Chapter 10 - I'm home (Part 2)

Queens, NYC, USA.

Ben's P.O.V.

Nonetheless, they did not let off their hold on him as they kept repeating some variants of 'Uncle', their words a bit distorted by the tears flowing freely from their red puffy eyes. Looking at their current state of distress, Ben could not help himself from feeling heartache, especially as he noticed the two beautiful mature women standing a bit further, looking at him with complicated eyes which immediately turned misty as he declared with a genuine smile, his voice cracking slightly.

"I'm home!"

A few minutes later, when the emotions of everyone present calmed down, they decided to go to the living room, as staying at the entrance was a bit uncomfortable. Thankfully, they had the presence of mind to close the door, or else they would have made a spectacle of themselves. Not that any of them would have cared much, but still.

As everyone but Ben sat on the two cozy couches, the man said with a tranquil smile. "Give me a few minutes, I need to get rid of some annoying bugs." While they were seemingly confused by his statement, he proceeded to quickly sweep the house with the device Coulson covertly provided to him.

When the agent slipped it to him, its shape felt familiar to Ben, but only with the former's last warning did the latter understand everything. Thankfully, the device was only a newer model than the ones he used in the past, with almost no 'physical' change, enabling him to use it easily.

After a few minutes of conscientious sweeping, with the three kids following behind him with curiosity, he finally finished his self-given task. "Uncle Ben, what are those?" Peter asked, intrigued. The object of his query was the bundle of small devices in the man's hand, devices that he found all around the house. There was even one in the bathroom, which got on his nerve the moment he found it. 

'If I find who put that particular camera...' He thought with annoyance, not letting his face betray his emotions. Instead, he had a small smile on his face. "Let's go back to the living room before I tell you. I don't want to have to repeat myself." The three children nodded, despite being obviously bursting with curiosity.

While going back, Ben quickly dropped the sweeping device in a metal box in his garage. "You can never be too cautious." He muttered under his breath, wondering if it was also bugged. Shaking his head at how he became more and more paranoid, he instead moved to the living room with a hammer and metal plate.

Once he arrived, he saw the five of them sitting on the couch, with the kids trying to guess what they would talk about while the two women chatted about a random anecdote May had about the recent situation at her job. His arrival, however, silenced everyone.

Their focused stare drew a small chuckle from him as he knelt down on the ground, laying the metal plate on the ground, after which he put down the small devices over it. Turning his head toward the other five, he said. "Those are micro-cameras used by some agencies to spy on people." As he finished his sentence, he placed one of the devices in the center of the plate, lifted his hammer, and brought it down hard enough to destroy the camera completely, even denting the plate slightly.

Despite following his movements, the loud noise made the other five jump slightly, with May even complaining. "Ben, couldn't you have warned us before you start being all hammer-happy?" Noticing them putting their hands on their ears, an apologetic smile appeared on his face. "Sorry, I haven't mastered my new strength completely yet."

He paused for a brief moment before adding. "Keep your hands on your ears while I destroy the rest, alright?" Seeing them nodding their heads, he turned back to the cameras, which he destroyed one by one while muttering. "I hate being spied on."

After a few moments, all the cameras were destroyed, the metal plate having a few more dents, although a bit shallower than the first one. Quickly putting the remains of the devices in the trashcan in the kitchen and putting back the hammer and metal plate in the garage.

After he was back on the living room couch, the six-year-old Gayle settled familiarly on his lap, while the eleven-year-olds Peter and Mary-Jane sat on both of his sides. May and Madeline sat on the other couch, with the latter asking the question that was on everyone's mind... Except maybe the young Gayle. She was probably just happy to see him.

"So, what was that about, Ben? Why are there cameras all over your house?" "Right! You talked about secret agencies. Does that have anything to do with the place you just came back from?" Feeling glad about his wife's wit, the man answered. "It has everything to do with it. Their name is SHIELD. It's an international secret agency, spanning the whole world. During my military service, I worked many times with their agents, but even then, I only know the basics about them."

