Forgot to do this last chapter, so Disclaimer: I own nothing! Ultimate Spider-Man belongs to Marvel and Disney, I do not profit from this (other then all the sweet little comments left below) and this is done merely for my enjoyment and the enjoyment of others.

The lights went out 20 minutes later.

Everyone halted in their activities as soon as they struck blind as the lights flickered and fizzed out. Instantly I was at my communicator, calling up Connors.

"Hey Doc, are the lights out in the labs too?"

- Yes. Same with the East side of the Triskelion. I think our fuses couldn't hold out any longer, the technicians said there was little they could do with a storm of this magnitude. But the generators should be up and running in a few minutes.

"So, everyone is fine?"

-Yes, the technicians made it back inside safely. Everyone is okay.

Relief soothed my anxiety. "Oh, alright then. When can we expect the generators to be up and running."

Connors paused, running a hand through his brown hair. He exhaled slowly, puffing his cheeks a little. -Give it ten, maybe fifteen minutes. This snow...- he shook his head, eyebrow narrowing in exasperation. -I guess even S.H.I.E.L.D isn't safe from Mother Nature all the time.-

Got that right. "She just had to knock us down a peg," I chuckled. Criminals and alien threats were one thing. Giant storms and hot weather were another. "If you need any help, call me up."

-Will do.

I sighed and let my arm drop. In our circle, Iron Fist already had his fist up, crackling with mystic power, which illuminated the faces of our group. Agent Venom, Powerman, and Squirrel Girl joined us. There was no point in throwing a football if you couldn't even see it, I suppose. Besides, I figured they'd end up joining us sooner later. I mean, how fun could tossing a ball back and forth actually be?

"Well, this sucks," Agent Venom huffed, dropping his football gently in his lap to wheel himself up to the group in his wheelchair, "How long did Connors say the lights were gonna take?"

"Ten to fifteen minutes," I said, dropping my cards in the pick-up stack. Miles won that round anyway. The universe was not happy with the win. "Another game? I gotta reclaim my Uno throne."

"Nuh-uh," Miles said, tone smug. "The throne is mine and you are never getting it back."

I quirked an unnoticed eyebrow, leaning over to stare at Amadeus and Nova. "Are you listening to this child? Are you listening to this child? Never getting it back! Who does he think he is? Alright Kid Arachnid, one more round. Winner takes all."

Miles cackled, stretching his arms and attempted to crack his knuckles. "Oh, it's on. I will have your Uno-loving, tyrannical IsoulI"

I stuck my index finger up "On the contrary, my soul is dead-tired and weary with emotional problems and angst. But if we were to barter souls, it would be your soul that will be taken."

"My soul is unattainable and will enjoy crushing yours with more teenage angst and problems."

"Oh-ho, is that a fact? Well, I-"

Nova threw his hands up. "Oh my gosh, stop with your lame smack-talk-"

"--is that what that was?--" Agent Venom whispered.

"-can we just start the game already? Geez...buuut if anyone was to win everybody's souls, then all your souls would belong to me."

Before either Miles and I could reprimand him, Dagger swept up the Uno stack and was quickly dealing out the cards. "No more," she said. And that was kind of that. Nova, Iron Fist, and Dagger gave us just enough lighting to see, so the lights weren't a big problem.

"The game of Thrones has begun," I whispered, glaring at them over the tops of my cards as Miles set a blue down.

From their bunks, White Tiger and Ka-Zar got up and sat at the perimeter of our circle, greedily cashing in on the light it offered. When the books got boring and Ka-Zar bamboo stick was needle sharp, they switched to watching the game, occasionally peaking over peoples shoulders to see their cards.

Outside, the howling wind picked up. Well, it was less like howling and more like a banshee screaming. Which might've been on Dagger and Cloak's minds as well. They grimaced unpleasantly. Cloak seemed to draw closer to Dagger--if that were possible--whereas Dagger was softly rubbing the dark cloth with a finger in a soothing manner. I looked back down at my cards. Couldn't bring it up without it getting awkward again, but it didn't sit right in my stomach to just ignore it either. Dagger and Cloak were tough, they survived times in the Dark Dimension and trained with Taskmaster for crying out loud. How in the world could loud winds make them scared

It took a few more minutes of worried glances before Cloak sighed. "Please stop watching us,"

"Huh?" I said, rearranging my cards innocently. "Watching who? I wasn't watching anyone."

Neither of them looked very convinced. "Look, maybe you are worried," Dagger said. "But we're not talking about it."

"I know, I know. But when people looked worried then I start to worry and you all know I have a problem with leaving well-enough alone," I conceded. "I won't push guys, honest. But seriously, is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"

"Dropping it." Cloak suggested.

"...anything else?"

They glared at me.

"Fine, fine, how about a trade." I offered. "You answer my question and you both can ask me a question that I have to answer. That sounds fair, right?" They shared a look. "You can even go first," I added. They still didn't look convinced. "Come on, ask me what my hobbies are. Ask about my first crush. Heck, ask me my most embarrassing secret, I promise I'll answer it honestly."

