Peter Stark

Gwen pushed open Peter's door with a little bit of a struggle. In one hand was a large shark stuffed animal, in the other a blanket. She looked at peter, tears running down her cheeks. It was now her personal mission to make him feel better.

Peter clutches his own stuffed animal, a lion with a fluffy mane, closer to his chest. He sniffles, then sobs again, curling inward as he keeps looking at Gwen.

Peter throws his tiny body at Katie, wrapping his arms around her middle in a hug. "No- no. I gotta see Dad. Gotta make sure he's okay."

"Oh, hi!" Peter grins at Hemlock, then tilts his head to one side. "Making good time for what? And yeah, I haven't been waiting."

"I am trying to see as many people as possible today! I sent notes a bit ago, but I don't know if everyone got them, and I didnt specify time cause I didnt want to be late or anything. But anyway, anyway, hi!" He grins, clearly full of energy.

"Oh, wow! Yeah, that was smart. But hi!" He sets the cake down to reach out to hug Hemlock. "Happy birthday!"

"Thank you!" He hugs them back tight. "I am officially old, according to my sister. Though honestly shes one to talk."

He snorts a little, then pulls away. "I'm sure she's right, though, even though I don't really know how old you are. What, like, 20?"

He laughs. He definitely looks 20. 22 at the oldest. "I'm 30 now. So still really young, at least by immortal standards."

He blinks. "30? Wow. Yeah, that's not even middle age for regular people, I don't think. But your sister's definitely right."

"You cant say I'm young and say I'm old in the same breath, thats a contradiction. I'm not old though. My sisters old. Shes like ten thousand something."

Peter blinks again before his jaw drops open. "Ten thousand?? I thought she'd be, like, 40 by what you were saying."

He laughs at Peter's expression. "I told you, in comparison I'm a child. Emeralds word doesn't mean shit. Of course shes also my oldest sister, the others have much more reasonable ages. ...though I dont know most of them... I should ask. Ghosts gotta be a few thousand if she was trained by Mom... I think the rest are under a hundred? Maybe? Its hard to keep track."

Peter's expression becomes even more surprised. He sputters for a moment. "You- what? That's not reasonable, that's- wow."

He shrugs. "Eh. Times a construct. I would say its stupid, but theres a time god I really want to stay in the good graces of, lest he get upset and stop protecting me from the god of death that wants mine and my mother's souls. The other time god I know is a dick though. I broke up with him and he said he shouldve expected it because my species are unfaithful. Racist asshole."

Peter blinks, leaning towards him a little bit. "Time god? Death god? Souls? I really need to study up on this magic stuff or whatever it is, because every time I talk to you I end up getting confused." He laughs slightly. "I understand the last thing, though. That asshole."

He giggles. "Oh don't worry, I confuse basically everyone I talk to. And unfortunately for you I'm talking about problems from a different universe so theres not really any way for you to read up on it. Just gonna have to put up with my insanity, I guess."

Peter chokes a little, then covers it with a cough. "Another universe. Got it. The multiverse is wild. And yeah, I can totally put up with your insanity." He laughs slightly.

He tilts his head. "Have I not meantioned that? You didnt think I was from your world, did you? I'm too cool and powerful for this place. It couldn't contain me." He jokes with an arrogant wink.

Peter rolls his eyes. "Yeah, you have. It just throws me off when you bring it up. And hey! We have plenty of cool and powerful people."

"Katie?" Peter walks towards her, still wearing most of his suit besides his mask, seeing as he was on patrol before he came back to the tower. The odor of the weed hits his nose, which wrinkles as he recognizes it. "What're you doing up here?"

"Oh hi. I'm just sitting. You're home early." Katie mumbles glancing at Peter before turning back to the view, lifting the joint to her lips again.

"Just sitting?" Peter approaches Katie, stopping by her side. "Then what's that? Because it looks and smells like a joint."

He leans into Katie's hand, but then pulls away with a whine. He walks over to the suit and noses at it, nudging it towards her.

“Where’d you get that? You know Peter’s gonna kill you when he finds out you made his suit dirty. But it’s ok though I’ll protect you.” Katie picks up the suit putting it away before coming back to the dog and petting him.

Peter perks up at his name, but huffs when Katie puts the suit away. He pulls away from her hand, embarrassed that he likes being pet, then trots away to look for something useful.

“Hey where are you going? Dad would be so pissed if he sees another dog in the house.”

“Only you Peter, wow how do you get yourself into shit like this.” Katie shakes her head before pulling out her phone. “Come on smile for the pic, you’re surprisingly cute as a dog.”

Peter huffs at her. If dogs could pout, this would be that. He lays down, head resting on his paws.

“Awww look at you so cute. Wait I’m gonna find a bow and tie it on your fur.”

Peter's head snaps up and he halfheartedly growls at her.

Peter huffs a little, though he lets Katie tie the ribbon. Playing with Gizmo doesn't sound like all that bad a time, actually... He'll allow it.

Peter side-eyes her, then stands up and trots out of the room towards Katie's room.

Peter's tail wags as he sniffs Gizmo back. He gently boops Gizmo's head with his nose.

Peter bounces back, falling into a bow and barking happily, tail high.

“Pete maybe you should just stay a dog, that way I won’t have to worry about you killing yourself as often. Besides you’re so much cuter as a dog.” Katie jokes as she records Gizmo and Peter playing together.

"Mrrr." Peter side-eyes Katie before pouncing at Gizmo.

