Not a Frog-Man chapter, sad to say. I want to get through to MJ's first modelling gig and Peter's first attempt at attending a lecture before we get to that greatness. It'd also line up with the current timeline since Frog-Man meets Gwen and Peter on campus.
The tone of this chapter is kinda all over the place. It makes some sense why, but people might still be confused. Also, I've been getting some reviews asking for where Shadowcat and Laura are. I'll be honest, I hadn't planned to make them show up again cause, similar to Helen Stacy, their role in the story is done and they have little to no plot role anymore.
Still, ask and ye shall receive. I put a segment in to show where they are. Probably doesn't make sense, but that's what happens when it's so slapdashed.
I'm also looking at Lana's future segments and...wow, it ended up being way more anime than I planned, mostly on the love triang relations front. So far we have: Lana has a crush on Noir and slight favor to Gabriel, MVP and Gabriel both like Lana, Anya likes MVP, MVP and Sue are being pressured to dating for the sake of good publicity despite just being friends, Sue is neurotic about keeping her friendship with Lana and likes Gabriel, and Aracely just randomly reads their minds and blurts it out to make it uncomfortable.
I should probably tone it down. Don't want this story to get too silly...
Side Note - I can't believe I have to say this, but here we are. No, Gabriel Reyes is not freaking Reaper. He's a canon character in Marvel. Look him up on the wiki.
Cooking with her mom was one of the new things MJ did to clear her mind. She was kind of ashamed to admit that she hadn't spent much time with her till a year prior. She was always so busy with the band and coming up with new songs and finding gigs that there were days she just screened her mom's calls. It was probably part of the reason why she'd believed her piece of shit dad was actually changing.
She cut through the raw meat and looked idly at the cookbook. It was some sauced chicken recipe that she couldn't even pronounce, 'Hey, I'm hungry,' Crimson said. Mary Jane rolled her eyes. It always did this. It wasn't enough for it to just take some off her plate. No, it wanted fresh meat; and by fresh it meant raw. Double points if there was still blood on it.
'Can't you just wait?'
'Sure, but don't expect me to be quiet.'
Mary Jane groaned and, after making sure her mom wasn't looking, cut out a decent sized chunk of wet meat and stuffed it into her mouth. It didn't taste foul - actually it tasted pretty good - but she still felt like the kid sneaking off licks from the cookie batter when her mom wasn't looking. She cut out another piece and ate it quickly just before her mom turned around.
"Need some help, MJ?"
"Mm- no, I'm good." She gave her an awkward thumbs up and tried to ignore the heat on her cheeks. That was too close.
'I don't get why you're being so jumpy,' Mary Jane ignored it, 'It's just some chicken. Not like you're eating stuff from the people you kill; not that'd be against that either-'
'Crimson, I swear to god!' She just barely held herself back from growling while the red bastard laughed. She knew the damn thing was just trying to rile her up, but it was hard to ignore when it knew exactly where to poke and prod. Another unfortunate side-effect from the fact that it was in her head 24/7.
30 minutes passed and Crimson groaned, 'This'd go faster if you just used me. I can even pretend that chicken is a person.'
'Not happening. I know where those hands have been.'
She continued cutting and snuck off another bite to keep Crimson quiet. Wasn't like Peter ate a lot anyway so it wasn't a big deal if there were a few bites missing. She put the chicken in the pot and wiped her hands, "Gayle, you done setting up?" she called out.
"Yep!" She saw a thumbs up from the couch before Gayle focused her attention back on the laptop. Probably another fanfic, though she'd been branching out to making comics commissions. It paid decently well, "You sure Gwen isn't coming along?"
"For the last time, no. If you wanna visit Gwen just go across the street." Mary Jane brought a hand through her hair and breathed in deeply. Gayle's crush on Gwen hadn't abated at all the past year and Peter leaving seemed to put the thought in her head that Gwen was now open. A lot of her fans did when they realized he was gone and Gwen admitted as much in a later interview. Nevermind the fact that she didn't say anything about breaking up and that she expected him back sooner or later.
"Eh...I don't wanna. Her new mom scares me." Well, she could agree with that. Jessica Jones definitely had a bad case of RBF (resting bitch face).
Thankfully the doorbell rang and saved her from discussing her best friend's strangely packed love life. Mary Jane opened the door with Gayle in tow and smiled when she saw Peter with his sister behind him, "Hey, Tiger." She let him past while Gayle high fived Lana and started talking animatedly about something the latter looked embarrassed about. She definitely caught 'Punished Spider' in there, though.