Dagger's eyes narrowed, almost as if challenged. "Fine," she said. "Who are you, Spider-Man?"

"Uh...what?"

"Let me elaborate, who is it under the mask? Your name, your hair color, your eyes. Who are you when your not Spider-Man?"

Oh...

Well shit.

Walked right into that one, didn't I? 

She smiled wryly as if already convinced I wasn't going to answer. Not that I could blame her because I wasn't going to. I had Aunt May to look out for, and Harry and MJ. The fewer people who knew my real name, the greater chance I had of keeping my family safe.

From across the circle, Nova chuckled, "Walked right into that one Webs."

"Is there anything else I could answer?" But I knew my plead was futile.

Dagger shook her head, "Nope. If Cloak and I are going to trust you enough to let you in on our past, then I want to at least know the name of the person I'm trusting. That's my condition-"

"Mine too," Cloak agreed.

"-so if you take off that mask then I'll tell you what's bothering Cloak and me. That's the deal."

I groaned. Well, that went down the toilet. So much for finding out what was wrong. Why did we have to bring the secret identities out on this?

Maybe because it involves their identity too. You don't know their names either, and you wouldn't want to give up facts about yourself to someone whose name you didn't even know. A voice whispered in my head. It sounded a lot like Angel Spidey.

But I supposed it had a point. Me asking Cloak and Dagger to open up about themselves is like them asking me who I am. It's completely unfair if they're the only ones spilling the beans. Besides, how were they supposed to trust me if they don't think I trust them. I trust every single person on this team with my life, but how are they supposed to know that.

There was something I had to do.

"You drive a hard bargain," I admitted, "But okay." Dagger barely had time to widen her eyes before my fingers curled around the hem of my mask and I pulled up. The fabric came off with little resistance. I shook my bangs out of my eyes and dropped the mask by my feet.

I looked back at Dagger, vision no longer obstructed by the lens of a mask, and smiled. "Hello Dagger, Cloak, I am Peter Parker. I have brown hair, blue eyes, and I like sciencey things. Nice to finally meetcha."

It was so quiet in the dorms I could've heard a pin drop. Cloak and Dagger stared, the New Warriors stared, even the Web Warriors and Ultimates - who knew Iwho I was - stared. But I kept my eyes on Cloak and Dagger, shrugging off the astounded eyes burning holes in my face, even if, for most of them, this was their first glimpse of the person underneath the mask.

"You..." Cloak's eyes flittered over my face, his own slack with shock. "You actually did it."

I shifted my position. "Of course I did. I meant it when I said you could trust me, and I trust you too. Just, please refrain from calling me by my name while in costume, I'd really appreciate it."

Dagger swallowed thickly, eyes dropping to her lap in contemplation. "I...I didn't actually think you would do it, I...." She looked cornered and helpless again. My guilt returned and I looked down, catching my mask on the floor with the lenses now illuminated with a mush of gold and blue from Iron Fist and Nova's light. It seemed to be scowling at me, obviously unhappy with my actions. Now I was the one making them uncomfortable. Gosh, why did I have to be so straightforward and pushy? They didn't want to talk about it, so I should've left it alone.

I grabbed the mask and put it back on, face flushing red. "I'm - uh, s-sorry. I'm probably acting really nosy. You guys don't have to tell me what's wrong. It's your past so you can decide when you want to tell us what's going on." I picked my cards back up, wishing they were big enough that I could hide behind them.

No one felt like spurring on the game, and I didn't really feel like talking anymore either. It was just...shit, why did I have to take off my mask? That was stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. Now roughly 15 people knew my name. 15 people! And that wasn't including the likes of Fury, and Coulson, and Connors, Hulk, and Iron Man and who the hell else knew my face. Who was going to find out next? Wolverine? Rhino? Dr. Octopus?

Good job, Devil Spidey mocked, leaning against my neck in a column of fire. Aunt May's life is at stake, and you go off telling people who we are just because we feel sorry for them? Yeah, you'll be regretting that when it blows up in our face. I huffed irritably as he poofed away with a condescending cackle. I was so caught up in my thoughts, I almost didn't catch it when Dagger started talking.

"We're...it's just the...the snow and wind. That's what's um...freaking us out."

But I was quick to interrupt with a small shake of my head. "No, it's okay Dagger, you don't need to tell me. I was acting pushy and rude and...you really don't have to."

"Hey," she scowled. "You held up your end of the deal, now let us hold up ours. You can't be the only one sacrificing something here." I opened my mouth to argue, but one looked had me clicking it shut again.

With a sigh, I added, "Fine, but...are you sure you want to talk about it with, you know," I gestured around the circle, "Everyone listening. I mean, I don't know if you want to keep it discreet or to the three of us, or...."

