This chapter would have come out much sooner if I wasn't too burned out from this story. Some days ago, I actually was inspired by two things that got me to finally finish this chapter. One was a great animator that I absolutely love his design on the spider-man world, and two was Van Morrison. I hadn't listened to Van for a while until I listened to Sweet Thing, the unplug version being put into the guy's animated work for a scene by scene recreation of Peter talking to uncle Ben. Anyways, have fun with the story as I had fun creating this chapter.

Chapter 8: Irresistible

"Good news CC! I've found Dmitri."

"At alchemax?" Carlie asked.

Peter groaned from taking a big shot from a massive ball of sand that sent him through a glass wall. He had to quickly get up to avoid more attacks from the sandman, who swung two heavyweight balls of pure sand that replaced his hands, "Have to call you back once I deal with the double threat here!" The call ended as Peter leaped over Marko to see a man in a lab coat trying to run away from Peter. Yet, of course, he couldn't, with Peter quickly webbing him to a wall, "Been a long time chameleon! Where you've been all this time?" Peter asks as soon as he ducks and bounces wall to wall as he keeps avoiding Flint's attacks, "Man really wished I had a water gun here."

"Can't you just look the other way, spider-man?" Flint attacks weren't touching with how fast Peter was moving about, "Just this once?" Flint spoke. Flint's face might have been masked to focus on dealing with Peter, but his voice trickles of worriness. Not for Peter obviously, but maybe something else.

Peter kept dodging his attacks, backflipping over desks, hopping to the ceiling and bouncing to the floor with constant flip. This cause Flint to change up the way he attacks Peter; he started rain out more smaller but faster projectiles, "Sorry Flint, you know I can't do that," as Peter kept moving and dodging in the uncomfortable claustrophobic environment of a laboratory, he saw chameleon cutting his webbing, and as soon as he changed his attention, Flint caught him in midair with his sand, pinning him to wall that created web like crack behind it, "Ugh….That smarts Flint.." Peter winced.

"Something I picked up after fighting you for years. You really hate sand in your costume."

Peter chuckled, but soon regretted it as somewhere in his torso made it hurt to laugh, "Think you cracked a rib or something… But seriously, your reform Flint. Why get back in the game?"

Flint turns around, not letting Peter see how exhausted his face was. Peter can also hear his mutters, revolving around questioning why he has to do any of this. Somehow, Peter was able to dig in his costume utility belt to get his tracker out and pluck onto Flint's shirt, "Sometimes… People do stuff to put you back in the game."

"You don't look so hot yourself, Flint. Your sand's leaking more than usual," Peter pointed out the constant tiny bit of sand that trembles onto the floor they were on.

Flint snorted as he looked upon his two hands that showed more crumble of sand falling on the floor, "Getting old," he said as he looked at a hand that had grease with sand on it, "Losing control. Thought I would never lose control, but guess I've been proven wrong."

"If anything...You don't look like a grandpa yet," Flint didn't respond to Peter's way of lightening the mood of the situation, "We've done this dance plenty before Flint, but you've never been one interested in tech unless someone wants you too. Help me out so I can help you out, Flint."

Suddenly Peter's senses went haywire, but he couldn't do anything to avoid it and took an injection from Dimtri by his neck, "Ah!"

"Sorry, bug. But that won't be happening," Dimitri nodded to Flint, who then tossed Peter out of the alchemax building.

Flint and Dimitri watch how Peter's body landed on the garbage truck, "That'll buy us time to escape while the bug is left to deal with the drug. Let's move," Dimitri was the first to leave while Flint held onto his glance of Peter being driven away on top of the garbage truck before he took his leave.

Peter can hear the AI coming alive in his suit, asking if he was alright, "Peachy…" in fact, he was also getting calls from Carlie that Peter answered, "Hey…. MJ…" Peter said in hysterical daze due to whatever drug Dimitri put in his system.

"MJ?" Carlie questioned, "The hell went on over there?" She asked with concern in her voice

"Just… Regular day of being a superhero…"

"What the…! Shit! Where are you?!"

The AI took over as Peter was losing consciousness by the second, giving details to Carlie of where the garbage truck was moving, "MJ….? Remember that time we went to Coney island when we were 16….? I didn't tell you before…. But it was the first day I fell in love with you…." Suddenly, Peter lost consciousness, and his mind wandered back to a day when everything was less complicated, but no more stressful.

"Mary Jane Watson."

"Peter Benjamin Parker."

"How do you know my middle name?"

"That's not important. Fact is we have a score to settle."

"You know how these games work, people will cheat you out for more money."

"And so how were you able to do it?" Peter looked at her, grinning cheekily, which made Mary Jane roll her eyes, "Just because you have greater awareness than most people doesn't mean I can't do the same," Mary jane took up the prop gun, aim down sight, and shot several targets without missing, "Hell yeah!"

"Huh… When did you become good at shooting?" Peter asked, surprised at how good her aim was.

"Aunt Anna always says, 'A girl gotta learn to kick ass before it's too late.' " she imitates her aunt in a slightly higher pitch tone than her voice usually is. She then saw a small plushie resembling Peter's costume, immediately choosing it, "Oh my god! I can't believe they have one of these."

"Annnnddd I'm not getting paid for it," Peter chuckle while rubbing the back of his short hair. Mary Jane noted the work Peter put into his appearance this time; hair trimmed and properly combed, button-up shirt with slim brown pants that don't look tight on him with his classic white and black all-star shoes. If she had to guess, his aunt must have made sure to be more presentable when meeting up with her, and she wants to poke fun in that, but she wouldn't because she's that considerate. The pair walked around in the luna park that was at coney island, enjoying their time together, "Think we have enough time for maybe one more ride."

