A LITTLE LOST LAMB

MJ opened the door to her apartment. And then blinked in surprise.

There was a little girl at door. And MJ didn't know her.

"Hello, sweetie," MJ said as she leaned against the door-frame. That put her closer to her visitor... and that was when MJ belatedly realized that perhaps the girl at the door wasn't as 'little' as she'd first assumed. She definitely wasn't a woman yet, but there was the first beginnings of a bust developing under her jacket and shirt. Otherwise, she was very pretty, if a little short for what MJ took to be her age. She had long dark hair, pale skin, and green eyes that were impressively deep. On the other hand, her clothes were a little rough - leather jacket, flannel shirt, a crisp new pair of jeans, and a worn pair of brown boots.

In MJ's very expert opinion, the girl would grow up to be quite a beauty.

The girl seemed surprised to see MJ. Then she glanced up at the number on the door, as if wondering if she had the right apartment.

"Is this the Parker residence?" she asked in a puzzled voice.

MJ smiled. "Yes, it is. Actually, I'm Mrs. Parker."

It seemed to take a second for the girl to absorb that. "Really?" she asked eventually. There was something definitely skeptical - and perhaps challenging - in that one word.

MJ raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Really."

The girl's eyes roamed up and down MJ's body - from MJ's bare feet to her long red hair. MJ had a distinct impression that she was being inspected... and that she was failing the inspection.

Then the girl's eyes narrowed. "You're Mary Jane Watson," she said very flatly. "The actress. My brothers like that movie where you're a Roman slavegirl."

That made MJ pause. There were a few scenes in "The Eagles of Rome" where she wasn't wearing much in the way of clothes. And one scene where she wasn't wearing any clothes at all.

"That's me," MJ replied, trying to be reasonable. "And who are you?"

"My name is Laura. Laura Howlett."

That rang a distant bell for MJ, but nothing particularly specific came to mind.

"Is unc... is Mr. Parker home?" Laura added.

"No, he's not," MJ said. "He's teaching a class."

"At Empire State University?"

MJ nodded.

"Can you give me the building and room number?" Laura asked after a moment's thought.

MJ smiled. "Yes, I could, but I'm not going to. This is the part where you tell me why you want to see my husband."

Laura's face was expressionless for a long moment as her eyes met MJ's. MJ returned her gaze without even blinking.

"I want to borrow his phone," Laura eventually said. "I'm separated from my parents and my phone is back at home. I need to call somebody."

MJ considered that. Then she leaned over, picked up her phone from the stand next to the door, and handed it to Laura.

Laura was still staring at MJ as she held the phone, absently rotating it over and over between her hands.

Several awkward seconds passed as the girl and woman locked eyes.

Much to her surprise, MJ finally figured out Laura's problem. MJ was used to people wondering why the hell she was with someone like Peter. People tended to think of MJ as being way out of Peter's league. Actually, Laura was doing something like that. Except she was apparently wondering if MJ was good enough for Peter.

That was a new experience for MJ.

Then Laura finally turned her attention to MJ's phone and expertly double-thumbed a number into it.

"Aunt Marie?" Laura said into the phone. "It's me... Laura. I'm in New York City."

A puzzled sound came from the phone.

"I was visiting the girls at the school," Laura said in obvious exasperation. "There was a teleportation accident and I ended up in town instead. Daisy is probably freaking out. Can you come get me?"

The sound on the other end of the phone suddenly became interrogative.

"No," Laura sighed. "I don't exactly have permission to be this far away from home. Sometimes I just... I just want to talk to girls my age. We never do anything but talk, watch videos, play games, and eat a lot of junk food. And I always make sure I'm back home by a reasonable hour. Normally, I don't even leave the school grounds. But things got strange this time."

The voice on the phone calmed down.

"Where am I?" Laura said hesitantly. "Um... I'm in a lady's apartment and using her phone. But I thought we could meet somewhere else. How about Central Park?"

The phone didn't quite explode.

MJ calmly reached over and took her phone from a surprised Laura. Then MJ put the phone to her ear and reeled off an address.

"You can pick her up here," MJ added.

There was a stormy look on Laura's face.

"Tell her," MJ said flatly. Then she handed the phone back to Laura.

Laura yanked the phone away from MJ. "Look, Aunt Marie, I don't have to stay here! I can..."

The voice on the other end of the phone went back to being agitated. Laura winced.

"Yes, Aunt Marie," Laura replied carefully.