She smiled wryly. "You took your mask off in front of everyone. I don't see why I can't tell the story in front of them too. So zip it and let me talk," I nodded slowly and motioned for her to continue. She took a breath, and started talking, "I guess I can't really tell you what's wrong unless I go into the whole story, so, we-well it was something happened before Taskmaster found us. See, um, me and Cloak were on the streets for a bit, we both left home for - for reasons, and kind of just bumped into each other. We managed to get by fairly well, but....well....that was our first winter being homeless. We thought we could handle it, but," one of Dagger's hands self consciously touched the fabric of Cloak's cloak and began to softly knead it in her fingers. "Cloak got sick. Like, really sick, and I'm wasn't very good with medicine or anything. I know we should've gone to a hospital right away, but we were just...different. I mean, Cloak and his teleportation and my light...I wasn't sure how we were gonna be treated being mutants and all. But then this big snow storm pinned us. I managed to find a dry place to sleep in, and a bit of food, but Cloak was just getting worse and worse each time the snow fell. It got so bad that he couldn't even teleport anymore, and," she swallowed thickly. "I - I thought Cloak was going to die. If he had been out there for a couple more days then..." her voice trailed off, eyes drifting up toward the ceiling as if waiting for the snow outside to phase through the roof, down several floors, and into our dorms. It was hard to tell with our dim lighting, but I could've sworn a tear slipped past her eyes. But she sniffed and looked down, not finding it in her to meet anyone's eyes. "But then Taskmaster found us," she muttered, bunching the fabric in her fingers.

"Taskmaster brought us to his base," Cloak picked up for her. "It took a while, but I got over whatever sickness I had. He said we could leave, but...but he also offered to let us stay, train with him, and live at the base. It had been a while since we've been fully fed and warm, and, well, yeah - I guess we accepted the offer. He trained us, taught us to fight, gave us our costume's and names." The features of his face that I could see twisted in shame and he almost seemed to shrink in on himself. I wasn't sure if he meant to or not, but he hovered closer to Dagger, looking like some grim-faced, guilt-ridden, robed protector.

Dagger, on the other hand, sniffed again but looked up to meet my eyes with something strong and determined. "And I guess we're just not too fond of winter. That's all," she said, "If we would've found a warmer place, if Cloak hadn't gotten so sick, then I guess Taskmaster wouldn't have played us like he did." her face turned steely and bitter, "Trust no one." she sneered, lips curling. "I should've seen that coming."

The story tapered into silence. No one seemed eager to comment, or maybe they were just lost in their own thoughts. Personally, I couldn't help but sympathize. I mean, I hadn't gotten my superhero name and costume from the purest source either. Scarlet must've been thinking along the same lines as he asked, "If Taskmaster gave you your uniforms and names, then why do you still wear them?"

Dagger and Cloak shared a glance, and shrugged, looking down.

"Because they're a part of you," I said, catching their attention again. "I mean, sure they were from Taskmaster, but they became a part of Cloak and Dagger. Giving them up kind of feels like...giving a part of yourself up."

Cloak eyed me skeptically. "Yeah...that is kind of how it feels. How...how did you..."

I shrugged looking down. "Let's just say I can sympathize with you a little bit."

High-pitched chittering brought my attention to something across the circle. I'll admit I welcomed the distraction, we were beginning to brush up on a topic that I had long since buried in the back of my head. Monkey Joe was the source of the distraction, he was perched on Squirrel Girl's shoulder nudging her cheek softly with his nose, earning a glance for his efforts. She gave him a strained smile and rubbed behind his hears gently,

"I'm okay," she whispered, cupping her hands for Monkey Joe to nestle in, "Don't worry about it, Joey," the squirrel cocked its head in what could've been doubt, but curled up in her hands anyway.

Squirrel Girl glanced back over at Cloak and Dagger, and her mellow eyes seemed to soften further. She got to her feet and walked over to them, sitting back down by Dagger. "Aw, don't beat yourselves up about it," she said, placing a hand on Dagger's shoulder, "We all make mistakes."

"Yeah, well, have you ever been played by the bad guy like a clueless idiot," Dagger muttered sourly.

"Well, not really...." Squirrel Girl admitted, "But..." she bit her lip hesitantly, "Well, it wasn't always nuts and sunshine for us either. Before coming to the Academy, I never really tried doing any superhero stuff with my powers. I mean, I have squirrel powers," she wagged her bushy tail in emphasis. "It's not exactly the most glamorous thing, is it," her small smile turned down suddenly, and she brought her knees up to her chest. "I mean, I tried to live like a normal kid but it's kind of hard hiding a tail. My mom didn't mind my powers, she still loved me and all, but the other kids..."

I set down my cards. If there was one thing I understood, it was getting bullied.

