Wanted: The FanPeople Love Greg

Camping Ch2

A/N as always, Greg, Mike, and FABAE belong to ShyCourage

"OhmygoshGregguesswhat!" Spider-Man blurted as he shoved Greg back into the conference room the next morning, nearly causing the older man to spill his coffee.

Greg laughed. "What's got you so excited?"

"May said I could come!" Spider-Man grinned.

"I'm assuming that 'May' is your legal guardian then?" Greg said, raising a brow.

Spider-Man facepalmed at his own carelessness. "Yeah, oops. May is my aunt."

"Now," Greg said while glancing at his watch, "don't you have school?"

Spider-Man peered at Greg's watch and breathed a sigh of relief. "I've got time, don't worry. I should probably get going though. I don't need any more tardies on my record."

"Have fun at school, Kiddo," Greg said as he opened the window to the conference room for the vigilante to climb out of.

"You too! But, like, with work!"

Greg shook his head with a smile and closed the window after the teenager had left. This was bound to be an interesting trip.

~

On the day they were set to leave, Spider-Man sat with his backpack on top of the precinct in civilian attire aside from his mask. He watched people enter and leave, waiting patiently for Greg to come out. After a few minutes, a few of the officers began to congregate outside. If their bags were anything to go by, they were a part of the group that he'd be spending the weekend with. Tired of waiting alone, he hoped down near them and waved. "Hi!"

A myriad of familiar faces turned to look at him, all bearing smiles. One face, however, was a stranger to him. The man that the face belonged to stepped forward and shook his hand. "Hey, Spider-Man. I don't think we've met yet. My name's Michael. You excited for the trip?"

Spider-Man nodded vigorously. "I've never been camping before. I've read about it, but that's obviously not the same. So, thanks for letting me come with."

"Well, I know you're pretty close with my homie Greg and all, but if you ever need a hand, and he isn't around..."

"I'll be sure to find you."

"Careful, Mike," Greg said as he approached the group. "You don't know what can of worms you've just unleashed. Spidey talks constantly."

Without missing a beat, Spider-Man threw up a peace sign. "If you're talking, you don't have to think about your feelings," he joked. Michael chuckled, but a few of the officers gave him looks.

"You can really tell that they only get on the internet of Facebook, can't you?" Michael said, rolling his eyes. "If it's any consolation, I, the cultured one, liked your joke."

"Thank you, I appreciate it, Michael."

Greg watched in horror as the two youngest people going on the trip hit it off. They'd either be attached at the hip the whole weekend and grant everyone some peace, or they'd cause an insane amount of mischief. As much as Greg hoped for the first option, logic prevailed. "Well, let's head out then. I brought a van so we can all ride together. Xander already agreed to stay awake with me, so he's got shotgun." He led the way to a white van and opened the back so that people could load up their things.

"Dude, you totally have a creeper van," Spider-Man commented as he slipped a book out of his backpack and handed the backpack over to where an officer named Brian (who claimed to be a whiz at Tetris) was putting everyone's things inside.

Spider-Man settled in next to Michael in the very back. After a few minutes of small talk, the vigilante began to read to pass the time, and the officer began fiddling with a four-by-four Rubik's Cube. After half an hour, Michael grew frustrated.

"I swear it's impossible to solve these things," he commented with a frown.

Spider-Man glanced up from his book. "Not necessarily. Can I have a go at it?"

"What? Were you one of those kids that mastered all the different sorts of Cubes during middle school?"

"Something like that," came the teenager as he marked his page and inspected the cube. Without a second thought, his fingers began to dance around the colors tiles. First, he matched up all the middle squares, and then the double middle edges. After that, he was able to work it in a manner similar to the three-by-three. He solved for the white cross, and then for while. The second row was easy enough, and soon he was solving for the yellow cross. The yellow cross became the whole yellow side and then the third row corners. He finished it off by getting the yellow double edges into the correct position before handing the cube back to a slack-jawed Michael.

"That's so fire, dude! Can you teach me how to do that?"

"Sure, the algorithm isn't too hard, and we've got all weekend." Spider-Man tilted his head and listened to what Greg and Xander had set the stereo to play. "Are they listening Imagine Dragons? I love those guys!"

"Ask them to turn it up then," Michael suggested as he began mixing the cube.

"Nah, I don't want to bother them."

Michael rolled his eyes. "Hey, G-Man!" he hollered. "Mind turning up the tunes?"

Always had a fear of being typical
Looking at my body feeling miserable
Always hanging on to the visual
I wanna be invisible

"Oh, I this is one of my favorites of their music," Michael beamed.

Looking at my years like a martyrdom
Everybody needs to be a part of 'em
Never be enough, I'm the prodigal son
I was born to run, I was born for this

"Their music is so hype," Michael commented. "I love listening to it at work. What about you, Spidey? What's got you hooked?"

Whip, whip
Run me like a racehorse
Pull me like a ripcord
Break me down and build me up...

Spider-Man shrugged and leaned back into his seat, talking over the words. "I relate to a lot of the lyrics, I guess."

Whatever it takes
'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
I do whatever it takes
'Cause I love how it feels when I break the chains
Whatever it takes...

Memories flooded the masked boy. He closed his eyes with a content sigh. It was so peaceful being there. If only for the the weekend, he could forget about the threat that had been looming over him ever since his name started circulating in villain circles. Lulled by the rhythmic tones into a dreamless sleep, Spider-Man leaned against the window and let himself give in.