted at him and apologized for his deaf son. The large man looked utterly embarrassed and apologized to the blind man who had the bad luck of having a deaf son. Luckily he hadn't said a word. But it took Matt a little coaxing for him to release his grip on the wall after the threat was gone. Afterward, he clung to Matt's arm as if it were a security blanket. Not that he understood what that meant. But it was part of the bank of metaphors that he knew thanks to his ancestor.

They passed up a hotdog vendor and it made him remember a time when he'd gone to Coney Island with Ben and May. The memory made him smile because now he understood the amusement park ride reference. And he could honestly say that grappling down the building with Daredevil was just as good as any ride. But the happy feeling went away just as fast as it came.

Sure the memories from his ancestor helped give him hope of an outside world when he was held prisoner at the lab. Not so much now that he was in the outside world. They were only a reminder that he'd never had a life outside of the lab. Or any life at all. His memories weren't his, they belonged to another. He really did hope that Matt's friend could help him find his ancestor. And that Peter would in turn help him with the life bit.

They arrived at a nondescript building while he was lost in thought and went up the stairs. The door they walked to was at the end of the hall. There was a sign by the door that read Nelson and Murdock Attorneys at Law. Matt opened the door and gestured for the kid to walk inside. The space wasn't very big. And there was a desk facing the door with a very pretty blonde woman sitting behind it.

"Good morning, Matt," the woman said eagerly. Then her eyes swept over to him. "Who's this? A new client?"

"Uh, not exactly," Matt said and placed a hand on his shoulder. "This is Karen Paige. She is amongst other things our legal investigator. She's the friend I told you about that could help you find your family."

"Hi," he said shyly, waving a hand to Karen who smiled and said hello.

"Karen, I know I'm asking a lot especially while we're in the middle of a case," Matt said apologetically. "But I would prefer if you could prioritize finding his family. Within reason, of course. Anything that you think I can handle that I can take off your plate, send it my way."

"Yes, of course, Matt," Karen said and gestured for the young man to have a seat in front of her desk. "Don't forget your meeting with the DA is in an hour and you have a lunch—"

"Got it, Karen, thanks," Matt said, already heading into his office. "You're in good hands, kid."

"Okay, why don't we start with you telling me a bit about yourself," Karen said, pulling out a pen and notepad.

"Sure, but what do you want to know?" he said not knowing what he was supposed to tell her. Everything he knew, well it was Peter's life, not his. He didn't know anything about himself.

"Your name for starters," Karen said smiling encouragingly.

"I...I don't have a name," he said and ran a hand over his hair.

Karen hummed and jotted something down. "Where are you from?"

"Uh, a lab. But I'm not sure where it was. I escaped and a man in a uniform found me," he said.

"A uniform? What kind of uniform?" Karen said, writing down a few more notes. She wasn't reacting to what he said in any way. She was just looking for as much information she could gather to find his family. So far she had bupkis.

"Oh! He was a policeman," he said snapping his fingers. Then the rest of the words came out in a rush after having become excited that the knowledge that was stored in his mind was finally working in his favor. "And he bought me a hamburger that was really good. And he said he was going to get me in touch with a social worker that could help me find my family. But then something really weird happened and I ended up at a hospital. I thought I was back at the lab when I came to so I tried to escape and that's when Daredevil found me and he flew me down to street level and got us a cab and took me to Matt where I met Foggy. He was really nice. Foggy was. Oh, but so was Matt. And Daredevil is awesome. Then Matt brought me here to meet you after buying me some shoes. So can you help me find my family?"

Karen heard the soft chuckles coming from Matt's office and she made a mental note to berate him later for not giving her more to go on from the get-go.

"I will do everything I can to help you. But so far, I don't have enough to start a search," Karen said. She had enough to start backtracking to the lab where he may have been held. But not enough to find his family. "I at least need a family name even if you don't know your given name."

"You mean like my ancestor's name?" he said curiously.

"Yes, an ancestor will work," Karen said with an encouraging smile.

"My ancestor's name is Peter Parker. He was born here in New York," he said and scrubbed the back of his neck. "His family currently lives in Forest Hills but I can't remember the address. Although I think I can get to the right house if I was in the right neighborhood."

He hadn't even realized that Karen was already on the computer looking up Peter Parker until he heard her mumble to herself. He looked up at her then saw her jotting a few things down.

"I found a few entries on your ancestor Peter Parker," Karen said. "The earliest record was an engagement announcement in the Daily Bugle in 1955. The couple was Teresa Ortiz and Peter Parker. In 1958 there was a birth announcement in the Bugle for a Benjamin Franklin Parker born to Mr. and Mrs. Peter Parker."

"Uncle Ben," he said softly. Karen didn't hear him. She was too busy jotting down notes and looking up more information.

"Let's see. In 1960 there was a funeral announcement for Teresa Parker survived by husband, Peter Parker; son, Benjamin Parker; and sister, Miss Millie Ortiz." Karen frowned when she found a related article for a mid-air collision between two planes above New York. One plane crashed landed in Brooklyn narrowly missing a school. Six people on the ground died that day. One being Teresa Parker, a teacher for six years in Brooklyn at a junior high. Karen jotted that down but didn't mention it aloud. "In 1978 there's a marriage announcement for Ann Miller who married Peter Parker at a Manhattan courthouse. I'm pretty sure it's the same Peter Parker because in 1981 there's a birth announcement from the same couple for Richard Laurance Parker. The same announcement includes a sibling for Richard, Ben Parker, age 21."

The articles were easier to find after that. She'd been lucky that she found them at all. They had been digitized and tagged by date, place, and name. Her original search 'Peter Parker circa 1900's' directed her to the Daily Bugle archives online. Any article with his name and surname popped up. Karen only had to search the names or dates in relation to the announcements that came up to find the extended family.

She had so much information at her fingertips. It was too easy, however. It almost seemed like someone else had done the work for her. She was simply reaping from their rewards. Because how was it possible that she found so many articles so quickly? And yet it seemed like a lot of information on the Parkers was missing. What had happened prior to the first entry? There were so little Parkers and yet, it was such a common name that she felt like there should be more articles. The thing was there probably was they were just not tagged by name. It could overload the program to have too many articles pop up at the same time. She couldn't think about that though. Not when she was close to finding the kid's family.

"In 1986 there was a funeral announcement for Peter and Ann Parker. Died suddenly in Staten Island. Survived by sons Ben and Richie also Millie Ortiz who is mentioned as Peter's sister. My god," Karen said quietly as she read how they died.

A deranged man wielding a machete injured nine people and killed two. Peter and Ann Parker. That was all the article stated about the incident. Not that it was an article. It read more like the news ticker while what was deemed more important news was given greater coverage. Was it a cover-up? For what? Who was Peter Parker? She mentally shook her head. She wrote down her questions to follow up later if it was necessary. She hoped it wasn't necessary.

She continued scouring the articles for information. She glanced at the boy who was staring out the window. But she could tell he was waiting for her to find more information about his family.

"Alright. I found a marriage announcement for one of the sons. Ben Parker married a woman named May Reilly who was originally from Boston in 1993 at a church in Queens." At this, the boy smiled and Karen did too. "And in 1999 it looks like Mary Fitzpatrick and Richard L. Parker were married. They had a son named Peter Benjamin Parker on August 27, two years later. I imagine he's about your age. Let's see if we can find a current address," Karen's face fell. "Oh no."

He didn't look at her, just kept staring out the window. I know what happened to them. Peter remembers so that means so do I. But that doesn't mean I want to relive those feelings. He couldn't complain about the situation. The woman was on the right track and she would find Peter soon. He just had to endure the emotional backlash he was feeling and act like it didn't affect him at all. He'd had practice at the lab. The professor put him through many tests. Some were more painful than others. If it wouldn't have been for the memories he'd been given he may not have lasted very long as a lab rat. And he didn't want to think about that either.

He looked at Karen and grimaced. She was thinking hard about something. She'd been doing that a lot. He knew she was keeping a lot from him and that was okay. He didn't need to know everything. He knew enough.

Chapter Text

It seemed that tragedy followed the Parker family everywhere they went. A small private plane crashed into a Manhattan apartment building when the pilot lost control. Killing the pilot and single passenger instantly as well as the couple who was appraising an apartment in the building. The couple who just so happened to be Richard and Mary Parker. This happened only three years after a steam pipe explosion in Manhattan. Twenty people were injured and only one died. Millie Ortiz. It was a recurring theme. Maybe they had all been in the wrong place at the wrong time…?

Teresa was killed by a plane while walking down the street. Peter and Ann killed by a lunatic with a machete while on a fucking ferry. Millie was killed by a steam pipe explosion while standing on a corner in Manhattan. And Richard and Mary were killed by a plane while appraising an apartment.

Plane. Lunatic. Explosion. Plane– What was next? Another death by lunatic?

Karen had to stop letting her mind wander. Focus on the boy. Find his family. But he was looking at her curiously. Right. The last thing she'd said was telling. He hadn't reacted to any of the previous deaths. But these people were likely his parents. Not that Karen was exactly certain about that. Though he did have a resemblance to Richard Parker from the wedding announcement photo. Right. He's dead. The boy had the right to know.

"They passed away. So did Millie. In Manhattan. Three years apart." No reaction. It's as if he already knew. Let's see. What happened to Peter then?

"Peter was left in the care of his uncle, Ben Parker. He lived in Forest Hills. Just like you said. But Ben died two years ago."

Shit. Shit. Shit. Another lunatic. This one wielding a gun. What the hell was with this family and their bad luck? This one happened in his own home for crying out loud! Get it together, Karen. She cleared her throat and gathered her bearings. Next is an explosion. Please let there not be an explosion.

"Only living relatives were his wife, May, and nephew, Peter. Looks like May still lives in Forest Hills but she moved to an apartment building. And Peter is currently enrolled in Midtown High. That's quite a commute. Oh, here's a picture from a science exhibit at Oscorp!" Karen looked at the picture of the students then she looked at the boy. "It's you! You're in the picture!"

He shook his head but she didn't notice. Karen jumped out of her seat to grab something she'd printed. She sat on her desk and handed him the picture.

"There's no missing child reports on Peter. And you're obviously Peter. Why'd you say Peter was your ancestor?"

"Peter Parker is the one in the picture," he said as he pointed at the boy's face. "I'm not Peter."

"You're not Peter?"

"No," he said and sighed. "I want to find him. He's my family."

"But you look just like him."

"We share the same genetic markers. It's only logical that we look like one another," he said and pointed at the picture. "Can we go see him?"

"The same genetic… Oh, you're twins! Identical. That makes sense. But why did the birth announcement only mention Peter?" Karen snapped her fingers and grabbed her notepad. "Peter Benjamin Parker. It could have been a typo. They forgot to separate the names. So you must be Benjamin. Ha! This is good news! And look, it's almost lunchtime. Let's head over to Midtown High to see if we can get a glimpse of him. I don't think we should talk to him yet. Not until we get ahold of your Aunt May. We'll let Matt handle that."

Karen didn't want to mention that perhaps May was in on his abduction since Ben wasn't even reported as a missing child. Unless he'd been sent for treatment in some sort of medical facility. Karen had heard of crazier things. And May Parker was barely making ends meet. She probably couldn't afford two boys not to mention one. And they weren't exactly blood relatives. Karen grabbed her purse and hoped to god that her speculations were wrong. That and that the kid didn't keel over and die on her on the way to the high school. And she really really hoped that there weren't any explosions on the way. She crossed her fingers. Knocked on wood. What else could she do?

His name was Benjamin. Was that really his name? Karen had said it so easily and it felt right. He liked it. Ben just like his uncle who he never actually met in person. Did Peter's memories count?

Ben stopped before they reached the entrance because Karen did. She was calling out to Matt.

"He's not here," he told her and startled her for some reason. "He had a meeting to go to. You told him when we arrived."

"Oh! That's right." She checked her watch. "I wonder why Foggy never showed up. Let me lock up."

Ben moved to the side as she locked the door. They made their way down to street level quietly. Karen lost in thought and Ben feeling nervous about seeing Peter for the first time in his short life.

"Foggy!" Karen said when they exited the building. "Hold the cab!"

"Karen, hey," Foggy said with a wide smile. "I'm actually leaving again. I just stopped by for some files. Where are you heading? Maybe we can share the cab. Just give me a sec."

Karen ushered Ben into the taxi and went around the other side. When Foggy returned he got in and told the cabbie where to go. It was then that he noticed the kid for the first time.

"Hey there again, um, I never got your name," Foggy said awkwardly.

"Ben," he said and smiled.

"Ben, it's good to formally meet you," Foggy said with a smile and turned to look at Karen. He hadn't talked to Matt yet that morning. He hadn't known he'd pawned the kid off on Karen. What the heck was Matt thinking? At least the kid looked happy and was wearing actual clothes instead of the hospital garb he'd had on the night before. "So where are you two headed? Getting some lunch?"

"No," Karen said, realizing that maybe they should get food soon. "We were going to do some sightseeing. But afterward, um, we'll get pizza or something. You like pizza, right, Ben?"

Ben simply nodded. He was so very nervous and he wanted to ask a lot of questions but he held back. He didn't want Karen to dislike him so soon after meeting him.

Karen and Foggy kept talking but he didn't hear a word. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees as he watched the road with rapt attention. He didn't even notice when Foggy got out of the cab. It wasn't until Karen placed a hand on his shoulder to tell him they'd arrived that he paid attention to his surroundings.

They got out of the cab and as Karen paid the cabbie, Ben saw Peter jumping over the fence that surrounded the school. He ran towards the street one block south of where Ben was standing. And before Ben realized what he was doing, he'd crossed the street and ran until he reached the mouth of the alley.

"Ben!" Karen was calling after him.

Ben peeked into the alley because he heard a loud sound. He saw Peter quickly undressing. Ben was very confused about what was going on. When Karen reached him, he turned to her and covered her mouth before Peter heard her.

"Peter's in there," Ben said quietly.

He peeked into the alley again to see what Peter was up to. To his surprise, Peter was wearing some sort of suit with a spider emblem. Then he put on a mask and moved a trash bin. He threw his backpack behind it and shot something from his wrists. Then he moved the trash bin back and jumped to the roof. By then Ben was standing at the mouth of the alley mouth agape. At the other end, there was a girl taking a picture. Ben's eyes widened. Then the girl looked at him. Ben quickly scampered back towards Karen.

"What is going on?" Karen whispered.

"Someone saw me and Peter's gone," he said quietly. "And there was something else."

"What?"

Ben didn't know what to tell Karen. Was he supposed to tell her that Peter was like him and had superhuman abilities but that unlike him Peter wore some sort of costume like Daredevil?

"Peter?" said a girl to his right. Both Karen and Ben looked at her curiously. She had dark hair and fair skin. Her eyes were dark and her lips were full. Ben thought she was very pretty. She looked from Ben to Karen suspiciously. "What are you doing out here?"

"Um…" Ben looked at Karen. What was he supposed to say? Should he pretend to be Peter? Was Peter dressing up in costume in secret like Daredevil? Should he help Peter keep his secret? Did Daredevil change in alleys also? So many questions ran through his mind at the same time.

"Hey, loser, why did you change?" said a girl to his left. She'd been the one who had taken the picture at the other end of the alley. She must've run really fast. She was breathing hard but it wasn't labored. Her hair was very curly and all over the place. She looked a little pissed off too. "Did you talk to Spider-man or were you just spying on him?"

"Spider-man was in the alley?" the other girl said. "You saw him?"

"I got a picture. But it's blurry. He moved too fast," said the other girl, showing it to the other girl.

Karen looked at Ben and mouthed 'Spider-man?' Because he'd told her Peter had been there and that he was gone. Had Spider-man taken Peter with him?

Ben shrugged. He didn't know who Spider-man was. His memory of Peter having the same powers he had was a little muddy.

"Wow. He was that close to the school?"

"Why was he here, Peter? Did he have to tell you something? I followed you when I saw you run into the alley. Did you know he would be there? Is that why you came here? Does this have something to do with your internship?"

"Um…"

"Well, let him answer one question before you bombard him more, Michelle," said the dark-haired girl. "Geez. Never become a reporter. You'd suck at it."

"Oh, and you'd do so much better, Jessica. What are you doing off-campus anyway?" Michelle asked her.

"That's none of your business, Michelle," Jessica replied as she tightened her hold on her backpack.

Karen was staring at Ben wondering if he was okay. The boy was looking more and more confused by the moment. And the girls didn't let him get a word in edgewise. Not that it wasn't a bad thing. They'd thought he was Peter after all.

"Hey! Penis Parker! What are you doing out here?" said a boy who walked towards them. He looked at the other girls then at Karen quizzically before glaring at Ben. "Are you having some sort of girly gossip fest?" He looked at the clothes Ben was wearing. "What happened? You got your period?"

"Are you jealous you weren't invited, dick face?" Jessica said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Your mother didn't talk to you about the difference between tampons and pads?

"Shut it, freak!"

Karen facepalmed and sighed. I'm never having kids.

Ben scooted closer to her probably hoping that she'd make him invisible.

"What do you want, Flash?" Michelle asked, having lost her patience with the boy.

"Well, Mr. Warren saw the freak leave and nobody was supposed to leave campus because of what's happening a couple of blocks away,"

"What's happening?" Karen said, speaking for the first time.

"Some lunatic is rampaging the streets. We have to get back to school," Flash told his classmates. "Lady, I don't know who you are but you better get to safety."

Flash took hold of Ben's arm and pulled him towards the school. "I can't believe I have to save Penis Parker's ass. Let's go, Michelle and you too, freak."

"I really hate that guy," Jessica said under her breath.

"I'm pretty sure he hates himself too," Michelle said and both girls chuckled as they followed after the boys.

Ben looked back towards Karen who mouthed that she'd be back later to get him. He really was safer at the school than on the streets if what the other kid said was true. Hadn't she just been thinking a lunatic would do in the next Parker? No. Not a lunatic, an explosion. He would be safe for now. And if Peter wasn't at school then Ben wouldn't be caught impersonating him.

Karen quickly dialed Matt and hailed a cab. She wanted to know what was going on. Maybe it wasn't as bad as the kid had said it was. That and she wanted to get a good look at May without Ben around. She needed to make sure the woman wasn't a danger to either of the boys before Ben had his family reunion.

Mr. Warren was waiting for them when they got back to school.

"Peter, Michelle?" the teacher said surprised. "I thought it was only Jessica who had left campus. Why did you two leave?"

"Yeah, Parker, what's your excuse?" Flash said and Mr. Warren shot him a look.

"Get back to class, Flash." Flash sighed heavily and walked away. "I can't thank you enough for retrieving the others," Mr. Warren told him then turned to look at Michelle and Ben expectantly.

"Peter had a secret meeting with Spider-man because of his internship at SI and I followed him to get a picture for the school paper," Michelle said lying easily.

"You're not in the paper, Miss Jones."

"Actually, I am," said Jessica.

"You know I wasn't talking to you, Miss Campbell."