Katie laughs at the scene and she sits down on her bed watching the two of them play. Gizmo tackles Peter and yips around as he wrestles with him.

Peter wrestles back, though he eventually pulls away to rub at his head with his front paw. He's getting an odd headache.

“Pete don’t do that, you’ll hurt yourself. What’s going on?” Katie moves over pulling Gizmo to the side and tossing him a toy before crouching down to Peter’s level.

Peter lays down and rubs his head against Katie's leg. There's a sparkle to his form, and in a second, he's himself, curled back-up on the rug with his head still against Katie.

Peter groans incoherently, scrambling to get something to cover himself before settling in again. "Yeah. That was so embarrassing."

“It was cute! I miss dog Peter already you aren’t nearly as cute as him. Why did the spell have to end so soon?” Katie puts as she picks up Gizmo who’s looking around confused and pets him.

"You put a bow on me and asked me if I ate dog food!" Peter protests. He realizes the bow's still stuck in his hair and yanks it out. "Didn't you miss your favorite brother?"

"The bow is adorable, and it was a valid question. I miss dog Peter, he's so much better than you Peter. Besides you're my only brother, and no i didn't miss you."

"Dog me and I are the same thing. You just liked that you got to talk all the time and pick on me without getting refuted."

“That’s not true, Dog you was adorable, real you is just annoying. Besides half the fun in picking on you is hearing you whine about it.”

"I remain adorable. And picking on me isn't fun, it's evil."

“Ya sure, keep telling yourself that nerd. Picking on you is the best, it literally makes my day.”

"I'm glad that I make you happy, then."

“No I make myself happy by picking on you, but if you wanna believe that go ahead. You know whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Peter rolls his eyes. "All I'm hearing is that something I sacrifice is making you happy. That being my dignity."

"Since when do you have dignity? I'm gonna get you some clothes, I'll be right back." Katie says as she leaves the room to get Peter some clothes.

"This... is unfortunate timing," Peter admits. "But, uh, yeah, thanks."

"Thanks." Peter catches the clothes before quickly pulling the shirt over his head. "Amateur sorcerer. No clue if they meant to turn me into a dog or they were trying to do something else."

"Was not!" Peter protests halfheartedly, following Katie. "We confused Gizmo, and now I smell like dog. Leia's going to be upset."

“It so was. Gizmo’s used to weird shit by now. Right buddy? Besides just take a shower before seeing Leia. Or better yet don’t and I can officially be her favorite.”

"You'll never be her favorite. The aunt is never the favorite."

“The aunt is always the favorite. I’m the fun aunt. She already loves me more.”

"...May and Natasha are my favorites... But this will be different! You can't be the fun aunt, though, that's Alpine."

“I am so much more fun than Alpine! And I’m gonna be the fun aunt and the favorite aunt, you just wait and see.”

"Alpine's the same kind of animal as she is! You can't beat that. She'll probably give her catnip and stuff."

“I’ll figure out a way to beat it, trust me. I have to be Leila’s favorite. There’s no other choice.

"You can be Gizmo's favorite! Just not Leia's."

“I’m already Gizmo’s favorite! I’m gonna be both their favorites. Why are you so opposed to me being her favorite when I’m the obvious choice!”

"Because I have to be the favorite! I'm never going to be the favorite dad again, let me have this."

“Why can’t you be the favorite dad? And I wanna be the favorite!”

"Because Harley's obviously going to be the favorite! So you can't be Leia's!"

"Well that's your problem! I wanna be the favorite!" Katie pouts.

"You're already Gizmo's favorite! Does your greed know no bounds?"

Peter quickly takes the sunglasses and puts them on with relief, but the press are taking even more photos now. Most of them retreat, though, making enough space to squeeze through.

Peter's head falls against the headrest as he catches his breath. "Yeah, I'm fine. You?"

"I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about. I'm used to getting swarmed if I go out in public you on the other hand are not. I can't believe those assholes had the never to show up at your school."

"Yeah, uh, that was a lot. I can believe it," Peter pants, gripping his backpack strap. "Could you, uh, maybe get out out of the parking lot? People're watching the car."

Peter nods a bit shakily, watching through the windshield. "I'm sure. Gotta get used to it somehow. Just didn't think it'd be like this."

“I know, I can’t believe you guys got caught like that. I’m sorry, I know you wanted to have a normal life a little longer.”

Peter sighs, glancing out the window. "It's fine. Just... a change. Not sure I'm ready for that."

“I know it can be hard and kinda annoying. But they’ll calm down soon and you’ll get used to it. Besides I’m sure mom and dad can threaten them to back off at least a bit.”

"They don't need to threaten them, I just have to get used to it like you did. I'll be in the spotlight for a minute and then they'll get bored and move onto the next thing."

“I know you will, and they will move on, but still I don’t want you to get overwhelmed, so maybe threatening them won’t be the worst idea. Besides ya I got used to it, but I don’t have superpowers that literally enhance all my senses.”

"I didn't get that overwhelmed then. Threats won't help."

“Fine Pete, I won’t push you. But how are you dealing with all of this? You know mom and dad are gonna have to clear things up sooner or later, especially since the press isn’t giving it up.”

"Yeah, I know... That's how we'll deal with it, then. We'll clear it up and everything will be fine."

"You're right, it will be fine. Though I will say, stay low until you do, the press can be vultures." They reach the tower and Katie pulls into the parking and parks the car.

"I'll try," Peter answers, getting out of the car. They're immediately met with more reporters. "Miss Stark, do you have any relation with this boy?" one shouts.

