Six Months Earlier

It took an amazing amount of courage, most of which had been brought to him courtesy of a bottle of Absinthe, but Flash Thompson had made the climb. He’d been drunk beyond all reason, but luckily his military survival training had kept him steady. So now here he was, standing at the top of the Queensboro Bridge. This wasn’t his idea, though. This had been the wish of his young friend A.J., who’d once confided in Flash that he wanted to do this if he ever became cancer free.

As he stood there, feeling the cold night air hitting him, Flash took a long drink from the bottle as he stared out over the water while the bright night lights of the city shined toward him.

“We made it, kid,” Flash drunkenly said as he stared down at the long drop. “You should see the view.  After how hard you fought, you earned this. It’s not right. It should be you here seeing this and not me. My whole life I’ve been a screw up. Maybe I earned all those beatings growing up. I never would have hit you or your brother, though. You were my boys and I failed you. I’m so sorry.”

Flash got closer to the ledge, his heart racing as he started thinking about taking the dive.

Flashdance

By Tobias Christopher

SMASH!

“Oh no,” 8-year-old Jesse Thompson said as she saw the smashed vase on the floor, having accidentally knocked it over while trying a ballerina routine. Her 12-year-old brother Eugene had been the first one there, having been sitting on the couch doing homework at the time. “Dad’s going to kill me.”

“No, he’s not,” Eugene Thompson assured her as he wiped her tears away. Eugene loved his little sister more than anything, which is why he had to hurry before he found out. “You were outside the entire time, okay? I’ll clean this up, now go out and relax. Practice your routine in the yard, it’ll be okay. Go, I promise, it’s fine.”

Jesse headed outside, and within moments heard her father’s voice yelling as he entered the living room.

“What the hell did you do to your grandmother’s vase?”

“Dad, I’m sorry, I tripped and–”

Jesse had to turn away as she heard a loud smack and an ensuing thud, meaning her brother now lay on the floor, probably with a bloodied lip. A tear fell down her cheek, knowing Flash had taken another beating on her behalf. After she heard her father leave the house and drive down the street, she slowly walked into the living room to her big brother cleaning up the vase.

“Eugene?”

“I told you, it’s fine,” Eugene whispered as he kneeled above the broken porcelain. His eye had been blackened and his nose bleeding as he continued cleaning. “I can take it. I’m okay.”

Jesse rushed to the kitchen for an ice pack. Just another typical day in the Thompson house as far as the two children were concerned.

5 Years Later

“I can’t believe you got invited to Liz Allen’s party,” Peter Parker’s friend Jackson said as they walked down the hall of Midtown High. “I mean, I got invited, too, which is an even bigger shock.”

“I think Liz invited everyone,” Peter told him. “This is going to be the biggest party of the year, anyone who’s anyone will be there.” I just hope nothing Spider-Man related keeps me from attending, this party’s going to be massive and maybe it could work wonders for my social life.

As everyone around him opened their lockers to find their invites, Flash opened his own locker only to find nothing waiting for him.  Only pictures of Spider-Man greeted him, his personal idol, the hero who could do no wrong.  Flash had been the only one in the school not invited to the biggest party in Midtown High’s history.

“Who needs Liz and her stupid party?” Flash asked himself as he closed his locker only to find Liz standing right behind it.

“Rather than have you crash the party, I guess I should tell you that I didn’t invite you because I finally realized what a jerk and bully you are,” Liz informed him. “What you did to Peter last week was totally uncalled for.”

“I only pantsed him,” Flash told her as he remembered the incident. “In front of that group of nuns… while in church.”

“Grow up, Flash,” Liz said as she turned to walk away. “You know, one of these days you’re going to end up all alone. No friends, no girlfriend, nothing. Just you sitting in an empty house with your precious memories of being the big man on campus having long since passed. You should think about what kind of memories you want to leave for others instead of the memories you want to have for yourself.”

