Mary Jane leaned back a little further, adjusting so that her neck was in a little better of a position. Peter's hold around her midsection tightened slightly in response to this, his grip somehow remaining every bit as tender despite its firmness. She nestled the right side of her face even more into his chest, enabling her to listen to his heartbeat. She liked feeling the gentle, steady rhythm of it. It was reassuring to her, not just that she was in a safe place, but she knew that Peter was also relaxed and completely at peace when it was like this. She knew there were many situations in his life that produced stress, anxiety and fear, and M.J. viewed it as her job to make sure that her fiancé had the least stressful and most fun environment possible.

For tonight, at least, it seemed to be working. Granted, most of what they had done so far this evening had been Peter's idea, so M.J. felt as though she couldn't take much credit. Everything they had done or were currently doing all seemed to pertain to things SHE enjoyed. For instance, when she got to Peter's apartment, he'd already had her favorite pizza from her favorite pizza place delivered, a couple slices already on a plate for her while Rocky III, her favorite of the series, was waiting to be played on his TV. In some cases, she would have tried to get him to indulge himself a little more in at least one of those areas, but her fiancé had been adamant that they would do whatever she wanted tonight in celebration of the first full day working at her new store.

After the long day she'd had, a night of pizza, movies and cozying up on the couch had proved too good to pass up.

"Wow, how far have I fallen," she suddenly muttered, her eyes remaining trained on the movie.

"What?" she heard Peter question in a confused tone.

"I mean, just look at me," M.J. replied.

"Well, I mean, if you're going to twist my arm about it."

M.J. shot a glance towards her fiancé, seeing his usual closed-lipped but still very wide smile, which added an earnestness to the otherwise playful expression on his face.

It was her favorite sight in the world.

"I mean look what I'm doing right now," she clarified, returning the attention of her eyes back to the movie as she nestled back into her head back into its position. "Ten years ago, I'd be out tearing up the city, partying all night long, even after a day like today."

"Wow, glad you could finally join the rest of us thirty plus year olds in adulthood," Peter quipped.

"I know," she said. "It's weird; like, I'm glad that I'm more responsible, but it almost doesn't feel like me, you know?"

"M.J, you're still the one who insists on having a date night out in the city a couple nights a week, even if it's just a walk in Central Park," Peter reminded her. "Honestly, you're probably still the most energetic person that I know, and I'm the one with superpowers."

"I mean, I guess that's true," Mary Jane agreed. "I don't know, it's just funny to think about, I guess. It makes me a little reflective."

"Even if I'd been invited to stuff much in my college years, I'm not sure I would have been able to go to many things," Peter said, his tone one of at least a partial lament. "A certain someone has tended to cut into my social life for the last several years."

M.J. tilted her head back so she was looking at him once more.

"Well, just know that you'll always have a standing invitation with me," she said, hoping her tone was reassuring despite seeming playful on the surface.

Peter looked down at her, another of his trademark smiles coming over his face.

"I'll take you up on that as often as I can," he assured her. He then leaned in, planting a kiss on her lips. Her hand went to his cheek as they held their positions, soaking in the quiet moment. With their crazy lives, they seemed to come few and far between and therefore needed to be taken advantage of when they happened.

No sooner had they finally separated than they got a reminder of this as Peter's phone rang. He leaned his head back in slight annoyance before reaching over to where it was sitting on the table beside the couch. M.J. noticed his expression become a pointed mix of curiosity and concern when he saw what was on the screen.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"It's Robbie," he replied before answering the phone. Though M.J. couldn't hear the conversation, she observed as Peter's expression changed again, this time into a deeply concerned expression. He assured his boss that he would be there, wherever "there" was, before hanging up.

"What was that about; is everything okay?" M.J. inquired.

"There was a space team that was supposed to be coming in soon, but apparently they took a hit from an asteroid and it's really damaged," Peter explained. "Supposedly they're working to repair it right now, but there's a lot they're uncertain can be fixed."

"Oh my goodness," M.J. exclaimed.

"My old boss's son is piloting it too," Peter explained. "Jonah's at the Bugle right now, but Robbie wants me & Eddie down there to cover its landing and report in whatever happens. Therefore, I'm afraid movie night is going to have to be cut short."

"Okay," M.J. affirmed. "Well, you should probably wear your best suit, just in case something goes wrong."

"Always do," Peter replied, offering her a quick kiss. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she assured him. "Go."

Taking her word for it, he then hurriedly grabbed his camera before the two of them hastily exited the apartment.

After showing his press pass, Peter was finally allowed in the building. Eddie had texted him to say that he was already there and to meet him in the main control room. As he understood it, normally the press wouldn't be allowed in so up close and personal a way to situations like this. The pilot and man on charge of this mission being the son of the former Editor-In-Chief of the biggest paper in the city, however, had clearly helped get some strings pulled. According to Robbie, Jonah wanted whatever happened given to him straight, no matter if the news was good or bad.

Despite all the years of the man harassing Spider-Man through the Bugle, Peter still pitied Jonah right now. His former boss could be rough, but it was his obvious love for and pride in his son that first showed him that the hard-nosed editor was in fact capable of being a decent person when he wanted to. He could tell that it wasn't just because John was successful too; while Jonah had always touted the younger Jameson's accomplishments, there was something genuine and heartfelt about their relationship that was evident in the few times that Peter was able to observe them in a room together.

All that to say, while he would have been rooting for the crew to return safely anyway, he found himself even more invested in the whole thing than normal.

