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Chapter Forty-One

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The Big Man sped through the air in silent contemplation. There was a lot on his mind - plenty of details to mull over. The encounter he had with Spider-Man tonight had been very enlightening in its developments. The wall-crawler had played into some of the preconceived theories that he had developed before their fated meeting, while still managing to surprise him with new aspects all the same. Regardless, he was positive that he now had enough research to begin his latest experiment.

He hadn't been lying when he told Spider-Man that tonight had been the most fun that he's had in years. He was almost giddy as he remembered the thrill of the fight, the anticipation for what he knew that was coming next, as well as his curiosity on whether Spider-Man would also catch onto the next series of events that he had planned or not.

Yes… Spider-Man had fallen into his trap quite beautifully.

If only he were able to do this more often - fighting on the front lines. But, if he had any hope of over-taking the other crime rings of the city - ensuring that the Big Man of Crime rang supreme over all of New York - he had to take a step back and meticulously plan his next steps of attack. Yes… the Kingpin and Tombstone really put a damper on things at times. If only they knew a superior leader when they saw one.

But alas, to ensure that he became the ring-leader to all crime in New York, he had to divide his time and energy between his enemies. It really was a shame that the wall-crawler didn't take him up on his offer of a job. He would have liked to really test his limits when pairing him up against Kingpin and Tombstone as an assignment.

The Goblin actually sighed at - not only the loss - but the waste of it all.

Spider-Man was powerful, more than people realized or gave him credit for. But the Goblin? He noticed. There was a lot of untapped potential there that was just ripe for the taking. Why in the hell was Spider-Man wasting his time fighting petty crime when he could be making millions? Or, if he wanted to play the hero for all of the fame and glory, all that he had to do was what all of the other Avengers did… only fight world-level threats.

But no… Spider-Man just had to have morals, didn't he?

The Goblin hated how that made the web-head that much more fascinating to him. There was certainly a distinct itch inside of him that longed to pick apart and dissect the wall-crawler until there was nothing left but pieces of Spider-Man's former self.

In what felt like no time at all, he flew back to one of his hideouts without a trace - a dingy building just on the west-end of the Bronx. He landed his glider on the rooftop before jumping down from the magnetic stirrups on the platform. Then, hitting a button on his forearm, the glider flew itself into the secret compartment on the rooftop - guised as an electrical box.

Despite how the night turned out, the Green Goblin was on cloud nine as he strutted toward the rooftop door that led him to the stairs for the building.

When he made his way down the steps - gingerly, he was forced to admit, as Spider-Man had managed to get a few hits in of his own - he was met by the sight of Hammerhead at the bottom of the first flight.

The Big Man grinned ferally at his henchman. "Hammerhead." He said by way of greeting with a slow tilt of his head. The movement caused strain on his aching neck. Spider-Man had given him a good one right in the jaw, much to the Big Man's amusement.

The man standing before him said nothing for a moment, merely just stared at his superior. Hammerhead always played peculiar games like this, as though he were evaluating the Goblin's worth every time before he spoke. It used to aggravate the Goblin - taking it as a sign of lack of respect from his inferior. That was before a sudden strike of understanding had found him one day - Hammerhead was surely looking at him in admiration. Soaking in his greatness while hoping to absorb a bit of knowledge from the Big Man's glory. The Goblin let him take his look.

Hammerhead's eyes did another sweep of surveyance of his body, before he finally spoke. "Boss… you've got a little blood there. On your chin."

The Green Goblin sniggered. "Really? I hadn't noticed." Though he made no attempt at wiping the blood away. It was his badge of honor, as was the blood of Spider-Man that was still stained on his knuckles.

Hammerhead seemed nonplussed, used to the Goblin's peculiar tastes and mannerisms by now. "So? What happened?"

"What? You haven't been watching the news?" The Goblin tittered lightly, though he was bursting with the desire to talk about his greatness. "I'm world famous now, you know. As the man that nearly defeated Spider-Man."

