I think all of us Spidey Fans need a story like this after the pain we felt because of No Way Home.
I own nothing from Marvel or Spider-Man
Chapter 3: Dr. Connors & F.E.A.S.T.
~Later in the Week~
Peter walked up to apartment #427, the address MJ gave him, and rang the doorbell.
It had taken more coaxing to convince her to let him pick her up from her place than he thought it would. In the brief time they had been dating, he had never been there before. He didn't know why, but not having visited her home made him feel as though he still did not know much about her.
He knew she lived with her Mom, but MJ had never spoken about her very much. All of this suddenly seemed to weigh on Peter; he realized just how much more he still wanted to learn about MJ. He knew who she was, but he wanted to know more about what made her that way. Finally, MJ opened the door and stepped out, gave him a quick smile and a "Hi" before closing the door behind her.
"Hey, MJ," said Peter before he whipped out a bouquet of flowers from behind his back. "Here."
She was initially surprised, but smiled at the sweet gesture, "You dork."
"So, shall we?" Peter asked. "ESU is holding that tour of Dr. Connor's lab."
"Yeah, just...let me take these up," MJ took the flowers and went back inside.
After she put the flowers away, she and Peter headed off to ESU.
They discussed various topics, like what they would be seeing at the lab; Dr. Connors' work in general, and random trivial facts about how some reptiles eat their own young (MJ provided those of course).
Finally, they arrived onto the campus of Empire State University, heading straight for the newly revamped research facility there. Everything was state of the art, brand new 2024 technology. Even so, Peter couldn't help but flashback in his mind to the last time he was there.
"Earth to Peter, you with me?" MJ snapped him out of his reminiscing and they filed into the main area with everyone as they collectively waited for the good doctor. There were only about 10 people there in total: 5 students from their respective schools and a mixture of their parents/friends.
Peter thought it was pretty cool that he was the only one to bring his girlfriend with him. Only one other girl was there anyway, and he knew MJ would be happy feeling that she was able to represent the ladies in the STEM community.
Finally, their host came out to meet them. He was a man in his mid-thirties, who was a little taller than Peter or MJ and was missing his right arm. Peter remembered reading about how he lost it: a victim of an attack by one of the alligators he had been studying, his arm had been so damaged beyond repair that the doctors were forced to amputate.
Since then, the man had gone to make numerous other advances in biology and his name had been tossed around for the Nobel prize. This was the real reason Peter admired him so much: no matter what happened to the man, he continued using his gifts, seeking to benefit others.
"Good evening! I'm sure you are already aware, but I am Dr. Curtis Connors, and I'll be your host this evening. Thank you all for coming out this evening; I look forward to showing you what I, and hopefully some of you in the not-so-distant future, will be up to. I want you to know up front that I want this to be an interactive tour, so feel free to pose any questions as we move along, and I might even test your knowledge at points. Well, let's get right to it!"
Peter liked the man's enthusiasm; he was sure this was going to be a good time.
Connors lead them around, showing them the new technology, but primarily focused on the various species of animals that were in the building. Coming to a large fish tank, Connors spoke up, "These are some of the most popular kinds of fish in the world: Teleost. Can anyone tell me some things about these fish?"
Immediately, most of the students, including Peter, raised their hands.
Connors called on them one at a time, getting various answers: they were fished for the most commercially, they could survive in both hot and cold waters, tuna and marlin were examples, etc.
"Very good. These fish are survivors that thrive all around the world. Believe it or not, they can even travel on land for brief points to get from one body of water to the next. I'm sure in classic fish fashion they don't look very graceful while doing it, but it gets them from one spot to the next. My wife would tell you that's me on the dance floor, but...never mind, let's move on." A few people chuckled as they moved to the next area.
They came to an insect container, where Connors went on to describe various species and some of their unique characteristics. "Can anyone tell me the important role that these creatures play in our environment?" he asked the group. Peter's hand shot up, and he was called upon.
"They play a vital role in the abundance of plant life and crops through pollination."
"Correct, young man. Anyone else?"
This time, it was MJ's hand that went up, and it was her turn.
"They also play a strong role in the decomposition of leaves and other organic excess plant matter."
"Yes, well done young lady. These are just a couple of the many reasons why it is good that they are among the most prevalent species on earth, making up approximately 70% of all living creatures. Okay, now we move on to my favorite spot in the lab: the reptile section."
Sure enough, they came into a section filled with all kinds of reptiles, but the doc stopped near one in particular: a container that held a frilled lizard. "Can anyone tell me what makes these animals some of the most unique of all?"
