After my talk with MJ, I spent the next few hours on patrol before I went to bed. The next morning, I was awakened by my phone once more. Groaning, I grabbed it and saw I had a text from Kitty. I opened it and read it.

"Are you hungry?"

I smiled before I texted back.

"Starving, actually."

About thirty minutes later, I arrived at the X-Men's apartment. When I knocked on the door, I was greeted by Carmilla, who was dressed in a pair of black gym shorts and a green t-shirt. The right side half of her hair was dyed black.

"Hey Peter," she said with a smile before she stepped aside, allowing me to walk in.

"Hey Carmilla," I greeted back. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm holding up well, all things considered." As I removed my shoes, she closed the door behind me and locked it. During this, I heard the sound oil sizzling, and the smells of flour, frying meat, and spices greeted my nose. "Scott and Kitty are on their way back from the bunker and Craig's currently cooking."

"Miss his cooking that much?" I walked over and took a seat on the sofa. Carmilla joined me, sitting opposite of me. She turned her body towards me, bringing her left knee onto the cushion.

"I more miss him than his cooking, really. No shade at his cooking. I find it great. But I don't think I need to tell you that the food I was being fed wasn't exactly fancy. After weeks and weeks of that shit, even gas station sushi would be appealing to me."

At that, I chuckled. I then looked at her left arm – specifically the gauntlet. I nodded towards it. "What's that for?" I asked.

She held lifted up her left arm and brought it in front of me. "This gauntlet is to me what Scott's glasses are to him," she replied. I reached out and touched it. I then looked her in the eye.

"What are your powers?"

At that, she chuckled. "My power is to start a discussion on the topic of nature versus nurture." I tilted my head as I withdrew my hand. Carmilla closed her eyes and shook her head in amusement. She opened her eyes and continued. "So, basically, when I was a baby, I was genetically modified. Because of my bodies' systems being modified, I'm basically immune to almost every chemical, disease, poison, toxin, and the like on Earth. If I wanted to, I could live in Chernobyl Exclusion Zone with no ill effects."

"So where does the nature versus nurture discussion come in?" I asked.

"Well, turns out, I have an X-Gene." Carmilla lifted up her left hand high above her head. I looked up at it and watched as it briefly glowed green. After it stopped glowing, she lowered her hand. "See, all of that stuff I'm immune to? I still absorb it into my body. And because of my X-Gene, I have a special lymph node in my left arm pit that stores it all. And when I need to, I can expel it via my left hand – my scorpion sting, if you will."

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh, wow."

"Indeed," she said in agreement. "But, the thing is… I'm not quite sure if this special lymph node of mine was going to be my mutant power all along, or if its' reactionary to all of the modifications my body underwent. Anyway, I'm still not able to control it completely, but I'm a lot better with it now than when it first emerged." She sighed. "I just wish I didn't kill my boyfriend when my mutant power became active." She scoffed. "That whole homecoming night was fucked. Not only did I end up killing my then-boyfriend, I was brought to a SHIELD agency so one of their shrinks could explain to me that my parents weren't really my parents. Needless to say, I needed a lot of counselling to come to terms with all of my childhood memories being lies."

"Who were they then? Your fake parents, that is."

For the first time ever, I saw her blink her third eyelid. It was green and transparent, and closed vertically from under her tear ducts. "They were A.I.M. operatives, under the command of my actual mom, charged with the task of eventually turning me into an A.I.M. operative myself."

I averted my gaze downward to the left. "Oh. I'm… I'm sorry."

Playfully, she punched me in right shoulder, prompting me to look up at her. "Don't be. It sucks, but I'm around people who I care about… despite my best efforts to screw that up." She then chuckled. "…You know, I never thought there'd ever be a day where I end up befriending Spider-Man."

"Well, I never thought I'd be a part of a super team other than The Avengers, but here we are," I noted.

It was at this point that Craig walked in. He was dressed in a black t-shirt, a pair of black gym shorts, and a pair of black socks. Both his shirt and shorts had smears of flour on them.

"Chicken and Waffles Lasagna is in the oven," he announced as he walked over to us. Carmilla scooted back, giving him room to sit. Once Craig was seated, Carmilla leaned up against him, bringing her right leg on top of his. Craig and Carmilla shared a brief kiss. After that, Craig turned his head towards me and nodded. "How was your morning so far?"

