Uncle Ben's pov.

When my nephew Peter told us he had powers I almost couldn't believe it, even less if those powers were the same ones I was born with, but when he showed us what he could do I had to change my mind. I was so happy: he could finally realize his dream of becoming a great hero. I knew, however, that his life would not be easy, nor would he be out of danger: a hero's job is to protect others before himself, even at the cost of his life, and my nephew had a long way to go.

"Will you teach me, Uncle Ben? Please teach me!"

To that request from Pete I could only reply

"All right, all right son. But there's one problem: you said you can't shoot the cobwebs off your wrists?"

"Yes...but I think I can do something about it!"

My nephew was always resourceful, he was the brains in the family: he had great powers of observation, knowledge and a touch of improvisation, very important qualities for a hero to call himself such.

That night Pete locked himself in his room and told us he wouldn't come out until he had found the solution to the cobweb problem, so May made him something for dinner and brought it to him, after which my beautiful wife and I sat down on the couch.

"So, Ben," she began, "are you happy that our grandson is finally getting his chance?"

"Yes, May, I'm very happy for him...but also a little worried."

"It would be bad if we both weren't."

"Yes, you're right."

"So you're going to train him 'in the way of the Jedi'?"

"Ahaha, of course I'll train him. The boy has to learn how to use his powers if he wants to achieve his dream, it's my-"

"Responsibility, I know. You know, it seems like just yesterday we were seeing him in the kitchen building the volcano for the science project..."

"Yeah. Or when he was running around pretending to be Iron man and we were pretending to be in danger."

"Ahahaha...now our grandson is all grown up."

"And he's about to fulfill his dream."

Then I stood up and turned on the mini stereo

"May I have this dance, Mrs. Parker?"

"With great pleasure...Spider-Man."

It was wonderful, sometimes I forget the magic of slow dancing, a magic made possible by what I felt for this amazing woman.

We danced for a full hour staying silent, looking into each other's eyes. What did I do to deserve her, this wonderful angel who brought light into my life?

After the dance I kissed her tenderly and she said to me

"You still kiss well after all these years."

"It's because my feelings for you haven't changed in all these years. I love you May."

"I love you too Ben. It's getting late, I don't think Peter will get much sleep, but we're going to bed: I'm tired."

"Okay."

I fell asleep that night thinking about what I was going to do tomorrow: teach my grandson.

I woke up the next day and saw that Peter was running in a hurry to the front door, so I stopped him and asked him

"Wait Peter, where are you going? What about training?"

"This IS training uncle, don't worry."

So he ran off without explanation. I guessed from the condition of his room and the specifications he had left on a sheet of paper that he had solved the problem. As I looked and made up my mind about those notes I realized how smart Peter really was, how proud I was of him.

Suddenly I noticed, on his bookshelf, a pair of bracelets with a note that said.

<Hi, Uncle Ben, I made a pair for you too, so we can practice together. I hope you like them, Peter.>

I was touched that he wanted to make up for not only his need, but mine as well. I slipped those bracelets on and they fit perfectly, then, following Peter's specifications, I inserted a cartridge and shot a spider web. I felt like I used to when I was young: I hadn't realized how much I missed my webs until now.

Several hours passed and Peter was nowhere to be found, so I decided that if he didn't return in the next few minutes I would go looking for him myself.

"Where will he be, Ben?"

"I don't know, May, but I'm sure he'll be back any minute. And if not, I'll go and get him myself."

I was about to leave when Peter came back in. He had a strange expression on his face, May threw herself into a hug.

"Peter! It's been hours since you left, your uncle and I were getting worried!"

"...I'm sorry, it's just..."

I could tell something had happened, so I asked him.

"What happened, Peter? You can talk to us about it."

"Okay. So, after I left the house, I took the train into the city, and once there, I looked for a building that was tall enough..."

"Tall enough for what?" I asked him.

"To test the web-shooters."

"And how did it go?"

"It was a blast, Uncle Ben! I've never felt more alive!"

"But if it went so well, why did you come in looking like that?"

"Well, that's not all. On the way back, in an alley, I saw some bad guys loading suspicious merchandise onto a truck. I tried to stop them, even knocked most of them out, but in the end one of them hit me from behind and I collapsed. I woke up with Iron man in front of me and the truck now gone. He told me I could've died and that I should wait to get into A.A."

I could tell from Peter's words that I had to say something: I had to make him understand why he did wrong, but also spur him on to do better

"It was reckless and inconsiderate what you did, Peter: you could have been killed!"

"But, uncle Ben, you always say that with great power comes great responsibility: it was my duty to at least try!"

"It would have been your duty if you had had the power: remember that experience is power too, Pete. You didn't have enough experience to take it upon yourself to stop them."

"..."

"I'm not saying you won't become a hero: I'm just saying that, before you do, you'll have to learn and gain experience with the little things. Therefore, Peter, I ask you to wait and be patient, for if you do not, you will cause pain to yourself and others."

"All right, uncle Ben."

After our discussion Pete went to his friends Wanda and Pietro, that was what he needed: to get his mind off of all this.

It had been hours since we'd all gone to bed, but I couldn't get to sleep, so I thought I'd go check on my nephew - I had a strange feeling....

When I opened the door to his room I saw that he wasn't there and that the window was open. At that moment I knew what he wanted to do, so I got dressed, put on the handmade jacket made by May and the web-shooters made by Peter.

My agility wasn't what it used to be, but it was enough to follow my nephew's webs. Following them, I found myself near an abandoned warehouse, approached it and heard strange sounds, so I broke a window and entered. There was Peter inside, surrounded by armed men.

As soon as I got to his side he said.

"U-Uncle Ben?!"

"Like hell I'm going to let you face your problems alone!"

I had to save my nephew, I had to get Peter home: I owed it to Richard and Mary; I was going to do it, no matter what....