"Awww. It's not even near sundown. Your favorite fanboy wants to see otherwise," Mary Jane whines, "I guess it's cause you still have work to do. By the way, how's it going?"

Peter blew a gush of air out of his mouth as he had been holding it in for years, "I didn't expect these people to be working so closely with one another. You think with one crime boss, it's just one, but no, they have contacts, and I mean many contacts, Mary Jane. It's so… Organize. Take one out, and another replaces them."

Mary Jane can hear his stress coming out from him. He might be more presentable, but that didn't excuse his eyelids being darker than usual,l putting into question if he is getting any sleep at all, "I guess I was right to call you up for a coney island get-together. Ooo, let's get some ice cream before we go on the endeavor."

Peter didn't let his stressfulness weigh him down not to smile because, with Mary Jane, she always seems to find a way to make him smile. Because they got ice cream, Peter had to suggest to Mary Jane to put the plushie in her bag so she could make sure to stabilize her ice cream with both hands. It made him chuckle when she instead held both than not have the other, and so he left to her devices, seeing as he wouldn't get anywhere with her. Peter couldn't help himself from stealing glances at his green-eyed friend; from her clear skin, her red hair with two locks tangled by the side of her cheeks, a blue jacket with a green tank top shirt underneath it, along with blue jeans and sandals. Peter could see no one but Mary Jane representing all that, "I did need a break. Going on these rides, while honestly not as fun as skydiving off the empire state building."

"Which you still have to let me do at least once."

"And I won't do it because you are outright asking me to do something crazy."

"Come on," she bumps her hips to his, "I know damn well you'll catch me if I fall."

He shook his head, "You have so much unmeasurable hope in me that is almost unbearable to deal with, but this was nonetheless a fun day to hang out. Away from school, away from bugle, away from home, and especially from supervillain knockdown city."

Mary Jane giggled at that last bit. From getting to know Peter for over a year, his comedic side always made her laugh at how true it can be and downright silly it can get.

They walked to where the endeavor was at, a big wheel that was more for a relaxing site to see with either friend or a loved one. They paid for their fare and got into the cart; Peter was the first to sit while Mary Jane let her lower body lean on the seat when standing. They waited for the cart to start, one who was waiting like an average person and the other purely waiting for the amazing view that'll see, "How's May been doing?" Mary Jane asked, breaking the silence.

"Alright," Peter took a munch out of his ice cream, "She's been keeping herself busy so she won't have to be in the house as much. With me being out there a lot the house gets lonely for her."

The cart started moving upwards, "You should try to make more time for her, Peter. I don't mean to patronize you."

"Which you do so often," Peter counters, receiving a kick to his leg that did nothing.

"You're still spending way too much time in costume than out of costume. I'm glad I at least see you in school more often than last year, and you're being more responsible in keeping your injuries from being close to death doors, but you need to amp up your social skills with others."

Peter sighs as he lets his head lay back on the seat, "Maybe I just don't want to socialize so much. Not be so invested in other's lives so they won't have to count on me as a friend."

Mary Jane raised her eyebrow just as she finished with her ice cream cone, "So what? You rather not have people to depend on you for how loyal and trustworthy you are to them?"

"No," he sits back up, shaking his head, "Not like that. Just that…. I have so many other people that depend on my web shooting that I don't want more people to depend on me outside of costume. So many times May wants me to spend time with her, but I blow her off because I have to be spider-man. Some of the daily bugle people I work with want to have brunch with me, but shocker is out robbing the bank," his hazel eyes then directly went to Mary Jane's own green eyes, "Even you I had to ditch several times when you wanted to do something other than helping maintain my secret identity or helping me take down this guys and gals"

"But I understand why, and May wouldn't hold a grudge on you."

"But you don't know that!" His voice became elevated with her not understanding the point of what he's trying to make out with, "May doesn't know that I spend every waking moment keeping New York safe! No one but you knows I do this, so there wouldn't be another person losing someone close to them… To have more people that depend on me, really me, means disappointing them everytime they want to spend time with me, or even work with me on something."

Silence reigns in the cart. The cart itself was now up high enough where the sunshine was bright over the two people, and it caught Mary Jane's attention as she looked out the cart while Peter tried to get himself relaxed in the seat he was in. Mary Jane got a good look at the ocean, the beach that people spend time on, and parts of a building she can see of lower Brooklyn, "...What's it like seeing Manhattan on top of the highest building?"

Peter didn't answer, which made Mary Jane think he wanted to avoid the question. Until he then stood up and moved right next to her with the ice cream still hadn't been eating, "..Beautiful. Just like this. But much more. Cars, people, and objects are so tiny above those buildings that tower over us," his elbows rest over the railing as he held the ice cream with both his hands, "I can see everything from up those buildings, as if the whole city is my playground to do whatever I please. But I know better than that. From up there, some can reach me, but no one can touch me. Because when I breathe in, fall down where the buildings, people, cars, everything become less tiny, it's a breath of fresh air that tells me I'm alive and fighting for something."

He took a huge munch off his ice cream. Not reacting to how cold it was in his mouth,"...You really won't stop. Would you?" Mary Jane asked in a quiet tone.

"No."

This time, Mary Jane sighs, "Well… Just spend more time being Peter Parker. He's a good friend and a nephew who should be seeing just as much as the other guy. Ok?"

Peter slowly nodded, "...I'll try my best."

The cart was still high enough for them to see everything, and the two didn't move except with Mary Jane slipping one hand to Peter's arm while the other still held the spider plushie, "I want to be an actress. You know that?"

Peter didn't react when she slipped her hands through his arms, nor did he even voice anything when her head touched his shoulder, "Not really. We didn't reach that point where we asked each other about our dreams and goals. Never thought we would be honest."

