It's about noon.
The streets form an empty boulevard, even with the hustling traffic. In the wake of the Web-Slinger's departure a sudden stillness encapsulates the world and Michelle walks a void, somehow pulling through the vacuum. She doesn't feel the ground beneath her feet. The skies are nothing. The cars are nothing. The houses upfront are nothing. It's just a lazy old yellowing world with just her in it, with puddles of stagnant water full of infestations where flies buzz and the stench of rot swirl and whirl.
If it hadn't been for the late habit she's developed of jumping at the sound of her phone she wouldn't have heard it either. It's Kate Bishop calling. Kate Bishop, who had the audacity to pay for someone Michelle has been searching for but never found. Who God knows what has been doing up there locked in Peter Parker's room. Who hasn't been answering her phone for the past few days.
"Kate?" Michelle answers. "What the hell. I have been ringing you up every few seconds. Why have you been avoiding my calls?"
At first she isn't even sure if this is a legit call, because she doesn't hear anything. Maybe Kate Bishop put her phone in her pocket and forgot to lock her screen and by the grace of movements the call connected.
But then there's an expulsion of a long-held breath and Kate's voice nearly booms out of what sounds a lot like frustration.
"You're in love with him aren't you?" she speaks.
Michele's thrown aback. "What? Why? Alex and I've been barely talking."
"Stop hiding from yourself I'm not talking about Alex." Kate's voice sounds barely collected. "You're in love with Peter aren't you?"
"Why… why would you say that?" MJ stutters.
"So a guy called Peter Parker goes to your shop and what, stares longingly at you. Just to your annoyance, and one day you can't hold it any longer and burst out at him before an entire crowd of customers and later on you're overcome with guilt and you think of apologizing only to find that he no longer visits your store. You're so miserable from then on that you even begin hunting him down but can't find him. So you keep thinking of him. And thinking of him. And thinking of him-"
"Bishop, wait-"
"I'm not done yet Jones. You feel you won't be able to get past what you did to this guy and then just like that you leave for college. Where you think you've just gotten past him, until you meet a guy who's exactly like him. Who's exactly like Peter Parker. By his nature at least. And maybe even the way he talks. And walks."
"You mean-"
"Yes," Kate spits. "I know. Betty can't shut up about it. She keeps insisting how similar Alex and Peter feel. How same it is to be around them. So you meet a guy called Alex in college and because you've spent so much of your time thinking about Peter Parker, how he moved, how he looked at you, how he talked, you felt you were just with him whenever Alex was around. You just wanted to know Peter better. Maybe where he went to school. His favorite pass time. So you decided to get to know Alex better. Because all you did was see Peter in him. In a way talking to Alex was a way of coping with the guilt you formed for what happened with Parker am I right?"
The remnants of whatever air Michelle had left in her lungs must have gone out because she feels this sudden roughness in her tongue and she can't let out a single word.
"And then," Kate continues over the phone, "you've spent so much of your time thinking about Peter that you actually have fallen in love with him, however cheesy this might sound. Isn't it? And now that you know where he lives, you've begun to see how different Alex is from him. And now you don't feel the same about Alex, do you? So much that you're barely talking to him. I noticed that day in the cemetery. He wanted to hold your hand. You didn't let him. You took it away. And he's here now. With you. Probably hating himself. Confused. Scared even."
Michelle hangs up. She can't hear anything further.
She left Alex back on the rooftop.
It's five minutes past noon.
She walks alone. And she keeps walking ahead.
The world is nothing but nothing. All dark and the same.
"I'm a bad person, Ned," Michelle says as they climb the stairs to the restaurant where Mr. Harrington is organizing the get-together.
"I think the best person in the world has done far worse things than you have," Ned tries to reason. "You'd be surprised."
She lets out a sigh. "You think I'm just talking about the Peter Parker case?"
Ned stops and turns to face her. She follows suit. "What else is there then?"
"Kate called."
"At last."
"Yeah. And she said a few things. I think they're true."
"What did she say?"
"She thinks I'm in love with "Peter". That I've been so guilt-ridden and I've thought of him so much that I really have started to fall for that guy. That I only liked Alex as long as he resembled most of Peter Parker, or at least, how I imagined Peter Parker would be if I ever got to know him better."
"And what do you think?" Ned asks.