"It's Jones now, Mr. Warren," Jessica said with a roll of her eyes. "It's been Jones since my parents died and the Joneses adopted me."

"Yes, that's right," Mr. Warren said, sounding flustered before walking away. "Head to class all of you. The school is on lockdown."

"Thanks, Jess," Michelle said in a low voice.

"No problem at all, MJ. Whenever I want to get out of trouble, all I have to do is bring up my dead parents," Jessica said flatly as they started to head to class. MJ looked at her curiously but didn't say anything.

"Peter? What are you waiting for? We're in the same chemistry class," Jessica said, turning back to look at him. He hadn't moved a muscle.

"Oh, right. Um, lead the way," Ben said and followed behind the girl. Internally he was freaking out. Everyone thought he was Peter. What if he said or did something so stupid that made it unmistakable to everyone that he wasn't actually Peter? And he especially didn't want to mess up in front of these two girls. Peter would never forgive him.

"Hey loser, why are you so quiet? You usually can't keep your mouth shut," Michelle said after they'd turned a corner. Jessica turned back to look at him.

"Um," Ben said and internally panicked.

"Is it me? Because the first and only time you spoke to me I practically bit your head off. But, can you blame me? My parents and kid brother had just died, I didn't need your pity."

"What? Why would I pity you? I don't have parents either," Ben said in a hurry. He didn't think Peter would have it in him to do that.

"What?" Jessica said and even Michelle looked at him in interest. They stopped walking in the middle of the hallway. "You don't have parents?"

"I didn't mean to make it sound like they abandoned me. Um, they died, you know. Some time ago," Ben said and shrugged. "I think what I said to you probably came out wrong. Knowing me like I do, that's probably what happened. I'm sorry."

"Well don't apologize, geez. I'm the one who was a dick," Jessica said and grimaced.

"It's okay," Ben said and smiled which in turn made Jessica smile.

Michelle looked between them with a frown marring her forehead. Then a loud crash was heard from the entrance of the school. The three looked at one another then sprinted in the direction the noise had come from.

Chapter Text

The entire front entrance of the school was gone. In its stead was a gaping hole. On the floor before a trio of students was a giant animal-like creature that had landed ass over teakettle.

"Oopsy-daisy. Looks like the Rhino had a tumble wumble. How about I tie you up so you don't keep fumbling around like a toddler?" Spider-man said from the ceiling of the school as he thwipped out some webbing.

The Rhino roared and tore the webs off as he rolled over. "I wasn't fumbling. You idiot bug! I will crush you!"

"Spiders are not bugs."

"Don't you ever shut-up?!"

"Uhm. No, not really. Why? You don't like my voice? I've heard it's quite soothing," Spider-man said, jumping to the ground in front of the Rhino readying to web him up again.

"It's grating my nerves! I'm going to rip out your voice box!" Rhino said and having stood upright, barreled towards Spider-man. He missed and went headlong into some lockers. By then the trio who'd arrived first was surrounded by other students.

"Hey! All of you! Get out of here before you get hurt!" Spider-man shouted at the students. He shot a web at the Rhino's legs and tugged him out of the lockers. And flung him towards the hole they'd come in from.

"Let's get moving! All of you!" a teacher called out from down the hall.

Some of the students towards the back of the crowd listened and ran in the direction the teacher told them. But the students upfront followed the fight between Spider-man and the Rhino outside. The trio of students who'd arrived first at the scene were the first to follow.

Ben stayed behind Jessica and Michelle. He wasn't cowering behind them. He was hiding from Peter. He didn't want his ancestor to get distracted by the fight at the sight of his clone that he had absolutely no idea even existed. Though Ben, like all the students who were watching, was in awe of what Peter was doing. He moved lightning fast and seemed to know exactly when to dodge and when to throw a punch or a kick.

"Oh my god, this is so awesome! Can you believe there's an actual Rhino who's a villain! A Rhino! And Spider-man is fighting him! What is his life?!"

Ben recognized the voice and when he turned to look at who'd spoken, he saw Ned holding up his phone to record the fight.

"Ned?" Ben said in a small voice. He remembered him from his dreams. He was Peter's best friend. They'd been friends since they were little. And Ben was so happy to see him that he grinned at his not-friend but maybe best-friend by proxy.

"Peter?" Ned said, turning the phone towards Ben and staring mouth agape. He pointed to Spider-man with one finger but continued staring at Ben through his phone screen. "How are you here?"

"Oh, did you see him leave campus too?" Michelle asked without turning around.

"Uh yeah-yeah," Ned said nervously then turned his phone to the fight then back at Ben as if he was trying to confirm that his friend wasn't in two places at once. But he was! How was that possible? Was there another Spider-man who wasn't his best friend?

"Well, thank Flash Thompson for dragging our asses back," said Jessica with a pout. She didn't turn from looking at the fight either.

"Maybe we should," said Michelle. "Otherwise we'd be missing a sweet fight."

Ben tugged Ned back away from the girls and leaned towards Ned's ear after pushing down Ned's hand that held the phone. "I'm not Peter," Ben whispered knowing he could trust his best-friend but not really with a secret.

"What does that mean?" Ned said stupidly. He was freaking out times a million.

"I'm not Peter," Ben whispered more urgently. He pointed at Spider-man. "That's Peter." He pointed at himself. "I'm Ben."

"So there's two of you?" Bed said looking back and forth.

"No," Ben shook his head and then made a complicated face. "But, uh, yes?"

"How can you be him and not him?"

"He's him and I'm me."

"Why are you Ben and he's Peter?"

"Karen called me Ben," Ben said and shrugged. "So, I'm Ben."

"Karen did? So she knows about you?"

"Yeah, she brought me here."

"She brought you here? How did she do that? Where did you come from?"

"Took a cab from the office."

"The office? Is that where you've been? I mean, that's where you've been this whole time? How long have you, you know, been you?"

"No. I was in a lab. And I don't know how long. It's hard to tell time or even count days when you've only been inside a lab. And they kept me asleep most of the time unless they were conducting tests. It wasn't fun," Ben said rubbing his arm anxiously as he remembered.

"So, what are you?" Ned said more curious now. He touched Ben's arm curiously. "An Android?"

"No. I'm not an artificial being," Ben said offended.

"Sorry," Ned said then his eyes widened. "Oh my god. Are you one of those life mod—"

"Look out!" Ben said suddenly and threw himself at Michelle and Jessica after knocking Ned down. They landed in a heap but Ben hadn't been fast enough something hit his head.

"Holy shit! Holy shit!" Ned said standing up and taking stock of himself. "We almost died!"

"Oh my god! You're bleeding!" Michelle said and with Jessica's help lifted Ben off of them.

Ben staggered a little once they were all standing.

"Are you okay?" Jessica asked nervously as she held Ben's arm to keep him steady. She looked around to call for some help. There were police and paramedics in the street in front of the school but they couldn't come close to the students because of the Spider-man/Rhino fight.

"Yeah," Ben said automatically and then he felt the warm wetness trickling down his neck. He felt the back of his head and winced. When he pulled his hand back to look at what was on his fingers he gasped.

Jessica and Michelle looked at him nervously. Ned noticed the fight had finished while he wasn't paying attention. The Rhino was finally webbed up and Spider-man looked around catching sight of them.

"Is that-is that my blood?" Ben said then he fainted. Luckily Jessica caught him before he faceplanted. Though his face landed on her chest.

"Oh my god! Tell me he's not dead!" Jessica said in a panic as she held Ben's body so that he didn't fall.

Ned looked nervous. Michelle felt for a pulse and sighed in relief.

"He's fine. I think he just fainted."

"Hey!" Spider-man said landing beside them. He'd succeeded in keeping the Rhino out of the school for the remainder of the fight but hadn't been able to stop all the debris the Rhino had flung towards the students. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, the loser just fainted at seeing his own blood," Michelle said, sounding annoyed but looked a little nervous.

"Oh! Well, the paramedics are here. I could take him over for you—"

"No, it's okay. I got him," Jessica said, cutting him off and lifting Ben in her arms bridal style. She was staring at the Rhino and gestured to his body with her head. "You should make sure that the rhino thing stays down before it runs off again."

Spider-man turned to see the Rhino struggling in the webs. He didn't wait, he rushed over and clocked him on the head to knock him out once more. He waited for the police to secure the Rhino before he left.

Jessica easily carried Ben to the paramedics with Michelle and Ned trailing after her. Ned had asked if she needed help but Jessica said Peter wasn't too heavy. She certainly didn't look like she was having any problems. One of the teachers had talked to the paramedics and said they'd get a hold of his family. Once the paramedics were ready to take Ben, Ned rode in the ambulance with him to the hospital.

Ben didn't wake until after the doctors had examined him and taken a CT scan. Luckily they were alone because Ben freaked out. He tried to rip off the IV but Ned stopped him.

"You're okay. You're in the hospital. You hit your head really hard. The doctors didn't think you'd wake up until tomorrow," Ned said and let go of Ben's hand when he saw him relax.

"Hospital?" Ben said and looked around. He'd been there before but he'd panicked and escaped because he thought he was back at the lab.

"Yeah, you had to get some stitches so they shaved a bit of your hair off," Ned said and showed him a picture on his phone of the back of Ben's head. He chuckled. "It actually looks a little funny."

"Ben!"

Ned and Ben both turned to see a man in the doorway. It was Matt. He looked a little panicked. He had a bag with him and stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Matt, what are you doing here?" Ben said sitting up a little straighter.

"Karen called and told me what happened. I came as soon as I could," he said and looked at the other kid in the room when he heard him squirm and squeak. "Hello. Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Ned Leeds sir," Ned said standing up and sticking out his hand. Matt ignored it and Ned looked uncomfortable.

"He's blind, Ned," Ben said and smiled. He addressed Matt next. "He was trying to shake your hand."

"Oh, sorry about that," Matt said and stuck out his hand. Ned shook it nervously. He'd noticed the cane but since the man hadn't used it, he didn't think he really was blind.

"So, how do you know Ben?"

"Uh, he knows Peter," Ben said before Ned could answer. "I told him who I was but there was a fight and I was knocked unconscious."

"I thought I should come with him because I was worried and I wasn't sure what would happen to him if he came alone."

"Thank you. But you can't stay here," Matt said and looked at the door then back at the kids. "When the paramedics brought you in, they thought you were Peter and called his aunt. She told the doctor who called her that she'd talked to Peter after the school contacted her. Peter told her he wasn't at the hospital that he was at school and even had a teacher confirm it. She told the doctor that they'd made a mistake in identifying you. So now they're going to try to figure out who you are. But you don't exactly have any identification. So I'm going to have to break you out."

"Oh my god, that is so cool," Ned said, sounding giddy. Is he your handler? Ned asked Ben only mouthing the words since he knew Matt was blind. Ben didn't know how to answer that question.

"You," Matt said looking in Ned's general direction, "need to leave. But you can't tell anyone about this. You never saw me and you don't know him. Do you understand? You and I could get into some serious trouble if you mention any of this to anybody."

"Uh, sure. That's not a problem at all. I can keep a secret." If I can keep Peter's secret, I can keep Ben's. And oh my god! He's a life model decoy! How awesome is that?!

Matt nodded after a beat not having detected a lie and moved towards the door. He listened carefully to make sure the coast was clear before he opened it. "Head towards the reception area and wait a couple of minutes before you leave the hospital. Go, now."

"Okay," Ned said and waved at Ben before he was out of the room.

Matt shut the door and threw the bag he was carrying onto the bed. He looked in the cabinets until he found Ben's things. His shirt was torn but his pants were intact. Matt only took out the shoes and placed the remaining items in the bag. He handed Ben a baseball cap and a change of clothes. "Put them on."

Matt helped Ben take off the heart monitor after he turned it off and the IV. While Ben changed out of his gown and into the new clothes, Matt opened a window.

"Are we going out the window?" Ben said excitedly.

"No, I just want it to look like you did," Matt said. "I turned the security cameras away from the room. We're going out the front doors."

"Oh," Ben said, sounding disappointed.

"Are you ready?"

"Yup," Ben said and stood up. He followed Matt through the hallway and into the elevator. He kept his head down like Matt told him to and before he knew it, they were walking out the front door. They were almost clear until they heard someone running up behind them.

"Peter," a girl called out.

Ben turned automatically and saw Jessica run up to him. "Oh my god, you're okay. They let you out already?" She looked from Ben to Matt curiously.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I only needed stitches," Ben said remembering what Ned had told him.

"Hey, kid, we have to go," Matt said and was happy to see Karen pull up in a cab.

"Matt! You found him, thank god!"

"Let's go," Matt said, taking Ben's arm and pulling him towards the cab. "Karen, open the door."

"See you at school tomorrow, maybe?" Jessica said awkwardly as she watched him go.

Ben waved but didn't reply. He couldn't since Matt had him in the cab before he could think of something to say.

"Do you think she'll say something?" Matt asked once the cab was moving.

"No, I don't think so," Ben said looking back through the window at the girl. He felt bad that he couldn't talk to her more before he left. To ease her worry a little.

"How do you know her?"

"He doesn't," Karen said. "She ran into us outside of school when we first arrived."

"She's one of Peter's classmates. She thought I was Peter," Ben said and shrugged. She wasn't in any of Peter's memories. But then again Michelle hadn't been either. Peter had probably recently met them. Before his memories were shared with Ben. And even though Ben had just met Jessica, he knew that he could trust her. "But I'm going to have to tell her who I am."

"Alright, if you think you can trust her," Matt said with a nod.

"I can," Ben said earnestly.

"From what Karen told me, the two of you found your family."

Ben looked at Karen curiously but she was the one who answered. "I need to do a little more digging, but we've established his identity."

"That's great!" Matt said.

"We need to set up an appointment with May Parker," Karen said, sounding a little nervous. "And we need to be careful about what we say to her."

"Okay, let's talk about it more in the office," Matt told her.

They stopped to get food on the way then settled in Matt's office. Karen talked to him about everything she'd found out that morning. Even went as far as talking to May and Ben's old neighbors. Though she reached a dead end when she tried to find anyone who'd known Richard and Mary. All May's old neighbors could tell her was that the couple only had the one child with them when they visited, Peter. The one that May and Ben took in after they passed away.

Matt listened carefully as Karen explained how she'd thought the paper had misprinted the birth announcement but that she found out that Richard and Mary only had one baby. There hadn't even been mention of a second birth. Not even a stillbirth. Matt settled back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair.

"So unless there's a huge cover-up here, I don't think anyone knows Ben exists," Karen said and looked over at the boy who'd been silent throughout the entire exchange. He had his eyes downcast the entire time. "I just don't understand how that's possible. They're twins!"

"We're not twins. I'm a clone," Ben said, making Matt turn to look at him quickly.

"What did you say?" Matt said carefully. He'd heard the kid but he wanted to make certain he'd heard correctly. He was paying attention to the kid's heartbeat and breathing. Ben was scared but he was telling the truth.

"I'm a clone," Ben said looking up to meet Matt's eyes even though they were hidden behind the red lenses. "The professor who had me locked up at the lab made me. That's why I refer to Peter Parker as my ancestor. I was created from his DNA. We have the same genetic markers. We look exactly the same. I even have his memories. I don't know why I was created. But I couldn't stay there anymore. They kept me locked up and sedated when they weren't experimenting on me. And I had memories of a life I'd never experienced. Because of that, I wanted to meet Peter. He had the right to know that I existed. After that, I wanted to have a life of my own."

Matt and Karen were quiet for a long time as they processed what they'd just heard.

"Okay," Matt said, suddenly breaking Karen and Ben out of their thoughts. "We obviously can't tell anyone about this. If anyone finds out, we could be targeted by SHIELD and anyone who is desperate enough to get their hands on cloning. And, Karen, stop investigating the Parkers just in case."

"Sure, of course," Karen said nervously.

"We'll go with the taken at birth story. But we tell May and Peter the truth about you. Does that sound fair?"

"Um, yes, yes it does," Ben said with a shaky nod.

"That would actually work," Karen said with a nod. "There's a police report from the day Ben was found stating that he escaped from his abductors. We could use that to our advantage."

"What was the officer's name? I'm going to have to talk to him," Matt said.

"Costa," Karen said, flipping through the file she had in her hand. "Eddy Costa."

"A uniform?"

"Yes."

"Good."

Chapter Text

Peter Parker couldn’t believe the run of bad luck he’d had lately. He should’ve guessed that when the girl he liked liked him, it would just end up a huge mess. But he didn’t think that. He thought he was the luckiest guy alive. He’d just saved his decathlon team. And yeah, maybe he got into trouble for going missing for a bit. But it wasn’t anything he couldn’t deal with. A few after school detentions had been worth it. The twist where his Parker Luck reared its ugly head, he couldn’t have known that was even possible. How many heroes in the world have a crush on the daughter of their main villain? Well, okay. It’s a common trope in comic books but his life wasn’t a comic book story plot. And if it was, his writers were meany heads. It all turned out semi-good in the end. He caught the bad guy. He’d redeemed himself in Tony Stark’s eyes. But he lost the girl. She moved away to the other side of the country! It was time to turn his luck around. How could things get any worse than they already had?

Peter’s phone rang loudly in the middle of the teacher’s discourse pulling him from his thoughts. Peter fumbled it in his hand when he tried to quickly pull it out of his backpack. It had scared the crap out of him. He remembered switching it to vibrate when he arrived at school. And since when was the ringer this loud? The face on the screen looking back at him was Tony’s. Why was Tony calling him during school?

“Mr. Parker, bring that phone up here now!”

“Uh, um, I kind of have to take this,” Peter said as he stood with the ringing phone in his hand. He walked towards the teacher as the other students watched.

“If you can’t keep the ringer off, I need to take it from you,” his teacher told him.

“But, it’s a-it’s Mr. Stark,” Peter said holding the phone out so the teacher could see who it was.

“Yeah, right,” Flash said with a scoff. “He probably paid someone to call him and he assigned Stark’s name to them.”

The teacher made a gimme motion and Peter gave her the phone. “Hello? Who is this? … Oh, Mr. Stark, hello. … Yes, he’s right here. … We’re in the middle of—I’m sorry. … Oh, well I assure you he’s been in school— Yes, of course,” the teacher handed the phone back to Peter. “He needs to talk to you. Please, take it in the hall.”

“Oh, yes, thank you, Ms. Carlyle,” Peter said as he hurried out to the hall.

“Was it really Tony Stark?” Peter heard Flash ask before the door closed.

“Hello. Mr. Stark?” Peter said in a hurry.

“Oh, Mr. Parker, how nice to finally hear your voice,” Tony said sarcastically.

“What do you mean? I’m in the middle of class—”

“Oh, really, you’re in class are you?” Tony said in annoyance.