"They liked to poke fun," she murmured, "Sometimes they'd pull my tail or throw rocks at my squirrels, sometimes they'd take my lunch and replace it with a bunch of nuts. I mean, nuts are good and all, but I like peanut butter and jelly too, ya know. Usually, I could ignore them, but one day they...they took it too far. They managed to catch Mr. Freckle and Nutso and tied them up with a bunch of yarn during lunch, and when I tried to get them back they threw rocks at me. Squirrels hate being tied up, and the yarn was hurting their legs. I could hear Nutso and Mr. Freckle calling for help, but I couldn't get them. I - I got so mad I didn't realize I was calling out to my squirrels until there were dozens of them around me," she hid her face in her knees, "I didn't mean to tell the squirrels to attack the kids, I swear. All I wanted was Nutso and Mr. Freckle back. But I put two kids in the hospital and was thrown out of the school and my mom faced legal charges from the other parents. It took a long time for things to get sorted out, I was just lucky we managed to escape most of the charges thanks to the janitor - he saw what the kids were doing and spoke up for us." At this point, all of Squirrel Girl's squirrels were milling around her, chittering worriedly as if sensing her distress.

This time, Dagger placed a hand on her shoulder, "Those kids had it coming," she said, "They should've left you alone."

Squirrel Girl shrugged, "Maybe," she whispered, "but we had to move, and we were never the most financially stable family. I just never wanted to put that stress on my mom again...and...well, I guess I still feel guilty about those kids. I just didn't really want to hurt anyone, ya know?"

"Well, at least you didn't want to hurt anyone," Agent Venom said. The football he was fiddling with dropped in his lap as he propped his elbows on his thighs and put his head in his hands. He glared at his legs, then at the wheelchair he was stuck in as if it was the cause of all his trouble. "At least you weren't a bully who picked on kids smaller than yourself just because you could."

"C'mon Venom..." I said, trying to ease his conscious a little. "you didn't -"

"Know any better?" he snapped, glaring at me icily. But his anger dissolved quickly once he realized he was snapping at one of his bully victims, and turned away shamefaced, "But I DID know better. I knew I was hurting them, I just didn't realize how much. It was always so easy beating them up, I guess, and I...I didn't want to feel weak and..."

White Tiger set her book down and leaned forward, supporting her head in her hand's in a similar fashion to Agent Venom, but when she spoke her voice was careful and soft, "Why did you feel weak when you weren't beating up kids?" she was meticulous about not sounding harsh. The last thing we needed was an angry symbiote.

He stiffened a little, hands tightening and softening in his lap, "Well, it was kind of tough at home, I guess. My dad -" he faltered and gulped loudly, suddenly looking nervous, "Well, he was just....he was just kind of tough on me and I took my frustration out on anyone smaller than me."

From across the room, Scarlet Spider was still leaning against the wall. He groaned, almost irritably, in a way that made me think he was rolling his eyes. "What, so you beat up nerds because your dad was tough on you," he snorted. "Some hero you are,"

I bristled, shocked by his cold and calloused words. Scarlet Spider could be a little mean, but that was going too far. Sure Flash has made mistakes in the past, as we all have, but practically spitting them in his face and rubbing it in. That was....that was a bit extreme for Scarlet. Flash, with all his rough demeanor and spiky symbiotic costume, really was a good hero. He cared a lot more than people cared to notice and would do anything for you if you earned his loyalty, I knew that for a fact. I turned and glared at Scarlet, trying to convey on how not right that was.

I half expected Agent Venom to be up on his feet, yelling and getting in Scarlet's face to defend himself, that was what usually happened. Instead, he did one thing I've never seen him do. Agent Venom, Flash Thompson, the 6'2, hot-headed jock I've known all my life who could probably bench press my body weight, hunched in on himself, buried his face in his hands and whispered, "Yeah...some hero I am,"

Scarlet looked stunned by the reaction too. He looked down, as if not sure how to take that response, before crossing his arms tightly over his chest and stared at the wall to his side, impervious to my glare. But I'd have to handle him later, right now Agent Venom looked to be in desperate need of some comfort.

"C'mon Venom, you made a change. You're better than that now." I assured him, trying to push as much exoneration and support through my words as I could.

He moved from his futile position to look up at me, "I know, but...it's just...I bullied a kid into becoming a VILLAIN, Spidey," he stressed with a mixture of frustration and mortification bleeding through his voice, "His name was Alex, you should remember him. I bullied him and he became the Rhino just to get back at me, and now he's with Hydra, serving as some lackey for Doc Ock and....and I ruined his life. His life! Alex was probably going to be some scientist or inventor when he got older, and I ruined that for him. Scarlet's right," his face fell back in his hands, "How can I even call myself a hero after that,"

Before I could argue with him, Kid Arachnid, who was opposite of me, sighed with empathy and nodded. "I can sympathize. Back in my world, I literally sat by and watched a hero die, all because I was too scared to do anything. If I would've got up and done something, maybe the Spider-Man in my world would still be alive right now, but thanks to me he's dead and I ruined something good for New York. " he stared a his feet, chuckling dry and without humor, "You know, when I first got my powers I instantly planned on becoming his sidekick. I always imagined we'd go on missions together, have a few stakeouts, and save the world. We'd hang out, be best buds and maybe even join the Avengers," he shook his head remorsefully, hands shaking. "But then he died and...and I guess that just wasn't going to happen, was it..."

