One Bad Day

-Peter at home-

Peter shot up with a startle, gasping awake for the second time, quickly roaming his hands all over his body to check if he was really alive and well, questioning if the events that occurred actually happened again.

"OK, so it wasn't a dream then?"

He was starting to question his own sanity; maybe he did die, and this was one really long dream.

"No, 'cause you don't feel pain in dreams," He told himself after pinching himself for the third time since he woke.

"yep, not a dream," He winced slightly as he rubbed his wrist, now red from the repeated self-inflicted pain. He let him fall back on his bed with closed eyes, taking deep breaths to calm himself down.

"So either I did meet Death which isn't likely or I walked back here all healed and just popped down on my bed with a new set of clothes that just so happen to look just like my old ones, but I know that's not possible because the serum's regenerative properties can not REPAIR CLOTHES and I was to damaged for it to be THIS effective, I mean I don't even have any scars, even my old scars are gone, or Death was telling the truth and some other all-powerful being brought me back to life which would mean that I really did meet Death but that just brings me back to square one...damn it, this is making my ache hurt" he groaned, messaging his temple, his head throbbing after every word, rolling around on the bed trying to make sense of his current predicament.

Knock...knock...

"oof, ouch, shit, fudging, shit"

A noise startled him up, causing him to swiftly fall off his bed and hit his head on his desk, sending him head-first into the floor in a mess of tangled limbs and bed sheets.

"aahhh...tsk" Inhaling a breath, he simply stayed there for a while, tangled, just staring at the ceiling, ignoring the throbbing pain in his head. His internal turmoil faded as he gradually came to terms with his situation.

"So Death huh...I think it's best if I don't think too much into this, I'm alive now that's all that matters."

'knock, knock' the sound was coming from his door.

"Peter you in there?" The gruff deep voice of his uncle came through the closed door.

'It's Uncle Ben' he thought to himself.

"ah, yeah"

"You alright, I heard the noise from downstairs, you, sure you alright?"

"Yes, sorry just tripped"

"OK then, if you're done, come downstairs, there's something your aunt and I have to talk about" Peter was now on full alert, his voice sounded a little worried, and Uncle Ben rarely ever sounded worried.

"Alright, will be down in a few" he quipped.

'Just forget about it Pete, focus on the now.'

Untangling himself from his sheets, he got up and took a look out his window, it was noon, almost night by the looks of it.

Deciding it would best to think about what happened to him at a later date or not at all, if anything that would be best for his sanity.

He made his downstairs he found his aunt and uncle seated with grim expressions on their face, along with a few well-dressed men making their way out the door.

Cops, if the badges around their necks were anything to go by, nope, FEDs, they were too well dressed to be cops.

'Something must have happened.'

He paused for a while just standing by the stars and watched his uncle put his arm around his aunt, comforting her. It took everything in him not to run over there and hug the living daylight out of both of them. But he had to reign himself in, everything had to be normal.

Memories from past events; were still fresh in his mind, flashes of fight wormed their way in, blood, pain, broken bones, a fist against his face, his arms twisting. Pain, pain, PAIN. PAIN, Bone's breaking.

Flesh tearing...PAIN! Everything hurting.

'IT HURTS, STOP IT, IT HUR-'

"Peter, Honey you, ok?" the concerned voice of his aunt snapped him out of this memory.

"You don't look so good." May made an attempt to get up and check Peter's temple for a fever.

'Come on, keep it together Pete, now is not the time or the place.'

Now was not the time, he just had to smile through it, they didn't know, nor did they need to, whatever happened was his burden to bear, it was his fault, to begin with anyway. He loved them too much to let anything hurt them. So he would play the part of the Peter they knew and loved, after some time he was sure he'd figure out a way to deal with his own problems.

For now, for now, he would focus entirely on them.

"Sorry, lost in thought, don't get up, please, it'll pass, I just slipped on my skateboard and bumped my head on the desk that's all, clumsy me," he told them, forcing a smile on his face as strolled over and gave them both a hug.

"Really now, you should be more careful, still don't know why you use that thing, it's dangerous, you could very easily fall off and hurt yourself ", Even now Aunt May seemed more worried about him, she held his wrist close to her chest and pulled him in to rustled his hair.

"Because it's stupid and dangerous, remember when we were stupid and dangerous" Ben snorted with a chuckle.

