May Learns The Truth

When the limo first pulled up in front of her home, May actually didn't think much of it. She naturally assumed that Peter was getting a ride home with Harry. Seconds later a thought then stopped her in her tracks: it was only two in the afternoon. The kids should still be in school. May walked up to the front door to see Peter was coming up the stairs with a man she had never met before. She opened the door, and had that look on her face that told Peter that she wasn't impressed to see him that time of day.

"Peter," She started, "Shouldn't you be in school right now?"

"The principal excused him for the day, Ma'am." The man behind Peter replied, "So that we could speak to you about something that is very important."

"Is Peter in trouble?" May asked, worried that man behind her was a cop.

"Not yet," Peter said as he walked past her into the house.

When both men were in the living room, this was when May's patience began to wear thing. "I'd like someone to speak, preferably to explain who this man is and what you're going doing here."

"You see," The man told Peter, "This is what I was talking about. Unless they see the uniform, you can walk through the streets virtually undetected."

"What uniform?" May asked.

Reed Richards was wearing a brown trench coat, but was surprised that May hadn't noticed that has were white boots that completely clashed with it. In order to authenticate himself quickly, Richards had changed into his Fantastic Four uniform. He took off the coat to reveal himself and his bright blue uniform to May that was instantly recognizable. May looked at him for a moment, and then at the famous four logo on his chest and then back at Reed.

"Are you kidding me?" she softly asked.

"I'm afraid not Ms. Parker," Reed said as he reached out to offer her a hand to shake. The thing was Reed was still on the other side of the room and his hand was reaching all the way over to her, proving he really was Mr. Fantastic. May softly shook his hand and then watched in silence as the hand returned back to Reed and looked normal again.

"My name is Reed Richards," Reed said to her, "As I said at the door, we need to speak to you about something of grave importance."

"Ah huh," May said as she sat down, "And you need our help?"

"Mainly Peter's," Reed confirmed, "You see, I'm here because I want Peter to join the Reed Foundation and become one of our exclusive students."

"I didn't know the Reed Foundation had a school," May noted.

"This isn't a secret school Ms. Parker," Reed said as he took a seat on the couch opposite of her. "But we don't exactly advertise it to the public as well. We only have six students from around the world, geniuses that were not being given the chance to learn and function at their full potential. I'm here because I happen to believe Peter is such a genius whose talent and intelligence is being wasted in the public education system. I believe that if Peter resumes his studies full time with the rest of our students at the foundation, Peter's potential is limitless."

"Really?" May said. She knew Peter was smart but she had no idea genius what even part of the discussion. "So you want to remove him from his current school and move him to yours?"

"If only it were that simple," Peter said, trying to brace himself.

"Actually, I'm also here to offer Peter a job." Reed continued, "I'd like Peter to become a member of the Fantastic Four."

This was when May's eyes went as wide as saucers. It was one thing to ask Peter to move to a new school, but now he was asking Peter to join a team of superheroes, and that was not going to fly with her.

"No," May simply said to him, "That's not going to happen."

"I'm sorry Ms. Parker," Reed apologized, "You need to be given all the relevant data before making an informed decision."

"Is that so?" May said, as she started to take a challenging tone. "What information am I missing that would make me consent to Peter joining a team of superheroes and risk his life all the time?"

"Peter," Reed said, turning to the young man sitting beside him, "This is not my secret to share. She needs to hear it from you."

"Hear what?" May said, looking over at Peter.

"May," Peter said, standing up to face her. "There's something about me that you are not going to believe."

"Is that so?" May asked, looking at the young man. "What exactly have you been keeping from me for the last..."

"For the last sixteen months," Peter finished for her.

"Okay," May said, folding her arms. "This outta be good."

"Do you remember the day I got sick after visiting the Osborne building?" Peter asked her, "The fever that I had for three days that just magically disappeared?"

May counted the months in her head and that checked out, "I do."

"I wasn't sick with the flu," Peter continued, "I was bitten by an animal that infected me with radioactive serum."

"What kind of animal?" May then asked.

Peter took a deep breath. "A spider."

"You were bitten by a radio-active spider?" May said, and upon hearing those word something in her head clicked. That was around the same time Ben had died, but it was also around the exact time that a certain superhero started web slinging around the city. She looked back at Peter with her eyes even wider. "NO!"

