Tending To Those In Need
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Chapter 14
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Instant Cocoa
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~Michelle~
_
The wind of the cool December afternoon bites at a young Michelle Jones, who walks down the streets of Queens. She pathetically stuffs her hands in her pockets as she retreats into a coffee shop, escaping the merciless biting wind.
The city buses didn't particularly come quickly, so instead of catching frostbite, she figures its better to sit in a warm place until the bus comes.
The coffee shop isn't busy, save for a couple in the corner enjoying their coffee, and chatting away at the wonders of mundane life. Or the man sitting watching the Tv, and the random shows the barista so graciously felt like watching that particular day.
Anything was better than what Mj was thinking about, her mind had a death grip on her. She sits at a table, taking the seat next to the window to regret her life choices quietly. Random civilians passing by, chatting on their phones, or listening to music. But Michelle wasn't paying too much mind to it.
Her mind was on one particular teen who happens to take almost every class with her and somehow always takes ahold of her thoughts whenever he's near. . .
"Fucking Parker.."
He was staring at her, she's more that certain he was staring at her. It made her feel self conscious, but it also flattered her.
'I didn't have anything on me? Did I?'
Michelle wills her lips not to smile as she thinks of Peter, and how his face turned red after she told him he was reading it upside down the whole time.
"He was so cute..." She heard herself say. Her dark brows furrow as she clears her throat. Her fingers nervously fondles with the Manila folders currently holding God knows how many secrets about Wilson Fisk.
Mj has caught him staring at her lips, multiple times.
She slowly exhales, her dark curls falling over her closed eyes as she tries to get a grip on her problem. . . her Peter Parker problem.
'You don't get attached Michelle, you know better.'
Michelle's phone vibrates in her pocket as she tries desperately to expel the thoughts of attachments in her brain. She's not good enough for it, she's better off without it. . . Jesus that what she tells herself.
She fishes her phone out of her black leather jacket pocket. A simple text.
'Still coming?'
Her lips curl into a small smile, as she sends him a simple response.
—
"Bud, are you...sweating?" May has her hands on his shoulders, an eyebrow raised on her puzzled face.
She's intercepted him pacing up and down the living room, the creak of his weight on the floorboards finally running away with her patience.
"No...yes. Is it noticeable?" It's kind of exhausting being a human disaster.
Peter shifts nervously for a moment, his hands sweating as he fumbles with his web-ring.
Peter was convinced to let Mj meet Spider-Man, because honestly if Mj helps him the way she claims Peter can not only put a end to the technology smuggling, and know what the police are up to, but also find out why Wilson Fisk wants him dead. Maybe clear his name? He isn't sure.
Peter isn't just nervous, he's terrified. God, he's going to mess this up. MJ is actually going to come over, like she's going to be here, in his apartment, where he lives. Now he's freaking out on where the oven mitts should be placed or should the floor be waxed. . . he's a wreck.
May grins at him, with that horribly adult look that makes him feel like he's five years old.
"Peter, relax okay, breathe with me. It is perfectly natural...when you like a girl, with these changes in your body-"
"God! No, please May no!" Peter screams. He really wants to melt into the carpet right now. All he's told Aunt May is that he's having Mj over and already she's made it her one woman mission to meddle in his love life, if he can even call it that.
"Pete, you've got nothing to worry about. You're a wonderful human being. Now go take a shower."
The sad thing is, he kind of wishes MJ coming over was what Aunt May is bigging it up to be. Before he gets in the shower, he shoots Ned a quick text.
'Ned, where are you? I don't know when she will be here!'
Ned only sends a sticker that reads "Be cool".
God damn it Ned. Their plan is pretty simple; Peter will take MJ out into the fire escape, Ned will come out and tell Peter there's some kind of emergency, then Ned can distract MJ long enough for Peter to change into the suit and show up on the fire escape. That should be quick enough to exchange the files and leave? Right?
He jumps in the shower quickly and it's almost as if the stress is washing off him. He's being ridiculous. He already kissed her for God's sake! This should be nothing. . .yet it's eating at him that he might mess this up.