Pausing for a second, he shook his head at the thought that just came to his head. "Actually, I only recently learned of their director's name. And even that was because they made me an offer to join them. I'm guessing that the whole camera thing is standard protocol for their agency... Or it could be that I'm special. I'm not sure."

Letting everything he said sink in, Ben halted his explanation for a moment. However, the silence was quickly broken as May asked. "Should you tell us that then? I mean, aren't secret agents supposed to... keep their job secret from everyone?" 

"Right, Uncle Ben. In one of the movies Peter and I watched, the spy lied to his family and said he worked in Import-Export." MJ declared with enthusiasm before continuing in a hesitant voice. "I don't know what kind of job it is though..." That drew a chuckle from Peter who started to explain what it was in a slightly condescending tone, which annoyed MJ, setting off a small verbal scuffle.

Putting his hands on each of their heads, Ben declared in a strict tone. "It's enough you too. Look at Gayle, she knows how to be well-behaved, unlike the two of you." That drew a big smile on the youngest's face, who stuck her tongue at the other two without letting Ben see her. Fortunately for her, the two mature women who saw everything, decided to keep it to themselves, only chuckling silently at the girl's antics.

""Sorry, Uncle."" The other two said in a contrite tone of voice while lowering their heads. At their apologies, Ben relaxed his tone. "As long as you both understood what you did wrong, it's fine." Being done with his scolding, the man answered the previous question. "You were both right with the 'not telling anyone about the spy job'. Except, that's for normal spies. And I'm everything but normal."

Not letting the others ask any other question, he continued. "What I mean by that is my strengthened physiology coupled with my military skills. In their eyes, that made me a prime target for recruitment. And that led to the so-called offer." "The one about you being a SHIELD agent?" May asked rhetorically. 

Nodding at her words, he added. "Yes, but that's only one part of the offer." That seemed to intrigue the two women, with Madeline inquiring. "What was the other part?" Taking a deep breath to brace himself for what he predicted would be their reaction, he then slowly declared. "They also offered me to become one of the Avengers."

And as he predicted, his words unleashed pandemonium, with two drastically different camps. On one side were Peter and MJ who were ecstatic, yelling at how cool it was that he would become a superhero, what his name should be, his costume, etc. Of course, Gayle did not quite understand the implied meaning of what he said, but as she saw the other two getting excited, she also followed suit.

On the other side, he could see May's face turning into a frown while her fists tightened in anger. Madeline, however, had her face turning pale, her whole body becoming still. From what he knew of them, he understood that despite their different reactions, they were both afraid for his well-being. After all, being a 'superhero' came with huge risks and he was living proof of it after almost dying around a week ago during his fight against the grey Aliens.

Feeling a bit apologetic, Ben nonetheless knew that he had to accept the offer. Many things depended on it and among them their safety. Especially in his present situation. Wanting to explain his thoughts, he calmed the children before he said. "I know what the two of you think, but I'm afraid I'll have to take the offer."

Listening to his words, a helpless look of understanding appeared on Mady's face, while May still tried to convince him otherwise. "But why? You could just go back to being a civilian! Why do you need to risk your life again?! Wasn't that enough that you just almost died!!" She finished almost shouting at him, which seemed to scare the children into silence.

Sighing in helplessness, Ben stared into May's eyes before explaining. "It's more complicated than that..." As she was about to interrupt him, Mady suddenly grabbed her forearm, and with an uncharacteristic serious tone, she commanded. "May, let him finish. I'm sure he has a good explanation for his decision, but if you don't let him talk, he won't be able to give it to us."

As if the words had a kind of magic power, the raven-haired woman seemed to deflate, her anger turning into a sort of resigned but still slightly hopeful state of mind. Looking at everyone, she apologized for her outburst. To which, her husband responded. "You don't have to apologize. If I were you, I'd have reacted in the same way."

Pausing for a second, he resumed. "You don't have to worry, though. I've had enough brush with death recently, so although I'm planning to accept, it'll be with a few conditions. One of them is the fact that I want to be able to refuse a mission if I find it too dangerous. After all, I don't want to be sent on suicide missions. I've done enough of those as well." He finished with a wry chuckle.

