10.
With another day in the books, Anna Watson prepared her house for the night before climbing into her bed and engaging in one of her trashy romance novels with a bowl of cheese balls and a bottle of water. The dishes were clean, lights were out, and the doors were checked to make sure they were locked. Mary Jane had already gone to her room for the night after they had another long talk of how crazy life had gotten for them with her boyfriend being a vigilante. All the cards were laid on the table between them and no secrets were kept by either mother or daughter. She had to admit, Peter was unlike any young man she had ever met, his aunt brought him up right, but there was something more about him that she was certain not even he knew about. It was small but it was what truly defined him as a hero and a man.
She would be lying if she said she never saw her daughter and Peter end up together in the end. It felt nice to her to consider him as part of her family. She also knew he would not treat Mary the same way her own husband treated her.
As she ascended halfway up the steps to the second floor, the doorbell rang and brought her to a halt. Muttering to herself for the late disturbance, Anna descended back down to the living room and sat her late night snack on a table then peeked out the window beside the front door.
"Peter?" she whispered to herself. "What in the world…"
She opened the door and laid eyes on a well-dressed Peter Parker with a back pack slung over a shoulder. Outfitted in a pair of pressed navy blue dress pants and matching coat with a white shirt and red tie underneath, he looked as if he were ready for a formal dinner. Even his faded blond hair was styled neatly, clearly showing the natural brown roots emanating from his head.
"Peter?" Anna questioned. "What are you doing here?"
"Mrs. Watson," Peter said, clearing his throat. "I wish to speak to your daughter, Mary Jane Watson. If it's not any trouble that is." He stood straight and at attention as he waited for her response.
"Peter, it's," she looked at the clock on the entertainment center across the room, "it's after ten. What, why do want to talk to Mary? And why are you dressed like this?"
"Mrs. Watson," He scratched the back of his head and shifted slightly from foot to foot. "I…I love your daughter. And there is something I need to ask and tell her before…before…Can I just please talk to her?"
"You know, Peter, catching what you two were doing was a shock. I should call your aunt and tell her I never want you near her or my house again. But, I know how much you love each other. I think…I know whatever lives you would live, you two would be together, no matter what."
He nodded and inhaled deeply. "Thank you."
"Come into the living room, I'll get MJ. And…you won't mind if I sit in with you. Just in case," she said with a grin.
"Um, no. Not at all, Mrs. Watson." Peter slightly flushed, knowing the reason she didn't want to leave them alone together.
It didn't take long for Mary to come flying down the stairs in her pajamas, a pair of blue lounge pants and a stomach baring tank top. Her face lit up further at the sight of Peter, a fact her mother knew even though she was behind her. She watched as the red head flung her arms around his neck and hug him tight and if they hadn't seen each other in years instead of just a few hours ago.
"What are you doing here?" Mary Jane asked. "And why are you dressed up like that?"
"I really don't have much time, MJ." He led her over to the couch and sat her down before taking a seat himself. He dropped his bag beside his feet and faced her. "I want it to be clear that I love you very much. And the reason I'm dressed like this, is that I would like to first ask you if I could take you to prom like we've been talking about before, before all this."
"And the second?"
He exhaled heavily and took her hand. "And the second is, I wanted to promise you I'll be back by the morning. I have to go to SHIELD and take care of a few things that-"
"Stop, stop right there, Peter," Mary interrupted him. "If you came over here to tell me you may not come back, I don't want to hear it. I know you may have a reason for doing this but I would-"
"Mary, Brock and Laura need my help. Laura wants to get out of SHIELD and away from Danvers. Brock needs to get the rest of his suit back and-"
"Laura, Brock, a suit? What's going on?"
"Remember when I had that suit on, the black one? And my old friend Eddie Brock got one and went on a rampage?"
"Yeah. And then Gwen died then came back with a red suit on. But what does this have to do with tonight and the rest of Eddie's suit?"
"MJ, Eddie Brock's suit has been separated into several parts. The anxiety the separation has caused is killing him and he needs to get the two last pieces of his suit back. Laura, X-23, she wants to break away from SHIELD and Danvers after learning she was created to only be a mindless weapon. And then there's me. I have part of my old suit inside me that needs to come out. That's what that, that veiny, hand thing was. That was what I was doing this morning, trying to get it out."
"But you told me you were trying to help Eddie control his suit."
