9

Peter barely registered SHIELD coming into the airport. Barely registered the agents coming in, the masses of people swarming below him, the warnings echoing over the PA system.

His mind was ringing in the silence Silenzior had left behind. It was uncanny – there were so many people, all gathered in one place, and yet there was so little sound. Just the scuffles of feet against the floor.

He'd really screwed up.

"You alright?"

A voice broke into his thoughts, and Peter lifted his eyes.

Nick Fury stood in front of him, one hand in his pocket, looking at him with concern.

"SHIELD'll be taking on a lot of the damage control," Fury said. "We're about to have a lot of angry people missing their flights, but we'll need to take them in to –"

Peter found his voice. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Fury stopped. "About what?"

"About King." Peter gritted his teeth and swallowed. "About all of them."

"Not here, Parker," Fury warned, but Peter backed up a step, not listening.

"They got away," he snapped. "Again." He ran a hand over his head, roughly, and was suddenly glad for the mask. Fury wouldn't be able to see his emotion through it. "And I couldn't stop them, because I didn't even know they were back."

"SHIELD didn't want you to know," Fury said.

"Why not?"

"It didn't seem right to burden you with that just yet," Fury said quietly. "Besides, if you knew HEL was out, you'd have been right out there looking for them, messing with SHIELD's operations."

Peter's voice raised a little. "If I knew they were gonna be here –"

"You would have what?" Fury interrupted, but Peter wasn't going to be shot down. Not this time.

"I would have been more prepared," he bit out. "Maybe I could have stopped them."

Fury folded his arms over his chest. "Maybe you're right," he said.

"This is what you were trying to tell me," Peter said. "Right? The other night, you told me to watch my back because I don't know who could be out there?"

"It seemed best to keep you on the periphery of this," Fury said, his voice low. "Maybe it was a mistake –"

"Yeah, maybe it was," Peter said.

Fury's voice hardened. "Watch it, Mister Parker."

Peter shook his head. He just couldn't believe SHIELD hadn't told him. He'd trusted them. It seemed so stupid in hindsight now; he should have been paying more attention. Worked it out himself. "I gotta go," he muttered.

"Are you hurt?" Fury asked as Peter strode away, like a last resort to get him to stay.

"I'm taking a mental health day," Peter muttered sarcastically over his shoulder as he walked away.

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Agent Hill stood at the car. She'd obviously been informed of what had happened, but she didn't mention anything about it.

"Need a ride?" was all she said, but Peter shook his head as he walked past.

"I'm going home by myself, thanks. I don't need your help."

Ned's face appeared in the car's back window, and Peter stopped short. "Oh, right." With everything that had happened, he'd honestly forgotten that Ned had come along with them. "Um –" He spun around to face Agent Hill and pointed at Ned inside the car. "I don't need your help, but he actually does, so you can take him home, right?"

Hill's eyebrows arched. "Excuse me?"

"Thanks. Hey, Ned, I'll see you later, okay?"

Hill watched Peter go, an incredulous expression on her face. Scoffing, she shook her head.

Ned slid down his window and looked up at Hill with an excited expression. "Does this mean I can sit in the front?"

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Peter eased himself through his bedroom window and pushed it closed with the heel of his hand. Letting out a breath, he let himself fall onto his bed.

"Peter, is that you?" May's voice came muffled through the door.

Peter didn't raise his head. "Yeah, I'm back, May."

The door cracked open, and May's head poked in. "You're decent, right? Good." Opening the door wider, she came all the way inside his room.

Peter sat up. "Now's really not a good time, May," he said, but she came in anyway, tiptoeing over to his bed.

"I didn't see you come in," she said.

"Yeah – window," Peter said, to explain it.

May's gaze skimmed over the Spidey suit. "Oh. You were on patrol. Good, okay." She seemed a little distracted. "So, hey." She leaned in closer to Peter's face, meeting his eyes. "You have a visitor," she said, raising her eyebrows for emphasis.

A visitor. . . . Peter's mind kicked into high alert. He sat upright, his heart starting to pound. "What – who?" His mind ran through the possibilities, each one worse than the last. Oh my God, King found me.