“You guys believe everything you see on the internet? Now get out of our way before I call security.” Katie glances back at Peter and holds onto his hand as she tries to get inside. She did not expect the press to be like this, usually they left her alone knowing that her parents would be pissed if they swarmed her.

Some people stagger back, forming enough of a gap for them to get through to the doors. Peter grips Katie's hand as they get inside, locking the doors behind them with his free hand.

"That was...something. How're you feeling? Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little shaken. You?"

"I'm fine, they're usually not this bad, but I'm still used to it. It's you I'm worried about."

"I know. You don't have to be, though, I'll be fine."

“I know you will, that doesn’t mean I can’t worry. You’re my little brother that’s my job.”

"You worry too much, you're going to give yourself a heart attack one day and I'll feel bad about it."

“You don’t want me getting a heart attack then don’t do stuff that’ll give me heart attack.”

"You know I can't do that," Peter says with a slightly crooked smile.

"Nope. Great power, great responsibility, great need to do dangerous stuff."

“Why did I have to get stuck with a family with the most self sacrificial idiots on the planet?”

"It's fate. Don't join us, though, we need you to keep us from dying."

“Trust me I have no plan of becoming as stupid as you guys.”

"Hey! But good, that'd be bad."

“Ya it would. We need at least 2 people acting responsibly at all times.”

"You're right. Otherwise someone would probably get very hurt."

“Exactly, I’ll let you know when I wanna be stupid and then you can be the responsible one. We can take turns.”

"That's an amazing system. We'll have duty times."

“Of course it’s amazing, I thought of it.”

Peter rolls his eyes. "Like all your ideas are amazing."

“They absolutely are! All my ideas are amazing just like me.”

"Sure, they are. Like half of them don't explode."

“Hey some of those explosions are what was meant to happen! And you’re definitely so much worse than me!”

"Why would you mean for an explosion to happen?! We don't make weapons!"

"Cause it's fun! And it's for science!"

"That... is true. But it doesn't exactly make Dad happy."

"Just coming in from hanging out with Flash," Peter answers a bit too quickly, letting Katie check him. "It's from patrol."

“Patrol? But if you were with Flash when did you go on patrol?”

"Uh... Before that?"

"Before that? That makes no sense, if you got hurt before it should be healed by now, or at least starting to heal. Peter what are you not telling me?" Katie backs away from Peter a bit, before looking him up and down trying to figure out what's happening.

"Uh... Nothing important." Peter steps past her, heading for the living room.

“He come on you can’t just come home hurt and not tell me what happened! Peter what’s going on?” Katie asks concern shining in her eyes as she grabbed Peter’s arm to stop him from leaving.

Peter stops when she grabs his arm, sighing a little as he looks back at her. "Someone punched me, that's all. It's okay."

"Someone punching you is never ok! Who the hell was it? I'm gonna go give them a piece of my mind."

"No, no, don't, it's not his fault that I messed up!"

"Uh... Yeah," Peter admits, slow and quiet. "But I was late!"

“He hit you because you were late? I’m gonna kill him.” Katie says as she starts walking towards the elevator to go to her car.

"Nope, nope, no killing people!" Peter follows her and grabs for her wrist to stop her.

“He hit you! I don’t give a fuck what you say, I’m gonna kill him!”

"You don't need to! It's fine!"

“It’s not fine! In no universe is this fine! Was it fine when Chris was hitting me? Because you were very opposed to that.”

"No, but this is different! I can handle it."

"That doesn't fucking matter! You shouldn't have to handle it! No one is supposed to be hitting you, especially not your partner and that asshole needs to be put in his place."

"...I can't put him in his place."

“Why the hell not? And even if you can’t. I definitely can and I will!”

"Because putting him in his place requires yelling at him, and yelling at him means he'll hit me again! And I can't let you do that, it's the principle."

"Peter you're Spider-man, I know for a fact you can beat his ass. What he's doing is wrong, he can't hurt you. And what principle? The only principle I know is that someone hurt my little brother and there's no way I'm letting that slide!"

"But I shouldn't, I have to be the bigger person!"

“The bigger person? Peter what you need to do is get away from that asshole. Even if you don’t wanna give him a taste of his own medicine, which I think you should, you can’t stay with him.”

"I have to or he'll tell people who I am."

"He's blackmailing?!? That asshole, god I'm gonna kill him. Who does he think he is? Why didn't you tell anyone? We could've helped Pete."

"I didn't... didn't want you to worry."

Peter slowly hugs her back. "I just told you why I can't."

“Peter I won’t let him expose your secrets. Trust me, and even if that was the case, your well being is more important than anything else in the world. But Peter I won’t let him do anything, I promise.”

Peter's hesitant, but... he trusts Katie. "...how am I supposed to break up with him?"

“I know it’s hard, trust me I know, but you should do it however you’re comfortable. You can call him or meet with him, I’ll go with you, and you just need to tell him that this relationship is over.”

"I'll... I'll meet him. It's better to do it in person, I think."

"Ok, ok whatever you're comfortable with, but I'm coming with you. You're not seeing him alone."

"Uh... Okay. But don't do anything drastic. We can go now."

"Fine, I'll try my best to not kill him. Come on I'll drive." Katie starts walking towards the elevator.

Peter follows close behind her, and he gets in the passenger seat.

“Hey, it’s gonna be ok. I promise I won’t let him do anything to you.” Katie says softly before pulling out of the garage.

"I'm not that worried about that," Peter murmurs. "He's at home."

