Peter looked toward the doors of the gym as they opened, letting 3 more people in. If he was right, then almost everyone who RSVP'd was here. Only about half of his graduating class had decided to come to their high school reunion. He turned back to the table where he and MJ were sitting. MJ was talking with Gwen about some of the people they had seen at the party.
Peter was kind of bored. The reunion had been going on for a few hours and was starting to fizz out. He didn’t have many friends in high school, and the ones he did have he had kept up with. No need to catch up. But MJ had wanted him to take a night off from saving people.
“Hey, Peter!” Peter looked over to see Ned walking over to his table. He smiled back.
“Hey, Ned. You enjoying the party?” He asked, getting up from his seat.
“It’s ok. Kind of weird to see where some of them ended up. You remember Lily-May Michals?
Peter nodded. “She was the captain of the basketball team, right?
“Yeah, that's her. She has 4 kids now,” Ned said. Peter opened his mouth.
“I know, right! And she’s a middle school basketball teacher, too.”
Peter smiled. She always did like to boss people around. “Good for her. Who did she marry?”
Ned waved his hand. “Someone she met while in college. He’s a history teacher, I think.”
“Didn’t she date Flash our junior year? Peter asked
MJ joined their conversation with Gwen looking over her shoulder. “Yeah, for like a week before he broke up with her.”
“He broke up with her? Normally, it was the other way around.” Gwen said as she moved to stand next to Ned.
“She was a bit of a control freak. Tried to make him change his schedule to fit her liking.” MJ replied, Moveing so that they study in a semi-circle.
“I wonder where he’s at. I haven’t seen him yet.”Ned said, looking around. “Did you know if he’s coming?”
“ I looked at the rsvp list. He was on it, but he’s not here yet,” Peter replied.
“What do you think he’s been doing?” MJ asked
“I don’t think he went to college. I heard a rumor that he joined the army.” Gwen crossed her arms as she spoke.
“That would fit. All he knew how to do was hit hard.” A weary smile crossed Peter’s face at the old memories.
MJ gave him a weird look. She put a hand on his shoulders.
“Are you ok? We can go home if you want.” She said
Peter shook his head. “ No, it's ok. I’m just a little tired.” Ned side, and Gwen snorted.
“Peter, when you say you're ‘just a little tired,’ what you really mean is ‘I haven't slept in days, and all I want to do is sleep, but I won’t.’” Ned said, shaking his head.
“ Yeah, Pet. You tend to overwork yourself. I’m surprised that MJ managed to convince you to take the night off and come to the party.” Gwen said with a slight laugh.
Peter gave her an annoyed look. “I’m not that bad.”
“Yes, you are! I've seen you pass out on the couch with your suit still on after you got home at 4 am from patrol. Then you insisted that you could go to work with only two hours of sleep.” MJ chided her husband.
“That was like five years ago! I haven’t done something like that in a long time!” Peter winde.
The others chuckled at his response. Peter rolled his eyes at his friends. MJ was right, he needed a night off. The gym door opened again, and Peter looked over quickly to see who it was. He didn’t see who it was. He turned back to his group, trying to remember who in his year had been in a wheelchair.
“Who is it?” MJ asked, noticing what Peter had been looking at.
“ I don’t know. Do you remember anyone who was in a wheelchair?” Peter questions.
“ Not that I remember,” Ned said. MJ and Gwen shook their heads.
“There was no one in our year in a wheelchair,” Gwen said knowingly.
“How do you know?” MJ asked
“ I was on the yearbook team. I had to go over everyone's pictures at least five times. No one with a wheelchair.” Gwen took a sip of her drink as she finished her sentence.
“Right! I remember you complaining about that.” Peter said, remembering the covation. “You hated it. Why did you join the yearbook team anyway?”
“ My dad wanted me to be in at least one club that year. Yearbook seemed the easiest.” She said, shrugging.
Peter jumped a little as he felt something poke him in the lower back. He turned his head to see the back of a wheelchair. The man in the chair was wearing a baseball hat with an American flag on the back.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Peter said, turning around. The wheelchair started to turn around as well.
“ No, it’s my bad.” Peter's eyes widened as he recognized the voice. Flash Tompson was sitting before him. Peter did a dubal take. He had not seen Flash since high school. He had changed a lot. He was wearing a green-gray T-shirt with the word army on the front and black cargo shorts folded at the knee.
He had no legs.
The realization hit him like a bus. Flash was in a wheelchair and was missing the lower haves of his legs.
“Parcker!” Flash exclaimed. Flash sound slightly surprised. Peter thought he saw a look of fear on Flash’s face, but it was gone in a second and replaced with a weary smile.