I quickly crossed the space between us to sit down next to him, ready to offer any comfort he would accept. I tried not to think about what I saw in Miles universe regarding my death. It was one thing to know I was in danger of dying every day, but a whole other thing to actually see the consequences of it happening. Standing over a tombstone with my name on it was disorienting and, I'll admit, terrifying. The grave wasn't that old, old enough to have tiny blades of grass sprouting from the ground, but young and untarnished among the weathering grey tombstones around it. Looking at my own name etched into the stone was a surreal experience, knowing that somewhere under my feet my alternate-universe body was decaying in the dirt. It left me with a jarring sense of reality that I hadn't really understood till then: that death could happen. There was a very real chance that one day I might not be able to shake off an attack, that one day it might be too much and Aunt May will end up without a nephew. But however jarring it was for me, it must've been 10x worse for Miles who had witnessed my alternate universe death firsthand.

"You can't blame yourself for that," I told him. "If you would have intervened then you would have just gotten killed too, and then New York wouldn't have had a Spider-Man to rely on."

Miles shook his head like he couldn't bring himself to accept that. "You say that with great power comes great responsibility," he muttered, "I had the power to do something, but I stood there and did nothing. I watched you die! How is that okay?"

"But I'm not dead, Miles," I pulled him into a side-hug to show that I am very much alive. "I am right here. And if you're Spider-Man was like me in any way, then he'd be glad you didn't get involved. And he'd be proud of how you stepped in his footsteps and continued Spider-Man's legacy. I'm...I'm proud of you. Don't forget that, okay,"

Miles was quiet for a minute, before whispering, "Okay," but he got to his feet, not meeting any one's eyes, and laid down in his bunk.

Emotional stress could be very exhausting, I guess.

One look at the group and I knew this couldn't continue. All smiles and humor were gone, everyone looked as downcast and gloomy as the weather outside. Eyes looked dazed, probably somewhere far in the past reliving old haunting memories, and bodies slack as if their energy was sapped. Even Scarlet looked wrapped up in his own thoughts, tensed, and probably thinking about the traumatizing experiences he went through with Doc Ock.

I clapped my hands once to get everyone attention, "Okay, that's it, I'm breaking up the pity party. We've all gone through shit, and it sucks. But you guys are the strongest people I know, you've gone through so much and you're still here. That counts for something, so don't beat yourself up over past mistakes, turn them around and make them into something better," I hoped my little speech would help them, but Nova didn't seem very eager to accept it today.

"And how would we do that?" he snapped, "We all can't be like you. We can't be that great, or that responsible, or that good of a hero. Sometimes, I don't know how you expect us to get up and forget about the shit we went through like it's as easy as that." His breathing turned heavy and angry as if it the words had finally unwrapped themselves from his ribs to allow him to breathe. With a heated sighed, he stood briskly to his feet. "I don't know how you do it Webs, but you managed to leave behind whatever suckfest happened to you and became a hero. A perfect hero. I mean, Captain America respects you for goodness sake! But you can't expect the same out of us, okay. Somethings you just can't let go."

I was stunned into silence. His words circulated through my head, but they made no sense. Nova thought I - Peter Parker,  Spider-Man - was "perfect". It was pretty freaking hilarious actually because I was most definitely NOT perfect. If you looked up "flawed" in the dictionary, my picture would be the only definition you need. I mean, I'm pretty sure it's officially cannon for me to mess everything up. How could I not? My luck literally conspired against me, my mental thinking process was kind of hijacked (yes author, readers, and the whole lot of ya, I'm looking at you), in fact, I've made so many mistakes that I almost laughed, only I didn't because it just so happened that those mistakes threatened the lives of every single person in the Triskelion.

And the thing is, I haven't even let them go. Everyday, all I can think about are the looming mistakes that made life horrible for everyone. It was ME, after all, who brought Doctor Octopus to the Tricarrier which allowed him and Arnim Zola to take over S.H.I.E.L.D and create Hydra Island. It was ME who trapped Miles into my universe, ripping him away from his life and home because I couldn't defeat his Goblin without his help. It was ME who trusted Rhino, the spy for Ock who betrayed us and captured Agent Venom who was tortured by Ock for his symbiote. It was ME who endangered Harry, Norman Osborn, and Agent Venom (again) with the mission involving Anti-Venom, resulting in Harry, who happens to be my best friend, falling into a coma and Flash stuck in the very wheelchair he was in now. And if all of that wasn't enough, I THEN went on to unleash a dangerous, sadistic villain calling himself Hydro-Man, whom Nick Fury had apparently worked really hard on keeping locked up, who went on to join Ock in his reassembling Sinister Six after he almost killed Aunt May, even though he didn't really have a reason to take revenge on me when he should literally be thanking me for royally screwing things up.