Hammerhead's thick, bushy eyebrow raised on that protruding forehead of his. "Nearly?"

The Goblin's expression dropped as he clenched his teeth, his smile gone. "Yes, well, everything was going according to plan, but then again, Iron Man showing up did put a little snag into things. So I had to improvise."

Hammerhead nodded slowly, his scrutinizing stare seeming to see right through the Goblin's calculated nonchalance. It was true that he hadn't intended on Iron Man showing up to the fight. Tony Stark could hardly make board meeting appointments but he had the time to come and break up Spider-Man's fight?

But when he did show up, demanding that he drop the web-head, the Goblin knew immediately what the consequences would be… he could see it on the screen in his eye lenses in real time.

The headlines, rather than boasting about the extraordinary feat of Spider-Man's defeat at the Green Goblin's hands, were instead blasting the breaking news of 'Iron Man Saves Spider-Man From Death-Defying Fall'.

It irked him to no end. Tony Stark just always had to be there to claim the spotlight, didn't he?

But in the end…

"It doesn't matter," The Green Goblin forced out, though it did feel like it mattered… a lot. Now, it felt more personal. "I still got the intended results from my meeting with Spider-Man. Now, we may continue forward onto the next phase."

Hammerhead's expression didn't change a millimeter. Instead, he merely responded with the calm baritone that he was known for. "You want me to call Doctor Smythe?"

The Big Man thought about it for only a moment before he banished the idea entirely. He waved his hand at Hammerhead in dismissal. Doctor Smythe's methods had impressed him in the beginning, but his lack of results lately had shown the Goblin nothing but his incompetence. "No. I want him to continue his focus on Moorie Bench until he gets the agreed upon results. I will work on this experiment… myself."

He got a raised eyebrow in response.

"I am something of a scientist myself, you know," The Goblin reminded him.

"I know… it just seems like a big project for you to work alone on."

The Goblin grinned. This was why Hammerhead was the perfect lackey. Because despite his large and protruding head, he was most certainly not the brightest when it came to seeing the bigger picture. "Which is precisely why I am only trusting myself with the results."

With that, the Goblin started walking forward past Hammerhead, heading down the hallway toward his personal office. Over his shoulder, he called back to Hammerhead, "I want to see a status update on test trial 8-17."

Hammerhead watched him take his leave. "Sure thing, Boss."

He waited until the Big Man turned the corner and was out of sight before he turned himself and went down the opposite hall. Hammerhead strolled casually, his footsteps heavy as he reached into his jacket pocket for his cell phone. Pressing a single button on his speed-dial, he put the phone up to his ear and only had to wait a moment for a connection.

"Lincoln," Was all that he got by way of greeting from Lincoln 'Tombstone' Thompson. His baritone voice deep and grumbly. Hammerhead could already tell that Tombstone had already heard the news… it was easy to tell by the irritable lilt in the bite of his single word - so different than how he presented himself with his public persona.

"Hey boss," Hammerhead said into the speaker, looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was within ear shot. "Just checking in."

He got a hum of acknowledgement as he heard the scratching of pen against paper in the background. "I'm assuming that you saw the news?" He finally heard, confirming Hammerhead's suspicions.

"Yeah. That green psycho really did a number on the wall-crawler," Hammerhead commented, not bothering to offer much more of his personal thoughts on the matter than that.

"There are reports that some from the crowd heard him referring to himself as both the Green Goblin… and the Big Man of Crime…"

"What?" Hammerhead forced a level of surprise in his voice. He stopped at a doorway and allowed himself entry into the dark and empty room. "The same guy that's been trying to take over business, boss?"

"Yes," Was the curt response that he got in return, before, "I want you to try and find out all that you can about this… impostor. I don't take kindly to those trying to take over the criminal enterprise that I took years to build from the ground up."

"Yes, sir," Hammerhead responded as he flicked on the light - the screen before him was flashing with the latest results of experiment 8-17, then paused before he asked, "And the girl? She got on the plane?"