"Welcome you two." Her mom smiled politely, which both Peter and Lana reciprocated. Lana'd come over before, but this was the first time Peter had been here since the time he an Gwen rescued her, "I heard you were back in town."
"Guessing you saw Gwen then..." Gayle muttered.
"Sorry to disappoint you." He gave her younger sister a wry smile and she harumphed.
They all sat at the table and ate the food. Mary Jane smiled and made pleasant conversation. It all felt so fake. None of them aside from Peter knew. Knew that they were in the table with a serial killer who hunted down human garbage. Then again, would anyone but Gayle and her mom even care? She knew Peter and Lana were friends with that Bullseye guy before he bit it.
"So how's the exciting life of an Initiative Hero?" Gayle asked Lana. Her tone was light and teasing, but she knew her sister enough to catch the undercurrent of jealousy. It wasn't a surprise - one of her best friends was a hero, her crush across the street was Spider-Woman and even her own sister got powers. Nevermind the fact that said powers come with an annoying little voice in her head that never shut the hell up.
'You love me.'
'Yeah, you're my favorite parasite...'
'Parasite?!' Mary Jane covered her mouth with one hand and smirked. Very little pissed Crimson off more than being accused of being all take and no give. Apparently even murderous blobs had pride.
Powers definitely weren't all they were cracked up to be, that was for damn sure, though according to Betty incidence of 'power envy' - which she needlessly pointed out wasn't the same as penis envy - had been at an all time high recently. Apparently the Initiative showed off a brand new world and now everyone wanted in. It was the celeb craze for a new age.
"Same old, same old." Gayle pouted at Lana's casual dismissal. Mary Jane needed to talk to her about her little green streak before it festered. Last thing they needed was another Watson living up to her green eyes.
'Maybe she'd appreciate what I have to offer more than you...'
'Touch her and I'll kill you.'
'Why don't we ask her?'
'No.'
She ignored everything else it tried to say for the next hour. Gayle and her mom washed the dishes while she went up to get some air. Literally. Mary Jane opened the attic window that led to the roof and breathed in the cold, polluted night air. She still came up here sometimes to clear her head. Sometimes she even caught Jessica or Gwen's dad in the morning and said hi.
It was mercifully quiet for half an hour before the window opened again and Peter peeked out with a small smile on his face, "Evening, Mary. Any reason you're at the roof right now?"
She rolled her eyes lightly, "Just needed a place to sit. 'Sides, it's my roof. I didn't creep in like a certain someone did a year ago."
"Right. Well, move over then."
He stepped out and she offered him a hand that he took gratefully. Peter sat down next to her and looked at the abandoned Parker household with a small frown. Ben and May were in France last she checked, but she had no doubt Peter still blamed himself for the two of them being forced out of New York. It was just how he and Gwen were.
And then, apropos of nothing, he suddenly said, "I talked to Summers last night." She almost forgot about that lame nickname of his.
"Oh?" She kept looking ahead to mask her expression, "Guessing it wasn't a date?"
"Well, maybe? Not sure how much she likes museums," he snarked, "What about you? What happened with your did?"
"Dad of he year got himself into some trouble." She could've left it at that. For some reason she kept going, "Borrowed money from loansharks and now he needs someone to pay his bills for him. I volunteered." Better than getting those 'businessmen' on Gayle and her mom. She knew Philip Watson he would throw his own ex-wife and daughter under the bus if he could.
"...How much is it?"
"2000 bucks." Not much in the grand scheme of things, but it was a hell of a lot for a drunk whoremonger who spent more of the day drunk than sober.
"Hmm, I could-"
"No, no, no." She put a finger on his lips and narrowed her eyes, "I know Gwencent's fucking loaded and you can get the money, but my dad is my problem, not yours. I can handle it. Besides, I already got a modeling gig offer. 500 bucks upfront and more if the boss likes what I offer."
"That much? That doesn't sound suspicious to you?"
"It's from Roderick Kingsley. From what I read up on him he's the kind of guy to buy a diamond toilet seat." Well, he bought a solid gold lamborghini, but close enough. Webswinging was better, "Trust me, I'm good. Besides, it might take my mind off my...other gig."
And just like that they were back into it. Mary Jane pursed her lips while Peter made a noise in the back of his throat, "You said you'd been doing it for months now." She nodded, "Summers said you two tried to control it. What did she mean by that?"
"Exactly that," Mary Jane said softly, "We spent almost half a year just...trying not to kill people." She didn't tell Gwen, though whether it was pride, fear or something else she couldn't say, "Norah helped me through the worst of it. Wasp tried too, but there wasn't much she could do. It wasn't something that could be fixed with more injections and tests."