"Ha. Boy, we reach there now," she snickers, "It's not just that, though. I want to act in movies, theater, and shows, but I also want to help people. And I mean help so many other people with problems they can't do alone."

"Kind of like me?" he pointed to himself with a slight grin back on his face.

"Mmmm," she squinted her eyes, "Not as baggage like you, or maybe a little bit more just without the superhero aspect. I want to use that money to go places, learn about the culture there, and be of some use to humanity. More than how my parents were to me."

Peter never heard Mary Jane talk about her parents; all he knew is that she doesn't have the best relationship with them, especially with her dad. It's something he couldn't relate to, both because he never had a mom and dad but was grown by his aunt and uncle. Mary Jane tapped his arm with her head, "Your turn?"

"Hm?"

"Your dreams and goals. I share mine, and you share me yours."

"What if what you see is what you get?"

Mary Jane shifted her head to look at him with a deadpan, "I know there's more to you than just being spider-man forever. It can't be something you want to be a permanent thing, right?" She went back to having her head on his arm and continued to look at the cart that was beginning to go lower.

Peter shrugs, "I wouldn't know what the future holds for me, Mary Jane."

"Ok. Let's say… What's the word you use..? Hypothetically! You find the balance between you being you and you being spider-man. What would you want to do as an adult? Something you always wanted to do?"

Peter took a minute to think about this, this gave him time to fully eat his ice cream. If hypothetically everything went his way, would there be a future he can make on his own, "...If hypothetically this work…. Then I'll delve into science and engineering. I love to build stuff, and I want to build stuff that isn't just for my benefit but for others too. I love science, the inner workings of biology, questioning everything that surrounds us, and studying how chemistry works with each other. It's all something I want for a future that involves helping people more than being spider-man. But I can't see that right now."

"It'll happen."

Peter's eye went to her, "Huh?"

"It'll happen. Someday you'll see you don't need a mask to be a hero that people need. I really think it can happen, Peter," her green eyes met his hazel eyes, "You're so smart that I just have faith it'll happen."

Staring at this one girl that had so much faith in him. In a sense, he never met a girl like Mary Jane; a girl that pushes him to do what's right, but also takes care of himself, a girl whiles wishes he doesn't have to fight those battles, doesn't discourage his actions, and a girl who at the end of the day looks out from him when almost no one doesn't. Just knowing she had that trust, that faith in him, he'll be someone better than he is now. It made his heart skip a beat and have him both baffled and blushing, "You're something else, you know that?" he clears his throat with his turn, trying to rub away the bashfulness he's now wearing on his face.

But Mary Jane saw, and it made her smile seeing the side of Peter she never saw and only she saw. It made her heart warm for how soft he looks here, how he towered over her when staring out of the cart, how strong he felt just from his arms alone. A protector watching over everyone. This is why she has faith in him. Because she knows he'll do the right thing at the end of the day and never turn the other way when someone asks for help, "You love me."

"Debatable."

"No debate. You love me."

"Then you love me."

"And what if I do? Is there a problem?"

"There's never a problem with you. Only that you have way too much faith in me."

"And that will never change, Peter Benjamin Parker."

"If you say so, Mary Jane Watson."

He won't admit it to her, even if she caught his heart skipping, 'Yeah… For the first time, other than May and Ben, I do love someone else for a change,' And Peter was alright with that.

"Good Morning New York City. How's your morning going? Hope it's going great because it is that time again, independence day! Let's get your morning down right with some jams to fill your soul today!"

This was the first thing Peter could hear as soon as he regained consciousness. Today celebrates the day the United States gained its freedom of independence. He started registering he was on something comfier, and the smell of toast, bread, and eggs was overcoming his nose. His eyes open up, blinking and covering it because of how the sun reflected into his eyes from the window, 'What time is it?' Peter now demonstrates the first thought that could come to his head. A minor ache in his torso, back, and neck made Peter flinch, clutching his stomach in response that was bandaged along with his forehead, 'Yep… Knew I'll feel that in the morning…'

He can see his costume and mask hung by the back of the door as memories of earlier came to him. He had been tracking Dimitri and Flint for a week only to catch them, but was manhandled by the both of them pretty quickly, 'Sandman… He's always complicated to deal with when you don't have a superficial element to bypass his sand. So Dimitri, with his ever-changing self. I haven't dealt with the new pair in a while, and I got rusty on how to deal with them properly,' Peter thought as he went over his terrible 2v1. He got up from the bed, now taking notice he was in someone's house with a radio playing beside him. He then saw Carlie and an older man in the picture who told him where he was, 'Still looking out for me. Even when I don't want you too.'

He threaded out of her bedroom to find her playing an acoustic guitar by her window. He leaned his body on the wall and watched her play. Without her noticing him, she had no ounce of worry on her face, no ounce of stress, but a more natural relaxed posture and a peaceful melody she played. In a sense, this is something Peter would want to call home, a place he can belong to where the outdoors doesn't matter. Just him and a woman, nothing more and nothing less.

She then stops and releases a sigh as she rests her chin on her guitar. It's not until her eyes caught Peter where she jumps out of her seat, "Fuck!" She shouted, causing her guitar to drop on the floor

"Sorry! I just got up, and I didn't mean to look like a freak who, by the way, loves your guitar playing. I didn't even know you played the guitar," he said all that in an apologetic tone.

Getting over the small scare, Carlie picked up her guitar and rested it on one of her stands, "I play here and there. I made you some eggs with toast bread, not a fancy cook like yourself."

Peter smiled, "It'll do. Not a picky eater," Peter grabbed himself a cup of water and sat at the kitchen table.

