APOLOGIES AND FORGIVENESS

Disclaimer: Spider-Man is a creation of Stan Lee and owned by Marvel. No profit is being made of this story.

Rated T for the violence and romance.

Peter watched helplessly as his best friend turned enemy turned friend again fall to the ground. Metal pipes fell down alongside him and to his astonishment, the creature started screaming as if in pain.

'Sound,' Peter realized as the pipes fall to the ground. 'Loud sounds. Like that church bell. That's how I can stop Venom.'

As the sound dissipated, Venom recovered. He held up the glider, obviously intending to impale Peter with it. In the background, Peter saw Mary Jane come running up to them and Harry sitting up.

"MJ!" he cried to her. "The pipes! Bang the pipes together!"

Confused but trusting that he seemed to know what he was doing, she picked up the pipes and started banging. The creature screeched in pain and dropped the glider. Harry quickly hurried over to Peter and sliced the black strands with the spikes from his glove.

"I got a plan!" he yelled to Harry.

Peter leapt forward to the pipes and Harry followed. Quickly, he set the pipes up on end, making a makeshift cage surrounding Venom, with Harry following his example while MJ continued to bang. Peter grabbed one pipe and handed Harry the other. Together, the two of them resumed the noisemaking while MJ relaxed her stance. The creature continued to writhe in pain and in the process, began to separate from Eddie Brock. Quickly, Peter whipped out a webline and pulled Eddie away from the symbiote.

It was apparently not happy to be separated from its host for it towered over them in anger.

"Now what?!" cried Harry. "We can't keep making beautiful music together!"

Peter glanced at the glider. "You got any more of those pumpkin bombs?"

"Plenty," Harry replied and promptly whipped out one. The symbiote loomed toward them, but Peter banged the pipes again to keep it back.

"Get back, MJ!" yelled Peter, then to Harry, "Throw the bomb at it!"

"No!" yelled Eddie and threw himself at the symbiote just as Harry threw the bomb. Peter, Mary Jane, and Harry jumped away from the explosion as it disintegrated both Eddie and the symbiote. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left of either.

For a long time, all three were silent, looking at the destruction until a voice coming from neither of them spoke:

"I didn't want this."

All three turned to see Sandman standing there. He seemed to be ignoring the other two and was only staring at Peter.

"But I had no choice," he continued.

Peter's seriousness turned to anger. "We always have a choice. You had a choice when you killed my uncle."

Sandman paused. "My daughter was dying. I needed money. I was scared." His eyes fell to the ground as if looking back on an unpleasant memory. "I told your uncle all I wanted was the car." He looked up again. "He said to me, 'Why don't you just put down the gun and go home.' I realize now he was just trying to help me."

Peter's anger softened at the statement. That did sound like the uncle he knew, back before everything changed. Before he became Spider-Man.

"Then I saw my partner running over with the cash," Marko continued. "And the gun that was in my hand…" He paused sorrowfully. "I did a terrible thing to you. I spent a lot of nights wishing I could take it back. I'm not asking you to forgive me. I just want you to understand."

Peter looked to be in near tears himself. Then he felt two gentle hands on each shoulder. One was soft and caressing, and the other hard and understanding.

"I've done terrible things, too," Peter replied, with a quick glance at both of them, the people he once called his best friend and girlfriend.

Sandman turned his back on Peter and looked over the edge at the waiting cops below. "I didn't choose to be this," he said. He glanced at the open locket and turned back to Peter. "The only thing left for me now… is my daughter."

For a while, they were silent. Then Peter spoke. "I forgive you."

Marko stared at him, and then nodded since there was nothing else he could say. He dissolved into his sandy form and flew into the wind. They watched him go and then Peter turned to them. He had a lot to make up for, he knew, starting with sincere apologies.

First, Harry. "Thanks for the backup," he said.

Harry smiled. "Couldn't let you hog all the glory."

A small chuckle escaped Peter, but he sobered again. "I'm sorry, Harry. I should never have hurt you. Said those things."

Harry looked at him with glistening eyes. "None of that matters, Peter. You're my friend."

Peter nods, tearfully. "Best friends."

They stepped forward and wrapped each other in a forgiving hug. They slowly pulled away and Harry glanced at Mary Jane standing there, then back at Peter.

"She's all yours, pal," he said.

Peter nodded as Harry turned and stepped onto his glider. "You know," said Peter, "we kind of made a pretty good team back there."

Harry smiled. "Yeah, but I think I'll leave the superhero business to you. But if you ever run into one of those weird freaks again…"

"I'll be sure to give you a call," Peter finished, smiling back at him.

Harry gave him a small, quick salute. "See you around, Pete."

Peter waved back at him. "Bye, Harry."

With a cursory glance at MJ, he turned on the glider and flew out of the construction site, heading back to the mansion. Peter and Mary Jane watched him go, and turned to each other.

"MJ," he began, but she stopped him.

"I know," she said, "and we'll talk, but not right now. Right now I just want to go home."

Peter nodded. "Can I give you a lift?"

"If you don't mind," she replied. "I don't feel much like riding in cabs right now."

With a sympathetic smile, Peter looked around, found what was left of his mask, and tugged it on. Wrapping one arm around her, he shot out a webline and they swung away amid the cheers of the crowd watching them.

The ride to her apartment was silent. Despite everything that happened to them, despite all the problems they need to work through, they each reveled in the feel of each other arms' around them. For a moment, they could forget everything and just enjoy the view.

All too soon, they arrived at the apartment and Peter gently set Mary Jane down. They stare at each other, not quite sure what to say. Then Peter pulled the mask off his face and glanced at it.