"Then what was it?"
"It was..."
Crimson jutted out of her shoulder suddenly, "Your denial." Its wide smile used to make her shiver in fear. Now she just felt annoyed, "You just tried to deny that you didn't want the same thing as me."
"That's not true..." She looked away.
"What do you mean by that?" Peter asked Crimson softly.
"She's scared." Crimson honest to god cackled. It sounded so off hearing her own distorted voice coming out of the thing's mouth, "The longer we stay together the more our symbiosis deepens. It's been a year since you left, boytoy. My partner and I should've been joined at the hip inseparably for now, but the final thread of our bond is severed."
"I don't blame her. You're nothing like Gwen's partner."
"Yes, I'm far less spoiled for chocolate." It surged forward and stopped less than an inch from Peter's face. He didn't flinch at all, "She fights me because she's scared. Scared of what will happen when our bond becomes permanent." This time it was in front of her face. Mary Jane flinched, "So she'll deny and cry that she hates what she does even if the power and 'justice' makes her happy. Because she doesn't want to be a monster."
"Shut up..." The comeback was far weaker than she would've wanted, "I'm not a monster..."
"The only one calling you that is yourself." Crimson hummed, "Who cares if you kill people? You don't see the boytoy there calling himself a monster and he's killed more than you. This world is twisted. Murderers are called heroes as long as the people who lose their lives are the ones no one misses. I'm fine with killing those, so why fight it?"
"Because I can't trust you!" Mary Jane hissed, "How the hell do I know you'll just be fine with that forever? Because you say so? You and that bastard Kasady killed hundreds of people. Am I supposed to just trust that you're suddenly okay now because you said so? Go to hell!"
Crimson looked honestly offended by that, "I've helped you so many times now! How long do I have to keep doing it before you decide I'm not planning to betray you?!"
"Gee, maybe when I forget the time you tried to make me kill Gwen and rape Peter!"
"Please, that was all you! I barely even had to nudge you were so desperate for him-"
She wrapped both hands around its neck to (try to) strangle the damn thing. For anyone outside looking in it might've looked hilarious, like a Simpsons sketch gone wrong. In truth she felt an almost blinding rage and it took all she had to not rip Crimson straight off her shoulder and leave a nasty hole in the process. Crimson was the same and tried to bite at her face, growling all the while.
It was Peter who broke them apart, "Enough. This is getting us nowhere." He grabbed her shoulder with one hand and Crimson's snake-like body with the other and pulled them apart harshly, "Hey, whatever your name is now. You said that you were fine with your current arrangement. Is that true?"
Crimson glared at her as it hissed, "Yes."
Peter pursed his lips, "...It's telling the truth." She looked up at him in disbelief, "Don't look at me like that. I'm not saying you should trust it, but it's not lying when it says that it's fine keeping this arrangement going."
"Death is death. Innocent or guilty, humans beg and cry in their final moments all the same."
"And what happens when I don't want to kill anymore?"
Crimson laughed, "Like you'd ever stop. You complain about the killing all you want, but your sense of justice-" It said the word with a disturbing amount of glee, "-won't let you. Remember that woman we saved from getting cut up by her husband? Or how about those little girls when we sliced out that pimp's eyes? What was that movie line? It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it."
"This isn't a fucking movie..." she muttered pathetically. Mary Jane couldn't deny it. The thought of killing so many did still make her squeamish and give her bad dreams, but thinking about all the people she saved - how worse off they would've been if she wasn't there - made her feel...
It made her feel good.
"You know Wasp said I might be immortal," Mary Jane said suddenly. Peter didn't say anything as she tucked her knees into her chest.
"Immortality is unlikely. We'll probably live much longer than everyone around us, though." Crimson said almost conversationally.
"That's not the point! How long can we keep doing this, huh? I want to do other things besides killing people till eventually I slip up and get a shot through the head."
"We'd probably survive bullets easily. Besides, if you want to go back to that band of yours that's easy enough to fix."
"...What?" Mary Jane looked at Crimson with what must have been an ugly and murderous look on her face, "The hell do you mean an easy fix?! I've tried to get back in the band for a year and nothing's worked!"
"Because you resisted the symbiosis." Crimson looked at her like she was the moron, "Why do you think Stacy has no problems? Or why you can't control our powers as well? Our bond is weakened by your reluctance so it's much easier to separate us. A proper symbiosis between host and symbiote would make it much harder for even your terrible singing to separate us."
