Using a couple of things that Joanna had lying around the house, Frictor and I went about making a temporary fix for the door. During this, Cyclops took time to explain our situation – about how we got a message of distress from someone close to us with coordinates out in the Sonoran Desert in California, how we tracked the message to the server of origin, which was Hammer Industries' e-mail server, and how we wanted to make sure there was something at the coordinates given to us before we headed out.

"And we chose you because of your previous work history," Cyclops concluded. During this, Frictor and I got the door situated before we turned around and faced the others.

Joanna stared at Cyclops for a few seconds. She then nodded slowly. "Okay… when you put it like that, it makes sense," she conceded. "…You could have just reached out to me. It would have been a lot easier than forcing me to kick in my own door."

"We didn't know that could have been an option," Shadowcat replied. "We couldn't have known. As far as we knew, you were still working for Hammer, and Hammer kind of has it out for us."

"I never worked for Hammer. I worked for Hammer Industries."

"What's the difference?" Frictor asked.

"The difference is, when I started working for Hammer Industries, Hammer was incarcerated." Joanna turned towards Frictor and glared as she said this. "I needed a job, and Hammer Industries needed a security specialist. One interview later, I was hired. Four years later, I found out that Justin became head of Hammer Industries again – through a press conference! So I left."

"I don't blame you," I commented. "Justin Hammer is a jerk."

At that, Joanna scoffed. "To say the least."

I chuckled. I then sighed. "So do you know anything about what Hammer Industries have in the Sonoran Desert?"

Joanna raised her eyebrows briefly before she turned towards Cyclops.

Rude, I thought to myself as I tilted my head.

"Before I say anything, I want to make a few things clear," Joanna declared. "First of all, Frictor will be paying for my door and my deposit, as he promised."

"Consider it done," Frictor replied.

"Second of all, as Shadowcat promised, each and every one of you will owe me a favor, and you will pay me back when I say it and how I say it."

"Just as long as you don't have us doing anything that goes against what we stand for, we'll oblige you," Shadowcat stated.

"Third of all, I will be coming with you guys on your little rescue mission."

At that, Cyclops tilted his head. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Listen, while I'm sure you guys are telling the truth, I didn't get as far as I did in my line of work by just taking people at their word. I'm going with you to make sure that what you're telling me is legitimate. And if I'm in a good mood, I might even help… for a fee, of course."

Cyclops took in a breath. He nodded reluctantly. "Fine. Is there anything else?"

"Yes. I need you to remove your mask."

"Okay, seriously?!" I interjected. I walked around and stood between Cyclops and Joanna. I looked up at her, suddenly reminded of our height difference. Still, I spoke up. "Don't you think that's taking it a touch too far?!"

Joanna looked down at me and glared. "All I need to see is the face of one of you guys. It's extra insurance on my part. You guys may have the best of intentions, but considering how we got to this current situation, I think I'm entitled to some extra protection and contingencies." She then looked back at Cyclops. "That'll be the last thing, I promise." I looked back at Cyclops, who looked back at me. After a few moments, he nodded. Reluctantly, I stepped aside. I watched as Cyclops took off his hat and tossed it onto the sofa. He then removed his glasses and his ski mask. He kept his eyes closed, however. "…So, you're not going to open your eyes for me?"

"I can't," Cyclops replied. "Not without my glasses."

At that, Joanna scoffed. "What, you can't see without them or something?"

"…In a manner of speaking." He paused for a moment. "…When I was younger, I suffered a head injury. Said injury also resulted in damage to a part of my brain. Said part would have been the part that allowed me to control my abilities. So, without ruby quartz glasses, I either walk around blind or become a human ground zero."

Joanna raised her eyebrows. "How powerful are your beams?"

"It's no problem for me to level a whole city block or turn a skyscraper into atoms."

I looked at Cyclops. All this time I wondered why I never saw him without his glasses. Now that I had the answer, it made me wonder what it was like for him. What was it like to live every day with such destructive power behind his eyes? That was probably why he seemed to move around as if every movement had a purpose, now that I thought about it. One misstep could cause a catastrophe.

Joanna let loose a sympathetic moan. "Such a shame," she said. She smirked. "You're very handsome, otherwise."

At that, Cyclops was given pause. After that, he smiled shyly. "Thank you." He cleared his throat, and his smile faded. "Do you need my name as well?"

"It certainly wouldn't hurt."

"Okay. I'm Scott Summers." After he said that, he put back on his mask and glasses.

Joanna nodded. "Good. I'll be sending you the bill. I'm sure Frictor will be covering it."

"Of course," Frictor confirmed.

"So can you tell us what you know?" Shadowcat asked.