"And she also won't leave," May continued, a fake smile plastered on her face.

The panic faded. Peter's mouth opened, then closed. It clicked in his head. "Wait, you mean. . . you mean MJ?"

May raised her eyebrows like a silent yes.

"MJ's here? Why?"

May threw her hands up. "I don't know! I tried to ask her what she wanted but she just said she needed to wait for you."

"Aw, man," Peter groaned, standing up from the bed. He started towards the door.

"Uh, hey. Superman." May caught him by the arm. "Time to be Clark Kent, don't you think?" she stage-whispered.

Peter looked down. He was still wearing the Spidey suit. "Right. Yeah."

After a quick change of clothes, Peter took a deep breath and ducked into the hallway, making his way toward the front of the apartment.

"Hey, MJ." Peter hesitated in the doorway, a solid ten feet away from MJ. "I, uh, I didn't realize you were –"

"I didn't see you come in," MJ said, cutting him off.

"Um, yeah, May didn't either. Weird," Peter chuckled breathlessly.

"No, I mean I didn't. . . see you," MJ said, and pointed to her left.

Peter followed her finger and frowned as he realized she was sitting in full view of the apartment door.

Oh. "There is a. Back. Entrance," Peter said in two parts as he came up with each part of the lie.

MJ stared at him. "A back entrance," she repeated.

"Yhmm-hmm," Peter said, closing his mouth so he wouldn't say anything else.

"On the eighth floor."

Peter audibly cleared his throat and crossed his arms. "Hey, so what are you doing here, anyways?"

It was MJ's turn to look a little self-conscious. She stood up from the couch, absentmindedly tugging the sleeves of her jacket further down her arms, and cast her gaze down to her shoes. "Actually," she said, "I came by to pick up the project."

Peter frowned. "What, you mean – our science project?"

"Yeah," she said, avoiding his eyes. "Cloaking, right?"

"Yeah, Ned and I were just working on it before, but why do you want it?" Peter asked, puzzled.

MJ opened her mouth, closed it, and tried again. "I just thought maybe I could help out, you know. Ned and I can finish the project or whatever."

"Why?"

"You just. . . ." She shrugged one shoulder. "You seem a little stressed out lately."

Peter crossed his arms over his chest, hiding his hands. "What do you mean?"

"'May's sick?'" MJ said, her eyes squinting up the way they did when she thought someone was lying. "'And we don't want you to catch it?'"

Peter groaned lightly. "Yeah, that was stupid."

"If you're stressed out, or if you just need some time, we can help you," MJ said. "I mean, it was just a couple months ago."

Peter suddenly realized what she was saying.

MJ finished in a rush, seeming to realize how her words sounded. "And, anyway, I just realized I never said sorry."

"Sorry?" Peter echoed.

"About – you know." She gestured with her hands. "Tony Stark. I know you liked interning for him."

"Yeah," Peter said, the words sticking in his mouth. He swallowed. "Yeah, I did."

He felt MJ's eyes on him, watching him. He cleared his throat. "Look, but you don't have to look out for me," he said. "I'm, really, I'm fine."

MJ let the silence hang in the air for a second, like she was analyzing his words, and finally seemed to accept them. "Okay, then," she said, her voice a touch too bright. "Cool. Okay. Guess I'll just –" She took a step in the general direction of the door, "go."

"Hey," Peter said, stopping her. "I – thanks, you know. For offering."

"Yeah," MJ said. She flashed a quick, guarded smile and turned to leave.

As she walked to the door, Peter followed her at a distance, desperately wracking his brain for something else to say. MJ unlocked the front door and opened it, but then seemed to hesitate in the doorway.

Turning around, she took a step forward and hugged him.

It was quick and brusque, like a slap around his entire torso, but he was so startled he didn't really feel it.

She pulled away just as sharply as she'd come forward. "Hang in there, okay, Parker?" she muttered towards the floor.

"Yeah," he said, struck dumb, but she had already turned and left. Her footsteps echoed in a quick pace down the hall, and he heard the ding of the elevator.

Propping a shoulder against the doorframe, he processed what had just happened.

Slowly, a wide, dumb smile spread across his face.

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