That evening Flash sat on the roof outside of his bedroom window, watching the fireworks going off at the Allen home from several blocks over. As he thought about the party and everyone having fun, Flash started thinking about his life. Who did he really have in his life to turn to in the tought times? The father who used him as a punching bag? The mother who let it happen? The little sister who’d been removed from the house years earlier and was now living in a safe and loving home several states away?

Even his so-called friends only seemed to hang around with him due to his popularity as a football player. Then there was Liz, who once upon a time had given him chance after chance, only for Flash to repeatedly mess up again and again. The only constant person in his life had been Peter Parker. Peter, who in the past year somehow lucked into developing good looks on top of his intellect. Someday soon, even he’d probably move on to a bigger and better life, leaving Flash far behind…

Spider-Man had indeed been called away just before the party, meaning Peter had ditch his clothes in a backpack and hide it in an alley. Unfortunately someone had found his bag and stolen it, and in a neighborhood that wasn’t designed for web-slinging, Peter would have to run home in his boxers and climb into his bedroom window without being seen. Worst case scenario, he’d have to go through the back door. On a night where his Aunt May would be hosting her usual bridge game with her friends.

So naturally that’s when Flash just happened to walk past the alley, seeing Peter.

“Must have been a hell of a party.” Flash laughed.

“I never made it to the party,” Peter lied, having hidden his costume just in time. He’d have to come back later that night “I got jumped. They stole my clothes.”

“Jesus, Parker, you can’t even step outside without getting attacked,” Flash said with a heavy sigh. “Tell no one I did this.”

Flash took off his jacket and handed it to him to wear. “Come on, we’ll go back to my place. I have some old clothes you can wear home. Don’t want your aunt having a heart attack seeing you like this.”

“This is a trick, isn’t it?” Peter asked. “You’re going to beat me up once we get there, aren’t you?”

“I’m not in the mood,” Flash told him. “So come on, already. Don’t have all night.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Peter asked, still a little wary about taking his bully up on his offer. “You’re never nice to me.”

“Not doing it for you, dipshit, I’m doing this for your aunt,” Flash said. “She doesn’t need to know her nephew’s a weak ass little bitch that can’t stand up for himself,” Peter reluctantly followed behind Flash back to his home.  “Come on before I change my mind.”

Flash led Peter up to his bedroom where he started digging through his closet, tossing an old t-shirt and pants at him. “Here, get dressed. Maybe you still have time to go to Liz’s party.”

“You’re not upset for not getting invited?”

“Nope,” Flash said as he sat on his bed. “Who needs all those posers anyway? They’re just people who hang out with me because I’m the star football player. They’re just riding the popularity train. I’ll bet none of them even really knows anything about me. No one does.”

“You like to draw,” Peter told him while hopping around to pull his pants up. “You’re always sketching all over your notebooks. Mainly it’s me being punched, but still. And you secretly want to be an actor, but you’re too embarrassed to try out for the play because it’ll make you look uncool. And I’ve seen you volunteerring at the soup kitchen on Saturday nights in the off sports season.”

“You stalking me, Parker?” Flash asked.

“I pay attention,” Peter told him. “Think of it as a seventh- sixth sense. There’s a good guy in there, Flash. You can act like a jerk to the rest of the world, but I know there’s a decent guy hiding in you. Maybe someday the world will see him.”

“Enough talking about me being pathetic, I’m starving,” Flash said. “I’m making a sandwich.”

The two headed downstairs where Flash opened the nearly empty refrigerator.

“Your parents don’t go shopping?” Peter asked.

“They went on a second honeymoon to Canada, they’ll be back next week,” Flash told him. “I can make this stretch until then.”

“Pack some clothes, you’re staying with me,” Peter told him. “Aunt May has a guest room, and there’s actual food. I’m not taking no for an answer.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Flash asked.

“I have a warm bed for you and food,” Peter told him. “My Uncle Ben used to tell me that with great power comes great responsibility. And it looks like right now I have some power to help you in a tight spot.”