“Yes, English with Ms. Carlyle,” Peter said confusedly. “Why are you calling? I got in trouble with the teacher—”

“In trouble with the teacher? Is that a thing? I don’t know if you know this but pretending to have amnesia and ending up at a hospital for freaking out in a squad car can get you into serious trouble. Not the detention after-school kind either. The type of trouble that could land you in a psych ward if not juvie. Kid, what the hell were you thinking? Is this a phase? Some sort of teen rebellion thing you have going on? Are you in need of attention?”

“Mr. Stark, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Peter said in a squeaky voice.

“No idea, really? That’s what you’re going with? Well, let me ask you this. What were you thinking about yesterday when you were wandering barefoot by the Lincoln Tunnel at six in the morning?”

“Six in the morn—Mr. Stark, I was sleeping at six in the morning. Like I always am. I’m not an early riser,” Peter said and rubbed his hand through his hair in frustration. Why was he getting a lecture for something he hadn’t even done?

“That’s funny. Because a body cam of a certain Officer Costa places you over by the Lincoln Tunnel. Would you like me to send the footage to you? Is that the only way you’ll fess up? Because god forbid you take responsibility for what you’ve done before I provide proof.”

“That wasn’t me!”

“The officer falls for your innocent act and even buys you a cheeseburger combo meal. Then you freak out at the police station like a lunatic on a bad trip. They had to sedate you and they took you to the hospital where—wouldn’t you guess—you escaped from!”

“That never happened! I woke up late and-and missed the train! I had to web my way to school! I was here all day yesterday. And I’m in school today. Right now. This is where you called me. And the teacher’s mad at me because the ring tone was super loud—”

“You webbed to school yesterday?” Tony said incredulously.

“Yes, in my suit. Ask Karen if you don’t believe me,” Peter said angrily. “I have to go. I have school, Mr. Stark.” Peter hung up the phone and went to switch the ringer off. But as he looked at the side of his phone, he noticed it was off. Tony had hacked his phone so that it would ring. There were even eleven missed calls from him. Peter hadn’t noticed because the phone had still been paired with his mask. But eleven missed calls for something that wasn’t even Peter’s fault. What the hell was going on?

When Peter walked back into class, the teacher had her hand out so that he would hand her the phone. Peter sighed and relinquished it. She placed it in her drawer and locked it.

“You can have it back at the end of the day,” Ms. Carlyle said.

“Sorry about the interruption,” Peter said as he shuffled back to his seat. How was he going to be alerted in case of an emergency now? This was all Tony’s fault.

The rest of the class dragged on while Flash threw balled up paper balls at his head. Peter ignored him. He was lost in thought. How could Tony have mistaken him for some other kid? Did he think all kids looked alike? Was Peter that unforgettable that Tony couldn’t tell him from another? He’d thought they were good. He’d even passed Tony’s avenger test and was given a new suit. That had been sweet. But now, with the false accusation, Peter didn’t know what to think.

During third period, Ned told him something was going down a few blocks away. The police were having trouble with a man dressed in a Rhino suit that had barreled into a bank vault. He was extremely strong and whatever his suit was made of seemed to be impenetrable. The bullets didn’t even phase him. Peter quickly asked to go to the bathroom. But the teacher told him to wait a couple of minutes. The bell was about to ring. As soon as it did, Peter bolted out of his seat and ran towards the entrance. He looked around and not having seen anyone watching, he jumped over the fence and quickly made his way to the alley to change.

Peter kicked his shoes off and stripped his clothes off as fast as possible before putting his Spider-suit on. He quickly put on his mask before he put his clothes in his backpack.

“Talk to me, Karen!” Peter said hurriedly.

“Hello, Peter. It looks like the Rhino is heading in your direction. You can intercept him before he makes it to the subway entrance,” Karen said calmly as Peter moved a trash bin and webbed his backpack to the back of it before shooting his webs to fling himself up to the roof.

“Thanks, Karen. Do I go straight or?”

“Make a left one block over,” Karen said.

It didn’t take long for Peter to find the Rhino. He wasn’t very hard to miss. He couldn’t help think that the people he had to go up against were just getting weirder. Who dressed as a huge ass Rhino? Did he think the police would be like ‘oh, you’re probably taking all that money to the children at the zoo? Go ahead Mr. Criminal. We believe you!’? What the hell?

Of course, Peter didn’t think all that he said it loudly. Plus a few other things he was thinking as he tried and failed to knock the guy out. He was sturdy but didn’t seem to know that he had to plant his legs. Peter didn’t have that problem. He may be smaller but he knew how to use physics in his favor. The Rhino was just tumbling and fumbling all over the place with well-timed hits. Then again could he be drunk? Or severely dehydrated in that suit? Peter asked the Rhino at seeing the huge horn topple his head back and forth like a bobblehead. Did the suit breathe? It didn’t look like it was made of cotton. What was it made of? Peter asked curiously. Because it felt kind of weird even through his gloves. Not rubber. Some sort of synthetic. How hard was it to get on or off? So, he asked. And the nonanswer explained a whole lot. The man was stuck in his one-of-a-kind Rhino suit. Figured it wasn’t a one-size-fits-all sort of thing. No one in their right mind would trample all over New York dressed like that!

Peter was getting frustrated. They were getting closer and closer to the school. The Rhino had destroyed a whole lot of property trying to squish Spider-man with cars and poles and anything that was big. Peter couldn’t catch everything in his webs. And the more he tried to stop the Rhino from getting away, the angrier the Rhino got. But he was getting tired so he assumed the Rhino was too. It wouldn’t be long before he successfully knocked the man out.

When Peter finally knocked the Rhino unconscious using a manhole cover and webbed him up, he noticed a group of students worried over another. Some of the debris had been flung their way. Peter noticed Michelle and Ned and hurried over to ask if they were okay. He quickly found out that the only student in their group who had been injured passed out at the sight of his own blood. That was good. And oh man, the Rhino was trying to get back up. Peter knocked the Rhino out again and helped the police load him up into the back of a swat truck before he made his exit. He couldn’t stick around to make a statement. He had school. Didn’t adults know anything?

Peter managed to get his backpack but had to change on the roof of the school since there was a huge crowd mugging near the school. Once he was changed, he found his way to a group of students standing in the courtyard. He tried to blend in to make it look like he’d been there the entire time. He thought he’d been sneaky but Ms. Carlyle noticed him right away.

“Peter? What are you doing here? I thought you’d gone to the hospital,” she told him.

Peter shook his head. “Why would I go to the hospital?”

“We thought you were hurt. Jessica told us you were the one in the ambulance.”

“Who’s Jessica?” Peter said curiously.

“Campbell. Well, formerly Campbell,” the teacher said awkwardly.

“Oh! The girl who was in a coma?” Peter said and Ms. Carlyle sighed sadly.

“Poor dear. She probably mistook you for someone else,” Ms. Carlyle said with a shake of her head. “So, you two aren’t friends?”

“No, I think I only spoke to her once,” Peter said. “You know, to offer her my condolences. It didn’t go very well.”

“Yes, I see,” the teacher said in understanding. Ever since the accident, Jessica tended to be abrasive. But they couldn’t blame her. She lost her entire family. It was a good thing the Joneses did in adopting her. Ms. Carlyle gave Peter a sympathetic look. “Well, here’s your phone. I went back to retrieve it when Mr. Harrington said you’d left to the hospital just in case someone called to see if you were okay.”

“Thank you, Ms. Carlyle,” Peter said, and just as he did his phone vibrated.

“Hello? Aunt May?” Peter said having seen it was his aunt on the display.

“Peter, thank god! Your school called and said you’d gone to the hospital. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m at school. One of the students mistook me for someone else.”

“You can’t be serious! They scared the bejesus out of me!”

“Let me talk to her. I need to explain what happened,” Ms. Carlyle said.

“Aunt May, my English teacher, wants to talk to you.”

“Put her on,” May said and Peter handed his phone over.

While the teacher spoke to his aunt, Peter felt someone staring at him. When he turned to look, he saw it was Michelle looking at him curiously. But she was too far away for him to ask her what her deal was. And then it didn’t matter, everyone was ushered to the auditorium. Ms. Carlyle returned his phone and helped herd the students. Seemed like they were going to have to stay on campus until school was out. They were offered the chance to talk to a trauma counselor. Some students did take them up on that. Most weren’t traumatized, they were excited. Plus the fight got them out of class. Peter pulled a granola bar out of his backpack. He was hungry since it was almost lunchtime and after that fight…his stomach grumbled loudly. When was school going to end and would they get to have lunch?

Peter didn’t have to wait long for an answer since the teachers began to pass out snacks. Fruit cups and oatmeal cookies from the cafeteria. Then they announced they were ordering pizza since lunch was interrupted. Peter grinned. Finally, some good luck was coming his way.

“So I heard you passed out when you saw your own blood?” Brian ‘Tiny’ McKeever said in amusement. He was sitting behind Peter and leaned forward to talk to him.

Peter looked over at him and shook his head. “That wasn’t me, Tiny.”

“Aw, don’t get embarrassed. We already know you’re a weakling,” Seymour O’Reilly said making Sally Avril laugh.

“I’m not embarrassed. Hemophobia is pretty common. But seriously, it wasn’t me. Jessica confused me for someone else. Whoever it was is at the hospital,” Peter said addressing Tiny who was the only one who was paying attention to what he was saying.

“No shit?” Tiny said and nudged Seymour to quiet down. “Is the kid okay?”

“I don’t know. Ms. Carlyle only said he’d gone to the hospital,” Peter said and shrugged.

“Damn,” Tiny said and sat back.

Sally said something about the other kid but Peter had stopped listening. At least it seemed everyone would know soon enough that he wasn’t the one who’d gotten hurt. But that was the second time he’d been mistaken for someone else. Did he just have one of those faces that could be mistaken for anyone? Was he just an average schmo? He hadn’t realized he asked the question aloud until he heard an answer from four seats to his right.

“No, you’re a regular loser,” Michelle said looking over at him through narrowed eyes. She was still reeling over the fact that she’d confused someone else for Peter. He was always acting weird so she couldn’t help staring at him. Had she stared at him so long that she saw him in everyone? The other kid was wearing different clothes. And even Ned had questioned whether the other kid was really Peter. So it hadn’t just been her.

“Thanks, you really know how to lift someone’s spirits,” Peter said sarcastically.

“It’s a gift,” Michelle told him and sat back feeling proud of herself. Peter rolled his eyes and dug into his fruit cup.

Maybe, Michelle thought suddenly, the other kid had been a mutant and made his face look like Peter by accident. And that’s what he was telling Ned when they were whispering. Michelle thought it was plausible. More and more people had powers. Even Jessica did. Though Jessica didn’t know Michelle knew. But whatever that accident did to her, it granted her strength. And Jessica was being just as secretive as Peter. She kept cutting class and staying out late. Michelle only knew about her coming home late because her paternal uncle had adopted Jessica and her aunt was always complaining about Jessica to Michelle’s mom. It was very annoying.

“Where the heck is Ned?” Peter said to no one in particular as he looked around the auditorium and gave up a few moments later when the principal began a film and everyone cheered.

Chapter Text

Ben was nervous. Matt had set up the appointment with May the following morning. Which was now. Only a few minutes more and she'd walk into the law office. Matt and Karen were going to speak with her in the conference room first before Ben was introduced to her. The conference room had a large window so that anyone could see inside. And that's why Ben was hiding in Matt's office. He felt claustrophobic all of the sudden and there were butterflies somersaulting in his stomach. He didn't know how much longer he could wait before he felt the need to jump out the window.

As if she knew her presence was needed, May arrived. Ben heard May's voice as she greeted Matt and Karen. He could hear everything. The office had thin walls. Plus he knew his hearing was better than most. Maybe not better than Matt's. Ben began to pace. He wasn't sure if it was better to listen in or cover his ears. Should he wait to hear from Matt directly whether May would want to meet him or not?

Ben hadn't even noticed in all his nervousness that he was pacing on the ceiling, not the floor. He'd also not heard a single word of what was being said in the other room because he was talking to himself as he tried to decide what was best. And so luck would have it that the first time he set eyes on May she was upside down.

"Oh, dear God," May said as she looked up at Ben. Matt and Karen had stayed in the conference room. May said she wanted to meet the boy before she'd heard the entire explanation. But she hadn't thought that when they said Peter was cloned that the clone would have also inherited Peter's powers along with his memories.

Ben in his shock fell from the ceiling with a loud thump. "Ow."

May started to giggle. "You'd think I'd be used to that by now," she said as she walked over to Ben to help him to his feet. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm perfectly fine," Ben said sheepishly.

"What happened?" Matt said from the doorway. Karen was hovering behind him.

May chuckled and waved her hand in response. "Just a spell of the 'ol Parker charm. They never were great at first impressions."

Matt and Karen looked confused.

"Hey! You surprised me. Ever heard of knocking?" Ben said in annoyance with the same squeaky tone Peter used when he was embarrassed which made May chuckle again.

"Oh, sweetheart," she said and took him in her arms. Ben melted into the hug and got misty-eyed. He didn't think she'd accept him so easily. "It wasn't an insult. Only pointed out a family trait."

"Oh."

May stepped up to him and cupped his face. "I didn't think it was possible, I hoped, but…after everything, I thought it was too late."

"What?" Ben said confusedly. May wasn't making any sense.

"Peter always did want a brother."

Ben sucked in a breath in surprise then chuckled. "I'm pretty sure he wanted a little brother, not one his age that looked identical to him."

"Oh, I think we both know he's a little full of himself."

"I resemble that remark." Ben smiled lopsidedly at her which made May laugh.

Matt and Karen retreated leaving the pair alone to get to know one another. Karen sighed happily. She'd been nervous when May abruptly stood up to see Ben before she'd heard everything but it seemed she'd been wrong about May from the get-go. And she was all the happy for it.

Ben hugged her again. He was so happy that May had accepted him. He'd been so nervous but May had a big heart. He knew that. But still. It couldn't be easy for her to see another person who looked just like her son standing before her.

"Oh my god, it was you! Wasn't it?" May said pushing him back to get a better look at him.

"Me? What'd I do?" Ben said, taken aback. How could he have possibly done anything to get him in trouble? He'd just met her.

"When the school called to say Peter was at the hospital. It was you," May said and covered her mouth with her hand. Ben nodded nervously. "Are you okay? Did you break something? Were you all alone?"

"I'm fine. Just needed stitches," he said and showed her the bald patch at the back of his head where the cut had long since healed. Matt had taken out the stitches the night before. Ben didn't know what it looked like but the skin felt back to normal when he ran his fingers in the area.

May couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips. "Oh, we need to fix this. It looks horrendous. You know what, this could be China."

"Yeah, well," Ben said and shrugged. He couldn't see it and he didn't really care. But she was the second person to laugh at him for it. Matt was blind so he didn't know any better and he was certain Karen hadn't noticed it, yet.

May ran a hand through his hair when he turned back around and looked at him with glassy eyes. She already loved him. There was no doubt in her heart about it. But she could tell that this boy in front of her wasn't Peter. He wasn't her boy no matter how badly she wanted him to be. There was something haunting in his eyes. He'd been through a lot in the short time of his existence. And he was ready to be his own man. That was something Peter was ready for as well. Though with Peter she wasn't ready to cut the metaphorical cord. But this boy, Ben, needed to be on his own to figure out who he was and what it was he wanted to do with his life. May couldn't be the one to guide him either. He was already pulling away from her.

Ben took her hand in his and placed it back at her side. Then he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. This was Peter's Aunt May and even though he had memories of her, she wasn't his anything. He couldn't forget that no matter how good it felt that she treated him like she did Peter. Because he wasn't Peter. He was Ben.

May held her hand out so that Ben could take it and he automatically did. "I need to finish talking to Mr. Murdock but it's better if you're present since we're talking about you."

Ben nodded and allowed May to guide him back to Matt's office.

"And, Ben…"

Ben sucked in a breath at hearing her say the name he'd taken. He thought she'd be upset about that. Because it wasn't only Peter's middle name but also her recently deceased husband's name.

"You might not be Peter but you're my nephew, my family. You got that?" May's voice was stern. Ben nodded. "Whatever you need, I'm here for you."

"And it doesn't bother you...that I took the name Ben?"

"Of course not," May said through loved filled eyes. "It suits you."

Ben ducked his head but smiled happily. "Thank you."

"Alright, let's find out what Mr. Murdock wanted to tell me."

When May had first arrived at the office, she wasn't sure what to expect. Hearing from a lawyer who became famous for defending the Fantastic Four for something as innocuous as real estate—Murdock had had bigger cases since then but he was well known in the city due to representing the heroes—was enough to garner her interest and also worry. She'd thought Murdock wanted to speak to her about Peter's alter ego and was relieved in finding out that Spider-man wasn't the reason she was called in. But it was in reference to Peter as she'd suspected. Except it wasn't anything she could have predicted. The word clone reminded her of the sheep Dolly and all she could picture was a toddler Peter in the other room. Dread and worry for the boy filled her. She had to see him for herself before she heard anything else.

Seeing that the clone was not only Peter's identical in every way, not just age, filled her with so many emotions she couldn't process completely. She loved him as soon as she laid eyes on him but she had an undercurrent of fear towards the boy. Clones didn't live as long as the originals. Or that was what she'd gotten out of the Dolly experiment. She wasn't great with science but she knew a thing or two. She tried to keep up for Peter's sake. She knew there were things she would never understand. But she did know that cloning humans the way Ben had been cloned should not be possible. And therefore, he was in deep shit.

May looked over the police report once she had settled back in the conference room with Ben. After reading that Ben had escaped the lab and hearing that Daredevil had placed Ben with Matt for safekeeping, she made a grab for Ben's hand and held it tightly.

"Is he being hunted? Is that what you're saying?" May was panicking; she could feel her heart racing and her breathing quicken. Wasn't it already bad enough that he'd have a short life span? He was also being hunted down by some insane scientist. And who knew who else.

"We're not sure," Matt told her quickly. "I imagine that they're looking for him. And the first place they'll think of looking for him is with you."

"That's not helping, Matt," Karen whispered to him and he clammed up.

"Stop freaking out, May," Ben told her in a broken voice and kneeled before her. He cupped her face and forced her to look at him. He hated it when May freaked out. Or rather Peter did and therefore he did too. Because it made him freak out. "Please. Daredevil is watching over me and I'm safe at Matt's place. No one would think of looking for me there. And I know I shouldn't have gone to Peter's school or told Ned who I really was and that Jessica will probably figure out that there was something weird about me so now I have to talk to her and make sure she isn't going to punch Peter in the face for it—"

"Okay, okay. It's okay, sweetheart. I'm okay," May told Ben and pulled him into a hug. Then she pushed him back. "You told Ned you were a clone?!"

"No!" Ben said quickly and shook his head. "I told him I wasn't Peter. I swear, he was cool with it. Probably more excited than he should be that Karen had taken me to the school—"

"Karen?" May said and looked at Karen Paige. The woman smiled sheepishly and ran an anxious hand through her hair. It hadn't been the best idea to leave Ben alone at the school; she knew that now.

"But he probably thought you were talking about Peter's Karen." May suddenly stood up and started to pace.