She sighs again. "I think she's right. And that's why I'm such a terrible person. What I mean is, Alex was right to lash out in front of Spider-Man that way. I hadn't ever been transparent with him. Hell, what am I saying? I was never transparent to myself. All the time I kept thinking I really liked Alex, and I forced myself to because I couldn't understand what was about him that intrigued me so much. I know now. Because at times I did feel far from him. Sometimes I didn't like him the way I did other times. I didn't feel sure. And if I have to be honest, it was when he acted differently. Differently, at least from how I imagined Peter Parker would be. So here I am, Ned. I'm a terrible person. First I'm afraid of getting close to people. I humiliate a boy for no reason in front of a crowd. Then I get close to another guy imagining him to be like someone else. And now I break his heart. I'm a pathetic being. What else can you think of me?"
They wonder back down the stairs, staring into the night. It's colder than ever and Michelle would like to get in but she won't.
"I don't think I should go in there," she says. "You go ahead. I'll meet you tomorrow at the airport."
"No you're coming in with me," Ned says. His voice is firm and his eyes are set. "You know what I think?"
"What?"
"I think you're not wrong. You're not wrong in the fact that you found familiarity when you first met Alex. I did too. When I first met that guy I felt like I'd known him my whole long life. It was just like I'd found my long-lost best friend. And the weird thing is, I don't know why. I frankly haven't obsessed over Peter Parker the way you did. Heck, I haven't even obsessed over Betty that much, and that's saying a lot. Like, I've had a lot of crushes because they resembled movie stars I had crush on earlier. But MJ, that doesn't justify the way Alex behaved. I get it, he's pissed. He's mad. Maybe he's got that right. But we all go through tough times don't we? Doesn't mean you'll let it get the better of you."
Michelle doesn't answer.
"Come on," Ned says, patting her on the back and begins climbing up the steps.
~#~#~
It is as if Roger Harrington had rented the place for the evening. The inside of the place is dimly lit and it appears more like a club than a restaurant. Colorful lights dance around the walls and the floors. It's a big place. One can only appreciate the fact when inside.
"Yeah I know," Betty joins them out of nowhere. "Big place, I guess. Looks more like a party house than an eating place doesn't it?"
"Yeah," Ned replies, a bit dazed.
Michelle spots a few people she hasn't seen in years. There's Cindy Moon and then there's Abe Brown, both of whom survived the Snap and look much older than the others. Probably they're working right now. Probably they're married.
"Let's go and say hi," Betty says, but Michelle's view falls upon a far corner of the hall, darker and lonelier. "Yeah," Betty continues, "he's been there for an hour now. He came even before we did."
Meeting her old friends doesn't turn out to be an emotion as rich as she has it displayed on her face. Of course she is glad to reconnect with them and get reminded of her old life, much before and a little after the blip. Before the fiasco at the bakery that fateful day. And obviously before college. She'd hated it then, but now she knows those were better days. It isn't that she had a rich circle of friends back then, which she doesn't feel she does now either, but all those years ago there was a certain peace of mind and a lot less pretension. She didn't have to go an extra mile to establish minimal communication. She could speak her mind out.
And her life somehow seemed fuller then. All she does now is hear an echo across the emptiness that the world has turned into, especially the last two years.
There's a puzzle missing.
She doesn't even know which.
Mr. Harrington looked beyond elated to see her. The warmth in his eyes almost warmed hers because she notices he looks much better than he did a few years ago. He looks sturdier and there's an added spring in his step. Michelle can't say if it's only for now because of meeting her, or if it has become a usual for him. She wishes for the latter. The man used to look so miserable when she graduated from Midtown. It was something to do with his wife during the blip. She'd left him or something. Pretended to have disappeared as a victim of the Blip but in reality had eloped with someone else, so she's heard.
"How do you know that?" Ned asks. "Mr. Harrington never told us that."
"Did he not?" MJ says. "I thought he did. Or at least he told someone and that someone told me. I just keep hearing it in my head. Like someone narrating it to me."
"Weird." Ned scratches his head. "Now that you mention it.'
"Yeah?"
"I feel like I've heard it too. Where are you going?"
"There," MJ says, pointing at the far lonely corner she had noticed earlier.
"Just don't punch him again if he says anything wrong," Ned suggests.
MJ chuckles. "Don't worry. I won't."
Undisturbed and alone at the corner spot sits Flash Thompson, who appears totally drunk starring at an empty glass before him.
"Hello Eugene," MJ says, approaching him.