"Terrible si- oh, that's rich coming from the parasite!"
"Don't call me a parasite!"
They probably would've attacked each other again if Peter hadn't spoken up, "We're going nowhere with this. That thing isn't lying, hasn't since it showed up. Still, that doesn't mean you're wrong not to trust it. It hasn't exactly done much to endear itself to you." Yeah, understatement of the millennium right there.
Still, the thought of being able to go back to the band...it was definitely tempting. She didn't even care about playing gigs and becoming famous from it anymore. She just wanted to go back to the old days when they played in her mom's garage and she stayed up all night thinking up lyrics and the beat to go with them. As much as she complained and Gwen ditched those were the best parts of the past few years.
"...Could you help me?" she asked softly.
"With what?"
"With...this." She waved a hand through the air, "I'm not good with the whole vigilante hero shtick and I can't ask Gwen."
"What about that Initiative thing or that offer from the Avengers? Why not go there?"
"Sure. I'll go soon as you turn in your papers."
"...Point." He laughed under his breath and looked down. Her hand almost reached out to cup his face and make him face her again but she held it in. He was with Gwen, and even after she spent the last night killing half a dozen people she still found the idea of hurting either of them by trying to do anything with her feelings to be repellent. Gwen had made her thoughts on it very clear, after all.
Sadly, Crismon didn't feel the same.
"Ugh, your hormones taste awful." Peter attention snapped back to her and her face turned an unflattering shade of red. This was not how she wanted his attention, "Just kiss him and be done with it. He won't know you like him otherwise-"
"You damn-" It retreated back into her shoulder, laughing all the while. She reached out futilely to strangle the thing again and did her utter damndest to ignore Peter's stare at her side. Eventually she couldn't keep it up and turned to face him. Was it a good or bad thing that his cheeks were slightly red too? "That's...
"Um...well, that-"
"I...sorry."
"It's...It's alright. No need to apologize."
He knew Crimson wasn't lying because of that sixth sense of his. Mary Jane shut her eyes tightly and cursed out Crimson mentally. All it got her was a mocking laugh. Why the hell couldn't she have fallen for Felicia or something? That would've been classic, the two band rivals who ended up together. But no, instead she had to fall for her best friend and said best friend's boyfriend. Fuck.
Thankfully she didn't have to say anything. Mary Jane looked up and saw Gwen swing into her room and crawl inside without even looking at them, "What was that about?" she asked softly. Peter shrugged, stood and gestured to the to window, "...You gonna go over there?"
"In a bit. We...still need to talk about you needing help." Well, at least they weren't talking about her teeny tiny completely ignorable crush. Suck on that, Crimson.
'I'm not the one who wants to suck.'
'...I hate you.'
"I'll get a new phone so we can talk discreetly. Least until you're comfortable letting Gwen know." Why did they feel like a couple planning an affair? "I'm...not good at this mentoring thing, so don't expect much."
"Seriously? I saw your little sis down there and she's one of the Initiative honor students." She snorted, "I think I'm in good hands."
They both made their way downstairs and pointedly did not talk about that bombshell Crimson just dropped. When they finally got down Lana and Gayle were on the couch with a sketchpad, "Oh, MJ! Check this out!" Gayle padded over excitedly and and shoved the sketchpad to her face.
The drawing was pretty crude, but she definitely saw what looked like the beginnings of a Superhero costume, "What's that about?" Mary Jane asked.
"Well, since you're a Superhero now we - mostly me, but still - thought that you needed a better costume besides that old Halloween get-up." Hey, she liked that costume... "We've been trying to come up with something better for Scarlet Spider. I can draw and Lana's a beast at designing costumes. Perfect match!"
"Huh..." Well...she could appreciate the effort, at least. She put a hand on her chin and inspected the drawing. The figure looked like it was wearing a bodysuit with different coloration on the thighs and hands along with a mini-jacket that only went up to the elbows and waist. It was definitely more eye-catching than her last suit, at least. She noticed that the paper around its head was more worn and full of sketch marks, "Hey, what's with the head?"
"Oh, we were trying to come up with a good mask design, but it's kinda hard. The mask kinda makes your head look like an egg." Gayle frowned.
"Well...why not a hood-"
"Nope," Lana said.
"-to keep my head cov...ered..." She looked at Lana, "Uh...why not?"
"Because hoods are stupid and impractical and anyone who wears em when fighting and jumping around is dumb." Yeah...she got the feeling impracticality wasn't the reason for it. She shared a look with Peter and shrugged helplessly.
'I like her. She knows idiocy when she sees it.