"Peter's Karen?" Matt said curiously.

Ben leaned against the table and faced May as he waited for her explanation. He didn't know Peter knew a Karen.

"His AI," May said dismissively. "He named it Karen."

"Peter has an AI named Karen?" Matt said in surprise. He looked towards Karen with a tilt of his head wondering what she thought about that. Why would a sixteen-year-old kid need an AI? And how was it possible that he had the knowledge to create one? Was Peter a genius? Did that make Ben a genius? Was that the reason he was cloned? Matt had a flurry of questions running through his mind. None he would have answers to anytime soon.

"Yes, Tony Stark gave it to him for—" May cut herself off before she outed Peter. She looked at Ben who was subtly shaking his head. She was saying too much.

Tony had an AI for his Iron Man suit. So it was only logical he'd give one to Peter for his Spider-man suit. Which meant, Ben guessed, that May, Tony Stark—holy fuck! Peter talks to Iron Man!—and Ned knew that Peter was masquerading around New York as Spider-man. Holy shit!

Ben hadn't told Matt or Karen that Peter was Spider-man and he wasn't planning to. It was bad enough Ben was a clone. Adding more to Matt and Karen's plates was going to make the situation they were in so much worse.

"Peter interns at Stark Tower as Tony Stark's personal intern," May told them and figured that was a good explanation. One that Tony Stark himself would back.

"Wow," Karen said and looked over at Ben realizing that the only reason Peter went to Midtown High—a school that was known for its science academics—and interned for Tony Stark was because the boy had to be super smart. Ben must be as well. If you were going to clone someone it had to be for a goddam good reason and she couldn't think of anything better than intelligence other than superpowers. Like the ones that Spider-man had. And Ben had said Peter was in the alley where Spider-man had been spotted. Oh, fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Did that mean that Spider-man was a teenage boy? Was he Peter Parker? Did Ben have superpowers too?

Karen halted her line of thinking. If it was true then it was dangerous for her to know. Even more dangerous for Matt given that he was Daredevil. Dear God, Matt stumbled into a shit storm when he took the boy in. She really hoped that by helping Ben it didn't bite him in the ass.

"So you can imagine the amount of tech the boy gets his hands on." May finished off with a nervous chuckle. "But back to Ned. What did he say to you?"

"Um, okay, he um, he thought I was an Android. So that makes more sense now since he imagined that an AI sent me to the school," Ben said and scratched his head. "In the end, he agreed to keep me a secret."

"Ned can't keep a secret for the life of him," May said exasperatedly.

"I know," Ben said, hanging his head. "But nobody will believe him if he accidentally says anything?"

Matt sighed heavily. "We need to make sure he hasn't said anything."

"He's gotten better at keeping secrets," May said thinking back to the fact that Ned managed to keep Peter's Spider-man secret from her. She handed her phone to Ben. "Talk to him and make sure he hasn't said anything to Peter. I don't think we should tell Peter about you yet. We need to keep you both separated until we're sure we can keep you both safe from that scientist professor guy or whatever maniac is looking for you."

Ben swallowed hard. He hadn't even thought that he'd make Peter a target when he escaped the lab. "Yeah, sure. I can do that." May already had Ned's contact on the screen. Ben pressed the call button and placed the phone to his ear.

"Mrs. Parker? Is everything okay?" Ned answered nervously.

"It's not May. It's me, Ned," Ben said and ran a nervous hand through his hair. How should he ask Ned whether or not he kept his mouth shut nicely?

"Peter? Dude, why are you calling me when you're standing right in front of me?"

Ben facepalmed. And he heard Matt sigh softly.

"What are you talking about, Ned? I'm not calling you," Ben heard Peter say sounding completely confused. "See. My phone in my hand. Not even on."

"He's being dorkier than usual," Ben heard Michelle say though she was further away.

"Ned, you idiot, it's me, Ben! Ben!"

"Right. Right," Ned said into the receiver then sounded like he turned away from it. "Uh, sorry dude, you sound like my friend Ben."

"Your friend Ben? Who the heck is Ben? I'm your only friend, Ned."

"Um, um. Well, I have a new friend."

"New friend?"

"I can make new friends, Peter."

"Sorry, loser, you just got replaced."

"What?!"

"No. That's not—I can't replace you with you!"

"That makes no sense, Ned."

"You have an imaginary Peter friend? You really are a dork."

"A Peter friend? What the hell, Ned?" Peter's voice had raised an octave and it was starting to get squeaky. Like it did when he was embarrassed or frustrated about something.

Ben could hear Michelle chuckling in the background.

"Michelle, I'm talking to my friend if you don't mind," Ned said, suddenly sounding very serious.

"Whatever, dork."

"Peter, look. There comes a time in a man's life when he has to expand his horizons—"

Ben hung up the phone and handed it back to May. "He hasn't said anything."

Chapter Text

Jessica Jones didn’t have any friends. Well, not anymore. She did before her entire life changed. But she didn’t care to have any now. Because what was the point. Her family was dead. That was it. Her family was dead. And she would give anything to have her family back. Even her annoying little brother that she missed more than she could have ever imagined.

The people she went to school with, like Flash Dickface Thompson, were all assholes. They thought she was a freak just because she was the only one of her family to survive the accident and wasn’t crying in the halls after she’d come out of that fucking coma. Just because she didn’t cry in front of them or answer their stupid ass questions about what it was like to be in a coma the way they wanted her to didn’t mean she was a freak. The fact that ended up with super strength and could sort of fly was a good reason to call her a fucking freak. And if she thought that made her a freak, then it had to be true. 

It wasn’t true though. And she knew it. Plus she missed her best friend MJ. But not enough to actually want to do the entire friend thing again. Because what she really missed was what she had before the accident when she and MJ were still cool. The person she was now, well, she didn’t know that person yet. She had plenty of time to figure that out. She was still in high school after all. And her new parents—yup, she had new parents now—were very supportive of her figuring it out. Yeah, so fucking supportive they made her go to talk therapy which didn’t help at all. But she knew they meant well. If Jessica was a sucker for anything it was people who tried to help someone else even if they went about it in shitty ways. 

When her new dad told her to call them mom and dad after he’d introduced himself to her when she came out of the coma and was all alone in the world, what could she do but comply? Well, it took her some time. After the yelling and the crying and her being a major asshole to them. Even after all of that they still gave her a home. And they allowed her to go back to the same school so that not every part of her life had to be different. Hell, her new mom didn’t put up with her bullshit much like her old mom didn’t. They got along like cats and dogs. And her new dad thought it was funny. And she loved them both. Because it was easy to. They were good people. So she tried to be a good daughter to them. 

That was before she figured out that she was stronger than before. A lot stronger. So strong she managed to uproot a tree. A big fucking tree. And she got it in her head that maybe if she could do that then perhaps, she could fly too. That didn’t work as well. She was good with the liftoff. It was the landing that didn’t turn out the way it should. She often fell short of her mark. More often than not she didn’t even land on her feet. But it was okay. She was tougher than before. Could take the awkward landings and even the bumps and bruises without a problem. Because another thing she found out was, well, she healed a little faster than before. The thing was, she didn’t know what to do with her new abilities. Until she decided to follow in Spider-man’s footsteps and help random people who needed protection from stupid assholes who thought they could do as they pleased. That was when she got into a lot of trouble with her mom. 

Crime didn’t happen at the most convenient times. And she was trying to keep a low profile. Making it a point to only help after school and before curfew made it blatantly obvious that she didn’t have a lot of time to actually make a difference. So on occasion, she ditched a few classes if there was something happening that was too much for the cops to handle. Most of the time Spider-man beat her to the punch but that was fine. She could at least watch and learn from the sidelines. Not that she learned much. He swung around those damn webs and was a lot more lythe than she was. 

The thing was, nobody knew about her and that was actually cool with her. Well, the people she helped knew about her. They had actually given her the idea to wear a costume and choose a name. So she went by the name Jewel if anyone asked. She didn’t wear a mask but she wore make-up and a wig. It actually made her look different and a little older than she actually was. The media hadn’t caught wind of the new protector on the block. J. Jonah Jameson helped conceal her activity. The man was so hard up for Spider-man that Jewel didn’t even make his radar. It helped that she was quick to jump in to help then leave as soon as the job was done. No one had caught her on camera yet. Which was a major plus. 

She was underestimated more often than not and it helped her take down the bad guys. And it made her happy to know that she could go out and help with her abilities. But no good deeds went unpunished. She had constant fights with her mom about how utterly irresponsible she was. With the ditching. And the coming home late. And the hooker hair and makeup she forgot to get rid of before she walked through the front door of her house after one in the morning on a school night. Could anyone blame her? Fighting crime was exhausting. 

Being a teen hero was shit for moods when you were constantly stressed out and knew you were going to get chewed out again for doing the right thing that no one even knew you were doing. Keeping a secret identity sucked major balls. But it made Jessica happy. On the inside. On the outside, she bit everybody’s head off. It helped keep her cover. Plus she didn’t care to put up with anyone’s shit. And she wasn’t looking to get attached to anyone ever again.

The exception, Peter Parker. Why couldn’t she get over him? From the moment she laid eyes on him, she just didn’t see anyone else. Well, other than Johnny Storm and the fantasies she had about him that helped her get off before she lay her head to sleep. The problem with Peter was that he didn’t look at or talk to anyone but Ned. In all fairness, it was the same for her, she only spoke to MJ. Only because they knew each other from Junior High and she didn’t know anyone else at Midtown. They’d sort of gravitated towards each other at first but then became great friends. Too bad that didn’t last. Story of her life. 

Her crush on Peter was all-encompassing at the time. She just couldn’t stop admiring Peter from afar. And just when she garnered the courage to confess her feelings for him, he was hurt at a science exhibit and taken to the hospital. She knew then and there that it just wasn’t meant to be for them. 

It wasn’t too long after the science exhibition that the accident where she lost her family happened. By the time Jessica had come out of the coma, she found out a few things about Peter Parker. He’d changed. He’d stopped wearing glasses. Had gotten rid of the braces. He was even better looking than before. But he’d turned into a flake in class. He was always running late. Sometimes even missing class or forgetting to turn in assignments. He dropped all but one of his extracurricular activities. And might even be lying about having an internship with the fucking Tony Stark. He not only ditched the decathlon team on an important meet but also Liz Allen, a freaking beautiful senior, at the prom. 

Peter Parker was no longer the reliable, sweet, honest guy that Jessica had fallen for. Though she still had feelings for him. She just buried them deep down. Especially when he finally deemed her worthy of a conversation only to look at her with pity. She didn’t need that. Not from him. She even managed to stop staring at him like a starry-eyed idiot. Instead, Jessica kept her focus on her schoolwork. She had twice as much as before because she was determined to get caught up. She was going to graduate on time. She might have missed the end of her freshman year and the beginning of her sophomore year but by spring break she’d caught up with everyone else and was on track to finish the school year on time. 

Things were looking up for Jessica. So much so that when she ran into Peter outside of school she found the courage to actually speak to him. Mostly out of curiosity. Because she had to know who the woman with Peter was. She was in her mid-twenties at the very least and was well put together. Really pretty too. As close as they were standing with his hand on her mouth while he peeked into the alley made Jessica think something weird had happened. Like maybe he was helping her get away from someone. If that was the case, Jessica could definitely help. Maybe there was a jackass in there that had been harassing her. A deadbeat boyfriend. Or just some random asshole. Either way, Jessica could take him. And she wouldn’t care to expose her abilities to Peter. He didn’t partake in gossip. And he may have changed, but he wasn’t a complete asshole.

Jessica didn’t notice at first because Michelle and Flash interrupted but Peter hadn’t said a word to her. And she came to the conclusion that he didn’t want to speak to her. She’d been an asshole to him and he decided to treat her indifferently. But if that was the case, she would make him admit it. Except he didn’t. Instead, his explanation made it seem like everything had been a huge misunderstanding. From his pity to his shy behavior. Because that was what Jessica chalked it up to be. When he smiled, Jessica couldn’t help but smile back. When he was hurt, she wanted to be there for him. But Ned jumped into the ambulance before she could. 

As soon as her dad found out about the Rhino attack at the school, he rushed over to pull her out for the day. She was grateful for that but he didn’t let her out of his sight until after she’d sat down to eat with him. After the third time that she asked to visit Peter at the hospital, he finally relented. By the time Jessica arrived, Peter was leaving. With some blind man and the same woman he’d been with outside of the school. They were in a hurry to leave. Her curiosity got the best of her and she hailed a cab to follow them. Turned out the man was a lawyer. Matt Murdock. She should’ve recognized him. He was well known in New York. But the real question was, why would Peter need a lawyer? She decided to ask him the next day at school.

When Jessica saw Peter the next day between classes, she smiled at him but he walked right past her like he didn’t know her. And that pissed her off.

“Hey, what gives, asshole?” Jessica said angrily, reaching out for his arm before he completely passed her up. But he spun away from her arm and stared at her with wide-eyes. Jessica pulled her hand back and held it up with her palm out trying to convey she didn’t mean any harm. Why had he reacted that way? Jessica wanted to know. “What the fuck was that?”

“Oh, sorry,” Peter said apologetically. He fidgeted in place and adjusted his backpack so that it rested on his back completely instead of dangling at his side as it had been. “I didn’t mean to get in your way.”

“You didn’t,” Jessica said with a frown marring her face. She was feeling more confused by the moment. Because Peter was looking at her as if he had no clue who she was.

“Oh, then why…?” He tilted his head to the side then grimaced. A spark of recognition had entered his eyes. Jessica had noticed and waited to see what he’d say but then he took a step away. “Uh, nevermind. I’ll just, um...I’m going this way,” Peter said and turned away from her slipping in between a crowd of students. He quickly made his way towards Ned who had just turned to face Peter. 

Ned looked nervous about something. He’d just finished talking to the Principal who was looking at Jessica with a deep frown. Though Principal Morita only shook his head and turned around when he made eye contact with her. So Jessica decided to follow Peter to find out if Ned would say anything about whatever the Principal said to him. That or she was going to have to talk to Ned later because he’d thrown her under the bus for something. She was certain of that.

Before Peter reached Ned, he received a phone call. And the conversation that ensued was completely ridiculous. Jessica decided that Michelle was right about Peter and Ned; they were losers. She didn’t have time for losers or assholes and decided it wasn’t worth the trouble to find any answers. They might accidentally draw her closer to them in the process. Only to get hurt by them. The way Peter had just hurt her by blowing her off. Apparently, whatever moment they’d shared the day before was long and forgotten from Peter’s standpoint. Jessica ducked her head and made her way to her next class ignoring Flash calling her a freak for the umpteenth time. 

Chapter Text

Ben was only listening with half an ear as Matt and May came up with a game plan for his immediate future. He felt like a child while the adults planned out his days. Breakfast with Matt, lunch with May, and Matt would take most evenings depending on Peter’s schedule. All in the name of them not crossing paths, which was the only thing Ben actually wanted.

Ben couldn’t go to school just in case the professor was searching for him in the midst of the public education system. It was decided that he’d go to an online high school under the surname Reilly, which was May’s maiden name. 

By the time they hashed everything out, Ben was resting his head on the table with his arms stretched out because he was bored out of his mind. The entire time his knee had been bouncing because of all the excess energy that he couldn’t release. He would’ve preferred to be sedated. Then again...probably not. He’d had enough of that in one lifetime. He sighed heavily thanking his lucky stars that there were people in his life who cared enough about him to make plans for him. 

“Oh sweetheart, you probably want to get out of this place,” May said as she ran her hand over his hair. When her fingers brushed his bald patch, she chuckled. “I know, let’s go get you a haircut and get this fixed.”

“Are you sure?” Ben asked sitting up suddenly. A spark of excitement shot through him just at the thought of getting out of the office. But then he felt guilty. May was wasting a lot of time on him when she was a busy woman and had Peter to look out for. He was nothing to her even if she saw him as her nephew. “I mean, don’t you have to get to work? You’ve been here all morning. I’ve taken up enough of your time.”

“I switched shifts with someone else.” She checked the time on her watch. “I still have a few hours. Come on, let’s get you that haircut.”

“Is it okay?” Ben asked Matt just to be certain. According to what he and May had been saying, he would stay under Matt‘s custody. Ben wasn’t sure what that meant in technical terms but from a teen’s eye view, it sounded like Matt was sort of his dad. As such, Ben had to ask his permission, right?

“Yes, of course,” Matt said with a soft smile.

Ben grinned and jumped to his feet. He hopped in place and turned to look at May. “I’m ready. I’ve been ready!”

“Are you sure? We can sit for a few more minutes and wait for the clouds to clear up a bit,” May said looking out the window with a smirk. 

Matt chuckled softly. 

“My ass is numb, May,” Ben said in annoyance and hopped in place again. “I can’t sit for another minute! I’d jump out the window if I could fly! Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go!” Ben rushed to the door. 

May couldn’t help it. She began to laugh. “Alright, hold your horses. I can’t move as fast as I used to.”

“You’re not that old, May!” Ben said and walked back to take her by the elbow. He saw Matt smiling and barely containing his need to laugh. “Don’t make me carry you. Cause I will.” He winked at Matt even though he damn well knew the man couldn’t see him. The nasal laugh that Matt expelled let Ben know that the emotion was conveyed regardless. 

“Oh, I’m just giving you a hard time,” May said and picked up her pace. She turned to look at Matt. “Maybe we should add regular walks and a visit to the vet to that list.”

“Har har!” Ben said waving at Matt. 

“See you soon, kid.”

They reached the stairs when Ben heard Matt call to him, “You forgot your hat.”

“I’ll meet you downstairs,” Ben said in a hurry. He ran back towards the office and easily caught the cap that Matt threw at him. “Thanks, dad. Promise to be home at a decent hour.”

Matt had stiffened a little at the term dad but then relaxed when he felt the humor the boy was exuding. “By dinner.”

“Dinner then. See ya!” Ben said and rushed to catch up with May outside.

“So, are we really getting me a haircut?” Ben said hoping the answer was no because that meant he had to sit longer. All he wanted to do was run and jump and do anything that required physical activity.

“Yes,” May said with an emphatic nod. “I refuse to allow any nephew of mine run around with a bald patch.”

“Uh-huh,” Ben said dismissively as he looked around. “So, um,” Ben began without looking at May, “how’s Peter?”

“Hmm?” May said looking over at the boy curiously. “Peter?”

“Yeah,” Ben said and looked at his feet and away again. 

“Oh, you know, he keeps himself busy with school and Spider-manning,” May said the last part in a whisper. 

“Do you think, uh, that he’ll, you know, accept me?” Ben said looking away towards the cars. 

May noticed that he’s ears were pink and she smiled softly. “Maybe he’ll freak out when he first sees you, but then he’ll be very excited about you. He’ll probably want to show you off.”

“Like a new puppy?” Ben said with a grimace. 

“Oh, honey, no,” May said sympathetically. “He’ll love you! I love you and I just met you!”