"Is it me or does every time I fight one last battle against super-villains that my costume gets ripped?" he said humorously.

Mary Jane let out a small chuckle. "I guess it's too bad you don't have your own seamstress."

"Yeah, a good seamstress would be very welcomed right about now."

They were quiet once again. Finally, Peter said, "I should let you get some rest."

He turned to leave, but Mary Jane stopped him. "I don't want you to go. Not yet."

He turned back to her, eyes full of regret. "MJ, I'm really sorry. About everything."

"I know," she replied, nodding. "Me, too."

"Listen, if… if you want to…" His eyes began to brim with tears, but he pushed on. "If you don't want to… to be with me… anymore, I'll let you go. Just say the word. I'll understand."

A solitary tear fell from Mary Jane's face. "Peter, what I said… on that bridge, I was doing it to protect you when Harry…" She stopped. Peter and Harry were just barely starting to repair their strained friendship and she didn't want to jeopardize that.

But Peter nodded in understanding. "I know. I forgave him for that. For everything. But the question right now is… do you forgive me? Do you still want to be with me?"

MJ sighed. "I… I don't know, Pete. I still love you, but…"

"But it's not enough," interrupted Peter.

MJ shook her head, determinedly. "No, it has to be enough. You and I… we have gone through so much to be together. I'm still feeling hurt and angry at you, but I want us to move on from this. I want us to get past this. Back to the way we were before... before that black suit came along and ruined everything."

Peter cupped her cheek and wiped away a few stray tears. "Unfortunately, we can't just go back to the way we were. We… we both hurt each other. And we can't guarantee that it won't happen again. But do know this: I love you, Mary Jane. And I have learned the hard way what it means to be without you. So I want us to work through this, talk it all out. Everything. Our hopes, our dreams… our fears."

Mary Jane looked up at him through tear-stained eyes. "And what is it that Peter Parker hopes and dreams and fears?"

"My hope is that our love is strong enough to get us through everything that we have and will face. My dream is us getting married, having 2.5 children, and a house with a picket fence." Mary Jane smiled at that. "And my fear… is losing you."

Mary Jane was silent for a moment. "My hope… is that your love for me will be sustained for all eternity. My dream is being on Broadway with a certain webslinging husband there cheering me on." Peter smiled. "And my fear is you going out to take care of hero business… and never coming home."

Peter lowered his eyes, and then gazed back into hers again, his own eyes shedding tears. "It seems we both have the same idea. Being together."

"Yes, we do."

To her surprise, Peter knelt down on one knee, holding his hands in hers. "Mary Jane," he said, "will you be my girlfriend again?"

Mary Jane let out a small laugh. It was so absurd and yet so heartwarming at the same time. "Yes, Peter. I love you and I want to be your girlfriend again."

Peter smiled brightly and stood up. "And I love you, too, Mary Jane. I always have and I always will."

He reached for her and she met her lips with his, a kiss that was long in coming, a kiss of apologies and forgiveness. Hungrily, they kissed until they were forced to break apart for air, and then Peter held Mary Jane who snuggled her cheek against his chest.

"Did we just make up?" he asked.

MJ smiled. "Yeah, I think we did."

"Good, because I missed you."

"I missed you, too, Tiger." She turned her face up to look at his. "And I'm really glad to have the old Peter back."

He winced at the memory. "I am so sorry I hurt you, MJ."

She placed a finger on his lips. "Hush," she said. "All this apologizing is doing is wasting valuable kissing time."

He smiled and leaned in once more. They spent what seemed like hours making out on MJ's couch. By the time they were both out of breath, it was nearly midnight. Now they were snuggled on the couch, leaning against each other, thinking and enjoying each other's scent.

"You know," said MJ, breaking the silence, "when you kneeled down like that, I thought for a minute you were going to make a marriage proposal."

He glanced down at her. "I had been considering it, you know. Proposing."

"What stopped you? This time?"

"Because I realize, really realize, what Aunt May was trying to tell me. She said that I need to put my wife first. I hadn't been doing that, but I intend to change that. From now on, you are first in my life. Everything else, even Spider-Man, will have to wait."

MJ smiled at him. "Peter, I may not like it sometimes, but I know you have to be Spider-Man. And I wouldn't exactly feel good about myself if I kept you from going out and saving lives just because of my own selfish needs."

"Mary Jane, you are most definitely not selfish. You are the most selfless person I've ever met. The fact that you're willing to put up with Spider-Man shows how much you care."

"Peter, I 'put up' with Spider-Man because he's a part of you and I love you. All of you."

"And I love you too, MJ. All of you."

"Even if she isn't the best singer in the world?"

"Mary Jane, you are a wonderful singer. That critic wouldn't know talent if it came up and bit him."

MJ let out a small chuckle. "I know, I know. Just ignore him and get back on that horse."

"Forget that, MJ. You have a right to feel hurt by that. I would, too." She stared at him. "Sorry, I'm doing it again, I know. I, well, he, uh…"

Seeing that he was at a loss for words, but still trying to find a way to comfort her, Mary Jane gave him a small kiss to stop his stutter. "I know that you're trying to cheer me up, Tiger. And it's sweet of you to try. I guess all that should matter to me is that the people I care about and who cares about me doesn't feel the same way as the critic does."

"You got that right."

They still weren't completely all right, but Peter knew it was a start. All that matter to him now was that Mary Jane still loved him and so forgiveness will come in time if it hasn't already. And when the hurt has passed and they have completely healed, then and only then will he attempt to propose to her again. And who knows, maybe that time she will say yes.

THE END