Thompson acknowledges her by looking up with slightly raised eyebrows. "Oh look who's here. If it's not the great miss Crusher Jones. Heavy-weight championship diamond medal."
"I've never seen you this wasted," MJ comments, ignoring him. "What's happened?"
Thompson clears his throat and leans forward. "What's your problem with that huh? I'm minding my own business here. Am I even bothering you?"
"Right," MJ says, turning around and pretending to leave. "I just thought you needed to speak to someone. It's fine if it's otherwise. Anyway, you're unknowingly being a sore sight for the others here. At least for Mr. Harrington. He didn't ask you here to get drunk."
"Wait, wait," Flash says, suddenly sprinting up from his seat as she's about to leave. "You're right. I need to talk to someone. If no one else than I guess I'll have to make do with you."
Smiling to herself Michelle pulls out a chair. "So tell me. What is it that you're drowning your sorrows about?"
Flash sighs. "I just don't think I'm a good person. Sometimes – most of the time – I think I'm a failure. An unwanted being. And for that reason I've always wanted people to see me. I'd feel better. I thought that would numb the ignorance I get at home."
"What's wrong at home?" Michelle asks, leaning on her elbows.
"My parents don't like me," Flash says wiping a tear from his left eye. "I don't think they ever wanted me."
"Why would you say that? Every parent loves their child."
"Maybe yours. But not mine. It's been so many times that I want to talk to them. They just leave the room as soon as I get into it. I almost lost my life back in Europe but they never came to pick me up from the airport. I got into MIT, and they didn't even say a thing. All my father expressed was his disappointment over not securing any scholarship. I know why you didn't want to go there first. All that scholarship stuff you kept talking about with Ned."
"How did you know?"
"The entire class knew. It was clear in your face. You wouldn't even lower your voice when you talked to Ned. All that about your parents splitting up. It drove me mad when I heard that. Because I don't think your parents treat you the same way mine do to me. They love you. It drove me mad when I heard all that you had to say. It's not my business but I was jealous. There you were, with half a scholarship or something and you didn't want to go. And me on the other hand, couldn't get any and I was dying to go. Your parents adore you and mine don't. I loathed you so much. I said things and I shouldn't have. They upset you and I'm sorry. But if there's anything then it's that you are wanted. Needed. Hell. My folks are touring Australia right now clicking pictures with kangaroos and stuff. They never even told me they were going. I got back home and found only my stupid butler there. My point is, Michelle, be there for them while they're still here for you. I'm talking mostly about your mom. I've heard you hate her."
Michelle finds herself staring at the empty glass just like she'd found him doing a few minutes ago. Then she slowly rises from her seat.
"MJ," she states.
"What?"
"My friends call me MJ. You can call me too. If you want."
"Alright. Thanks. MJ."
"Come," she says, putting forward her hand. "It's up to us to make things better isn't it?"
"I guess it is," Flash replies, wiping at his eyes.
"Let's join the others."
"Yeah, okay." Then his eyes go wide looking past her. "Holy shit! That's Hawkeye!"
"What-" Michelle turns around and finds no Hawkeye. However, to her utter astonishment, there's Kate making her way towards her in a checkered overcoat atop a tight purple jacket and black tights. MJ walks up to her. "Hi Kate."
She smiles ruefully. "Hello MJ. I just came in here to apologize. I shouldn't have said all that to you. I… was a bit overcome with emotion and I burst out. I'm sorry for that."
"Yeah I don't think you were ever wrong-"
"You're Hawkeye!" Flash interrupts. "Isn't it?"
"No she's not!" MJ begins.
"I actually am," Kate says smiling, a little red in the face. "Or at least still in the process."
"But how is she Hawkeye?" MJ asks, confused.
"You don't follow Twitter that's the problem," Flash says nonchalantly. "She's the new Hawkeye. Clint Barton's sidekick."
Kate scowls. "I'm no sidekick."
"Oh hey Kate!" Betty calls from behind, Ned behind her. "Surprised to see you here."
"Yeah," Kate replies, tapping her shoes. "I actually came to talk to MJ. So if you guys could please spare us a few minutes. Ned you can come too."
"What is it?" MJ asks after Kate tucks her and Ned into a corner.
"Do you believe in magic?" Kate asks. "Like reality altering magic and all?"
