"So this is what you have been doing, huh?" May said, in a tone that was stern in the specific way of someone who is also trying not to look at a set of defined muscles and failing terribly.
"Pe.... Peter.... Oh my God!" Missy gasped and covered her mouth.
"Damn it," Peter said, and exhaled slowly as he processed the situation.
He finished removing the suit, not particularly registering that there were two women in the room, put it away in the compartment that was now not so secret, took black shorts from the closet, put them on, and turned around.
"I.... well. I can explain."
"Please do," May said, with sarcasm that was measured and precise.
"Well. If I am Spider-Man...." He sighed in defeat. "Why are you both up this late, and why are you here, Missy?"
"After you left school you texted me to say we were going on a date and to wait for you here," Missy said.
"Then May came over, worried, to find out if you were home because of the attack near Baxter.
We were both worried because of your message. So we waited for you to call or text since you were not answering ours. We just hoped you would come back safe."
"The logical course of action would have been to call the police to check on me," he said lightly, turning to close the window.
"Actually, we did that," Missy said. "Or rather, I asked Gwen to do it while we were telling her about this."
His head turned fast. "What did you do?! What?!"
"We spoke to George," May said. "He suggested you were either somewhere safe, in a hospital, or part of a gang.
He said the last one half-jokingly, which made us more worried, so he promised to look for you and contact us once he knew something. Nothing ever came through, so we kept getting more worried."
"Well," he said, not finding a better response available. "Whatever."
"How long have you been doing this?" May asked, as he began moving toward the bathroom.
"For a while now," he said, vaguely, heading for the shower with May following.
"Peter! Do not try to avoid this conversation!" She grabbed his hand and turned him.
"Peter! Answer me...." She stopped.
"Oh my God, are you bleeding?!"
"No, it is tomato sauce."
"Oh, it is al-...."
"Of course I am bleeding, woman!" He pulled his hand back and kept walking.
"I have had an extremely long day. Please let me take this shower in peace."
"Peter, we need to talk," she said, and Missy nodded in agreement.
"I will answer every question you have, whatever they are. But now, please, please let me take this shower in peace."
"Ah." May rubbed her temples. "This is going to be a long night," she said, and went to the kitchen.
....
"So I left the police station and came here to rest," Peter said, finishing the summary of his life since the spider bite. "And that is the story of Spider-Man so far."
"Wow," May said, which was a sophisticated response given everything she was attempting to process simultaneously.
Her heart was full of things that were still in the process of sorting themselves out.
"So," Missy said, who was handling the information considerably better, "green monsters, people with powers, and technology-obsessed individuals."
She tilted her head. "How does it work? Your powers, I mean."
"That is a story for another time," he said, with a smile and a change of subject.
"So you kill people, huh?" May said, quietly.
Missy grimaced.
Peter looked at her with a worried expression.
"I do what is necessary to eliminate threats," he said.
"That is not a reason to kill people!" She stood up.
"It is one reason to eliminate people who kill, rape, steal, and commit every kind of atrocity available to them," he said, cold and direct, moving to face her.
"Some do it for greed. Some for the thrill. Some because of their circumstances. Some because they can. I have a system, May. I am not going around killing indiscriminately. I am trying to break a cycle where the same person kills, goes to prison, escapes, and kills again, over and over.
Life is not black and white."
He raised his hands and touched her cheeks gently.
"Life is black and white and every shade of gray in between. You make the most of the tools available to you to create opportunities and improve things around you. That is what I am doing. Trying to make life easier and safer for all of us." He pulled her into a hug.
"Protecting us from anything that would try to harm us."
"You are only eighteen years old," she whispered into his chest. The oversight registered in his expression. "Which you turned today. You do not have to do this."
"I know I do not have to," he said, stroking her back. He stepped back and looked at her, and kissed her forehead.
"But I want to. And I will do everything I can to protect the people who matter to me, no matter what it takes."
"Why did you not tell me it was your birthday?" Missy said, drawing his attention.
"And also...." She gave him a look that came with a very, very sweet smile, and his spider-sense registered something in the category of danger. "How exactly does one manage to pursue an older woman, who also happens to be his aunt, while simultaneously dating a teenager?"
Peter turned slowly toward May.
May looked away.
"Tell me you did not," he said.
"This was the only way," May said, with a smile that was doing considerable work.
"I have accepted my feelings for you. But I cannot pretend I do not also see what you and Missy mean to each other. I want nothing except happiness for you, but I do not want to be excluded from that happiness either. So I decided to address this directly and find a solution where none of us end up hurting each other."
"May...." He was genuinely without words for a moment.
"Peter," Missy said, crossing her arms, "we need to talk."
"Urgh." He sighed. "I am beginning to hate that combination of words." 'I want to sleep.'
....