Chapter Text
Peter Castle, his little brother Frankie, and little sister Lisa were on the merry go round in Central Park. Then it’s all a haze, gunfire coming from all sides, Peter is bleeding from his arm, shoulder, and chest. He saw his mother, brother, sister, and father get gunned down in front of him, and he lay there helpless, unable to do anything, “NOOOOO!”
Peter shot up in bed, breathing heavily, he took in his surroundings as his breathing slowed. He was in his bedroom, at his Aunt May’s house in Queens, in the neighborhood of Forest Hills. His chest was bare, wearing only his sleep pants. His body at peak physical condition thanks to a genetically enhanced spider bite.
“Peter, are you okay?” May asked entering her nephew’s room.
“I’m fine May, it was just a dream,” Peter replied trying to put on a brave face that May easily saw through.
“It’s okay Peter, you don’t need to be strong for me,” May replied and her nephew let the tears fall.
“I couldn’t save them,” Peter said through his sobs as May embraced him.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“I miss them so much May,” Peter replied.
“I know, I miss them too,” May said.
While in his aunt’s arms Peter looked at the photo that had been taken that day, it was a return gift from Karen Page. The five of them were smiling, enjoying life before it all came crashing down. Sure, Peter still had his father, but he wasn’t the same person and neither was he to be fair.
“The best thing you and Frank can do for them is live,” May said taking Peter out his thoughts.
“I know,” Peter whispered. May let him go and kissed his forehead before returning to her room.
Peter knew he wasn’t going to get anymore sleep, it was four in the morning, so he thought why not just get to work. After showering and getting dressed, Peter headed to the backyard shed. Once he entered he pressed a button and an elevator platform descended into the tunnels below. The tunnel connected to a warehouse not too far from the house, Tony Stark had discovered it and decided to build a sort of F.O.B (Forward Operating Base) for Peter to perform his Spider-man duties from. Peter reached the other side and the platform their ascended into the Spider base as his best friend Ned Leeds coined once the place was complete.
The lights came on “Good morning, Peter,” said his A.I Karen. The base was slick, it had that Stark aesthetic to it, all the best tech available while to the outside world the building looked like your average run-down warehouse.
“Good morning Karen,” Peter replied as he sat down at his desk, he had cameras monitoring the area in case someone who wasn’t in Peter’s inner circle showed up. Peter began working on his latest invention, the Web grenade, a thrown device that when detonated would cover the target in webbing.
“Peter you have an incoming call from Tony Stark,” Karen alerted.
“Put him through,” Peter replied.
“Peter, what are you doing there so early?” Tony asked appearing on screen, ever since they reinstated the internship Tony has taken a more active role in mentoring the young hero, and May put the fear of god into him if he didn’t look after him.
“Couldn’t sleep, I needed to do something to get my mind off things,” Peter replied.
“It was about the…”
“Yes it was,” Peter replied, that day had always been an awkward subject between the two of them.
“Why are you still dwelling on it, your father got revenge for the both of you.”
“I know, but part of me feels it was too easy,” Peter replied, “Maybe I’m over thinking things, or there is something bigger at play, I’ve spent the last six months looking into it and I’ve gotten nowhere, all I have is some sort of code name: Agent Orange.”
“Want me to help you out?” Tony asked.
“No, you’ve already got Ross breathing down your neck about Cap and his crew, I don’t want you to end up in the Raft.”
“Alright, just let me know if you change your mind, I have a friend who can help while keeping our hands clean in the process.”
“Thanks Tony, I’ll talk to you later,” Peter replied calming down a little.
“Alright, stay safe kiddo,” Tony said before ending the call.
Peter then decided to work on the new suit he’d been working on for the last month, it was a suit that had bullet resistance in the fabric, just like the original suit he made with one of Frank’s old vests, he set the specifications into the computer for the fabricator, “Okay let’s do it,” and Peter hit the button. He watched the fabricator do its thing, and within the span of a few minutes the suit was complete, all Peter had to do was take it for a spin.
Frank Castle known to most as Pete Castiglione was doing some overtime at his construction job, he was pounding at the wall with his sledge hammer when the windows from a store across the street exploded. He went to check out the commotion and it was Herman Schultz AKA the Shocker. Then he saw a pleasant sight, Spider-man came swinging in to save the day.
“Last I checked you were in prison Shocker,” Spider-man said.
“I broke out yesterday web-head, time I got some pay back,” Shocker replied firing a blast from his gauntlets that Spider-man dodged, flipping out of the way, and charging towards his adversary.
“Come on Peter, show him what you can do,” Frank said after making sure no one would hear.
Spider-man got in close and engaged his foe in hand-to-hand combat. Spidey moved so fast that Shocker didn’t notice him slyly removing his gauntlets. Spider-man moved back and Shocker tried to fire a blast only to realize that his gauntlets were gone, he then saw Spidey holding them. “Ah, s—” he began to say before being kicked in the face by the web slinger and knocked out.
Peter gave the shock gauntlets to the Damage Control agent who was on the scene with several others, “See that those are locked up tight,” Spider-man said.
“Will do, good work Spidey,” the Agent said before attending to his duties.
The sun was beginning to rise by the time to clean up was taken care of. Peter helped with what he could, carrying damaged cars to flatbeds, to helping people get to the medics on site. Once everything was taken care of he swung off.
Frank watched his son leave the scene surely off to help those who need it, the proud father then returned to his work.
Peter swung through Queens on his patrol. The swinging also helped the young hero think, he’d been doing it a lot ever since he decided to look into his family’s shooting. After a couple hours Peter returned to base and changed back into his regular clothes. The new suit worked pretty well, it was comfortable and it didn’t feel restrictive at all. Peter used the secret passage to return home, he knew that next week was the first anniversary of when he lost his siblings and his mother. He sat in his room looking at one of the many pictures that were taken of the five of them as a family. He closed his eyes as a tear came down his face.
Peter then felt a familiar warm touch wipe the tear away, “Don’t cry Petey,” she said and Peter opened his eyes to see his mother staring back at him. He knew this wasn’t real but he took the moment to enjoy it.
“I miss you mom,” Peter replied, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
“It wasn’t your fault Petey,” Maria replied wrapping her arms around her son and kissing his forehead.
Peter once again opened his eyes and there was nobody but him in his room. But he could still smell his mother’s favorite perfume, he had no way of explaining that nor did he care.