The voice on the phone kept talking. It began hitting some very high notes. By then, MJ could make out phrases like 'stay right the hell where you are' and 'not too old for a spanking'. The person on the other end of the phone was a woman with a distinctly Southern accent. And - again - MJ had the distinct feeling she should know who it was.

"Yes, Aunt Marie," Laura repeated. By then her eyes were closed in a pained grimace.

There were a few final words from the voice on the phone, and then it went silent. Laura took a deep breath and handed the phone back to MJ.

"If you don't mind, I think I'll stay here," Laura stiffly informed MJ.

MJ nodded.

Peter Parker usually took the subway between home and work. Leaving the subway station, he saw Rogue drop out of the sky and land on the roof of his apartment building. It seemed to Peter that Rogue looked pissed. And Peter was well aware of the fact that an angry Rogue was not a good thing.

"What the hell?" Pete half-muttered to himself. Then he began sprinting towards his apartment building.

"Pete?" Marie said in surprise after Peter entered the apartment. "This is your place?"

Marie, MJ, and a younger girl were standing in the tiny living room.

"Hey, Marie," Peter replied. He was obviously confused. "What's going on?"

Marie gestured towards a young girl. "One of our lambs slipped away from the flock," she explained.

Peter glanced at the girl. Then he did a double-take.

"Laura?" he said in disbelief. It had been a few years since he'd last seen her.

"Hi, Uncle Pete," Laura said almost shyly. "There was a teleportation problem and I kinda got lost. So I came here. Dad always said I should find you if I was lost in Manhattan."

Then Laura paused before going on.

"So how long have you known Mary Jane Watson?" she asked very casually.

MJ was giving Laura a hard look.

Peter was still staring at Laura as he shook his head. "Laura... who the heck gave you permission to grow up?"

"That sort of thing just happens," Laura replied very seriously.

"Where are your Mom and Dad?"

"Japan."

Peter looked at Marie.

"We can get her home," Marie promised.

Then Marie glanced at Laura. "And I think we can get her home quietly."

Laura looked relieved.

Peter sighed in relief. "Well... good. So I guess everything's okay?"

"Uhm..." Laura said hesitantly.

Everyone froze and looked at Laura.

"What?" Marie asked in a tone that was both dangerous and worried.

Laura was wincing again. "While I was walking here, there was this guy. He said I was pretty and got kinda close. I didn't like that."

Marie's eyes were wide. "Did you hurt him? Is he okay?"

"No claws!" Laura protested. "Mom and Dad always tell us we shouldn't use our claws unless we have to!"

"Claws?" MJ asked. She seemed confused.

"Is he okay?" Marie repeated urgently.

Laura nodded. "I sorta beat him up. But I'm pretty sure I didn't break anything that was really important."

"Just how many unimportant things did you break?" Peter asked.

"The ambulance crew said he'd be fine! And the cops were laughing when they told me I could go!"

Marie and MJ still looked worried, but Peter was suddenly trying to hide a smile.

Laura and MJ were in the kitchen. MJ was making coffee. Laura had tagged along.

Marie and Peter were still in the living room, going over the details of getting Laura home.

"I really like Uncle Pete," Laura said suddenly.

MJ couldn't help but smile at Laura. "I've noticed."

Then Laura hesitated, obviously searching for something to say.

"I'm glad that you're happy together," Laura continued carefully. "I can smell how close you are. Your scents have blurred together. That's how it is with my mom and dad."

MJ wasn't quite sure what to make of that, but she nodded anyway. "Thank you."

"And your apartment is just filled with sex-pheromones," Laura continued. "I mean... wow! What the heck is it that you two do on the living room ceiling?"

MJ refused to blush. "Come back when you're eighteen and maybe I'll tell you about it."

"Okay," Laura responded with a reasonable nod. "And I'm sorry if I was kind of a B-word earlier. I guess I was surprised to see you here."

"That's okay, sweetie. I know you had a lot on your mind."

Marie and Laura were gone. Peter and MJ were sitting on the couch, trying to sort out what had happened.

"So just who are those two?" MJ asked.

"Marie's an X-Man," Peter explained. "Laura is Logan's daughter."

"Daughter? Logan?" MJ gasped. "Oh, dear God, Logan is reproducing?"

Peter shrugged. "He got married to Ororo. Besides Laura, I hear he also has a couple of sons and another daughter. That's why he sort of vanished until that thing with Hydra popped up a while back."

"So when did you meet Laura?"