"Well my Lola says I've got magic running in my family," Ned says. "Like I feel these tingling sensations in my finger tips. Sometimes I even feel like I've done some basic spells and stuff. Like opening portals or something. I don't know. It could just have been a dream or something. But it just feels so real! But I don't know about reality-altering spells and all. Why?"
"You know what?" Kate says. "I feel you're right. Like, you look just like a magician, dude! What do they call them? Wizard. Like Doctor Strange magic."
"Huh you think so right?" Ned says with a smile he can't hide. "Oh it's such a relief."
"What about you MJ?"
MJ shrugs. "I guess so. Like, there's aliens now. Aliens are real. Like a purple giant with golden gloves who could erase half the universe with a simple snap of his fingers. So I guess at this point you can't not believe anything. Which might even be true for reality-altering magic. But why?"
Kate takes in a deep breath and is about to say something. But she holds herself. Her mouth agape. Then she sighs and looks down on her feet. And shakes her head. "Forget it," she says. "I was just thinking of some theory. I'm... I guess I'm trying to help a friend."
"What?" MJ asks.
Kate shakes her head. "Never mind," she replies with a smile. "But I almost forgot. There's someone here to see you."
"Who?" MJ asks just as her heart begins to race.
Kate points backwards. "Him."
~#~#~
The world is a long never-ending beat of red dancing lights slowed down gradually to a halt. The noise in the air grows illegible to a murmur and the only sound is the echo of Michelle's own footsteps that she carries without even being aware of it. Her vision shimmers into a blur, except for that one person slowly making his way towards her.
The shadows leap off of him, revealing the awestruck face of a smiling Peter Parker. It's those brown eyes that she sees, and that to which she is drawn. Those huge eyes look confused, dazed, happy and sad all at once. She doesn't know how it's even possible but they're very easy to read. He steps closer now, and he's in a dark green jacket and blue jeans. In a second his mouth transforms from uncertainty to a faint smile, right when Michelle hears the clock ticking in her head again. Now she is no longer sure if all this is just a dream or real and she doesn't want to find out.
She's standing closer to him than ever; there's no counter that separates them as they stand awkwardly facing each other so close that she can even smell the aftershave.
"Hey Peter Parker," she blurts out somehow.
"Hi there." Peter Parker titters.
Before another second can pass Michelle wraps her arms around him and pulls him to a hug. There's a cold pain than runs down from her nose to her upper lips and then to her jaws as her eyes sting and get blurry and wet. She feels no resistance from him and rests her chin on his shoulder. There's a light touch on her back and it's his hands welcoming the action. She closes her eyes.
Well beyond the smell of the deodorant and that of the fabric of his jacket, she can sniff at his scent. A soft sweet scent, indescribable by words, it feels like she's known it a long time. Like she's known every structure of his body. How his hands feel, the boniness of his shoulders and the softness of his hair. The touch feels entirely homely.
Right now all the annoyance in the world has gone and she takes in another deep breath of his smell as she holds on to him tight, afraid she might lose her grasp. Afraid, she might wake up and find herself only hugging her extra pillow. But the world comes back into play as her eyes snap open and he is still there, tethered to her embrace. She wastes time no more.
"I'm so sorry for how I'd behaved with you that day," she says with a shivering voice. In her head she'd prepared a long speech but this is the best she can get out at the moment. Somehow she has lost the sync between her brain and her tongue. Somehow she isn't able to spell out much words, and of course not how she thinks them.
Peter Parker pulls away from her and his face is a friendly worried scowl. "No. No. That's not your fault. It was mine. I'm not… I was never mad at you."
"I kept searching and searching and searching... for you," MJ manages to say as she wipes tears away with the back of her jacket sleeve. "I never found you."
He smiles. "But I did. I found you now. Come on. Wanna take go on a stroll outside?"
"Sure," MJ sniffs and follows him towards the door.
"Hey how're you doing?" Mr. Harrington pops out of nowhere. MJ's about to say something but realizes he's only speaking to Peter.
"Oh hey Mr. Harrington," Peter greets him. "How're you doing?"
"Great, great," Roger Harrington says.
"Wait how do you know him?" MJ asks her former teacher.
"Uh we met once long time back. On a New Year's Eve. This man here is a fine one. How do you know him Michelle?"
"I uh… I've bought coffee from where she worked quite often," Peter explains and Michelle tucks a strand of her hair behind her ears. "Great coffee," he titters again.
"Yeah," Mr. Harrington smiles, although his face is a puzzle. "Right. Go ahead. You're welcome to have dinner with us mister… Parker, was it?"
