Peter's eyes opened slowly, the room soon coming into focus. He moved onto his side, running his right hand down his face as he tried to wake up. Once he started to, the first thing he observed was that Mary Jane was gone. However, his concern was put to rest quickly when he heard what sounded like someone moving around somewhere else in the house. Removing the sheets from over him, Peter set his feet on the floor, picking up his T-shirt and throwing it on before exiting the room.

He followed the light sounds that he'd heard as he'd gotten up, which led him to the kitchen table, where M.J. seemed to be putting the finishing touches on lunch. Really, it looked like a meal fit for four people, not two, but he couldn't find it in himself to complain as he took in the aroma that threatened to make his mouth water.

"Wow," he said as he entered the room. "What's all this?"

His wife glanced at him, flashing him a smile.

"Hey," she greeted. "Well, knowing you, I figured you would probably be hungry again, not just because of how little you've had over the last couple of days, but also because you slept until almost noon."

"Wow," Peter said, caught a bit off guard by how late it was already. "I had no idea I needed so much sleep."

"Then I suppose it's a good thing that it's not my first rodeo, so to speak," M.J. replied in a playful tone.

Peter came up to her, taking her in his arms as she placed hers over his shoulders. They slowly moved in for a kiss, holding their positions for a moment. When they separated, he caught her gaze. There was something almost magnetic about it, as if she were somehow slowly hypnotizing him.

"So," he finally spoke up, "I had a really good time last night."

"Yeah," M.J. replied with a toothy, almost mischievous smile. "Me too."

He moved in for another kiss. Unfortunately, the moment was cut off before it could start by the sound of the doorbell, causing them to chuckle as M.J. buried dropped her forehead against Peter's chest.

"That's probably Miles," M.J. explained. "I almost forgot that he was going to be coming over at some point so we could all strategize about what to do going forward."

"Oh yeah," Peter replied. "I almost forgot too."

Even though he knew that he would be happy to see the younger Spider-Man once again, he would be lying if he said that he wasn't a little disappointed that a moment between him and his newly discovered love was cut short. The only consolation was that M.J.'s expression told him that she felt the same way as she held onto his hand as long as their arms could reach before going to get to the door. When she returned, Miles was right behind her, and he came up to greet Peter.

"How are you feeling?" he asked him.

"Better," Peter replied. "Thanks again for saving my behind yesterday. I'd probably be back in Mysterio's house of horrors if not for you."

"Hey man, what are friends and partners in crime fighting for?" Miles replied.

The three of them then sat down at the table, enjoying the meal. Peter found himself all but scarfing the food down, which made him feel a little embarrassed at first until he realized that Miles was also ingesting a lot. Even despite their experiences so far, that was the moment that he felt more connected to his new/old friend than even after hearing all the stories of their adventures yesterday.

As they ate, they began to discuss their next move.

"First off, we know that Mysterio's not going to give up, right?" Miles spoke up.

"Did you check out that address that I gave you yesterday?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, but he must have cleared out after you got away," Miles answered. "There was no sign of our favorite Houdini anywhere."

Peter was disappointed to learn this, yet somehow wasn't all that surprised. His enemy had likely pulled out as soon as the other Spider-Man had recovered him, if not even sooner. Even from the little time they were together, Peter had picked up on how strategic Mysterio could be.

"We need to figure out where he is," M.J. spoke up. "He's likely to come after the device soon, but we might be able to catch him off guard if we can get one step ahead of him."

"Speaking of that, I thought that you'd be at the Bugle by now," Miles explained, turning to her. "You know, since pretty much anything that happens in this city runs through there."

Peter realized that Miles made a good point, and he glanced over at his wife as well. M.J. glanced his way, appearing almost as if she'd been caught off guard.

"I... I was, but I thought that maybe I could do my research here," she insisted sheepishly. "I can reach out to my contacts just as easily on my phone here as I could at the office."

"I was going to have Pete and I train first though," Miles explained. "I figured that we'd pick up the trail once we got ourselves back on a level playing field again."

"That's okay," M.J. replied. "I can just come with you guys."

Finally realizing what his wife was doing, Peter reached out and took her hand, drawing her attention.

"It's okay, Mary Jane," he insisted. "You could use a break from chaperone duty anyway."

M.J. tilted her head, looking at him with an almost sad expression on her face.

"Are you sure?" she questioned.

Peter nodded.

"Besides, it'll give Miles and I some more time to get reacquainted," he reasoned.

His wife then offered him a light smile before taking the last bite off her plate. She then got up, gave him a kiss and made sure to remind if that she was only a call or text away if he needed anything before gathering her stuff and departing.

"Sounds like you guys have had no problems reconnecting so far," Miles observed after M.J. had left.

"Yeah," Peter replied with a nod. "I get the sense that maybe it was the kind of time the two of us needed too."

Miles nodded, leaning back in his seat.

"One thing I will give her: she knows how to cook," he said, covering his mouth as a burp came up, excusing himself once it did.

"Yeah," Peter agreed. "I think this is the first time in almost three days that I've actually felt full."

"Well, I hope you're not too full," Miles warned, "because I have something very... exciting in mind for us to do this afternoon."


Peter had come to trust Miles, but right now, as he was staring at about a twenty-story drop, he wasn't sure if he trusted him THAT much.

"You sure we should START this high up?" he questioned, looking to the other Spider-Man.

"Yep," Miles replied, "this is how I learned."

"Uh huh," Peter muttered. "Why do I get the feeling that this is some kind of payback?"

"You're imagining things," Miles assured him, though there was a hint of mischief in his tone that only served to make Peter a little leerier. He glanced down, again, trying to sum up the courage to take the leap. Part of him had known since he discovered his web shooters that he would likely have to do this, but right now just didn't feel like the right time.