He could hear the smile in the other man's voice with his next words. Tombstone has always had that vicious side to him, that begged no mercy - which was how he got the nickname. "Yes. She is on her way to Rome as we speak. From there, a car will take her to Venice, which is where our hired men will find her."

Walking up to the monitor, Hammerhead pressed the buttons to allow for the results to print onto a paper document. "The little bitch knows something, boss," Hammerhead assured, "We'll get the information out of her."

This managed to draw out a dark chuckle out of Tombstone. "For her sake, she'd better be singing like a canary."

…..

Mary Jane's plane landed at the airport in Gander, Newfoundland, where she had a five hour layover until her connecting flight.

She hadn't slept on the plane at all, and she could feel it in the tight tiredness beneath her eyes, no doubt where dark circles plagued her. But she couldn't help it. Her mind kept warring between the butterflies that she felt in the pit of her stomach and the agonizing dread as flashback bombarded her. Even hours later, she could still feel the pounding deep in her eardrumbs that matched in time with her speeding heartbeat.

Why had she done it? Why had she kissed him?

Sure, it had seemed like a good idea back when she was planning the night through. All week she had stars in her eyes as she had daydreamed about his reaction to her boldness. In her mind's eye, she had pictured him wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close, whispering her name against her lips as he opened his mouth to taste her…

But of course… this was Peter Parker she was thinking of. She had never been able to have a good grasp on figuring him out before, why did she think that this instance would be any different?

Because Peter hadn't kissed her back. In fact, he had stood as frozen as a statue as she had stupidly claimed his lips with her own.

Fuck… how could she have been so stupid? Sure, she had tried to play coy as she had pulled away from him and walked away, but that confidence within her had quickly diminished with the more distance that was put between them. With every mile that she flew high in the sky, another seed of doubt was planted.

Had Harry been wrong about Peter liking her? He had seemed so sure that- With a jolt, she suddenly realized that Harry had never actually confirmed to her that Peter had feelings for her. Harry had only told her that Peter had been intending on asking her to the dance… had she looked too deeply into the meaning behind that? Had Peter been planning on merely asking her as a friend and she took things too far?

She blushed as flitting images of her carelessly grinding against Peter's crotch came to mind. Holy hell… Peter must have thought that she had well and truly lost her mind. And the note that she had left with him… there was no way she could play this off as nothing but her typical whimsical and carefree attitude getting away from her.

Her note had voiced her confession of her feelings for him, and if nothing else, her actions last night had more than proven them to him further.

What must he be thinking of her? There was still a sliver of hope that Peter would magically see the light as he reflected on her confession and decided that he liked her too… but there was the larger part of her that kept fixating on his lack of reaction to her kiss… Mary Jane didn't think that she could bear it if Peter started avoiding her because of this. She had yet to talk to him as Spider-Man ever since she had confessed her feelings to him on the God-forsaken balcony. When he had said that he needed time back then, she didn't think that he would've taken this long. And that hadn't really bothered her all that much because she was still spending time with him as Peter after she found out his secret identity. But now… what if Peter started doing what his alter-ego adopted and just disappeared from her life? Deep-seeded panic settled in her gut at the thought. There was a rational part of her brain that told her that she already had abandonment issues - her parents lack of support and love all of her life saw to that - and it may hurt her beyond repair if Peter started giving her the cold shoulder because of this.

She tried to think logically for a moment. She had given Peter a choice, hadn't she? She would just have to be patient and wait to see if he chose to join her in Paris. And if he didn't… she meant what she said - that there would be no pressure. She would just have to accept it and try to move on. But that still didn't mean that she wouldn't be disappointed beyond belief if he did make that choice. She knew now that there would always be a part of her that longed for Peter Parker. Even if he rejected her now and she would try to move on with her life, she would always be holding out hope that he would change his mind. Because in the deepest parts of her heart, a candle burned specifically for him… she had no idea when it was lit, but as time grew, the fire grew stronger. Now she didn't think that there was any hope of her snuffing out that flame - it was too hot and consuming at this point.