"Yeah. But uh, no, thank you Sir."
"And Michelle don't be late."
MJ shakes her head. "I won't."
~#~#~
"I'm sorry for what I did that day. I know it's beyond forgiving but I just want you to know I'm deeply regretful."
"What? No no no! Please don't apologize. I'm not mad. I was never mad at you for that."
"No. No, listen. I was having a terrible day form school itself and I know that's not an excuse but I'm so sorry! I can't get over it, it's been bugging me every day since then and then you stopped showing up and…"
"I told you MJ… can I call you MJ?"
"Yeah. Of course. Can I call you Peter?"
He laughs. He shrugs. "Yeah, I guess."
"So you're not mad at me?"
Peter shakes his head. "No." Though his voice is fallen.
"Then why did you stop showing up?"
"I thought you wouldn't want to see me."
"Oh God, I knew it! I'm so sorry-"
"No, listen-"
"I'm so sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry… I… I don't know what else I can do."
"No wait listen, MJ. I mostly stopped showing up because I had some work to do. I once made a promise to someone close to me and my work requires me to travel. A lot."
"What do you do?"
"Uh, photography. Mostly for the news."
"Yeah. Mostly for Spider-Man?"
He laughs. A forced laugh. "Uh, yeah. Yeah you could say that. Yeah. Mostly for Spider-Man yeah."
MJ nods. "I've seen those pictures you've taken. They're incredible. Ho do you do that? I mean, all those angles from which you take those shots. Looks very risky. Almost impossible for a common man."
There's a sharp intake of breath. "High risk high reward I guess?" he says and starts laughing nervously again.
"You know Betty?"
"Yeah. She's great."
"Great as in?"
"I mean, she's good at her job. She's a good reporter you could say that."
"And she's pretty too."
Another laugh. "Yeah," Peter agrees. "That's there. As well."
"She says you're the best Spider-Man photographer in the entire planet."
"Oh I'm flattered. I need to thank her I guess."
"So you meet often?"
"Not that often. Sometimes at work. Never otherwise, if that's what you're asking."
Michelle feels the heat rise in her face.
"So what about you?" Peter asks. "Got a boyfriend or anything? How're you doing?"
MJ sighs. "I don't know. I guess I don't feel for him the way I thought I did. I've been lying to myself, probably. No. It's my fault by the way. So I guess the relationship has reached an expiry date."
"I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sorry all this is happening to you. It shouldn't."
"Thanks."
Their stroll under the cold night sky already leads them two blocks away from the restaurant but MJ never realizes how the time passed. "How do you know Kate?" she asks.
"She told me you've been looking for me. Like, I only knew her recently. She tells me you're leaving tomorrow?"
"Yeah," MJ replies, clasping her hands together before her. "I mean, winter break's not exactly over yet but I've got to bail. Working on a project."
"Right. You're going to Boston, right? MIT?"
"Yeah."
"How is it there? Are you making friends?"
She nods subtly. "I am. It's nice. Where do you go to college?"
"Yeah," Peter says as he sighs. "Here. Empire State."
"Cool. What are you studying?"
"Bio-Chem. But I love Physics as well. I build… stuff. Computers, collecting scraps, phones, radios."
"Why?"
He shrugs. "I don't know. They're a good pass time. Keeps me happy."
"You don't do anything else to keep happy?"
"Uh, I stay quite busy actually."
"You live alone?"
"Yeah."
"You got any relatives in here somewhere?"
He's silent for a bit. "No. I had an aunt. She passed away."
"I'm sorry to hear that. I went searching for you to your apartment. That lady on the photograph. That her?"
"Yeah. That's right."
"How was she? I mean, she really looked lovely."
"She was."
"What was her name?"
Peter Parker turns sideways and gives her a funny look. "Why?"
"I'm sorry I didn't know what to ask," MJ says scratching the back of her head. "I'm really sorry I'm terribly bad at conversations. Sorry sor-"
"Look," Peter says. "I think you're a little too hard on yourself. Learn to forgive. Can take you miles ahead."
"Really?"
"Yeah," Peter answers with another shrug. "I mean, uh, I've made plenty terrible mistakes. But what's happened has happened. You can't just go and punish yourself. All you can do is learn. Like me, right now."
"Where'd you go to school?" Michelle asks.
"I'm… home-schooled. Why?"
"Oh. I thought you'd met Mr. Harrington at school or something."
