While Peter loved visiting Aunt May, he still missed the old house he used to live in. Sure, Aunt May's current apartment was cozy, but it lacked the history, it lacked the nostalgia that Peter had with his old house. Perhaps that is why Aunt May enjoyed living in her current apartment, less emptiness caused by the fact that Uncle Ben was not there anymore. Still, Peter didn't have time to ponder that much longer as he knocked on her front door. As usual, May wasn't one to keep him waiting very long. May smiled when she saw him.
"Peter, it's wonderful to see you." May said cheerfully as she greeted her nephew.

"Hi, Aunt May. I'm happy to see you too." Peter replied before giving his aunt a hug. May moved to the side to let Peter into the apartment. As Peter walked in, he smelled the scent of tea. Sure enough, May was making herself some tea.

"Would you like a cup of tea, Peter?" May asked. Peter shook his head.

"Not at the moment. I'm not thirsty." Peter replied as he went to the dining room table and took a seat. May poured herself a cup and went to the table to sit with her nephew.

"So, how has things been in the new job?" May asked. Peter smiled.

"It's been great. Horizon Labs is a wonderful company and... If I wasn't all ready a staff member at the Daily Bugle, I'd have left the freelance photographer business ages ago." Peter answered. May smiled.

"And how is Mary Jane?" asked May. Peter sighed. Things between Mary Jane and him was still complicated. On one hand, she was an amazing and supportive friend, but on the other, there was a lot of baggage between them. The symbiotic black suit influenced Peter to be more agressive towards people, and that had came to a head when he had accidentally struck Mary Jane. Peter never truly forgave himself for that, even if Mary Jane seemed to.

"It's still complicated between us." Peter replied honestly. May sighed.

"It's been 2 years since the jazz club incident, Peter. Holding yourself to the guilt of what you had done is not healthy." May pointed out. Peter nodded. He knew that, but it didn't change how Peter felt about the situation. May then smiled as she left the room and returned to it with a box.

"Speaking of something that happened years ago, I know you were disappointed when I had given your comic books away when I was packing to move from our old house, so... I bought the books I remember you having to give these to you. I used to think they were dreadful things, but... I took the time to read them myself and found that the heroes in these books kind of remind me of Spider-Man... a kind and selfless hero. One who has no doubt worked hard to work past the mistakes of his past, much like you have, Peter." May said as she gave Peter the box filled with comics. Peter was surprised that May would rebuy the books... he was more surprised she'd take the time to read them herself. It was moments like this when Peter had started to wonder if she had figured out his identity a while ago. He didn't look twice into her speech about giving up our dreams for the greater good, or even her lectures on the poisonous emotions that revenge brings... but her advice always seemed to have a double meaning that would spill into how he viewed his work as Spider-Man... and that seemed strange to be a mere coincidence.

"Aunt May... is there something you want to..." Peter was about to ask before a knock was heard on the door. May, not one to keep guest waiting, walked quickly to the door and opened it.

"Hello, May. I just need to borrow some salt. I forgot to get some at the store yesterday." said one of May's new friends as she walked into the apartment. Peter grabbed a comic and started to read, feeling a bit nostalgic from reading the adventures of Admiral Freedom, Metal Man, Night Monkey and the Vindicators.

Wilson Fisk hung a painting he had bought from Vanessa's shop on his wall before he walked over to his window and looked out into the city. He had a smile on his face as he looked upon the city that he loved. He had missed New York. He missed almost everything about it, except the traffic, and now so much of it has changed. Maybe not so much in terms of appearance, but now it was considered normal to see a man swing around the city in a red and blue costume, fighting crime. Now, street crime wasn't the most dangerous aspect of the city, people like Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, and Venom could just appear and flip the city on it's head again! As Fisk was caught up in his thoughts, he didn't notice the knocking that was on his door.

"Mr. Fisk." said the man knocking on the door. Recognizing the voice of Wesley, Fisk snapped out of his thoughts and walked to his door.

"Wesley, you don't normally come to my home much these days. What do you need?" asked Fisk.