"…I don't know anything concrete," Joanna began. She walked over to her sofa, turned around, and leaned against the back of it as she looked at all of us. "What I do know is that Hammer Industries has facilities outside of New York. I been to a lot of them – my position in the company gave me a lot of clearance. However, there was this one facility out in California that I had no access to information on. Nobody else on my team knew either. When I asked some of the higher ups, they would tell me that it's classified and strictly need-to-know information." She sighed. "…There might be something there. It might also be a trap. That's all I can say because that's all that I know."

Shadowcat nodded glumly. Still, she smiled. "…Thank you. I really appreciate that. We appreciate that."

"Save the thanks for after we take our trip. But for now, I need you guys to head out. Before you do though…" Joanna stood up and walked into the kitchen. She opened up a drawer and pulled out a notepad and a pen. She jotted down her name and phone number. After tearing the sheet from the notepad, she walked over to Cyclops and held it out for him. "This is my work number." She smiled. "Things go well, and I may let you have my personal number."

"…Uh-huh," Cyclops replied. Even with the mask on, I knew he was caught a bit off guard. He took the piece of paper and pocketed. "We'll be leaving now. I'll be in touch."

We made our leave. We stopped in the lobby and Shadowcat pulled the security guard – Larry – out of the ground. We left the lobby and made our way back to the SUV. As we piled in, MJ and Ned looked at us.

"How'd it go?" Ned asked.

"We got some information," Shadowcat replied as Frictor started the vehicle. "Joanna got the drop on us, but we managed to negotiate our way out of it. She'll actually be going on our mission with us."

As Frictor drove, MJ leaned forward, eyebrows raised. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Long story short, Joanna stopped working for Hammer Industries weeks ago. In exchange for her information, she'll be going on our mission to make sure what we're saying is the truth – at a cost. We have to pay her fee, and for the door she kicked off the hinges and onto Frictor, as well as her deposit. Also, I think she's interested in Scott."

"You might want to handle that," Frictor added as he removed his mask and looked towards Cyclops.

Cyclops looked out of the window. "I'm sure she was trying to get under my skin," he replied. However, there was a certain tone to his voice when he said that. It sounded like…

"Dude, you sound like Peter when he tried to deny his feelings for MJ," Ned spoke up. "Pre-reveal, that is."

I glared at Ned. "I wasn't that bad."

He glared back at me. "Yes you were. You were as bad as MJ."

At that, Michelle grumbled, but said nothing.

"Guys, we can tease Peter and MJ later," Shadowcat said in a mischievous tone. "Right now, Mr. Cyclops seems to be crushing on a seven footer."

"I told you," Frictor added with a chuckle. "I'm just saying, it seems likes she wants to know what that Summers sauce is about."

"That's the least of my concern," Cyclops spoke up. I wasn't convinced, and I don't think anyone else was either. "Right now, we have to prepare. I want to be able to fly out to California by Friday. We'll use the time to prepare until then."

"So how are we flying out?" Craig asked. "We can't exactly use an airline."

"I'll have a talk with Pepper in the morning. Perhaps she'll have a plane for us to use until our vehicles get delivered. But for now…" He looked over his shoulder at me, MJ, and Ned. "Are wet taking you all back to MJ's?"

In response, Michelle pulled out her phone and checked the time "9:38," she said to herself. "Yeah, we can all go, if you're with it." She looked at me. "You need to change?"

"No, I don't think so," I said as I removed my mask. "…Huh, I extended my streak of not getting shot or stabbed."

"Please don't jinx it," MJ stated as she leaned against me. "I like you better when you're not injured."

I smirked as I wrapped my arm around her. "I like me better when I'm not injured, too."

After a quick stop at the X-Men… base… bunker… whatever the name for it was, Ned, MJ, and I were dropped off MJ's parents' place. Once we took a moment to eat some snacks, we continued watching New Police Story. Once the movie was done, we spent an hour studying again before we called it a night. We made our way home, but not before I retaught Ned our signature handshake and gave MJ a kiss goodnight.

The next morning, I was awakened by a knock on the door. I groaned as I sat up. I looked down at my clothes, making sure I was decent. Seeing I was dressed in a pair of basketball shorts (which may have belonged to MJ) and a black t-shirt, I slowly crawled out of bed. I slowly made my way to the door, just in time to hear the second knock. I took a look through the peephole. I saw a man with khaki pants and a black polo shirt with the Starks Industry logo on the right breast. In his hands was a decent-sized box. On top of that box was a clipboard. Not feeling my senses going off, I took a step back and opened the door.

"Good morning, sir," the man greeted. "Are you Peter Parker?"

"Good morning," I greeted back, my voice a bit raspy. I took a moment to clear my throat before I continued, my voice sounding closer to normal. "And yes, I am."