May quickly responded with a light slap on the shoulder, shaking her head in disbelief, a slight smile forming on her face as if to remind herself of the reason she was married to this man again.

Peter walked over and pulled in a chair, never once taking his eyes off them, enjoying their actions with a joyful smile. He missed this, loved this, he would NEVER LET ANYTHING take this away from him. Never Let...his eyes glazed over as he took a seat, noticing a spider by the window.

Pain, bones cracking, flesh tearing, a kick to the stomach, spider-woman punching him, PAIN...

'STOP IT, just focus on them, forget everything else, FOCUS ON THEM! I can do this, It'll be enough for now' He reassured himself.

Snapping himself back into reality, he tried banishing any thought related to the last few days from his mind.

He took a deep breath, he hoped they wouldn't notice his little miss hap, and focused back on them, his uncle Ben pulling his aunt May close to him again with a comforting hug, he covered his inner thoughts with a mask of concern, not that it needed any effort because he already was genuinely concerned for them now.

"Hey, did something happen?"

"Nothing's wrong dear, just an accident at my workplace,".

His aunt answered, the smile never once leaving her face; Dressed in a brown sweater and comfortable jeans, she had an aged face but looked well for someone in her late forties with long brunette hair, and youthful brown eyes behind her framed glasses that betrayed her age, her lips pursed in worry.

"No May, he has the right to know, it's best if he does,".

His uncle stated firmly, his face losing all the playfulness, morphing into a serious frown; dressed in his favorite oversized blue denim jacket, white long long-sleeved button-down shirt, grey pants, and construction boots. He had an aged and wrinkled face but like his aunt, he aged well for someone in their late fifties, his hair was black, mixed with a little grey and white and he had a noticeable beard that covered his face.

He must have come back from work in a hurry. there was still wet cement on his boots.

"Okay, so something really did happen" He moved his seat near the edge of the table closer to them.

"Sigh, Peter everything is alright-" his Aunty tried to reassure him.

" No May, Someone tried to ki-hurt you, everything is definitely not okay" His uncle interrupted her, his expression quickly turning furious.

" Those damn suits won't even do anything about it, a God damn reassurance is all we get, reassurance my ass, they care more about that dead city councilor than they do about you right now, heck I bet if it wasn't that rich pompous ass but some average Joe that got get they wouldn't even be here, I get that their a little short-handed with the giant killer lizard and all, but still, a little protection isn't too much to ask for" he ranted on.

"What? someone tried to hurt you, Aunt May? Are you ok? what happened? Who was it?" Peter asked in a slight panic, his expression quickly matching his uncle's. He chose to ignore his uncle's mention of a giant lizard, moving close to his aunt and placing his hand on her shoulder.

"No, No one tried to hurt me, your uncle is just making this seem worse than it is, I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, but everything was okay, he never even saw me." May tried to calm the situation down as best she could, giving Peter's hand a gentle squeeze.

"He?" Peter probed.

"Making things worse? May you saw someone get murdered in front of you, not to mention you also saw the face of the killer, if anything we should be careful from now on." Ben pressed, getting to his feet, to check the windows.

"You never know with stuff like this" Lowering the slides to watch the cops drive off.

" Ben you're being paranoid, like I keep telling you, he never saw me in the first place and besides I left his description with the FEDs, I'm sure by this time tomorrow he'll be behind bars", May rolled her eyes at her husband's antics.

"You don't know that," Ben replied, still watching as their car pulled out into the driveway and drove off.

"OK, can someone please tell me what's going on?" Peter was fed up and confused as if what happened last night wasn't enough, now someone tried to hurt his aunt.

"Your Aunt saw someone getting murdered at the hospital last night, even saw the face of the man who did it, the killer thought he could use the commotion this man lizard thing caused to get away with it." Ben let out a tired sigh as he made his way back to his chair, not noticing the slight twitch in Peters's actions.

"The FBI came to get her statement just now, that's them leaving, got what they wanted," he looked up at Peter with a tired expression.

" Are you serious?! Aunt May! come on are you ok?" Peter exclaimed in panic, checking his aunt for injuries of any kind. Again, playing dumb to his uncle's mention of his alter ego, not that he would ever assume that identity ever again.

Lesson learned that's for sure.

