Peter froze as he watched the fight from his perch on the wall. His body was shaking as the building burned around him before he got a good look at the black beast. It wasn't even remotely human. It opened its mouth like a gaping maw with a tongue that lashed out at the Fire-Man.

The tongue hit a pillar overhead and debris came tumbling down. The wall Peter was perched on crumbled as well. He leaped away, intending to escape, when the giant beast stood over him. Too quickly, Peter was hit by the beast and pinned to the ground. He gasped and thrashed, trying to fight it off as its maw dripped over him. His vision blurred as he tried to escape, head throbbing.

'I...have a concussion,' He'd concluded as he stared at the beast, losing his will to fight. As his vision faded, he saw a flaming hand punch through the beast.

The next few hours came in blurs and flashes. The flames surrounded him but weren't hurting him. Then he saw MJ crying as she stood over him and the flames vanished as a mask was put over his face. Then Aunt May was squeezing his hand in a white room.

When he could finally open his eyes fully, he saw MJ sound asleep in the chair, her breaths coming in steady intervals. Crutches were propped against the wall beside her and a comic book was laying open on the floor. Peter could clearly see a sunny blue sky outside the window as the rhythmic beeping finally registered in his ears.

He grunted as he tried to sit up. "Now, now," A sweet voice chided. He could recognize that voice from a mile away. "You shouldn't push yourself, Peter."

"Aunt May," He rasped, throat clenching from the dryness. May offered him some water, which he happily sipped at through the straw provided. He gulped down the water as she answered a few silent questions in his mind.

"You've been out for two days. Scared the hell out of me, damn you," She chuckled. "Thank God you don't have any damage, just had inhaled a bit too much smoke and made yourself sick is all."

"What about MJ?" He asked softly.

"Gash on her leg. Had to get stitches. She's doing alright though she needs crutches to keep weight off it for a week. Other than that…" May smiled. "She told me you ran back in there. What the hell were you thinking?"

Peter gulped. "Harry." May's face fell at that. "I was looking for Harry. Is he okay?" May sighed and Peter felt his blood ice over. "May?"

"We don't know. They haven't found his body and there haven't been any casualties so...as of right now, he's a missing persons case."

Peter couldn't really process the next few hours. MJ was escorted out once she woke up so they could run tests on Peter to make sure he was okay. He still had a respirator in his nose after they'd given him the okay to remove the mask entirely. Of course, it was still annoying to have everyone poking and prodding at him. To his relief, no blood was drawn. He wasn't sure what the reaction would be to his new powers in his bloodstream.

MJ was let back in and they were alone for a long while. MJ was the first to break the silence. "Mr. OSborn was pissed when you went back in." Peter smiled a slight. "I think he wanted to bribe the police to let him through to find you and Harry."

"I heard him yelling but tuned it out before getting back in."

"Are you nuts?" MJ asked.

"That seems to be the consensus," He sighed, rolling his shoulders. He sighed, seeing his small chset bulding a slight and grimaced. "Don't tell me they cut my binder." She gave him a look and he groaned. "C'mon. I gotta get a new one now."

"Rather it be that than new lungs," She snapped. "Peter, you could've died. I...I could've lost both of you." Peter gave her a look and she sighed, letting her face fall into her hands. "It's been two days...What if...What if they do find him and...and he's-"

"Stop. We gotta have some hope."

"Why? What about that guy?" Peter frowned. "The dude that was literally on fire! He must've started the fire." Peter thought about it and shook his head. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean...we he saw us, he could've easily attacked if he was after us. But he wasn't. He just sorta guided us out. And I...I think he saved me."

MJ frowned and nodded. "He did. You were passed out and he just came out, just...on fucking fire. Literally on fire! And you were...were totally okay. It was kinda like...ugh. That horse Pokemon? Anyway, he laid you on the ground and just...flamed off."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, he used his flames like a fucking jet pack and flew off!" Peter smiled. "Why are you smiling?"

"You're dropping the f-bomb is funny," He giggled. MJ rolled her eyes. "It is...It means you've got something on your mind and you wanna look into it."

"Fuck yeah I do!" She huffed. "What the hell was that guy doing as Oscorp, ya know? He was pissed about something, but didn't want anyone to die. Bit of a brutal statement, if you ask me."

"You think it was a political thing? Like those peaceful protesters that destroy things?" He asked as he shifted again.

"No...maybe...I don't know," She sighed. "But it's gotta be bigger than us. I mean...that lab we found…And what Octavius was talking about. They're working with dangerous things. What if it goes beyond what we think?"

Peter hummed in thought and said, "MJ...gotta promise me something, okay? No, I'm serious. You can't tell anyone at all what I'm about to tell you."

MJ stared at him for a long moment before nodding. "Of course. Pete, is everything okay?"