The Hero's Children (A Second Generation Peter Parker Fic)

Chapter Six

Taryn felt like shit, that was honest. She opened her eyes, squinting from the light hitting her face. Her head hurt, her body ached, and she's not sure if she remembers how to use her arms or not.

The first thing she saw was Caleb's horrified expression, and her mothers pleading face.

But then, her eyes traveled to the teenager standing in the room with them whose eyes looked like he saw the end of the world.

He turned towards Taryn, and she didn't know if she gasped or yelped. "What the hell?"

Caleb let out a breath of relief, and slowly pushed himself off of the bed. "My thoughts exactly."

Taryn gaped Peter, her doe eyes wide with shock. "You're-"

"Our dad? The guy from the newspaper article in 1997?" Caleb finished for her, mistrust in his eyes as he glared at Peter. "I don't believe it either."

"Caleb!" Gwen scolded him, when Peter's shoulders drooped and he looked down at his shoes.

"No, mom! If this is some sort of punishment for not telling you about Jarrett then message received."

Taryn's doe eyes turned into a death glare. "Jarrett," she said bitterly.

"But using the fact that our dad isn't going to be here to 'try and teach me a lesson' is disgusting. Sending me off for Taryn and making me find a hidden door to try and trick me about him is revolting!"

Gwen looked hurt, her eyes starting to water. "I wouldn't do that Ca-"

"Don't Caleb me, mom!" Caleb grabbed Taryn's arm, tugging her towards the door. "Whatever sick game you're trying to play is ending right now. Don't bother trying to find us at all."

Caleb reached for the door knob, but was suddenly yanked back onto the floor. All of the air was pushed out of his lungs on impact. Taryn yelped, hitting her head on Caleb's shoulder.

Caleb groaned, rolling onto his side in pain. he felt something wrapped around his waist, and screamed when he saw what it was.

"Spider webbing?!" He furiously scrubbed it off of his clothes, the substance falling down to his feet when he stood.

Peter held out his hands in a calming way, taking a step towards Caleb. Only then did Caleb notice the strange objects sticking out just over his wrists.

"Caleb, please listen to me. Your mother had nothing to do with this. If you will just let me explain-"

Caleb was furious. "Then do it! Why was there a hidden room with a rotating containment area for Spiders?! Why was there a shrine filled with newspapers about Peter Parker and Spiderman?! Why is your face on every single one of them, and why the hell was there spider webbing just around my waist?!"

Peter took another step towards him. "I'll answer every one of them, just please sit down."

Caleb glared at him, before helping Taryn to her feet and over to a bed. He sat down on it, Taryn following suit. Her vision was hazy, like she was seeing static instead of the real picture.

Peter and Gwen sat on the other bed, side by side. Peter folded his hands together, placing his elbows on his thighs and laying his chin on his fists.

"The Spider Containment Chamber was built when Gwen was Doctor Curt Conners' assistant."

"The Lizard?" Taryn asked, recalling the newspaper article. "He was put in Ravencroft."

Peter nodded, meeting Taryn's eyes. "Yes. Curt lost his right arm in a lab accident. He was trying to splice his DNA with a lizard to be able to regrow his limb. But something went wrong, and he became this uncontrollable reptilian creature."

"How does this relate with any of my questions?" Caleb said rudely.

"Curt asked Gwen to hide the containment chamber from everyone so nobody could get involved in his experiments."

"Where was it the first time?" Taryn asked, her vision clearing up.

"In a secure room in the main Oscorp building."

Caleb folded his arms over his chest. "The shrine?"

Peter turned to look at Caleb, his forehead slightly wrinkling. "Gwen set it up to try and preserve the history with it. Only she could get inside it."

Caleb raised an eyebrow. "Then why did I get into it?"

Peter straightened, rubbing the palms of his hands on his jeans. "I don't know, honestly."

Caleb rolled his eyes. "That was helpful." There was a moment of silence, but then Caleb realized. "How are you involved with the containment chamber?"

"Because I was the one who stopped the Lizard."

Taryn narrowed her eyes at him. "Who are you, really?"

Peter hesitated, meeting both of their eyes before speaking. "I'm Spiderman."

The room went quiet, before everyone was startled by Caleb's laughing.

"Wait, so you're trying to tell us that your Spiderman?" Caleb exploded into another fit of laughter, wiping his eyes with the tips of his fingers. "Good one."

"Remember your webbing question?" Peter rolled up his sleeves, revealing what Caleb saw earlier. It was like leather bracelets with a push handle attached. It traveled up his wrists, on his palms, and stopped just where Caleb saw it last.

"These are my web shooters. They can shoot up to 10 miles of web fluid before I have to replace the cartridges. This-"

Peter tapped the push handle with both his middle and ring finger. Suddenly, there was a web string dividing Taryn and Caleb, beginning from the web shooter.

"-Is how it works." Taryn stared at the web, before slightly plucking it with her finger. It made a light noise, like strumming a rubber band.

Peter flexed his wrist, and the webbing dropped on the floor. He stood to his feet, crossing the room and kneeling in front of the two.

"I couldn't see you two for your entire lives because I can't age. I don't know why, but I can't. I've been in Manhattan since you two were born. I'm supposed to be forty years old, but I'm stuck seventeen. I'm sorry that I never contacted you two, I didn't want to get you involved."

He took a deep breath, before gently taking one hand from each of the twins. "This is going to sound weird, but I need to see your wrists."

The twins obliged, stretching their arms out. He flipped their hands over, examining the visible veins under their skin. He turned around to look at Gwen, who joined his side in seconds.

He lightly ran his fingers over Taryn's wrist, before letting go Caleb's and rising to his feet.

"Taryn, let me see your other hand." Taryn did, holding up her other hand. Peter took it, running his thumbs over her veins. There was a small white discoloring over them, almost unnoticeable.

He pulled Taryn to her feet, motioning for Gwen to scoot back. "Taryn I want you to do exactly what I do, okay?"

Taryn nodded.

Peter spread his feet apart a little, looking over at Taryn to do the same. He then aimed his wrist at the wall, and lightly tapped the push handle.

Simultaneously, two web lines hit the wall. Taryn stumbled in shock, loosing her stance and tumbling to the ground. Part of the wall gave way, yanking it out where the web line was attached.

It fell onto the bed, revealing a clean view into the other room.

Peter quickly disconnected his line, helping Taryn to her feet. "At least you didn't take the entire wall down," he joked.

Taryn turned to glare at him, but stopped when her wrist was pulled. The web line was still attached to her person, trapped under the piece of wall she ripped out of its place.

Peter smiled, before holding onto her wrist and slightly flicking it. The web line came undone, falling into the floor. "There. All better?"

Taryn huffed, shrugging. "It wasn't the highlight of my day."

Peter turned towards Gwen and Caleb, motioning towards the door. "Ready to go? We have a lot more stuff to talk about."