"What did the cops say? Are they sending someone to watch the house? you sure you're OK?"

"Oh Peter not you too, like I keep telling your uncle I'm alright, I've seen worse things at the hospital, I'm a nurse you know, I don't need both of my boys all worried about something like this," She snapped her fingers to get both their attention moving out of Peter's embrace and making her way to Ben.

She took his hands in hers and motioned for Peter to come closer.

"Now Both of you look here, today was supposed to be our anniversary, we have one day a year for this and we've been planning it for weeks, I won't let some would-be killer ruin it, Ben, look at me" She looked at him with a soft loving smile.

"everything is okay, the FEDs said they would send a unit tomorrow to watch the house, so for tonight, we go down to that place you both like" glancing back at Peter.

" We'll have a nice meal, stop by the park to watch the fireworks, and come back, everyone's celebrating you know, the news said whatever that killer lizard is, it's gone now," she pulled them both into a hug.

Peter hid a wince and hugged them both a little tighter.

"Now let's get dressed and get going, it'll take another three months to make another reservation at that restaurant, Come on boys you ready to show a girl a good time" She smiled sultrily at her husband.

"well when you put it like that, who am I to refuse," Ben smiled back and leaned in for a quick kiss.

"yuck, you two, get a room, seriously" averting his gaze, feeling a bit embarrassed by their open display of affection. He shrugged their arms off with a smile, as they continued on much to his dismay and annoyance.

"Now Peter when you get yourself someone special you'll be doing this too, all the time, trust me, son," His uncle said in between their kisses.

" Ok first off that's disgusting, and second off, please I would be more discreet about it, and not sucking each other's faces in the living room in front of the oh-so-very innocent teenager that happens to be living with them, case and point" He all but scrambled up the stairs to get ready for the night, dogging his uncles attempt at another hug.

"Oh-so-very-innocent, he says, I've seen your browsing history Peter, Nothing innocent about them." May all but snorted at her adoptive son.

"Hey! Those are supposed to be private women! And you promised not to mention that it was one time, ok, one time, god, left my laptop open one time and you ransacked it for that, so what I got a little curious, come on Aunt May, stay out of my room!" Peter shouted down from the top of the stairs, his face popping out of the corner with an accusing glare before disappearing back up.

Stopping in front of his door to take in a shaky breath.

'Focus on the now, that's all you need' he told himself.

" I would if you kept it clean young man, it's like a pig stays in there sometimes, and bring your dirty laundry down to when it's full, we talked about this equal responsibility Peter" May called out after the teen.

"Yes, Mother! Of course Mother! I heard you the first three hundred times and again it was one time." the teen shouted out behind his closed door. 

Her husband tried to cover his laughter, one that faded gradually as he looked at his wife.

Ben once more pulled May in, looking at her with eyes full of worry, his face portrayed an expression he would only show his wife, the love of his life. He didn't want Peter to see this side of him, he had an example to set for the growing boy after all.

"Are you sure about this? We could just do this next year, May, please" He pleaded with her.

"Ben I'm fine, I keep telling you, it's not just one night, it's the NIGHT in this whole year, let's go have our fun, we'll worry about this tomorrow," she told him, his walls crumbling as she gently held his left cheek in her palm.

Ben leaned into her touch and sighed, he could never win with her, probably why he married her in the first place he thought to himself.

"Alright let's go get ready and go, I'll call a cab"

May smiled at him, a swift kiss on the cheek, and left to prepare herself for the evening without a care in the world.

"Women, can't figure them out, can't live without em, maybe I am getting too old for this"

Ben made his way to the phone to call a cab, passing the TV in the process. He paid no mind to it, opting to switch it off, best not to let it ruin the mood.

"Recent reports left most in shock and awe after the astrological events that lit up above the skies of New York last night, an amazing event that left many bluffed, Attempts were made to study the captured phenomenon. something to look forward to in this dark hour, In other News, nothing has been discovered as of yet about the mysterious lizard-croc monster that left dozens of officers and civilians dead and injured…" A sharply dressed woman was on the news but Ben switched it off before long.

...

-3 hours later, at a bus stop-

"Come on, admit it, you had fun" May gloated at her husband, her head resting on his shoulder. The both of them sitting on a bench waiting waiting for the bus.

