(...)
"Billy!" Peter called and he felt like the world stopped for a moment when bright yellow eyes turned to him.
"Dad!" Billy cried out, running towards the vigilante without skipping a beat.
Peter shot a web up and dropped to the floor mid arch, crossing the distance between them so they met halfway. He threw himself on his knees, ignoring the sting of pain, and instead focusing only on the small body that crashed against his and the thin, but strong scaly arms tightly wrapping around his shoulders.
"Oh, Bee, I'm so glad I found you!" Peter gasped, feeling like it was finally easy to breath again. He wrapped his arms around his son, pulling him close and pressing his still masked face to the boy's hair, still managing to smell the faint lemon scented shampoo Billy used, his own pick, because "he liked lemons", Peter remembers him saying. He felt tears in his eyes.
God, he was so relieved! It felt like heaven to have Billy in his arms again. He could feel his little boy shaking, shivering as if he was cold; and his scaly skin did feel strangely cool to the touch, which meant he hadn't had enough warmth during most of that time, something he needed more often in this form. Peter frowned behind the mask, his blood boiling for a moment as he remembered Devon's arrogant and downright sociopathic affirmations that Spider-Man "didn't need to worry about the lizard-boy" for he had "everything needed to care for a reptile". Yeah, sure! All Peter wanted now was to punch that disgusting smug smile out of that man's face even more than he had wanted to do when those things were said...!
A soft sniff immediately pushed those thoughts away, bringing Peter back to what really mattered now. Billy didn't say anything, although it seemed like he meant to, but all that came from his mouth, muffled by Peter's suited-up shoulder, was a hiccup. Peter tightened his hold around his son, feeling the small body shake with each hiccup and soft sob.
"It's okay, it's okay, Bee..." He soothed the kid, feeling his heart break at hearing Billy crying.
"I-I... I'm s-sorry..." Billy managed to say in between sobs, his fingers holding tightly to Peter, sharp little claws sinking into his father's skin, but Peter found it easy to ignored them.
"Shh, it's not your fault, none of this is..." Peter was quick to say, running his gloved fingers through the kid's hair, feeling his chest tighten at Billy's words. Did he feel guilty for what happened?
(...)
Slowly, as Billy's breathing calmed down, his skin started changing. Peter held him, watching as the scales practically melted away, leaving behind only the pale skin the boy had been born with; the large tail, which had wrapped around Peter, slowly disappeared until it didn't exist anymore.
Peter didn't want to pull away from the hug, and the way the kid clung to him showed he didn't want to move either, but Peter had to, no, he needed to check on him, if only for ease of mind. And also because he need to get a good look at his kid.
Billy's face was warm, trails of tears marking his red cheeks, while unshed ones pooled around his green eyes, making them glint. He looked tired and scared, but also relieved, which was a lot to see in a 13 year olds' face. Peter felt, above all, happy to have his son with him again, but also irate at the thought of what those people must have put Billy through. At least he didn't look physically hurt...
"Are you okay?" Peter asked, cradling Billy's face in his gloved hands, forcing Billy to look him in the eyes, well, lenses. "Did they hurt you?"
Billy shook his head with a sniff.
(...)
"Where's dad?" Billy asked.
"He-" Peter started when suddenly his spider sense kicked in, telling something wasn't right. And then he and Billy heard the loud sound of crashing in the distance. "Oh, no..."
(...)












