"You knew about Mr. Osborn." Peter sighed. It wasn't a question, but more of a statement to himself as he thought about his next actions.

"Yes. I knew who he was. He revealed himself just before he kidnapped me." Mary Jane was surprised to see that Peter's expression had remained sullen. "Look, Peter. I know the truth. You can't deny it anymore. Your secret's safe with me."

"M.J., it's not that easy." Peter left the table and turned his back on Mary Jane.

Things were not going as M.J. had planned. Peter was supposed to smile and admit his secret. He was supposed to admire her cleverness. He was supposed to tell her that now they could be together. "Don't you trust me, Pete?"

"I trust you M.J., I just don't trust myself." He stared off through the apartment window unable to face M.J.

"What do you mean?"

"The people closest to me get hurt. Just look what happened to you and Aunt May. I can't always be there to protect you. The best thing is to avoid me. That's the only way you'll be safe." Peter replied.

"That's not fair. You can't just give up the one's you love." M.J. blurted out as tears came to her face. What she really meant was that it wasn't fair for her. She was in love with this man and yet he continued to push her away.

"I have a responsibility to everyone in this city. I can't love any one person more than the next. This is the sacrifice I have to make."

Peter opened up the apartment window letting in the cold autumn air. Why did M.J. make this so hard for him.

"Peter, I love you and I want to be with you. Isn't there anything I can do?" M.J. pleaded desperately.

"You can apologize to Harry. You were very inconsiderate to him." With that, Peter jumped out the window and swinging out of M.J.'s sight.

Peter sat perched on the ledge of building top. He let the wind blow through his hair and calm his mind. He couldn't bear to be around Mary Jane any longer. The more they were together the stronger his love for her grew. When he leapt from his window he hadn't even bothered to change into his Spider-man suit. He had to leave her presence. It was dark anyways, no one should see him. He couldn't have stayed a minute longer without breaking down and kissing her. But now she knew his secret. He wanted to tell her everything, to confide in her, to trust her but it was dangerous. Isolation was the only way to protect the ones he loved.

He only caused pain to those close to him. Just look at how he continued to hurt Harry. He needed to move out. He needed money to move out, he thought. Then Peter remembered his job.

"Damn," he thought to himself. He forgot to get the camera he left stuck to the wall over the crash site. He was in such pain and he was so exhausted that all he thought about was getting home. Now he wanted to be as far from home as he could so he could forget about his problems.

Peter swung quickly through the night to the accident site. He reached the building where he had been perched hours before. The cars had been pretty much cleared up. The police had blocked off the area with tape for now. The scene was surprisingly tranquil. It was ironic considering the mayhem of before.

Peter decided to swoop down to the building where he had secured his camera. But just before he was about to, his spider sense went off. He looked around but no one was there. He wasn't in costume but it was too dark to see him and the roadway was deserted, so Peter proceeded to swing to the wall. He clung to there for mere seconds and unlatched his camera from the webbing. As quickly as he came, he was gone. He had to develop these pictures and then patrol the city. It would be a busy night as usual.

Eddie Brock emerged from deep in the shadows of an alleyway. His patience had paid off. He had waited while the rest of the crowd and police dispersed. He stood there waiting to see what had caused that flash in the corner and to see how it had gotten there. He couldn't make out exactly what he had seen but luckily while he'd been waiting he had focused his camera on the area. He couldn't wait to develop the film and see what would appear in the photos. It had to be Spider-man though, who else could so easily and quickly move like the figure he'd just seen? Somehow he knew that Peter was involved. He suspected that Peter and Spider-man were working together and if tomorrow Peter was the only photographer with pictures, it would be proof. He couldn't wait to show Jameson, he'd have to fire Peter and rehire him. "Jameson hates me, but he hates Spider-man a lot more. What will he say when he founds out his little photographer is working with that crook!" Eddie laughed.

So both men went back to their homes to develop their photos. One man was web-slinging with pictures of the disaster he helped avert, the other unknowingly carrying the proof of Spider-man's identity.

To be continued…

I will get the next chapter up as soon as I can.