Remnants

There wasn't any set pattern for visiting Aunt May's grave. It was just some days he had to see her. Almost a year had passed since her death. Sometimes he felt normal, other times it was like it just happened. The only thing that was routine was that he spoke to her every time he came. He talked about him and MJ, FEAST, how he still couldn't bring himself to visit Otto in the Raft. Anything really.

It was raining, had been for most of the day. He was in normal clothes for today's visit, although he had a backpack with his suit just in case. Spider-Man visiting the same graves too often would most likely lead to speculation. He could tolerate (at least most of the time) when people vilified him, but there was no way he'd stand anyone slinging mud at Aunt May and Uncle Ben.

He didn't slow his pace when he saw someone standing at her grave. Many came to see her. For the people at FEAST, it was a pilgrimage of sorts. May had helped so many people that it wasn't surprising.

As he got closer, he saw that the visitor was wearing a suit and holding an umbrella. The man seemed to sense his approach because he tensed. Whatever questions Peter had were forgotten when he saw Martin Li turn toward him.

Li's eyes widened. "Peter." The two stood looking at each other in shock. No one had seen or heard anything of Li since the night Spider-Man fought him. Despite his daily searches, Peter wasn't able to find any leads as to his whereabouts. The Demons were still active, but it was the usual gang related crimes. The terrorism had stopped. The man looked the same mostly, except for the haunted look in his eyes and dark circles. His eyes had a red tint to them, most likely from crying.

Multiple emotions went through Peter's mind, as well as the urge to call the cops. He was surprised that Li hadn't bolted.

"It's been a while." It was all he could think of to say. If he was in his suit, things would be going very differently.

The other man let out a breath. "It has." There was a pause. "You aren't going to call the police?" he asked in disbelief.

"Not while we're in front of her grave." He really didn't want to risk a fight in a cemetery. For the most part, he had come to terms with the amount of property damage he caused over the course of his superhero career, but he couldn't stomach the thought of destroying grave markers. He saw the other man eye him suspiciously. "Though that could change depending if you go all Mister Negative." Li rolled his eyes at the name. "So are you here alone or do you have some minions hiding somewhere?"

"I came alone. There's no need for any Demons to be here." The answer disappointed Peter since that meant Li was still acting as leader of the gang. A part of him was skeptical about there not being any Demons around, but then he remembered the letter Li left for May.

"Is this your first time here?"

"No, it's my third." This brought Peter up short. There was still a manhunt going on for Li, yet that didn't stop him from visiting her grave. It was then he noticed the mud on the other man's pants. Had he really been kneeling in front of the grave?

"May was heartbroken when she found out about what you did." The words flew out of his mouth before he could stop them.

Li winced as if he had been slapped. He closed his eyes and inhaled. "It… It doesn't excuse what I did, but I read every obituary after the outbreak." His voice started breaking. "That's how I found out about May."

A flash of anger went through Peter. Not at Li, but wondering when he visited Otto if the supervillain would show the same remorse.

"I don't blame you for Aunt May, that's on Octavius." Peter practically spit the last word. He'd always carry anger about it, as well as guilt. If only he had paid more attention, maybe everything could've been avoided.

The other man stared at him in concern. It was a stark contrast to the pain and rage Peter witnessed during their last fight. It moved him that Martin Li wasn't entirely gone.

"You know, May said something else after learning about you." Li looked like he was trying to steel himself against a punch. "She said, 'That's not the Martin Li I want to remember.'".

Li's face was one of bewilderment. Clearly May's death had been eating away at him. Would it be more fuel for The Demon as he called it? Peter forced himself to be still as the other man walked up to him and put his hand on his shoulder. His spider sense didn't go off so he relaxed.

"It means a lot to me to hear you say that." His expression was entirely sincere.

Peter smiled. "I figured she'd want me to tell you that."

Li smiled as well. "When you help someone, you help everyone." He withdrew his hand and stepped back. "I'm not sure if we'll see each other again but… Take care, Peter."

"Would you consider turning yourself in?" Peter asked suddenly. Li's face twitched. "It could show people Martin Li is still there."

For a moment, Peter was afraid that he had provoked the man. However, all Li did was lower his eyes, clearly deep in thought. He eventually raised his head and gave Peter a pained look. "I'm not sure how much of Martin Li there is to save." With that, he turned and walked away. It wasn't what Peter was hoping for, but the fact Mister Negative didn't appear was… encouraging.

He dug in his pocket then adjusted his web shooter. While Li was still in sight, he fired a spider tracer. It had started downpouring by this point so hopefully the sound of rain would distract him. Peter didn't realize he was holding his breath until the tracer attached itself to the back of Li's blazer.

Peter looked at May's grave. "I'm not giving up on him yet."

A/N: I just really wanted to write something with Peter and Martin interacting after the events of the game. Also, there needs to be more fics with Martin Li!