"This is my morning so far," I replied. "Carmilla and I were just talking. Specifically about her powers and how she ended up a part of SHIELD."

Craig nodded. "Ah, that sad tale."

Not wanting to dwell on it, I quickly changed the subject. "So, where's Scott and Kitty?"

"They're picking up Joanna," Carmilla replied. "This breakfast isn't exactly going to be a social gathering."

"Yeah," Craig confirmed. "We're going to be talking about how we are going to deal with our two favorite people on Sunday."

At that, I scoffed. "Sounds like fun."

About thirty minutes later, Scott, Kitty, and Joanna arrived. After I helped Kitty set the table and bring out the side dishes, and after Craig assured her that the sausage he used for the gravy was strictly beef, we sat down and ate.

"So, eating lavish is a perk of being an X-Man, huh?" Joan commented as she ate. "Then again, I expect nothing less from a team led by a coddled Airman." She looked towards her right at Scott and smirked.

"Sorry if the food is not what you're used to," Scott teased. "I would have grabbed something for you, but I wasn't sure what brand or color of crayon you prefer munching on." With her free hand, Joanna gave Scott the one finger salute, but the laugh that emanated from her showed that she was far from offended. Scott looked at her in amusement before he continued to eat. During this, Kitty, Craig, Carmilla and I shared knowing looks.

Scott and Joanna is absolutely a thing.

Once we were done eating, I leaned back in my seat with a content smile on my face. I looked around to see the others with their own looks of contentment.

"I'm just like…. I'm just like… I don't want to do anything else for the rest of the day," Carmilla stated with a smirk.

"Don't you have to meet with SHIELD this afternoon?" Kitty pointed out.

Carmilla lazily shrugged. "I guess."

"I could go for a nap myself," Joanna chimed in. She then looked towards Scott. "But I'll have to wait for that, won't I?"

"So what's the plan?" I asked. I sensed that things were taking a turn for the serious.

"Most likely, it won't be just Scorpion we have to face," Scott stated as he set his fork down. "After what we did in California, he'll probably want to throw everything he can after us. We should probably expect Scorpion and Hammer's security forces."

"So Scorpion and an army," Craig mused as he nodded his head. "Sounds like quite the party."

"You need to find a different kind of party to go to," Kitty replied to dryly. She turned her attention to Scott. "So what do we do? Do we do some last minute recruiting?"

"We don't have the time for that," Scott said with a shake of his head. "Any other people we know that could possibly help us out are either busy with their own thing or out of state." He then tilted his head briefly. "Instead, we're going to have to have this battle in an environment where their numbers are no longer an advantage. We need a place where there's only one way in and one way out. What we will do is scout some abandoned buildings in New York. If we find one that is suitable, we can take time to fortify it and set it up with traps, forcing them to be funneled towards us."

"Sounds good to me," Carmilla agreed with a nod. "I still have a stash house or two around the city, so I'm sure I got some things we can use."

"Likewise," Joanna added. "As a matter of fact, I can think of a few locations off of the top of my head. I can send those locations to you guys, and you can scout it out."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Kitty stated. She then looked back and forth between me and Craig. "We can scout those locations tonight, if you guys are up for it."

"Can you make it tomorrow night?" I asked. "…MJ and I have a date tonight."

Kitty nodded. "I can do that. We'll still have plenty of time."

"We should all take this evening to relax as much as possible," Scott mused. "It's going to be a rather busy next three days."

"Sounds good to me," Joanna said in agreement. "In that case, I want to talk business with you tonight – over dinner." Scott was given pause as Joanna smirked at him. The rest of us looked on, waiting to see what Scott would say. After some moments, he nodded.

"Okay," he said with only the slightest hint of reluctance in his voice.

Joanna smiled widely at him. "We'll have fun tonight when while we talk business, okay?"

"Speaking of fun," Craig spoke up. He looked over at Carmilla and Kitty. "How about I treat you ladies to a movie? A theatre in Brooklyn is having a special showing of The Warriors and I'd like some company."

"I wouldn't mind tagging along," Kitty replied with a nod.

"You know I'll be there," Carmilla stated. "It'd be like the old days."

Craig smiled widely. "Then it's settled."