Again, Peter's hand was the first one in the air, "They have the ability to shed their tails if they are attacked by a predator, then grow a new one later."
"That is correct. This makes these creatures some of the greatest survivors in the world." At this, Connors glanced down to his right side. "Us humans who lose an appendage are not so lucky, but we must not let such things cause us to give up. Rather, we must let them push us to become better, to push the boundaries of science as we know it for the betterment of all humanity." This resulted in a brief applause from those in attendance.
"Now, imagine if we had the ability to regrow our limbs like our scaly friend here," said Connors as he opened the container and picked the lizard up. "By conducting several experiments, I might be able to find the genetic component from this lizard and add it to our own DNA, thus allowing us to do the same."
Peter and MJ were both intrigued at the idea. Peter had his fair share of injuries since he started being Spider-Man, thankfully none of them had ever been life-threatening. He had stronger healing than regular people, but he knew not to test if he could regrow an entire limb.
After the tour, Connors approached the two directly, "Mr. Parker, your teacher speaks quite highly of you. Your love of science and knack tech is impressive."
"Thank you, Dr. Connors," said Peter. "This is my girlfriend, Michelle Jones."
"Nice to meet you," she greeted, shaking his hand.
"You too. We definitely need more women in the field of science. My wife is a nurse over at Midtown hospital, and I know she would be happy to see you here as well," Connors then gestured towards the necklace she was wearing. "Also, is that a black dahlia flower on that necklace?"
"It is, Peter got it for me on a school trip to Europe last summer," she said, playing with it in her fingers and glancing over at Peter with just the smallest hint of pride in her eyes.
"Ah, you have intriguing taste," Connors said. "Martha, my wife, enjoys all the darker criminal shows, like Criminal Minds, NCIS, etc. It all fascinates her, though I must confess; I do not understand it. Anyway, I actually had another purpose in bringing everyone here today, and that was to offer an internship to some of the brightest young minds around. I want that to be you, Parker. This will be a paid position, though I'm afraid it will only be part-time for a few hours a night for only 3 nights out of the week. I do not wish to distract you from your primary education at this point. Nevertheless, I believe I can make this a great learning opportunity for you, plus the cash could help with date nights I'm sure. What do you say?"
"Well, I'll have to check with my Aunt just to be sure, but I would love to!" Peter said with excitement.
"Excellent!" Connors said. "I look forward to working with you both."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spider-Man swung through the city, happy to hear Karen's voice again.
"So Karen, anything going on nearby?"
"Currently, the police are in pursuit of a hijacked Oscorp truck carrying plutonium," The A.I. answered.
That made Peter worry; plutonium was radioactive and highly explosive.
"All right, let's get to work!" Spidey exclaimed as he swung through the skyscrapers of New York.
The truck was being towed by another truck, and the driver was plowing through everything in its way.
"Remember Sytsevich, that cargo is more valuable than your life," A menacing voice from the driver's radio told him.
"I don't fail," Aleksei replied in his Russian accent.
His crew was on top of the Oscorp truck, using a blow-torch to cut through the top.
All the while, Spidey was still swinging through the city in hot pursuit, catching the attention of his public, who all cheered upon seeing him.
"Hey, Spider-Man!" one guy called out.
"Hello, pedestrians!" Spidey called back.
He swung into the street where the chase was, then landed on the tow-truck as Aleksei's crew dropped down into the truck.
Spidey knocked on the driver's window, "Hey, Mister Criminal?" He signaled for him to roll down the window, which he did.
"Hi, my name is Spider-Man! You can call me "Web-Head", you can call me "Amazing", but just don't call me late for dinner! Get it?"
Aleksei growled before he attempted to punch Spidey while also focusing on the road, but the superhero was a little too quick for him, for he backed away before he could hit him.
He relocated to the roof and hung his head upside-down, "Not a shaker? Are you a hugger?"
Aleksei grabbed his AKS74U from the passenger seat, "I am killer!"
He fired at the costumed hero, who once again dodged, while the guys in the truck carefully opened the storage container for the plutonium.
"Warning," a computer voice said. "Plutonium-238 is a radioactive material and highly explosive."
Meanwhile, a nerdy looking African American man was walking down the sidewalk, carrying some blueprints.
"Max, wait up!" An African American woman caught up with him, who looked like his sister.
Back with the truck, Aleksei was trying to fix his gun while Spidey steered the wheel away from people.
"Having trouble with your gun? Let me help you with that. Watch out!"