She sighed heavily as she finally came across an empty bench within the airport. She fell heavily into it and her head immediately dropped down into her open hands. She sat like that for minutes, the chatter of the airport surrounding her and blending in with the endless noise in her mind. Until finally, she sighed again and lifted her head with a sniff.

She needed distraction… something to take her mind off of this endless agonizing and stress. Her hand mindlessly went into her pocket to pull out her phone, where she automatically went to Instagram and-

Her back went rigid as her eyes widened to the largest degree. The first post to catch her eye was a short clip of a video of Spider-Man fighting a man dressed in green and purple and flying around on some sort of contraption in Times Square. The caption on the video stated, "Can't believe that Spider-Man lost a fight to this clown. #BRatedAvenger #MajorFail"

Something sharp clawed its way up her throat and she suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe properly. Her thumb started scrolling - over and over again, there were pictures and captured videos of the incident. Her heartbeat drummed loudly in her ears, speeding away like it was trying to imitate a jackhammer. There were so many videos. So many pictures. Each one showing Spider-Man getting beat up by this laughing lunatic. Each one showcasing that Spider-Man's injuries kept increasingly getting worse and worse. Until finally-

"Spider-Man falling to his death. #RIPSpidey #Good Riddence #SpiderManIsAMenace #Splat"

Alongside it, was a video that played in a short loop… the man dressed in green and purple had Peter held by the neck tight in his clutches, as Peter dangled there, limp and unresponsive… until he let go and-

Mary Jane was hyperventilating as the image burned into her mind. No. Just no. It wasn't true. It couldn't be true. It just couldn't be.

In a blind panic, Mary Jane quickly exited the app and clicked his name on the phone icon from her screen and immediately put the speaker to her ear. Her other hand came up to knot desperately in her hair, only just so that she had something to hold onto.

The phone rang a total of four times, each one nearly giving her a panic attack. Once the fourth ring reached her ears, tears started welling in her eyes before the distinct clicking sound of someone answering her call was heard. As soon as the ringing stopped enough for the line to connect, Mary Jane screamed into her phone, "PETER?!"

There was a brief moment of lingering silence that followed. Before a voice responded to her, a voice that was far too deep to belong to her Peter.

"…Well, hello to you too."

Her eyes widened significantly as she audibly gasped. Who was this man? Was it the maniac that was dressed in green and purple? Did Peter survive but he was now captured? The daunting thought was terrifying for her to think on, especially being so far away and not able to do much to help at the moment.

"Who is this? Where's Peter?" Mary Jane demanded, if she wasn't so distressed at the moment, she may have been proud of how forceful her voice sounded.

"This is Tony Stark," He responded and all of the air whooshed out of her lungs. Tony Stark? He answered Peter's phone? Was Peter with him right now? Or had Mr. Stark tracked it and was trying to locate Peter? As if he could read her mind, he started saying, "And Peter… he's- uh, well, he's-"

"Please tell me he's alright?" Her voice was begging. She wouldn't be able to take it if he wasn't alright.

There was a pause on the other end of the line. Tears started to run down Mary Jane's cheeks. No. Just no. Peter can't- he- they only just-

"You know, don't you?" Mr. Stark finally said, breaking through her emotional breakdown just at the mere thought of Peter being… dead. But his words also served to confuse her, distracting her from the dark images that she had conjured in her mind.

Mary Jane blinked. "W-What?"

"You know."

The way that had stressed this simple statement captured her attention immediately. Her breath escaped her as she grasped his meaning. Was he- Did he seriously think- Was Mr. Stark asking her if she knew that Peter is Spider-Man?