And as the unbelievable, horribly sad cherry on top of my depressing, half-melted and foaming ice-cream sundae of disappointments was the fact that this all had happened within the last few months. Honestly, there had to be an award for "Most Mistakes Made by a Team Leader" out there somewhere, because, by the rules of the "Superhero Mistakes" guideline and handbook, it rightfully belonged to me. Like, seriously, how was it possible for one person to mess up so badly.

I shook my head several times to shake off my shocked disbelief. "Okay, one," I started, holding a finger up, "bite your tongue. I will not allow such lies under my roof,"

Nova's face scrunched, "I wasn't lying you jerk!"

"That comment about Captain America's respect? Yeah, don't play with my feelings like that Nova; so not cool. And second, I am not perfect. That is such a blasphemy, I'm surprised J. Jonah Jameson himself hasn't popped up on every screen to tell us such a lie. In fact, I'm sure the only reason he hasn't already, is because he knows it would only feed my ego and saying something nice about me just isn't in his biology."

Nova's jaw clenched and he glared at me more intensely, "You can't even take this serious," he growled, throwing his hands up in a frustrated gesture, "As per freaking usual!"

"You know what, I don't even know why you are so mad at me," I said, dropping my falsetto mood, "What could I have possibly done to you to earn your wrath?"

Nova shook his head as if the reason for my confusion was the stupidest thing imaginable, "Whatever, just forget it," he snapped, "There's no point," with that he turned and stomped over to his bunk and plopped down on the mattress with his arms folded tight across his chest.

I watched him incredulously. "So, that's it?" I demanded, "You're mad at me but you're not going to tell me why?...Gee, thanks, Nova. That helps so, so much!" his reply was a silent thumbs-up that only aggravated me more.

"Know what, whatever," I snapped. "Wither in your own misery for all I care. That's what I get for trying to help!" I stalked back to my own bunk, which I realized too late that was annoyingly close to Nova's. Instead of shaming myself and rejoining the circle, I buried myself in the blankets seethingly, convincing myself that I was NOT pouting.

At my back, the group went back to whatever miscellaneous tasks they were doing. Flash's wheelchair rolled across the floor as he went to his bunk, doing whatever it was he was doing, while the remaining kids in the circle started a half-hearted game.

As I lay in my bunk, my thoughts turned from Nova and his issues and wandered Aunt May and how she was coping with the storm. Was she cold? Did she have enough to eat? Were there enough blankets in the house? Was the heater working?Of course, S.H.I.E.L.D equipped my house with enough artillery, defenses, exits, and sustenance to be a military bunker, but that did little to stop my hacked brain from worrying.

But I knew she was safe, there was no doubt in my mind. Which annoyingly left me more brain power to mull over my argument with Nova.

Seriously, what did I do to get him so mad? Was it something I said? Something I did? If so, then what? I spent most of my time in the labs with Connors and acting like a doofus in Fury's office. The only other time I saw him today was in the computer labs while they were doing the tests. He looked pretty steamed when I passed the test, but that might've only been fuel to his theory that I was "perfect".

But...you know what? Whatever. I don't care. If Nova wanted to be complicated, then let him. It wasn't my problem.

But there has to be something wrong, the better part of me argued. Certainly, we won't leave Nova like this.

Why not? my darker side countered. We didn't do anything, so why should we make it better? Nova's the one who got all accusatory. I say we let him sit in his own issues and figure it out himself.

Angel Spidey gasped, You can't mean that!

I can and I do.

But what about everything we've taught them. You know, about friendship and trust, and having faith in your team. You know, being there for them.

What are we? Devil Spidey sneered. Tinkerbell and her amazing friends? My Little Pony? We learned our lessons about that the hard way, and so can they.

Angel Spidey glared at him but flew closer to whisper, We're dedicated to helping them, so let's help. FIgure out what's wrong, like we did with Ava and fix it. It worked out last time.

Yeah, and we almost got skewered last time. Devil Spidey commented, coming up behind Angel Spidey.

You are not helping. 

I'm not supposed to!

I tried my best to ignore them both. Although Angel Spidey did have a point, I've spent this much time talking about trust and speaking up if something was wrong, so how could I turn my back on Nova like this.

See, I knew he'd listen.

Oh, shut up!

I turned over on my bunk to sneak a peek at Nova, who was glaring at the bunk above his with heated passion. I'll be honest, sometimes I just didn't have the best history with Nova, but no matter how many times we insulted or tried to one-up each other, we were still friends. We've gone on dozens of mission together, saved each other's lives, and watched each other's back. Nova was just as much a brother to me as Miles or Flash.

But how was I supposed to get Nova to tell me what was wrong when the guy was so intent on being secretive? But I still had to do something.