"What if Mysterio finds us out here?" he questioned, turning to Miles. "I'm just going to be flailing around and it will be just like target practice for him when he takes me out!"

"Don't worry man, I got your back!" Miles assured him. "Besides, this isn't exactly the busiest place in the city, and you need to know every bit of how to use your webs if we're going to take Mysterio down."

"Okay," Peter said under his breath as he turned back, once again trying to face his fear. He arched back multiple times, bracing himself to jump repeatedly, only for his will to fail each time. He tried to tell himself that he just needed to get it over with, that it would be like when he first discovered, er, rediscovered his powers. There might be a learning curve, but once he figured it out, it would go much smoother.

Of course, this particular learning curve involved a long, long drop.

Peter then felt a hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn and look at Miles.

"You got this," he assured him gently. "You might not remember, but your instincts are still there. I learned that the hard way when we fought back at Alchemax. Just trust yourself, and it'll come."

"Trust myself?" Peter questioned, standing straight up now. "How can I after what's happened? I fell for Mysterio's tricks and thought you were my enemy. I stole something for him, and people got hurt, all because my instincts failed!"

"No," Miles replied, "that was all him. He set you up and did everything he could to trick you, but you managed to break away from him because you knew that something wasn't right. You could have left that security guard back there, but you saved him because your instincts told you that was the right thing to do. You risked your life to get that device because your instincts told you that you needed to, even though you could have just rushed out and saved yourself. It's all still there, Pete, you just have to take a leap and learn to trust yourself again."

Taking in a breath, Peter let it right back out just as soon, trying to release his fear and nervousness with it. Miles was right, and besides, living in fear and guilt wasn't going to help him stop Mysterio and figure all of this out. He needed to do this.

Bounding on his toes a little, Peter finally leapt off the building, his arms flailing as he began his descent.

"WOAH!"

It took him a second, but once he overcame his initial shock, Peter eyed a building to his left. Shooting his arm forward, he fired a web at it. As soon as it stuck, he grabbed onto it with both hands, his momentum suddenly shifting. He arced downward before rising back up again, releasing his web once he was at his apex.

This time not even waiting to descend, he fired another web, grabbing onto it. His swing was even longer this time, and he came much closer to the ground as he did. Still, something about this swing felt different than the last, a little more... controlled. He soon hit his apex again, this time kicking his legs upwards to give him just a little more momentum.

By the third swing, he started to feel more comfortable, or at least not completely terrified. As Miles caught up to him, he began to string more consistently stable swings together while also gaining better control of his body and its momentum. The younger Spider-Man then led him around a couple of buildings to switch it up a bit, and soon, Peter began to improvise a little, adding some parkour in along building walls or rooftops.

Before he knew it, he was even starting to have a little fun.

"WOOOOOO!"

After a little while, the two of them finally landed on a random rooftop, with Peter having to catch his breath, having not realized how much the adrenaline and excitement had been getting to him.

"Wow!" he exclaimed, "is this how you felt the first time you did this?"

"Something like that, yeah," Miles answered. "You told me just before my first swing that there would be nothing both more terrifying and exciting at the same time than my first swing."

"I guess I knew what I was talking about," Peter said, his breathing slowly returning to normal.

"You usually did," Miles said. Something about the young man's tone caught Peter's attention though. It seemed melancholier than what he'd come to expect.

"Hey man," Peter said, putting his hand on Miles's shoulder, "you alright?"

Miles shook his head.

"No, not really man. I..."

Before he could respond, the sound of helicopters could be heard coming their way. The two Spider-Men quickly scrambled inside the old building, slipping in through a window. They'd both gone into today aware that the police were likely looking for Peter, so they knew that, if any sirens were heard, they needed to find cover, and fast. It was another part of why Miles had chosen a quieter section of the city, relatively speaking at least.

Once the helicopters passed over them, Peter turned to Miles again.

"What's up?" he asked.

Miles let out a sigh.

"I just feel like what happened to you was kind of my fault."

Peter tilted his head in curiosity.

"Your fault? How?" he questioned.

"I was so close," Miles said. "I really should have been there in time, but I had to stop because I forgot to refill my web shooters after using a lot of the fluid during my last little adventure. I told myself that it would be fine, that I would do it that morning, but then I was late getting out the door, and... it's just such a simple, basic thing that I ALWAYS do, but the one day I don't do it, it ended up costing you something important. I'm sorry man; I let you down."

Putting his hand on the young man's shoulder, Peter gripped it firmly but lovingly.

"You didn't fail me, Miles," he assured him. "We still don't know what happened; plus, for all we know, maybe I made a mistake, or maybe Mysterio really is just that prepared. Besides, you still found me, and you reminded me that I'm not alone in all this. That means more to me than anything. Also, weren't you just the one telling me to trust my instincts again and not dwell on past mistakes?"

Miles let out a huff.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he acknowledged.

"I here that I usually am," Peter teased, drawing a chuckle from Miles.

"Well, I better check to see what was up with that police helicopter," the younger Spider-Man said, tapping the ear area of his mask. "I never heard anything on the FNSM app, but let's see what the police have to say."

Peter could soon hear some chatter on the radio, though he couldn't quite make it out though. Miles's silence and stillness in response to it was concerning, however. The young man still had his mask on, but somehow Peter felt that he could picture his expression underneath... and it wasn't a good one.

"What is it?" he asked.

Miles finally shifted his glance more in Peter's direction.

"Pete, they were responding to Mysterio," he replied. "He's taken the Daily Bugle building hostage."


Sorry about no chapter last week, but we're back! Hope you're still enjoying it if you've made it this far.

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

"Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse." Proverbs 2:12