"I actually met him at a bar. He looked terrible that day. But he looked much better off today."
"Yeah guy's a pretty tragic figure."
"Yeah. His wife left him in the pretext of being a Blip victim. Later he found out she ran away with someone else."
"Right." Michelle smiles to herself. "Mr. Harrington isn't someone who talks a lot about himself," she lies and waits for a response. She secretly glances to her left at him.
"I don't know," Peter says.
"Maybe he found you familiar?" MJ suggests.
"Familiar as in?" Peter says after a beat.
"Like you'd met earlier or something."
"Huh." He laughs nervously. "I wouldn't be so sure."
"You got anybody?" MJ asks suddenly.
"Anybody?"
"You seeing anyone right now?" She blushes and turns to the other side to hide her face.
"No," Peter replies with a shaky voice. He takes half a minute to collect himself. "Haven't got the time. It's too risky."
"Why?"
"The job I do."
"Oh I didn't know you were a secret service agent. You work for the government?"
He chuckles. "No. I don't work for the government."
"Then what? Why did you always used to have cuts and bruises back when you used to visit me at the bakery?"
"You… you saw that?"
"Yeah!"
"You noticed?"
"Uh-huh."
"Yeah… I mean… that's my job. I also take pictures for the news and the world now isn't the safest place. Especially this city. Which is now a hub of… super villains, I guess?"
"Did it hurt?"
"Those bruises? Nah. Not much."
"No no," MJ corrects. "I mean, when they found you in the alley. With claw marks across your… chest."
"Yeah that was a bit… hey wait. How'd you know?"
"The news? You went missing for a while."
"I never went missing. That claw mark wasn't a claw mark. How'd you even know? I was taking pictures and I slipped and I had to cross a fence and it was the fence that uh… cut it."
"Oh I'm sorry!" MJ says. "I thought I mixed you up with someone else. Yeah, yeah. That was someone else. I got it all mixed up and all."
"Yeah," Peter says with a sigh. "That's what I was thinking."
An alarm beeps twice and Peter fishes out his phone. It's an old smart phone with a shattered screen guard. He dials in the pin and reads the screen for a while. "Got to go from here," he says with an all different tone. His voice is sharper and edgier. "Rhino alert."
"Rhino?"
"Yeah," Peter says and all of a sudden grasps at her hand and begins to pull her back to where they came.
"I don't get it," MJ says as she runs alongside him. "How did a rhinoceros get out of the zoo?"
"It's not a real rhinoceros," Peter says over rushed breaths. "Remember what we were talking about just a little ago? About how New York is a hub of super villain activity?"
"Yeah?"
"Well this is one of them. A guy dressed in a mechanized rhinoceros armor stolen from an R&D lab a few days ago. We've been hunting him down but to no effect."
"You? Hunting?"
"Yeah! The news. The cops."
From a quiet and lazy night the atmosphere turns full into energy. The screams of police sirens approaching slowly seep into the cool night air and the screams of a scared crowd reach an all new high. People begin to run around in a frenzy, utterly clueless where to go and what to do. Then the sound of helpless bullets ring across the neighborhood and cars screech to a halt and collide with one another.
"He's here," Peter says, more to himself. "Very near. I should have known."
They reach the outside of the restaurant where people are beginning to swarm out and run in the other direction. The sound of crashing cars and gunfire grows louder.
"No no no no!" Peter screams over the crowd. "They should all be going inside. It's not safe out here."
They climb up the stairs three at a time, Peter doing so effortlessly as MJ notices, when the rest of the class comes out.
"Michelle!" Mr. Harrington cries. "Thank God you're here. We need to leave."
"No no Mr. Harrington," Peter calls. "Going out of the street from here isn't a good idea. You should stay inside where it's safe, or better, find an alternate exit on the other side and make a run from there. As soon as you can."
"Yeah that's a good idea!"
"Wait who're you?" Flash screams at Peter.
"I'm Peter. Peter Parker. Nice to meet you. But you've got to get out of here."
"'Penis Parker'?" Flash yells amusedly. "You just said that?"
Peter smiles. "Yeah," he replies in a low voice. "Maybe."
"Alright, guys!" Mr. Harrington shouts. "To the inside and other side!"
But everyone's gone even before he finishes.
"MJ" Ned yells. "Come on!"