After that, he races to dig out a clean shirt, he quickly throws the shirt on with a quip about gravity, and looks in the mirror quick enough to toss at his hair in a fruitless attempt to make himself look half decent. Peter quickly realizes his pants are on the chair in the dining room, so he quickly throws on his bathrobe, which is covered in turtle designs, as he pads out of his room and into the living room.
"Hey Parker,"
Of course, MJ is sitting on his sofa. This is not how this was supposed to go! Jesus he can feel himself turning red as an apple. He freezes in place.
"Turtles." She points out his bathrobe.
He tries to laugh, as May flashes him an apologetic look but it comes out all thick and weird and he cringes internally. Has it always been so hot in here?
"Peter, go get dressed, MJ you want something to eat?"
Peter tried to summon words, but nothing comes out so he turns on his heel and runs into his room.
He plops on his bed and screams into his pillow.
When he's finally recovered well enough, this time dressed in his regular dorky shirt and jeans, to leave his bedroom again, MJ's sitting carefully on the sofa, knees pressed tightly together. He manages a smile and she nods back. She's winding a corkscrew of hair around her slim finger and it's somehow strange to catch her lapsing absolute concentration.
Peter quickly clears his throat as he reaches for his phone, thumbs typing furiously.
'NED WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU MAN?!'
"Your aunt left, she went to get groceries." MJ says, as if nothing on earth could hold greater gravity.
Maybe it's just him, but everything she says seems so...important. Even when she's saying it eating a cookie. May must have made it for her before she completely abandoned him.
"You want something to drink with that?" Peter teases, well he's at least trying. MJ just glares at him, her lips incasing the treat as she takes another bite. His eyes glued to her lips again, Abort mission. Swallowing, she raises both eyebrows, then flashes him a sweet smile.
Peter meanwhile suppresses a sigh; even though she's trying to be sarcastic, she still looks really...really pretty. Illuminated by the soft glow of the overhead lamp, her skin adopts a supernatural quality, glowing golden brown. Jesus he could stick his tongue down her throat—
"Yeah I'd love something to drink."
Peter let's MJ out onto the fire escape and he sets out making her drink. As he fumbles about the kitchen, Peter glimpses out of the window, to watch MJ, perch herself on the window ledge, long legs bent out in front of her, her arms holding a Manila folder tightly. And in that quick glimpse, he swears he catches her lips spread into a small smile.
"Hot cocoa!" He grins, hopping through the window and onto the fire escape. It's the warmest nights in weeks, a complete 78 degrees, thankfully, but even still, the cold tingles his nose. MJ must be cold too, as she hurriedly takes the mug from him, wrapping her fingertips around the flower decorated china.
"Thank you, Peter, for this, seriously thank you." She's smiling up at him, speaking again with a really profound importance.
"It's fine! It's only hot cocoa."
"No dumbass!" MJ throws her head back, curls bouncing wildly and lets out a warm laugh, before resting her head on her knees. "For letting me meet Spider-Man, it's a really cool thing to do."
"It's okay." Peter gives her a shy half smile.
"Have you ever met him?" She asks, lifting her eyes meeting his own. Her lips wrapping themselves around the rim of the cup, taking a small sip.
"Oh...uh...just a couple of times. Why? Do you like him?" He can't help himself but ask. "Well, spandex isn't really my go to." MJ counters.
"But he has saved my life, so." She tails off as her curls blow in the wind.
"I heard you saved his life too, I'm sure he's super thankful for that."
She only snuggles deeper into her jacket.
"Well, it's the least I could do." Her eyes meet his.
"I think I know who Spider-Man is."
Peter is in the middle of sipping before a ton of burning liquid invades his mouth. He swallows as the cocoa scorches his throat.
"What?!" He struggles to get out.
"Well not, exactly... I just think that if I saw him again, I'd know. Well that's only slightly less of a massive problem."
"You've met him before?" He asks, a chill running down his spine as he's reminded of how deep he is in his own lies. It's bizarre too, pretending he wasn't there, when it's all he's thought about for the last few days. He hates lying to her. . .
"Twice."
"And what do you think of him?" He tries to drop in to to the conversation casually, but it must sound he's some kind of super-fan, because Michelle narrows her eyes, suspiciously.
"Oh, I'm in love with him." She declares confidently, staring at him intensely.
"Foreal?!"
"No." She laughs a little while answering.
