The light was blinding. And white. Peter groaned and closed his eyes.

"HE'S AWAKE!"

He winced at the noise.

"Sorry." Two feminine faces appeared in his face, one pale and one olive.

"Hey." His voice croaked with little use. "What... What happened?"

"You got exploded." Evie kept a straight face at her weird wording.

Peter felt a wave of panic was over him as he glanced down at his body, glad that it was all in one piece. "So... Hi."

"Never do that again." MJ wrapped her arms around his neck, gentle but firm. "If you do then I will personally murder you."

"Right." He sighed, flopping back on the bed. "I'm hungry."

"Of course you are."

Evie glanced at MJ. "Do we... tell him?"

"Tell me what?"

MJ handed him a bowl of apple slices and sat down on the edge of the bed. "So basically when you were gallavanting through sciency stuff, Tony and Steve found where the real cells were, and freed some prisoners." She hesitated. "They're here now."

"Ok." Peter went back to eating his apple slices.

"There's more."

He stopped, glaring at the two of them. Can't a guy eat his apple slices in peace?

MJ fiddled with the sheets nervously. "We think... that they might be of some... relation to you."

The bowl lowered slightly as Peter's eyes widened. "What?"

"Like, we don't know for sure, but you can meet them tomorrow."

"Tomorrow!?" He slapped the bow on the bed. "You tell me that I might know these people and you expect me to wait till tomorrow!?"

"Eat your apple slices, dork. You need to recover first."

Peter pouted but obliged, nibbling on his apple, unsatisfied.

Though he didn't let it show, he was rather worried. What if they didn't like him? What if they thought he wasn't good enough, what if they weren't actually related? The worries floated around his head all day and into the night, becoming the last thoughts he had before he drifted off into an uneasy slumber.

"I've forgotten how beautiful the world was," she said, leaning on her husband's arm as they watched the morning below them. Her aurburn hair fell in gentle curls around her shoulders, lines with streaks of grey.

Her husband smiled down at her. "It feels so weird to be free." His chocolate eyes smiled as he pulled her into a hug.

"Eleven years. It's been eleven years."

"Do you think he still remembers us?

The woman shrugged. "I hope so."

They lapsed into silence, enjoying the quiet freedom they had now gained.

Peter inhaled deeply, trying to quell the anxiety growing in him. Tony placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"You have nothing to worry about kid."

Peter nodded. He pulled at his shirt. "Do I look too casual? Should I have changed into something more formal?"

Tony readjusted the simple blue jacket over the white t-shirt, smiling at the science pun printed on the front. "Ah, the element of surprise. They'll love it."

The billionaire knocked on the door gently.

"Come in."

Peter's heart thudded in his chest as Tony opened the door.

"Kid, come on."

He stepped into the calming room, eyes lingering on the cityscape seen through the glass wall before it landed on the couple. His heart nearly stopped. The woman smiled, her eyes tearing up.

"Is... is this a dream?" Peter asked. He really hoped this was real.

Tony shook his head. "It's real."

The woman smiled. "Peter, you've grown so big." She spread her arms in an invitation, her smile lighting up the room.

"Mom!"

Suddenly Peter felt like her was four again as he wrapped his arms around Mary's waist. A tear escaped his eyes, falling onto her shirt.

"My baby." She pulled him back, studying his face. "No one said you were allowed to get so big!"

He chuckled slightly. "Neither did I." He turned to his father.

"Hey there kiddo." Richard scooped down and pulled his son off the floor. "Oh, you're lighter than I thought."

Peter laughed as his legs hovered in the air. "I am part spider!"

"I'm related to a spider?"

"You got it." Peter felt the floor again and instinctively activated finger guns. "Just your friendly neighbourhood, part time avenger, part time whatever I do with the rest of my life, 98% spider, 2% human, Spider-Man!"

Mary elbowed her husband. "That's your son right there."

Richard laughed, the rich booming bouncing off the walls. "You are indeed."

"Richard? Mary?"

The small family looked up. May Parker stood in the doorway, her eyes full of hope and disbelief. "You're... you're alive."

"Mary." Richard spread his arms invitingly, wrapping his sister in law in a massive hug. "How are you and Ben?"

Peter and May exchanged glances. "Ben... well..."

"He had a bad habit of kicking buckets." Peter refused to look up.

A hand rested firmly on his shoulders. His father bent down to Peters eyeline, looking him straight in the eye. "It's alright. I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"Its not your fault. It's-... mine."

Mary blinked, confused.

"I could've stopped the bullet or I could've taken it, or moved him out of the way or-"

"Peter."

The boy stopped ranting, taking in a shuddering breath.

"Its not your fault. Oh-" Mary smiled as her son pulled her close. "We love you."

Tony watched from the doorway, the faint shadow of a smile playing across his features. Now that the kid had his family back, he probably wasn't needed. He wasn't that important to Peter anyway-

"Mr Stark!"

Tony walked back in, trying to keep his anxiety below the surface. "Yah?"

Peter grinned. "Its a family reunion, you included."

"But-" Tony tried to protest but was cut off by Mary pulling him into the group hug. Normally Tony would've hated it, but hey, this was his kid's family, and apparently that included him.

"Thank you," Mary whispered into his ear. "Thank you for looking after him."

Peter pulled back, wiping at his face. "Wait! You guys have to meet MJ!"

"Someone said my name?"

Everyone turned around to look at MJ in all her cool glory. She waved, flicking her fringe back. "Michelle Jones. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too," Richard said, shaking her hand while Mary wiggled her eyebrows at Peter. Peter groaned  whacking his mother on the arm gently. MJ noticed and blushed slightly, letting her fringe fall back in front of her face.

"So who wants to do the honour of tell Flash you're not an orphan anymore?"

"Who's Flash?"

"Long story-"

"Wait, can we get back to the part spider bit? I wanna know how that happened-"

"So are you and MJ dating?"

"ONE QUESTION AT A TIME!"