“Long time no see, Peter. How have you been?” Flash questioned. Peter blinked before answering..
“I’m doing ok. How… how have you been?” Peter stamred. MJ turned to see who Peter was talking to. Flash caught sight of her and smiled.
“Hey, MJ! You're looking good.” He said. MJ moved next to Peter and crossed her arms. She frowned as she looked at Flash, eyes lingering on his missing legs.
“Hello, Flash.”There was a barbed note in her voice. Flash’s attention in high school was not forgotten. Flash seemed to toteis both where her eyes were and the tone of her voice. His smile faded, and he sat up straighter in his chair. He glanced over to see Gwen and Ned now looking at him. He gave them a small nod of greeting. Turning his attention back to Peter and MJ, he spoke with a tired note in his voice.
“I know what your looking at. You can ask.” Flash said with a shrug. Ned popped out from behind Peter.
“What happened!? Why are you in a wheelchair?” Ned asked. Peter face-palmed, MJ shook her head, and Gwen slapped Ned upside the head.
“What? He said we could ask!” Ned said.
“It’s fine. I prefer to get the question out of the way fast,“ Flash said
Peter understood that. When working with other Heroes, it is always easier when all the awkward questions are out of the way at the start of things.
Gwen side.” How did you lose your legs? "
"Afghanistan, "he said
"So you join the Army?" MJ asked
"Yep. How about you? What have you been doing for work? "Flash responded.
"I work at the Oscorp PR department,” She said, her posture slightly relaxing.
"Nice. How was Harry? "Flash asked, his posture too relaxed.
"he's doing well. Stressed from running the whole company but doing well. Peter works in the bioengineering Department at Oscorp as well, "She said, trying to steer the conversation away from Harry.
Gwen seemed to pick up on what M.J, was trying to do and stepped into the conversation.
“ I'm working at The Daily Bugle now, " She said, trying to help Flash turn his attention from M.J to Gwen.
"Isn't that where Peter worked in high school? "Flash asked.
"Yeah, but I'm not a photographer. I run the superhero Department. "Gwen said, smiling.
"Superhero Department,” Flash said with a quizzical expression on his face.
"We cover all the superhero stuff. Like Interviews expose, reports on fight, who's dating who.” Gwen liked her job and talking about her work.
“Cool, I am glad you're all doing well. I’m goan go, their are some others I want to say hi too, I’ll leve you to you drinks.” Flash said, preparing to go.
“Ok, see you around, Flash,” MJ said, turning back to the table with Gwen. Ned waved as he jonded them. Before Peter could do so as well, Flash grabbed his arm.
“Hey, I need to talk to you in private later. Can you meet me in the old teachers' parking lot later?’ Flash’s tone had shifted from a light and friendly one to one of deadly seriousness. Hearing that vice, Peter could believe that Flash had seen war.
“I’ll see if I can,” Peter said, pulling away from Flash.
“Thank you,” Flash said, as he wealed away. Flash had never thanked Peter for anything before. Something was up, but his spider sense was quiet. He returned to his place at the table with a puzzled look on his face.
“What was that about?” Ned asked, noting the puzzled look on Peter's face.
“He asked me to meet him alone after the reunion. Said he needed to talk to me.”Peter answered, thinking over his encounter with Flash.
“What do you think he wants?’ MJ asked.
“I don’t know, but something's off.” He said
“Spidy senins?” Gwen questioned.
“No, and that's the odd thing. He hasn’t threatened or insulted me at all. He even said thank you when I agreed to meet him.” MJ’s eyes widened.
“Flash Tompson said thank you to you?” She was shocked. Peter only nodded.
“What he want though,” Ned said, only half sling to the others.
“What do you mean?”Gwen asked, pulling Ned from his thighs.
“How did he lose his legs? I know he said Afganistan, but was it a landmine, were they amputated?” Ned said.
“Well what ever happened changed him. The old Flash would never ask us about our lives. He would have just gone on about himself.” Gwen said, recalling a memory from high school.
“War changes people.” There was a haunted look in his eyes as he spoke. The others grew quiet.
“Strong can be broken. Kind men grow cruel. There are things that you're never able to come back from.”
MJ took her husband’s hand in hers. She gave him a gentle squeeze, and he returned it. After a moment of Silence, Peter spoke.
“When will the party be over?’ Peter asked. Ned looked at his watch.
“In about half an hour. Are you going to meet him?”
Peter nodded.
“I want to see what this is all about.”
“Are you sher? You and Flash don’t have the best history.” MJ gave Peter a concerned look.
“He’s in a wheelchair. What could he do?” Gwen said, jokingly.