They spent the next couple of hours just tracing and re-tracing designs over and over, adding modifications - "Wait, your webs come out of your knuckles? The fuck?" - when needed. By the end of the second hour they'd managed something basic and even managed to color it somewhat when they transferred it over to Gayle's tablet. She had to admit, this was fun. She could almost pretend she was just a regular hero.
Lana left after the finalized the costume and both MJ and Peter decided to go check in on Gwen. They were at the driveway when Crimson spoke up, 'You seem chipper.'
'Yeah, and now that you're talking that's gone.' She stopped. Peter didn't notice and went inside ahead of her, '...What you said before, about me being able to play again. That was true, right?'
'The boytoy said himself I didn't lie. I made a deal with you, I don't intend to break it.' Long as she kept killing people, or at least maiming them and leaving them for the police. She wondered idly if she could ever be a real hero like Gwen and Kate and all those other people. Call her old fashioned, but she didn't want to be the Punisher or Moon Knight.
Shaking her head, she opened the front door and was immediately met with Peter sounding more scared than she'd ever heard in her life.
"What do you mean you're pregnant?!"
"Something wrong, sis?"
Cindy looked up from her Italian food and smiled at Albert next to her, "Uh, nothing. Just kinda tired."
"Are you sure? We can postpone this if you want?" Nari said from across the table. It came from genuine worry.
"No, I'm good. Trust me."
She was having dinner with her family...well, kinda family. After her evil twin was put behind bars permanently S.H.I.E.L.D put the Moons back to their house and even reimbursed them for all the damages. Cindy was prepared to cut off all contact then and there, but Albert refused. Maybe she wasn't his real sister, but she was definitely better than her and he didn't want to pretend she was just stranger.
Nari and Albert Sr. - cause they weren't her mom and dad no matter how much she might've wanted - were a bit more reluctant. So they did this every week or two - a 'family dinner' so they could just talk about their day and 'shoot the shit', as the kids say. Nari and Albert Sr. said they couldn't see her as a daughter, that the one they raised was a criminal and they had to live with that.
Still, that didn't mean she couldn't be the cool cousin or niece trying to bond with her extended family. It was more...honest than last time.
"Yeah, I saw you on a youtube vid earlier with Felicia Hardy. Working with popstars now?" Albert grinned.
"Ugh, don't remind me about her." Thankfully she'd managed to avoid having to pay another three grand. She'd asked for her consultation on the Matthews case and till that was solved they were stuck together, "How's things between you and Cissy?"
Albert was in ESU - the same ESU Gwen and the others studied at. She'd briefly considered joining them there before thinking better of it. Between regular heroics, working for the Freak Beat and being the janitor for the Avengers she already barely any time for herself. Even after this she'd get maybe two hours of sleep before another call from De Wolfe forced her back into another six hour stakeout.
"It's cool. We're taking it slow," Albert smiled.
"What about you, Cindy? Any recent dates that come to mind?" Albert Sr. asked.
"Eh...no, not really." She waved her forkful of lasagnia lazily, "Work keeps me busy, you know? Don't have time to date between everything." Not that she was much lacking in options. Not to toot her own horn or anything, but she was swiped right a decent amount of times...though at least a few thought she was 18 and lying about her age. It was funny and kinda flattering at first but then it just got annoying.
"I know it might seem odd coming from me, but maybe you should take a break?" Nari asked, "Every time we meet up you always seem so tired."
"Well, no one else is gonna do it." Cindy took a generous bite of her food and shrugged, "Had to pay three grand just to get Feli's help and that's on a case-by-case basis. Second I can start dating good and proper is when New York stops being a warzone."
She spent the next hour just chatting on whatever came to mind before promising to go to a Chinese place next week. Cindy waved goodbye to her not-family and sighed as soon as they were out of sight. Well, that was her daily allotted time of bonding done, "...I need a drink." She adjusted the plastic bag containing takeout and made her way to her usual store. It was the only place that didn't constantly card her.
"Home sweet home."
She flicked on the lights to her place and trudged to the couch, shucking off most of her padded clothes as she did. The place was spacious, well furnished and, best of all, completely hers with ownership fully paid for. A parting gift from S.H.I.E.L.D for all those months of exceptional service, or so Daisy said. They probably just wanted to endear themselves if (read: when) they needed her help for something again. She might've been a junior agent but superpowers were irreplaceable.
"TV on. Go to Webflicks." The voice command registered and she opened a can of beer as some teenage murder mystery came up. This was how she spent most of her nights nowadays - drinking corner store beer and binge watching shows she didn't even know the plots for. She drank down half the alcohol in one gulp and let out a relieved sigh. Thankfully she wasn't as much a lightweight as Gwen.
