Chapter 6 - An emotional awakening (Part 2)

Hospital Room, Somewhere.

Ben's P.O.V.

As he felt the touch of a hand on his own, May questioned him 'seriously'. "What happened to my innocent and shy Ben? What have you done to him, impostor?" Flinching imperceptibly from her query, Ben knew that a talk with her would be needed about his current situation. After all, although he was still Ben Parker, he was not ONLY Ben Parker. And his wife would notice the differences. 

Sure, the fact that he almost died would be explanation enough for a few changes. But not everything, and certainly not for his new powers. Or maybe it would? He had no idea and did not plan on hiding that side of him from her anyway, so speculating was useless. As for the rest? Time will tell. Thankfully, with his Ultimate Mind and Soul perk (third perk), his secrets would be safe.

Worried slightly about her future reaction, he took a deep breath to calm himself, when he was suddenly interrupted by another question. This time much more serious. "Jokes aside, what happened to you? We asked the doctor in charge of your case, and he only told us that you were hurt from fighting the aliens. But he said nothing else."

Madeline nodded and added while gripping his other hand. "Right! Also, thank you from the bottom of my heart! The kids told us that you guided them all the way and even fought those aliens to protect them. Without you, MJ would have probably been hurt or worse..." Her lips twisted, reflecting her inner turmoils. 

Tightening his hold over her hand, he stared into her eyes and said in a sincere tone. "I've only done what I should. After all my training, if I can't even protect my loved ones, then what's the point? So, just drop the thank you, alright?" Nodding her head in understanding, she however held tightly onto his hand, her gaze turning peculiar as she kept it directed at his face.

Feeling a bit awkward at the situation, he faked a cough and turned his head in his wife's direction, noticing her eyes narrowing as she pointedly looked at his hand still in her best friend's grip. However, she surprisingly did not say anything and instead opted to ask him an unrelated question, causing him to believe that his 'life' was saved. Temporarily, at least.

"Ben, did you know that your body... changed?" She finished in a perplexed tone of voice. Looking into her eyes, he cocked his eyebrow while replying. "I understand a few things. Are you talking about my improved physiology?" Hearing his question, she nodded, then shook her head. "Yes and no. The doctor already talked to us about it. I was talking about something else, though."

"What is it?" He questioned, puzzled. "You're bigger." The slightly dirty smile appearing on his face had May rolling her eyes, spitting in a fed-up tone. "Men!" Mady's cheeks turned rosy at the implication. "Not that, Ben. May meant your height. You're a lot taller than before."

Chuckling at the women's reaction, he asked. "How much taller?" "You went from 6ft to 6ft5." May replied. "That much?" He replied, shocked by the change. "Yes. And that's not all." May added. "You also look a lot younger. All your grey and white hair disappeared, your brown hair turned black and your irises went from brown to silver." She finished, a bit confused by the changes. 

Mady then added, thoughtfully. "Some of your scars have also disappeared. Like the knife wound on your right cheek." As her gaze moved from his face to the hospital gown failing to hide his very muscular torso, she could not help but stare in a daze for a few seconds, before shaking her head to wake herself up.

Following her gaze, May looked at his body with her 'hungry' eyes, licking her lips, before adding. "You are also a lot more muscular than before. Me likey very much..." She finished in a whisper, the content only discernible by Ben's heightened senses.

Hearing her last words triggered his 'danger' sense, causing his eyes to widen slightly in 'panic'. He was still injured, for God's sake! "May, I'm not completely healed, so you should wait until I'm out of here before doing what you're thinking." He warned her, half-joking, half-serious.

A pout appeared on her face as she heard his words, making Madeline giggle while she teased the shorter woman. "May, we're in public. What if there are cameras around?" Staring at Mady in a deadpan manner for a few seconds, she suddenly mentioned. "Aren't you still holding my husband's hand, Madeline Watson? Being in public, people could misunderstand, you know?"

The unmistakable displeasure lacing the married woman's voice did not go over Mady's head, causing her to stumble over her words while she let go of Ben's hand. "I-I mean I didn't mean to..." She struggled for a bit to justify her action, only for her to give up in the end, lowering her head in embarrassment while her cheeks became crimson. 

"Sure you didn't..." She replied, narrowing her eyes. 'How can she be both fierce and adorable at the same time? It's beyond me.' Thought Ben, before he declared out loud. "May, please. Mady was right in saying that there definitely are some cameras around. If you don't mind, I'd rather we keep private what needs to stay private. Are you fine with that?" The tranquil smile on his face attracted the eyes of the two women, the tension in the room lessening considerably.

