xXx

"Anything?" Mary Jane asked, leaning against the doorframe as dusk slid towards night.

"Maybe," Peter said shortly, stripping the mesh off and sliding into his clothes. "I… it might have been me. I can barely wrap my head around the idea. I have no idea what to do." He looked at Mary Jane, pleading in his eyes. "I fought so hard not to be a thief. Is this some delayed hypnosis? How to do I fight it? Where the hell is Strange?" He shook his head. "I don't know what to do. I have no idea what to do."

"Ssh," Mary Jane said, stepping over to him. "You're a genius, Parker. You'll figure something out. Don't beat yourself up, that won't help a thing. I have faith in you. You can beat this."

"Yeah," he said, pulling her into a hug so she couldn't see his eyes. "I'll figure it out. I'll figure something out…"

Five minutes later Mary Jane yawned prodigiously. "I gotta go home, Pete," she said. "I can't even try to pull another all nighter."

"Will you stay with me?" Peter asked, suddenly nervous. "Not all night. Just… just until I go to sleep."

"Ordinarily no, Alert Lad," Mary Jane said, trying to be arch and failing. "But tonight? You got yourself a babysitter. For a few minutes, anyway. I do have to work tomorrow."

Peter lay down on the bed. "Now I lay me down to sleep," he murmured. "Pray the Lord my soul to keep. Should I sneak out before I wake…" He shivered. Mary Jane tucked the blanket around him and lay down next to him.

"Good night, Peter," she said. He lay his head down on the pillow, and unconsciousness stole over him with an unnatural speed that had little to do with sleep.

Mary Jane studied his face, the care that was pressed into it. She sighed almost imperceptibly as she used a finger to brush the hair back from his face, tuck it over his ear.

"Peter Parker," she mused to him, "you are the only man I know who gets creative with his finances to pay off his bills, then is actually genuinely distressed to find a box of jewelry in his room." She smiled as she kissed his forehead. "You are my hero," she whispered to him. "You didn't even keep a single ring." She pressed her forehead against his as he lay unnaturally still. Then, she stood and turned off the light, leaving him alone and senseless in the dark. She locked the door behind her, and all was still in the apartment…

xXx

The phone was ringing as Mary Jane walked in the door. She pounced over to it and scooped it up. "Yes?" she said.

"MJ, it's Gwen. Flash and me and Harry and Tandy are clubbing tonight, and I think it would be sweet if you could come along. Whaddya say?"

Mary Jane smiled. "I think a night at the club is just what the doctor ordered," she said. "Do you want to meet there?"

Gwen talked to somebody in the background. "I'll pick you up. Twenty minutes?"

"More than I need, girlfriend," Mary Jane said with a sly smile. "See you then."

Twenty minutes later, Mary Jane opened the car door and dropped into the back seat of Flash's car. She wore a low backed dress with a modest skirt length made sassy by a slit up the side. She was tucked into a short jacket that revealed the clean lines of her torso in her one piece dress.

"So where we going tonight?" she asked, her face flushed and a shine in her eyes.

"Banzaitronica," Flash said. "It's a new rave club. Been there once. It didn't suck," he grinned.

"As ringing an endorsement as your vocabulary allows," Mary Jane said with a grin.

"Ouch," Flash said. "You've been hanging out with Parker so much I forgot how much I hate having you in the back seat."

"Don't try to butter me up, it won't work," Mary Jane replied. "Gwen, fabulous dress," she said, glancing over the back of the seat. Gwen blushed.

Ten minutes later they parked in the back of a rather crowded parking lot. As they walked towards the building, Gwen turned to Mary Jane.

"Harry told us to call him when we got here," she said. "To let him know. He should be her already."

Mary Jane pulled out her cell phone, and took Harry's number from Gwen. She called. After one ring, the phone picked up.

"Osborn," Harry said.

"This is MJ. We're outside the Banzaitronica," she said.

"Cool. See you in a minute," Harry said.

"Maybe more," Mary Jane said."There's a hell of a line."

Harry chuckled and hung up.

By the time they reached the end of the line, a bouncer was waiting for them.

"Mr. Thompson party of three?" he inquired politely.

"Smee and us," Flash said with a grin.

