Chapter 24: Risks

*knock knock knock*

Three knocks on Dr. Connors's classroom door interrupted the scientist as he was reading through a book on stem cells. 'Who could that be?' The doctor thought to himself as he began walking toward the door. It was the end of the school day and there was no after-school program that day, so there was no reason for anyone to bother him at that time of day.

Soon enough, he opened the door with his single arm and smiled slightly upon seeing his star student, Eren Parker. "Eren, what brings you here?" The doctor asked. The young undercover hero rubbed the back of his head shyly before giving his reasoning for intruding.

"Sorry, I think I left my textbook in here." The young man said. Dr. Connors did notice someone left their book, so he kept it at his desk in case that person returned later that day. "Ah, yes." Connors said. "I have it on my desk. Come on in." Dr. Connors held the door open, letting the boy inside and leading him over toward the teacher's now messy desk.

There were vials filled with unknown substances and notebooks scattered all around it, along with opened science books and his laptop. "Something on your mind? It's not like you to forget things." said the doctor as he grabbed the textbook from his messy desk.

Realizing he was just read like a book, Eren confessed. "Yeah, it's nothing too important I was just really lost in thought." As the book exchanged hands, Dr. Connors chuckled. "Is it girl problems? I noticed your girlfriend wasn't there waiting for you today."

Eren was taken aback by this observation. 'Girlfriend?' he thought. 'Did he mean Cindy? Do we look like a couple?'

"What do you mean?" Eren asked.

"That girl that waits for you after class and after school. She'd give you a hug and you'd walk together." Connors said. Eren raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "You stalking me, Dr. Connors?" Eren questioned jokingly.

Connors laughed, shaking his head and denying the boy's claims of being a stalker. "No, no. It's just I've never seen you smile like that before. It seems she's really the only one who has that kind of ability to make that happen. Usually, you just frown all day and look like you're about to fall asleep."

'Huh.' Eren thought. 'So it's that obvious, huh?'

"You're observant." Eren said shyly. He didn't really like the fact that Cindy's hold over him was so obvious. First, it was Harry, then it was his teacher. He wondered who else knew. He also wondered if it was obvious to Cindy that he was basically head over heels for her.

"Well…I shouldn't say this, but you're one of my favorite students, Parker. Strangely, I see a lot of myself in you. Which is often why I would push you to really apply yourself sometimes." Connors admitted.

"I'm glad you did. Thank you for that, Dr. Connors. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have joined the program…" as these words left the boy's mouth, he thought to himself about his other half.

'I wouldn't have gotten bitten either. I wouldn't have become the Phantom Spider. I wouldn't have become Spider-Man.'

Eren continued. "I wouldn't have met my best friend, Harry. I wouldn't have gotten into ESU. I wouldn't have had the confidence to ask Cindy on a date..." Eren then stopped himself, thinking again about how that one small event, that spider bite, changed his life in so many ways.

With an eyebrow raised, the one-armed doctor teased his student. "So Cindy is her name, huh?"

"Yeah, it's Cindy." Eren said with the smallest of smiles as he confessed. "But I ruined things between us I think. I've been busy, too busy to really give her the attention she needs from me. I also have, let's say, another side to myself that I am afraid she won't like on top of that. Girls are confusing. I can't tell if she's just upset or hates me or is it something else... I don't know what to do."

Eren looked at the ground sadly, gripping his textbook as the doctor watched from his work desk. Messing with a green vial, the doctor began telling the boy about his own girl troubles of the past.

"You know, Parker, I met my wife in high school." Connors's face was filled with nostalgia as he reminisced about the past. It was true, he met Martha, his wife, when they were just teenagers. Like Eren, he had conflicting thoughts on what he should do about his feelings.

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"Is that so?" Eren said.

"Yes. I was scared to death to make the first move. I came up with all kinds of excuses like being too busy with school and clubs… I also planned on joining the Army as a surgeon. I knew I wanted to save lives directly on the battlefield. I was afraid that if we were together and I were to die out there, she would be devastated. I didn't want her to get hurt like that. She actually came to me first and asked me why I didn't ask her to be my girlfriend yet. Girls didn't do that type of thing back then, it was very bold of her." Eren could see how happy Connors's wife made him purely off of the look on his face as he spoke about her.