MJ gave her a look, and she rolled her eyes.
“What? Even if he had his legs, it not like Peter would have a problem.” She said.
“That’s not the point,” MJ said, annoyed.
“What, do you think Peter will do something?” Ned asked.
“No, no. It just...” MJ stopped as Peter pulled her into a side hug.
“Everything will be fine. It’ll be ten minutes at most. We’ll just talk, ok?” He said.
“Ok,” She said.
Gwen smiled as her friends embraced. Ned took a drink and sighed.
“If you're so worried, I can use a spell so that we can watch the conversation Ned said
Gwen gave him a look. “Isn't that a little bit creepy?”
Peter released MJ from the hug and nodded in agreement with Gwen. “She's right. He asked me to talk to him; he asked to talk to me alone.”
“I know, I know, but it's a seeing spell, not a hearing spell. I’ll be able to see what's going on, but you will still have some privacy.” He explained
“That's not a bad idea. What do you think, Peter?” Gwen asked
“ I don't know, still seems a bit much. It's just flash Peter replied.
“I know, and I'm curious as to what he's up to,” Ned said.
“ So you're doing this because you're curious?” MJ asked.
Ned nodded. “This is not the same Flash we knew in high school; I just want to see how much he's changed.”
“All right ,you can do i,t but no audio and do not interfere unless I give you a signal. got it?” Peter said after a moment of thought.
Ned smiled and gave Gwen a small fist bump. MJ just rolled her eyes, then glanced at her watch and frowned.
“ Do you think he came here just to see Peter?” she said. Peter gave her a funny look.
“What do you mean?” he asked
“He showed up with less than half an hour left in the party I was in 10 minutes of being here. he bumped into Peter and then asked to talk to him privately,” MJ said
“That is a little bit suspicious,” said Ned
“Maybe, but there's nothing he can really do to me, and who knows? He might just want to apologize,” Peter said, rubbing the back of his head
“Apologize! Flash he would never, has apologize for anything, ever!” Gwen said quite loudly.
MJ rolled her eyes again. “Well, we'll see soon. In the meantime, I'm going to go get some more drinks. Do any of you want anything?
MJ left and returned with the drinks, and they returned to their conversation. The party had begun to die down, and most of the people were filtering out. He glanced over at MJ
“ We should get going he said. MJ nodded and nudged Gwen as she was beginning to fall asleep.
“Hmm?” Glewn mumbled as she sat up. Ned grabbed his coat and handed Gwen hers. “Time to go,” he said
“Okay,” Gwen said as she took her coat. Once they all had their things, they made their way to the doors. As they stepped out into the cold night air, MJ stopped and turned to Peter.
“We’ll be in my car,” she said
“Okay, remember only the sing spell and don't interfere unless I give you the signal Peter said in a warning tone.
“Don’t worry, we'll behave,” Ned said, rolling his eyes. Peter gave his friend a worn-out look before nodding to MJ; she nodded back and gave his hand one last squeeze
Peter let go of her hand and started to make his way to the old parking lot. As he walked, he thought of his time in high school. How he met MJ and Gwe, telling Ned he was Spider-Man, Flash being an asshole. He chuckled to himself. Flash had been one of his biggest problems; his life had changed so much that 15-year-old Peter would not resemble the Peter of today in any way. Maby Flash had changed that much as well would 15-year-old jock flash recognize veteran Flash Peter steped out of his recollection as he entered the parking lot.
The parking lot was at the back of the school and had, for the most part, fallen out of use. The paint of the marked parking spots was faded, and the pavement was cracked . Peter looked around and found Flash. He was sitting near the center of the parking lot, facing Peter, and had spotted him. Peter felt something odd but familiar about the way he was watching him like there was a second pair of eyes watching him. Peter dismissed it; it was probably just Ned’s spell. Peter continued to walk until he was about 5 feet away from him. Flash had yet to say a word. Peter took a deep breath.
“Okay, I'm here. What did you want to talk about?” he said firmly.
Flash shifted in his seat, looking down at the pavement.
“There are two things I need to talk to you about. First, I need to say I'm sorry,” he said, still not looking Peter in the eye.
Peter's eyes widened at Flash’s words. He finally looked him in the eyes; there was a genuine remorseful look on his face before he could say anything in spoke again.
“ I'm sorry for being an ass to you in high school and I have no real reason for being so. I understand now that you were going through a lot at the time, and I was just making things harder. I'm truly sorry for everything.” Flash closed his eyes and lowered his head as he finished.
Peter took a moment to process what Flash had said. He had just apologized for bullying him in high school. Never had Peter ever thought that that would ever happen; after a moment, he managed to speak.