I rubbed the pads of my fingers over my palm, thoughtfully. I missed the weight of the pressure-sensitive plates of my old web-shooters. My S.H.I.E.L.D shooters were cool, what with the taser-webs and all, but they were extremely easy to use. Too easy. Anyone could just pick them up and use them willy-nilly. With my old ones, it was more of a skill I had to hone and get used to. It was something I had grown proud of. I mean, it wasn't as easy as it looked swinging around the city, thousands of feet in the air, with nothing but textile webbing to save you. After taking on the stress of being a self-made superhero, I developed a habit of rubbing the trigger plates when I was stressed, nervous, or thinking. Apparently, even after using my S.H.I.E.L.D one's for so long, the habit hasn't left.

Through the corner of my eye, I saw Nova drawing meaningless patterns into the air with the energy of the Nova force, manipulating strands to curve and swirl like smoke. He was muttering low to himself, so quiet I didn't even think words were coming past his lips.

It took several minutes of coming up with nothing before I finally threw my hands in the air with defeat and rolled off the bed to approach Nova. I could tell Buckethead saw me coming, judging by the way he tensed, but he otherwise refused to acknowledge me.

But I still didn't have anything to say, so instead of standing there awkwardly, I sat on the floor by his bunk, leaning against the frame with my back to Nova and watched the unenthusiastic game of Uno. My fingers drummed against my leg in a crazy rhythm, fingers tapping in biological codes to hack my brain and illegally download something to say that wouldn't result in another argument.

Fortunately, my mental-hacking didn't need to be the solution. After a long minute, Nova asked, "Why are you here?"

My answer was off my tongue before I could even stop it. "Because I'm an instructor at the Academy and Fury won't let me leave."

Nova's scowl returned instantly.

Ah, right, he didn't want sarcasm. Not even sincere sarcasm. This might be a little harder than I thought.

So I cleared my throat to try again. "Sorry," I apologized. "sarcasm has become second-nature for me,"

"Whatever," he shrugged.

"Look, Nova, I'm still not sure why you're mad at me, but I'm not going to let you keep being...broody and angsty. C'mon, what's wrong?" Silence. "At least give me a hint." More silence. "A clue? C'mon, not even a riddle. I'll even take one of Iron Fist's fortune cookie phrases right about now."

Nova sighed, rubbing his face like it might make me go away. "I don't want to talk about it Webs. I'm fine. Just go play Skip-Bo or something,"

"One, its Uno. And two, no I'm not going to leave you alone,"

"Why not?"

"Because something is bothering you, obviously,"

There was a growl of irritation. "See, that! That right there is why I'm mad!"

I turned my head to give him a confused sidelong glance, "Was I being sarcastic? I swear I wasn't trying to be-"

"You care too much!" Nova seethed, "You care, and you are freaking perfect, and everyone respects you, and I just...it just..." he made a noise of frustration and made a strangling motion with his hands. "I can't stand it!"

"I'm not perfect!"

"Stop saying that!"

"But I'm not!"

"You just - GRRR!" Nova looked ready to strangle me for real.

I stared at him helplessly, unsuccessfully capping off my own rising anger. What was Nova's deal?! I was trying to help. Besides, he literally made it a POINT to point out all my mistakes when he happened to see them. What was with this new attitude?

"I'm not - you can't - UGH! Just tell me why you are mad at me!!!" I sputtered indignantly.

Nova was on his feet in an instant, aura flaring brightly. "You want to know why I'm mad at you!" it was more of a demand than a question. "Fine! I'm mad because you can make as many mistakes as you want and they never seem to drag you down!!"

It was quiet in the dorms.

"W-what?" I said., "I don't-"

"You can make mistakes and you don't even seem affected!" Nova repeated between grit teeth, feet lifting off the ground as he hovered in the air, towering over my still-sitting form, "Your Uncle dies, so you become a hero. You accidentally lead villains to school, but you just convince them you don't go there. You act like a jerk, then you care too damn much. You falsely accuse someone, then apologize and help them instead and they let you. You refuse Director Fury's help, and you still manage to save the day. You don't follow orders, but you are always forgiven. You - you - honestly, I can keep going! And I'm just - I hate it! I hate how your mistakes get to stay in the past. How you can forget everything bad and keep going," his voice cracked, as his lips quirked down in a frown. Not in anger, but in sadness. "I hate how you're scared of nothing," he slowly floated back down till his feet touched the ground, "I hate how scared I get...and I..." he swallowed thickly, "I hate how much of a disappointment I am..."

The atmosphere in the room was dead.

Nova sighed, defeated, and sat down. Well, he plopped down. Like he didn't have quite enough energy to perform the proper steps to sit. He tipped his head a little and pulled his helmet off, rolling it around in his hands till he was staring at the red star in the front. He didn't look at me or anyone else in the room, even though he held all of our attention. But because I was so close, I saw as his green eyes went misty.

"I'm the last Nova..." he whispered in a broken hush. "there's no one left. Not even my da...dad. The entire legacy of the Nova Corps is on me now, and...and feel like I've let them down. You got to avenge your Uncle by taking down the guy who shot him. I haven't. The people who destroyed the Nova Corps are still out there and I've done nothing to avenge them. I - I don't even know the full power of my helmet," he shook his head pitifully, "I'm the worst Nova ever..."