“But only because I remind you of him,” Ben said looking over at her. 

“Actually, no. You look like him. My god, you’re identical! But at the same time, I see you. You’re quieter than Peter. And your expressions are...different.” She didn’t want to say haunted and that because of that he seemed older. He’d lost his innocence. May didn’t think he’d get that back. But that didn’t mean he had to get by on his own. She was grateful to Matt for that. At the very least, Ben would have a better male role model than Peter. “Does that make sense?”

“I think so?” Ben said as he scratched the back of his neck. Michelle had said something similar. “Thanks.”

May smiled and took hold of his arm. “We’re here. Let’s go inside and fix you up.”

They didn’t have to wait long before Ben was seated for his haircut. He kept his eyes closed to make sure the hair clippings didn’t get into his eyes. Once the barber brushed the excess hair off his face, neck, and head he told Ben to take a look.

“Woah,” Ben said as he stared at his reflection in shock. A ran a hand over his head and smiled. 

“It’s bold, but it suits you,” May said walking up behind him. 

May smiled at the barber and thanked him. It had been his idea to give Ben a buzz cut because it was the only way to fix the bald patch. The hair had begun to grow some but not enough. Ben had to come up with a reason on the fly to explain why he’d chopped off a chunk of his hair at the crown of his head. Gum. Yeah, he said he was trying to get rid of the gum. He couldn’t say the hospital did it while they were stitching him up when he didn’t even have a scar.

“May, I’ll pay you back for the haircut,” Ben said. He felt bad that she was spending her hard-earned money on him.

“Oh, don’t worry, honey,” May said rubbing his arm. “Stark is funding this make-over.” She waved a SI credit card at him. “Now, let’s go get you new clothes to go with your new hair.”

“Or non-hair,” Ben said and ran a hand over the top of his head. He couldn’t stop touching it. It felt good. “Wait, did you say Stark? You know Tony Stark too? Do you work for him?”

“No, not me,” May said and shook her head. “Peter is Tony’s intern. But he gave me this card for emergencies. I think this qualifies. I’ve never had to use it. It should be fine.”

“Oh, well, if you say so,” Ben said with a shrug. 

May pulled him towards a shop. They only bought the bare necessities. Ben insisted that he’d get a job to buy what he needed so that May wouldn’t worry about anything. She couldn’t afford to provide for two kids, and Ben didn’t feel comfortable taking advantage of Tony Stark’s generosity. Especially when it was aimed at Peter. Tony had no idea that Ben even existed. And it would have to stay that way for the time being. At least until Peter met Ben. And Ben was starting to get frustrated about how long he had to wait for that to even happen. 

Ben and May parted ways after shopping. May had to get to work. Ben headed back to Matt’s place to drop off his clothes. He didn’t have a key so he had to go in through the roof access. Matt left that door open. He said he didn’t have to worry about anyone breaking in through there. Ben didn’t go inside, he only left the bags by the door. He decided to go for a walk to get rid of the pent-up energy. He had no destination in mind other than to steer clear of Midtown. 

Ben felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end and the feeling of electricity run up his spine before he heard the screams. He took off running towards the sound. Something was happening and his senses were telling him to run and hide. But Ben couldn’t do that. Not when someone was in danger. He had to help somehow. He just wasn’t sure what he could do. He would have to think up something when he arrived. 

Ben turned a corner and skidded to a stop. The screams had turned to cheers. On the street in front of a laundromat was Jessica Jones. She was wearing some sort of white bodysuit with teal trim and gloves. Her hair was different. It was a light shade of purple. But Ben would know that face anywhere. Except, Jessica was smiling as she stood over a man dressed up in yellow spandex. She told the people who were applauding her to call the cops because the idiot wouldn’t be knocked out for long. Then she took off in a run and just flew away. 

What the hell? Jessica can fly?

Ben ran after her. He followed her as she cleared a few blocks before he lost her. He figured she’d landed on a roof of the last building she went over. After running into an alley and seeing no one around, he climbed it. It didn’t take him long to make it to the roof and once he was on top of it, he saw Jessica. 

Her back was to him but he could feel the excitement radiating off of her. She chuckled and Ben smiled. Jessica Jones was a superhero. 

“Hey,” Ben said softly. He had to pretend to be out of breath. There was no point letting in on the fact that he had powers too. Not if he didn’t want her to put two and two together and figure out that Peter did too. 

Jessica whirled around to face him and put up her hands defensively. She recognized him after a second. Even at the shock of seeing him up on the roof, she didn’t drop her fists. 

“Who are you?” Jessica said. She sounded scared. 

“Well,” Ben said and after removing his cap, scratched his head. 

“I know you’re not Peter. Why do you look like him?” Jessica said as she eyed him suspiciously. 

“No, I’m not Peter. My name is Ben. We met in front of the school. And you sort of mistook me for him. Everybody does actually. It’s kind of annoying,” Ben said and shrugged. 

“No shit. You look just like him,” Jessica said, finally dropping her hands. “Why is that?”

“Sort of a side effect of having the same genetic markers,” Ben said and rubbed his head awkwardly. 

“What’s with the new look?” Jessica said and gestured to his head. 

“Oh!” Ben said and chuckled. “I had a bit of an accident if you remember?” Jessica nodded. “Yeah, well, the hospital shaved a spot on my head. And May decided to get me a haircut so that it didn’t look so funny.”

Jessica sniffed and looked away. She felt uncomfortable standing in front of him in her Jewel outfit. 

“I saw you,” Ben said and grinned. “You took down that guy and then flew away. So, obviously, I had to follow you.”

“Yeah, obviously,” Jessica said and smiled at him. 

“Matt, the guy who picked me up at the hospital, wanted me to talk to you about what happened at school and the fact that I’m not Peter. I told him you wouldn’t say anything. But he wanted me to make sure and I sort of wanted to see you again too. So there’s that.”

“What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I say anything?”

“Well, no one knows about me. I mean, you know about me. And Ned. And Matt and Karen. Oh, and May. But no one else does.”

“You mean Peter doesn’t know about you,” Jessica said knowingly. 

Ben nodded and his shoulders sagged. “All I want to do is meet him. But Matt and May think it’s for the best that we don’t, not yet anyway.”

“Why?” 

“Because I sort of escaped some crazy lab where I was being kept and experimented on by some weird professor guy. Matt thinks that the guy might be looking for me. And he’d imagine that the first place I’d run to would be my family. Which is exactly what I did. And until Matt and Karen can figure out who this guy is, I might be putting him in danger by meeting him so I’m supposed to stay away from him.”

“Oh,” Jessica said and rubbed her arm. “That sucks.”

“Yeah,” Ben said and crossed his arms over his chest. He didn’t know what else to say. 

“Well, don’t worry. I won’t say anything,” Jessica said and Ben nodded. He already knew she wouldn’t. “So what are you going to do?”

“About what?”

“School or whatever,” Jessica said. Ben wouldn’t be going to her school if he had to stay away from Peter. 

“Oh, Matt’s enrolling me into an online school.”

“How are you going to meet anyone if you’re online all day?”

“Well,” Ben said and smiled. “I already met you.”

“That’s reassuring,” Jessica said and they both chuckled. “Since I’m ditching anyway, you want to do something.”

“Sure.”

“Let me just change,” Jessica said and walked over to the staircase entrance. She had left her backpack there. She turned around to see Ben looking at her curiously and she scoffed. “Some privacy would be nice.”

“Sorry,” Ben said and pointed to the alley. “I’ll wait for you down there then.”

He grabbed on to the ledge and hopped over to the fire escape. He made his way down slowly just in case. When he jumped down the last floor, Jessica landed beside him with a resounding thud. 

“Woah,” Ben said and looked at her as she stood up straight out of a crouch. “You jumped down?”

“It was faster than taking the stairs,” Jessica shrugged. “No one knows about me. What I can do, that is.”

“You’re literally looking at a walking secret. You can trust me to keep yours.”

“Cool.”

Ben grinned.

Chapter Text

Peter was sitting in the cafeteria with Ned while they were eating their lunch. Neither of them was talking. Not because they didn’t have anything to say. As a matter of fact, they both wanted to talk but kept eyeing each other then they would both look at Michelle who was sitting in front of them instead of a few chairs down as she usually did. She was holding a book open with both her hands but she wasn’t reading it. Instead, Michelle was staring at Peter as if she was waiting for him to say something. 

“Michelle, why are you staring at Peter?” Ned asked after a few minutes of excruciating silence.

“I’m not staring. I’m reading my book,” Michelle said, still staring at Peter.

“But your eyes are looking right at me,” Peter said in disbelief. He nudged Ned. “Right? She’s boring right into my pupils.”

“Well, more like the bridge of your nose,” Ned said as he drew an invisible line from Michelle’s line of sight to Peter’s face.

“No, right at my pupils. I would know,” Peter said and waved a hand in front of Michelle’s face. “It’s making me uncomfortable. Could you please stop?”

“I’m sorry,” Michelle said sarcastically with a slow blink as she turned a page. “I was training how to read from my peripheral. I wasn’t staring at you. But I’ll stop if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“Yes, thank you,” Peter said.

“Reading from your peripheral? How does that work?” Ned said curiously as he took another bite of his food.

“What were you talking to Jessica about earlier?” Michelle asked Peter, ignoring Ned’s question.

Peter sputtered and then wiped his mouth. “What? I wasn’t...Jessica? What?”

“Betty said she looked really upset after she talked to you. What did you say to her?” Michelle said and leaned forward crossing her hands on the table.

“I wasn’t talking to her,” Peter said with a shake of his head.

“Why are you denying it?” Michelle said with narrowed eyes. “You were talking to her in the hallway before Ned told you about his new friend the mutant.”

“Mutant?” Peter said looking at Ned suspiciously.

“Oh, yeah! You were talking to her!” Ned snapped his fingers when he remembered. “What, um, what did she want?” Ned said, wanting to know what Jessica said to him. 

Ned had already had to lie to the principal about Ben saying he’d thought he was Peter too until he got a good look at the boy’s face. Then he said he left the hospital after the kid was out of surgery but before he woke up because Ned's mom was worried and he needed to go home. And that was why he never found out what the kid’s name was and that maybe he didn’t even go to their school. That he was definitely wearing Columbia University sweatpants and no one from their school would be caught dead wearing their merchandise since everyone at Midtown was MIT bound as far as he knew. But before Ned could ramble on anymore the principal cut him off. 

Ned had seen Peter in the hallway and said his friend was waiting for him. The principal looked over and saw Peter with Jessica. Then he sighed and shook his head before he walked away. Ned felt like a heel because he made Jessica look like an unreliable person just to cover for Ben. He hoped Jessica didn’t confront him because his guilt and nerves were going to kill him. But if what Betty said was true and Jessica was angry at Peter, there was no telling when Jessica would confront Ned. He was not looking forward to that. No one but Jessica intimidated him more than Michelle. He shivered at the thought of having to talk to her.

“Ned, your new friend is a mutant?” Peter asked again.

“What? Why would you think that? I never said that,” Ned said confusedly.

“I did,” Michelle said, snapping her fingers at them. “What did you and Jessica talk about?”

“Nothing, we didn’t talk at all,” Peter said with a shake of his head.

“Then why was she upset?” Michelle said and Peter shrugged.

“I don’t know,” Peter said and rubbed the back of his neck. He felt like he was in the hot seat and didn’t know why. “I guess I sort of got in her way? I’m not sure. She snapped at me. I apologized and she snapped again. So, I just sort of walked away because I wasn’t really sure what to say that wouldn’t make the interaction weirder?”

“So you’re saying she was already upset before you got in her way?” Ned surmised. And if that was true, maybe she wouldn’t confront Ned? He inwardly prayed that was true. Because if it was, he had nothing to worry about. 

“Yeah, exactly,” Peter said with a nod. 

“Hmm,” Michelle said eyeing Peter curiously. Then she shrugged and picked up her book and actually started to read. She made a funny face then turned the page back and found the place where she’d left off. 

Ned pointed out the action to Peter and mouthed, “she totally can’t read in the peripheral.”

Peter rolled his eyes because it was an obvious lie. But whatever. He just started to eat and Ned finally started to talk to him about everything and anything except his new friend. Peter didn’t want to pry. But not knowing anything about whoever Ned was friends with besides him was eating at him. He pulled out his phone and started a text under the table away from the prying eyes of Ned and Michelle. 

So let’s say your friend has a new friend he never told you about. 

Does that mean: A. He doesn’t want to be your friend anymore? 

B. He’s weighing his options before he decides to replace you?

C. It doesn’t mean anything so you shouldn’t worry about it.

D. It means what you think it means and you should worry, like a lot. 

E. All of the above except for C. 

F. A & D. 

G. B & D. 

H. B but not really and a little bit C & D. 

I. Alternate between C & D because maybe A but then again maybe not. 

J. Definitely C. Stop being extra. 

Kid. What. The. Actual. Fuck. 

Was that K? That sounds like it could be K. 

What’s happening? Tell me everything.

I can’t give advice without knowing the entire story. 

It’s a long story. 

Okay. Let’s do this.  I’ll pick you up after school. 

We’ll stop to get milkshakes and  you can dish out all your Fred drama. 

It’s Ted. 

I mean Ned. 

Sure, kid. See you in a few hours. 

Cool. 

Yeah, I know. I’m always cool. 

But you saying that makes you not cool. 

There is no ‘not cool’ when you’re Iron Man. 

Cool is all-encompassing. 

Sure, Mr. Stark. 

Should I pull you out of school early?

You sound like you need a double milkshake right this instant. 

No. No. No. I’m cool. 

But see, you saying that makes me think that you’re not cool. 

The three no’s was a dead giveaway. 

I know. I’m freaking out. But I can wait until school is over. 

Alright, kid. See you at three.

2:40 

2:45? Give or take a few minutes.

2:40

Yeesh. You drive a hard bargain. But let’s go with 2:40-ish. 

2:40

FRIDAY scheduled it. See you at 2:40

Thank you, Mr. Stark. 

You got it, kid. 

“Peter, are you even listening?” Ned said exasperatedly. He’d noticed that Peter was on his phone. 

“Uh, sorry. What were you saying?” Peter said stuffing his phone in his back pocket and looking at Ned sheepishly.

“Nothing important. But, what is it? Is it something to do with the internship?”

“Uh, yeah, yeah,” Peter said in a hurry. “Mr. Stark is coming to pick me up after school.”

“Oh, that’s so awesome! Iron Man is giving you a ride!”

“Shh! Keep it down, Ned,” Peter said exasperatedly. Ned’s shoulders went up to his ears and he apologized in a quiet voice.

“Like it matters. Nobody ever listens to you losers,” Michelle said as she turned the page.

Peter blew out an exasperated breath. Ned scoffed aloud. But before either of them could respond, the bell rang. They grabbed their things and got going.

“Hey, kid, I almost thought you weren’t going to show up,” Tony said as soon as Peter got into the backseat.

Happy put up the divider and drove away from the school as soon as Tony told him to go.

“What do you mean?” Peter asked with a slight frown. “It’s two forty just like I said.”

“Does that accelerated healing of yours include rapid hair growth?” Tony said looking at Peter’s hair with a raised brow.

“My hair? What?” Peter said, running a hand through his hair. “What are you-what are you talking about, Mr. Stark?”

“I’ll show you,” Tony said, pulling up recent credit card transactions and displaying them on a holographic screen over his cell phone. One barbershop and a couple of clothing shops all dated that same day. The receipts were signed by one May Parker. Tony enhanced the signature for Peter.

“That’s May’s handwriting,” Peter said and looked at Tony. “I don’t understand.”

“Neither did I,” Tony said and displayed video footage from a clothing store from that day. “Until.” A boy who looked an awful lot like Peter was with May. The only difference between him and Peter was the shaved head and the Columbia University sweats he was wearing when he entered the store.

“I—that’s not me! I don’t even own those sweatpants!” Peter said in a high voice. He was freaking out.

“I know, kid,” Tony said and displayed a video he had saved of the boy who had been picked up by the police officer by the Lincoln Tunnel.

“That’s not me either!” Peter said and grabbed his head. “What the hell is going on? He looks exactly like me?”

“I don’t know but your Aunt Hottie isn’t answering my phone calls,” Tony said with a frown.

“But she was with him,” Peter said and looked at Tony in disbelief. “What if she’s in trouble?!”

“She’s not,” Tony said and placed a hand on the kid’s shoulder. “She’s at work. I checked. She’s perfectly fine. But…”

“But what?!”

“Someone is covering that kid’s tracks, and I think your Aunt is involved,” Tony said and rubbed his face.

“I don’t understand anything, Mr. Stark. Why would—why would she be helping him?”

“I’m not sure, but, you know, I was wondering...could there be a possibility that you have a long-lost twin?” Tony said tilting his head to the side in honest curiosity.

“No! I think I would know if I had a brother,” Peter said in exasperation. “My parents would not have kept a brother hidden from me.”

Peter’s face turned slightly red. He was getting upset.

“Alright, calm down. It was just a thought,” Tony said and shrugged. “Maybe it’s just one of those ‘everybody’s got a twin’ thing.”

“No,” Peter said and shook his head. “No way. That guy looks exactly like me. Oh my god, that’s why everyone at school thought—He was at my school, Mr. Stark! He was posing as me! The day that I fought that Rhino guy!”

“At your school?” Tony said and Peter nodded. 

Tony quickly hacked into the school’s surveillance and pulled up the video from the day of the Rhino fight. They both saw Flash dragging Peter’s look-alike into the school, Michelle and Jessica close behind. Flash was sent away by the teacher and then after the teacher spoke to them, he went on his way. Jessica was the one who got the Peter twin to follow them down the hallway. After a brief conversation, the trio ran towards the front of the school right when the Rhino crashed through the wall. Peter made a weird noise when he saw Ned talking to his look-alike while pointing him out decked out in his Spider-man suit to the other kid.

“I think we found your buddy’s new friend,” Tony said, freezing the footage right when Ben feinted in Jessica’s arms.

“So Michelle was right, Ned was replacing me with me!” Peter said and covered his face with his hand. “I can’t believe that she was covering for the impostor too!”

“What we need to figure out is why. Why are they helping him?” Tony said and tapped his phone on his chin.

“That’s what you’re focused on,” Peter said, raising his arms above his head in frustration. “How about how there is a replica of me running around. How does that happen?” 

“Well, it’s not a case of pod people, cause then you’d already be dead and there would be more look-alikes running around,” Tony said distractedly.

“What if he went to my school to kill me?!” Peter said, grabbing hold of Tony’s arm. “And he got close to May so that he could have his foot in the door before he offed me.”

“Calm down, kid. I seriously doubt he’s homicidal. He’s just as awkward and weird as you.”

“Hey!”

“FRIDAY, be a dear and run a search for Peter’s look-alike in the city,” Tony said after he tapped his phone. 

“Running a search now, boss.”

Tony looked at Peter. “Let’s get cheeseburgers and milkshakes first then we’ll track this son of a bitch down. You got your suit?”