Nonetheless, the man could still distinguish some doubts in his wife's eyes as she gazed at him, making him wonder about their origin. 'Did she notice something?' His guess was quickly confirmed by her next words. "What happened to you, Ben? You seem... different? I'm not talking about your body, but about... you I guess?"

Gripping her hand tighter, his tranquil smile turned warm and caring as he answered her query, keeping his answer general on purpose. "Of course, I changed. After what just happened, I thought about many things, about the people I want to hold on to, and the things I wish to pursue. You could say that the way I see the world and my own life changed because of that. I don't want to go into too much detail here, but once we're home, we'll talk about it in more depth."

Pausing for a few seconds, he gazed at her mesmerizing eyes, noticing her insecurities. Feeling a small pang of guilt, his smile disappeared, the air around him suddenly turning very serious, as he then resumed. "Maybelle Parker, always remember that I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you. That hasn't changed one bit and will never change. I. Love. You." 

Knowing her very well, he quickly put two and two together and understood he had to make his feelings clear to her. As clear and simple as possible. Otherwise, she might misunderstand and suffer for nothing. She did tend to overthink things when it came to him, which... he had to admit was partially his fault. 

Having gone through what he had, he was never really vocal about his feelings. Not as Ben Parker anyway. Thankfully, Damian Knight was different and when his two sets of memories merged, he improved a lot on that aspect. He still had many things to learn, but he could now easily communicate. With the people he cared about, at the very least.

Only after glancing deeply at his eyes for any sign of deceit for a while, did her body loosen up, while a pure smile appeared on her beautiful face. She then nodded to Ben while saying. "Alright then. We'll talk about that later. And I love you too, honey."

With the two agreeing to postpone the discussion, they instead switched the topic to how he ended up here and how they came to know about it. Surprisingly, they only knew that some sort of secret agents, ones he previously worked with, found him knocked out in the North of Central Park. Those same agents also found the kids close by.

When they found him, they patched him up as much as they could and brought him back to this secret hospital in Harlem. While moving him there, they called May and Madeline to tell them about the situation. By that time, the alien situation seemed to have been resolved, with the blue portal disappearing and all the aliens falling dead at the same time.

The children were promptly sent to their legal guardians, May and Mady, however, the two were not allowed to visit him that day. The people in charge only told May that he was in critical condition and thus not in any condition for any company. Only two days later were they authorized to come see him, in this secret hospital.

Of course, instead of arriving there directly, they first had to reach a specific checkpoint, where they were put into a special vehicle with no external visibility, making it impossible for the women to find the exact place on their own. Quite convoluted, but necessary for secret organizations like SHIELD. 

And yes, he was 99% sure that he was in a SHIELD facility. The 'guy cursing at the doctor' added to the 'secret agents he had worked with' information all but confirmed it. 'SHIELD, uh? Gotta be careful with what I share with the girls while I'm here. Especially with my situation... No matter, I'll just make decisions depending on the situation. As long as I'm cautious, I should be more or less fine.' He thought while listening to the two women's tale.

After they finished, Ben nodded to show his understanding, before asking them, curious. "What about your respective jobs? How come you both had the time to come here? What about the kids?" 

At his questions, their respective body started to tense up before turning their heads in tune toward the clock hanging on the wall. Noticing the time, they both stood up, while May explained quickly. "The kids are at home because the school gave them two weeks off. Mady lost one of her job in Manhattan because the store was destroyed and so she only has the one in Queens now. As for me, I was transferred to help the victims of the disaster. Also, we have to leave right now or we'll be late."

Pausing for a second, she added while shaking her head. "Scratch that, we'll definitely be late. It's only a matter of how much at this point. Forget it!" Tilting her body in his direction, she gave him a light peck on his lips, before she turned around quickly, her words floating in his ears. "Love you! Gotta go"

As the raven-haired woman had her back turn, Mady quickly bent down and followed her friend's example, the target being his cheek instead of his lips, though. Throwing him the same peculiar gaze as earlier for a second gave her following words a different 'taste'. "See ya later, Ben." 

A smile and she was gone, leaving a headache to the convalescent man. A frown turning into a sigh conveyed perfectly his current thoughts. 'What a mess. I've no idea how to handle that...'