He did accidentally bump into a car, but the worst he did was cause it to swerve. He saw that the truck was about to hit a taxi and send it flying.
"Oh, this is bad," Spidey muttered. "I'll be right back!"
He jumped away just before the cab was sent flying! Spidey dove in to pull Max out of the way from being hit!
"Oh my God! Spider-Man!" Max's sister exclaimed.
Spidey pulled Max to his feet, "There we go. You okay, you alright?"
"Yeah, thanks man," Max replied.
"You saved my brother!" His sister briefly hugged him. "Thank you!"
"Anytime!" Spidey stated, patting her on the back. "You two look after each other; family is the most important thing."
Then he swung back after the truck.
"...I was saved by Spider-Man...!" Max whispered, still in awe, but meanwhile, back in the truck, Aleksei's lackeys were slowly removing the plutonium, in spite of the computer's warnings, while Aleksei was being pursued by the police. In desperation, Aleksei slammed the brakes, causing the truck to skid along the ground, but in doing so, he knocked his lackeys off their feet, along with some of the plutonium!
All the police cars came to a halt, but most ended up crashing into each other, or flipped over!
The back doors of the truck opened, and the two lackeys opened fire on the police, until some weblines yanked their guns away, and them!
Soon, they were left hanging from a streetlamp with the police aiming their guns at them. At that moment, the Oscorp truck driver got out while Aleksei floored it!
Unfortunately, this caused all the canisters of plutonium to fall! Luckily, Spidey swung into the truck and started grabbing all the bouncing canisters.
"No, got you! Got you!" He even stopped one by making it stick to his foot. "Got you too!"
Aleksei drove down an alleyway, making the truck bump into a wall, causing Spidey to drop some, but he quickly got back to grabbing them!
"Hey, yo, you-! Don't-! You're not going anywhere! Come on, come here, come to daddy!"
Meanwhile, Aleksei was driving recklessly through an alley, sending garbage flying all over and people scrambling to get out of the way until he got out the other side.
"Okay, stop it! Stop it!" Finally, Spidey grabbed all the canisters, breathing a sigh of relief...until the last canister fell from the truck. "Oh come ON!"
He jumped out and webbed all the other canisters together, then webbed them to a fire escape before going after the last one as it bounced around.
"Hey, no! Come back here!" It bounced off a fire hydrant, and onto the street. "Heel!" Finally, he got it. "Got you!"
Unfortunately, a police truck was headed straight at him, causing him to scream in a rather high-pitched tone! Thankfully, he stuck to the front of the truck as it kept driving.
"Peter, you have an incoming call from MJ," Karen told him.
"Oh, man, not now...!" Spidey whispered in indignation.
"Shall I select "Ignore"?"
"NO! No, answer..."
"Hey dork."
"Hey MJ," Peter answered. "I know I'm running late, sorry..."
"Where are you?"
"Uh, 1st in Broadway, 2nd in Broadway, 3rd in Broadway. Five minutes, ten tops."
"What's happening?"
"I'll tell you when I see you."
"Well, hurry your ass up," she told him.
"Yeah, bye." Then they hung up.
Spidey swung back after the truck and landed on the hood in front of the windshield,
"Hey, can we wrap this up? I'm running a bit late!"
Aleksei turned on the windshield sprayers, hitting the wall-crawler with water, but he ripped off the windshield-wiper. He punched the windshield a couple times, but then saw the truck was about to hit a bus!
Thinking fast, Spidey threw the last canister of plutonium to a lamp-post attached to some webs, so it stuck! Just as the truck hit the bus, then as he jumped over it, he caught it and tried to keep it from rolling down the road! He also kept it from hitting an Asian man walking with his daughter! The bus stopped, then went back to it's upright position. Spidey gave the "okay" signal to the people on the bus as they cheered, and made sure the Asian man and his daughter were okay.
Aleksei got out of the truck and ran for it, grabbing the plutonium. Spidey swung after him, dodging Aleksei's gunfire with his incredible agility. Then, he landed in front of the tall brute before quickly disarming him of his gun.
"I'll take that," he said before he threw it up into the air, then snatched the plutonium canister away from Aleksei. "That's not yours."
As Aleksei tried to punch Spidey, the hero quickly used his webs to keep his fists in place, then, just for a good laugh, he pulled down his pants to reveal his boxers while whistling the "Spider-Man" tune.
Then, he walked away.
Aleksei struggled to break free, to no avail, "THIS IS NOT END, SPIDER!"