That seemed to calm the two women's anxiety a little, with Madeline stating. "You still didn't tell us your reasons, though." He nodded, replying. "I was getting to it. I've two main reasons. The first, and the most important, is all of our safety." The redhead had a look on her face as if she already guessed it, while May seemed confused as to what he meant.

Noticing their reactions, he could not help himself from thinking how his wife was too pure for this world, but also how tough the other woman's life had to be for her to be able to immediately guess why he had to take that offer. 

"Because of my... 'transformation', my personal file will find itself in the hands of many powerful and influential people. If I don't join a strong faction like SHIELD, I'll probably be hunted by some of those people, and they'll use you guys as hostages against me. I've seen it play out many times. So, ironically, we need a shield to protect us. At least, until we can protect ourselves, by ourselves."

Thinking briefly, he added. "Of course, there's still a risk for your safety, especially if I join a group like the Avengers, but that's why I'm planning on asking the director to transfer you guys to a safe house, like one of my friend's family. As long as you're okay with it." 

The kids then complained about having to move, with Peter being the most vocal. "But that means I won't be able to see Ned anymore? Do we have to?" Echoing his questions, May asked. "For how long?" "What about me and the girls?" Mady also interjected, with a meaningful question.

"I'm not certain... Hopefully, not too long, but it depends on many things. And about you and the girls, I... I think you should accompany us. What do you say?" His tone was laced with embarrassment and lack of confidence, something quite unusual for a man like him. Not that it was not warranted. 

After all, he knew that if his wife misunderstood, it could cost him his marriage, and that was something he would regret his whole life. On the other hand, a woman, and her daughters, whom he appreciated a lot could be in lethal danger because of him if he did nothing. 'As that old preacher said: 'Damned if I do, Damned if I don't...'' He thought wryly.

Sneaking a peek in May's direction, he caught her stare laced with anger aimed at him. Feeling the situation about to go out of control, Ben tried to preemptively defuse it. "May, it's not what you think." That seemed like a wrong answer, as her eyes seemed to narrow even more. "Wait! I meant it's for Mady and the girls' safety. If they don't come with us, they would be extremely vulnerable to those people. I would hate myself if something happened to them because of me."

That seemed to strike a chord in her, as her anger visibly abated. Nonetheless, she did not forget to leave a warning. "We're long overdue for a talk, Mr. Parker." Nodding in relief, he replied. "Definitely! We'll talk later at length." "Tonight!" "I... Alright. Tonight it is, then." Knowing that his trial was only postponed for now, he nonetheless decided to let it go and thus turned back toward Madeline Watson. "So, Mady. What do you say?"

When Ben looked in her direction, he noticed her dazed look, with a tint of red on her cheeks, both of them disappearing quickly as she regained focus, before answering in a firm tone. "We'll follow the three of you. I don't want to risk my little girls' lives." "Mom, I'm not little." MJ interjected. "Right, you aren't." Her mother replied with a roll of her eyes.

Ignoring the small redhead's pouting reaction, Madeline turned toward May and took her hand in her, declaring sincerely. "Thank you, May. I really mean it." The two looked into each other eyes for a few seconds, seemingly silently conversing. The result was May responding helplessly. "You know, despite being my best friend, I really want to beat you up. Maybe break a few of your teeth. But I don't want to hurt my hands, so I won't..."

Mady chuckled slightly at her obvious fake threat and replied. "I'd deserve it. But thank you for not doing it. After all, I'm not planning on wearing dentures any time soon, if ever." Her quip drew a small laugh from the other two adults before May retorted. "We'll both talk later about the rules you'll need to follow, though." Puffing her chest in pride with her eyebrow cocked, she added. "I'm the boss in this household after all."

Giggling, the other woman replied in a fake salute. "At your orders, Ma'am." After the atmosphere eased up, the adults went on to chat about random topics, with the children sometimes interjecting. Usually to ask questions like 'Why was he bigger? Or why were his eyes' color so cool? Etc.' 

It went on until everyone but Ben started feeling tired, the Watsons leaving for their own house, while Peter and the other two Parkers went to their own bed.