“Then what are you worried about?” Katie starts driving towards Flash’s house as FRIDAY pulls up the address.

Peter shrugs. "Everything." They arrive at Flash's house soon enough, and Peter gets out, fidgeting nervously.

"Yeah, yeah it'll be fine." Peter squeezes her hand, then walks up to the door and knocks twice. Flash opens it. He frowns at Peter, but puts on a false smile as soon as he sees Katie. "Oh, hi! I didn't expect to see you again so soon, Peter. What're you two doing here?"

Katie looks at Peter nodding to let him take the lead before glaring at Flash.

"The fuck did you call him?" Katie asks stepping towards Flash.

"It doesn't matter," Flash says. "I can call my boyfriend what I want."

"Ya didn't you hear, you aren't his fucking boyfriend anymore, and even if you were that wouldn't stop me from rearranging your stupid face so apologize to my brother."

"Uh... I'm sorry?"

"Say it like you mean it and to him not me."

Flash stares at her for a moment, then suppresses a sigh and looks at Peter. "I'm sorry."

“Peter anything else you wanna say?”

"Nope," Peter says quietly, stepping away. Tears are pricking at his eyes a bit. He watches Flash shut the door.

"Thanks," Peter says quietly, then pulls away. "And thanks for coming with me."

“Of course, I’m always gonna be here for you Pete. Come on let’s go get some ice cream. I’ll talk to legal to make sure that ass doesn’t leak anything.”

"That's a good idea." Peter follows her away from the house.

“Do you wanna go home and eat a tub of ice cream or go to an ice cream shop and eat like humans?” Katie gets into the drivers seat as she turns on the car.

"This isn't the time to be human," Peter answers, getting in the passenger seat. "Let's go home."

"Good plan, right now it's time to eat our feelings away. We can be human later."

"Good idea," Peter says, leaning back in his seat.

Peter gets out of the car, too, beelining for the elevator. "This is the perfect time to test my metabolism," he jokes.

“You’re right, fuck we should’ve picked up more ice cream. I wouldn’t be surprised if you eat through our entire stash. Your stomach is a bottomless pit Pete.”

"It is, yeah. We can have FRIDAY order more if you want."

“That’s a good idea.” Katie gets out of the elevator as it opens up and walks towards the kitchen pulling a tub of cream and 2 spoons out.

"Hey, FRIDAY, care to do that, please? Uh, a tub of moose tracks and that blue cookie dough stuff. Anything else, Katie?"

“Nah I’m good as long as it’s ice cream” Katie walks over to the couch and settles on it pulling the blankets over herself.

"Good." Peter follows her over to the couch, grabbing his own blankets and scootching closer to her. "I need a surrogate heat source if I'm gonna eat all this."

"Hey, it's not my fault that my temperature regulation sucks," Peter mutters, opening the ice cream.

“It is your fault I get used as a heater though”

"C'mon, you know you like it. And it's just force of circumstance."

“Sure whatever Pete, just eat your ice cream.” Katie shakes her head as she rolls her eyes and digs into the ice cream.

"Yeah, yeah." Peter digs in, too. "I get why people do this. Ice cream fixes everything."

"Ya, it does, and as much as I want to forget what happened I can't. We eventually do have to talk about what happened Pete. Maybe not right now, but we do."

"...Fine. But there's not much to talk about."

"Oook, I mean I already knew that but is there a reason for the announcement." Katie looks at Peter confused.

Peter blinks at her. "Uh... No. What do you mean you already knew that??"

"I mean i already knew that. Was this a secret? Wait did you not know?"

"Uh, no? Sort of? Maybe? I don't know! How did you know that? When did you know that? Because I just figured it out, like, not that long ago."

"Cause I know you. Was I supposed to pretend you obsessing over Luke Skywalker since you were a child was platonic? Cause it was definitely not."

"It could've been!" Peter protests. "And yes, you were."

"It wasn't, and I'm sorry? I don't know what you want me to say, it was very obvious you liked guys Pete."

"That obvious? That's scarily obvious."

“I mean I am genius, and you’ve never been great at hiding things. But I’m glad you figured it out and I’m glad you trusted me enough to tell me Pete.”

"Thanks. I'm glad, too." He leans in to quickly hug Katie.

Katie pulls back and ruffles Peter’s hair with a soft smile. “So what brought on this very surprising revelation?”

Peter shrugs, gently leaning into Katie's hand. "Just wanted to tell someone. You seemed like my best bet."

"Hey you know no one in our family will judge you over this right?"

Peter nods quickly. "I do, just... not sure how much they'd react."

“No one’s gonna react badly Pete. And if someone does I can beat their ass for you.”

"I can beat their ass myself," Peter laughs. "And yeah, I'm sure no one's gonna have a problem."

“I know you can, but I need to do something as the big sister. I can’t just sit there and do nothing, I have an image to maintain.”

"I'm sure you do." Peter laughs. "But neither of us will have to do anything, I'm sure."

“I’m sure too. So since you’re out of your glass closet any guys that have caught your eye? What’s happening?”

"Um... Nope. Definitely not. Not one."

“Uh huh, come on, tell me, tell me. I’ll give you advice and stuff.”

"There's a guy in my class who's kinda cute, and... remember the guy Dad left in the middle of nowhere in, like, 2013?"

"Ooo tell me more about the guy, and umm ya Harley something right? What about him?"

"Uh, he's cute. That's all I got. And yeah, Harley. I'm not gonna elaborate."