I eventually left, getting dropped off home by Craig. From there, I got ready for work and headed over to The Daily Bugle building. When I walked in, I was met by Robbie, who informed me that Jonah was in a meeting with IT department.

"Needless to say, he's not exactly happy," Robbie said. While he tried to keep his tone business-like, I could hear the slight amusement in his voice. "I hate to be a fly on that wall."

"Or a spider," Betty quipped as she walked up to Robbie with a folder in her hands. "Here are the statistics you ask for, sir." She handed the folder to Robbie.

Robbie took the folder from her. "Thank you, Betty." He tapped the folder against his free hand a few times. "If what Cyclops said is true, then things will be rather interesting on Sunday." He paused for a moment. "What are your guys take on this?"

"I don't think I'm the most unbiased person on the subject," I admitted. "…I'm not a fan of Hammer. A lot of it has to do with The Stark Expo Incident."

Robbie raised an eyebrow at me. "You hold Stark to such high regard? I don't blame you if you do."

"While that does have a lot to do with it, a lot of it has to do with the fact that I was there at that incident." I shook my head. "I could have died that day. I was just too young to realize it at the time. So, I agree with Cyclops. The fact that the government is backing someone like Hammer is a joke."

"Ditto," Betty added in agreement. "Spider-Man has been a pillar of New York and has often risked his life time and time again for the sake of others. And the X-Men have been quietly doing the same, from what I can tell. I understand the law is the law, but the longer we're under The Accords, the more it seems like that law is doing more harm than good."

Robbie made a noncommittal sound with a throat as he nodded. "…I meet need you two in the future. But for now… take the rest of the shift off. I'll make sure you two get paid for your usual hours."

With that, he walked away. Betty and I looked at each other before we smiled widely.

I made my way back home, decided to walk. During my walk, I felt my phone vibrate. I pulled the phone out of my pocket and looked at the screen. A bit to my surprise, it was MJ calling. I raised my eyebrows before I answered the call.

"Hello," I greeted.

"Hey," MJ greeted back in a whisper. "Look, I'm between classes, so this won't be a long conversation. For tonight, don't stop by Peter Pan. I won't be there and I won't have your usual ready for you. And before you ask, nothing is wrong. There are just a couple of things I need to do before I'm ready for tonight. Once I am ready, I'll send you a text about where to meet me, okay?"

"…Okay."

"Good. See you tonight. I love you, Loser."

"I love you, too, Em. Bye."

"Bye."

The call ended. I put the phone in my pocket. I was curious about what MJ had planned. I didn't think it'd be a huge deal, though. I just figured it'd be a hangout. And I was more than fine with that. MJ could invite me to watch paint dry, and I'd be up for it just because it was something I was doing with her.

I went about the rest of my day as normal, up to the point where I'd usually swing by Peter Pan. Instead, I went home and texted Ned, asking him what he was up to. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ned told me that he and Betty was going to go out and stroll through Central Park. I smiled. It seemed like all of the X-Men and American Idiots had something planned, and I was happy about that. After texting some more back and forth messages with Ned, I started to work on my homework. I was about halfway done when I got two texts from MJ. The first one was a YouTube link. I leaned back in my seat and raised my eyebrow. I tapped the link, seeing that it led to a song. I read the title. It was Meet Me At Our Spot by The Anxiety. I lay my phone on the desk, and just listened.

When I wake up I can't even stay up I slept through the day, fuck I'm not getting younger But when I'm older I'll be so much stronger I'll stay up for longer Meet me at our spot

I continued to listen. Slowly but surely, I realized that she wanted me to meet her somewhere. Once the song was over, I picked up my phone, seeing that I got another message. I checked it. Sure enough, it was from MJ. And she shared with me location. After pulling it up on Google Maps, I smiled before I texted her back.

"I'm on my way."

It didn't take me long to arrive at Midtown High School. Even though I've only been there once since The Spell (well, technically, two times, if my shared dream with MJ counts), getting there was still second nature to me. Wearing my quick change costume, I decided to web-sling over, making sure to keep my head on a swivel in case Scorpion showed up. But, fortunately, he didn't. As a matter of fact, the only thing that put a temporary stop to my trip to Midtown was a mugging that I was able to handle rather easily. After making sure that the guy who was mugged was okay, I resumed by trip. Once I arrived at the campus, I removed my mask. Briefly, I put on my sunglasses.

