Chapter Text
“Are you ready, Peter?”
Peter closed his eyes. He could already tell this was a bad idea, and he was starting to regret it. However, curiosity and longing outweighed the fear he was feeling. He had never considered the idea of having family members on his mother’s side, at least not now.
He didn’t even remember his parents, let alone possible grandparents, aunts and uncles that he didn’t even know about; he only ever had Ben and May, and now that both of them were gone…
“Yes, go ahead.”
Peter was done with living on the streets, but the only alternative was foster care, which he tried once, but didn’t turn out well. He longed for someone- of course he had Ned, who had offered to let him stay at his house, but he couldn’t burden Ned with this, or even worse his parents.
So here they sat, in Ned’s room in the late hours of the night, doing their own DNA test and planning to hack into databases to compare his samples to other DNA.
Everything about this seemed illegal, but Peter wasn’t one to complain about risks; he was freaking Spider-Man after all. Besides, he just had to know- he had to reconnect with family if he had it.
So, when Ned handed him a Q-tip and asked him to rub the inside of his cheeks with it, he did it. Soon, they zipped it up in a ziploc bag, and set it aside.
“Are you sure this is something you really want to do?” Ned asked.
Peter nodded, “The worst that could happen is we don’t find anyone or we go to jail, both of which sound better than my current situation.”
“We wouldn’t survive in jail.”
“Ned!”
Ned shrugged, “It’s true.”
“Well it’s lucky we are really good at hacking, isn’t it?”
Ned nodded, “I just don’t want you getting hurt when we don’t find anyone.”
“I won’t be!” Peter lied.
Unfortunately, he had gotten his hopes up, and he would be crushed if it turns out they found nothing… but he couldn’t say that to Ned.
“Anyways, good night!”
As Peter went towards the window, he noticed Ned giving him a confused stare. “What?”
“You don’t have to leave, you know.” Ned stated.
Oh, how he was tempted to stay, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t put that burden on someone else’s shoulder, to make sure he was provided for. Not after…
Peter shook his head. “I’ll be fine. I have some Spider-Manning to do, anyways.”
And then he climbed out the window and left.
***
Peter didn’t go out as Spider-Man; honestly, he was too exhausted to. So, he climbed into his make-shift shelter- which was made of cardboard boxes and newspapers- and laid his head down on his backpack, setting his phone alarm on. Luckily, he was able to charge it at Ned’s.
He caught a glimpse of a newspaper article, Stark Family Still Looking for their Middle Child, Peter. Why?
Peter was always honored to have the same name as one of the Stark children, and sometimes he even imagined that he was the second son. But he wasn’t. He had parents, even if he didn’t remember them.
He sighed. It sucked seeing the media boast about how they should just stop looking- they couldn’t possibly know what it was like to lose something. Hell, if Peter didn’t know for sure if his aunt and uncle died, he would still be searching for them as well.
He was still looking for people who may not even be out there… maybe he was just projecting onto the Starks… which was stupid. The Starks didn’t care about him- they didn’t even know who he was.
“Dammit, Parker!” Peter snapped at himself.
This is why he couldn’t be alone with his own thoughts, because they always reminded him that he was nothing. His thoughts preyed on his insecurities, and used them to feel like he was nothing.
Peter rubbed his temples and tried to sleep on the concrete. It was possible that soon, this would all be over, and it was possible that soon, he wouldn’t have to lie to everyone. He had to think positively, or he’d let the negativity destroy him in the end.