"Well old friend, since it's been a while since we've been in this city, I was wondering if you'd like to grab a burger like in the old days." Wesley asked. Fisk nodded as he remembered the days when his father had wanted to deny Wilson his inheritance. Wilson had temporarily moved out, living the life of a middle class citizen when he had met Wesley, who had become a brother to him. Getting burgers was just their thing.... and it was a nice tradition to start again.

Spider-Man swung through the city. It was night time, and Peter thought that he should patrol before going home and calling it a night. As Spider-Man swung across the city, he noticed how peaceful it was. It was rare for New York to be so quiet, but he found it nice and refreshing. No super villains, no screams for help, no fires... it was all nice. Or as nice as you could get in a city with traffic as bad as New York. Spider-Man swung by Joe's Pizza. As the smell got through Peter's mask, he felt kinda nostalgic, despite being fired by Mr. Aziz, and decided he was going to get himself a box.

Dr. Connors often felt like he lived in his lab. Ever since he stopped teaching at Empire State University, he found himself feeling very comfortable in his lab at Horizon Labs. His research and passion for physics and now biology since the symbiote incident, kept him in the lab, working past his normal hours. Max Modell often sent Connors home himself so that the man could get some rest since he was so invested in his work. It was getting late, and Connors was working out an equation when there was a knock on his door. Curt walked over and opened the door.

"Hello, my name is Martha Doris, I'm a new hire here at Horizon Labs and I start tomorrow, but I was just so excited that I wanted to see the building for myself and... well I'm kinda lost. Do you mind showing me around?" the woman at the door asked. Curt smiled.

"Not at all ma'am. I'm Dr. Curtis Connors. It's nice to meet you." Curt said with a friendly smile, always happy to help a fellow scientist.

The next day:

Peter Parker found himself at a store with Mary Jane as the two looked for gifts to give Flash for his welcome home party. Peter could almost feel the disbelief of his younger self coming to him. Never in a million years did he expect to be getting along with Flash Thompson, let along going to a store to actively search for a gift to give him. Life was strange some times and often times, it ends up being a good thing. The awkward silence between him and Mary Jane at the moment however, wasn't something Peter considered good.

"So I hear you made it back on Broadway." Peter said, trying to start some small talk with MJ. Mary Jane smiled and nodded.

"I did. Along with my friend Louise who was in plays with me during the days when I was in a relationship with John Jameson." Mary Jane replied. Peter was surprised she'd bring up her old relationship with John. While MJ had no regrets leaving John to be with Peter all those years ago, she did end up regretting how she did it. She had left a note breaking up with him on the day of their wedding. Louise, having been the maid of honor that day, had been the one to give the note to John, and he was less than happy about how he got broken up with. She and John ended up going on bad terms with each other because of what happened, leading her to avoid mentioning her former relationship to anyone during causal conversation. But Peter, wasn't just anyone... even if they weren't officially together at the moment, he was still the one MJ felt she could confide in... especially since she knew his biggest secret.

However, there were times Peter wished that his spider sense warned him of more than physical harm when Peter heard a voice behind him.
"Peter Parker, I was just asking Curt Connors about you recently at Horizon Labs." said the voice of Felicia Hardy. Peter turned to see the attractive woman. Peter smiled. He liked Felicia, they were good friends and all, but at this moment in time he could swear that he saw a jealous fire in Mary Jane's eyes.

"Did you ask Dr. Connors about the Reverbium project?" Peter asked curiously. Felicia shook her head.

"No, though I have read your notes in that project and I must say that there is promising stuff there, but that's not why I was asking about you. You see, I am studying someone you seem to have a history of capturing on camera." Felicia explained. Peter looked confused.

"Excuse me for cutting into this conversation, but you do know that Peter is an official staff member of the Daily Bugle now, right? He's taken pictures of all kinds of people." Mary Jane pointed out. Felicia turned her eyes to see Mary Jane.

"Oh, silly me. That's a great point Ms... oh wait, I believe I know you. You're Mary Jane Watson. I loved your performance during the Importance of being Ernest play a few years ago. I also recall that you had been saved by the man I'm studying from the likes of the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, and Venom." Felicia replied. Peter's eyes widened.

