"So, what do you think?" Mary Jane asked. Her best friend didn't answer at first; her eyes were wide, and it was almost like M.J. could see the wheels turning in her head.

"M.J," Liz began, "I...I don't know how we're going to pull this off so fast. We're going to need to get the publicity machine running as fast as we can; we'll need to get ads in the papers and do social media blasts on every platform that we have."

"I'll take care of all that," M.J. assured her. "I've already been thinking about different ideas for graphics and stuff, and it shouldn't be too hard to come up with the words."

"Still, there'll be a lot of stuff on the logistics side in general to handle," Liz added.

"If I need to take on some of that too, I'm more than willing if it's too much for you," M.J. said.

"No, that's okay," Liz replied. "I can handle it. No offense, but I'm the one between the two of us with a business degree, remember?"

M.J. smirked.

"Yeah, I remember," she answered. "Ms. Summa Cum Laude and all that."

Liz offered only a brief smile in response, but M.J. quickly saw something else in her friend's eyes.

"Liz, what is it?" she asked.

Liz let out a sigh, as if preparing herself to say something hard.

"M.J, I know why you're doing this, and I think it's great," she began, "I just...I know I'm not usually this pessimistic, but I also want you to be prepared that this idea isn't going to yield the kind of results you're hoping for."

"We have to try," M.J. responded firmly. "I already gave him something just from me, but I have to believe that I, that we, can do more. I know it's not ideal in terms of how quickly it has to come together, but Peter's aunt doesn't have a lot of time left. We need to move on this now."

Liz let out another sigh, but this time a big, wide smile formed on her lips as she looked at Mary Jane.

"Alright then," she said. "Let's get to work. I see you already brought your computer anyway, so I can tell you weren't going to take no for an answer."

"I just recognize how persuasive I am," M.J. replied, drawing a light snort from her best friend.

"Go ahead and get yourself set up," Liz said, standing up from her seat. "I'll go put on some coffee. We have a long night ahead of us."

As her best friend started to move to the kitchen, M.J. spoke up again.

"Liz?"

She turned around, looking expectantly at Mary Jane.

"Thank you."

"What are best friends for?" Liz replied, shrugging as she smiled.

M.J. groaned, slowly rubbing her eyes as the sound of her phone's alarm filled her ears. She reached over and grabbed it, turning it off as fast as she could.

"Okay," she said quietly, forcing herself up from the couch. She knew if she didn't make herself get up and get going now, she'd likely just fall back asleep again. She slowly moved towards the kitchen, grabbing what was left of the pot of coffee from that night and pouring it into her cup she'd been using earlier. By now it was likely to be quite cool, something Mary Jane didn't normally care for. However, after her and Liz's late night, she couldn't even be bothered with it. She just needed caffeine, and she needed it now.

The two women had ended up working almost all through the night, with M.J. currently forcing herself to get up after only a couple hours of sleep. She still had a long day planned too, starting with going to the papers in the city to get the word out about the "May Parker Monday" campaign at the store. It was why she had made a point of getting up so early: she intended to get to as many media outlets as early as possible. She also still needed to put out the social media blasts, and then there was just the regular workday to consider.

It was crazy for Mary Jane to think that there was a time back in high school and college where she could not wake up feeling like all she wanted to do was go back to bed. Back then, it seemed like there was nothing she couldn't physically handle, but now that she was pushing thirty, it was clearly a different story. She was in better health than the average woman around her age, having made a point to exercise at least moderately from time to time, but all her body wanted to do right now was get back on her best friend's couch and sleep the day away. If she had even gotten five or six hours, it would've been better, but not two.

This was for Peter and his aunt though, so nothing was going to stop her.

Mary Jane downed the last of her coffee, quickly moving to Liz's bathroom. She got her hair as normal as it could look and overall made herself as presentable as she could before heading out the door. She was admittedly a little nervous about going for a drive on her bike on so little sleep, but her determination was strong, and the caffeine was finally starting to kick in just as she got on and fired it up, causing the bike to roar to life.