“Yeah,” Peter said with a nod and patted his backpack. “Right here.”

“Good, so do I,” Tony said and tapped his chest. He lowered the divider. “Happy, pull in right here. We’re getting cheeseburgers.”

“You got it, boss,” Happy said and did as he was told.

Chapter Text

Happy parked across the street from a local cafe. He sat there quietly reading his paper while Peter and Tony watched a couple of teenagers who looked like they were on a date. Happy had no idea what was going on and didn’t really care. As long as the two idiots in the back seat weren’t out there risking their lives, he was perfectly fine. Of course, he could be doing something more productive. Like overseeing the security at SI. But he wouldn’t complain, not when he was responsible for the security of the boss and his personal intern. At that thought, Happy put down the paper and began eyeing the area a little more critically. He couldn’t drop the ball now. What if someone snuck up on them? He would never forgive himself.

“Boss, I’m going to get down,” Happy said once he lowered the divider. “...to take a better look at the perimeter.”

“Good idea, Happy,” Tony said absentmindedly.

Happy nodded and got down. He stood next to the car and looked around. And that was when he noticed the boy in the cafe for the first time. He had Peter’s face. Happy hurried back inside the car and turned to look at Tony in alarm.

“Boss, we have a situation.”

“What is it, Happy?” Tony said, suddenly on edge. Peter too turned to look at Happy with a nervous expression.

“There’s a doppelgänger of the kid in that cafe.”

Tony snorted. “Happy, we,” Tony said, gesturing to himself and Peter, “are apprised of the situation. We are currently on a stakeout.” Peter nodded in agreement.

“Well, okay then,” Happy said with a slight nod. “So, who is he? His twin? A clone? A mutant shapeshifter? I heard they could do that.”

“That’s what Michelle said!”

“What did she say?” Tony asked. If it was pertinent information, he needed to know. They were already going about this half-blind and two steps behind.

“That he was a mutant! But Ned denied it!”

“Well, maybe it’s something else kid,” Tony said with a small shake of his head. “I’m still leaning towards long lost twin, to be honest.”

“Mr. Stark, my parents would never have hidden a sibling from me,” Peter said resolutely.

“Okay, sorry. It was just a thought,” Tony said with a nod. He raised an eyebrow and then the other as he stared at the cafe. “Well, it seems he has more game than you.”

Peter turned around and then gasped. “What is he doing?!”

“It’s called making out,” Tony said and shrugged when Peter shot him a glare. “What? It’s fun. What it leads to—”

“Mr. Stark!” Peter said, cutting him off and covering his ears. “I know what they’re doing! I just can’t believe—out there! He just met her! What the hell?!”

Tony turned to look at Happy. They both shrugged not understanding Peter’s reaction.

Peter slumped in his seat to the point that he couldn’t see out of the window. “This isn’t happening. I want to leave, Mr. Stark. Let’s go. Please.”

“Happy, you heard the kid,” Tony said. “Don’t worry so much, Pete. Some boys just mature faster than others.”

Peter groaned and covered his face. “Please, just stop talking.”

He was not freaking out about his copy having ‘game’. It was that he was out in public with his face. People could see him. And they would think that he was Peter. Jessica probably thought he was Peter. He was not going to be able to look at her again without wanting the earth to devour him. He really hoped that no one from his school saw them together.

“Where to, kid?” Tony said once Happy was driving again. “My lab—”

“Yes!”

“Love the enthusiasm, kid. Happy, we’re going to my lab,” Tony said and eyed the kid curiously. Maybe he shouldn’t have jumped the gun and told the kid about his twin, er, not-twin.

“Got it, boss!” Happy said and turned on the car to get going.

Peter was not happy. He didn’t even care that he was in Tony Stark’s personal lab. He didn’t look at anything. He didn’t engage with anyone. Not even the tech. Or the AI. He sat on the corner where the ceiling met the wall and just sulked.

“Pete, I like that you’re taking the whole spider theme to heart but, kid, you have to come down to eat. You’ve been up there all afternoon,” Tony said and sighed. “I ordered pizza. Now, get down here and eat before Dum-E makes you another oil shake.”

Peter looked over to where Tony had gestured and saw four shakes on the counter. He sighed as he looked at Dum-E who appeared to be fretting. Could robots fret? It was hovering below Peter. And he couldn't help but feel a little guilty  

“Thanks, Dum-E,” Peter said, jumping down from the wall and petting the bot.

It beeped and turned in a circle excitedly. It then went to grab one of the shakes to hand to Peter. Though it missed and the shake spilled all over Tony’s shoes.

“Dum-E, what the hell?!” I swear you do these things on purpose,” Tony said and slipped his shoes off. Peter chuckled and Tony smiled at him. He was relieved that Dum-E was able to make the boy laugh. He was getting a little worried. “Now clean up the mess before I donate you to an after-school tutoring center.”

Peter looked at Tony and frowned. “Don’t worry Dum-E, I’ll talk him out of it.”

“Sure, kid, over pizza. Come on,” Tony said wrapping an arm around Peter’s shoulder and leading him out of his lab towards the lounge. On his way out, he patted the bot and said quietly, “Good job.”

Peter gave him a quizzical look but Tony just smiled and made him walk faster.

Tony asked FRIDAY to turn on the TV as soon as they finished eating. Peter hadn’t said much but at the very least he ate. Tony talked about the last business trip he’d gone on. Though he felt that it was boring information he wanted Peter to know more about what he had to do to keep the company running or more importantly, how to keep Pepper happy.

As they went to sit on the sofa, they noticed that the news was on and Tony told FRIDAY to put on a movie.

“No, wait, Mr. Stark!” Peter said and pointed at the screen. “That’s Oscorp!" 

“Why so interested in Oscorp, kid?” Tony said with a slight frown.

"What’s happening?”

Tony looked over at the screen and asked FRIDAY for an update.

“An employee, Miles Warren, is standing on the edge of the roof,” FRIDAY responded. “The authorities are worried that he is about to commit suicide.”

“Miles Warren?” Tony said and paid more attention to the screen. “Isn’t he a professor over at Empire State? Why would he want to take a dive off of the Oscorp building?”

“Mr. Stark, you shouldn’t joke about this,” Peter said nervously. “You think they can talk him out of it? It looks like someone is talking to him.”

There was in fact another person on the roof who appeared to be trying to talk him down from the ledge. Although the image wasn't clear on the screen, it appeared to be a police officer. Oscorp security and a few other heads were hovering at the doorway leading to the roof. Though no one was making a move to come closer.  

“Miles Warren has been working on a project with funding from Oscorp for the past five years. Although the details of the project are not known by the public, I managed to hack into Oscorp to find the particulars,” FRIDAY said right before Tony received a ping on his phone.

“Well, I’ll be,” Tony said and whistled. “Hey Pete, you want to know what Mr. Warren has been up to for the last five years?”

Tony displayed the documents that FRIDAY sent to his phone on the TV screen. Miles Warren was working on human cloning, which explained why they kept that information under wraps.  

Human cloning was considered unethical considering how cloning affected animals in early experiments. Short life expectancy or defects on subjects made scientists rethink the idea of cloning altogether and had them focus cloning on stem cell research for therapeutic purposes instead. Legally speaking, animal cloning was allowed for commercial reasons in a couple of countries, however, human cloning is prohibited at a state level though there are no federal laws against it. Perhaps, Tony surmised, Oscorp and Miles Warren took it to mean that so long as they conducted their experiments in private they wouldn't be condemned if they succeeded.  

According to the files Warren succeeded with one subject There was also mention of an incident during a routine examination of the clone. No other information was given about the incident other than to say that a handful of lab employees were injured, including Miles Warren, and that the subject was lost.

No. no. no. no. no.

Peter turned very slowly to look at Tony. His breath got caught in his throat. His heart was beating faster than normal. He could hear his beating heart too loud in his ears. He covered his ears and crouched.

“—id! Kid! Peter!!” Tony was saying as he waved a hand in front of Peter’s face.

“It’s all my fault, Mr. Stark,” Peter said in a low voice as he lowered his hands and stood up.

“What’s your fault? What are you talking about?” Tony asked. His hands were hovering around Peter’s shoulders just shy of touching them. “FRIDAY?”

“My readings show that Peter’s vitals are returning to normal.”

“I-I,” Peter stuttered and looked at the TV again. “I have to stop him.”

“What? Stop who?” Tony asked confusedly. “You’re confusing me, kid. What are you talking about?”

“Oscorp,” Peter said and took a step away from Tony before he started to strip as he looked for his backpack. “I was there."

"When?"

"Before. Before all of this," Peter said vaguely. "It’s all my fault. I need to go. I have to stop him.”

“Peter,” Tony said walking behind the boy as he picked up his clothes off the floor with a baffled expression. “Why are you stripping? You’re scaring me, kid.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark,” Peter said pulling out his spider-suit from his backpack and putting it on. “I have to go.”

“I’m coming with you,” Tony said realizing that Peter was going to go to Oscorp to stop Miles Warren from ending up as sidewalk pizza. Though the reason the kid felt responsible still eluded Tony.

“No!” Peter said with a hand out as if he was going to web Tony up if he even dared to press the housing unit on his chest. “I have to do this alone.”

“Alright,” Tony said, raising his hands in surrender and sighed. “Just be careful. The media is all over the place. Whatever your business is with Oscorp besides your live copy, keep it under wraps.”

“Yeah, I understand,” Peter said and pulled the mask over his face before he walked over to the window.

“Peter,” Tony said walking closer to the boy. “At the first sign that you’re losing your shit like you did just a minute ago, I’m going in.”

“Got it,” Peter said with a thumbs up before he jumped out of the window.

Peter hurried over to the Oscorp building. Luckily, it was only a little over a mile away. Although, cutting across diagonally and going over buildings made it that much closer. Peter was moving faster than he normally did. He had to reach Warren on time. This man knew who he was. He had cloned him. And was more than likely the reason his clone was getting close to May and his friends. But why? What did he want? And why did Warren make him? Did Warren know that he was Spider-man? Was that the reason he cloned him?

Peter remembered bumping into the man the day of the field trip when Peter accidentally got separated from his class and took a wrong turn, right into a lab that had a spider experiment. Someone had accidentally left the door open. Peter’s curiosity got the better of him. After he was bit, he got scared and rushed out. In his haste, he’d knocked down Miles Warren. The man didn’t seem to be paying him any attention when Peter apologized. But... What if Warren knew what had happened to him? What if he had seen? And how had he’d gotten a sample of Peter’s DNA?

Peter had to find out. The only one with any answers was Warren. Peter had to save him before…

“Noooo!!” 

Chapter Text

“Noooo!!”

Peter heard the shout before he saw what had happened. Time slowed to a crawl as he came around a building and Oscorp came into view. Miles Warren had jumped off the building. Someone had tried to catch him but they ended up dangling off the side of the building with Warren. Peter noticed when their grip loosened from the ledge before anyone could pull them back up. At the same time, Warren was set free and began to fall. Now the person who had tried to save Warren was falling, too.

Peter kicked it up a notch and shot out a second web to slingshot himself towards the second person. Peter couldn’t think beyond saving the person he was careening towards. He reached out a hand and the other person looked up in time to reach out their own. Peter grasped the other hand tightly and pulled the other body close.

“Hang on tight!” Peter said and swung away a couple of blocks. There was no reason to stay where they were. It was too late to save Warren and there were too many eyes on the scene. Warren had fallen forty-six stories. It was a safe bet to say that he was dead.

Peter landed on a secluded roof as gently as he could. His charge was still holding on tight.

“Hey, we’re on solid ground now,” Peter said laying a gentle hand on the other’s shoulder.

“I couldn’t save him,” the other said through a tight throat. He let go of Peter and fell carelessly on his ass. “I hesitated and then it was too late.”

Peter didn’t know what to say. He had felt the same way when Ben died. If he had done one thing differently maybe, just maybe, his uncle would still be alive. Since then, he’d been saving as many people as he could. He’d almost fucked up a few times. He didn’t know what he’d do if he would fail. Then again, he had failed to save Warren. He had arrived too late. Now he would never get the answers he needed.

“How the hell am I supposed to know if he told anyone about me?” said the other boy. “How will I ever know if my family is safe?”

“What do you mean?” Peter said in alarm.

The other boy looked up to face him. They had the same face. It was like looking in a mirror. Peter felt his insides shudder. Then he tightened his jaw. He still didn't know whether his clone was a danger to himself or his family. But the clone had said he wanted to keep his family safe. Who was his family?

"You know who I am, don't you?" the boy said gesturing to his face.  

"Um, I only found out about you today, actually," Peter said and rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. “Mr. Stark showed me some footage of you and May ”

"I'm sorry," said the other boy and rubbed a hand over his face. "I know this is weird. I wanted to meet you. It was the reason I escaped from the lab." The clone looked down at his hands.  

Peter's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He escaped from the lab where he was created just to meet me? He wasn't sure why but he felt flattered and proud of his clone.

"Matt and May agreed that it wasn't a good idea for us to be seen together just in case the evil scientist dude was looking for me. This was after the whole incident at the school happened and Ned found out about me and I ended up at the hospital with stitches. So May decided to take me for a haircut to fix my hair and then I needed to make sure Jessica didn't kill you and..."

Peter started to chuckle and the other boy stopped talking. He stared at Peter with a bright red blush.

"Oh my god," Peter said through chuckles. "Mr. Stark was right. You are exactly like me."

“Well, I am your clone."

Peter snorted. "I guess you are."

"You-you're not mad at me for existing?” the other boy said in surprise. His eyes were bright as if he was barely holding back a smile.  

“What?” Peter said feeling confused  “Why would I be? It's not your fault. But I think it's mine. I wanted to talk to that guy. Miles Warren. I guess it's too late for that.” The other boy hung his head in guilt. “Hey.” Peter placed a hand on the other boy's shoulder.  “Listen, it's not your fault. I was too late to help.”

“Why are you blaming yourself for everything? You didn't go up to the guy and ask him to make a clone of you. And I was the one to let him fall! I’m—!”

Peter slapped a hand over the other boy's mouth, which startled the other boy  “Sorry. It's just we're out in the open. Anyone could be listening. And then rumors will spread that Spider-man was harassing a teenage boy.” The other boy snorted and Peter smiled under the mask. “Is there somewhere we can go to talk?” Peter gestured to his suit. “I didn't bring a change of clothes.”

“Yeah, I know a place,” the other boy said.

“Lead the way," Peter said walking over to the edge of the roof and gesturing to the other boy to come closer. "But first, climb on." Peter squatted a little. "It'll be easier to swing if you're on my back."

"Right," said the clone as he settled on Peter's back. "Uh, so, head towards Hell's Kitchen."

"Alright," Peter said and took a leap before he shot out a web. "Karen, what's the fastest route to Hell's Kitchen?"

It didn't take long to reach the roof of Matt's building. They entered through the roof access. As they climbed down the stairs into the apartment, Peter whistled.

"Nice digs," Peter said taking in the open layout of the place. Furniture was sparse but it was roomy. "You live here alone?"

"Uh, no, it's Matt's place," said the other boy. "He helped me out when I was on my own and offered me a place to live. May agreed for him to be my legal guardian."

Peter noticed that his clone was uncomfortable every time he brought up May. He avoided eye contact and fidgeted a little. Peter wondered why that was.

"So, basically, this Matt person you keep mentioning is to you what May is to me," Peter said and nudged the other boy. "He's your family. The one you're trying to protect?"

"Um, no, I mean, yes," said the clone awkwardly. "When I said that I meant you and May."

"Oh," Peter said and nodded, "That makes sense. And you thought staying away from me would help with that." The clone nodded. "Well, it's a good thing we don't have to worry about that anymore, probably." The clone sighed heavily. He wasn't sure either but now there was no way to find out. "You know, I always wanted a little brother."

They looked at each other for a beat before the clone smiled and then started to laugh. "I know but I didn't think I qualified since I'm your age."

"Technically, you're younger and as the older brother I get to boss you around," Peter said teasingly.

The clone snorted and shook his head. Peter shoved him a little and they began to horse around. Peter was trying to get the other boy into a headlock but the clone was quick and moved out of the way easily. They hadn't moved from the base of the stairs so when the front door opened, neither boy was prepared for their new visitor. They froze in place while staring at the door. Peter was still in his Spider-man suit and was straddling the clone. Their hands were linked to one another's.

"Ben?" said the newcomer sounding confused about the predicament his charge was in.

Ben? Peter thought and then looked at his clone. For some reason, he felt like the name suited him. Plus it would've been confusing if they were both named Peter or awkward if Peter only referred to him as other-me.

"Uh, Matt, it's not what it looks like," Ben said in a hurry. "This is Peter. Peter Parker. My, uh, brother."

"Dude! Not cool!" Peter said, jumping off the other boy and ripping off his mask. "I can't believe you just outed me to a stranger as Spider-man!"

Matt stared at the two boys whose heartbeats were alike. But they smelled different from one another. Peter of sweat and fear and anger and excitement. Ben of a girly perfume and panic and happiness and relief. And even though they were arguing over Spider-man's secret identity, which Matt had put on a back burner, Peter hadn't denied the brother comment. That made Matt feel relieved. He was happy that Peter had accepted Ben as more than just a clone. The poor kid had gone through more than enough already.

"No, I didn't, you idiot! He's blind," Ben gestured to Matt. Peter took a step back and stared mouth agape at Matt. "You outed yourself! Besides, he's Daredevil so it's not like he'll go around telling people who Spider-man is under the mask!"

"Ben!" Matt exclaimed angrily. A slight growl slipped through his lips. He had to talk to Ben about keeping Daredevil a secret, again. Damn.

"Whoa! No way! Daredevil is blind!" Peter said jumping up onto the ceiling and lowering himself from a web to get a better look at Matt.

"Sorry, Matt, but he can keep a secret. Right, Peter?" Ben said in a hurry. "I would never tell anyone, I swear."

"How are you doing that?" Matt said, tilting his head to the side. "Are the, uh, webs? Organic?"

"No, no," Peter said quickly. "Synthetic. I came up with the formula on my own. Though I think I had some help from my spider side. I used to make them in Chemistry class but now I use Mr. Stark's lab. But forget about me, how can you move the way you do if you're blind? Unless you have enhanced senses. Oh my god, you do, don't you?! Can you teach me how to move like that without relying on my sight? That would be so awesome!"

"Slow down, kid," Matt said with a chuckle.

Peter flipped down from the ceiling and caught something that Ben had thrown at him without looking.

"Seems to me as if you can already move using only your senses," Matt said crossing his arms over his chest.

"Uh, this?" Peter said offhandedly and threw the item back at Ben over his shoulder without having to see where Ben was first. "That's just my Spider-sense."

"Spider-sense?"

"Uh, that's what I call it," Peter said with a shrug. "It warns me when something is about to attack me. I could only sense danger though. But I can't see all that good in the dark. I mean, I see better than before but it's not that great. But you must have trained a lot to do what you can do with your enhancements! I'm still learning to use my powers. And if it's too loud or bright, I'm a sitting duck."