“With great power comes great responsibility? What kind of nonsense is that?” Flash asked as finally relented. “Fine, but you do realize that when this is over, I’m going to have to toss your shoes over the fence into the junkyard where those Dobermans live, right?”

“I am prepared to deal with the ramifications of my generosity.” Peter said as Flash started to ascend the staircase before paused, where Peter caught a quick “ThanksParkeryou’realright.” before Flash rushed up the stairs as fast as he could.

Four Years Later

“Honorable Discharge?” Flash asked as he lay stomach down in a hospital bed in South East Asia with a small tent covering his exposed hindquarters. “But I want to keep serving my country, sir.”

Flash’s unit had been deployed to a small village under fire. The firepower had been too much for the tiny group of soldiers, but hearing the screams of the women and children had been too much for Flash to handle. He rushed in alone to save as many lives as he could before a shrapnel bomb had gone off in a hut. Shielding a woman and her newborn baby seconds before it exploded, Flash knew it was them or him and made his choice before the darkness hit him.

“You helped save a village of innocent people, and that woman and her baby are alive and well thanks to you,” Flash’s general told him. “You’re a hero, son. You get to home a hero to all of your friends and family.”

“WIth shrapnel in my butt,” Flash said as he tried to smile.  There’d still be days where he could feel the one piece that never got pulled if he sat down too fast.”But I’d do it again, sir. Unfortunately there’s not much to go home to for me. I want to re-enlist. I feel like I can do some real good here.”

“No can do, soldier. You’re benched. Go back to school, learn a trade,” the general said. “Find a nice girl, start a family. You don’t have a girl waiting for you?”

“I have a nerd, that’s about it.”

Any heroic celebration honoring Flash had immediately been put out of his mind after the war hero had returned home, only to find the funeral for Gwen Stacy waiting for him, having died due to a broken neck from falling off of a bridge.

The day of the funeral, Flash stood next to Peter as all of Gwen’s friends and family paid their respects to the young woman whose life had ended too suddenly. Hardly anyone had said a word to Flash upon his arrival, his friends having all moved on with their lives while he’d been overseas. Flash preferred it that way, Gwen deserved to be mourned properly without him taking any attention away.

“We should celebrate your homecoming,” Peter said after the funeral. The two had become better friends after graduation, with Peter having wished him luck the day he left to serve in the army.”Although you’ll have to settle for a soda since I’m not 21.”

“Relax, Parker, I turned 21 when I was overseas, I’ll can get us into a bar,” Flash told him. “Come on, you can fill me in on what I’ve missed.”

A few years later

“I don’t know if I can go through with this,” Peter said as Flash fixed his friend’s tie before Peter’s wedding to Mary Jane. “This is one of the biggest moments of my life.”

“Peter, your Aunt is getting Mary Jane ready, so I have to try to give you the words she would,” Flash told him. “But I’m not a sweet old lady, so here’s what your buddy Flash has to say: Sack up, Parker. You have the woman of your dreams out there waiting for you, and for some reason she wants you. A lot of us would kill to be you. To have that special someone to wake up to every morning. You have the world at your feet, Parker. You’re smart, you’re… reasonably handsome, and you have a cool aunt. I never wanted to admit this, but… I’ve been jealous of you ever since high school. You always had what I never did.”

“Seriously?” Peter asked with a raised eyebrow.

“That confession is your wedding gift, by the way.”

Flash’s purple heart medal sat on his bookshelf among his few other prized possessions: His high school and college diplomas, his sister’s wedding photo, Peter and Mary Jane’s wedding photo and an autographed photo of The Golden Girls.

Flash’s apartment as usual sat void of human life except for Flash himself, who sat shirtless on his couch with a half-finished bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand. This was a typical night for Flash as he tended to spend all of his nights alone, except for the ones when he found himself lucky enough to accompany Peter and Mary Jane when they went for dinner, although the last few weeks had seen the Parkers constantly arguing both in public and private.

While Peter tried to keep a strong front, Flash could tell that his best friend had been hurting inside. Peter loved Mary Jane more than life itself and to see his own marriage crumbling before his eyes couldn’t have been easy.