"Speaking of, isn't Spider-Man supposed to be making an appearance?" She exhales heavily, a cloud forming from her lips.
That's when his heart kind of sinks. He's slipped into that false hope again, of fooling himself into thinking this is anything more than just a way to solve a problem.
Actually, now she mentions is it, Ned should definitely be here by now.
"He...said he'd be here." Peter grins, nervously. Michelle gazes directly at him and for a moment, it's almost as if she knows exactly what he's up to. Then she gives him a small nod and leans her head against the exposed brick, an unplaceable look on her face.
Sliding out his phone, he bites his tongue between his teeth and texts Ned quickly.
'Dude. Where are you??'
"Is everything okay, Peter?" She blinking at him, with an anxious look on her face.
"Is that him?"
Peter shakes his head.
If Ned doesn't show up, then he can't leave MJ, so he can't put on the suit. This is getting bad. . .
—
So when a whole hour passes, Ned still hasn't shown up, it's pretty clear the situation has gone from bad, to worse.
MJ's been deadly silent for a while, eyes only on the Manila folder she brought. Her fingers playing at the edges. He's desperate to say something— anything to clear the unspoken tension that's settled, but he can't quite find the words.
Finally, after what feels like hours, she stands abruptly and clambers swiftly back through the window and into the apartment.
"MJ? Where are you going?" He blurts out, springing through after her, his face falling.
Her expression looks cold and distant, he knows that look— the look of hurt.
"You didn't have to lie." Her words are ice cold and his gut lurches. The guilt seeping into his face must be plain to see because her lips tighten, as her jaw locks.
"He's not coming is he?"
"No no— ah, of course he's coming! Just not right now..." Peter struggles to say, oh God, why does everything have to be so complicated. He wants to tell her, keep no more secrets from her— Jesus why did he out of all people get bit??
For the past two weeks Peter has wanted nothing more but to tell her, so that there would be no more secrets. No more lies. . . but he's afraid to show her— he doesn't want to to be scared of him.
Mj grips her Manila folder tightly as she reaches for the doorknob. Her face cold, her lips in a thin line.
Oh God, what has he gotten himself into?
"Is this some kind of sick joke Peter?" Her words are cutting.
"No!" He practically whines. "No Mj it's not— I can explain!" He looks her in her eyes, the gentle brown he once saw is now hard, cold. Just like they were before they were friends. Before they started to go out on dates. . . she's furious he knows it.
"Explain then." Her voice is oozing with venom.
The truth. . . the explanation is on the tip of his tongue, yet he just can't let it out. Instead he stands there, stupidly, sweating, with nothing to say that will win her round.
For a moment, he thinks about touching her, but they just stare; both frozen in time. Then she's reaching again for the door handle and far, far away from him.
Thing is, he's not ready yet to let her go.
As she begins to move away, he takes her hands and grips them tightly. The air between feels like it's on fire and he lets out this shuddered breath, as the hair of his arms stands upright. She says nothing, but her face softens a bit.
Her heart is beating fast again. . .
"Peter..." her voice soft,
He feels like an asshole. He says nothing.
"I really want to tell you MJ, I want to tell you so so badly, but I can't and if you knew, you'd be in so much danger."
Her face hardens again as she removes her hands from his grasp.
"No more excuses Parker.. I think I'll figure this out on my own."
"MJ, wait!"
"I gotta get to the bus stop before it stops running for the night." And with that, she's gone.
For a few moments, he just stands there, the overwhelming sensation of loss rooting him to the spot.
Then he's charging erratically into his room and diving into his backpack, to wrench the suit out. To hell with giving up on this, on her. If this is the way she has to find out; so be it. He couldn't lose her, not like this. . . just as he smooths the suit tight to his body, his phone vibrates and Ned's face flashes onto the screen.
"NED! What the hell!—" Peter yells, suit practically on.
"Pete! Bud I'm soo sorry! It's just Betty and I were building this X-Wing and then things got a little steamy and—"
"Jesus! Not now, Ned!" Peter cuts him off.
"Mj is really mad at me, I gotta go after her." Peter says while struggling to get the suit on.
"I'll make it up to you I promise!"
"Yeah, yeah man. I'll talk to you later, I gotta go!"
—
"Goddamn you Parker— what are you hiding."