Finally coming to the room, Peter hurried in, coming alongside Eddie, who was talking with someone who looked like an important piece of the operation if his uniform was any sign. After a moment, the man walked away, and Eddie turned to Peter.

"Robbie filled me in a little," Peter explained. "What's the latest?"

"From what they've been able to gather, it sounds like the impact from the asteroid damaged a few key areas in particular," his coworker began. "The good news is that nothing pertaining to the fuel system is damaged, but the guidance system, the heat shield and some other major components have been severely compromised."

"Oh man," Peter remarked gravely.

"Yeah," Eddie replied, nodding slowly. "I've already texted Robbie all of that too. John and his partner up there have been working on the repairs for over two hours now. They're hopeful that we should know something more soon, but even if they're able to repair most of the damage, it sounds like the landing has the potential to be rough, or worse."

"Will they be able to maintain contact as they reenter the atmosphere?" Peter questioned.

"They're hopeful," Eddie assured him. "We've been able to hear everything loud and clear so far, so it seems like the communication system aboard the shuttle was one of the few things that didn't get damaged."

"That's good at least," Peter replied, trying to help himself look on the positive side if nothing else.

"Yeah, but..."

Eddie then glanced to his side; Peter followed his line of sight to see that he appeared to be eyeing the few who were likely in charge of the earthbound part of this operation. They were all huddled together, seemingly discussing something in really hushed, quiet tones. Peter's coworker then put his hand behind him, ushering the two of them to the other side of the room.

"I think there's something else going on with this mission," Eddie spoke up, his own tone now much quieter than before.

"What do you mean?" Peter questioned.

"They've been having meetings like that frequently; I even tried to get in on one of them, but they all but forced me to keep my distance," Eddie explained.

"It sounds like you might have just been overstepping your bounds to me," Peter replied.

"Maybe, but..." Eddie glanced over to the men again before continuing: "Look, maybe I'm wait out of left field here, but I think there's something else on board that shuttle that they're concerned about."

Peter tilted his head, narrowing his eyebrows.

"What, like...like an alien or something?"

"No," Eddie quickly denied initially. "Well, maybe. I don't know; they said that this exhibition was for the purpose of collecting a few lunar samples and bringing them back for study, so maybe they're just concerned about losing those. Still, the fact that they were up front about that initially but have been so secretive otherwise makes me curious."

Peter turned and glanced at the men again, who were continuing their hush hush meeting. Eddie might have a point; after all, he'd heard specifically from two other versions of him that aliens do in fact exist, at least in their universes, so it wasn't really a stretch to believe that they would in his universe too. Even so, his coworker could simply be drawing a conclusion out of nothing substantial.

"I'm not saying you're wrong," Peter finally spoke up, "but I think that we better wait to send anything like that to the presses until..."

Suddenly, a voice came over the computer.

"Colonel Jameson to home base, do you read?"

Immediately, everyone crowded around the main area of the room.

"This is home base; we read you loud and clear, Colonel," one of the men in uniform replied. "What's the latest?"

"Well, a lot of it's a patch job, but Eric and I have done everything we can to stop the proverbial bleeding," Colonel Jameson explained. "The biggest thing is that we've managed to get the guidance system up and running, so we're about to try and reenter the atmosphere. We should hopefully be able to stay in touch, but it will likely be a bumpy ride, so we'll see how it goes."

"Alright, roger that," the man replied. "You are clear to proceed when ready. Godspeed to you both."

After that, all they could do was wait. Colonel Jameson must have left his com link on from the shuttle, since Peter and the others could hear a lot of the background chatter or noise, such as the rumble of the ship's engine and the occasional bumpiness when they hit any kind of turbulence. This made sense though; keeping communication open during a major emergency like this was surely necessary in order to ensure that, in the event of an emergency, facts could be passed along, and decisions made all the quicker.

Despite the occasional concerning noise, things seemed to go pretty smoothly for the most part. The ship entered the atmosphere without any major issue, and everything seemed to be on course. The men running the base were also tracking them via satellite, an image of their path and projected destination appearing on a screen. Things continued well, and by all accounts, the ship would land on the site in a matter of minutes.

"Well Colonel, it looks like you've done it again," one of the men said at one point.

"I appreciate that," the man replied, "but let's not celebrate yet. I've seen more than enough movies to know that you never get too excited unt..."

There was some background chatter, but nothing discernible.

"Colonel, is everything okay?" the same man who'd been in touch with them the whole time asked.

There was initially nothing, followed by a sudden and intense scream that made even Peter jump.

"AHHH! WHAT'S HAPPENING!? GET IT OFF; GET IT OFF!"

"Colonel, what's going on!?" the man in charge demanded, concern betraying his normally more authoritative tone. "Colonel Jameson, do you read!?"

"IT WON'T COME OFF!" the Colonel replied.

"What won't come off; what is happening?" the man questioned.

"Sir, they're coming in," the worker monitoring their progress announced, "but their trajectory has shifted a few degrees."

Peter's hearing picked up the sound of the shuttle first, and he raced over to the window. It wasn't long before Eddie and a couple of the other workers joined him. They all watched as the shuttle came into view, only it was still too high and not nearly the angle that it needed to be to land on site properly. Instead, the ship just hung in the air, passing over the station...

And straight for the Manhattan bridge.

Hope you guys are still enjoying it! Thanks for the support, as always!

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

"Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart." Proverbs 7:2-3