“You were an asshole” he said
“Yeah, I was. Man! I can't believe I used to act like that,” Flash said, turning to look up at the stars.
“What changed?” Peter asked as he also glanced up at the stars
“What?”
“ I never thought I would receive an apology from you. So what changed?”
“ Spider-Man. I always looked up to him, but I didn't know what it meant to put your life on the line day after day. I didn't understand what it took to be a hero, when you needed right thing even when no one could see you. When war, I saw things and went through things and lost things. god, I lost so much, so many men, good men, that will never come home. Losing people changes you, especially if you could have done something.” Flash stopped with a lump in his throat. Peter looked at him closely; he looked like a warrior, like he had seen battle and was about to charge back in.
“ Life changed you. You're not the same person you were in high school. You did some shit back then but I can see you've changed and in my opinion it's for the better. ‘ Peter said
Flash turned his gaze back to Peter. “Thanks, man, that means a lot.”
Peter smiled.” You're welcome. Now, you said you had two things you needed to talk to me about. What's the second thing?”
Flash shifted in his seat “Okay don't freak out .I know you're Spider-Man,” he said, looking Peter directly in the eyes, holding up his hands in a placating gesture as if that would help.
Peter was dump struck he knew how the fuck did he know?
“What,? No, I'm not Spider-Man; how could I be Spider-Man!” Peter standard
Flash gave him a side eye that Blackwidow would be proud of before speaking.
“There's no need to lie. I know you're Spider-Man; it's not a hunch or suspicion; you are Spider-Man,” Flash said matter of factly. Peter could tell from the tone of his voice that he was telling the truth. Somehow, of all the people in his life, Flash Thompson knew he was Spider-Man
“How… how did you find out?” Peter asked, still a little stunned
“After I lost my legs, I was recruited to Project Rebirth,” Flash said
“Project rebirth, as in Captain America project rebirth?” Peter questioned.
“Yes, that project rebirth. It was revived a few years ago. They needed a test subject for one of their experiments, and I fit the requirements.”
Peter was trying to process what Flash was saying. he had joined a super soldier program. what was that Why was he here to recruit him or, Worse bring him in How was he supposed to bring him in?
“Is that why you're here? project rebirth sent you?” Peter asked, finger twitching at his web shooter flashlight.
“No, I left the project a few years ago the goals of the project were getting in the way of my work, so I left and have been doing the solo hero thing for a while now.” He said.
Peter's side with the relief that he hated dealing with the government. It's always a headache, but Fash knowing he was Spider-Man the government knew too, then Fury was getting slapy in his old age.
“So they gave you superpowers, told you I was Spider-Man, and let you go freelance. they're getting lenient with their assets.” Peter said.
“ No to all but the first. They never told you told me you were Spider-man and they didn't let me go with out a fight. Eventually, they realized they had a bigger problem than me, and if they let me alone, it would leave them alone.”
“Okay, so how do you know I'm Spider-Man if they didn't tell you?” Peter asked very suspiciousl.y he didn't know if it was his Spider Sense finally warning him of something, but there was an uncomfortable feeling in his gut.
“Before I tell you, you have to promise to listen till the end, okay, and not freak out.”
“ Why”
“Just promise, okay”?
“Okay, I promise to listen to the end,” Peter said
“ In Project rebirth I was bonded with Venom.” As he said this not at all earth shattering iformation, he began to get up from his seat black goo formed into legs as he stood and Peter's eyes widen to the size of dinner plates he left backwards on Instinct and landed in his Battle Stance.
“ Peter, calm down. Let me explain, “ Flash said, holding his hands in the air, trying to indicate that he was not a threat.
“ Venom is a villain, Flash. It’s just using you!” Peter shot back, reading his web shooters and the signal to call his friends.
“ no, Pete,r you need to listen We won't attack you! Venom won't attack you!” Flash responded, trying to calm Peter down.
Peter relaxes his stance only a little. Flash had made no threatening movements yet, and he was not in the full Venom suit.
“Okay, but if you make one move, I will not hesitate, understood?”
“We understand,” Flash said, keeping his hands where Peter could see them. Peter stood up from his position but kept alert.
“All right, explain quickly. I'm not in the mood for games.” Peter's just said, still tense.
“ Venom was cleansed on the Homeworld. We're good now,” Flash said matter of factly.
“ Cleansed? What does that even mean?” Peter asked, confused flashlight when he realized Peter had no idea what he was talking about
“Venom is a Clintar. When they are young, they are sent out into the universe to bond with Warriors to help protect the universe.”
Peter nodded understanding but did not see where this was going.