To shut him up, Spidey shocked him with a taser web, knocking him unconscious...just before his gun landed on his head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MJ sat at Barnes & Noble, currently reading an issue of the manga series Ghost Hunt. She always enjoyed mysteries, but ones that also dealt with the supernatural; count her in!
MJ briefly looked up to see Peter walk over.
"Sorry I'm late," he said while she rolled her eyes.
"What took you?" she asked.
"Oscorp truck carrying plutonium was hijacked," he answered, whispering.
MJ checked the news app on her phone, and the incident was just reported.
Peter quirked an eyebrow, "Were you actually reading a manga?"
MJ gave him a warning glare, before just shaking her head, "You know I like mysteries. But the guy in this is such a narcissist, he makes Flash seem humble."
Peter just mouthed "Wow", shaking his head.
"Hey, I noticed you got the necklace fixed," he pointed out.
MJ smiled, fingering the glass black dahlia, "I did say I liked it better broken, but it cut my fingers sometimes. I'm fine, Parker."
He had instantly looked worried at her last statement; he was so cute, the way he worried about people.
"So, what's going on with you?" asked Peter as he sat beside her.
"Just...teaching my brother how to look after himself when I'm not around," she answered.
"I didn't know you had a brother," Peter said.
"Younger. Mom works a lot, so I'm usually the one taking care of him..." she trailed. "It's no big deal..."
She got some homework out of her backpack, indicating that she wanted to change the subject.
Peter wanted to ask more about her family, but he knew not to push her when she didn't want to discuss something. He'd let her tell him when she was ready.
Moving on, their homework was on different languages. She had Spanish, and he had French.
"You know what they say about French, right?" asked Peter.
"Don't even start, dork," MJ said.
He just shrugged, smiling.
"You know what the biggest problem is with Language classes?" she asked.
"What's that?" Peter wondered.
"The teacher spouts details of grammar, we take notes, then we fill out worksheets and try to memorize the content presented. But we don't learn the speaking part. I mean, that's why we take the class in the first place."
"Yeah, you're right about that," Peter agreed. "I mean, how are we supposed to know unless you speak the actual language?"
Soon, they left Barnes & Noble, buying a couple books as well. MJ bought a couple of volumes of Death Note and Tokyo Ghoul.
"What'd you get?" she asked Peter.
"Uh...Boh," he replied, bringing back the Italian word that she loved so much.
She chuckled, "Nice."
"Do you wanna get something to eat?" he asked her.
"Sure, I could go for a veggie wrap," said MJ.
They got some food, then went back to Peter's apartment, since it was within walking distance.
Peter even found out there was an anime of Ghost Hunt, and he suggested they watch it. She agreed, saying it could be their "Netflix and Chill".
"Wow, Naru DOES have a bigger head than Flash," Peter stated.
"Honestly, I'd probably punch him if I ever met him," MJ commented. "By the way, his voice sounds familiar..."
"Todd Haberkorn, the guy who voiced Natsu from Fairy Tail, Death the Kid from Soul Eater-" Peter began to list.
"Oh, right," MJ remembered.
"And the girl who played Lucy plays Mai, so another anime where they pair up."
MJ eyed him suspiciously, "You check for anime pairings, Parker?"
Peter got flustered, "Uh, well- I, I just...you know, kinda-"
MJ chuckled, with her amused smile, "You're such a nerd."
"Don't forget, you're dating this nerd," he countered.
"Don't remind me," she replied, but her smile and the affection in her voice said she was joking. Peter smiled at her, all the same as they kept watching their show. Then, MJ leaned over and kissed him on the lips. He happily returned it. It's sweet and chaste, just like their first two kisses on the London Bridge.
Before long, they pulled away from each other.
"So, how's the internship with Connors going?" she asked.
"Pretty well," Peter answered. "That man still keeps his spirits up, even though he lost his arm. What about you?"
"I'm thinking about helping May at the F.E.A.S.T. Center," MJ said.
"Oh, yeah, May told me you talked to her about that," said Peter. "It would actually be a big help to her if you did. Wait till you meet Mr. Li, he's such a good man."
"Well, I look forward to it, then," said MJ. "Happy to do my part for the community, just like our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."
They both chuckled at that one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connors' Lab, ESU
Peter wrote the last part of the formula, "Okay Doc, Formula 3.0 is finished!"
Connors looked at it, "Extraordinary! You truly are brilliant, Peter!"
"Yeah, well...I try," Peter said, modestly.
Connors went over to the light switch, turned it off, then pressed some numbers on the keypad next to it. A 3D hologram projection appeared over the lab table.