She woke up (she didn't even realize she'd fallen asleep) to the sound of the window being opened, "Not in the mood, Daisy..." The figure didn't stop in any way and when she looked up from her sideways position on the couch she found the younger woman grinning down at her, "...Today the day you finally plan to kill me?"
"Maybe next time." Cindy sat up and let Daisy sit where her head just was. The former(?) S.H.I.E.L.D agent grabbed one of the (warm) cans of beer and took a generous gulp, "Ugh, you need better stuff."
"I spent most of my money on a new cat." Daisy laughed while Cindy gave her a sideways glare. The tv was blaring out the new Spider-Woman webflicks series. It got good reviews, but she wasn't much a fan. Something about Gwen being some kind of model heiress just rubbed her the wrong way, "...I hate this show."
"Really? It's pretty good, but then again I'm only on episode 4." Daisy shrugged, "Maybe the Avengers series will be better? Spider-Woman doesn't have much of a supporting cast so far. I heard if it does well they'd give spinoffs to every character."
"I doubt it." Cindy smiled lopsidedly. Daisy was the closest thing she had to a friend nowadays outside of maybe Gwen and Kate. Initially she'd been sent to keep an eye on her and make sure that she wasn't revealing any of S.H.I.E.L.D's secrets. Her trial period ended a couple of months ago but Daisy still came by occasionally. She didn't mind; apartment was big enough for at least half a dozen people.
"So how are your cases."
"I got stabbed by a light dagger." Daisy raised a brow, "I think I've found whose been kidnapping those new Gifted."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Got away, though." Cindy clicked her tongue, "We're gonna talk to the guy they tried to kidnap tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath."
"Hmm, well, good luck."
"...You know you coulda paid Felicia's bill for me."
"Technically you don't work for S.H.I.E.L.D and it doesn't exist anymore. 'Sides, it's not like you gotta pay rent." She gestured to the apartment lazily, "I think you can afford some help."
"That's not the point..."
They chatted for a few more hours and by the time Cindy fell asleep and woke up again it was a half hour past 6 in the morning with Daisy (and her remaining beer) nowhere in sight. Cindy yawned, did her morning rituals and walked the familiar path to a not so familiar acquaintance.
She used her key to open the door to the modestly sized house, "Laura? Kitty?" She called out. No answer, expected. The senior Spider sighed and made her way to the couch where, sure enough, Laura was sleeping under a metric ton of blankets with the TV on. All around her were discarded bags of empty chips and bottles of soda. How such a tiny thing could pack in so much Cindy had no idea.
Sighing, Cindy turned off the television and picked up the trash to put it away properly. When she said she was a janitor she sometimes meant it literally. Shadowcat had, for whatever reason, asked her to check in on Laura every Monday morning because she was usually at work and couldn't do it. Apparently she'd chosen her cause 'she pissed her off less than everyone else on that team you got'. Considering the only time they ever talked was when they were stopping her evil twin, Cindy had no idea where Kitty got that idea from.
Still, they wouldn't have been able to stop Moon without the two of them, so she agreed.
"Hey, Laura, up." She shook the little girl's shoulder. Laura growled softly and faced away from her. Cindy had to admit, the girl was cute. Sure she could probably kill her in six seconds flat, but cute was cute, "Laura, it's time for school."
Cindy sat on her back. The little girl growled and batted her away in irritation before she sat up, rubbing her eyes and completely disregarding the cheese powder around her mouth and the soda stains on her oversized shirt, "...Good morning," Laura said. She sounded like she had to force the two words out.
"You too." She gestured to the kitchen, "Come on, I gotta get to work soon so let's have some breakfast. I got lasagnia."
She heated up the takeout on the microwave and hummed. She was only supposed to check in to make sure 'the munchkin was still breathing', to use Shadowcat's words. That quickly turned to being the kid's babysitter whenever she could, which wasn't as often as she might've liked. Shadowcat did her best, but without Spider-Man around she didn't have much clue on how to be a parent.
Laura didn't mind. Apparently Shadowcat was more a sister than a mother and she did try to bond with the younger girl the best way she could. It was just harder without Spider-Man there to act as a go-between. Cindy couldn't blame her - if your only father was Logan she probably wouldn't have been the best parent either.
"Here." She set a generous helping on the girl's plate and set it in front of her.
"Thanks, mom."