“What do you mean you’re not gonna elaborate? You have to! Tell me, tell me. I’ll help, I’m a great wingwoman.”

"You don't even have a boyfriend."

“Ok first of all rude, second of all I said wingwoman. I don’t need a boyfriend to be a good wingwoman.”

"Have you ever been a wingwoman before?"

“Well no, but I’m great at everything. I’m gonna be amazing at this too!”

"I can't be your first try as wingwoman, Katie. You could ruin it. Harley's too pretty."

“Did you just call him pretty? Ew and no I’m gonna be great at it. Come on tell me. Pretty please.”

"This is why I don't talk to you about this stuff. I tell you one thing and you say ew!"

“Ok fine fine, I won’t say ew again I promise. Just tell me.”

"Uh... Fine. He seems really smart, at least, from what I've seen. And I love his accent."

“I mean dad does say he’s smart, but since when do you have a thing for country boys?”

Peter shrugs. "Can you blame me? No, you can't, because accents are hot."

“I can’t argue there, accents are hot. But when did you even meet him?”

"Uh... I didn't."

"Of course you have a crush on a guy you don't even know."

Peter snorts. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Katie just woke up and was on her way to get breakfast when she noticed Peter wasn’t in the kitchen yet. She lets out a sigh as she walks over towards Peter’s room to drag her little brother to breakfast.

Peter shifts in the nest of blankets he'd wound up constructing last night, resting his cheek on one of the raised edges so he can properly view the door seeing as he can hear her breathing from the hallway.

“Peter come on wake up, it’s breakfast time” Katie knocks on the door rubbing her eyes with one hand as she tries to wake herself up.

Peter grumbles a little, blinking at the door tiredly. "Gimme a few minutes... Everything's achey."

“That’s what happens when you push yourself on patrol. I’m starving come on hurry up!” Katie knocks again loudly.

"I'm coming!" Peter rolls out of his bed, stumbling slightly when he stands up, before walking over to the door and opening it.

Peter blinks at Katie a few times. "Uh... Puberty's wild. And I think my pants shrunk."

"How the hell did you grow facial hair overnight? Holy...are you fucking taller than me?"

"No clue. And uh... Am I?" Peter steps closer to her and grins when he finds that the tip of his nose is in line with her eyes. "I am!" He laughs.

“What the fuck? This is bullshit. Is this a nightmare? This might actually be a nightmare.”

"Maybe. Is the aching part of the nightmare? Also, you said it's time for breakfast. I'm starving. Can we go?"

“Maybe, I don’t know. But this has to be a nightmare, this can’t be real.” Katie nods trying to process this. “Sure ya breakfast, cause this is completely normal and not at all weird.” Katie says as she starts walking towards the kitchen.

"If I missed breakfast every time something was weird I'd starve," Peter says, following her.

“I can’t argue with that. So you just woke up like this? Nothing weird happened?”

Peter nods. "Yep, pretty much. I mean, I sort of molted a couple days ago, but I've done that before."

“I’m sorry, molted?!? What the hell? Your powers never fail to freak me out.”

Peter shrugs as they enter the kitchen. "Things get weird sometimes. The molting definitely isn't a cool part."

“I don’t wanna know, that’s nightmare fuel. So wait you molted, and now this is happening? It’s gotta be related right? What does spider stuff say about that?”

"Molting happens when spiders grow out of their old exoskeletons. I don't think I have an exoskeleton, but I shed skin every once in a while and before then it's usually really uncomfortable and tight."

"I think I already had spider puberty," Peter says, flashing his fangs before eagerly taking the plate. "Thanks."

"I can't leave you alone, I need a... a pad, or something, whatever." Peter picks at his waistband, then rubs at his eyes. "And some clothes."

"Either that or you're bleeding internally and got kicked in the abdomen, like, 6 times. It's the 18th or something." Peter shifts uncomfortably, rubbing at his face again.

Peter takes the clothes and pad with a muttered thanks. "Can I sleep with you?"

"Sure Pete, just go change and then we can sleep." Katie smiles. Periods sucked even when you're used to it, she knows they must be terrible for Peter.

Peter nods, backing into Katie's bathroom to change. It feels really weird to do it in her body, but he gets it done, hobbles to the laundry room to throw the dirty clothes in the washer, and hobbles back to climb into Katie's bed with a whine. "Your body sucks."

"Yeah..." Peter snuggles into the blanket and curls in on himself. "Can I file a lawsuit against periods and wizards?"

“That’s a great idea. I love that. Though periods are great for not having to worry about being pregnant. Other than that they suck ass. If it’s hurting too much take a painkiller Peter, my periods can get really bad sometimes.”

"If I can take a bullet wound without painkillers, I can take cramps. It'll be fine." Peter shoves his face into the pillow defiantly. "Body swaps suck, though. Harley wouldn't cuddle last night because I'm in your skin, and now I'm dying while you're over there in my perfectly cramp-free body."

“You take bullets in your own enhanced body not in my frail human body. Also I’m glad Harley didn’t cuddle, that would’ve been so weird. Ew. And don’t act like your body is perfect, super hearing sucks, I couldn’t fall asleep at all and I’ve had a constant headache. It’s terrible. At least I don’t feel like I’m gonna get a panic attack cause of all the senses anymore.”

"Yeah, sensory overloads suck, but I'm durable! So durable! I could jump out a fifth story window and hit the ground running and I'd be completely fine."

"You know normal people just don't jump out of fifth story windows."

