It's in your eyes, what's on your mind.

I fear your presence, I'm frozen inside.

I'm searching for answers

Not questioned before.

The curse of awareness;

There's no peace of mind.

As your true colors show:

A dangerous sign.

Chapter 6: A Dangerous Mind

Dinner that night had been a somber affair, with the mood subdued as no one was really quite ready to talk about what had happened with Peter's name. Though it was an unspoken consensus that they would hold off on the immediate name change. Until the next day to fully incorporate the news and prepare themselves for the change in what to call Peter.

Though that wasn't to say despite being still so unsure about it, Peter was still trying to move forward. Yes, it would be difficult, but he was still alive, as that spider bite could have ended much worse for him. In the long list of things that could have gone wrong, changing sexes shouldn't have ranked very high, just highly unlikely.

Still didn't make it any less unbelievable though.

There really had not been much going on during the rest of the evening as they all spent their time watching a movie in the living room and Peter had started to feel somewhat like how it had been.

If he could keep reminding himself of these moments, then moving forward would be hopefully easier.

"So…" Harry started off nervously like he didn't know what to say.

"So…" Gwen returned just as nervously.

They had met up in the Silver Spoon by accident and neither of them was expecting to see the other, but once it was confirmed they both knew about Peter's passing things just sort of drifted into silence.

"Uh…you decided to skip on Science Camp?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I didn't want to go, but dad thought I should have gone to get my mind off…him." Gwen replied. "I'm starting to think maybe I did make a mistake...not going." She muttered. "Uh, and you're not heading to Europe after all?"

"Dad decided he could take his conferences over the computer." Harry said.

"So you told him about Peter then?" Gwen asked.

Harry shook his head. "No, I don't know if I even should, but…dad has ways of finding things out anyway."

Walking through the street, Eddie tried to clear his head, but so far it wasn't doing him any good. Peter, the kid he'd known for his whole life was dead. No one got over that by just taking a walk. He could have pressed Ben for more information, but he didn't want to upset the man more than he already had been.

It was almost surreal; he'd always felt on some level a bit jealous that Peter still had someone to go to when their parents had died. Now though...he just felt lousy for ever thinking it they had just lost someone they considered their son for all these years. He felt like scum.

Maybe he shouldn't have been so resentful, but now it was too late for 'maybes.'

Harry walked out of the elevator of his home, having left Gwen just a short while ago as they're conversation had sputtered and died when they ran out of things to talk about; most of them about Peter and that was still too raw a subject to bring up. He walked to his father's study and knocked on the door, trepidation flowing through him as he heard his father's sharp voice call out in annoyance to enter.

Harry opened the door and tried to maintain eye contact while he spoke. "Um, dad, I got a call earlier from Ben Parker…" his father's eyes shone in interest. "And he said that Peter had died."

His father's eyes narrowed slightly before he nodded sharply. "Is that all you have to say?"

Harry felt his expression slack in disbelief as his father made no secret how he preferred Peter over him and this lack of response was unsettling in a way. He thought about how his father gave approval of Peter, approval that Harry so desperately wanted, but now it just left him feeling hollow. "I'll…I'll just be in my room then." He muttered and walked out of the room.

Only when he heard the click of the door shutting and his son's footsteps fade did Osborn open up the drawer of his desk and pull out the folder inside. He didn't ask for much because he couldn't risk one of those doctors catching wind of this, so he bribed the security detail for footage of Peter and inside the folder were several pictures from said footage stapled to the inside.

He considered these the 'before' images because he was certain there was going to be a change in the young Parker's appearance. He looked forward to seeing how different the change was. The images he currently held were of Peter leaving his room with his aunt, and the others were of how Peter looked emerging from the washroom.

Peter had gotten taller, and though he was used to seeing a male face, this feminine one still had traces of its previous form; it was just softer-looking and the tall frame was still as slim as it had been before. The hair though was still so short-no worries though for it would have to grow out, but he wondered if he would see Peter's natural hair or a wig when the Parker's returned.

He would not mind seeing Peter's hair grown out; a wig could be pulled off far too easily after all, just had to have one good grip on the fake hair and pull…

Osborn traced over the image of Peter coming out of the washroom and could imagine it being long enough to have just the right hold on. When Peter had been a boy, what drew him in was just how different from Harry he was; the kind of son he could have called his own, but now…

Well now those thoughts of Peter were anything but paternal.

He'd started to think about just how much more advantageous Peter's new form could be, the brains with the looks to complete it was something that always threw people for a loop. When Peter returned, Osborn would have the first sight of the new him, or rather, her and would be interning at the Connor's lab with the tests.

Perhaps it was time to have a new security system installed, one with cameras in the lab in front of where Peter would be stationed at.

The next morning, Peter grimaced as he got out of bed and made his way to the kitchen for breakfast, already seeing his aunts and uncle at the table.

"Morning sleepy head, we were just about to wake you up." Uncle Ben said softly.

Peter smiled weakly. "Sorry." He apologized and sat down at the table, waffles and bacon for their meal. He picked up his fork and put three waffles onto his plate and several pieces of bacon.

"My, someone's certainly hungry." Aunt May said trying to lighten the mood.

Peter blushed sheepishly. "Yeah, I…just been feeling hungry lately."

"Please pass the syrup…Zoe." Aunt April said and took a shuddering breath.

Peter froze in his seat as he registered his aunt was talking to him and his mouth went dry. He sat stock still for several moments before he nodded slowly and handed her the bottle. Move forward; move forward, he thought to himself. "There you go, Aunt April."

Aunt April smiled at him, just a touch sadly. "Thank you, Zoe."

Peter nodded back at her and went back to eating his meal. When he finished, he got up and placed his plate in the sink. "If you'll excuse me, I'll be getting dressed." He said and walked down the hall his temporary room to gather up some clean clothes, and then into the bathroom. He locked the door behind him and felt his breath hitch.

He knew they agreed to wait until today to start calling him by his new name, but hearing it all the same just made him feel awful; like he was stealing someone else's identity, someone else's name.

Peter walked over to the sink and threw some of the water into his face to clear his head. Still, he had to keep going forward; it wasn't good to go backwards. Peter tightened his shoulders and slowly looked up into the mirror, taking in the new face, the new voice that he was going to speak with, and the hardened look of resolve in his eyes.

He still looked the same, yet so very different. This…this didn't have to be bad though.