'She's studying Spider-Man.' He realized.

"You're studying Spider-Man." Peter said. Felicia nodded.

"Yes. I wanted to know if you'd let me have a chat with the web slinger." Felicia replied. Peter sighed.

"I don't actually know him. I just use some long range lenses and have good luck." Peter explained. Felicia smiled.

"Of course. How silly of me to think you really know Spider-Man, but still... you are resourceful. If you ever see him, ask him to see me at Horizon Labs." Felicia said before walking away. Mary Jane gave Peter a confused, almost questioning look.

"That's Felicia Hardy. She's the heir of the Hardy Foundation who helps fund Horizon Labs." Peter explained. MJ nodded.

"We should back to getting stuff for Flash's party." Mary Jane said, wanting to get over the brief awkwardness of the moment. Peter smiled, relieved to have that be over with and nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile:
After Fisk returned to his home from having a burger with Wesley when he had recieved a phone call. It was a scientist within Horizon Labs.

"Hello." Fisk said.

"Mr. Fisk... remember that up and coming science company you placed me in to keep an eye on?" the scientist asked.

"Yes. What about it?" Fisk asked. The man smiled before he spoke again, not that Fisk would know.

"Well... there's a Doctor Curtis Connors here... he used to teach at Empire State University as a physics professor... but it seems lately he has shifted his focus onto biology. His experiment has shown to be promising.... adding reptile DNA into mammals... a small amount, in order to give them the ability to regenerate lost limbs." the scientist reported. Fisk smiled.

"Experimentation with regeneration... tell me more." Fisk said.

The next day:
Peter felt strange... the welcome home party was taking place at Flash's literal new home... his old apartment that he once shared with Harry. What were the odds?

"Peter, glad you made it man." Flash said as he gave Peter a handshake.

"Wouldn't miss this for the world." Peter replied. It was still a strange thought... shaking hands with the man who once used to be his high school bully, but after making peace with him a few days ago... it was obvious how different Flash Thompson was these days.

Mary Jane walked into the apartment soon after. She also felt strange being there. Her last real memory of being here wasn't a good one. Norman Osborn has basically called her a gold digger and Harry told her to shut up about things she didn't understand. She almost sighed... she had made lots of mistakes since then. Was Norman right about her? She found herself thinking as she thought of what she had done in the years since Norman's outburst... got into a relationship with John Jameson and ALMOST MARRIED HIM just to spite Peter Parker, then she had kissed Harry Osborn after doing the twist dance with him when she and Peter were having a rough patch.... and...

"Mary Jane, are you alright?" Flash asked. Mary Jane got out of her thoughts as she found Flash and Peter looking at her with eyes of concern. Mary Jane nodded.

"Yeah... just... thought of a... not so good memory is all." Mary Jane replied honestly before she walked over to Peter and Flash. Suddenly another person Peter had seen before walked into the room.

"Brad, is that you?" Flash asked happily. Peter and Mary Jane lookes at each other awkwardly. Not that Flash noticed as he and this Brad guy did a handshake.

"Brad Davis, this is Peter Parker and the lady here is Mary Jane." Flash said as he introduced Brad to Peter and MJ.

"Parker.... I know that name... weren't you one of Connor's students at ESU?" Brad asked. Peter nodded.

"Yeah, I was before I graduated." Peter replied as he shook Brad's hand.

"Yeah, I took Connor's class too... I was in the class that met up after your class. Dr. Connors spoke highly of you. I totally struggled during physics, I mean I wasn't a science major and all, but you know... I still managed to pass. After all, it wouldn't have looked good to have ESU's quarterback fail a class." Brad explained. Peter nodded, he had heard Brad's name before. ESU's football team had done really well under Brad's leadership... not that Peter had much of a chance to keep up with the university's sporting news during his years as a student... since his life was all tied up being Spider-Man.

"As for you, Flash told me alot about you. You were his girlfriend during high school. I'm glad you decided to give Flash another chance at friendship... he's totally different now since he first left for boot camp." Brad told MJ. Flash chuckled.