Peter looked amazed, even though this wasn't the first time he'd seen this kind of thing,
"Wow...!"
"Some of the gifts from Stark Industries," Connors answered the unasked question. "Apparently, Mr. Stark provided a lot of resources for colleges all over the globe."
A projection of a frilled lizard appeared, along with its DNA structure.
"Now, to make sure that the formula is safe, we need to test it on our host subject," Connors explained as a projection of a mouse, missing one of its legs appeared. "Freddie, our three-legged mouse."
"But the dosage has to be right, otherwise it could kill the host," Peter surmised.
"Beginning trial," said the computer voice as Freddie's projection seemed to be regrowing his front right paw...but it didn't regrow exactly as it did, and the strain was too much on him, causing him to die. "Failed. Subject diseased."
"Ugh, too much," Peter growled a bit, then lowered the dosage, and hit a few keys to lower the dosage for each following test if it failed.
"Pending...failed. Pending, failed. Pending, failed. Subject deceased," The computer said as three more tests had the same result, with Freddie's right paw looking more grotesque with each failure.
Connors slammed his left hand on his desk in anger, "Dammit!"
"Wait, hang on," said Peter as he tried one more time.
"Pending...pending...accepted," the computer said as Freddie's right paw grew back, this time at the right size and shape. "Regrowth complete. Vitals, normal. Blood pressure, normal. Limb regeneration, successful."
"Incredible," Connors breathed a sigh of relief, then touched Peter's shoulder. "Thank you."
Next, they brought in the glass box with the real Freddie in it.
Peter gently picked him up, "Hey buddy. It's okay, I got ya."
Connors held the syringe, ready to administer, "Careful. I don't want to stick you by mistake. Human trials won't begin until we've observed Freddie's progression."
Peter nodded before he held Freddie still while Connors poked the little rodent with the syringe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MJ walked up to the F.E.A.S.T. community center, but stopped just short of opening the door.
She hated to admit it, but she was a little nervous. Okay, A LOT nervous.
She was more than aware that she didn't have the people skills to qualify for something like this; especially if her family and school lives were to be examined. Still, she had wanted to find a way to help people in need, and May had encouraged her to try volunteering here and see if she liked it.
She promised that she would greet her and help her out on her first day, and remembering that gave her the last bit of courage she needed to open the door and step through it.
"Glad you could make it, MJ," May greeted her warmly.
"Yeah, thanks for letting me come here," she said, still a little nervous. Still, seeing May helped give her some peace of mind.
"Let me show you around the place, then we'll get started," May said, gesturing for MJ to follow her. They went through the various parts of the property: the gymnasium, the kitchen, the lounge area, the offices, the playground...May left no place unseen. "So, you have any idea where you want to start?"
"Uhmmm...how about the lounge area?" MJ replied.
"Perfect. A lot of the older folks that gather there enjoy having young people come and visit. I have to tend to a couple of things; why don't you start by just getting to know some people, familiarize yourself a little bit, and I will be back to check on you as soon as I can."
"Got it," MJ replied.
"Let me know if you need anything," May said, before she turned around and headed down the hall.
MJ took a moment to get a look at her surroundings and try to calm herself down.
She spotted an older woman, who was trying to refill her cup of coffee, but was having trouble steadying her hands to pour the refill. She walked over to the woman, put on her best smile, and spoke up, "Excuse me, would you like some help with that?"
"I can handle myself; I don't need some young person's help!" the lady snapped, barely managing to pour her refill without spilling it.
"Okay, don't bite my head off," MJ scoffed and walked away.
That hurt more than she thought it would. She was just trying to offer her help, and she understood the need to try and do some things herself, but why did the lady have to be so mean? Her thoughts then wandered back to herself: did people see her that way? She wasn't really mean to be people, but she had made a habit of being independent and doing things all on her own, partially because she had to, but also because it was easier. Is this what she might become?
She stopped herself right there; she was not going to let one bad encounter kill her morale. She looked around the room again, this time noticing an older woman sitting by herself.
MJ walked over and noticed the lady had a sketchbook and a pencil lying on the table in front of her. Maybe drawing was something they would have in common. She walked up to introduce herself.
"Hello," MJ greeted, causing the lady to look up at her.
"Oh...hi," she said, a bit shyly.
"I couldn't help but notice your sketchbook there. Do you draw?"
"When my arthritis isn't acting up," the woman replied. "There's something...peaceful about it, ya know?"
"I do," MJ replied. "Are you trying to draw anything in particular today?"