"Follow me please." He turned and walked to the head of the line, through the door, past the ticketer, and into the club. He smiled at them as the trance electronica thudded in the air around them.

"Have a great evening," he said with a polite nod, speaking over the music. He turned and returned to the door area as Harry waved them over to a booth.

"Harry," Flash said, "I definitely missed hanging out with you, man!"

"Good work there," Mary Jane said with a cool nod of appraisal.

"What are we sitting down for?" Gwen demanded playfully. "Let's dance!"

They hit the dance floor, Flash flailing around in a way that was dangerous to himself and others as Gwen swayed to the music. Tandy settled into her groove, and a couple young sharks drifted over to dance with her. Harry danced opposite Mary Jane, who knew how to use this beat to move.

She watched Harry dance with surprise; he had always been a good dancer, a great mover, but now he had a sinuous grace that he had not had before he left. He moved like a panther, like an athlete, like a predator. The dance floor warmed up as she looked into his eyes and saw something dark, a secret that teased her but revealed nothing more.

Some time later, the group was breathless as the interminable song finally wound down. They reclaimed their booth.

"I need a drink after that," Mary Jane said, fanning herself. She headed over to the bar.

She arrived. "Coke," she said, not making a move to get a way to pay for it. Sure enough, Harry strolled up behind her.

"Double scotch," he said. "And whatever the lady is having, it's on me." He smiled at the bar tender. Mary Jane noticed that he looked older. He was subtly different than the young man that had left almost a year ago to make his way in the world.

"You thought about my offer?" he asked her directly. Even in the bar lights, his eyes were somehow strange, somehow dark. Mary Jane smiled warmly.

"You bet I've thought about it," she said. "What kind of a date did you have in mind?"

His smile grew. "Tomorrow. Dinner. Just wear something black. I'll handle the rest." He got his drink, and raised his glass. "To good times," he said, something about him hungry.

"I'll drink to that, tiger," she said. She clinked her glass to his, and they both drank.

Harry looked her up and down, and he liked what he saw. "I have some business to take care of to clear my calendar," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow." He nodded to her, and left.

Mary Jane let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She downed the rest of the coke, then returned to the table.

"Where's the founder of the feast?" Flash asked.

"He had to go take care of some business," Mary Jane said lightly. "He just wanted to make sure we had a good time."

"Harry's cool," Flash said with a grin.

"Be back in a minute," Tandy said, getting up and heading for the restroom. Flash grinned.

"Hey Gwendie, up for another dance?"

"Still catching my breath, big guy," Gwen said with a winning smile. "Would you get me a drink?"

"You bet, hot stuff," Flash said, getting up and heading for the bar.

"Hey Gwen," Mary Jane said. "I need you to do me a favor."

"Wow," Gwen said, wide eyed. "I'm always the one that asks you for favors."

"Exactly," Mary Jane nodded. "So you'll do this one for me. Tomorrow night. Would you mind inviting Peter over? Play scrabble with your dad, or watch movies or something? I just need you to keep him busy, that's all."

"Why does Peter need looking after?" Gwen asked.

"He's been falling asleep," Mary Jane said. "He's really hard to wake up when he does that. If his aunt finds him, you know her. She'll call the hospital, and all kinds of bills, a mess all around. So could you look after him?"

"You're going to have dinner with Harry, aren't you," Gwen asked her with a sideways look.

Mary Jane rolled her eyes and sighed through gritted teeth. "It's not like that," she said sharply.

"What's it like?" Gwen asked. "I saw you two dancing."

"You know what? Forget it," Mary Jane said, standing. "I'll find somebody else. Thanks a lot, Gwen."

"Mary Jane," Gwen said, rising, but Mary Jane was already striding off through the crowd.

She banged the door to the women's restroom open. In here, the music was just dull tones and thuds. Tandy was touching up her makeup at the big mirror. She met Mary Jane's eyes.

"Tandy, I hate to be a spoilsport, but I've been hanging around Peter long enough to be able to kill any party," she said ruefully. "Will you take me home? I'd call a cab, but I left my purse at home."

"Sure," Tandy said. "I wasn't really in the mood for this anyway."

The two women left together, walking back out into the cold October night.