She paused, but only briefly, and took her seat across from the grade schooler. It wasn't the first time Laura had called her that. The first time there'd been an awkward silence for a few minutes, but after Cindy didn't say anything there was a mutual agreement between the two that they wouldn't talk about it period. Laura still called her that sometimes, but she kept to the agreement and didn't say anything.
It was hardly shocking. Spider-Man was the closest thing she had to a dad and he was still back in his world stopping World War II and she was the closest thing to a mom around. She wondered idly how Nari, Albert Sr. and Albert would react if they knew she kinda-sorta co-parenting a little girl with knife hands.
Besides, she reminded her of Albert when he was young.
"Did you do your homework." Laura looked down at her food and didn't say anything, "Laura..."
"Math is hard," she whined, like it was the only explanation needed.
"Don't you have eidetic memory or something?"
"...Math is boring." She was full on pouting now. Cindy had to resist the urge to reach across and pinch her cheeks. She wasn't that old, god damn it. 29 was still pretty young, "I won't use it anyway."
"Oh? How do you know that?"
"The older students always complain that they'll never use math when they get older. The teacher was also drinking in the toilet and crying about how her math degree amounted to 'a dead end job, a divorced husband and a kid who doesn't respect her'." Laura paused while Cindy stared owlishly, "She was surprised when she saw me and said I should never get married because 'men are all cocksu-'"
"O-kay! I think I gotta check up on your school..." She could probably get Daisy to give her some papers identifying her as a worried aunt. She had about as much of a resemblance to Laura as Shadowcat did, "Look, no matter how you feel about it you gotta do your homework. Grades aren't a joke."
"But..." Laura kicked her legs. A classic sign that she was going to fight tooth and nail to not do something.
"...Fine, how about this: you do all your homework without me telling you and get good grades and I'll buy you that puppy you want."
Laura's eyes widened, "Really? You are not lying?"
"You'd sniff me out if I was." Cindy waved a hand idly, "Can't stay here since Kitty doesn't like pets, but you know where my place is. I'll put him there and you can come visit whenever you want. How's that sound?"
Laura looked down and Cindy saw the epic struggle between doing her boring homework or slacking off. Eventually she let out a breath and nodded, "Fine, I'll do it," she said, sounding like she was doing Cindy a favor rather than the other way around, "I want one with a spot on its eye, like in that movie."
"Sure, sure." Cindy rolled her eyes.
They wasted till it was 8:00 and Laura had to go to school. She put on her backpack and stopped at the doorway, "Parent teacher day is coming soon. I asked Shadowcat but she said she can't be sure if she can come. Work...and she doesn't like talking to people." Cindy nodded, already seeing where it was going, "If need be could you-"
"Sure. Don't even need to ask."
Laura's beaming smile almost blinded her. Cindy waved goodbye and let out a soft laugh. This was one of the reasons why she almost had no free time, but she wouldn't change it for anything. Really, who needed a boyfriend when she was so busy? She didn't even really care.
Yes, that's just what she'd keep telling herself. It was easier than the harsh truth.
Her phone suddenly rang with Felicia's name on the screen, "Feli, what's u-"
"Come to the Washington Courthouse."
Felicia cut the call. Cindy looked down at the screen blankly and sighed. Why couldn't she ever say no? She'd probably agree if someone asked her to jump off a cliff. She changed into her costume inside and followed Felicia's gps (a requirement considering how dangerous their jobs were). Cindy found the former(?) cat burglar sitting at the edge of a distant building that allowed a perfect view of the courthouse.
"Morning to you too." Cindy said as she landed behind her. Felicia didn't say anything, "Uh...I'm not psychic, just so you know. So you're gonna have to-"
Felicia suddenly lashed out and, with nothing more than her spin-sense's slight tingle, the younger woman suddenly grabbed the front of her costume in a vice grip. Cindy moved automatically and grabbed the offending wrist with her right hand while the other unholstered her gun and aimed it at the thief's side, "Did you know?" Felicia asked, voice barely above a soft snarl.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Did. You. Know?" She tightened her grip, uncaring of the gun pressed against her side.
"I'm not psychic!" She pried Felicia's hand off - thank you, super strength - and pushed her back, "Maybe explain what you're asking before we have a stupid fight that gets us nothing but unneeded hospital bills."
Felicia took a deep, slow breath and, in lieu of saying anything else, pointed to the car surrounded by reporters. Cindy joined her on the edge of the roof and her grip on the gun tightened when she saw a familiar mop of red hair step out of the car while surrounded by men in suits.
"Is that..."
