PETER DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO ACT AROUND HIS AUNT- the term sounded strange and felt alien on his tongue- it left him feeling confused and off balance.

For the better part of his life, Peter had been raised without familial ties and the knowledge that his last name was Parker. Now all of a sudden, he was now sitting in his aunt's apartment after being literally picked up from the street the night before.

The last thing that Peter wanted to do was scare the older woman away, but he was overly aware of how different he was to the people around him.

He was saved from that track of thought as May appeared in the living room again. She smiled as she set a plate of toast on the coffee table and urged him to eat as she folded the blanket up beside him so he could move unhindered. "Thanks." Peter mumbled, once she was sitting down again.

"How much do you remember? About, our family."

Peter caught the use of 'our' and his heart clenched as he bit into the toast with a half-hearted shrug. He chewed and swallowed, hyper aware of her eyes on him as if he would disappear if she looked away for even a moment. "Not much, and I never really asked." he admitted.

There was a moment as May processed before she nodded.

"Well, your parents were scientists." She said, her tone light and warm which effectively captured Peter's attention. He wasn't sure how much he wanted to delve into his family history and wonder what his life might have been like but May seemed eager to share as she reached for a photo frame to her right. She held it out for him to see. "Richard and Mary Parker. They worked for an organization for a while- Hydra or something- then you were born." She sighed sadly, as if remembering the couple whilst Peter stiffened beside her. "They were killed when you were barely old enough to walk, a plane crash on their way to a last-minute business trip."

Peter swallowed thickly and echoed, "Hydra?" May nodded.

A sudden realisation hit Peter that he was doomed from the beginning; even before he was born his heritage was interlocked with Hydra which struck him with the thought that maybe his life wouldn't have been that different after all. It wasn't a comforting line of thinking, but it didn't feel particularly damning. Peter faced it as if it was a fact, numb and empty because who can argue with fact?

"You know it." May concluded, setting down the picture gently as she eyed him.

"Yeah." He clenched his jaw and then forced it to untense. "It's a bad organization." Peter added, looking up to meet his aunt's eyes- they were so full of expression, every emotion clear as day within them. "Hydra were the ones who killed Ben. The babysitter. And stole me."

May froze at the abrupt information. Her mind whirled and picked the statement apart before she gasped, "That's why they were running." she whispered, understanding sparking in her eyes.

At Peter's puzzled expression, she quickly elaborated.

"Your parents left you with me and Ben, said they needed to go on a last-minute trip but, it was like they knew they weren't coming back. We got the call the next day that the plane had gone down, no survivors." The air left Peter's lungs and his body deflated slightly, slumping forwards as he struggled to comprehend that Hydra really had taken everything from him.

Not just his aunt and uncle, but even his parents too.

A warm hand settled on his shoulder after a few seconds and a thumb massaged his shoulder blade. "Why did Hydra take you?" May asked quietly, her face contemplative and sad. "It was years later when we lost you." she added, partly afraid of the answer not being a good one.

It was never good.

"A mutant program." Peter sighed, the generalized explanation one he had heard a hundred times from handlers over the years. "'To enhance the human race'." His voice was void of much emotion before he scoffed bitterly, his features aging before May's eyes as she listened. "They used kids since their genetic codes are more likely to adapt because of the young age." He looked pained, as if remembering the other kids in the program, some younger and some older than him. All gone.

"Eventually they all died out except lucky old me."

His voice was angry and resentful, but his posture defeated. "I was taken on missions, more often than not coming back bloodied and leaving behind a body."

May was breathing hard in an attempt to stave off her tears when he looked up, eyes cold and guarded; all she wanted to do was wrap him up in her arms because her little boy had been turned into something he wasn't. She could remember him playing on the carpet with piles of legos and Ben chasing him around the couch as he giggled when he was lifted high into the air. "I don't have the cleanest record." Peter huffed, the broad, almost unnerving smile on his face not quite daring to meet his eyes. "I only got out because of a deal in a warehouse- it was a simple trick where Hydra would collect the cash and I would kill everyone just to repeat the process."

"But I lashed out, snapped. Next thing I knew I was fighting back, and a woman saved me. Gave me a home and a new life- her name was Natasha Romanoff." He smiled slightly but it faded.

"I don't think she wants me anymore."

All the new information whirled in May's head, and she found it difficult to organize and not become enraged at Peter's parents for getting involved with a shady organization- for letting Peter get involved with a shady organization. However, she forced her anger away and reached out for her nephew's hand, sensing that the woman who saved him- Natasha- meant a great deal to him, and was now his definition of family. "What happened with Natasha?"

Peter shrugged though it looked stilted.

"There was this whole thing with Hydra a few months after I got out. I got away but, some things sort of stayed with me." He curled his fingers in unconsciously, letting go of her hand. May fought back her frown at the clearly summarised events. "We fought, a lot of things were said and everything got messed up and I don't know the first thing on how to fix it."

Natasha's words still echoed in his head continuously and as clear as a bell. Peter could even see the glint of fear in her eyes as she stared at him- like it was imprinted on his eyelids.

"And then she found out about you, said it was the safest option if she just gave me up but," he heaved out a long, deep breath, shaking his head as he spoke, "I don't want to go."

May paused, thinking through her response before she settled another hand on Peter's knee, looking once again contemplative. "She sounds like she loves you," Peter looked unconvinced, but she pressed on, "and wants the best for you even if it breaks her heart and the decision is the hardest one that she'll ever make. You both need to talk it out." Peter hesitated, letting her words wash over him as a single, clear thought was pushed to the forefront of his mind; he would have been happy growing up with May and his Uncle Ben. The woman hadn't blinked twice at all the information thrown her way, or at the fact that she had found her long lost nephew about to keel over outside her apartment- no, she'd taken it in her stride and accepted that he had another family that wasn't just her.

"How about I drive you down?" she offered, smiling at Peter's slow nod.

May knew what it was like to be worrying over a missing child- she'd done it for years- and she had a feeling that the argument was just a flurry of amped up emotions. "What's the address kiddo?" She teased, grabbing her handbag from where she had dropped it beside the coffee table the night before.

Peter hesitated, "Avenger's tower."

There was a brief pause as May blinked, "Ok. The tower it is."

Peter's lips curled into a smile at her ability to appear seemingly unruffled by the oddness that was Peter Parker- May felt breathless before catching herself. He looked just like Ben with that sly grin. 

A/N

Feel like this is a lot of exposition and backstory, but I like the way I set it out and I think it fits, so, yeah. I like it. And seeing it from May's perspective and Peter's revelation about Hydra hit me hard. Again.

I also like the way May Parker just rolls with the punches- what a woman. There will be no conflict between her and Nat, but they will be best friends. And they will be feared :)

Anywho! Let me know of any spelling mistakes! xoxo.