“Clintar imprint on the first person they bond with the first and that first host greatly informs their behavior. It is supposed to be a great and noble Warrior, unfortunately that did not happen with Venom.”
Peter blinked, but wasn't he Venom's first human host?
“ So, before he got to Earth, he had a bad host?”
“Well, no, his first host was on Earth.
“But he'd only been on Earth for a day at most when I got him. Who could have been his hope for such a short time and left such a Negative impact?” Peter questioned
“Deadpool” Flash said flatly.
‘Fucking of course it was Wade, okay that makes sense.” Peter said nodding, of course it had been him.
‘So, Venom was cleansed of Deadpool's interference and is no longer evil.
“It's not as simple as that, but in a manner of speaking, yes Deadpool's influence has for the most part been removed.”
“For the most part?” Peter raised an eyebrow.
“ Cleansing is not a factory reset. Bits and pieces of every host will always be a part of him; that's how I know your identity. You were one of the biggest parts of impacts on him. He has he wants to say to you.”
“So, Venom wants to speak to me as well?” Peter asked
“Yeah, I'll let him explain,” Flash said, but Peter thought they were going to go full suit mode instead. Flash sat back down in his chair as he did so, the black goo started to leave his body. The glue began to form into a bipedal shape the form was about 6 ft tall and had broad shoulders his eyes were white ovals slit it down he had no other distinguishing features other than the white spider emblazoned on his chest.
Peter took a step back from the newly formed Venom. How is this even possible? Venom needed a host to take form if he could have a solidified on his own. Why did he need Flash?
As Venom finished forming, Peter unconsciously readied his web shooters. He knows Flash is eyeing him and checks himself, turning his attention back to Venom
“Hello Peter, it has been a long time since we have not been enemies,” Venom said.
Peter did not know how to respond to Venom or anything else this night It turned into one of the weirdest apologies he had ever seen, both ones given to him and ones he had given.
He ended up just nodding in response, and Venom continued.
“ I do not have a clear record of our time together or our fights, but I do wish to apologize for my transgressions against you,” Vemon said.
Peter blinked and thought for a moment, wrapping his head around how things had gotten to the place they were now.
“ This is a lot to take in,” Peter said, hands on his hips as he tried to catch up to what was going on.
“ So, in the simplest terms, Venom is good now, and you are the host.”
“ In the simplest terms, yes,” Flash said.
“It is more complex than that, and we don’t have to explain it here tonight.” Siad Flash
“ So why are you telling me now if you've been around for some time? Why come to me now?”
“Well, we just got back from space, and before that, I was mostly doing covert work, so there weren't a lot of opportunities to talk Flash said.
“We wanted to, as Star-Lord put it, ‘ clear the air,’ “ Venom said.
“You guys were with the Guardians?” Peter questioned, a little surprised.
“That's how we were getting around in space. Quill needed some help, and somehow, he got our number. Flash said, shrugging he's sad and readjusted in his chair.
“ We wanted to tell you before you heard something from someone else. Things can get lost in translation, and who knows how it would have ended. “Flash said
probably in a fight that I'm said flash nodded and Peter inclined his head in agreement.
Probably anyway, since we're going to be running in the same circles, I wanted to bury the past and all that Peter said.
Peter smiled. “Thanks man, I'll probably would have attacked you if we'd run into each other while at work. You ever notice how often that happens, always attacking each other when we first meet?”
“Yes, that's the most annoying thing,” Flash said, cheering up slightly.
“ Tell me about it. one time, the Avengers attacked me; they thought I was a villain, thanks to the Bugle.” He genuinely laughed at his words.
“ I remember that J.J.J was obsessed! Is he still around?”
“ Yeah, he's still kicking mellowed out, though thank god,” Peter replied
“Nice to see some things never change,” Flash said.
“Yeah, and others go off and the rails and make a u-turn.”
“Yaeh, who would have guessed this is how my life would have turned out? But that is life; who knows what could come next.”
“Who knows, anyway tell MJ I said hi. You can tell her all of this if you want, but keep this on a need-to-know basis, okay?” Asked Flash. As he did so, he stretched out his arm to the venom turned into his liquid state and began to reabsorb into him. Then they were finished reabsorbing Flash's side and looked back to Peter.
“We should be going now,” Flash said. Peter nodded and turned around to Flash.
“Hey, don’t get into too much trouble,” Peter said, turning to leave.
“ I'll do my best, can't promise anything Flash said, wielding towards the other end of the parking lot.
“As Peter left, he remembered that Ned MJ and Gwen had been watching the whole conversation and that he would have a lot of explaining to do.