New Year, New Beginnings

Speak of the Devil

Spider-Man turned away to pull his mask up a bit and wipe the sweat on his forehead with his red spandex glove.

Daredevil hummed. "That's enough for today. You did good, but you can be better. Work on your form."

Matt heard the kid's heart beat contently at the faint praise. To be honest, he wasn't entirely sure why he'd offered to train him in the first place.

Part of it was because he remembered what it was like when he'd lost his sight at the age of nine, yet woke up with all his other senses on fire.

Growing up with just a father, and no mom.

Matt couldn't forget waiting for his dad to come home, then learning that the great "Battlin' Jack Murdock" had been killed.

And then...desperate for a father figure, he had latched onto Stick, who taught him how to fight despite his sight loss, effectively turning him into a child soldier, just to use as a weapon against the Hand.

Yet Stick had still abandoned him. And then there was the matter of Elektra.

Matt pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to fight the incoming migraine.

"Daredevil? Are you alright?"

The man nodded, and tried to fight back the odd feeling of protectiveness that surged in his chest.

"Just tired, kid. You wanna do a patrol?"

Spider-Man perked up. "Yeah!"

To be honest, the Devil of Hell's Kitchen was more of a solitary vigilante, but the teen had already proven himself to be sneaky and efficient at taking down criminals at night.

After stopping 10 muggings, 5 attempted robberies, and rescuing a cat from a tree, Daredevil somersaulted onto the roof, while Spider-Man did a loop around a traffic light post before perching upside down on a lamplight.

Matt sniffed at the slightly acrid, but sweet scent of the webbing. "Is it organic?" he asked.

"What?"

"Is it organic?"

"Wh--no! I made it myself."

Matt's eyebrows flew up, surprised. "Yourself? Are you a kid genius or something?"

The teenager's heartbeat stuttered a little bit, in a mixture of embarrassment and pride.

"No, I--uh--just like science," he said shyly.

Daredevil chuckled. "Stay in school, kid. It'll do you wonders."

Spider-Man saluted cheekily. "Thanks, Red!"

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Red?"

Spider-Man laughed nervously. "Yeah. 'Cause of your costume. Which is red. If you don't want me to call you--"

"No, I like it. See you around, Spidey," said the Devil of Hell's Kitchen before jumping across an alleyway and heading back to the Kitchen.

Peter hummed a quiet melody while sneaking into his house through his bedroom window.

Woah. What a week.

Crawling under the covers, he let the comforting embrace of sleep pull him in.

Naturally, his dreams weren't exactly a gentle warm embrace. More like cold nightmares that threatened to suffocate him.

Peter was swinging through the city, and heard loud gunshots ringing out. He ran towards the commotion, but saw Uncle Ben lying on the ground, bleeding out.

"It was your fault," he said to the teenager, the crowd around him echoing various choice insults.

They pressed around him, tearing his suit to shreds.

The ground cracked and opened up underneath him, and he was falling.

Spiraling down.

And down.

Down.

D

o

w

n

...

Peter woke up screaming. Aunt May ran into his room, looking panicked.

"Peter! Are you okay, baby?"

The teenager nodded. Any other time, he would've been embarrassed about her calling him 'baby,' but he was too shaken to reply.

"I'm fine. I just had a nightmare."

May ran her fingers through her nephew's hair, and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "If you want to stay at home today--"

Peter shook his head. "I already missed a week of school after...yeah. I need to keep my grades up."

The woman watched as he got up to head to the bathroom.

"Just like Ben," she said softly. Her late husband was so dedicated to his work, family, and helping others, that he often forgot to take care of himself.

Mary Parker, Peter's mother, had been like a younger sister to her, as they were best friends since they'd met in college.

When Ben and May had started dating, Richard (his brother), immediately became enamored by the sharp and intelligent Mary.

A few years after May and Ben married, Richard and Mary tied the knot as well.

The two couples had to live apart, but their visits to one another were the consoling patches of moonshine.

When May and Ben found out they couldn't have children, Mary and Richard immediately named the two the godparents of Peter.

He'd been like a ray of sunshine in their lives.

Mary and Richard's plane, which had been en route to a Stark conference, was bombed. No survivors. May and Ben adopted the boy, becoming his new guardians.

May allowed herself to shed a few tears before smoothing out the blankets and heading to the kitchen to make breakfast.