"Noise does the same thing to me even though I have trained to focus my senses," Matt said and shrugged.

"Well, that sucks," Peter said and then flinched when he felt someone walking overhead. He looked up to see Ben crouching on the ceiling as if he was ready to pounce. "What the...?! You have spider-powers too?!"

Peter jumped back in time to avoid Ben's lunge. Then he was running up the wall and towards the staircase with Ben following close to his heels.

"If Matt trains anyone, it's gonna be me," Ben said and swiped at Peter's leg. Peter moved in time but fell from the ceiling. He used his webs to swing towards the window.

"Hey, slow down and don't break anything," Matt called out to them but the boys ignored him in their excitement.

"Oh my god, what if I get you your own spider-suit and we can patrol together?!" Peter said and turned around in time to grab hold of Ben. They both fell on the ground with a groan. "I have an extra suit at home! And my old web-shooters!"

"Why do I get the hand-me-downs?" Ben said with a slight frown.

"Cause you're the little brother, duh," Peter said and rubbed Ben's shaven head in amusement.

"Pass," Ben said and looked away.

"What? Why?" Peter said, using his elbow to lift himself up to get a better look at Ben. He stared at Ben who turned to look at him with a blank expression. "Oh. That. I get it but it wasn't your fault. It was mine."

"You can't blame yourself when I was the one who let the man slip between my fingers," Ben said and looked at the ceiling with a lost look in his eyes. "I had him and I-I don't know what happened. He said something to me and next thing I know, he was falling and you were there and―"

"Hey, hey, look at me," Peter said and nudged the other boy to get his attention. "It wasn't your fault. It wasn't. He jumped. And yeah it sucks that we couldn't save him, but he died because of his choices. And look," Peter held on to Ben's hand without gripping it, "we're sticky. You didn't let go. Not because you wanted to. I know that at least." Then he let out a breath and Ben's hand slipped down. "See, you have to concentrate to let go once you've committed to sticking. You didn't have a chance to do that. It all happened so fast."

Ben stared at him in disbelief and then closed his eyes as he turned away.

"I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but it will get better," Peter said softly as he stared at the ceiling. "The guilt will probably never go away but that's a good thing. When you stop feeling guilty, that's when you need to worry."

"Why?"

"Because then that means you don't care," Peter said and looked at Ben with an earnest expression. "For the record, I am very glad that you do care because at least now I know that you are not an evil clone out to kill me just to take over my life."

"Well, I feel like I've already lived your life," Ben said pointing to his head. "I have all your memories."

"Oh shit," Peter said and covered his mouth.

"No, it's not a bad thing. It's what saved me," Ben said quickly. "I knew they weren't my memories and they made me realize that there was more to life than that lab. They gave me the motivation I needed to escape. To find you."

"Oh, well then, that's cool," Peter said with a small nod.

"Yeah," said Ben in a quiet voice.

"Boys," Matt said cutting through the quiet. He had heard the entire conversation, though he pretended to be going over a case to give them the semblance of privacy. He knew the conversation was over and wanted to give Peter the excuse to stay a little longer. "What do you want for dinner?"

Chapter Text

Jessica saw the look on Ben’s face when he saw the person who was on the news. She narrowed her eyes and paid attention to the news anchor. The man was Dr. Miles Warren, a professor at ESU who, according to the anchor, had been under contract with OSCORP working on a classified project. The contract came to an end and Dr. Warren came to OSCORP to renew his contract. OSCORP, the anchor mentioned, decided not to comment on the circumstances leading to Dr. Warren’s mental break. He stood on the roof of the OSCORP building and appeared to be ready to jump. 

“He can’t do that,” Ben said to himself. “If he does, I’ll never know why.”

“What are you talking about?” Jessica asked curiously.

Ben turned to look at her and shook his head. “I don’t have time to explain. I have to go.”

He stood up and rushed out of the cafe. Jessica hurried after him.

“Ben, wait! I can help!”

“No!” Ben told her as he turned around to face her. “This has nothing to do with you.”

“What?” Jessica said in a small voice feeling hurt.

Ben grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, I’m sorry okay. I didn’t mean it like that but I have to do this alone. I’ll talk to you later. I really have to go,” he told her and tried to turn around but Jessica held on to his arm. “Jess—”

Jessica pulled out a marker and wrote a phone number on his arm. “Call me when you’re done.”

“I will,” Ben said and pulled her close to kiss her. “Thanks, Jess.”

He took off in a run. Jessica watched him go and then turned around to go in the opposite direction. She didn’t want to be tempted to follow him. It was bad enough that she’d stalked him the other day. But then again, he’d recognized her as Jewel. No one had recognized her yet. Not even when she had helped one of Flash’s friends. It was crazy. She had felt a pang of annoyance because deep down she knew it was wrong not to help Seymour. But the boy was an asshole. And assholes deserved what they had coming to them. She just couldn’t stand back and let him get mugged at gunpoint. Even with her powers, Jessica knew she’d be afraid in that situation. So she stepped in and ran off before he recognized her. He’d been openly staring at her in awe then thanked her as Jessica jumped up high to get to the roof of the building. But the next day at school, he’d been a jerk to her. She even eavesdropped on his conversations but he never brought up the incident. The fact that Ben had seen her as Jewel and recognized her meant more to her than he would ever know.

Ben didn’t see her as a freak but that was only because he didn’t know anything about her. She decided to test him. So she shared her past with him. Ben didn’t react the way everyone at school had. He took her hand in his and told her that he was sorry for her loss. He said his parents died when he was young but that he’d never actually met them. That he couldn’t even imagine what she went through. Then he said something that stunned her. He said that in a way her power, her strength was a reflection of her inner strength. Because it was the experiences people went through that made them who they were. And if she was super strong on the outside, he couldn’t even imagine how strong she was on the inside.

Jessica felt her heart squeeze and swell at the same time at his words. Then she grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled him towards her. He squeaked in surprise then grinned. 

“Woah,” he had said, his eyes shining bright. 

Jessica smiled back. Then she kissed him. He froze for a beat then he took over the kiss.

They made out right there in the cafe they were sitting in without care that there were people around. But it was New York and no one ever paid attention to anyone else. 

Jessica loved that aspect of the city because no one gave a fuck about her. It made her feel normal unlike how she felt at school and home. And Ben, well, he actually did care and she wanted to get to know him better. Maybe he could help her care too. She loved being Jewel. She loved helping people as Jewel. It was when she was plain ol' Jessica Jones that she couldn’t help but hate everything. She had to keep her guard up. She couldn’t get close to her adoptive parents or her classmates. Because it hurt so much when she lost her family, she couldn’t go through that pain again.

Ben was different. He broke through her defenses. And she wanted him. All of him. Didn’t she deserve one good thing in her life? And yeah, he was Peter’s twin. And yeah, she developed a huge crush on Peter from the moment she met him. Peter was smart and kind and cute but he was also a selfish jerk. And unlike Peter, Ben saw her in a way no one else had ever seen her. So whatever feelings Jessica had previously had for Peter was completely eclipsed by what she felt for Ben now.

Ben had pulled away from Jessica in the middle of their kissing session. He looked out the window and tilted his head as he stared at a luxury town car that was driving away. She saw him rub his chest in agitation.

“What is it?” Jessica had asked curiously. 

“I don’t know,” Ben had said with a slight shake of his head. “It felt like someone was watching us.”

“Weird.”

“Yeah,” he had said with an indescribable look on his face. He looked outside again before the TV in the cafe caught his attention.

Jessica couldn’t help but think back to the kiss as she walked away from the cafe. She caressed her lips and smiled. But a scream took her away from her thoughts. 

Jessica made sure both of her backpack straps were secure before she ducked into an alley. When there was no one around, Jessica jumped up to the roof and quickly changed. She hoped she wasn’t too late to help whoever screamed. She tucked her backpack under a tarp in the corner that was being used for storage. She pulled out her phone and placed a pin on her GPS just in case she forgot which rooftop she was on. Then she ran, phone in hand, towards another scream coming from the same direction she’s heard the first scream. She assessed the situation when she arrived then jumped down to help a tourist that had engaged in a screaming match with a cabbie. There was a woman in the backseat of the cab sobbing uncontrollably. Jessica raised an eyebrow and approached the cab that was starting to cause a traffic jam. 

“Hey!” Jessica shouted to get their attention. When neither man stopped their bickering, Jessica whistled very loud. Both men turned to look at her. “What’s happening here?”

“Don’t worry about it, darling,” the tourist said in annoyance.

“Hey, don’t talk to her like that! That’s Jewel, she’s a local hero,” the owner of the corner shop piped in. “She’ll kick your ass into next week if you don’t watch your tongue.”

Jessica smiled and pointed at the shop owner so that he knew she was talking to him. “What’s all this?”

“The girl, she was mugged and the cabbie offered to take her to the police station but this jackass thinks he has a right to tell the cabbie what’s what,” the shop owner said glaring at the man. 

“I need to get to my hotel! I took a cab to get there, not to take a scenic route to a police station—!”

“Alright, buddy,” Jessica said, having heard enough. From the looks of things, Spider-man hadn’t only influenced her to stand up for those in need. Even people who normally turned a blind eye to the suffering of others were starting to not only take notice but standing up to help as well. And a fucking tourist who didn’t understand the city like they did, shouldn’t have the right to get in their way.

Jessica walked up to the man who looked at her curiously. The next thing he knew, she had grabbed his arm and forcibly pulled him away from the cab that he was holding onto. He stared at her mouth agape when she easily lifted him up and glared at him. 

“Since you have no idea what common courtesy is, let me enlighten you. See the cabbie?” The man nodded vigorously. “He’s leaving to help that young woman because that’s the decent thing to do after the ordeal she just went through. And you are going to walk to your hotel.” Jessica dumped the man on his ass. The shop owner began to laugh. The cabbie thanked her and drove away. “Now get before I kick your ass into next week.”

The man got to his feet on shaky legs and took off running. He almost got run over in the process of crossing the street but luck was on his side, he survived.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” said the shop owner with a fist pump.

“Don’t sue me for taking your line, old man. I think I might keep it,” Jessica told the man with a wink. She heard him chuckling before she jumped up high to leave the area.

Jessica didn’t stay in the city, she took a subway home. She wanted to see her adoptive dad for some inexplicable reason. Well, not inexplicable. She wanted to tell him about Ben, but then she thought better of it when she was only a couple blocks away. It was probably not a good idea. Not until Ben gave her the okay. His entire existence was supposed to be a secret. What did it say about her that she was basically dating a person who wasn’t supposed to exist? And how was it possible that Peter didn’t know about his own twin? Jessica had more questions than answers but she could be patient and wait for Ben to tell her. She idly wondered when she’d see him again.

When she got home, she saw Michelle sitting on her front steps. Her steps faltered. She thought about running away. She didn’t want to talk to Michelle. She’d been such a jerk to her since she woke from her coma. And Jessica didn’t know how to apologize. That and she thought it was best not to so that she could keep Michelle at an arm’s length. She took a step back.

“Don’t you dare!” Michelle said, jumping to her feet.

“Or what?” Jessica challenged.

“I’ll chase you down,” Michelle said and smirked. Jessica couldn’t help but snort. Then Michelle sighed and it was as if the atmosphere around them shifted. “You left school early. I wanted to know if you were okay.”

“Define okay,” Jessica said.

Michelle shook her head. “Betty saw you arguing with Peter. I asked him about it but he said that he didn’t even talk to you. He figured that you were just mad about something else.”

“Why are you gossiping to your friends about me?” 

“I’m worried about you, Jess. You were my best friend and now you act like I shot down the moon just to spite you.”

“Can you even do that?” Jessica said with a raised eyebrow.

“Who knows? I’ve never actually tried.”

“I’m sorry, okay?” Jessica said before her lips could betray her and make her smile.

“For what exactly?”

“Being a bitch. How’s that?”

“You were always a bitch, Jess,” Michelle said with a smirk. “I don’t think you should have to apologize for that.”

“ You’re a bitch,” Jessica said defensively. 

“That’s why we were best friends,” Michelle said and then they both laughed. “So, what happened today?”

“PMS,” Jessica said and shrugged. “It’s a curse.”

“Sucks to be a woman.”

“Eh, not really. I like having boobs,” Jessica said and Michelle snickered. 

“So, you want to give it another try?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Me. You. BFFS,” Michelle said with a shrug not making eye contact.

“Ugh, that’s so two years ago,” Jessica said in a faux snobby voice. Michelle snorted and met her eyes. “But the friends' thing. Sounds doable.”

“Yeah?”

“Sure,” Jessica said and then pointed at Michelle. “But no more gossiping behind my back.”

“It’s not gossiping if you’re trying to figure out if your friend is okay or not.”

“For the record, I’m not okay. I will never be okay. But I am alive so I guess I should start actually living,” Jessica said, sounding annoyed. 

“I’m sorry,” Michelle said with a grimace. She remembered the day she had said that to Jessica. It had been three months since she’d woken from her coma. Three months in which Jessica used her and anyone that talked to her like a punching bag. She had been living in a group home back then and Michelle wanted her to let go of her anger. Because if Jessica did that Michelle could have her friend back. But she regretted saying that. And Jessica stopped talking to her. Even after Michelle’s uncle had adopted her, Jessica kept her distance from her. It wasn’t until recently that Jessica finally spoke to her again and Michelle really wanted her friend back. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Yeah, well, it’s whatever,” Jessica said with a shrug.

Michelle walked up to her and hugged her. 

“Ugh, this is gross,” Jessica said, not hugging her back. 

“No, it’s not. Cause we’re family now. We’re practically sisters,” Michelle said with a laugh before stepping back.

“Oh god, don’t tell me you’re going to want to braid my hair and gossip about boys,” Jessica said and gagged.

“I don’t even braid my own hair,” Michelle said ruffling her curls making them messier than they already were.

“Alright, good,” Jessica said and pointed at her house. “Want to go in?”

Michelle shrugged and looked at the house. “Yeah, okay.”

Chapter Text

Ben greeted Matt cheerfully in the morning, not paying attention to Matt’s mood. Matt was still groggy as he trudged into the bathroom. He muttered a ‘morning’ in return. He’d gone out as Daredevil after he’d had dinner with Ben and Peter and had a late night. His head was pounding but at the very least, he had no visible bruising, which was lucky for him. Not only because he had to go to work, but because they received an impromptu visitor.

Ben answered the door ready to greet Foggy who he expected to see at the door. But his smile fell when he saw a woman dressed in a blazer and skirt. She had an oversized bag with her and a couple of folders in her hand. Her hair was pulled up in a bun and she wore oversized round glasses with dark frames. Her face was pinched as if she was already having a bad day.

“Hello,” Ben said in a quiet voice. 

“Good morning, you must be Ben Reilly,” she said and began to walk into the apartment. Ben had to hastily get out of her way before she barreled over him. “My name is Violet Mitts. I’m your assigned caseworker.” Ben closed the door and followed her into the living space. “I’m here to inspect the home and to interview you and your guardian.” She had peeked into the kitchen and wrote something down before she stared through the bedroom door looking at the single rumpled bed. “Mr. Murdock is here, correct?” She looked towards the bathroom where the shower could be heard.

“Uh, yeah,” Ben said, pointing at the bathroom nervously.

“The place is clean, but it’s only big enough for one,” Ms. Mitts said, looking pointedly at the couch where a pillow, sheet, and blanket sat. “Did you sleep on the couch?”

“No,” Ben said and shook his head. “Mr. Uh, I mean, Matt—er, dad?—slept on the couch. He said I needed to sleep on the bed so that I could be well-rested for school today.”

“That was reasonable of him,” Ms. Mitts said and wrote something down. “I’m glad to hear you’ve already been enrolled in school. Are you attending PS-129? You’re in their district.”

“No,” Ben said and scratched the back of his head nervously. “We decided to try online school.”

“Oh!” Ms. Mitts said, raising her eyebrows. “What prompted that decision?”

“Uh,” Ben said and shook his head. “It’s a...because I’m new to the city and don’t really know how to get around on my own yet?”

Ms. Mitts nodded and wrote something down. “You feel comfortable with that decision.”

“Uh, yeah, yeah,” Ben said and nodded. But Ms. Mitts raised an eyebrow at the stutter. “And I’ll get to go with Matt to work.”

“To work? Are you working?”

“No,” Ben said with a shake of his head. “Um, he doesn’t have a computer here, so I’ll be going to his office to get my schooling done there.”

Ms. Mitts looked around again. “I see.” She wrote something down. And walked inside the bedroom. She came back out quickly and went into the kitchen to inspect the fridge. She tsked but otherwise said nothing. “There isn’t a television anywhere.”

“That’s, uh, probably because Matt didn’t need one?” Ben said awkwardly shifting in place.

Matt walked out of the bathroom already dressed for the day. He made his way over to where Ben was standing and took hold of the younger boy's arm to help him relax. Matt had sensed his nervousness since Ms. Mitts entered the apartment. Ben visibly relaxed at his entrance and was grateful for the grounding touch. 

“I’ve never heard of someone not needing a television,” Ms. Mitts said and turned to face Ben. She’d been inspecting the cupboards. 

“Well, most blind people don’t watch TV,” Matt said with a small smile.

Ms. Mitts nodded and wrote something down. “Good morning, Mr. Murdock. My name is Violet Mitts. I’m Ben’s caseworker. I would’ve called ahead of time, but I like to get my surprise inspections out of the way early on. I spoke to Ben a little and although you gave up your bed for him, I believe this place is too small for the two of you.”

Matt cleared his throat. He had been taken aback by the fact that the woman hadn’t reacted to the fact that he was blind. “Yes, I’m aware. I have spoken to the Super and we agreed that I had enough space to add a second bedroom.”

“Wonderful,” Ms. Mitts. “How soon will that addition be ready?”

“It should be complete by the end of next week.”

“Where will you be staying while the construction is underway?”

Matt chuckled and then cleared his throat. He hadn’t planned on having to find secondary accommodations but that made sense. “I haven’t made the arrangements but we will be staying at a hotel until construction is complete.”

“Good,” Ms. Mitts said and wrote that down. “I also noticed a lack of fruits and vegetables in the kitchen.”

“I will get right on that,” Matt said and cleared his throat. 

“See that you do,” Ms. Mitts said. “Ben also mentioned that there isn’t a computer here and he will be accompanying you to work to use one of your computers there. Will that not cause any problems at your workplace?”

“No, ma’am,” Matt said with a shake of his head and an amused smile. “But that is only temporary as well. I have ordered him a laptop—“

“Great!” Ms. Mitts said, writing something down. “I have to say that I’m impressed that the two of you are getting on like a house on fire so quickly.” Ben scrunched up his face not understanding the phrase. She walked up to Matt and took hold of his hand to slip a card in it. “Please give me a call once you’re settled in. I would like to set up a formal meeting for my next visit.” 