Michelle sits at the nearby bus stop, head in her hands. Her brain melting at the thought of what Peter could be hiding from her.
She's cold; yet she doesn't care. She's beyond furious with him— she's confused. . . she's feeling shit she doesn't want to feel, yet Peter Benjamin Parker always coaxes these damned emotions out of her. She doesn't want to feel anything anymore— not if it's like this. . .
The sky is incredibly clear tonight, stars illuminated against a background of black velvet, so she lets her mind melt out of focus, eyes glued on the folder.
Above her, a crain reaches out it's slender arm and over the roof of the homeless shelter the bus station is parked in front of. Her curls swaying ever so slightly in the winter breeze. She's so enthralled in fact, that she doesn't notice a masked figure, drifting over to meet her.
"You might get sick staying out here like this." Of course it's Spider-Man, perched on the light post, just like their first encounter.
Peter wasn't lying? Oh God— Peter, damn you.
"Yeah well I kinda stormed out of Peter's place. Can't really go back after..." her voice trails off as she buries her head in her hands again.
"I'm sorry I took so long, I didn't mean to keep you waiting."
"Oh no, no, don't apologize. You're probably super busy ducking cops and civilians..." Her voice trails off again. "Peter."
"I'm sorry?"
"Peter, he must think I'm an asshole."
"No! Of course not he could never—"
His voice stops abruptly as she looks up at him, the red in her eyes tells him everything.
"From what I hear you're just trying your best to help the both of us."
She laughs, but it comes out as a wet strain.
She's been crying.
"Well I've done some pretty stupid shit for him, I figured I might as well help you out too. You guys seem close." Her voice not carrying any form of her normal sarcasm.
Oh God.
"I guess you can say that." He jumps down from the light and sits next to her. He could hear a faint sniffle, his heart breaks.
"I don't know what's gotten into me lately. It's just—" she cuts herself off with another wet laugh. Followed by a sniffle.
"—I'm sure you don't want to hear about my personal problems."
He shifts.
"No! No of course I do." He remarks, "I'm not always you're friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man you know, underneath the suit I'm just a regular...teen."
She just eyes him, a smile of disbelief aimed at him.
Spider-Man chuckles and nods. "Okay, what do you know?"
Relieved to find a distraction from the mess of feelings that are swelling inside of her, she rushes to hand him the Manila folder, and leeways into her explanation. She tells him everything about her Dad being a police captain,and Fisk's mysterious expunged criminal records.
"It's not about them catching you anymore, they want you put down. Or if you turn yourself in, they want to reveal your identity to the public, to set an example to the Avengers, to everyone. Apparently they're planning on using some kind of new technology too, I don't know what, but whatever it is, the neighboring precinct just got a huge shipment."
MJ bites her lip as he physically shudders, taking on the bad news she's just launched at him.
"Good thing is, my Dad says they're getting a massive delivery in a few days. So at least then, maybe I can convince him to tell me what it is."
"How come your Dad is telling you all this? Couldn't he get into trouble?" MJ half smiles at his innocence. Of all things, he's concerned about her Dad getting fired, never mind his own life being at risk.
"Then with Fisk, his criminal records, his tax fraud files... everything; Gone." She points out specific pages in the folder.
"But I saw that," she pulls out a check. "He's recently bought a small company from Tony Stark."
"It's only for cleaning operations though, scrap tech." She pulls out another file.
"That particular address has been getting constant shippings from the place Fisk just bought."
Spider-Man only nods, he knows exactly who to go to follow up on this.
He lets out this sort of strangled awkward grunt and she just hums in response, letting quiet settle. That is until, he suddenly bolts uprights, head darting from side to side. His body is tense and angled and she jumps when his head snaps back towards her.
"Someone's here."
He inhales as he focuses his ears. His hair stands up on his neck. Four, no. . . five officers. Heavy weaponry, Mj needs to get out of here.
"We have to go." He says bluntly.
Spidey stares at her a few seconds, then upwards, towards the star lit sky. The sky that's currently obscured by the arm of a crane.
"No. Way." But she already knows she's not really got a choice. "I'm really sorry but we're gonna have to go for a ride."
Spider-Man points out his wrist and sprays her with a web that yanks their bodies close to one another.