"Actually, I was wanting to draw a picture of my late husband. He passed away a couple of years ago. Photographs are nice, but...drawing has always made things stick with me. My arthritis is acting up today, so I am having a hard time. I'm sorry, where are my manners: please, have a seat," the woman said, gesturing towards the other chair across from her at the small table.
MJ went over and sat down, "Listen, I know it isn't the same, but...I could draw a picture of him for you, or of something else at least. I've been drawing my whole life, so I've gotten pretty good."
"That would actually be wonderful," the woman smiled. "I can describe him to you, if you think that's enough to go off of."
"Try me," MJ replied as she took the sketchbook and started on a fresh page. "So, what does he look like?"
The lady left out no details: he was tall, had long arms, brown hair (before it had turned grey, anyway), brown eyes, ears that stuck out a little more than normal, and he was missing one of his front teeth from a fight he got into as a boy.
After about 10 minutes, MJ turned the notepad over to show the woman her finished work.
"Oh, young lady, you did a great job! You are really talented," the woman said, offering a sincere smile of gratitude. "Thank you so much. Tell me, what's your name?"
"Michelle, but you can call me MJ."
"MJ? May Parker's nephew's girlfriend?"
"That's me," MJ replied, shrugging.
"It is so nice to meet you. Peter hardly stops talking about you when he visits. I'm so glad to finally meet you in person. You're just as beautiful as he described."
At that, MJ did the best she could to hide the sudden shade of red threatening to overrun her cheeks. "Thanks" was all she could manage to get out.
Still, she spent the next 20 minutes talking with this lady, discussing her late husband, their mutual admiration for Joan of Arc (whom the woman was named after, apparently), and how much school had changed in the last 50 years. MJ finally decided to get up so she could try and meet some more people. "It was so nice to meet you."
"The pleasure was all mine," Joan replied. "Please, feel free to come see me anytime you want. I visit here quite often."
"I will," MJ replied as she walked away and began to look around some more.
She spent the rest of her day meeting more people and getting familiar with the place as a whole. She discovered that she enjoyed helping some of the young kids with their homework, especially the girls. Before she knew it, the 3 hours she was there for were coming to an end.
She went up to May's office to tell her that she was leaving, "Thank you again for this opportunity; I really had a good time today."
"Good, I'm so glad to hear that," May said excitedly. "I hope that means we will be seeing you around often?"
"Definitely."
"Alright, well, do you have any other questions or need anything before you go?" May asked. "I can drive you if you want."
"No thanks; I should be good," MJ replied.
But as she turned to leave, she stopped at the door. May noticed that she had a bit of a troubled look on her face, and that was a far cry from the aloof confidence that MJ always had.
"Is everything okay?"
"Well, actually...I was wondering if I could talk about something, just woman to woman?" MJ asked, more nervousness than she liked coming from her words.
"Of course," May replied as she put her hand on her shoulder.
MJ sat down in front of the desk as May closed her office door.
"I...I don't know if this is even appropriate of me to ask, but...did Peter talk about me when he got home the night of the tour?"
"MJ, he always talks about you," May responded. "What is this about? You can tell me only as much as you want to."
"It's just...there are things about my life that I want to tell him, that I want to share with him, but..." MJ sighed. "I've just buried a lot of these thoughts and feelings for so long. I don't mean to say that I don't trust him, it's just..."
"I think I understand more than you know," May said.
"Really?"
"I met Peter's uncle, Ben, when I was your and Peter's age," May explained. "Not long after we started dating, I found myself agonizing over how much to share at what times. Having gone through that, the best thing I can tell you is this: you have to do it in your own time, and that you will find there is strength in vulnerability. It is easier to keep things to yourself, but it takes strength to allow yourself to be vulnerable, especially before a guy. I hope that helps."
"...You know what?" MJ asked with a smile on her face. "It does help."
"Thanks May. I don't...my mom is busy a lot, you know with work, so I don't really have anyone to turn to with this stuff."
"You do now," May replied with her trademark smile, though this one was less beaming and more gentle. "You ever need anything, you let me know."
"Promise."
"Good, and remember: it has to be on your time. Only you will know when you are ready to share parts of your life with Peter."
"I will, thanks again, May." With that, MJ walked out the door, beginning the trek home.
May chuckled. "That girl is a keeper...Peter's sure is lucky."
I don't understand why they never mentioned Uncle Ben in Tom Holland's movies.
I'm sure a lot of you recognized the moments from The Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2; I loved those movies!
Read and review, please!