"OK so maybe I did, enjoy myself, just a tiny bit" Ben stated, his lips remaining in an annoyed frown, he was still against the idea of them coming out, and he would be damn if he let his wife think otherwise.

They were waiting for Peter, who left to get them both some hotdogs, but the teen was taking his time.

If anything Ben enjoyed himself more than just a tiny bit. After a satisfying and rather expensive dinner, they went for a movie, one of the scary ones, one that had May screaming in her seat and after that, they did some light shopping.

He even got a new jacket, May stated his old one was looking a bit worn, he never understood her need to frequently update his wardrobe, Peter, yes, he was a growing boy, but him, it seemed like a waste of his hard-earned cash but he long since learned not to argue with his dear wife about clothes.

God forbid the countless hours of lectures he sat through, and her shopping sprees when they were younger left him all but traumatized, with even the slightest mention of clothing discount prices giving him flashes. He learned the secret to any good conversations with his wife when clothes were involved was to simply smile and nod and tell her it looked good on her.

"But I still think we should have waited, we could have done this next year," he replied with a slight smile on his face from the memory despite his worry.

"hmp, spoilsports. You had fun, Peter had fun, I had a blast, now all that's left is the fireworks and then we can go home and you can play Mr. Overprotective and Paranoid, please for me and Peter, his having so much fun," Huffing slightly at him. She pushed herself up and looked at him expectantly.

" I haven't seen him this happy in forever, and you may not have noticed but something is going on with Peter, he seems distant. Almost like you after the war. I just can't seem to put my finger on it but I know something is wrong, I can just feel it," May grabbed his hands and gave them a tender squeeze, trying to find the words to explain what she felt.

She knew something was wrong the moment she looked into Peter's eyes, they looked haunted like he was changed inside. Almost like the Peter she was looking at was just not the boy she raised, as if something changed in a single moment when she took her eyes off him.

Ben returned the tender squeeze with his one.

"Fine, I'll try but after this, We go to the station first thing in the morning," his lips thinned but slowly grew into a playful smirk.

"And Peter's fine, maybe the boy's having some girl trouble at school or something, I do recall someone saying, and I quote,' How far would you go if you knew you could not fail, just ask her out, you'll never know unless you try' now that has to be the best dating advice I've ever heard, almost like it came from a certain magazine from my private reading collection, look at you already prepared to handle teen-oaf oh hahaha they grow u so fast…haha… look at us now, who would have thought…" He teased her with a peal of gleeful laughter, wiggling his eyebrows, his reply was a playful shove from his wife.

"Oh stop it you big lug, I'll have you know I am more than capable of giving dating advice to my teenage...son..." she paused as she noticed a black Mercedes with tinted glasses pulled up and slowed to a crawl, May's eyes widened in recognition and horror.

...

-Peter, just around the corner-

Peter was feeling content, he was having more fun now, than he had in a while. His flashes have all but stopped and Aunt May, God bless her heart, for whatever reason was paying more attention to him today than ever before.

Despite what was happening to her, as if she knew and Uncle Ben was, well, being Uncle Ben. Yeah, he loved them to death.

He watched them on the bench as he made his way toward them, two hot dogs, one in each hand, his smile getting even bigger than should be humanly possible, watching Aunt May playfully shove Uncle Ben who had just said something to her.

He wondered if he'd ever have a relationship like there's one day. Seeing them filled him with much hope.

He watched as a black Mercedes with tinted glass slowed to a crawl next to them, the glass sliding down as a tattooed hand came out, holding something dark.

The hot dogs swiftly fell from his hands. They never even touched the ground before his voice, a loud and desperate shout bellowed out. His legs moved before his mind had even processed his action.

"AUNT MAY!, UNCLE BEN!, WATCH OUT! HE'S GOT A-" The words didn't make it out of his mouth fast enough, the warning came out too late, his aunt turned to him in horror, her mouth parted trying to call his name as if to warn HIM, his uncle grabbing her close as if to shield her, his eyes locking with his, pleading with HIM to stay away.

Even in the face of death, they cared more for him than they did about themselves.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Six gunshots loudly echoed out into the streets, followed by screams of fear, panic, and the running feet of fleeing bystanders.

All this would pale in comparison to the horror-stricken cry that would later fill the street when the broken, distraught teen finally reached his family.

-End of Chapter-