"I had Linda check up on you if there was anything broken. Luckily she said quote on quote, "He's damn well lucky his skin is durable. Otherwise, I would have to be doing surgery." Though she was worried about some drug in your system that gave you a fever, you seem to be ok now at the very least."

Peter chuckled as he took a bite out of his food, "Always can count on night nurse to fix a broken body like mine," Peter paused and looked at Carlie, "I'll pay you back for my medical check-up."

Carlie waved it off, "Don't bother. Just tell me what happened earlier that had me driving like a maniac to find you on top of a garbage truck all the way on the east side of Manhattan?"

Again he chuckles but more out of the irony that his spider-sense won't make him dodge this one, "Would you believe me I got my ass handed to me?"

Carlie scoff and an eye roll, "That's an understatement. Your costume was full of sand, and not to mention it needed washing. Do you wear that all day and every night?"

"Nooo," he said hesitantly, causing Carlie to be deadpan, "Ok, sometimes since I ended up crashing on my bed or couch and forget to take it off. Wait! Did you take off the pieces of tech in my mask and body?!" He questioned with worry since it was one tech he can't have messed up in his day-to-day crime-fighting.

"And if I didn't?" Peter was right about to jet to find out the possible damage of those tech, "Sit and eat. It's already taken care of."

He did just that, "Don't scare me like that. It's too early for that."

"Moving on. I suppose you at least have an idea where Dimitri and Sandman went, am I right?

"Absolutely. Though, you wouldn't mind if I head out real quick and bring some stuff over, would you?"

Carlie shook her head, "Just don't expect you to be a freeloader around here. I only allowed you to get rest here because you got your ass knocked."

"Si si si," Peter finished his breakfast and went back to the room to put his costume on. Carlie had scooched over to the couch so Peter can use the window as his exit, "Be back in a jippy," he said as he dived off her apartment building.

But Carlie was still reeling over some of the things Peter was muttering to her before he went unconscious, 'He still sees her as the one and only. Sometimes I wonder why I allow myself to still coop up with him. Is it really because of Mary Jane's promise I made to her? To watch over him where she can't. Or is it because deep down, I wish to have that same connection he has with her? It can't be the latter. I broke up with him because he couldn't trust me like her.'

Cindy day was ordinarily quiet for once. Not much busy work was going on when she was swinging around earlier, and also, her job in the office went relatively smoothly with just about everyone not bothering one another. Her article about Henry was nearing completion but needed a few more points to drive home what she's trying to convey. She knows bits and pieces of Henry but never the true person. She didn't really know much of his friends. She thought the group of teenagers, including one of them she embarrassed in one on one basketball, would know Henry. All she got was that every now and then he would come to play ball with them or by himself.

Cindy then decided to find the one person that may know who he is, and that was his mother.

It wasn't quite easy, involving her to explore much of Washington Heights. Luckily, people in the park she played basketball with knew of Henry and his family, giving her the location that she resides in little Dominican Republic. As the name says it, the borough held the pureness of Hispanic culture from street art, music, food, and the people in it. But like other places in NYC, it still had its fair share of people who are living by paycheck to paycheck. It was also an area Cindy didn't know as well as she should know since she herself lives in Washington heights.

Before She went to Henry's former home, she took a bit of time to take in the area and its people. Spanish music danced along the deli's or homes, people themselves conversing in Spanish, whether it's simple pleasantries or out right something more emotional that Cindy caught from their vocal tone and facial expression. She also took the time to get her something to eat, simple empanadas did the trick for her, 'If it's one thing I love about the Hispanic culture it has to be their empanadas,' Cindy complimented to herself as she ate one of the empanadas and stuff the rest in her bag.

Soon enough, she was at Henry's former home. It was an apartment complex that bridges between clean and dirty all at the same time. Somehow the kids that hung around didn't mind it, nor the adults who had their share of weeds in their hands. Just the smell alone made Cindy distaste weed, and it didn't help that she's reminded of her brother Albert condoning in those sort of things to which she hopes to whatever god above that he doesn't indulge in it any further.

But they were kind people to point out where Albert's mom was in the apartment complex, second floor all the way down the hallway where the fire escape was and on the left. As Cindy went there, she knock on the door with it being opened by a woman, who had an ounce of youth to her that was a bit unexpecting, "Look you've been paid already so can you kindly fuck… Oh," her frustrated expression left as soon as she saw it was not someone she thought it was, "Sorry. Been getting harassed by my tenet as of late," Even if she was young Cindy noted several things that were off about her; one part of her short black hair was comb while the other one had no hair but a scar that suggested third degree burn, her body was between skinny and thin as if she hadn't been eating as much, and her make up on her eyes look to be a mess, indicating that she had been crying and she very much was wiping away, "Do you need something? I haven't seen you around here with how you're looking at my scar."

Cindy clears her throat and tries to not alleviate the small air of awkwardness, "Yes you're right. I don't exactly explore part of my neighborhood as much as I should. I'm Cindy, and it may be uncomfortable to talk about, but I know your son Henry and want to get to know him from your point of view."

Her eyebrow raised but there was a sternness behind how she did it, curious to know how she knew Henry and why she was even asking about him in the first place, "Why would an adult like you know my son and want to get to know him?"

Cindy had to defuse the situation from getting any worse than it should with how serious her voice sounded, "I help tutor your son for his classes and exam," Cindy eyes fell to her feet, trying to properly say what she had to say before going back to her brown eyes, "Wanted to both pay my respect to him and… Get to know him more since he kept things to himself."

Henry's mother leaned her shoulder on the doorway, "I taught that kid well on that, but your stories have some holes because my son flunked his exam and classes."