"But that's boring. What if the building was on fire and you were carrying an old lady and the only way you could possibly save her was jumping out of a fifth story window?"

“I’ll call 911, like a normal person, because normal people don’t survive jumps out of windows.”

"That's sad. You can't jump out of a window and you suffer like this all the time?" Peter drags himself closer to her with a groan.

Katie chuckles as he comes closer and wraps her arms around him. “I thought cramps weren’t that bad for the big shot superhero. And it’s not all the time just a couple of days, every month for like most of your life. You kinda get used to it.”

"Most of your life?" Peter gapes. "They'd probably be fine in my body, but, once again, you live in a mush sack."

“Hey! My body is ok…it’s not superhuman but it serves the purpose. And you should not be talking, your body is good now thanks to a radioactive spider, it was a mess before.”

"Well it's not a mess anymore. Congrats, you're in a body that can lift a truck."

“Wait you’re right, I should try and lift a truck!”

Peter immediately shoots up in the bed, then groans and lays down again. "You should not!"

“I definitely should, it’ll be so much fun. I’ll get you a heating pad if you don’t wanna take medicine. Which I still think will help, you’re not used to menace that are called cramps.” Katie sits up looking through her bedside drawer for the heating pad.

Peter groans into the pillow. "My muscles will hurt after, and... Yeah. Drugs, please. Release me from this prison of suffering."

"Just one?" Peter asks, gratefully taking the stuff. He downs the pill and some water. "I miss only having to take one."

“Ya just one. There are some benefits to being weak normal humans.”

Peter adjusts the heating pad a little. "I see that. ...You can have mint."

“Ya I can. You should use this opportunity to eat everything you couldn’t before. Or like do things you couldn’t before.”

"You're right. I should take a hot shower. You can mess around in my body if you want, but don't lift anything too big, that makes me sore."

“That’s a good idea. I’m definitely messing around with your body and lifting the biggest thing I can find.”

Peter groans. "Please don't. Be reasonable."

“Nope, you can just suffer a little for my happiness.”

Peter pouts. "A little? I'm already suffering!" He rolls over, then groans. "Fine. But eat a lot of protein and carbs after. There's waffle thingies in the freezer, or we can order cheeseburgers. Drink water, too."

“Oh come on, I even gave you meds now. You’re exaggerating. It cannot possibly be that bad. And since when do you act responsible, there’s no way you just told me to take care of myself.”

"I act responsibly sometimes! There's no immediate danger that someone's going to get in if I act responsibly and I don't exactly like my arms cramping and passing out because I burned too many calories."

"Ya I don't want you passing out. I'll rather not get a heart attack. Fine I'll eat."

"You'll be the one passing out. But good."

"Um- I don't know," Peter answers, scrambling to sit up. "But I didn't fall off my bed! And, uh, it's fine, I'm fine, just... Weird dream, I think."

“Right, but that still doesn’t explain the noise. Anyway whatever, you sure you’re good though?”

Peter rolls his eyes good-naturedly, then nods. "Yeah, I'm sure." He scratches at the bite at the base of his neck.

"Oook, I guess. Get up then, let's go have breakfast." Katie scans over Peter again, something was definitely off, but she decided to let it go for now.

"Okay, yeah, just give me a second." Peter hops off his bed and heads to the bathroom, reaching for the handle to open the door. It comes off in his hand. "Uh..."

"Uh, no, I didn't." Peter stares down at the doorknob, unblinking. It's got dents where his fingers are. "That's... Really weird, right? Not supposed to happen?"

"No Peter it's completely normal for your weak ass to dent fucking metal. What the hell is going on? How is this even possible?"

Peter squeezes the doorknob a bit and its shape deforms further. He stares at it. "I- I don't know," he says slowly. "Maybe it's the doorknob. Give it a try." He hands her the doorknob.

Katie takes the doorknob and puts in all her strength to see if anything happens the doorknob is not affected at all. “Holy shit. How the fuck did you do that? Are you using some tech or something?”

Peter watches her, bewildered. "No? I don't think so?" He looks at his hands with furrowed eyebrows.

“There’s something wrong. Even cap can’t do that so effortlessly. We need to go to a doctor or something.”

"A doctor? For this? What kind of doctor would know about this?"

“I don’t know, maybe Cho, or if we’re desperate Bruce. But we need something. This isn’t normal.”

"It's not normal, but it's not like I'm coughing up blood or anything. I feel fine!"

“Really Peter? That’s the bare fucking minimum. We’re getting you checked out and that’s final.”

"But that's a waste of time that'd better be spent running tests in the lab."

“But what if something’s seriously wrong and you need medical attention? Besides we have no clue what’s happening and how, where would we even start in the lab?”

"Uh... I don't know." Peter scratches at the bite at the base of his neck, then sighs. "Fine, we can go see Dr. Cho. But I'm going to be really annoyed if it's nothing."

“Thank you, and you can be as annoyed as you want to be, but this isn’t normal, and we need help figuring it out.”

"I could trial and error it out," Peter protests, "but yeah, let's go." He enters the hallway, twitching his leg slightly at the sudden new muscle mass on it but continuing to the elevator nonetheless.

"Uh..." Peter thinks for a second. "Everything's kinda loud. And high-definition. I think I can hear dad's arc reactor, he's in the kitchen. And this shirt wasn't too itchy last night, but it is now. And my breathing's not weird anymore for some reason."

"You can hear dad's arc reactor? What the hell? How's that even possible? And your breathing's always weird."