"Did you say goodbye to Gwen and Flash for us?" Tandy asked.

"Sure did," Mary Jane said shortly.

They got into Tandy's plush car. By the time they reached the road, the heaters had warmed the car's interior.

"Hey Tandy," Mary Jane said as they hit the road.

"Yes?"

"You busy tomorrow night?" Mary Jane asked quietly.

"Not particularly, why?"

"I was wondering if you could get together with Peter and work on some song ideas or something. I need somebody to keep an eye on him, he's been falling asleep a lot lately."

Tandy looked over at her, then returned her attention to the road. "I can do that," she said quietly.

"Thanks," Mary Jane said, her thoughts distant as she looked out at the scenery that flowed past.

"Just be careful, Mary Jane. Okay?" Tandy said.

Mary Jane looked at her sharply. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

Tandy shrugged. "You know exactly what I mean," she said quietly. "I don't want to fight. But I'm your friend. So just be careful."

Mary Jane bit back her reply and stared out the window.

The rest of the trip passed in silence.

xXx

Noise. Lights. Shouting.

Peter roused from his deathlike sleep. On the floor he saw two Brinks truck cases overflowing with cash, blood spattered on one. A black leotard on the floor. In his nightmarishly half-dead world the details in the dim were clear in the bouncing flashlights of his home's invaders. He struggled to get up, to move. One arm twitched.

Then the SWAT team surrounded him, shouting. He faded out as a cold steel handcuff snapped around a wrist. He was gone again.

Lights slowly strobing. Cold. Hard. Truck. He passed out.

He was conscious for the booking. Then he was dumped into the holding cell with the other prisoners. The cold was penetrating, and he still wore his sweats and a pajama shirt.

The police released him into the tank, then resumed their guard stations. Peter looked deliberately around his cell, struggling with the weird receding unconsciousness that had gripped him. He still couldn't form words.

"Whatchu lookinat?" a huge black man snarled at him. The rest of the drunks in the holding cell shrank away from him and from Peter.

Peter fixed him in a cold stare, too furious to be amused.

The black man shifted, looking away. Then he turned away and covered the side of his face with his hand as Peter stood rigid and immobile. The bars. The bars were foolish, a second of effort and he was free and armed with steel to crush whatever he pleased. Peter struggled to surface, struggled to restrain the spider ghost. He could practically taste the big man's blood.

Peter forced himself to sit in the corner. He hugged his knees, resting his mouth on his knees, and his glittering eyes watched everyone and everything.

Less than an hour had passed when the detention door opened again. Brilhart and the heavyset detective that worked with him walked up to the holding cell. Everyone in the cell, including the addicts and fiends, was somewhat crowded in two thirds of the cell. No one sat closer than that to where Peter was folded in the corner.

The policeman opened the cell door. "Parker," Brilhart said quietly, "come with us."

Peter approached them, accepted cuffs on his wrists. Stupid cuffs. One flex. That's all he'd need. Peter struggled with the impulse and remained wordless as he was led out of the holding area.

The interrogation room was warm, uncomfortably warm. Peter sat at the table, hands cuffed behind him, eyes staring straight at the mirror on the wall. Brilhart stood on one side, the heavyset detective on the other.

"Doesn't look good," the broad detective leered at Peter. "See, we know that you or your friend was watching that Brinks route. So we put tracers in the money cases. When you swung down outa nowhere, or your friend, whatever, and punched that guard's head in and took the cases, we just followed the money to your place. With enough evidence to put you away for good. What the hell are you on? Doesn't matter, the blood and urine tests'll turn it up." He grinned triumphantly.

"That'll do, Vine," Brilhart said, distracted. "Why don't you step outside."

"Right," Vine said, and he left the interrogation room.

Peter continued staring into the mirror.

"I was always… worried this would happen," Brilhart said reluctantly. "What got into you? Or the spider ghost? What the hell is going on? I didn't want to believe it was you. I still don't. But you have to give us something to work with." His eyes tried not to convict him.

Peter was rigid. He said nothing.

Brilhart shifted uneasily. "Maybe… it would be best if you stayed in solitary," he murmured.

When they came to take him away, Peter did not resist.