"You were there too." Flash said as Brad also chuckled.

"Yeah... I really needed that discipline... but in the end I went back to college and you went to the military... I'm glad to see you're home now, Flash." Brad told Flash with a smile. Peter smiled at the exchange and kind of envied the two friends. They had what he and Harry Osborn used to have... before Harry dated Mary Jane.... before the death of Uncle Ben... before Spider-Man.

"I'm glad he's home too." said a new voice. It was Louise as she walked in with a cake and set the cake down on the table.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, Flash. I thought the baker would get done with the cake sooner." Louise told Flash, who smiled at his girlfriend and hugged her.

"It's no big deal. Sometimes things happen. I thought traffic was slowing you down." Flash replied. Louise smiled. She then turned her attention to Peter.

"So... you must be Peter Parker. Mary Jane has told me so much about you back when...." Louise started before she stopped at seeing how awkward Peter and Mary Jane shifted upon realizing that Louise was about to say 'when you were together'.

"Oh... I'm sorry... I didn't realize that it is a sore subject." Louise said. Peter smiled and shook his head.

"It's no big deal. Life happens sometimes and we just have to move forward." Peter replied. Soon, more people started to show up to with Flash well with a welcome home.

Meanwhile:
Curt Connors could still remember the day he lost his arm. He remembered the Oscorp lab he was in... the shadow of Norman Osborn seemingly over him as he practically breathed down Connor's neck. Wilson Fisk had just become a major share holder in Quest Aerospace... which meant that Quest had lots of money to compete with Osborn in every facit... including being a weapons provider for the United States military. While Connors had no problem working to protect the troops, he couldn't help but fear his work.... before he was a physics teacher... before he put physics above biology... he was once a biologist... and Norman Osborn was making him work with chemist to make biological weapons.

"Dr. Connors how is the latest test experiments going?" Norman has asked as Connors looked at his notes.

"Things are going well, Mr. Osborn. I believe a few test are in order. I will be speaking with Dr. Stromm soon to double check that everything is in order.

"DR. CONNORS LOOK!" Norman yelled as the weapons started to activate. Curt looked surprised as he and Norman ran... then... he couldn't remember the rest... he had pushed Norman out of range... saved him... but somewhere along the way... he had lost his arm. He somehow had hit his head during this incident.. causing him to have a major concusion...maybe it was for the best that Curt didn't remember the specific details on the loss of his arms... but he did remember one thing... he had learned that his weapons was tampered with... someone on the inside. Norman had thought it had been Curt himself... and then Curt never wanted to do biology again.

He remembered a car following his ambulence to the hospital that day... and a man... a latge man laughing as he looked at Curt. To Curt... the man seemed... blurry... everything was blurry... but he could hear the man speak to Connors.

"Osborn will learn... he will never topple the king." the man told him before the man attempted to end his life... but stopped and seemingly disappeared when Norman Osborn's voice was heard nearby.

"Curt... I want you to know that I'm paying your medical bills so that you don't sue Oscorp... but as of today... you are fired... don't even show up at Oscorp again. You must have been payed off by Quest Aerospace, and I have no room for traitors in Oscorp." Norman had told him.

Curt sighed as he looked around his lab. He never thought he'd be doing biological work ever again. He wanted to be able to save people... to give people their limbs back with his lizard DNA experiments. However noble his cause was... Curt looked at his own stub where his arm used to be... and remembered that he also wanted it to work... for his own sake. Suddenly his phone rang.

"Dr. Curt Connors here, who is this?" Curt asked.

"Nobody important. How would you like some... extra funding for your lizard DNA research? I am a wealthy man with some interest in the future of Horizon Labs... and I thought your experiment seemed especially promising." said the voice over the phone.

Author note: I think I've taken a long enough break from Spider-Man stories... it's time I return to the franchise that started this whole Wattpad journey to begin with... it's time to resume work on Spider-Man stories! The first to resume production... this passion project of mine... Spider-Man 4 is back!!!!!