Next thing she knows, he's binding them together with strings of web fluid, that almost resembles a harness, pinning them so tightly together there's not even an inch between them.
"Don't look down!"
As he points his wrist towards the sky, booming cries echo around the station as five armed police officers materialize around the bus platform. She's barely able to catch her feet lift off the ground as in seconds, they're zooming upwards through the air, the spray of bullets rattling the night sky. Not daring to look down, MJ buries her face into his shoulder, as they swing off through the city, familiar streets delving into darkness.
—
They come to a stop in a dingy secluded alleyway, not far from her apartment.
Firing his web at an overhanging fire escape, he lowers them carefully to the ground, his skin tingling with the pressure of her fingers on his spine. As MJ's feet touch the floor, he presses his hand against the small of her back and she slides her hands onto his shoulders, her breath clouding in the clipped cold. He wonders if she can feel his heart spasming in his chest, for it's thumping pervades his entire body, right down to his finger tips.
"Are you okay?" He asks, his words drifting out slowly. He's barely aware of his own breathlessness, totally consumed by her, as he rubs his shoulder absentmindedly. There's a throbbing in his left shoulder - perhaps just a scrape from a bullet fragment, but it's nothing he can't manage.
"I'm good. Are you good?" She replies, her voice slow, oozing from between her lips like treacle. She drops her gaze to where he's holding his shoulder and her brow tenses. "You didn't get shot did you?!"
"No, no, I mean I don't think so!" He laughs, as the pain dissipates. The corners of her lips twinge with an incredulous smile and much to his disdain, she pulls away from him, the slithers of web fluid unwinding.
"I should call Peter."
Warmth stirs in the pit of his stomach and he nods, forgetting she can't see him smile as he glances at the floor.
"Sure, you want me to take you home?"
"No!" She snaps, much to quickly. "I mean, whenever we're together you tend to get shot at so...I think I'll take my chances."
MJ laughs and wrapping her arms around herself, puffs out her cheeks. Then, as stillness descends on the alley, she once again moves carefully towards him, lips parted slightly. To his surprise, she only stops when their faces are inches apart.
"Weird."
Peter snorts, only mildly insulted.
"What?"
"It's just, a few months ago, I would have killed to find out who you are. But now, I don't want to know."
"Why?" He breathes, locked in her eyes and their gooey warmth.
"Because, I'm just hoping you are who I think you are."
This is the perfect moment, the air is practically electric between them. It's now or never, come on Peter! He wills himself to speak, to say anything but all that materalises is a gasp in the form of:
"Oh."
God damn it! Tell her!
She gives him this smile that's so rich with understanding, that it flips his stomach upside down. Then she's parading back down the alleyway, disappearing into street light.
Watching her hair flow behind her as she steps, Peter just stands there aimlessly, transfixed on the space she's left behind. He's so encapsulated in fact, that he barely registers the vibration of his cellphone in his suit. Fishing it out, his face splits into a ridiculous smile as her caller ID illuminated the screen.
"Hey MJ."
—
Howdy!
Ah, well. There we go! Chapter 14! It was originally supposed to be two separate chapters but I didn't feel like waiting another two months. (Lmao sorry) So I combined them both. I really hoped you enjoyed, this took more out of me than I expected. Chapter 15 is literally in the works right now. Summer has been eventful so far, working on this animation for this book is taking a lot out of me. I'm gonna start posting clips of the animation on my Instagram, so be sure to follow me on there to stay updated on that (IG:TheAuthorWhoWrote) I'm still trying to get Tom/Zendaya to voice their animated counterparts. Here's to hoping. As for this story; I now know at what point I'm going to end it. The final chapter will be Chapter 27. The plot is finally about to kick it into full gear so expect high stakes, and a lot of dorky romance.
The love this book has been getting is, very inspiring. Thank you all, welcome new readers! Thank you for sticking around.. feel free to PM me, as for my OG readers, thank you as well. I'm always up for a conversation and I can discuss scrapped chapters that didn't make the cut if you're up for that.
I also got news that Cameron Boyce has left us.. this hit me hard, I loved him in Jessie. He was so young.. for any of you dealing with lost loved ones I truly send my condolences. Stay safe out there! Check on your loved ones..
I love you 3000
—TheAuthorWhoWrote