"That connard Murdock..." Felicia's scowl was murderous. Murdock stopped at the edge of the steps and, for a second, she thought he'd turn to where they were. Instead a (rather rough) push from the closest man in a suit made him continue. It was obvious by the cast on his right arm and the noticeable limb in his step that he wasn't in the best condition.
"I thought you guys killed him?"
"Those damned ninjas who were on 'our side' took him. I knew I shouldn't have trusted them." Her scowl somehow worsened.
"Right, well...I get why you're pissed, but why bring me over here?"
"Because you have access." Cindy gave her a questioning look and urged her to continue, "I heard it through your office mates. That diable is planning to confess everything in exchange for his worthless life. After that he'll be escorted back to his safehouse and you'll be part of the security force. Given the amount if dirty laundry he's airing out it's very likely there'll be at least a few attempts for targeted revenge."
"First time I heard of this." Not that she was surprised. She really needed an intern, "Still doesn't explain why you called me over."
"You're going to help me kill him."
Cindy raised a brow, "Right, and maybe next you want me to break into supermax and kill Red Skull's daughter." She shook her head, "I'm not exactly happy that guy's still breathing, demon or no, but I'm not gonna put myself in prison for it."
"I'm not asking you to pull the trigger." Felicia scoffed, "You'll escort him to his penthouse. The other guards will be easy enough to deal with, but I'm not foolish enough to think that I can fight you."
"So...you're asking me to look away when you do it?"
"Yes."
"Hmm..." Cindy crossed her arms and looked down at the courthouse. Technically speaking if she failed she'd get a reprimand, but if they had no proof she was colluding then that was the only punishment she'd get, "...Fine, only on the condition that you put on a disguise so no one knows it's you. I also want something exchange: once this happens you stop charging me so goddamn much for your help. I need all the help I can get and you're the best I've got."
"Deal." She said without hesitation. Felicia smiled, "Now...let's make sure that monster is put down for good."
And there we have it. Mary Jane's making some progress on what she wants to do with herself, Cindy's a triple shifter who never gets any sleep and Felicia's planning to assassinate a now very human Matt Murdock. Oi vey.
Questions:
1. For people who want more 'Just the Facts with J. Jonah Jameson' segments, please put in any topics you think he should cover. I'll find a way to twist them around so he blames Gwen but I need topics for him to twist.
2. Bit early, but who do you guys think should get the new symbiote Gwen's 'birthing'? So far the prime candidates I have are Norah and Cindy, but in-universe both are very reluctant to accept and will only do it if there are no other options. Especially Cindy who doesn't want a second voice in her head.
And no, Peter is not an option. Spider-God is possessive, 'member?
Review Answers:
Eragen - No. Read note above.
Raymond49090rc - 1. Question answered; 2. No, it'll just be referenced and discussed, never shown; 3. He think he's entitled to Gwen and shows himself to be selfish and not above human experimentation. You do the math; 4. I change the covers cause they're fun. I keep the covers on my account. I'll change back again at some point dependent on where we are in the story. Since MJ's the current focus, Scarlet MJ it is.
Noisy-Cricket - Hey, Venom has very high standards! Noir is a damn good chef and pastry maker! Also, Gwen threatening to eat people proves she's a bad influence on Noir. He kills people, but he doesn't eat them!
Brave2000 - Trust me, Lana's segments have a lot of teenage crushes and romance drama. As for Robbie, he died during the street race where he WOULD have become GR. Gabe mentions it VERY early on.
NickaDiny - No plans for an original Noir chapter/story. As for Gwen and Noir: Gwen fights Hobgoblin while Noir fights the Five Fingers of the Hand, particularly Murakami.
RedHood001 - Something tells me Gwen won't name the kid that.
Roxasdualwielder - Yep.
Vengeance208 - Yes, I meant contrasts against each other. As for the mushy stuff, that's my main issue. There's no plot importance to their mushiness hence I want to cut it down.
Titan616 - Yep. It doesn't matter if both Gwen and MJ are bisexual if Gwen is very much unwilling to do anything outside of monogamy. As for Frog-Man? No one. He's too great and it's the destiny of all great heroes to live alone lest they put risk to their loved ones.
Translation: He's kind of a loser who's crushing on Spider-Woman, so he's basically Gunter from Friends.
Guest 1 - Gwen, Peter and MJ are definitely a fan of mundane utility. Cue Gwen using wall-crawling to vacuum the roof, Peter using invisibility to avoid hogging the bathroom when he changes and MJ cooking dinner with Carnage's knives.
Guest 2 - Mmm, I wouldn't know how to write a three-way, though, so I'll have to pass.
