Auntsy Feelings

At around 4 PM, Peter was in the elevator, heading down to the Date Floor.

Emma, is Natasha ok? Peter thought. Why didn't she come for lunch?

Natasha is slightly more stable, Emma thought back. She's still unwilling to believe that you'd care for her, knowing what happened between her and your counterpart.

Peter sighed. Take care of her, please. Do you think I can or should come talk to her?

I'd recommend that, Emma thought. But focus on your Date for now, Natasha can wait a little longer.

If you say so, Peter thought as the elevator doors opened.

"Hey, Aunt May," Peter greeted as he entered a large cafeteria. "Where are we?"

"This is FEAST," May said. "Or at least, the FEAST in my world. I used to work here, until my last day."

"Oh," Peter said awkwardly, remembering that she had died.

"Anyways, we're not here to reminisce on an old life," May said. "What are we here for, Peter?"

Peter sighed. "You know what I want to tell you."

"And you know what I'll say back," May countered.

"Can I at least try to convince you?" Peter asked weakly.

"You can," May said. "But don't expect me to change my decision."

"What you decide is your choice," Peter agreed. "Aunt May— May, or Maybelle, whichever you prefer, you're not my Aunt, and I'm not your nephew. This... Hotel wants and needs something from the two of us. I understand why you're ****, but we can't waste time here, and give Mephistopheles a chance to ruin the world."

"Peter, I look like your aunt," May said. "I may not have looked like this before, but according to Felicia, I'm damn near a copy to your aunt. You're telling me that if you have me in your bed, your aunt won't come to mind?"

"At first, yes," Peter admitted after a moment. "But that's the whole point of this, right. No one is from my world, but either I'm close to their variant, or they're close to my variant. It's all twisted, and we need to acknowledge and accept that. I fully believe that this Mephisto guy wants to control the whole world, just like I fully believe that we need to win this."

"I can't be convinced, Peter," May said. "This Hotel can choose to tempt me however it wants, by bringing sex with you to every aspect of our lives, or making me only wear promiscuous clothing, or giving me a younger, more hormonal body. But in the end, the truth is that I died an old and happy woman, who didn't crave more of this. I'm decided on that."

"Don't you know what this place will possibly do to you if you lose?" Peter asked.

"Yes, of course," May said. "When that happens, it'll be against my will, and it'll be game over for me, the second time. That is more amenable to me than anything else."

"I don't - I don't want to lose you again, Aunt May," Peter admitted. "Once was hard enough."

"What happened to me not being your aunt?" May asked wrily. "You never got me back, dear, that was Mephisto playing games with you."

Peter sighed sadly. "If I can't convince you, can we at least just talk to each other about our worlds?"

"Of course," May said. "Why don't you tell me about how you went to space?"

After spending an hour with May, Peter went down to Natasha's and Emma's Floor.

"Hey, Nat," Peter said softly when the elevator doors opened. "Can I come in?"

"Yes, Peter," Natasha said in a professional tone.

Peter entered the room.

"I'll give you two your space," Emma said, entering the elevator.

Peter sighed, and quietly sat next to Natasha on the bed.

"Emma told me you don't think I could care for you after what you told me about your world," Peter said.

Natasha stared at him drily. "You want to convince me that you don't care that I left Melina without a mother?"

"No," Peter said. "I do care, but I also understand. I don't agree, but I understand your thought process. Can I ask you a few questions?"

"Sure," Natasha allowed.

"Did Melina know about her powers that she got from her dad?" Peter asked.

"Yeah," Natasha said. "It was an open secret in the house, she didn't go to school until she was old enough to understand that she couldn't talk about it to other people."

"So she knew her dad was Spider-Man," Peter surmised.

"Yes," Natasha said. "Where are you going with this?"

"Just bear with me, please," Peter requested. "So, assuming that she gave it a little bit of thought, by the age of 15, she'd have known that Peter started his stint at Spider-Man at around the same age. Did she become Peter's protege immediately afterwards?"

"No, Peter didn't let her," Natasha said.

"And that's clearly something you agree with," Peter pointed out. "Did she try to go out on her own?"

"Yes," Natasha said.

"What happened?" Peter asked.

"I found out, then I told Peter, and he grounded her," Natasha said.

"How'd you find out?" Peter asked.

"I had setup personal access to all the CCTV in the five block radius of her house," Natasha admitted with a blush.

"Woah," Peter grinned. "Overkill, but ok. What happened next?"

"Peter had her train," Natasha said. "She trained with Shang-Chi, Daredevil, Spider-Woman, and Captain America, then her dad let her into the field."

"For you to know all that, and have cameras, and be so cautious, you know what that tells me?" Peter asked. "It tells me that you may not have been a good mom, but you were a caring one, and you wanted to be a good one, you just didn't know how. I also know that you understood the first mistake you made, and you're adamant not to repeat it, and I'll be there for that. I'll be there for it all, so don't worry, Nat."

Natasha turned to Peter. "Do you promise?"

"Of course," Peter said. "Do you trust me?"

"With all my heart," Natasha vowed.

"Then that's all that matters," Peter said.

Natasha grabbed Peter's hand and squeezed it for reassurance.