Flash’s life hadn’t been going any easier. Any attempts at dating repeatedly fell flat; he didn’t have many friends beyond Peter; his father had recently died, followed by a falling out with his mother when he couldn’t find the will to mourn the man that had terrorized him his whole life; and he’d been feeling his life was no more than just an empty void. His existence had become everything Liz had warned him about back in high school.

Now seeing his closest friends like this had stressed Flash out as well. Now the man could finish an entire bottle of Jack in a matter  of hours as well as several beers and whatever other alcohol he had sitting around. His drinking hadn’t gone unnoticed by Peter and Mary Jane, with both wanting to stage an intervention, but their constant arguing and Peter’s secret life as Spider-Man kept delaying their plans to help a good friend.

Having reached the bottom of the bottle, Flash realized that he’d need a refill. Luckily he had yet another bottle in the cabinet. Stumbling as he got up, Flash headed to the kitchen as a knock came at the door.

“It’s after midnight, who’s out this late?” Flash slurred as he opened the door and found Peter standing there, looking like he’d been beaten down by the worst of Spider-Man’s villains. He would have gone to his Aunt May, but he already felt horrible enough and he knew the second May opened the door, he’d be in tears. The last thing he needed was to have already fragile heart break at her age. “Pete? Are you okay?”

“She’s gone, Flash,” Peter said in barely a whisper. “MJ left me.”

Flash said nothing as he pulled Peter into a tight hug.  Peter would end up sleeping on the couch for the next few days until he felt comfortable enough to go home to his own empty apartment.

“You’re going to AA,” Peter said days later after seeing all the empty alcohol containers around the apartment. The problem had been worse than he’d imagined. “Tonight. There’s a meeting a few blocks away.”

“I don’t need AA,” Flash said. “AA’s for people with a problem. I don’t have a drinking problem.”

Peter opened the cabinet to reveal twelve bottle of cheap wine, six bottles of Jack Daniels and a bottle of top shelf bourbon. He opened the fridge to show three 12-packs of Budweiser.

“That’s not a problem.” Flash told him.

“I talked to the guy at the liquor store,” Peter said. “You have him on speed dial.”

“I’m not going to AA,” Flash told him. “End of story.”

“Oh, you are going,” Peter stated again. “Get dressed.”

“And how are you going to make me?”

“I’m not,” Peter said as he walked to the front door and opened it, where Aunt May stood. “She is.”

“Damn you, Parker, that’s playing dirty.”

“Eugene Thompson,” May said as she saw the empty alcohol bottles. “We are going to have a serious talk about this.”

“I think I’d rather take more shrapnel to the butt.” Flash muttered as May closed the door.

“It all started when I was six and accidentally broke the window,” Flash said as he sat in a tan fold-up chair in a church basement. “I don’t even think my Dad realized how much strength he had when he grabbed my arm. He dislocated it, damn near pulled it out of the socket.  After that, I tried to tread carefully, but it seemed that at some point even breathing made him angry. And Mom? Mom just defended him. “He’s just stressed, he just needs to relax. You just need to show him more respect. He works hard to provide for his family.”

When my sister got older, he started in on her. The first time he hit her… I was a scrawny 9-year-old, I didn’t have the strength to open a soda bottle on my own. All I could do was cover for her from then on, take the beatings myself. If she made him mad, I’d do something worse to draw the fire away. Part of me was relieved when the authorities came to take Jesse to a new home. Of course the night she left I got the worst beating I ever had because Dad blamed me.”

“Why didn’t you go to a new home?”

“I fought to stay with my parents. That’s not true,I stayed for Mom,” Flash said as he looked away. “I was afraid that if I   wasn’t there, Dad would look for someone new to take his aggression out on. As long as I was there, he’d focus on me.”

This is horrible, Peter thought to himself. No wonder Flash took out his rage on me at school. If only I’d have known what he was going through, I could have stepped in, saved my eventual best friend a lot of suffering. Just another person in my life that I let down.