"I- uh," She began, unable to find the words. Should she deny it? Lie? It didn't feel right to lie. Not about this. Not when Peter could be seriously hurt at the moment or… worse. Because if Mr. Stark know that she knew, then maybe they could find a way for her to help Peter. If he was missing, she could help find him or at least give some information that could potentially be vital for Mr. Stark. But would she be betraying Peter's secret when Mr. Stark already knew the truth regardless? She wasn't sure how Peter felt in regards to his secret identity and other people knowing. Would he be angry at her for figuring it out? But in the end, she knew that it may already be too late. Mr. Stark was too intelligent for her to lie her way through this, he would see right through her in a second from how emotional she was feeling at the moment. With a sigh, she continued, "I mean… yes," She hung her head in defeat, "I do know."

"Huh…" Tony said, sounding seemingly stunned as he took a moment for himself to reflect on this new piece of information. Mary Jane bit her bottom lip as she waited for his reaction, waiting for any harsh consequences for her lack of ignorance on this matter. Until, finally, Mr. Stark spoke, "Well, you should know that he's going to be alright."

It took some time for those words to register with her. And then a soundless sob left her lips. Her hand snapped up to cover her mouth against any noise as relief washed over her. She could feel it in her veins, flushing in her cheeks from where her face had previously paled. Finally, she was able to find her voice, "Can I talk to him? Please?"

She was desperate to hear his voice, to confirm for herself that he was actually alright and safe.

"He's still unconscious," Tony said, much to her crushing disappointment. "I managed to catch him in time but he still took quite the beating… That bastard dropped him as a distraction to get away." He paused for a moment, then spoke out in a rush, "You should know that I assessed the area and the footage and I found twelve bombs that were deactivated and webbed up," There was another brief pause on Tony's end as Mary Jane heard him swallow thickly. Was Tony Stark choking up? "I just- I know that he'd want me to tell you that. So that you didn't think he was incompetent or some shit like that."

Thinking that Peter was incompentent had never even crossed her mind. He had saved her life too many times for her to think such a crazy notion like that. But one thing that Mr. Stark said stuck out to her…

"Does he really care that much what I think?" Mary Jane couldn't help but ask before she could stop herself.

She heard Mr. Stark sputter as a humorless laugh escaped him. "Are you kidding? Your opinion of him is probably at the top of his list of things that he cares about right now. It's all he ever talks about these days."

"He talks to you about me?" Warmth fluttered in her chest.

There was another pause. "I shouldn't be telling you any of this."

A part of her agreed. She should be hearing this come from Peter himself, but she couldn't deny that Mr. Stark's words were like a soothing balm to her nerves. When Peter hadn't kissed her back… she wasn't sure what to think. Slowly, she could feel a bit of the tension release from her shoulders as her hand lowered from the knot she had twisted in her hair.

"Can I ask you something?" Mr. Stark asked suddenly, breaking her from her thoughts. "Curious minds can't help but inquire."

"Sure." Mary Jane agreed. How often would it that Mr. Stark would ever be curious by something involving her? Especially when it seemed like Iron Man always had the answers to everything.

"How long have you known about his… spider affliction?" That was on delicate way of putting it. Memories flashed her her mind on her history with Peter - both Spider-Man and normal teenage boy alike. She started to speak her memory aloud to him as she saw it in her mind's eye.

"I found out at Harry's party. I went back into the house because I couldn't find Peter anywhere. I thought that he was trapped inside somewhere and I couldn't bear the thought of him being- well…" Mary Jane paused with a heavy swallow and she tried to refocus her thought, "But once inside, I stumbled across the fight and, well, Spider-Man was there. I was honestly shocked, I- anyway… he had to take off his mask in order to see because his lenses got charred. But then a beam fell on top of him. The smoke was too thick for me to notice his identity then, but I somehow managed to drag his body outside into the back yard. That was when I noticed his face…"

"Well that explains how he got out of the building," Tony muttered to himself, before he spoke his next words clearly, "Why haven't you told him that you know?"

Mary Jane bit her bottom lip. Would he think that her reasoning was stuipd? Something only that a silly and romantic girl would come up with and stick to? "I… I wanted him to trust me enough to tell me himself."

