two

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Warnings: none

Peter

Peter walked home with her after school that day. He ended up caving and going to the nurse who, to Maggie's disbelief, said he was fine. He twirled his skateboard in his hands listening to Maggie talk about how much she hated Mrs. Becker, their Calculus teacher, because she gave them 3 problems to do for homework.

They reached their houses and said their respective goodbyes. Peter opened up his door and headed straight to the kitchen where his Aunt May was cooking something that smelled delicious. 

"Hey," she said, "I'm making spaghetti and meatballs tonight."

"You're serious? Spaghetti and meatballs." he replied, grabbing a drink and going to sit on the space of counter without food spills over it.

"Since when don't you like spaghetti and meatballs, huh? And-oh, my god."

"What's up?"

"What happened to your face?"

"I'm all right. Just-I fell, skating." he lied. 

He didn't want May to worry about him any more than she already did. He could tell she didn't believe him, but before she could say anything, His Uncle Ben walked in the room.

Her attention was pulled to him and she said, "Ben Parker, don't you even think about leaving that filthy box in my kitchen."

"These are my bowling trophies," he countered.

"Oh, well, then, by all means leave that filthy box in my kitchen."

Their voices faded as Peter noticed a trail of water on the floor.

"Where's the flood?" he asked.

Uncle Ben showed him to the condenser tray. Peter crouched down and looked at the damage. He noticed the water must've been above the fill line, which had to have been the reason for the spill and relayed the information to his uncle.

"Can you fix it?"

"No, not tonight. I'll go by the hardware store tomorrow," Peter replied while making a mental list of the supplies he'd need to buy.

"Good deal. And meanwhile, put this on your face." Ben said followed by, "How's the other guy look?"

Peter jerked his head up towards his uncle in shock.

"Come on. I know a right cross when I see one. Yes or no? Do I have to call somebody's father?"

"No, no." Peter assured his uncle. He didn't want to cause a scene.

"Alright, see if there is anything down here worth saving before you come up."

Peter glanced around the soggy basement, looking for anything remotely valuable. he moved a stack of newspapers and a box of random booklets to reveal an old leather suitcase. He didn't think much about it until he saw an engraving in the buckle of it. 

RP. 

Richard Parker.

His dad.

He walked up the stairs dazed. He stood at the dining room table and started to open it while his Uncle Ben started to explain something about it where his dad got it. 

"And guess who sold it to him." Ben said cutting through Peter's train of thought.

"I don't know."

"Your mother. That's how they met."

There was nothing in the suitcase, which made no sense. Why would it need to be kept safe if it was empty?

He rummaged through the bag and pulled out a picture. It was a man standing next to his dad. Peter didn't recognize him and neither did his Aunt and Uncle. 

He headed up stairs and looked closer into the briefcase. He found a pair of glasses and put them on. He opened up a zip of the bag and noticed secret compartment. It opened and inside was a case study. 

Peter's interest was peaked and he opened the file. Inside was a couple of pictures paper clipped to the side and handwritten notes. He read out a circled note that said "decay rate algorithm", wondering what it was.

A sudden knock at the door caused Peter to jump and he quickly shoved the file back into the briefcase. He messed up the other contents of the bag and rushed to sit at his computer.

"Come in." Peter said.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

"Oh, my God. You look just like him."

Peter's hand's flew to the glasses resting on his face. With a half-hearted nod, he took them off, feeling as if he hadn't earned that comment.

"Can I come in?" Uncle Ben asked.

"Yeah."

"Listen, I don't have much education. You know that, Peter. Hell, I stopped being able to help with your homework when you were 10. What I'm trying to say is I know it's been rough for you without your dad. And I know we don't talk much about them."

"Yeah, it's all right," Peter lied.

"No, it is not all right. I wish I could change it, but I can't."

Peter never admitted it, not even to Maggie though he suspected she knew, but he missed his parents a lot more than he let on. Ever since their accident, he was rarely ever able to talk about them. No stories or memories were shared with him, so the image of his parents in his head was mostly from imagination. It had been a long time since they were last with him.

"Curt Connors. That's the name of the guy in the picture with your dad. They worked together for years and they were close. But after that night, we never saw him again. He never even called. Not once. Go figure."

Peter nodded subtly, almost as though he was uninterested. But in reality, his mind was racing.

"She's pretty." Uncle Ben nodded towards the computer screen where Peter had been editing a picture with Gwen in it. His uncle stood to leave the room but Peter stopped him.

"Uncle Ben."

"What?"

"You're a pretty great dad."

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