A slightly nostalgic look appeared on Peter's face. "I babysat her. That was in the old apartment when we weren't married and you were off shooting that movie in Spain. A bad-guy showed up, and Logan and Ororo asked me to keep an eye on Laura while they dealt with the problem. What was supposed to be for one night turned into a couple of days. At the time, Laura was just a lethal little kid who liked pizza-rolls and cartoons. 'Gargoyles' was her favorite. I lost track of her for a few hours and she killed some rats that were bothering Mrs. Paduski down in her apartment. Mrs. Paduski baked us some cookies for that. Chocolate chip. They were pretty good."

MJ was smiling at Peter. "You know Laura has a crush on you? Right?"

Peter snorted. "Okay, that's silly. She's just a kid."

With a broad smile, MJ reached over and affectionately yanked Peter closer.

"I love it when you're oblivious," MJ told Peter. Then she kissed him. It was a while before they separated.

"So what can I do to make sure you'll never think about another woman?" MJ eventually purred.

A speculative look appeared in Peter's eyes. "Remember that movie you were in that was about the fall of Rome? You were a slavegirl? You had this one really neat outfit."

MJ looked disappointed. "Oh... I didn't save any of those costumes. Sorry."

Peter shook his head as he began unbuttoning MJ's blouse. "No. There's one you definitely still have. And it's always been a personal favorite."

MJ looked even more puzzled. "But I didn't... Oh! You mean... uhm."

Peter was smiling as he helpfully unbuckled MJ's jeans. "Yeah, that one."

Grinning, MJ kissed Peter again as she simultaneously began wiggling out of her pants.

Before heading home, Marie unbent enough to take Laura out for a pizza.

"Still mad at me?" Laura asked. Actually, she could tell by scent and body language that Marie had calmed down. But Dad always told her and her siblings that regular people sometimes had to talk things out.

"No," Marie said, "it's just that this was a surprise. And you should have told me that you were coming to town. That way, I could run interference for you."

Laura considered that and then nodded in agreement. That actually made a lot of sense.

"You're going to have to talk to your Mom and Dad about this," Marie continued firmly. "Yeah, teleporting is just another X-Men thing, but they have a right to know when you're going to the other side of the world."

Laura thought about that. Then she nodded again.

After that, an amused look crept into Marie's eyes. "So, are you planning to use your feminine wiles to take Pete away from MJ?"

Laura stirred uneasily before answering. "No. That wouldn't be right. And besides, Uncle Pete is really into MJ."

"That's good. Want to talk about it?"

Laura used her straw to stir the ice cubes in her glass of soda. "I didn't know Uncle Pete was married. So I was surprised when I met MJ. I got kinda..."

Laura paused.

"Is 'bitchy' the word you're looking for?" Marie suggested.

Obviously embarrassed, Laura nodded.

Marie reached over and squeezed Laura's hand. "Welcome to all of the stupid stuff that happens when you start growing up. A lot of it will just kind of sneak up on you. Oh, and here's a rough rule of thumb, if you think of a man as 'Uncle Pete' then you and he aren't destined to be together."

That made Laura smile. Talking to her Aunt Marie was always a good way to sort things out.

"On the other hand, we just found out that you have pretty decent taste in men," Marie continued cheerfully. "I recommend you stay away from the bad-boys. I fell for one and it's been just one thing after the other. They want you, but they also want to have the freedom to wander."

A waitress appeared and put their pizza in front of them.

"Uncle Remy doesn't wander," Laura said as she slid a slice onto her plate.

"Hmmph?" Marie said through a full mouth.

"Uncle Remy doesn't wander," Laura repeated as she poured what Marie thought were way too many hot pepper seeds on her pizza. "I've never smelled another woman on him. Just you."

That made Marie frown. "But the way he talks..."

"It's just talk," Laura said idly. Then she attacked her pizza.

Marie considered that. "I suppose it makes sense that you can tell things like that. But be careful. You probably know things about people that they don't want you to know."

"I try not to talk about stuff like that, but sometimes things just slip. Oh, by the way, how much do girls charge for babysitting?"

Marie was caught off-guard by that.

"Where did that question come from?" she asked.

"I could use the money," Laura replied matter-of-factly. "So how much?"

"I'm really not sure," Marie admitted. "And none of the girls at school do any babysitting. Tell you what, I'll ask around."

Laura nodded agreeably as she sipped from her soda. When she and MJ were in the kitchen together, Laura had caught a faint scent on the older woman. Something Laura remembered from back when her mother was carrying Laura's little sister.

If Peter was her uncle, then Laura would soon have a little cousin. And Laura was really looking forward to meeting them.