The characters in this story do not belong to me. They belong to Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and Marvel Comics. I really don't want to be sued by anyone.
Mary Jane fell asleep, still holding his hand; silently praying he would make it through the night. The events of the night made her uneasy and confusing. Flashes of event after event mixed together in her mind. Dreams of Peter were mixed with memories of her abduction by the Green Goblin, meetings with Spiderman, and even Norman Osborn's funeral. She relived the first meeting with Spiderman, when he rescued her from the Oscorp festival. Swinging her up onto a roof, she asked him who he was. "You know me," he answered, looking into her eyes. "I do?" Dramatic pause, then, "I'm your friendly neighborhood Spiderman." Was it really a dramatic pause he was giving her, or was it a hint? Now she wondered. Then she flashed Peter's speech in the hospital room. She knew right then that he loved her, and she had been able to do nothing but think of Spiderman. She remembers when Peter showed up after her shift at the cafe. He said he had been in the neighborhood-taken two trains and a cab to get there. Then she has a flash of the scene in the ally. She was going to be raped by those punks, but Spiderman had saved her. When she commented on the fact that he was there, he said he was in the neighborhood. Then there was that kiss. Suddenly, she was back in her old apartment. The Green Goblin comes crashing through the wall and takes her away on his glider, leaving unconscious on the top of the Brooklyn Bridge. Then she was at Norman Osborn's funeral, then at Thanksgiving dinner, when Norman Osborn had freaked out at Peter's injury. Then she was pouring her heart out to Peter in the cemetery. She warmed at the memory of the kiss they had shared in front of Ben Parker's grave. Her heart was breaking at his dismissal of her. Why? Why had he said they were just friends? She already knew that he loved her. Then came a moment of realization. It was all coming together....Norman Osborn was the Green Goblin, and now she was sure Peter was Spiderman.
She came awake suddenly, sure of what she must do, but unsure of how to proceed. She looked at the bruised man who lay on her bed just to realize he was staring at her. "Hey there, Tiger," MJ smiled up at him, not even realizing she had just used her nickname for Peter. Spiderman caught the slip, though, and jerked up, reaching for his mask.
"Don't worry. I left it on. And you need to be taking it easy. You took a pretty bad beating last night." MJ said as Spiderman grimaced and lay back down gingerly. "I'm going to make you some soup, run to my old apartment - the landlord is letting me in to get retrieve what's left of my stuff today - and then I'm going to get you some clothes to wear. You don't need to be wearing that tight costume while your broken ribs and bruises are recovering, and you certainly can't just lay around naked all day," she teased.
MJ smiled and turned to walk out of the room, flipping her hair over her shoulder in a playful gesture. Suddenly modest, Spiderman blushed and pulled the sheet farther up his body.
MJ's first stop was to her old apartment. She sifted through debris, trying to find anything she could salvage. The Green Goblin had pretty much destroyed everything on the back wall when he had burst through that night. She was able to find a picture of her and Peter when they were little that Aunt May had framed and given to her at graduation. She picked up her CD case from the smashed remains of what used to be her stereo and uncovered her answering machine.
As she picked it up, it began to play her unchecked messages. There was one encouraging her to switch her long distance to AT&T, one from her parents wondering why the hell she hadn't been home in a month, and then Peter's voice came on. She sat down and listened to the message he had left her from Aunt May's hospital room. He was in the midst of warning her not to walk into any dark alleys when the Green Goblin's voice came on. "Can Spiderman come out to play?" he asked. "Where's Mary Jane, what have you done with her?" Peter shouted. Any last doubts that MJ held about Peter's identity were not gone.
Pulling up to Aunt May's house, MJ quickly ran up to the door. The last thing she needed right now was her either of her parents on her back. "Aunt May, can I borrow some of Peter's old clothes? The Spidersuit was ruined, and he looks about Peter's size."
"Certainly, dear. Just go right up and pick up some things. Since Peter moved in with Harry, he isn't home much and won't miss them at all. How is Spiderman doing?" MJ knew this was a big step for Aunt May - she didn't approve of Spiderman's vigilante tactics, and was surprised she was concerned about his health.
"He is awake, but still hurting. I am going to let him stay with me until he feels well enough to go back to where ever he lives." She ran upstairs and rummaged through Peter's closet and chest of drawers. Picking out some t-shirts and sweatpants, she stuffed them into an old duffel bag. On her way out the front door, MJ paused to thank Aunt May. "I'll return these when Spiderman leaves. Thanks so much Aunt May."
"Well, as many times as he has saved your life, it is the least I could do."
Suddenly realizing Aunt May might try to call Peter before he was back at his apartment, she said, "Oh, Peter told me to tell you he was called away for a couple days at the last minute. Mr. Jameson sent him on assignment for the Bugle and he didn't have time to come by and tell you himself."
"Thanks, dear. I wondered why he hadn't called in couple of days. " MJ gave Aunt May a kiss on the cheek as she rushed out the door.
MJ entered her apartment very quietly, not wanting to wake Spiderman if he was asleep. Sure enough, when she peeked into her bedroom, he was fast asleep. Poor Peter, she thought to herself. He risks his life everyday for the sake of this city, and he can't even tell his own aunt who he really is. He needs someone to confide in, someone who can be trusted to keep his secret. I guess after what happened last time someone found out his secret, there were serious repercussions. Both Aunt May and she were almost killed.
"That's it!" she said out loud. Looking over to make sure she hadn't woken him up, she sat down to think. "He blames himself for what happened. Osborn found out who he was and used us to get to Spiderman. He feels having people he cares about is too much of a liability-it is an easy way for any villain with any brains to get to Spiderman.through me. Well, we will just have to do something about that." Already working a plan in her mind, MJ sat down on her living room couch. "The sooner Spiderman gets well and out of my apartment, the sooner I can get Peter over here to miraculously save my life." She smiled at the anticipation of the moment his secret would be revealed. "But before that happens, I plan on having a little discussion with my savior over there."
Stay tuned for the upcoming Chapter Three. MJ talks to Spiderman about a way of disassociating herself with him, and Peter's secret is revealed. Harry Osborn is also planning something for Spiderman, but it is considerably less pleasant.