Thankfully, the ride to the Daily Bugle ended up going smoothly, and she found a place to park it before grabbing her stuff and heading to the main doors. As she approached them, she saw two men getting ready to walk into the building, one of which she recognized as the guy Peter had come into the store with that had asked her questions about the thefts.

"Excuse me!" she said, picking up the pace as she ran up to them, drawing the men's attention.

"Oh, hello there," the one she recognized responded, "what a surprise." He seemed to recognize her as well, so she had that going for her at least. He extended his hand for her to shake.

"Who do we have here?" the other man asked.

"Hello," Mary Jane said, extending her hand for the man to shake, which he accepted. "My name is Mary Jane Watson; I'm one of the owners of Madeline's, the women's casual fashion store downtown."

"Pleased to meet you, Ms. Watson," the man replied, his grasp firm but gentle at the same time. "My name is Joe Robertson; I'm the Editor-In-Chief and Publisher here, but you can call me Robbie if you like, and it sounds like you've already met Eddie over here. I have to say, my wife has told me nothing but good things about your store, so it sounds like you're doing something right over there."

"Thank you, I'm glad we've been able to give her what she wants," Mary Jane replied. "Anyway, I'm actually here on business. I apologize for the last-minute nature of this, but I have an ad that I need you guys to put up for us as soon as possible."

She pulled out a paper copy of it that she had printed earlier, handing it to Eddie as both men examined it.

"Is this for Peter's aunt?" Eddie asked with a curious expression on his face.

"It is," M.J. replied. "Look, I'm willing to pay anything necessary to get this up quickly..."

"You'll do no such thing, Ms. Watson," Robbie replied. "Since it's for a good cause, as well as an employee of mine, I'll personally see to it that this gets up first thing."

"Oh, thank you so much," M.J. replied, "I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

"You want to come in for a little bit?" Eddie asked.

M.J. was about to respond in the negative, since she had some other stops to make still, but then another thought crossed her mind.

"If there's any kind of caffeine in there, absolutely."

"Oh, I can assure you of that," Eddie replied. She then followed them into the building, where Eddie escorted her to the nearest coffee machine. He immediately put some on while also showing M.J. who to submit a digital copy of the ad too.

"So, does Peter know about this?" Eddie asked as they waited.

"No," M.J. replied. "I'd actually kind of like it to be a surprise, if you wouldn't mind."

"My lips are sealed," Eddie replied as he put his fingers to his lips, making a zipping motion.

"Thank you," she replied, "I have high hopes for this, but I also don't want him to plan around getting a certain amount and then this not live up that."

"I understand," Eddie affirmed, "I'm sure it will do well though. I think my wife is actually planning on stopping by that day anyway, so I know she'll be happy to help."

"That's great," M.J. exclaimed with as much enthusiasm as she could muster, "I've been wondering when she might stop by."

"Yeah, her work in the District Attorney's office keeps her busy," Eddie added.

"Wow, I'll bet," M.J. replied.

Finally, the coffee was ready, and Mary Jane got herself a to go cup of it, planning on downing it all by the time she got back to her bike.

"Thank you again," she said, "I really appreciate this."

"No problem," Eddie replied, "anything for one Peter Parker, right?"

Something in Eddie's tone caused M.J. to blush a little. Had Peter actually talked to him about her? She quickly forced these thoughts out of her head though, intent on staying focused.

"Tell your wife I look forward to seeing her at the store," M.J. finally spoke up.

"Will do," Eddie affirmed, "Oh, also, Mr. Robertson and I are planning on taking up a collection for Peter's aunt soon as well, so maybe I can have her talk to you about a time to give our gifts together?"

"Sure," M.J. replied, "sounds good to me."

"Awesome," Eddie acknowledged. "Good luck with your sale."

"Thank you," M.J. said politely, taking a sip of her coffee as she took her leave.