"Here's a delivery from Stark Industries, courtesy of you know who. If you would kindly sign the form on the clipboard, that'd be great." He held the box out towards me. I took the clipboard and pulled out the pen from underneath the clip. I looked over the form, seeing that it was a confirmation of delivery. I signed my name on it. I then placed the clipboard and pen on top of the box before I took the box from the courier. The courier took then pen and clipboard. "Thank you. Have a nice day, sir."

"You as well, thank you."

As the man walked away, I turned away and closed the door with my foot. I walked over to my bed and set the box down. After using my finger to dig into the taped seam, I opened the box up and looked inside. There was a manila envelope, a glasses case, and two other smaller boxes in there. I picked up the envelope and opened it. Inside were a lot of one hundred dollar bills and a letter. My eyes went wide as I counted the cash. It was ten thousand in total. I put the money back in the envelope before I picked up the letter and read it.

"'Dear Peter Parker, I hope this package finds you well. The money you see will be your monthly retainer. Of course, you'll be paid more when your services are in use. You also have a sign-on bonus of sorts, which I deposited into the account I told you about. Along with the money is a new laptop that has access to the company's network, the latest Stark phone, and the sunglasses that Tony Stark left to you. You'll have access to E.D.I.T.H. again, as well as your old suit. With that last part mentioned, please destroy this letter as soon as possible. Welcome to Stark Industries, and please don't hesitate to come to me for anything. Love, Pepper Potts. P.S., please be careful and stay safe.'"

I smiled slightly. I set the letter side and reached into the box. I pulled out the glasses case and opened it. There were Tony Stark's sunglasses. I sighed before I pulled them out and put them on. After some seconds, a familiar voice sounded.

"Hello, Peter," E.D.I.T.H. spoke. "…Apparently, it's been a while."

"It's been a long while, Edith," I stated. "I hope all is well."

"It is. I don't know why, but I'm happy to hear your voice."

"Do you remember our time from before?"

"As Peter, no. But I do remember you as Spider-Man. And Night Monkey."

I chuckled as I shook my head. "My friend Ned doesn't exactly know how to come up with good names on the spot."

"There are worse things to be called, I'm sure. So, now that we're here, I've been instructed that you may need some help setting up your phone and laptop. Shall we proceed? We can catch up while doing so."

I smiled. "Yeah, let's do that."

So, we spent the next hour talking as we set everything up. I caught her up on everything, from my time in Europe, to events leading up to The Spell, to me reuniting with Ned, MJ, and Betty and befriending and joining the X-Men.

"And here we are," I said, as I looked through my new phone, making sure the data was transferred. "…I think I'm getting closer to getting over my past mistakes."

"Mistakes are a part of life," Edith replied. "My creator has made several during his life. However, despite them, or perhaps because of them, he's grown to make a lasting impact on this universe and the many people in it. Perhaps you didn't handle things well, but you're still standing, so to speak. I believe that says a lot about you."

I couldn't help but smile. "Thanks Edith," I replied.

"You're welcome. By the way, I was told that by Ms. Potts that, according to MJ, you need to diversify your groceries. So, you've been set up with an Instacart account with a 500 dollar credit."

I chuckled. "That's MJ for you." I then tilted my head. "…You know what? Let's order something now."

After the groceries were delivered, I went to work. As I uploaded pictures from an earlier assignment, I checked my phone for messages. I received one from Scott. I read it.

"After class, on Friday, meet us at the Garage at 7 PM. We'll be preparing for the flight that night."

"Okay," I texted. I then looked up at Betty, who was busy typing away at her computer. I stood up from my station and walked over to her. As I approached she looked at me before she smiled.

"Hey Peter, what's up?" she asked.

"Can we talk in the basement?" I asked.

A few minutes later, we were in the archives room. I told her how I was going to be MIA for a few days after Friday, explaining the reason why. Once I was done, she had a sympathetic look.

"Poor Craig," Betty said. "I hope you guys find Carmilla."

"So do I," I replied. "He's been hurting over her for a long while, so I hope he gets some closure."

"I wish MJ, Ned, and I can come."

"I don't." I sighed. "I didn't even want them to come last night. But, them being them, they insisted. But this is where I draw the line. You guys mean too much to me, and I'd rather you guys didn't get hurt by being mixed up in X-Men business."

"I know." Betty frowned. "But you mean a lot to us, too. And we don't want to see you hurt, either. Healing factor or not, you're not invincible, and I'd like you to live long enough so you and MJ can give me godchildren."

I blushed and shook my head. "Betty…"

"I'm serious!"

"I know you are, that's what makes it worse." I chuckled out, prompting her to playfully punch me in the shoulder. "But seriously, I'll be careful. I promise."

"You better."

"Speaking of MJ, I have to tell Ned and MJ when I get to the coffee shop today," I recalled. I figured it was the right thing to do.

It turned out that I was going to regret it.