“I always thought I could control the drinking unlike my Dad,” Flash said calmly. “But I know that subconsciously that’s why I never tried to settle down and have kids. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I raised a hand to my son or daughter. Being a father is something that I swore I’d put my heart and soul into. Protect that kid at any cost, like Spider-Man would. Even if it cost me my life, I’d take a bullet for my kid just so that they could see another day.”

Flash proudly placed his dark blue AA chip on the bookshelf as his young charges, A.J. and Drew, walked into the apartment. The two teenagers had nowhere to go after their dad had abandoned them, so Flash opened his home to them. Over the last few months they’d become a small family with Flash caring for them like a real father would. Flash had finally started to feel like his life had real meaning.

“You guys up for eating out tonight?” Flash asked. “We can try Lorena Bobbitt’s new chain restaurant. Not crazy about the name ‘Dic Filet’ though.”

“What, you mean eat out like a family?” A.J. retorted with a slight laugh. “I honestly don’t know if that was in seriousness or humor. The last year’s been really fucked up like that.”

“What the hell, let’s call it an early celebration,” Drew said. “Tomorrow A.J. gets his check-up and they’re going to tell him that he’s cancer free.”

“We don’t know that,” A.J. told him as he put his bookbag down. “I have been feeling healthier these last few weeks, though.”

“And I’ve almost got enough money saved up for my own apartment after graduation,” Drew told him. “Figured I’d find a place closer to the Bugle, maybe save myself some money on taking the bus until I can afford a car.”

“You need a license first, dumbass,” A.J. told him. “Who’s going to teach you how to drive a car? Do you even know anyone who has a driver’s license?”

“Hello?” Flash asked as he produced his. “We’ll go shopping for a nice used car this weekend to help you practice. Or I still have that little number that my friend let me have.”

“The Mustang? You’re going to let me drive the Mustang?

“I’m going to let you practice in an empty garage with the Mustang, but you’re not getting on the road with it. The insurance on that thing is murder, so we have to keep it in an open space.”

“You know, I really wasn’t sure what to think when you let us crash here when our Dad skipped town,” Drew said uneasily. “But you’ve been really cool to us. Thanks.”

“You two were in trouble,” Flash told him. “I’d never leave a kid in trouble. You’re my friends, we look out for each other. For the first time in forever, I honestly do feel like I have a little family with you guys. I never want this feeling to end.”

Three Weeks later

A picture of Flash, Drew and A.J. lay on the floor of Flash’s now trashed apartment. Drew had just walked out, having just received the truth about what had happened leading up to his baby brother’s death and how Flash had been indirectly responsible through a deal with Mephisto.

The next morning had arrived and Flash’s face had been red from crying over having lost the closest thing he’d probably ever have to being a father. As the sun started to shine into the apartment, Flash stared up at the bookcase where he saw his well-earned AA chip. A year of sobriety, and for what? To end up alone again when everything was said and done?

“Yeah, the guy just left his wallet and your contact information was in there,” the bartender said while on the phone. It had been well past midnight when the call had been made. “His sobriety buddy? Oh, damn, I kind of really regret giving him the strongest stuff we have in stock now. That man can hold his liquor like no one I’ve ever seen. Look, I didn’t know he was in recovery, he just looked like he could use a drink so I obliged. After a few hours, I did cut him off, but he threw down his wallet with his money inside, grabbed a bottle of 100% Absinthe and took off.”

“Wait– 100%? Is that– is that even a thing?” Peter asked as he sat on the edge of his bed while Mary Jane slept.

“Well, legally it’s not supposed to be sold, but we keep a bottle in stock for Betty White whenever she’s in town. She can take a whole bottle in ten seconds and bench press the Blob.”

“Did Flash say where he was going?” Peter asked.

“He was drunk out of his mind, but he said something about joining A.J.”

“… Damn,” Peter said as he hung up. “MJ, I gotta run. I know you just came home, but…”

“It’s Flash, take all the time you need,” MJ told him. “I’ll see you when you get home. Unless I’m asleep, which assuredly I probably will be.”

