LONGING

One night in New York City Spider-Bat stands on a rooftop, staring at one of Andrea's billboards. Every night on patrol, Peter stands infront of the same billboard every night, haunted by it. Every night he has to reassure himself of the choice he made to live a life of responsibility. A life that she can never be apart of. That he was given a job to do. At that moment, police sirens are heard through the streets. Peter refocuses and swings into action.

At a bank nearby, a villain, wearing a giant mechanical suit, bursts through the walls while looking.

"Now this is a big score!" He says.

At that moment a group of cops, led by Commissioner Stacy start to open fire on the tin man, but it doesn't do anything.

"That tickles."

He then shoots bullets back at them. The group of cops quickly move out of the way as the bullets destroy one of the police cars. At that moment, the bags of money are webbed out of his hands and Spider-Bat lands infront of the rampaging villain.

"So, you're the Spider-Bat everyone talks about. I'm not impressed."

The criminal shoots at Peter, but the hero quickly flips out of the way, swings behind him and kicks him in the back.

"Give it time. I grow on you." Peter replies.

The criminal gets angry and swings at him. Peter quickly dodges the first swing but gets hit by the second swing, getting knocked into a police car. The tin man charges in and throws a punch, but Peter dodges, lands an uppercut to the chin, knocking the helmet off and kicks him back. As he stumbles backwards, he goes to stab the Hero with a blade installed in the suit. Peter jumps out of the way while webbing his arm in place and starts to land multiple punches and kicks, knocking him off balance.

The tin man gets even more angry and breaks his arm free from the web, but before he could attack, Peter swings off of it, into the air, webs the ground and dropkicks him in the face, knocking him out and webbing him up.

As he stands over The Tin man, Commissioner Stacy soon joins him.

"This was one hell of a welcome back to the field. What's this ones deal?" Commissioner Stacy asks.

"His name is the Tin man. Brilliant inventor, but no one knows his real name."

Commissioner Stacy shakes his head.

"Where do these guys even come from?" He asks.

Stacy then gets a text.

"I gotta go. Have to pick up a cake."

Peter smirks.

"Special occasion?" He asks.

"Yeah. Jill and her friend are throwing a surprise party for someone. Thought it be a good way to move on from... everything that happened." Stacy says.

Peter doesn't reply for a moment.

"I hope it is." Peter says.

"Thanks. Hey, you wanna join?"

Stacy turns around to see that Spider-Bat is gone.

"Yeah, I thought so." Stacy says with a smile.

Later Peter stands at his doorstep, takes a deep breath, then walks into a dark house.

"Ben? You home?" Peter asks.

He then walks through the house and enters his study. At that moment the lights turn on and Ben, Jill, Andrea, and Commissioner Stacy are all standing there with party hats and confetti.

"Surprise!" They all yell.

Peter acts surprised, but is genuinely happy by all of this.

"Well? Say something." Jill says.

Peter smiles.

"What's the occasion?" Peter jokingly asks.

Ben then hugs Peter.

"Happy birthday, sir."

"Thank you, Uncle Ben."

Andrea puts her hand on Peter's arm.

"Happy birthday, Pete."

The two share an awkward smile for a moment.

"Thanks." Peter says.

At that moment Commissioner Stacy brings in Peter's birthday cake.

"Make a wish, Parker."

Peter looks around, being surrounded by the people he loves then blows out the candles and everyone claps.

Later as Andrea, Commissioner Stacy, and Ben talk to each other, Peter sits down staring at Andrea. Jill soon rolls beside the distracted Peter.

"So how long did you know about the party?" Jill asks.

"I didn't. I was really surprised."

Jill looks at Peter for a moment.

"Two weeks." Peter says with a smirk.

The two share a chuckle, then Peter looks at Jill's wheelchair.

"How are you doing?"

"Stop." Jill replies.

"Stop what?"

"Stop blaming yourself for one night. It's your birthday. Don't be Spider-Bat... Be Peter Parker. Ok?"

Peter smiles and nods.

"Ok." He replies.

At that moment, they all hear a knock on the door.

"Who's that?" Peter asks.

Ben smiles while walking towards the door.

"Your other surprise, Master Peter."

Ben opens the door to reveal a man, with a nice smile, blonde hair, and a fancy suit.

"Hey, Petey. It's been awhile."

Peter looks at the man for a moment.

"Eddie?"

The man nods and the two share a hug.

Both Jill and Andrea wait for introductions.

"Oh sorry. This is Eddie Elliott. We met during our senior year. We became friends in a short amount of time." Peter says.

"Yeah, we bonded over chess. I always won of course." Eddie says.

Eddie shakes Jill's and Andrea's hands.

"So, you keeping our boy out of trouble?" He asks.

"It's a lot harder than you think." Jill says.

"So how long are you gonna be in town for?" Peter asks.

"I'm actually back full time. I took a position at Forest Hills Hospital."

"Oh so we're going to see more of you." Andrea says.

Eddie smiles.

"Definitely." He says.

Through the night, they all have a good time together. Later on Jill, Commissioner Stacy, and Eddie all leave, with Peter and Andrea being alone.

"Hi." Andrea says with a smile.

Peter smiles back at her.

"Hi." Peter replies.

She then steps close to him.

"I- really liked seeing you tonight, Peter." She says.

"...Yeah." Peter says.

Andrea gets even closer.

"Yeah what?"

Peter stays silent for a moment, staring into her eyes.

"Nothing."

Andrea puts her hand on his chest.

"Do you want to say something?" Andrea asks.

Peter can't move away from her.

"I-"

The two start to lean in for a kiss. As they are inches away, Peter suddenly pulls away. Andrea sighs but smiles.

"I know the feeling. Sometimes you want to say something... But it won't come out." Andrea says.

She then puts her hand on the side of Peter's face.

"Peter..." She says.

"Yeah?" Peter says.

Andrea smiles.

"Happy birthday."

She kisses him on the cheek and she leaves. Peter sighs, staring at the door. Ben soon approaches the young man, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright, sir?"

Peter doesn't answer, and just continues to stare at the door.

Meanwhile, at the Daily Bugle J. Jonah Jameson, Vicky Vale, and Ben Urich are watching a space shuttle being flown by John Jameson, Jonah's son. The space shuttle is supposed to land at Kennedy Airport, the first time a space shuttle touch down has been attempted at a commercial airport. Everyone claps as Jonah smiles proudly at the screen.

"Congratulations, J.J." Vicky says.

"What are you congratulating me for, Vale? I'm just his father."

Ben Urich puts his hand on Jameson's shoulder.

"John's a great kid. You must have had something to do with that." Ben says.

Jonah smiles.

In space on the shuttle, John prepares to land. While they are preparing to enter earths atmosphere, a black ooze is stuck on the shuttle.