Cindy mouths open and close as she wasn't sure what to say on the fact Henry lied to her about passing his exams and classes, 'Why would he lie? Because he knew I would have been disappointed by his choices? Because he just wanted to toy with the time we spent? Did it mean anything to him?' Cindy took a deep breath in and out as her attention was more on calming herself than to be outright emotional about this. She then turned her attention back to Henry's mother, "...I think I just wasted much of your time, but still, I'm sorry for your loss."

"...Wait!" Cindy's movement stopped as a hand reached out for her arms, "I made too much food for me alone, and my daughter is fast asleep so I know she won't be eating anytime soon."

Cindy nodded with a reassuring smile, "Sure. I can eat."

Cindy walked into the home that was Henry's own. Only a single couch with a small HD tv, a kitchen that took up much of the room indicated that had to work with what they had, but also the place wasn't exactly the most clean from floors to even the kitchen that had stains on the counters, cabinet, and the fridge, "Don't mind the place. I've been meaning to clean but haven't got to it," Cindy kindly help with the plates, putting food on the plates, and handle drinks without wording she would have helped, "Gracia's. I would have done it myself…"

"You offer me into your home. Didn't trust the words I said, and quite possibly must have thought of other things with how I brought up your son" Cindy shrugged, putting her bag behind the chair and sat near Henry's mother, "Least I could to help you out with the simple stuff, you know?"

"I guess."

They both started eating with Cindy doing more of the eating then she did. Henry's mother couldn't help but stare at how much and how fast Cindy's was eating, "...This is really good," Cindy then noted with how Henry's mother eyed, "Apologies," Cindy said, bit embarrassed with how she let herself eat as she wiped her mouth, "All I had for the afternoon was just empanadas so I haven't exactly had much in my stomach."

"No no! Help yourself. I have a habit of making too much for a small family, especially when it was Henry and I doing most of the eating…" Cindy saw how she was playing with her food, not really taking a bite but every now and then just moving it around, "Henry would always eat a lot because he knew he had to be big and strong for me and his little hermana. She too wanted to eat like Henry, but she was still a child to be eating like Henry. Those two were tick and tack, very close to each other. Whenever Henry comes home she would always be running to him, asking how his day was, and he would always tell her the amazing things he's done outside. She would always want to go out with him, but Henry… When Henry goes out, his adventures weren't adventures to be fond of."

"Taking odd jobs that could put someone in jail," Cindy saw Henry's mother expression lifted, knowing that she did know her son's other life then his home life, "I met him when he was trying to steal money from an ATM machine at a deli, and then from their I tried setting him straight because maybe he didn't had the kind of people in his life to steer his life in a better direction. But he always told me that he would never change his trajectory, he wanted to make money for himself and his family."

The silence reigns in the house with only Cindy taking more food for herself, enjoying it, letting her conversation digest, "...Why do you want to know more about my son? After knowing all that, and knowing he died doing what he wanted too?" There was an itch in her tone that suggested it wasn't just curiosity, but a bit of an irritation.

Here's the part where Cindy hopes she can at least not set off any bad vibes, "I want to write an article about him, the things he done for you and his sister, how we should try to find ways to be better guidance to younger people so they wouldn't end up in those situations, and…"

Cindy heard Henry's mother suck under teeth, "Just like I thought. For the moment you said you wanted to steer his life in a better direction is where you know nothing about what people like Henry or even me went through," somehow her voice didn't come out with anger or even venom. Just serious on the situation she has to deal with now, "You never had to worry about being pregnant as a teenager, having parents who couldn't afford to take care of me because they had to deal with their own issues, never had to worry about making bad decisions because you grew with proper parents that made better decision then I ever could."

Cindy can see the anger in face, how her vain in her temple was starting to be shown, "I wasn't.."

"Judging? I can understand it's not your intention to judge, but saying he didn't have those kinds of people to help him is judging."

Cindy shook her head, "No.. I didn't mean to.."

She put up her hand, "... I get it. But it's your lack of understanding that infuriates me. I try to be what Henry needed, but have to worry about keeping Henry safe in this home. I couldn't control what he does outside, cause it helps with our needs."

"Then help me understand what I'm not getting," Cindy moved her chair closer to her, "I could say yeah, I had it easy. I had parents that cared for me, and left Korea to have a better life for their children here in America. Never got pregnant too when I was a teenager because of my mother. And while what my parents want for my brother and I didn't pan out, I try so hard to live up to what they want for my brother and I. It… It hasn't been easy without them."

Henry's mother can see it in Cindy's eyes, how lost she feels without the help of family, "You don't know what you're doing in your adult age do you?"

"...Absolutely not," Cindy nervously chuckled.

Henry's mother giggled. She wasn't too angry now because there was a common ground the two adults had, "I guess it's time for one of those drinks between two adults."

Bottles of alcohol were brought out, and the adults got to know one another to find more of that common ground.

"You ever stop to wonder to upgrade your tech, Peter?"

"Every once in a while from an AI. Specifically the spider tracer."

"You think? You have me here trying to boost the signal strength here while you stitch up your costume."

"Hey!" Peter stopped momentarily with his stitching as he sat near Carlie on the table while she was on her laptop and working with the AI trying to find where sandman and chameleon went, "I'm just making sure there isn't a hole in my butt. TMZ once got a clip and spread it on the internet."

"And who's fault was that?"

He went back to his stitching, "Rhino in his big headed horn of course. Luckily Mary Jane took care of that, but didn't want the details."

"And what makes you think I wanted to know?" She asked.

"Uh…"

Peter didn't have an answer for that besides stitching up his clothing, "Your AI here is really great at managing the coding here, and why is that you brought most, if not all your equipment in my house?" She also questioned, seeing as Peter had his tech laid out on her kitchen table.

"Because… I was hoping you and I can work on my upgrades together."