I stared at him, for once not ready with a sarcastic comment. How could he think something like that? Nova was literally taking on the power of the Nova Corps by himself because there were people out there who would abuse that kind of power. He was on Earth training to be a hero so he could rejoin the Guardians of the Galaxy one day and help save the ENTIRE UNIVERSE!

"Nova, you're not-"

Nova held up a hand to cut me off, "I know this is none of your fault or anything," he added tiredly, "I know, and it's stupid and petty of me to pin it on you. And the thing is...I'm not even angry at you. I think I'm just angry with myself. That maybe it's because, I...that I...." his voice tapered off. "that I can't be more like you and just leave everything behind," he hugged his knees to his chest.

Never has Nova looked so small or vulnerable.

I took a moment to let that sink in. Then said, "You're not a failure, Nova. You're training to save the entire universe with the Guardians. That's some intense stuff, I'd never be brave enough to take on that,"

Nova snorted, "Yeah right. You'd probably do a better job than me, I swear you're good at anything. Probably haven't even broken the law, like, once,"

"Nova, I. Am. Not. Perfect."

"Oh yeah?" he challenged, though his heart didn't sound into it. "Name one thing you did that's actually illegal?"

"How about vigilantism?" I said, "That's technically illegal,"

Nova rolled his eyes, "You're not a vigilante, you're a hero. Well, you call yourself a hero, anyway. Besides, since when do you actually take into account what the Bugle says?"

Well, he had a point. I had an exceptional skill of ignoring everything and anything J. J. Jerkface said. But Nova was still wrong. There was one thing I did that is definitely illegal. I bit my lip, wondering if I should admit it. I mean, bringing this topic might put me on the path of a very old wound I'd rather keep sealed. But that wasn't in my power. Before I could stop myself, the words tripped past my tongue, maybe in my desperation to prove him wrong. "Ever heard of Street-fighting..."

"What?"

"Street-fighting," I tried to ignore the cold stone that dropped in my stomach with just saying the word, and how the other students were probably definitely listening now. Wha-what would they think? I mean, I may not have the best decision-making record, but I still had acquired something of a trustworthy reputation among my teammates. How would they react to knowing what I did? Nervous sweat dampening my forehead, I let the words go, desperate to explain before my reputation sunk like the Titanic. "I'm not some saint, Nova. I didn't magically decide to be a superhero and I made mistakes, a lot, even before S.H.I.E.L.D got to me, and - and street-fighting happened to be one of them."

That didn't seem like a good enough explanation. But did I really want to take it that far? Biting my lip nervously, I cleared the unexpected block in my in throat, and asked under the weight of hesitance, "Have...have I ever told you how I became Spider-Man?"

Nova shrugged, "I know enough," he murmured, "I already know about Uncle Ben's death, it was in your file,"

"Yeah, I know," I looked down at my hands in my lap, "I looked at my file..." there was a long pause, "but there's more to the story than that, you know,"

Nova didn't respond, so I continued. "I made mistakes. Some I'm not very proud of...some I'm ashamed of actually, and some I haven't even told you guys about,"

Nova was quiet for a minute, before quietly asking, "Why not?"

I shrugged helplessly, picking at the lines of my gloves. "Didn't want you guys to look down on me more than you did before, I guess,"

"We didn't look down on you-"

"Yes, you did. I could tell. I'm not stupid," I traced the curve of the black lines around my palm, scowling at the stretchy fabric. I could turn back before they got too interested, I didn't have to tell the story. They didn't need to know.

Then Nova asked, almost timidly, as if unsure whether he was crossing the line or if he even deserved to know. "What...then what is the story?"

The other's were listening. I could tell. I could feel their eyes on us., I could practically sense them taking my words.

But I could turn back. It wasn't too late yet!

"Ever heard of streetfighting?" I asked instead.

Nova shrugged, "Well yeah, we busted up a few of them. It's illegal isn't it?"

Peter nodded, "Yep," he murmured, popping the "p" slightly. "It's gotten more illegal in the years, but was still pretty bad back when I got my powers," I etched meaningless patterns into my gloves, already feeling haunted memories of the past foaming to the front of my mind, pushing and shoving with cruel eagerness to be remembered.

It was too late to turn back now. I was sucked in, and so were they.

"I guess street-fighting is kind of where it all started,"

Hey guys, a quick note: The backstories I used for these characters are not completely true. I did make up some stuff for my own benefit, you know, to fit along with the story. Same goes for Spidey's backstory. In fact, his backstory is even a little different to the one I half made up in my other story "Tell Me Your Secret and I'll Share the Pain" so keep that in mind. Also, in case you noticed, the lights are not back on yet and it's well past 10-15 minutes, but there's a reason for this, so please don't bring it to my attention because it is very well in my attention. Thank you, ^.^ Hope you enjoyed! I have one more part to this before this story comes to end!