Peter smiled as he kissed her before grabbing his costume. “I’ll be back later,” Peter put a hand on her stomach. “Hang in there, Little Parker. Daddy will be home soon.”

As Spider-Man left through the window, a drowsy Mary Jane rolled over while thinking her husband was in the room.

“Bring back some cheese Pringles.”

“Flash isn’t at the cemetary,” Spider-Man said as he swung through the city. “He’s not at the hospital with Billy, and there are no Jonathon Brandis film festivals in the city. Where would he go that he could be with A.J.?”

As he looked up to see the Queensboro Bridge in the skyline, Spider-Man let go of his line and landed on a wall as he started to remember something A.J. once told him.

Two years earlier, Peter sat with A.J. in the emergency room where the young man lay in a bed after having been checked out by a doctor.

“You passed out in the middle of class,” Peter said. “Why didn’t you tell anyone that you’ve been skipping your  meds?”

“Because I don’t want to take them anymore,” A.J. said. “I’m… tired, Mr. Parker. Tired of fighting, tired of watching Drew pretending that I’m going to be okay. I’m tired of everyone treating me like I’m weak and doing everything for me. I just want this to be over.”

“Kid, you can’t give up the fight,” Peter told him. “No one thinks you’re weak. We’re just concerned that we’re going to lose you.”

“My Dad thinks I’m weak,” A.J. told him. “He’s already given up on me. He won’t even look me in the eye. Ever since my step-mom left, he’s been getting more depressed. What if he leaves next? And then Drew?”

“No one is leaving you,” Peter said. “I think you need something to focus on. Something you really want to do when you finally beat this thing. Think about it, A.J. What is the one thing you really want to do?”

“It’s dumb.”

“Come on,” Peter said as he nudged A.J.’s shoulder. “What is it?”

“Well… I want to go to the top of the Queensboro Bridge,” A.J. said. “It sounds weird, but I just want to sit up there and just stare out into the water and watch the sun rise. Maybe even have someone special with me.”

“That’s why you have to keep fighting,” Peter told him. “I promise you, the day that you’re cancer free, you’ll get to go up there. Maybe I can even pull some strings and get a certain hero to escort you.”

“You know Thor?” A.J. asked with a grin. “Kidding, Mr Photographer to the Stars.”

“He’s up there,” Spider-Man said as he stood on top of the closest building toward the bridge. Looking through a pair of binoculars, he spotted Flash with a half empty bottle, just standing there. “Son of a bitch, he made the climb. Not bad for a drunken mess. Now the question is, how do I get there before he decides to take a swan dive?”

Flash took a long drink from the bottle as he stared out over the water.

“We made it, kid,” Flash said as he stared down at the long drop. “You should see the view.  After how hard you fought, you earned this. It’s not right. It should be you here seeing this and not me. My whole life I’ve been a screw up. Maybe I earned all those beatings growing up. I never would have hit you or your brother, though. You were my boys and I failed you.”

Flash got closer to the ledge, his heart racing as he started thinking about taking the dive.

“Alright, here goes nothing,” Spider-Man said, having made a sling shot out of webbing. “Either I make this landing or I become a smear on the wall. Help me make this landing, Uncle Ben. I can’t lose anyone else I care about. I lost you, I lost A.J… I won’t lose Flash.”

Taking a deep breath, Spider-Man flung himself toward the bridge, landing on the side and quickly climbing his way up just in time to see Flash standing on the ledge.

“Wait!”

“It has to be this way,” Flash said softly without turning around. “I’m sorry, Spider-Man. I can’t do this do anymore. I’m tired of failing everyone.”

“He’s going to jump!” Spider-Man said as he tried to shoot a web, but his shooters were empty. He reached for his belt, but realized he didn’t grab his spare cartridges. After searching the city for Flash, the last of his webbing had been used for the slingshot. “Think, Parker, think!”