"We were really working on trying to get my suit out of me. Laura stopped us and told me if I tried taking it out myself, it'll kill me. The equipment to remove it is back at SHIELD headquarters and so is Eddie's suit pieces. Laura's going to get us in and out without being seen. I just thought I should tell you what I was going to do this time instead of keeping it a secret."
Mary Jane Stared at him quietly. Her mother was just out of sight beside the stairs behind him, keeping her from doing what she really wanted to do, which was to grab hold of Peter and never let him go.
"I want you to look me in the eyes, Peter." She couldn't quite keep the quiver of her voice out no matter how stern she tried to sound. "I want you to promise me that when you go out there, you will come back. I need to know you'll stay safe and not get hurt and come back to me."
Peter shifted where he sat and took both her hands. "Mary, I can't promise that. But I can promise you I will find a way back to you. Even if I have to through hell, I'll come back to you."
Reaching up, Mary took his face in her hands and was fixing to kiss him deeply when she saw her mom out of the corner of her eye. She backed off and gave him a tight hug instead. "I love you."
"I love you too," he said, returning the hug.
Coming out from her position by the stairs, Anna stared at her daughter and resurrected boyfriend. "Oh go ahead. Give him a reason to come back to you. I gotta get more cheese balls anyway."
A moment after she turned to head into the kitchen, Mary and Peter abandoned their hug and kissed deeply. "But don't really give him a reason," Anna called from the kitchen. "You know, draw the line somewhere."
The couple couldn't help but smile as they separated and leaned their foreheads on each other. "I will come back, MJ," Peter told her.
"And I'll be waiting." She gave him one last soft kiss as they stood up and he headed for the door while picking up his bag.
"Oh, uh, Mrs. Watson?" He called before opening the door. "Can I ask you a favor?"
"What is it, Peter?" Anna asked as she re-entered the living room with a new bowl of cheese balls.
"Can I change real quick before I go and do you have two trash bags and duct tape I can have? Aunt may didn't have any."
"Yes but, what on Earth for?"
Peter once again scratched the back of his neck and glanced at his girlfriend. "Well…"
"You suck, Parker," Eddie Brock grumbled as he, Peter, and Laura trudged through thigh high water. "You really do suck."
"Don't hate the genius, hate the test," Peter responded.
Knowing they would have to travel a ways through the sewers, Peter came prepared. Instead of wearing his Scarlet Spider costume, he grabbed a pair of plastic painter's coveralls to wear over a pair of shoes, sweats, and a cheap white shirt. The trash bags he got from Anna Watson were wrapped around his legs to make sure all seams were covered. He went so far as to purchase a filtered mask before meeting the others at the marked sewer entrance on the map. The three each carried a copy of the map Laura made along with a flashlight and the disk Eddie would need for his part.
"Will you two quit screwing around?" Laura angrily asked. "Man up and hurry up. We're going to miss the shift changes and will have to wait for tomorrow. I want to get this over with as fast as possible. With Parker dressed like the world's largest condom and you throwing up every five minutes, it's a wonder we haven't fallen behind schedule."
"Don't tell me to man up, clone. I'm not the one wrapped in plastic and scared of getting my feet wet." Being down in the polluted water, Eddie was silently wishing he had on actual clothing instead of just having his suit form a quick pair of jeans, shirt, and trench coat ensemble.
"Call me a clone again, and I will make you a woman, Ooze Boy." To emphasize her point, Laura popped the claws of her right hand and held them up.
"She told you," Peter mocked. "Hey, Eddie, look, a floater coming right at ya."
"Shut up or I'll make you a floater." Eddie felt his stomach tighten up again and the rush of bile rise in his throat. He once again threw up as the floating fecal matter brushed his leg.
"Such a baby." Laura continued forward, listening to Eddie gag for what seemed the twentieth time by now. "Parker, how'd you end up friends with such a wuss?"
"Don't ask me. I was a kid."
"How much longer till we get to my junction?" Eddie asked. "I don't want to have to hear you two complaining about me anymore."
"Next one we come to," Laura told him. "Take the right and follow the map I gave you."
"Fine, I'll go ahead and leave you two alone to mock me in private. At least I'll know Parker's gotta walk through my puke."
"Good luck, Brock." Peter told him as he walked past. "Don't fall into any deep ends."
Stopping in his tracks, Eddie nodded then turned back to face the plastic encased hero. "Remember, Parker. You brought this on yourself." He then ripped the face mask off Peter and watched as he began to gag as he breathed the tainted air. "Enjoy the fresh air, Spider-Man."
As Eddie walked off and Peter threw up, Laura rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Men, such babies."