Peter didn't say a word, but instead responded by unbuttoning his shirt, which had the Spider-Man uniform on underneath it. May looked at the uniform and then at Richards and then back at Peter. She covered her mouth up with her hand, and looked like she was about to cry.

"May, I'm sorry." Peter said, as he could tell how upset she was.

"All this time," May said to him, "You've been out there fighting all these bad people, almost getting yourself killed!"

"Ms. Parker," Reed said, as he also stood up to get between the two. "This is also the reason why I'm here. I also happen to think Peter has been recklessly endangering himself and want to bring that kind of gunslinger mentality to an end."

"By risking his life for your foundation?" She asked him.

"No," Reed retorted, "But making him a part of a team, and not allowing Peter to bare all the work himself and thus endanger himself every day."

"Can you guys stop talking like I'm not even here?" Peter asked.

"So this whole genius and school thing was just a cover?" May then asked.

"No, that part is still true." Reed informed her, "Peter is a genius whose potential is being terribly wasted. I want to personally assume command of his education and present Peter with a curriculum that with actually challenge him and enhance his education as a far greater pace."

May paused for a moment, "So, you want to become his teacher?"

"I don't think there is anyone out there smart enough to handle it," Reed replied, trying his best no to toot his own horn. "If Peter reaches his full potential, there is a good chance he might become even smarter than I, and that will benefit all mankind."

"Okay," May said, trying to wrap her head around everything that was being dropped on her lap. "Even if I believed you for a moment that Peter really is..."

She stopped mid sentence because she had finally noticed something. While Reed and May were talking about Peter's alleged genius, Peter had taken a seat to wait for them to stop talking... on the ceiling. It was sitting there with his legs folded, as if it was in doing a Buddhist meditation, and he had his arms folded like May had earlier in the conversation. Before his stunned Aunt could say anything, Peter used his web shooter and fired a web down beside her, which grabbed the television remote, and pulled it up to his own hand.

"If you guys want to keep talking like that, do it in the kitchen." Peter told them both. "I'm going to watch something on TV."

May could tell by the look on Peter's face that he was upset about something but chose to walk away like he asked, and Reed followed. She strolled right up to the fridge and pulled out a full bottle of wine. Once she took the bottle out of the fridge, she sighed. "I forgot the wine glasses."

"One moment," Reed said as he stretched both of his arms out into the living room, grabbed two glasses and brought them back in. "There you go."

As she was pouring two glasses she couldn't help but chuckle, "I should have known something was up last summer when Stark came to visit."

"Ahhh, Mr. Stark." Reed said, graciously taking a glass from May, "He was here on behalf of a government agency known as Shield."

"So he was just here recruit Peter, I mean Spider-Man, for the government?" May said, seeming upset. "I thought he was using Peter to get to me!"

"Knowing Stark as I do," Reed added, "that is very possible as well."

"That figures," May said taking big gulp from her glass. "This is crazy."

"It's about to get a lot crazier," Reed informed her, "What we're asking of Peter is not minute; this is a job and career that is going to change the world. He's going to become a vital part of an elite squad of heroes. The entire world is going to know who he is, just like Johnny and Ben."

"Wait, what?" May said as she had just polished off her glass and was already working on a refill.

"In order to join our ranks," Reed continued, "Peter will have to discard the mask and reveal himself to the world. It's a part of an agreement we have with the government and the people of the United States of America. This will have a significant impact on you as well, Ms. Parker."

"What kind of impact?" May asked.

"The moment Peter reveals himself to the world," Reed replied, "You might as well paint a large bull's-eye on the roof. I don't think I have to remind you of just how many enemies Spider-Man has made in such a short time. This will put your life in great danger."

"What am I going to do?" May inquired, hoping Reed had an answer.

"The foundation has a program," Reed said as he reached out into the living room again, grabbing some paperwork from the coat and bring it back to the kitchen. It was a flyer about a small town in Colorado.

"What is this?" she asked, "witness relocation?"

"More like superhero family relocation," Reed corrected her, "This town is made up mainly of family members of super powered heroes. I created this town myself, and used it as a haven for people who are even just remotely related to a superhero. If you great, great uncle is Charles Xavier, or your distant cousin is Ms. Marvel, then you qualify to relocate to this small town. This town is protected by security measures that were created myself and never used in public. No villain would dare go near this town because it would spell their doom. One such security measure is the retirement home, which I thought was an act of genius on my part."