Flash let the bottle in his hand fall, clanging as it bounced off the side of the bridge before disappearing into the water below. A tear rolled down Flash’s cheek as he prepared to jump as Spider-Man spoke up.

“You’re really going to do this?” Spider-Man asked. “You’re just going to abandon your family?”

“What family?” Flash asked. “I’m all alone. My mother won’t talk to me and my little sister’s happily married in Indiana.”

“Bull!” Spider-Man shouted. “You have Aunt May, and Mary Jane and all of those friends in AA. You have people who love you, Flash.”

Flash turned around as the night air blew through his air. “How do you know all of this?”

“Because,” Spider-Man said as he pulled his mask off, revealing his face. “Because I love you, too. You’re my brother and best friend, and I won’t lose you like this. I won’t.”

“Peter? Why are you dressed like Spider-Man?”

“Because I am Spider-Man,” Peter told him. “I try not to tell a lot of people, but… if telling you who I really am is going to keep you alive, then fine. Your hero, your idol–”

Flash punched Peter in the jaw, nearly breaking his hand in the process.

“All these years and you’ve been keeping this from me the whole time!?”

“You’re lucky I rolled with that punch. Flash, when people know who I am, they become targets for my enemies,” Peter told him.  “I don’t like risking people’s lives like that if I don’t have to.”

“Does Mary Jane know?”

“She… figured it out on her own. And so did Aunt May. And also A.J. And Norman Osborn. Felicia also knows. I’m now starting to realize I kind of suck at keeping my identity secret.”

“I don’t believe this,” Flash said as he stumbled, but Peter caught him. “I must be the world’s biggest idiot for never seeing this.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Peter told him. “I’m telling you because I care about you. I don’t like seeing you killing yourself. You need help.”

“I’m beyond help,” Flash said as he looked away. “I’m a hopeless drunk.”

“Then tell that to your Godchild.”

Flash looked at the sonogram pictures of the Parker baby while sitting on the roof of his apartment building. Peter had changed back into his street clothes after he’d brought Flash home.

“You’re serious about this?”

“Aunt May’s not going to be here forever, and neither is MJ’s aunt Anna. Plus after everything with Tommy, MJ’s not really willing to leave a kid with her sister if the worst happens,” Peter said. “I saw how you were with A.J. and Drew. You loved those kids like a father. If anything happened to me and MJ… there’s no one else we’d rather trust to take care of our kid. But you have to be better first. You need to get help.”

“I think I’m past what AA can do for me.”

“I agree,” Peter handed him an envelope. “I sold the Mustang Felicia gave us, was going to split the money with you but I used it all for this instead. You’re booked for rehab at a place in Maine. Go, get healthy. I want my best friend back.”

“I don’t deserve any of what you’ve done for me,” Flash told him. “You’ve pulled my ass out of the fire so many times.”

“I’m a hero, that’s what I do,” Peter smiled. “So, are things going to be… weird between us?”

“Things have always been weird between us,” Flash said as he playfully punched Peter’s shoulder. “But the secret’s safe with me. I’m honored to take of your kid when you die.”

“IF I die.”

“Oh, sure, right,” Flash said as he stared at his best friend. “I know.”

“I’m not planning to die for a very long time.”

“Oh, I know,” Flash said with a smirk as he patted Peter on the shoulder before getting a serious look on his face. “Of course. Of course…. of course.”

Sometime later after Flash had sobered up and arrived at the rehab center in Maine, it finally struck him.

“My best friend is Spider-Man and he’s been doing all this stuff for me this whole time? I’m such a dick! He must think I’m a pathetic charity case. Probably just telling me he wants me to raise his kid out of pity. Well, no more. From now on, Flash Thompson stands on his own two feet–”

Flash stumbled walking through the doors, barely catching himself before he fell.

Now

“You were only in rehab for sixty days,” Peter said he sat in the hallway with Flash while waiting for the baby to be brought out. “You’ve been gone for six months. Where have you been this whole time?”