Pouring a clear liquid into one of the green vials, the doctor began to stir the substance as he continued speaking. "However, I kept turning her down for years. Eventually, she convinced me to be with her a year before my deployment. We were together that entire year and then I was later deployed directly onto the battlefield, just as I had wanted. After a couple of years, I was working on a patient and then…" As Connors watched the reaction in the vial, he grabbed his shoulder that was now missing an arm, staring down at the mixture sadly. It soon began to bubble up intensely and the doctor quickly transferred it over the contaminant bin to avoid making a mess.

"An IED blew up the tent. Taking my right arm with it. When I came back home, I expected her to leave and go be with a complete man once she saw that I was now handicapped, but I was wrong. When she first saw me she sprinted at me and hugged me as if I was no different. We got married soon after." Conners smiled with his hand on his shoulder again as the bubbling serum began to calm down. Based on the doctor's warm smile, Eren could tell that the man truly loved his wife and she must've loved him equally as much. He wondered if when he was older, would he and Cindy be like them. Those thoughts soon waned as he realized he was getting ahead of himself.

"My point is, Eren. You can't just push a good woman away because you're scared. If I hadn't agreed to let her in my life… Who knows where I'd be right now." Eren was stunned upon hearing Dr. Connors's backstory as he realized that the two of them were so similar. Being in the military and being afraid of not being there for his wife was the same as how Eren felt about being a hero and not being there for Cindy.

"That girl, Cindy, you said her name was? She looks at you the same way my wife used to look at me when we were young. That's why I was so invested… You two reminded me of those times." Connors began pouring the mixture into a syringe, staring at it intensively as he continued to speak. "Ah, sorry for probing, it's your personal life."

"No, Dr. Connors, I think you might be right. I have the same exact feelings as you did back then." Eren admitted, staring at the green syringe in an attempt to figure out what was inside of it. Dr. Connors put down the syringe and reached over toward Eren, resting his one arm on Eren's shoulder before giving him one last piece of advice.

"Everything you do is a risk. Not doing anything is also a risk. Which risk will you choose, Parker?" Connors gave him this hypothetical question to think about though he was not expecting a real answer from the boy.

"I-" Eren began to speak, but Connors quickly interrupted him.

"Don't answer now. Just remember what I said. Alright?" said Dr. Connors, his hand still on the boy's shoulder.

"Right." Eren answered, redirecting his gaze back at the green vial. "What's in there?" he asked.

"Just some reptilian DNA." Connors said dismissively. Quickly, Eren was able to piece together what it was. Based on how many vials there were and the many papers, books, and files scattered around, he knew it was something he was rather obsessed with. He wanted to look into reptiles' regenerative abilities.

"I'm sorry if this seems insensitive or rude but is it for yourself?" Eren asked. "Your arm?" He added.

Connors nodded. "Nothing gets past you, Parker." he said. "My twenty-year research has led to nothing, sadly. But I refuse to give up. We share enough DNA with reptiles that I am sure we can somehow inherit their regenerative ability. I can be whole again."

This confused Eren. Connors spoke about how his wife accepted him for who he was now, however, Connors couldn't accept himself. It was sad to see, the man was clearly still dissatisfied despite the front he put on. His wife still loved him, but part of those insecure, negative thoughts from before still resided within him.

"I want to help." said the young man, though Connors was skeptical. "Aren't you a little busy for that, Parker? According to you at least." The doctor asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise that Eren would offer his time like that.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." As Eren said this, he received a notification on his phone. His eyes widened and he quickly dismissed himself. "Any day that is not today because I really need to go now, see ya tomorrow." The boy then sprinted out of the classroom with a sense of urgency, leaving Dr. Connors before he could even get a chance to respond.

"What a peculiar kid." Connors said to himself, chuckling slightly before continuing on with his research.

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