“Sounds good,” Matt said, handing Ben the card. “I‘ll do that.”

The woman made her way to the door. “Oh,” said Ms. Mitts, a hand on the doorknob. “Please make sure the ratio of alcohol to food is not ten to one sooner rather than later for the sake of the child.” She slipped out before Matt could respond. 

“That went well,” Matt said and cleared his throat. “Breakfast?”

“Uh, what just happened?”

“Child Protective Services,” Matt said as he made his way to the kitchen. “They need to make sure that children placed in foster homes are being well cared for.”

“They don’t do a good job of that, do they?” Ben said, still staring at the door. The woman had intimidated him at first but then he just thought she was rude. 

Matt frowned. “No.” His voice took on an angry tone. Ben turned to face him. “Too many kids slip through the cracks and are abused by their guardians because CPS is overwhelmed with cases. The ratio of caseworkers to children is a lot bigger than the ten to one she pointed out in my fridge.”

“No wonder she came and left so quickly.”

“She had five files in her arms but ten more in her purse,” Matt said and sighed. “But she actually sounded like she cared even though she came off as curt.”

Ben hummed and went into the kitchen to help Matt with breakfast.

On the walk to Matt’s office, Ben shared what the CPS worker had said about the public school to get Matt's thoughts on the matter. Matt asked him if he wanted to do that instead of online school. Ben asked if he could. Matt smiled at the young man not wanting to answer the question. He wanted Ben to decide on his own. 

They had spoken about what had happened with the scientist after Peter had left the apartment. Ben hadn’t really been happy about the outcome even though he’d been freed of the worry of being hunted down. Though, he had so many unanswered questions about why he was made. What had been his purpose? What was the reasoning behind stealing the experience of a normal childhood from him? Why did he have to be plagued with Peter’s memories? All they did was make him feel like an outsider in his own life. Because there was Peter and here was him; they’d lived the same life but in actuality hadn’t. He only had the memories, he hadn’t experienced them truly. Because he was a fake. A carbon copy. Not a real person. He needed his own life. He needed to make his own decisions. Until then, he wouldn’t feel like he was his own person.

“Yeah, I think I would rather go to school instead,” Ben said with a determined frown.

“I’ll have Karen make the arrangements when we get to the office,” Matt said and squeezed Ben’s arm. He’d been holding on to Ben’s arm instead of using his cane, for appearance's sake.

“Thanks, Matt,” Ben said sincerely. Then he swallowed. A surge of nervousness had made him rethink his previous decision. “Is it normal to be nervous about actually stepping inside a school building?”

“Yes,” Matt said with a small smile. “That is completely normal. No matter what age you are.”

“Okay,” Ben said and let out a breath.  

“You’re going to do great in school, kid,” Matt said and bodily nudged Ben.

Ben let out a breath and closed his eyes for a moment. “Yeah,” he said softly. “I want to do this.” He was talking to himself. But Matt smiled all the same. 

An hour later, Ben let out an aggravated groan. “Why can’t I just go to the public school that Mitts lady mentioned? Why do we have to look at all these other options?”

“I’m not sending you to a public school,” Matt told him and rubbed a hand over his face. Karen was the one going through the different schools and rejecting one after another. He wasn’t even sure what she was looking for but Ben was right, this was taking too long. Ben groaned again. “I understand your frustration. But we went over this. Public school won’t challenge you and you’ll end up sitting in a classroom bored out of your mind.”

“I bet it will be better than this,” Ben said and let his head fall onto the table. “Ow.”

“No, it will be worse,” Matt said and squeezed Ben’s shoulder. “Karen, any luck?”

“I’m sorry but registration is closed in most schools. I don’t think you’ll be able to enroll him into a private school mid-year, Matt,” Karen said, blowing out a breath to move her bangs out of her eyes. “Unless you know someone who knows someone.”

Matt looked to the heavens for help.

“I got it!” Foggy said and came out of his office holding a piece of paper in his hand. “Well, actually, Marcy got it. It’s her alma mater!”

Matt, Karen, and Ben stared at Foggy blankly. What the heck was he on about?

“Standard High,” Foggy said, his smile faltering. “It’s a good school. And it has open registration. Also, it’s in the Upper West Side. Basically down the street.” He received blank stares in return. 

Foggy had overheard the others earlier and called Marcy to find out if she knew any good schools for Matt’s newly acquired foster kid. Marcy was more than happy to provide an answer. She’d been elated when she’d heard that Matt was fostering a kid. She said something to the effect that Matt would be less of a handful now that he had to be responsible for another human being. Foggy simply smiled and agreed with her. Though he hadn’t mentioned the little he knew about how Ben had come into Matt’s life. He didn’t think it was pertinent information to share. 

“What is it?” Foggy asked when he hadn’t received any feedback. “Not a good fit? I mean, it’s filled with rich kids but there’s gotta be a few good eggs in the bunch. I mean, Marcy went there and she’s awesome.”

Ben suddenly stood up and pointed at Foggy. “Thank you!” Then he turned to look at Matt. “It’s settled! I’m going to Standard High!”

“It’s settled,” Matt said to Karen and chuckled. Karen smiled at him and looked at Foggy gratefully. “Thanks, Foggy. So when can we enroll him?”

“Now?” Foggy said with a shrug. “Marcy was going to call the principal to recommend Ben. So he’s a shoo-in.”

“Woah,” Karen said as she scrolled down the computer screen. “Foggy wasn’t kidding. It’s the most elite public school there is. They’re pretty strict on grades, too.”

“Ben will be fine,” Matt said and stood up. He looked over at Karen and asked for the manila folder with Ben’s paperwork. It was all forged but it would pass muster. 

Luckily, Matt had contacts that could set up an identity on short notice. It wasn’t something he was proud of but Castle didn't ask questions and it had been an emergency situation. He was glad that the scientist who’d cloned Ben was no longer a problem—god forgive him for thinking ill of the dead—but there was no saying that anyone who worked with the man wasn’t aware of Ben’s existence. He would need to keep an eye on the boy. Lucky for him, he knew a few people who would help him with that.

“Let’s go, kid,” Matt said and made his way to the doorway.

Ben grinned and rushed after Matt. He was still nervous but was more excited to go to school.

“I’ve never seen a teenager so happy to go to school,” Foggy said with an amused chuckle.

Karen nodded in agreement but a small part of her was worried about the boy. Foggy only had a minimal amount of information. Karen had looked into the boy’s past. As if his family’s history hadn’t been bad enough, Ben had escaped from the grasp of a madman. She hoped that things would look up for the kid from now on. Especially since the psycho who posed the greatest danger to the boy was dead. Karen was grateful for that and hoped that that meant Ben was truly safe now.

Chapter Text

Ben was nervous as he stepped through the front entrance of Standard High. It was just his luck and Matt’s that the bell rang right as he did. His heart was beating in his ears. He felt his breath hitch or stop, he wasn’t sure. Matt squeezed the hand that was holding onto his forearm and Ben was able to focus his attention on that touch instead of his overwhelming nerves. 

The students were too busy rushing towards their next class, flirting with someone beside them, quickly making plans with their friends, or fighting with locker doors to pay any mind to the boy and the blind man at the end of the hall. Except for a few glances their way with curious eyes that were quickly drawn away when something else caught the person’s attention, they may have been invisible. After a warning bell, the hallway was empty and Ben was finally able to breathe. 

You got this, Ben, he told himself. It was no different than the memories he had of school. Even if the memories weren’t his, they did feel like they were. And it made him feel better. No matter that he didn’t know anyone at Standard High. Or that he may never make friends. This was his life. A real life. And he would savor it. This moment. Nerves and all. 

Matt smiled in his direction. “Ready?”

“Yes.”  Ben was certain he was ready for this. 

Since they came on a recommendation from Marcy Stahl, Matt, and Ben were escorted directly into the principal’s office. 

Principal Monceaux was a friendly man with a firm handshake. He didn’t waste time making the proper arrangements for Ben to take an assessment test while Matt spoke to the principal. When Ben finished his test, he walked in on the two men laughing about something or other. They only had to wait for the assessment test to be graded by a counselor who stepped into the room a few minutes later.  

“Mr. Reilly?”

“Yeah,” Ben said as he looked at the woman who came into the office. 

“Oh, I meant your dad, Ben,” she said with the sweetest smile. 

Ben opened his mouth to correct her but the Principal beat him to it. He stood and walked around his desk. 

“Mrs. Ramirez, allow me to introduce you to Matt Murdock. He’s Ben’s guardian. Mr. Murdock, this is Mrs. Ramirez. She’s one of our guidance counselors and if your son is enrolled, she will be his go-to guide.”

Matt stood up to face her and stretched his hand in her direction. Mrs. Ramirez had to step forward five steps to take it. 

“I’m sorry for the confusion. But it’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Murdock.”

“No problem at all. It’s nice to meet you, also.”

“If you don’t mind sir, I have wonderful news to share with these two gentlemen.”

“By all means,” said the Principal. 

“Mr. Murdock, the test that Ben took was for us to assess where he is academically speaking. We were hoping he wouldn’t be too far behind his peers in his age group who are currently halfway through their school year. But he far exceeded our expectations. I have a feeling he would be able to test out of high school.”

“Are you saying he could go straight to college?” Matt said more than a little surprised. He was a little excited about that. He hadn’t known Ben was so gifted. 

“Absolutely. We can go into my office and talk about your options.”

“Ben, what do you think?” Matt said having felt a surge of panic wash towards him from Ben. “Would you like to talk about possibly going to college? I know you were excited about coming here, and that doesn’t have to change. It’s all up to you.”

Ben took a breath weighing the choices. He didn’t want to make the wrong decision. What if Matt was giving him the option but was hoping that he chose college? Because no matter what, Ben had heard the excitement in Matt’s voice at hearing that Ben could skip high school altogether. But he also said it was Ben’s choice and he sounded sincere. Ben wiped his palms on his pants as he stood up. He shook his head and looked over at Mrs. Ramirez. 

“I want to go to school here.”

Matt nodded and smiled. He had no idea how much that reaction put Ben at ease.  

“Do his test scores prevent him from going into the same grade level as other students his age?”

“Not at all. Why don’t you follow me into my office and we can go over the required courses.”

“Of course.”

“Before you go, let me welcome you to Standard High,” Principal Monceaux said to Ben. He looked over at Matt to address him next. “It will be an absolute pleasure to have Ben as a pupil.”

Matt graciously thanked the man and followed Mrs. Ramirez to her office with Ben as his guide. The course requirements were par for the course. However, the structure of the schedule was a bit baffling. It had been a hot minute since Matt had set foot in a high school, but he never would have imagined how much it had changed. After learning more about the Advisory period on Ben’s schedule, he knew that it was something that Ben needed. 

A schedule had been set and emails were sent to Ben’s new teachers to notify them that they had a new student. Once the cafeteria account for school lunches had been created, the counselor told Matt that Ben could start school that same day. Ben said he wanted to stay and Matt acquiesced. 

It was lunch period by the time his enrollment was completed. Mrs Ramirez walked Ben to the cafeteria. A few steps into the dining area, she explained how the lunch line worked. She told him about the different menu options and showed him where he'd pay using his ID card that was linked to his cafeteria account. The counselor pointed out a couple of students that were in his next class. She told him to introduce himself to them and to ask them to show him the way to Advisory once lunch was over. 

Ben felt a flutter of butterflies when the counselor walked away and left him alone. Relatively speaking, that is. The cafeteria was full of people. Some gave him lingering looks. But he was mostly ignored. He wasn't sure if he could eat but decided he might as well figure this all out. The sooner the better. He chose a burrito out of curiosity and grabbed a soda from the cooler before making his way to the register. 

Tray in hand, he made his way to the table the counselor pointed out to him. Or at least he thought he had. Only one student was sitting at the table. He was looking straight ahead at nothing. Lost in thought maybe. Ben looked around hoping to find the students he was supposed to introduce himself to when a chair was pushed out next to him. 

“Sit. Eat. There's like twenty-five minutes left. You can find your friends after.”

“Um, okay. Thanks. But I don't have any friends here.”

“Well, there's always room at whatever table I sit at. Just come find me.”

“Yeah, sure. I can do that.”

“So, what were you looking for if it wasn't friends?”

“The counselor pointed out some students I was supposed to introduce myself to. But I sort of forgot where they were sitting. And I don't remember what they looked like. Most people here look about the same.”

“Yeah, I suppose. All teenage hormones and no originality. I get that,” Harry said with a nod. “So, why did you have to introduce yourself to them?”

“Uh, they were supposed to help me find my next class,” Ben said and shrugged. 

“Are you new here?” Harry said after realizing Ben was slightly nervous. 

“Yeah.”

“Cool. I can show you to your next class. Everyone has Advisory next. Do you know what building you need to be at?”

“Um, building?” 

“Let me see your schedule.” Ben pulled it out of his pocket and handed it over. “Huh. We're in the same class. The next two actually. That's perfect. We’ll just go together.”

“Great. Thanks,” Ben said with a relieved sigh. 

“No problem, Ben Reilly.”

“How—?”

“Your name’s on the schedule. I'm Harry, by the way. Harry Osborn.”

“Nice to meet you, Harry.”

“Likewise, Ben,” Harry said slightly amused. Ben was so polite. He wondered how long that would last. 

“So, if you don't mind me asking, why were you sitting alone? Are you new here too?”

Harry snorted. “No. I've been here. You'll figure it out soon enough. If my name didn't tip you off already.”

“Your name? It's a nice name. Why does your name keep you from,” Ben gestured helplessly to the table, “sitting with other people?”

“Oh, nothing really. Just the fact that my father, Norman Osborn, founded Oscorp and is a brilliant and super wealthy scientist.”

“Why is that bad? And why does that mean you can't have friends? I don't understand.”

“It's not bad. Creates preconceptions, I suppose. And jealousy, mostly.”

“Oh, that's, um, rude of them.”

“Rude?” Harry said with a small smile then started to chuckle. “Not the word I'd use. But yeah, very rude.” he laughed again. “I think I like you, Ben. What do you say, friends?”

“Oh, sure, that would be nice. But I can't say I feel the same about you. I mean, I still need to get to know you better.”

Harry laughed earnestly at that. “That's fair.”

“Right. So, how do I eat this thing?”

Harry burst out laughing. 

“Why is that funny? I can't make heads or tails out of this?”

“Just,” Harry said between laughter, “grab it and take a bite.” Harry waved his hands when Ben decided to bite the burrito in the middle. “Hold it upright. Bite the top.”

“If you say so. There is just so much tortilla at the ends. But here goes nothing.” Ben took a bite and groaned happily. He was halfway done before Harry spoke again. 

“Are you honestly telling me you've  never eaten a burrito before?”

“I…” Ben started to say then shook his head. He couldn't say Peter had and so he knew of burritos in theory. It was best to stick to his own truth. “I never had one before.”

“Wow. That's incredible. I'm sorry I laughed. It just took me by surprise. Don't get me wrong. Burritos are not a food one is served at the Osborn household, but I did try them on my own when I was allowed out of the house.”

“Did you get to go out often?”

“Yeah, not as much as I would've liked. And always with an escort or a driver at the very least, but I was too young to be on my own back then.”

“Huh.”

“I know that's not how everyone else is raised. But that was my life.”

“I wouldn't know anything about what it was like for everyone else,” Ben said. Harry was taken aback. Not that Ben noticed. “I wasn't allowed to go out at all until I ran away. Things are different now that I live with Matt. And he even let me come to public school.”

“Whoa, and I thought I had it rough,” Harry said and Ben shrugged as if saying, ‘What can you do?’

“The public school thing is a plus. I'll agree with you there,” Harry told him and frowned. “But I had to flunk out of seven private schools before my father let me come here.”

“Seven? Wow. I just whined and complained until Matt gave in.”

Harry chuckled. Ben grinned. Then the bell rang.  

“Alright, Buddy. Time to go. We have five minutes to traverse the hoards. They will make it difficult for us but I promise you, we will reach our destiny.”

Ben chuckled at that. Harry turned around and beamed at him. 

“Our destiny awaits in a second-floor high school classroom?” Ben said with a smirk. 

“It’s a stop along the way,” Harry said as he looked back for a moment. 

There was something very different about Ben, Harry noticed. Whatever the reason why, Harry didn't care. He was just happy to finally meet someone who didn't give a damn about his name or his father. Not only that but Ben took everything he said at face value. It was nice not to be judged for a change. He did like Ben. He just hoped this was another friend he could be himself with, like Gwen. Her friendship was easy. And she wasn't pretentious and didn't need him to spend money on her just to hang out. Not that he’d mind that. But he didn't need any more fake friends that would only stick around while he was footing the bill. 

“Ah, it’s about the journey,” Ben said wisely. 

“More like an opportunity to introduce you to my closest friend.”

“So you do have one of those?”

“Ironic is my middle name.”

“Mine used to be Ben.”

Harry chuckled. The mixture of Ben’s awkwardness, unfiltered honesty, and dry humor made Harry believe he’d made a good choice to accept Ben as a friend. 

Ben, in turn, felt a lot more relaxed. He was very happy to have met Harry. And he just knew that he would enjoy attending Standard High. He sent a quick message to Matt that he’d made a friend. 

‘That’s great, kid. I can’t wait to hear all about your day at dinner.’ Matt replied. 

Harry turned to let Ben know they’d made it to the classroom when he noticed Ben was reading a message on his phone. He raised an inquisitive brow at Ben when he looked up. 

“Just wanted to tell Matt everything was good,” Ben said with a shy smile. 

Harry clapped his hand on Ben’s shoulder and pulled him close. He’d confused Ben enough that he was easily able to snatch his phone. 

“Words are good but pictures are better.” 

Harry opened the camera app, held up the phone, smiled widely, and took a self of the two of them. He opened the messages and grinned when he saw Ben’s text that called him a friend. He sent the picture not even noticing Ben looking at him with a static face.

“Matt is blind.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“But I’m sure he'll appreciate the gesture.”

“Tell me you’re kidding.”

“I’m kidding.”

Ben’s phone chimed. And since they were still standing side by side, Harry was able to read the text. 

‘Kid, technology has come a long way, but they haven’t made an app that describes pictures to the blind.’

“Fuck,” Harry said and covered his mouth in dread. 

‘Future goals?’ Ben sent quickly. He shrugged at Harry. “Don't worry about it. He’s super chill about people forgetting he’s blind.”

Harry stared at him. ‘Super chill,’ he mouthed as if trying to make sense of the words. 

‘If it was anyone else, I’d say they were full of it. But if anyone can do it, I know you can. For now, concentrate on you. Karen described the picture to me. She also said to tell you that she wants another pic of the two of you. She expects you to be smiling in the next one. Short-term goal, ask your new friend when he’s free to have dinner with us.’

Harry chuckled nervously. “You weren’t kidding. He truly is super chill.”

“So, when do you want to come over for dinner?”

Before Harry could reply, the bell rang. The hallway was empty. And they were standing on the wrong side of the door. 

“Shit!”