"Exactly, that's why it's weird that it's not." Peter rubs at one ear as the elevator dings, opening to the medbay. It's a slow day, and Dr. Cho immediately raises her head from a table she's sitting next to.

“Hey Peter, hey Katie, everything ok?” Dr. Cho asks as she stands up. “Not really, well kinda, it’s hard to explain.” Katie glances over at Peter, how was they supposed to tell the doctor that Peter suddenly had super strength out of nowhere.

"Uh..." Peter cracks a sheepish smile. "This is going to sound ridiculous saying it out loud, but, um, we think I might have superpowers. Because I crushed a doorknob. Plus I don't need my glasses when I'm usually, like, completely blind without them."

"You think you have superpowers? Ok, that's a new one. How about you start from the beginning and tell me what happened? And we can do some tests to figure out what's going on."

"Okay, uh, yeah." Peter thinks for a moment. "I had a weird dream—well, I think it was a dream—where I was on my bedroom ceiling, and I have this bite on the back of my neck that I got yesterday. When I woke up, everything was really loud and I didn't need my glasses and I broke that doorknob. Plus, I have actual muscles. And that's up to now."

“You got bit by a spider? Where?” Katie exclaims as she shudders at the thought.

"Uh... The lab, I think."

"We're gonna start with just getting your vitals and some basic blood work and see if there is anything off with that. Since you also said that you think you have enhanced strength we can try and test that out as well." Dr. Cho said as she checks Peter's vitals before preparing to get a blood sample.

"Okay, sounds good," Peter says, glancing at Katie with slight nervousness. He's never been a fan of the medbay.

Peter hisses slightly as Dr. Cho takes the sample, squeezing Katie's hand back a bit too tightly. "Mhm, it'll be fine." He watches Dr. Cho finish taking it.

“Fuck Peter, do you wanna break my hand? God!” Katie winces as she pulls her hand out of his grip.

Peter startles slightly, pulling back. "Sorry! I didn't mean to."

"Ok something is definitely going on Dr. Cho, because there's no way his weak ass almost broke my hand." Katie rubs her hand trying to soothe the pain.

“How the hell did this happen, this makes no sense?” Katie looks worriedly at Peter, something was definitely going on.

"I don't know..." Peter answers, looking back at her. "That crate of spiders was from Bruce's lab, maybe he was messing with them."

"You got bit by Bruce's science experiment and didn't tell anyone? Are you crazy?!?"

"A little bit, maybe. But I didn't know!" In the background, Dr. Cho is working with the blood test.

“You didn’t know that maybe there could be something off with spiders from the lab of a literal genius who works with radiation!” Katie exclaims before Dr. Cho comes back with the results of the blood test.

“Mutated? Oh god is he gonna turn into a spider?”

"Yep, I will," Peter says quickly as he stands up. "It's one of the more normal things that's happened to us, really." He's bouncing on his toes, basically vibrating out of excitement to test all this. "Okay, uh, lab. Wait no, the gym. There's high ceilings there."

“High ceilings? The fuck do you wanna do?” Katie looks at Peter suspiciously.

"Um, don't worry about it." Peter smiles, his expression evident that she should be a little bit worried. "I'm just testing my body, let's go!"

“I am gonna worry about it. You’re a dumbass, you’re gonna get yourself killed.” Katie sighs though she follows after Peter.

"No, I'm not," Peter says. Soon, the elevator takes them to the gym, and he immediately starts experimenting with the wall.

"Holy shit, what are you doing? You do know you're still a human right?" Katie says before pausing when she sees what Peter is doing.

"I know, I know." Peter pulls himself up, his fingers gaining traction on the wall before his toes do as well. "Awesome!"

“You’re…you’re…sticking to the wall. Is this a dream? What the hell?”

"A shared dream? That'd be wilder, I think. I'm pretty sure it's the spider DNA stuff." Peter scurries up the wall to where it meets the ceiling, then onto the ceiling itself.

“Weirder than you climbing a wall, sure. You’re a spider, you’re a literal spider. As if you weren’t weird enough.”

"I'm not weird! This might be, though." Peter panics slightly when he loses his footing, but twists when he falls so he lands on his feet.

Peter stumbles slightly, but nods, then bounces excitedly on his toes. "I'm fine! Completely fine! That was so cool!"

"You just fell off the fucking ceiling! That was terrifying! God you're gonna give me gray hairs aren't you?"

"Yep." Peter laughs, and his eyes catch on the weights by the far wall. "Hey, you said Steve couldn't break a doorknob with as little effort as I did, right?"

"Um ya, for you it was pretty effortless. Why? What're you doing now?"

"Thinking," Peter says simply, then points at the weights before walking towards them. He chooses one of the heaviest ones and picks it up one-handed. "...that was easy."

"How...omg we totally gotta test these powers properly. There's no way you should be able to carry that. This is the Avenger's Gym everything here is built for super soldiers. Your nerd ass has never been to the gym a day in your life."

"Hey, rude! But yeah, we do. What do you have in mind?"

"It's accurate. Umm, so we know you lift an insane amount of weight, umm try crushing that weight. Let's see if you're really that strong."

Peter nods. "Okay." He shifts his grip and pushes inward. It takes a bit of effort but he manages to crush it.

Peter stares down at the crushed weight. "That... How??"

“I just watched my scrawny baby brother crush a weight, I’m pretty sure the world is ending.”

"Hey, I'm not scrawny... I mean, at least not anymore!" Peter sets the weight on the ground before poking at his bicep. "I'm pretty sure I hit spider-induced puberty."