Mr. Stark gave a bit of a grunt of acquiescence. "I guess I can understand that… if I weren't me, of course," Mary Jane let out a small laugh at the indirect reminder of the infamous press conference where Tony Stark revealed that he was Iron Man. It felt a little nice to laugh after being emotionally wrought for the last five hours.

"It would've probably been a while before he would have told you himself, though," Mr. Stark continued, "So I hope you weren't banking on any revealing conversations soon. He's been too busy agonizing over-"

He cut himself off in a sharp and abrupt end.

"Too busy agonizing over what?" Mary Jane asked, her interest piqued as she pressed for answers.

"Oh no, you're not getting another peep out of me about that subject matter. I'm starting to think that Happy was right about you. You're going to have to have a talk with Peter."

At the mention of Peter's name again, Mary Jane sobered somewhat. Now was not the time to be selfish and focus on her own feelings… not when Peter was severely injured. "How is Peter right now?"

The shift in tone that Mr. Stark adopted somewhat soured at the reminder. "He's healing. He had a couple broken rips on top of bruises and cuts that covered about 70% of his body…" Mr. Stark swallowed thickly and Mary Jane found herself mirroring the action, bile suddenly constricting her throat. Tears prickled at her eyes at the thought of him being in that much pain. Poor Peter… "You already know about his healing ability, right?"

Mary Jane nodded, though he could not see it. "Yes. I figured it out the night that I met him."

"You're more intuitive than you appear…" His voice sounded impressed. "Peter never stood a chance, did he?"

A laugh managed to escape her, a flicker of pride swelled within her as it warred with the worry that she felt for Peter. But she couldn't help it. To think she was getting praise from Tony Stark. "No. He really didn't. I would've figured it out eventually if I hadn't found out when I did."

Mr. Stark chuckled, sounding mildly amused. "Yeah… the kid is not as sly with his secrets as he thinks. I'm surprised that more people haven't figured it out."

"Does May know?" It had been a sneaking suspicion of hers for a couple of weeks now…

There was a along pause. And Mary Jane was just about to open her mouth to tell him to forget it, when-

"…Yes."

A small smile formed on her face, glad to know that her suspicions have been confirmed to be true. "I thought so. She's like her nephew in the secret-keeping department. She looked so guilty when she tried to keep me from walking in on Peter in his spider-suit."

At this, Mr. Stark chuckled warmly. "Those Parker's, I tell ya."

"You gotta love them."

There was a halt on Tony's end. "Reaaaallly…?"

Mary Jane's brows furrowed, not knowing what it was with his tone that caused him to sound like a cat that caught a canary. But then her eyes widened as she looked back and thought on her words.

"Don't." She warned immediately.

"Love?"

"Stop it."

Tony was outright laughing now. "Ah, it feels good to laugh. It's been a long night. Thanks for that, Kid."

Mary Jane swallowed, shifted in her seat as her hand figeted with the hem of her jacket. And when she spoke, her voice sounded so small and unsure. "You, uh, you won't tell him that I- that I said, uh…"

"Don't stress it," Mr. Stark interrupted her, his voice both nonchalant and reassuring at the same time. How was that even possible? "I won't tell him. I'll leave that to be your big reveal to him. I also won't tell him that you know his secret. I'm officially butting out."

Mary Jane held her breath for a moment longer, before she let it all out in a release that was lined heavily with relief. "Thanks, Mr. Stark." She said, genuinely.

"I think you can call me Tony by now."

She blinked in surprise before her heart warmed just a bit.

"Thanks… Tony," Mary Jane said, testing out the name on her tongue. It was so easy for her to see how Peter could have such a close bond with this man. The media may portray him differently and the man himself may try to come across as blasé, but underneath it all, she could see that he truly did care and was a softy at heart. At the thought of Peter, longing swelled in her chest. She wanted so desperately to speak with him, to hold him, kiss him… but she would have to settle for a potential phone call with her being so far away… She swallowed thickly. "C-Can you tell Peter that I called?"

Tony hummed. "Yeah. I'll tell him. Do you want him to call you back?"