"Hey Edith, I'm heading inside of Midtown High," I stated. "Would you kindly scrub any footage of me if I get picked up by any cameras? I don't want to keep MJ waiting."

"Sure thing," Edith replied. "…Is this is a date you're going to?"

I smiled. "I think it is."

"Okay, then have fun. If anything comes up, I'll be sure to ring your phone."

"Thank you, Edith."

"You're welcome, Peter." I removed my sunglasses and tucked them away in my jacket's pocket. I then walked towards the school.

It didn't take me long to navigate the school. I knew which buildings and doors would be open since there are still some teachers and staff on campus. Even with Edith covering me, I took the route with the least amount of camera coverage before I entered the stairwell. As I made my way up, I started humming the song that MJ sent me. I made a mental note to send her some music I liked. A few minutes later, I was at the door leading to the roof. I pushed open the door and stepped out onto the roof. I then stopped in my tracks and my mouth went ajar.

Some feet in front of me was a blue and red blanket laid out on the floor with two pillows on top of it. MJ was sitting on top of that blanket with her back towards me as she over her right shoulder at me. To the left of her were two white bags and two cans of Arizona African Rooibos Red Tea. She smiled at me. I smiled back to her as I walked up to her.

"You know, I was half expecting you to be here a lot later," she said as she patted the empty space next to her. "I'm guessing there wasn't much of a way in crime tonight."

"Just a mugging," I confirmed as I took a seat next to her. "I handled that pretty easily. I just hope it stays this quiet until we're done here."

"Ditto." MJ reached over to her left and grabbed both a bag and a can of Arizona before she handed them both to me. "I hope you didn't have dinner yet."

"I did not." I took the bag and can from her. I set the can aside before I opened up the bag. I reached inside and pulled out one half of a chopped cheese. My eyes went wide before I looked at Michelle. "MJ, is this…?"

"Yes," she replied with a smile as she pulled out a chopped cheese from her own bag. "It is a Big E Style Chopped Cheese, Booty O's and all."

I smiled widely before I looked down at the sandwich. "MJ I…" I trailed off as I shook my head in awe. I looked back at her. "I literally haven't had this since our little adventure. I wanted to but… I didn't want to eat one without you since I feel like it's our thing."

At that, she chuckled as she shook her head. "Dork." She then smiled. "…Okay, I'll admit it, I'm touched by that. But, why the chopped cheese?"

I shrugged. "I guess… I guess it's just representative of that whole night." I looked down at the sandwich in my hand. "It was the night I decided I really wanted to tell you, along with Ned and Betty, about The Spell. Granted, my first run-in with Scorpion and Craig getting hurt made me tell you guys sooner than I wanted to. But…" I looked up at her. "I had fun with you again. I got to hear bits of dark trivia from you. And when we were at the park, and you held me while reading me like a book, I just knew that I wanted you back in my life permanently, and I knew that meant telling you guys the truth."

MJ gave me a lopsided smile. "Wow… Are my cuddles that potent?" she joked.

"Yes," I replied sincerely. "Yes they are. I… I almost told you 'I love you' that night, you know?"

At that, MJ raised her eyebrow. "I did not know that. But I'm not surprised."

I tilted my head. "Would you have been scared off?"

MJ shrugged. "I probably would have been caught off guard, but I don't think I would've been scared. While I did like you at the time – as in like-like you – I also understood that I, along with the rest of the American Idiots and The X-Men, were pretty much the only friends you had at the time, if not family." She smiled slightly. "I guess I would have pegged it as you feeling attached to me, which would have been cool." She chuckled a bit. I felt my face heat up. I almost forgot about the sandwich in my hand until MJ spoke again. "Now eat, will you?"

I nodded before I started eating the chopped cheese. At the first bite, I moaned in delight. From the corner of my eye, I saw MJ begin to eat her chopped cheese. We fell into a comfortable silence as we continued to eat. After we were done eating, we washed our meal down with our Arizona tea. Once that was done, we lay on the blanket and just stared up at the sky, heads on the pillows as we held hands.

"Thank you for tonight," I said.

"You're welcome," she replied. "I just figured you needed some time to unwind. You had a long weekend, and this upcoming weekend is going to be a long weekend for you, as well."