Over the next several days, Peter knocked on every single door in his apartment complex, looking for any random job he could find to do in exchange for whatever people were willing to give. Some didn't even give him much chance to explain the why behind his surprise visit, slamming the door back in his face, and some didn't even answer. Thankfully though, he did get several invites in, where he worked on anything from computers and TVs to toilets and showers. Not once did he encounter something he couldn't conquer, even if some tasks were more difficult and took longer than others, and many were pleased with his work. He received small gifts from some, while others gave very generously.

After coming back from the last room in the building, Peter counted his latest round of funding, adding it up with what he had already received. Thanks to a couple larger donors this time around, he had made a little over $10,000 so far. Honestly, he had hoped for a little better; the hospital had managed to negotiate the price of the treatment from $250,000 down to $175,000, which was huge, but still a lot of money.

May was slowly starting to show more signs of slowing down too. Even over the last few days, she had struggled with basic things like reading and forming words, though Peter could still understand her pretty well. Her brain was deteoriating, and it wouldn't be long before the rest of her followed if he couldn't come up with the money. He had been encouraged by the hospital staff's raising about $50,000, but there was still more to be done.

As Peter sat there, a war waging in his mind between discouragement and determination while trying to think of still more outside the box job ideas, he heard a knock on his door.

"Coming!" he yelled, getting up from his room and trotting to the door. He opened it to find both M.J. and Eddie there.

"Hey guys," Peter said. "What are you all doing here?"

"Well, we have something for you, if we can come in," Eddie replied.

"Sure, sure," Peter said, opening the door further to let his visitors in. They walked over to the table, where he joined them as Eddie sat a box down that had some papers in it.

"What is all this?" he asked.

"Well," Eddie replied, reaching into his shirt pocket, "first off, I think you might like to have this." He handed the piece of paper to Peter, who opened the fold it was in to reveal that it was a check for $25,000.

Peter's eyes grew wide as they remained fixed on the number.

"The boss man covered a good chunk of that, but a lot of people gave pretty generously," Eddie said. "Oh, and Glory had the idea to have people write notes if they wanted to as well."

He gestured toward the box, and Peter slowly put down the check, reaching in and picking up the first piece of paper he saw.

"To the most competent photographer I've ever worked with: I hope all this helps towards your aunt getting better soon. Oh, and thanks for helping this technologically illiterate old man keep his computer running. Ben Urich."

Setting the paper down, Peter pulled out another.

"Hey Pete! Thanks for always believing I could make the leap from secretary to reporter one day. Your encouraging words kept me going towards my dream on the days it was hard. Hope your aunt gets well soon! Betty Brant."

Peter sifted through more of the notes, finding some from Frederick Foswell, Glory Grant, Ed Brubaker, and Robbie Robertson himself, among others. He was stunned at how many of them shared specific things he had done for them, and how much it had meant to each of them. Over the last several years, he'd felt he was just kind of coasting through life, but somehow, he had managed to make more of an impact than he ever could've imagined, and now they were giving back and then some.

"But wait, there's more," Eddie said, drawing Peter's attention as he gestured to M.J, who reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out a check as well. Peter took it, unfolding it to see that it was for no less than $75,000.

"How did you..."

"We had a sale at the store," M.J. replied, "everything we earned yesterday went to a fund we set up for your aunt. It also helped that some ladies just liked what we were doing and donated very generously as well."

Peter just stared at them, shocked. He felt like his heart was slowly undergoing a grinch-style size increase as gratitude flooded his entire being. He then reached out, throwing his arms around his friends and pulling them into a big hug.

"Thank you, thank you guys so much," Peter said, tears of joy welling up in his eyes.

"It was our pleasure man," Eddie replied, giving Peter a firm tap on his back before they all separated, "and of course, if you need anything else..."

Peter couldn't help but let out a couple of laughs at that. Anything else? Was he serious?

"I don't know how that's possible," he replied, "but I'll keep it in mind."

He still had a lot more to go to get everything he needed, but with this unexpected show of support, Peter felt a renewed encouragement and determination growing in his mind and heart.

He was going to do this. There was no more doubt; he was going to get that money.

He was going to save May.

Hope you all are still enjoying it!

Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39