“After I left rehab, I didn’t want to come home yet,” Flash told him. “I needed time to, I don’t know, do some soul-searching. I didn’t want to come back to New York and fall into old habits. I needed to find myself, so I traveled around for a bit. Joined Habitat for Humanity for a while, did some volunteer work in a few places. I needed to do some good in the world. The whole ‘with great power’ thing you told me about when we were kids. I really took that to heart when I was overseas.”

“So you’re cured?”

“No,” Flash said. “I’m always going to be dealing with alcoholism, that’s something I’ll never get rid of. But I’ve learned to manage myself better. When shit happens, I just have to deal. And there’s something else. When I was forced to really look at myself, how I’ve treated people, how I’ve handled relationships in the past… I’ve never been happy, Pete. I’ve been with lots of women, and I have cared for them, but I’ve never been in love. When I was in Indiana seeing my sister and trying to connect to her again, I met a woman there and tried to date her and it didn’t seem to really to click as usual and she told me why.”

“You’re gay, aren’t you?I knew it!” Peter happily shouted as he hugged Flash. “I admit, that was always in the back of my head, I was just waiting for you to say it. That’s great, buddy, I just want you to be happy. There’s a guy at the tech shop I’ve been working at part time and you would be perfe–”

“What? No!” Flash said. “I’m Asexual, Pete. I could be with men or women, but I don’t feel attraction. Doesn’t mean I can’t date, but I just don’t know if I can… connect with anyone on a personal level. My whole life and every woman I’ve been with I’ve always felt like that there was something wrong with me until I learned who I was. Now I don’t feel so much like a loner because there are people out there like me. So now I’m going to AA and to meetings for Asexual people like me so I can understand more about myself.”

“That’s great, buddy,” Peter said as he looked to see the nurse bringing the baby out from the nursery. “You ever need someone to talk to about this, I’m right here.”

“Thanks, Pete. You seriously thought I was in the closet?”

“There he is,” Peter said, changing the subject as he carefully took the baby. “Flash, this is your Godson. Meet Stanley Richard Parker.”

“Stan?” Flash asked as Peter handed him the baby, gently cradling him in his arms. “Lucky kid, he’s got Mary Jane’s looks. He’s great, Pete. I mean, he sounds like he’s got a comic book writer’s name, but he’s great. Looks like you really do have it all.”

“No, I don’t,” Peter told him. “There’s one more thing, and I don’t know how to tell you this. It’s about something I found out earlier tonight.”

Tiger’s body had been wrapped in a Spider-Man themed blanket as Peter and Flash stood over the six-foot hole that the two had dug deep in the forest.

“He deserves better than this,” Peter said as they lowered the young man into the hole. “This is my little boy and I’m treating this like some dirty little secret. I can’t even tell Mary Jane that our son is dead.”

“I’m sorry, Pete,” Flash said as he picked up a shovel. “No one deserves to go out like this. Dammit, how many more kids are we going to have to bury? Your daughter, this kid, A.J. Where does it end?”

“We never had a funeral for May,” Peter told him. “She was cremated after the autopsy. I still have the urn on the mantle at home.”

“If this kid is from the future and you never found out why he was here, how are you going to stop whatever’s going to happen from happening?”

“I don’t know, but it starts with Drew, that much I know,” Peter said as they started filling the hole. “Drew is my son.”

Flash stopped digging as he stared at Peter. “Exactly how many secrets have you been hiding since you became a superhero? Exactly how many horrifying things are you holding back?”

“Aunt May and Doc Ock were having sex when they were dating.”

“Well, that’s something I’m going to see in my nightmares from now on. Question withdrawn.”

“I have to tell Drew the truth,” Peter said as he went back to shoveling dirt. “Whatever horrible thing happens in the future, I think Drew’s part of it. He has to know the truth, and soon, before whatever messes up Tiger’s future gets put into motion if it hasn’t already.”

The next morning, Drew arrived at Oscorp and stared up at the tall building.

“Okay, I guess I’m doing this.” Drew said to himself as he walked through the doors.

TO BE CONTINUED…