Carlie stopped what she was doing, looked at Peter with mouth hanging and surprised that he wanted to do this, "Ok Peter. No bullshit. Why are you doing this all of sudden? You spent a good portion of a year wanting to be by yourself even when you had your company."

Peter finished stitching up his costume, "All good now. And as for your question," he turned to Carlie, "...I want to make up for the things I did in the past. Like not trusting you with this side of me when we were in a relationship."

"I got over it. Just me overeating due to dealing with people who couldn't trust me enough to say what they had to say, only to hurt themselves or me," She said while looking away. Peter can see how that was still troubling for him and only serves to make him feel guilty.

"Still though. I was responsible to at least be honest with you, and I couldn't do it out of fear that you may not want to stay with me if you know I was swinging around and fighting bad guys for a living," Carlie scoffed, "Yeah I know there's an Irony to my saying. I just want to… Be more responsible to my friends."

"Why now?" she asked again now looking back at him, and seeing his frown expression.

"Let's just say… I had a conversation with my counterpart, not spider-woman, but Silk. And, it made me realize how irresponsible I was just to abandon everyone I know for the sake of my own paranoia. I thought if I kept everyone at a distance they would be fine, but I wasn't."

"So you're doing this out of your guilty conscience?" Peter nodded, "You're a terrible person if you're just simply doing this to appease your conscience. I'm not forcing you to work with me Peter. In Fact you are forcing yourself to do this out of necessity."

"But at least it would put my conscience at ease. Knowing I don't wanna listen to the back of my head saying this isn't right, you know what will happen if you keep people close to you. A friend who's living life told me, 'the people in our lives keep us going, keep us fighting, and keep us happy.' I wanna believe that again, truly believe that again."

Carlie hears his words, sees how guilty and sorrowful he is, and he's speaking from the bottom of his heart that he genuinely doesn't want to be alone anymore. He wants the people he calls friends or even family back in his life, "MJ made you feel that way didn't she?"

Like a flip of a switch, he was smiling again, "Yeah she did. We broke up and made up all the time in the past, but she always did made me feel happy and loved."

"How did it started? The breakup?"

Peter took a deep breath in and out. Remembering how it all started for them, "She got herself in a crossfire when a molten man held our school in hostage. He was our friend, but he also dealt with a lot of issues that I found always revolving to protect his sister Liz. While back then and still now, it was so risky and stupid what Mary Jane did, but she was able to help in that scenario while not suffering much injury. That's when our first serious argument started."

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING MJ?!"

"That's a first you call me that," her arm were crossed as she leaned her back on the ledge of the rooftop they stood on, "You never call me that."

"YOU COULD OF GOTTEN YOURSELF KILLED!" Peter ignore her sarcastic response, more focus on what had just happen a few minutes ago,

"But I didn't because I was confident enough that you would save me."

Peter groans in frustration. It was in the afternoon as they're conversing about this as Peter himself still had his costume burned just as she had some burn marks on both of her hands and arms. Peter knows his will will heal eventually, but Mary Jane was a bit uncomfortable with her wounds and his wounds, "Come on. Swing me home so I can get you and I patch up."

Mary Jane leaned off from the ledge, expecting this to be over and done with as it wasn't the first time they argue like this and they'll get over it quickly, "No! I'm fine where were at MJ."

Mary Jane eye roll, "Don't give me that tough guy attitude right now. I did what was right so Mark wouldn't burn down the school, or kill one of the teachers he was gunning for! Not even Liz was getting through to him, and you were busy dealing with shocker robbing a bank!"

Peter rubbed the bridge of nose, Mary Jane wasn't seeing the problem he had with this even though what she did, did in fact saved more lives, "Yes. Great that you did that. But it was so idiotic. You don't understand the fact that these are supervillains MJ. They're not regular people that you can actually have a better chance of walking away! Mark might have been our friend, but from that point he came to the school with the intent to kill because he needed to be taken down, not try to be talked down too."

"But you would do that for other people Peter! Why is Mark so different?!" Mary Jane's voice was raised.

"When he was so busy about to flame you and everyone else is when I couldn't talk to him. Some people can't be reason with MJ!"

She down right hated how he was using her nickname. It felt so disgusting coming from him, not right like how it should sound like, "Yet Octavius can right?"

"He damn right lost his work and his wife MJ! All in one day! Of course I wanted to reason with him!"

She shook her head, arm crossed as the wind was felt around them. Her long hair did a decent job of hiding her disappointment for Peter, just as his mask did somewhat of a decent job into hiding his own anxiety for Mary Jane safety, "Your so fucking hypocritical Peter."

"And your so fucking naive MJ. Because I allow you to try to work with me occasionally on the field, doesn't mean you can do that by yourself."

"Don't fucking presume you control me Peter!" Her voice got louder as she pointed her fingers at him, "You know damn well that I choose to help you, not you, but me! I didn't have to help you out when you were bleeding all over your roof, but I did. I didn't have to help you on your crusade of taking down people like Fisk, But I did. Not you, but me!"

Peter was silent as she now turned her back from him. Mary Jane can see the cops and firefighters at the school dealing with the aftermath. All this was becoming more and more emotional for the both of them, "Is it because you just like the life I live MJ?" Her eyes widened. She was wondering where the hell is going with this, "The adrenaline feeling of knowing what I could bring as spider-man? That you just love knowing you're so helpful to spider-man that you think you can be what he's like? Is that it? All this is because you love spider-man?"

That's when Mary Jane turned around, and punched him. If Peter didn't roll with the punch, she would broken her hand, "FUCK YOU! HOW COULD YOU THINK I DO ALL THIS BECAUSE I LOVE SPIDER-MAN?! SURE! HE'S SO GREAT AND HELP SO MANY PEOPLE WHEN OTHERS CAN'T. HE FALLS BACK BUT ALWAYS PICK HIMSELF UP. NO MATTER WHAT, HE IS A HERO, BUT WHAT IN THE HELL MAKES YOU THINK I LOVE SPIDER-MAN MORE THAN YOU, PETER PARKER?!" She shouted, shouted all the anger she felt knowing that Peter revealed the reason behind why he's more frustrated than Mary Jane did what she did.