"That spider might've been magic, cause this should not be possible. How are you gonna explain this to literally anyone?"

"Uh... I'm not. I'll just wear baggy clothes or something."

“Because baggy clothes are gonna hide the fact your eyesight is perfect and you don’t have asthma?”

"Er, I got contacts and the asthma... went away."

“Since when does asthma just go away?”

"Um... Long-term remission is a thing."

“I guess maybe that could work if someone doesn’t focus too much on it.”

"No one's going to focus on it, you're paranoid."

“Sorry for being a little paranoid when my little brother turns into a fucking spider.”

"I'm not turning into a spider! She didn't say I was. It's okay," Peter says, bending back to test how far his spine goes.

“You can climb walls and are literally bending yourself backwards like you have no bones! God you’re gonna get yourself killed.”

"Am not!" Peter pauses for a second, considering. His hands touch the floor before he walks them to his ankles. "Maybe I don't have bones! Do spiders have bones?"

“How am I supposed to know? You’re the nerd in between us!”

“Exactly I’m smart, not a nerd. You’re disappointed you have bones? What the hell is wrong with you?”

"Not having bones would be cool! I'd never break one again."

"Or you can just be more careful, and not do stupid shit so you don't break bones."

"Hey, I'm careful!" Peter brings himself to a standing position to halfheartedly glare at her.

Katie had been working trying to make sure everything was fine ever since it happened. Well as fine as it could be seeing as her dad was dead. She still couldn’t believe it. She was going down to the lab to work on something just to stop herself from spiraling when she sees Peter. Katie immediately rushes over and wraps Peter in a hug. “Pete, I’m here, I’m here, it’ll be ok, just let it out.”

Peter wraps both of his arms around her, tears streaming down his face as he looks up at her. "He's- he's gone."

"I know, I know. I...I know nothing I say is gonna make it hurt any less and I'm sorry I can't fix this. But it'll be ok Peter, maybe not right now, but you'll be ok. Till then you can cry or sob or be angry or do whatever you want."

"I don't- don't want to cry or sob or be angry," Peter chokes. "I want Dad."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I wish he was here too and none of this was happening. I know." Katie tries to keep her voice steady, to not let the tears fall, to not fall apart. She couldn't fall apart, she needed to be strong for everyone, for Peter.

"I miss him," Peter says. "I really really miss him. And I should've been able to notice- notice that his heart sounded wrong. I should've stopped it."

“I miss him too, but in no universe was this your fault. What happened…what happened was an accident, we all wish it didn’t happen, but it did and we can’t do anything about it but it’s not your fault. It’s never your fault.”

Peter just shoves his face into her shoulder. "But I could've been faster, and now he's dead, and I saw it-."

“I know, I know but it wasn’t your fault Peter. You…we live in the building with the most alerts. If Friday couldn’t detect it, if dad didn’t know what happening, how were you supposed to? It’s not your fault Pete. It’s not.” Katie runs her hand through his hair, hoping to calm him down, though it helped her feel grounded too.

"But I'm supposed to save people! And I didn't- I didn't save the person I needed the most, the one you needed."

"You can't save everyone and that doesn't make it your fault. We needed him yes, but Peter you're gonna be fine, there's nothing you could've done, because if there was I know you would've done it."

Peter buries his face harder into her shoulder, trying to conceal a small whine. "Are you gonna be fine?"

“Ya I’m fine, I’ve got everything handled. It’s you I’m worried about.” Katie tries to sound confident, the last thing she needs is Peter worrying about her.

"You don't have to worry about me," he sniffles. "If you're fine I'll be fine. How're you fine?"

“I’ll always worry about you, and you don’t have to be fine Pete, you’re allowed to be sad or angry or hurt.” Katie says purposely avoiding the last question.

"There isn't a reason to be angry," Peter says quietly. "And sad and hurt don't get things done."

“You don’t really need to have reasoning behind feeling things. Besides you don’t have to get anything done, you don’t have to worry about anything, if anyone bothers you just tell me I’ll take care of it.”

"But you shouldn't have to take care of it. Your dad's gone, too, you have to grieve."

Katie pauses trying to not let her emotions get the best of her. “I am grieving, I don’t mind taking care of things, it’s fine. I’m fine.”

"I'm not usually fine when I say I'm fine. Are you fine like real people are fine or fine like people in our family are?"

“You know you’re being surprisingly emotionally intelligent for someone who was sobbing and blaming himself for something that wasn’t their fault like 2 mins ago.”

"It's a gift and a curse," Peter sniffles, shifting against Katie. "Stop- stop deflecting."

"I'm not, I'm...it sucks ya, I can't believe he's gone, but there's too much to do, and I'm ok. I got this handled." Katie nods as she quickly wipes her face as a few tears finally escape.

"But you gotta stop sometimes," Peter protests softly, squeezing her a little. "You don't need to handle everything. I can help."

"I do stop. Trust me I'm handling everything including myself. Besides you don't need to worry about anything."

"But you shouldn't have to worry about everything. What're you worrying about?"

"Nothing, I'm not worrying about anything. I've got it handled. All you need to do is process this and take care of yourself. Come on, let's get out of here ok?"

Peter hesitates before pulling away from Katie, nodding. His gaze glances over the dropped tool again. "...okay."

"Ok, we can watch a movie or something. Get your mind off of things." Katie smiles running a hand through Peter's hair softly before grabbing her StarkPad and moving towards the elevator.

Peter leans into her hand when she runs it through his hair, then follows her to the elevator.