At this, Mary Jane hesitated. She wanted that very much, but there was a chance that she wouldn't be able to answer and she didn't want that deterring Peter. "Depending on if I'm off of the plane or not? Yes. But only if he is feeling up to it."

Tony chuckled lightly. "I have a feeling that he would want to talk to you no matter how he is feeling."

Her heart gave another flutter. But there was still that lingering doubt… She swallowed, thinking that she has already come this far in the conversation. One more question would hardly be enough to damn her.

"Mr. Stark?"

"Yeah?"

She sucked in a shaky breath and ran a hand through her hair, her fingers getting caught on a few tangles. "Hypotheically speaking, if you kissed someone and they didn't kiss you back, what should you be left thinking?" There. It was all out was sure that Mr. Stark was smark enough to deduce that this wasn't hypothetical at all, but she felt the need to ask the question anyway. Who else could she ask besides Peter himself? Tony knew him better than most, as well. If anyone knew Peter's thought process when Mary Jane had kissed him, it would be Tony Stark, who knew all a manner of sides of Peter's character.

Tony snorted. "Look at who you are talking to. Can't say that I've ever had that experience."

"Right…"

There was a momentary pause, before, "He was probably just nervous. I wouldn't worry about it, Kid."

Mary Jane swallowed thickly, trying to force his words to become a reality in her brain. But it didn't really help. Her mind kept over-anazling and nit-picking at their every interaction - wondering if she had maybe come to the wrong conclusion in thinking that Peter liked her back.

"Thanks, Mr. Stark." She said, finally.

"See you around, Kid."

Then, the line disconnected and Mary Jane was left staring down at her phone screen, feeling withdrawn and exhausted all of a sudden. She forced herself to relax further against the bench and coerced herself to finding an article that accounted what happened on Spider-Man's fight with the new villainous 'Green Goblin', trying to piece together what Peter had went through tonight after he had dropped her off at the airport. Beyond that, she spent over an hour watching shaky pedestrian videos of the incident on Instagram. She shivered at the sound of the madman's maniacial laughter as he administered blow after blow on Peter. She felt suddenly nauseous watching the abuse that Peter was inflicted and she paused the video, taking a moment to close her eyes and breathe.

Peter was going to be alright. Tony had said so.

She had to force those words into her mind, trying to make them stick so that they became a part of her reality.

More than anything, she wished that she was by his side right then - holding his hand, stroking his soft, brown hair…

But she couldn't… Besides the fact that she was stuck in an airport in another country, Peter didn't know that she knew the truth about him being Spider-Man. She had to respect his boundaries and let him tell her when he was ready, not by proxy of Mary Jane needing reasurrances of his current condition that she already got from Tony.

She sighed and started mindlessly flipping through the apps on her phone, trying to pass by the time and keep herself occupied. It was when she checked her Instagram again, that she noticed that she had a notification in her messages on there. She clicked it open and her heart nearly leapt up to her throat when she saw that it was an unread message from Peter.

Her fingers immediately clicked on it without her even realizing it, as seeing his message left a light sensation to spread all over her body.

Peter: I'm packing now. See you in a week, Red.

It was followed by a picture of a unzipped packed suitcase full of clothing and other necessities.

It must have been sent before he had ventured out to fight the Green Goblin, but his intention with the message was clear. He was planning on meeting her in Paris. Her eyes misted over and she released a relieved laugh as she wiped hastily at her eyes. She was unsure whether those plans have changed now that this fight happened, but she was grateful to know that he had been planning on meeting her there. She sniffed once - twice, then double clicked on Peter's message in order to heart it. Then, she began to type a response of her own.

Mary Jane: I'll be counting down the days..

Mary Jane: Don't forget to pack your fanny pack.

She couldn't help but add that last part in… knowing that Peter would need something to smile about as soon as he woke up. Even if he no longer planned on meeting her in Paris, he deserved that much at least.

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A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Please leave me a comment/review! I love reading them.

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