It's because all this time, Peter felt paranoid that Mary Jane is just doing all this because she loves spider-man, "BECAUSE WHEN HAD WE EVER INTERACTED BEFORE YOU FOUND OUT I WAS SPIDER-MAN?! I KNEW YOU SINCE MIDDLE SCHOOL, AND YOU NEVER ONCE LOOKED ME IN THE EYE,OR EVEN TRY TO TALK TO ME. IT'S NOT UNTIL YOU FOUND OUT I WAS SPIDER-MAN YOU ACTUALLY NOTICED MY EXISTENCE! HOW COULD I NOT BELIEVE THAT?! AS YOU THROW YOURSELF IN DANGER, YOU DOING IT BECAUSE YOU WANNA BE JUST LIKE HIM! DON'T YOU GET I DON'T WANT THIS LIFE?! THAT I'M CURSE TO LIVE IT FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE?! BECAUSE I COULDN'T SAVE MY UNCLE?!"

"AND DO YOU THINK I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT?! I ALWAYS WANT YOU TO BE PETER MORE THAN SPIDER-MAN! I ALWAYS WANTED TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH PETER THAN SPIDER-MAN! I ALWAYS WANT PETER TO PROTECT ME FROM MY FATHER! AND THAT I BELIEVE PETER WILL ALWAYS BE THERE FOR ME AND EVERYONE ELSE! THAT HE CARES FOR EVERYONE, BUT HIMSELF, AND I ALSO WANT TO SHOW HIM THAT HE HAS VALUE MORE THAN HE EVER REALIZE. I FUCKING LOVE PETER MORE THAN THAT STUPID," she hit his chest, "FUCKING!" again, and then stop has both of her hands, her head, was placed on his chest where she can feel some of his skin, "...Costume."

And that's when Peter realized that it's more than just what it seems; that the reason Mary Jane is even standing here was because of Peter, not spider-man. He realized more than ever that this life, he himself, isn't right for her.

She needs to be happy without him in his life, "We can't be around each other."

She looked up to him, seeing one half of his hazel eyes shedding tears, and while the other still had his huge lenses intact. And he can see those green eyes shedding all the tears, no longer her hair blocking his field of view, "Please don't…. Don't BE stupid right now Peter…."

"I can't keep hurting you like this Mary Jane. I can't… I can't keep hurting the person I love."

"No… Please…"

She cried, even when he held her, she cried. Because they ended up admiring how much they love each other, all at the wrong time and for the wrong reason.

"I… I never knew your relationship with her was that intense. Mary Jane never detailed those break ups like that," Carlie was quite amazed of how serious Mary Jane was with Peter when they were teenagers. She knew Mary Jane was the first person Peter ever shared his whole life with.

But hearing him go into those specific details of their first separation; when they were just friends who knew they had feelings for eachother, was no competition with how their relationship was. They never had a single fight like that, barely ever disagree on things, infact, Carlie and Peter relationship before breaking up was very upbeat and positive, "It's not something we would always tell people," Peter mentioned as he played around with one of his tech, "I can tell you it took us a year to make up though."

"Because you were too busy being mister brooding and isolating guy."

Peter chuckled, "Exactly."

"I can walk, you know."

"I know. But you much prefer the smoother transportation than the boring one's."

Mary Jane didn't answer his witty response. But he was right that she preferred this level of transportation; high above Manhattan, sun slowly coming down with that familiar orange color that took over the sky, and having arms around Peter's neck holding on tightly like her life depends on it, "...City does look beautiful up here. I'm jealous you get to see this everyday."

"Shocks. I guess that's why your eyes are so green," Peter answer back with another witty response.

He didn't see it but Mary Jane was frowning at the way he was talking, "What's the occasion? Didn't you not want us to be so close to each other?"

"Well when you're off suiciding again with a villain trying to rob a cafe. I gotta be there to make sure you're alright."

"Like before, if it wasn't for me stalling a guy named Boomerang, people would have gotten hurt."

"Come on, he won't hurt a fly."

"Peter… Stop talking like that for a moment. I don't want to hear spider-man right now. Not when we haven't spoken one to one for a year."

Peter looked behind him when she said that before looking back in front of him. He didn't say much until he swung both of them on top of the queen's borough bridge. He took off his mask as Mary Jane could see how his hair was messy and growing much bigger, a bit of bandages he had on his face, some small bruising that looked to be almost bruised.

That was the day to day life of being a hero that Mary Jane knows too well by now, and yet he was smiling in front of him, and she couldn't help to form a smaller smile of her own, "You look like shit."

An icebreaker that got Peter chuckle, "Yeah. Yeah I do. I.. I miss you Mary Jane."

Hearing those words made Mary Jane's heart flutter. She had to take a moment to gather her thoughts and calm herself before she said anything more, "How can you miss me when you didn't want me? A year without us properly conversing like normal people and you come out with that?!"

"I'm trying here, Mary Jane. Trying not to talk like spider-man and talk like.. Me."

"...Yeah I know. I can't be mad at you for nothing," she sighs as she takes a seat, where her legs dwindle in the air as below her where cars pass by the bridge. Peter near her, awaiting for what else she will say, "But I'm still pissed at one thing. Pissed that you took away my choice of what I wanted. I mean, what gave you the right to decide what was best for the both of us. Because you have powers?" Peter didn't respond to her, not having the right words, the right thing to say what a mistake he made, "It wasn't… It wasn't right for you to decide what I want Peter."