"Yeah yeah," she says as she steps in. But Peter's not beside her. She turns around to find him at the bottom of the stairs. "Come on!" she urges. "Where are you going?"
"I got to go," he says stepping away.
"Then I'm going with you!".
But Peter Parker's face grows grave. The awkwardness and the slight hint of playfulness has left his features. His eyes are no longer wide, his eyebrows no longer raised. They've set into a thin line, already a thousand miles away in thought. "I'll be fine," he says trying to sound gentle.
"But where are you going?" MJ asks, although she already anticipates the response.
His response, though, is different. The corners of his lips break into a little smile and his eyes grow warm. They look at hers like passing on a thousand different lines of knowledge just through sight. "Boh," he says.
"MJ!" a female voice calls from behind and she turns around to find Kate and Ned running up to her. "Oh man what are you doing here?" Kate asks.
"MJ we need to go!" Ned urges.
"I know I know." MJ turns around to look at Peter but he isn't there anymore. Just like that, within a frame of five seconds, he's gone. "Hey where'd he go?"
"Come on!" Ned yells. "Come on it's not safe."
"But where'd he go? Hey Kate? Where are you going now?"
"I left the bow in the car," Kate replies, taking off her overcoat. Before she descends down the stairs she turns around to face MJ one more time. "Bye MJ. It was nice meeting you." She steps closer and pulls her into a hug. "Take care of yourself."
"Be careful," Michelle says.
"I will," Kate replies solemnly. "I wish you'd known more. I really wish you did. But I'm sorry."
"What do you mean?"
"MJ we got to go," Ned now takes hold of her hand and pulls her into the empty restaurant.
They're a little late, though. The Rhino in question is a gigantic robot. Larger than the Hulk. Heavy artillery project from its paws. Every step it takes leaves a dent on the road. Bullets ricochet off its metallic skin with sparks as the cops continue to fire. The Rhino picks up a car and raises it right over its head to hurl it at the line of police officers. It speeds towards them on two paws and launches the car bent into two.
But the car never lands. It seemingly levitates in the air for a second as shards of broken glass rain down onto the pavement. From the safety of the restaurant Ned and MJ watch from behind the glass walls, crouched down under a table. A closer inspection reveals fine thread-like structures holding the car in the air.
And then he's there. A flash of red and blue hitting the Rhino at an indefinite speed, almost throwing it off balance.
Spider-Man lands on the ground and launches again at the giant robot. He slides down from underneath its legs all the way reaching behind it and before it can turn around springs up from the back, grasping at what looks like vital machinery wires and pulls at it. Rhino manages to shake him off and hurls him towards the restaurant.
The Web-Slinger breaks through the glass and lands on the table above Ned and MJ. The table collapses but the two of them roll out of it in time.
"What are you doing here?" Spider-Man exclaims. "Go it's not safe. Go go go!"
Mini explosions begin to sound outside. It's Kate. Shooting some kind of high-tech arrows at the robot.
"It's not a robot," Spider-Man says. "It's a man operating a suit. But you need to go."
"Take care of Kate," MJ says as they're about to dash away towards the alternate exit.
"Yeah," Spider-Man says as he slowly walks out.
It's then that the world slows down once again. MJ watches him climb down the stairs. She recognizes the gait. It's all too unmissable. That controlled spring in his step. Climbing the steps almost on toes. The way those hands move.
Michelle watches as Spider-Man turns back one more time to look at her from the bottom of the stairs. They stare at each other for what feels like a very long time. And just as she starts to feel the world again, feel Ned's grasp on her hand again, she understands.
She knows everything now.
"I'm sorry things didn't go out the way we planned," MJ says to Alex.
"Me too," he agrees with a nod. "It wasn't correct of me to have reacted the way I did that day on the roof."
"I think you were being pretty reasonable, but we can forget it now. I'm not holding anything against you."
He smiles. "Thanks."
MJ looks at her watch. It's half-past six in the morning and the sun is very bright today. "So Michigan? Home?"
"Yeah. My sister's visiting. I'll be there for a week before I return to college."
"Right."
They stare at one another briefly before Alex extends his hand. "I loved New York," he says awkwardly. "More than that I've got to appreciate the hospitality you showed here. I meant it. Really."
MJ smiles and shakes his hand. "Thank you."
"I loved talking to your mother by the way," Alex says as he gets into the back of the cab. "I only got to know her for a little but she seemed very nice."
"I know," MJ says. "She's going to Boston with me. Will be staying there for a few days."
