As soon dinner was over, Tony made a quick exist, judging accurately that he should get out of Aunt May's hair before she changed her mind about warming up to him. I walked him out to the elevator, but as soon as he'd pushed the button, he turned to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Are you really okay, Peter? It can be a little weird to find out you have a nemesis out there." He smirked at his own understatement.

"I'm mad," I said, after I'd thought about it. "I'm mad, and I want to get stronger so I can save Aunt May if it ever happens again."

Tony smiled, but his eyes were sad. "Son, you never get so strong that you can plan for every single thing that could ever happen, and one guy can't win against everybody. That's why you need help. There wasn't a thing wrong with how you handled yourself today. However, if you want, we can work on some evasive maneuvers, develop some escape strategies, use those powers for defense since your offense is getting pretty darn good."

"Yeah," I said. "I'd like that."

The elevator had long since reached our floor, but Tony stood silent for a minute, like he wasn't sure what he wanted to do. I just waited, because I wanted to say things I didn't know how to say.

"C'mere." He hugged me. It felt nothing like being hugged by Uncle Ben, but it was just as good.

I came back to the apartment to find my aunt sitting on the couch the way I'd found her the day she'd told me about knowing Tony Stark. "You okay?" I sat down beside her, drained but relaxed, feeling the lightness of knowing my year of secrets was over.

"I'm thinking," she answered.

"About getting kidnapped?"

"No," she turned sideways to face me, "about how to finish raising Spider-Man."

I leaned over and put my head on her shoulder, the way I had when I was a kid. "I'm sorry, May. I'm sorry I got superpowers. I didn't mean to."

She laughed. "I just—I think this is the sign I needed. I'm going to marry Tony Stark."

"Because of me?"

"Nope," I could feel her shaking her head against mine. "For me. But I can't really imagine dealing with this without him."

I laced my fingers with hers and held her hand. "You know—I really like Tony, and I want to learn from him, but when I put on the suit, I want to be like Uncle Ben the most." It was hard to get the words out, but this was a day of being honest, and I needed her to know.

"You already are," Aunt May answered readily, "and you will be even more. I see him in you every day."

"But," she sat up and put her hand under my chin, making me look her in the eyes, "I'm still your aunt. I know you may not be able to tell me certain things, and that's okay. I expect you to answer to Tony when it comes to Spider-Man. When it comes to Peter Parker, you still answer to me—and you'd better give MJ your respect, too. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," I said, nodding. I didn't want anything else, wouldn't have had it any other way. I wanted to answer to my tiny aunt until the day I died.

Aunt May pulled me close again, and because we'd almost died, and I loved her more than I could say, I didn't pull away. She turned on the TV, and Tony was being interviewed on the news.

"I got a lot of help in this operation from Spider-Man," I watched him say, as he smiled for the camera, dressed immaculately in one of his many Savile Row suits.

"Really?" The reporter was clearly charmed by Tony, like everyone is. "I thought he was a kid on some YouTube videos."

Tony shook his head and looked straight into the camera, straight at me. "No, Spider-Man is the real deal. He's a kid, just like they say, but he's going to be great."

I fell asleep on the phone with MJ. Thankfully, she hadn't heard about anything until it was all over and Tony had deputized Happy to call her while Aunt May and I were being checked over for injuries.

"I love you." She just kept saying it over and over, like I might not have heard her the first thirteen times. I didn't mind it at all.

"I love you, too," I answered, every single time.