"I… I just wanted to make sure you were safe. Make sure I wasn't weighing you down for wanting to be more happy away from me."

"And you think you accomplished that?" She inquired, looking directly at him while he stared off to the ocean the bridge was on top of, "Peter. You made me happy when you were around. Just as you made me sad, scared, angry, annoyed, and all the other emotional roller coasters since I stopped you from bleeding out two years ago. The only thing you accomplished was hurting me, and I promised myself after the many times my dad hurt me, I wouldn't let any other person hurt me like he did. Then here you come, opening your doors to me in a way no other person did. Easily cutting me to pieces afterwards."

That's when Peter looked at her. He saw that she wasn't crying nor angry, if anything more passive with how she voiced the weight of what Peter did to her, "I didn't mean to hurt you. Or even hurt you as much as your father did….. I thought if I pushed you away, you wouldn't have to worry about me, you wouldn't have to do anything crazy, you wouldn't have gotten let down by me, and you wouldn't have been hurt by me," he shook his head, "How wrong was I to believe all that."

"Dead wrong," Mary Jane took out something from her bag, a pack of cigarettes, lit up the tip of it with a light and took in what the cigarette had to offer to her lungs. She caught how Peter stared at her when smoking, "I'll quit again. Just with graduation coming next week, colleges, me trying to get out of my father's house, and you coming back into my life."

"Stress. I get it. Not trying to judge about that anymore," letting her have her few minutes to smoke, Peter wanted to come clean with a few things, "There are so many times when I wanted to talk to you, but I couldn't. Today was my only chance to get to talk to you, to tell you how sorry I am, and to tell you how much I missed you in my life."

"What brought this on?"

"May, Betty from work, and surprisingly Harry. All telling me to not let you go. I'm trying to take their advice now I have you here."

Some parts of Mary Jane liked it, like that Peter is taking steps to have guidance in his own life and not try to handle everything on his own, "It's funny… I think there were so many times I wanted to talk to you. We see each other in class, hallways, sometimes say Hi and even rarely ask how we're doing. But there were so many times I also could have just.. Talk to you, and tell you to shove it because I want you. I want all the baggage you bring because I can handle it."

"What held you back?"

Mary Jane finishes with her smoking, going back to looking at Peter as he did to her. Hazel eyes meet green eyes, two teenagers in a crazy world where it's just the two of them talking about what they want, what they need, and what they can hope to have, "You Peter. Respecting what you wanted. I didn't want to be that burden as you thought I was to you."

"No! That's not true," Peter grasps her hands, holding it to dear life to make sure she listens to him, "You were never a burden to me Mary Jane. You always push me to be my best, do my best, always tell me to do what's right even if there's so much consequence behind what I do, being so brave to help me in every way you can as I help everyone else, and you make me believe that Peter Parker can have a life outside of just being spider-man. I.. I love you. I love you and I don't want to stay away from you anymore. And I can understand if you don't want to because of how much I hurt you," he looked away, not wanting that to be a possibility before looking back at her, "But I can't help how I feel ever since that day we spent time in coney island. Talking about our future."

Peter would have gone on and on about how he is feeling. Something Mary Jane loves, but Mary Jane couldn't hold it anymore. She couldn't hold herself back as she kissed him, kissed him with the very passion of love she always wanted to do for a whole year of the missed opportunity. Peter didn't have that experience like Mary Jane when it came to kissing, but he didn't hold back to show how much he really loved her. And when they stop kissing, when Mary Jean leaned her nose to his, and Peter is smiling.

She felt love, love that she always wanted, and she too smiled much more with the fact she has him and he has her now. Forgiving all that has happened and finally loves each other, "I just can't help myself with you huh?"

"Me either. You're too irresistible."

"Oh, now you admit it."

"Yeah. I do. I love you Mary Jane Watson."

"I love you too Peter Benjamin Parker."

They shared more kisses, and when they had enough, they went back to swinging home. Together, in love, and Mary Jane screeching at how fun it was swinging with the man she loves.

"Your.. You're not over her. Are you Peter?"

Peter hand's brush through his hair, it wasn't as short as it started to develop two bangs beside his ears as he wasn't being constant to keep it short, "How can I be over for the person I first fell in love with? The person who saw my darkest moments, to my happiest moments? Sometimes, I hope she can come back to me, and sometimes I hope that I can somehow keep here in NY with me."

The AI didn't want to intrude on Carlie and Peter's talk, but he found sandman and he made sure to notify them, "Thanks Migi!"

Peter took off a shirt but kept his boxer on when putting his costume and mask on, "You name your AI migi?"

"Saw an anime where a hand became a parasite, and the AI was built to be a parasite by Octavius. So why call him Migi now since I never gave him a name."

Peter opens the window, ready to go find out what's going on with Marko, "Peter!" He turned back to Carlie, "You gotta move on with your life. I know MJ is a big part of your life, but don't wait for her. You gotta find something else that can make you happy."

"...That's what everyone tells me. Yet it's hard to figure out what can really make me happy when she isn't around," Peter was out of Carlie's home, leaving her to think about what she knew from the talk they had.

One thing was clear that Peter can't get over Mary Jane, and he's waiting for her to come back so he can move on with his life. And if he allows it, maybe Carlie can do something about that.

Because worrying that Peter doesn't see some of the people he knows are the basis to make him happy. As if he really believes Mary Jane was the only real person to make him feel happy in the world he lives in.

I very much love writing my version of Peter and Mary Jane. Would love to write a story about them, but sadly, that won't come anytime soon unless I can make an interesting plot about them. Very much a Peter chapter so the next chapter would be much more of a Cindy chapter.

See ya whenever.