"How does a retirement home protect the town?" May asked.

"It's a retirement home... for superheroes," Reed answered, "If anyone were able to get past my enhanced defense grid and attack that town, these heroes would be the last line of defense, and a quite formidable one at that. There's over two hundred high powered beings in the building, and some of them have been itching to pulverize someone bad for a while now. No one is brave enough to offer them the chance to do so. Just based on that alone, I've heard many villains stay away from the state, much less the town. This is the real reason why the crime rate in Colorado has been plummeting over the last two decades."

"And I have to move here?" May asked. "For how long?"

"As long as you want," Reed said, "No one will force you to live there Ms. Parker, but this is the only place where we can guarantee your safety. This has always been Peter's biggest fear; someone coming here to punish him for protecting the city by harming you, his only family. He's not the only one who has this fear, my town is full of people that help super powered beings sleep at night. If they are confident their families are safe, they're capable of doing their jobs and are safer doing it. This will help Peter do his job without the fear that sometimes holds him back."

May drank half of her second glass. "I can't believe he held a secret from me."

"This is a burden most heroes must carry," Reed continued, "But I can assure you that people like myself and Stark are better at what we do because we're not carrying that burden with us. This will have a similar effect on Peter when he removes the mask and tells the world who he really is. But we won't do that reveal until you're moved out and safely relocated."

"Peter has already agreed to this?" May asked.

"He has," Reed confirmed, "But I feel he needs your support to make it work."

"What about my job?" May asked.

"There is plenty of jobs in this town, many that will benefit everyone." Reed countered, "Since inclusion is limited and screened, extra hands are always needed, especially in your field of expertise. Your moving there will help the town just as much as it would help you and Peter."

"Alright," May said as she finished her glass, "Let's talk to Peter."

As she strolled into the room, Peter was doing the thing he always did when he was nervous, which was pace around the room. This time however he was doing his pacing upside down on the ceiling.

"And all this time," May said out loud, "I thought bats were causing the dirt patterns on my ceiling. Get down from there!"

Peter hopped off the ceiling and onto the floor with a leap that would get a ten star rating at any gymnastics event. He stood there, waiting to be told off but his Aunt had decided to approach this a different way.

"That night you said Flash beat you up," May started, "Who was it really?"

"Doctor Otto Octavious," Peter answered.

"And the week you fractured your collarbone?"

"The Rhino."

"And who was that creepy man in outside smoking cigars?"

"That was Logan," Peter replied, "He's not here anymore."

"And finally," May said, "Who really broke my piano?"

"That was Bruce," Peter replied, "But it was an accident. He's a nice guy when he's not angry."

May took a deep breath. "How long do I have to pack?"

"I can have professionals here within a hour." Reed answered, as he grabbed a small scanner from the coat. "This device was used to scan your house and its structure. The robots will have an exact duplicate constructed with three days. Your new home will look exactly like your old home. We do this to make the move to town as comfortable as possible."

"Peter," May said as she walked up to hug her nephew. "Try to not to take unnecessary risks. This world wouldn't be the same if I lost you."

"This change assures that," Peter told her, "And will make the world a safer place too."

"I hate to interrupt," Reed said as he put his coat back on, "But Peter and I need to conduct some business at the tower to formalize our deal. I can have him back in a few hours if you'd like to talk about this more."

"Alright," May said, "Have him back by seven."

"Barring any Galactic events," Reed replied, "I can all but guarantee that."

"And you," May said, giving Peter another hug, "Tonight we are going to talk a bout everything. Not holding back. Full disclosure. Understood?"

"Understood," Peter replied, "Write down your questions and I'll answer all of them for you, fully and honestly."

As the two of them left the house, Reed seemed particularly thrilled. "That went about as well as it could have. Your Aunt is something special. I've seen people completely flip out at moments like that, literally furniture flying because of it. She has nerves of steel, that woman."

"I'm lucky to have her." Peter agreed, "So now what? What urgent business do we have to get to?"

"Now comes the tough part," Reed answered.

"Wait, that wasn't the tough part?" Peter asked.

"Not even close." Reed replied, "Now we have to introduce you, the real Spider-Man, to the rest of the fantastic four..."