I nodded in agreement. "That's true."

"I can't say I'm being completely selfless, though. I was craving some time with you, too. I know we spent quite a bit of time together back in Palm Springs. But I just wanted to spend some time with you without a whole mission in the background, you know?" I nodded. We fell into silence once more. From the corner of my eye, saw her turn her head towards me. "…Peter, how did we meet? I know we met in high school, but…"

I smiled. "You just appeared in my orbit one day." I let go of her hand before I turned on to my side so I could look straight at her. "I think it was sophomore year that we kind of became friends. You were… you were aloof. You sat about one table away from me and Ned in the cafeteria, and you always teased us about different things, like our love for Legos and Star Wars and my crush on Liz." At that, MJ smirked in amusement. "And yet, you knew a lot about me, like my class schedule and the clubs I quit." I paused. "Come to think of it, you were often at the same places Ned and I were at." I chuckled. "One time, you were in detention with me even though you didn't have detention. You also liked drawing me." I sighed. "I was really dense."

At that, MJ scoffed. "Was?"

I smiled. "Okay, maybe I'm still a bit dense, but… I didn't know you considered me a friend until I rescued the rest of the AcaDeca team in Washington, D.C. Before I did, you urged me to save them and said they are your friends."

"And when did you start having feelings for me?"

"…It happened after The Battle for Earth," I replied. MJ turned on to her side. We were now looking straight into each other's eyes. "After that battle… and, of course, after the blip… We eventually returned to school. And you… you became closer to me and Ned. You sat with us at lunch, albeit quietly. We eventually started studying together. First it was at school. But, one day, I invited you out of the blue to the Star Wars' night. You… you accepted my invitation. We hung out at Ned's house and had a good time. After that, you and I left and took the subway back to Queens. And we talked a little bit. And I realized that you're rather cool.

"The morning after, at school, you, Ned, and I talked in our usual spot in the cafeteria. And, right before you left, I stopped you and told you that you didn't have to be distant around me and Ned, and you were one of us. And the more I hung out with you, the more I started to realized that I was crushing on you hard."

"And that's also when the dreams started?" MJ joked with a cheeky smirk. I became a bit warm in the face. Still, I nodded. She laughed for a few moments. She then sighed and pouted as she averted her gaze. She looked a bit upset. "Fuck Doctor Strange."

I laughed at that statement. A part of me wanted to defend him, since he was trying to help me and I did end up changing the spell six times. A part of me wanted to agree with the statement, because, to be fair, he did start casting the spell before explaining to me how it works and the limitations.

Instead, I brought my right hand around and placed it on her cheek. I didn't say anything as she stared back into my eyes. I brought my head forward and placed my lips against her. The kiss started off chaste. I just wanted to comfort her. However as the kiss continued, MJ wrapped her arm left around me before she turned onto her back, pulling me on top of her. As I adjusted my position on top of her, we continued to kiss. I heard both of our hearts beat faster as her hands moved up and down my back. Feeling brave, I brought my tongue out and touched the tip of it against her lips. Her mouth opened, allowing me entry. Her tongue met mine halfway. I moaned as we continued to kiss. It was at this point where everything disappeared around us – at least, to my senses anyway. She was the only one I sensed – the only one I could hear, the only one I can smell, the only one I can taste, and the only one I can feel.

I knew what we both wanted. But we weren't anywhere close to ready for that. So we both decided to be content with this intense kissing.

After who knows how long, we eventually ended our make out session. We both took time to fix our breathing. A bit to my surprise, my lips were rather sore. I placed my forehead against hers as she placed her right hand on my cheek.

"What did I do to have someone as wonderful as you as my girlfriend?" I whispered as I smiled goofily.

"Simple, Tiger," she whispered back with that trademark lopsided smile on her face. "You and I hit the jackpot."

My God, do I love this woman.

We hung out underneath the night sky for a while longer, just enjoying each other's company. We then made our way to our respective homes. I accompanied her to her building first and walked her up to her door. After we shared a goodnight kiss and she went inside, I made my way to the roof of her building, masking up just before I exited the stairwell. With the biggest smile hidden underneath my mask, I ran forward and jumped off of the edge of the building. I went into a freefall before I shot out a strand of webbing. After it hit a building, I used that same strand to swing forward, beginning my trip home.