"Glad to know."
The door closes and the car drives away, gaining speed. Michelle watches until it rounds a corner and then leaves for indoors.
~#~#~
"'We are happy to serve you'," Peter's landlord reads from the writings on the empty paper cup.
"Yeah," Michelle says. "Please give it to him, along with this." She hands him a brand new hot water flask.
"What's in it?" the man asks.
"There's coffee in there. It could get cold so I decided to put it here."
Attached to the flask by transparent tape is a small note:
Peter Parker Your Coffee. Take it before it gets cold.
PS: Boh is my new superpower. What about yours?
"Are you sure you don't want to come in?" the landlord asks.
She shakes her head politely. "I've got to get the airport." With that she turns to leave when the man stops her.
"By the way," he says, "I lied."
MJ turns back to look at him. "About what?"
"Mr. Parker had been here. Right after you came. After Miss Bishop paid for his rent. He did stay a night or two here. And then he'd come in and out. But asked me not to tell anybody."
She's quiet for a while. "I understand," she says at last, putting up a smile. "Thank you for telling me."
"What was all that about?" Ned, who had been waiting outside for her, asks. "I overheard."
"Nothing much," MJ says, slipping her hands into her outer jacket pockets. "The landlord said Peter had been in and out of his apartment after we visited his place but-" she feels something in her right pocket - "Hey what's this?" - and produces an old folded page which had been torn right out of some notebook. It's begun to yellow out slightly.
"What's that?" Ned asks.
"I don't know. I didn't have anything in my jacket before." She starts to unfold it.
It's a long, hand-written note. Written using a fountain pen on a ruled page. Scribbled but neat. Michelle reads it once. She reads it twice. She spends another two minutes reading it a third and a fourth time.
Even Ned's leaned in now to take a peek. "What is it?"
"A confession," MJ says, heart pounding, as she hands the paper to him. "Sort of."
Ned stares at the page for a good ten seconds and then shakes his head in disbelief and begins to read again. "Hi," he reads it out low enough so that nobody else can hear, but loud enough for the both of them. "My name is Peter Parker. You don't know me. But I-"
~#~#~
"You okay Michelle?" MJ's mother asks from the aisle seat. "And you, Ned? Both of you look like you've seen some ghost."
"Nah we're fine Mom," MJ says.
"Yeah, we're okay Mrs. Watson," Ned reassures.
"I hope the pickles aren't destroyed."
"Relax Mom they'll be great."
Ned's at the center and MJ next to him, at the left-window seat. The plane has taxied to the runway and is waiting for the final clearance to take-off.
"It was Kate wasn't it?" Ned asks. "Who put the note in your pocket?"
"Most likely it was her."
"Do you think that's what she meant?" Ned asks. "When she wished for you to have known more?"
"I think so. And Peter clearly didn't want her to tell us."
"Why?"
"You read the note," MJ says as she settles for a sleep. "He thinks it's dangerous for us."
"You look like you're not even surprised by what happened, like you were expecting it," Ned comments flatly.
"I was expecting it. I'd already figured it out. I just had to be a hundred percent certain. I was only like, sixty-seven percent sure."
"Uh-huh. Sixty-seven percent. You're always sixty-seven percent sure of everything."
"Yes."
"But how do you think Kate remembers all that?"
"I don't think she does," MJ replies. "Peter must have told her."
Ned sits up. "See? I told you. He wasn't mad at you. He had his own reasons for not showing up. By the way, I had a check run on May Parker. Found her picture. She worked at that shelter for the homeless. It's the same woman from the photograph in his apartment."
"Yeah. Had to be."
"You really believe all that? Me opening portals and inter-dimensional villains and multiple Spider-Men and memory magic and all?"
MJ doesn't answer right away. It had also confused her before, when she read the note. But in a world with Gods secretly living among them, aliens and giant alien robots from the skies and a purple villain with a love for magic stones, where certain deaths could be somehow undone, what's the point of doubting the fact that the multiverse exists, that memory magic is real, that everyone in the world has been put under such a spell for their own good? The world was always a strange place, and now it's stranger.
Anything could be real.
The plane has left the runway and they've begun their ascent into the skies. MJ looks out at the city shrinking continuously to the size of a toy set. She watches the horizon and then all the way down at home one last time.
She smiles, rubbing the glass pendant of her necklace between her fingers: a gift from Peter.
"Yes. I believe all that."