I hate to admit it, but if felt good to give Spider-Man a break for the day. I still listened to the scanners, but Shadowcat and Frictor were very active and held things down. It was a pretty good feeling, knowing there were others willing to help out in this city – ones I could work with without there having to be an Avengers level threat to deal with. So, with that in mind, after my nap, I did different things around my apartment. I did some quick chores such as throwing out the trash and cleaning up around the place. I took time to iron the clothes I decided to wear for the interview and put together my portfolio. After that, I went over my notes and exercises for class. With the exception of me sewing the holes and tears in my suit, I didn't do anything Spider-Man related.

Monday rolled around. Nothing too unusual happened. I went to class then I went to Peter Pan to see MJ and Ned. Betty, Kitty, and Craig swung by not too long after. The latter two knew they didn't need to be there, but they stopped by anyway just to check out the spot. As we all sat at the counter, talking amongst ourselves about different things from Craig's new haircut to the upcoming dance, I thought to myself that this was the first time in a long while that I enjoyed a Monday.

The next morning, I woke up to my phone vibrating. Groaning, I sat up before I reached over for and grabbed the device. After unplugging it from the charger, I checked the name on the screen.

Craig Pierre, Jr.

I raised my eyebrows before I accepted the call and put the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I said.

"Yo!" Craig greeted. "Did I wake you?"

"...Yeah." I cleared by throat after I realized how raspy it sounded.

"My bad, man. I would have called you a little later, but Scott wants you to swing by ASAP. He wanted to discuss our little group project and get you up to speed on what everyone else been working on."

It took me a good ten seconds for me to realize he was talking in code. "…I'll bring my notebook."

Thirty minutes later, I was at their apartment. After Craig opened the door for me and greeted me, I took a moment to take off my shoes. I was then ushered towards the kitchen table, where Scott and Kitty were already seated. There was a large spread of breakfast food – waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, fruit, a carton of orange juice on ice, and more. It was the kind of breakfast spread you'd see in movies featuring the typical nuclear family.

It always boggled my mind whenever the father would be on his way to work, and he'd just grab an apple.

"Grab some food," Scott said as I took a seat at the table.

I nodded as I picked up my plate and used my fork to gather a bit of everything on my plate. After that, Craig said a quick prayer and everyone began to eat.

"Thanks for the food," I said to them.

"You're welcome," Scott said. "I figured it'd be best to discuss things over food, especially this early in the morning."

"And especially with what we gathered," Kitty added.

"Is it something major?" I asked, looking at them in worry.

"Something major is brewing from what we can tell," Scott replied. He set down his fork and leaned back in his seat. "I was able to see my friend with the dart that hit you. After some analysis, he found that the contents within the dart were a rather dangerous cocktail of chemicals – basically, it was mixture of active ingredients found in pesticides and chemicals used in animal sedation. While I'm sorry you got hit by it, it was better you than a civilian or even Craig and Kitty."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

"Because they'd most likely be dead if they were hit."

"…Oh…"

"To that end, I don't think the aim was to kill you," Scott concluded. He then looked towards Craig.

"Yeah, funny thing happened after I got my hair cut in Harlem," Craig began. "I talked to a few people. One of them told me to follow The Stock Market. I thought homie was just brushing me off. But I watched the markets on Monday. Turns out, there was a lot of stock in Hammer Industries being bought. And from what I can gather from Twitter, there's a rumor of there being a huge announcement coming soon."

"You think they're connected to what happened on Saturday?" I inquired.

"It may be a stretch, but the dude I got this info from is usually solid, so I'm going to say yes." Craig then scoffed. "It doesn't explain everything, but it would explain what Kitty told us last night."

"Yeah, about that," Kitty chimed in. "I couldn't find a police report. Apparently, all of the men were let go without consequence. I was able to hack the NYPD database. From what I can gather, these men were let go due to the robbery being a government exercise."

I quickly stood up. "I'm sorry, what?!"

"That was my same reaction, standing and all," Craig commented. I looked at him briefly, then back at Kitty.

"Yeah, a lot of the NYPD weren't too thrilled," Kitty continued. She took a sip of her orange juice. "But as it is, I'm going to ask that you keep your head even more on a swivel when you go out on patrol. I know we will."

I sat down, scoffing as I shook my head. "Spider-Man can't catch a break," I deadpanned.

"On a lighter note, you and Ned doing anything on Saturday?" Craig asked.

"I got nothing. But I don't know about Ned. Why?"

"I was wondering if y'all are free to go outfit shopping… for the Valentine's Day dance."

Kitty quickly looked at Craig. "You're going?!" she exclaimed.

"…Yes. DJ Veras apparently got hired to do the dance. And since I'm her runner, that means I gotta be there, too. So… if I'm going to go, I best dress the part, right?" He didn't sound the least bit excited. Kitty, for her part, couldn't hold her excitement. So, she stood up, phased through the table, and wrapped Craig in a huge hug.

"I'm so excited!" Kitty exclaimed as she rocked Craig back and forth. "I can actually go now!"

Craig grimaced. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." He looked up at Kitty. "You could have gone without me."

"So you can stay home with Scott while y'all talk about the single life? I can't let you suffer that alone."

"…First of all, I'm still here," Scott reminded her, causing her to let go of Craig and give him a sheepish look. "Second of all – and I mean this respectfully – your dating life has been just as dry as ours." Craig visibly cringed. I drew my lips into my mouth.

Kitty took in a breath and nodded. "…I walked right into that one."

"Face first," Craig added.

"Oh shut up!"

We continued to eat breakfast. After we were done, I left with Scott to school. The day proceeded as normal. I swung by Peter Pan, I hung out for a bit with MJ and Ned then went home. I spent some time studying and chatting with the other American Idiots before I went on patrol. I even ran into Shadowcat and Frictor before we helped put an end to a gas station robbery. All in all, it was nothing out of the ordinary.

And then Wednesday came around.

Wednesday morning, I was in the Daily Bugle's building. I was dressed in my interview clothes – a simple black and white suit with a red and blue tie. I was seated outside of J. Jonah Jameson's office, waiting patiently. I had my portfolio with me, along with my camera, which I kept in its carrying bag. Both of them were in the seat to my left. I knew he was having a heated discussion with somebody. It took me all of my willpower not to listen. I wasn't an eavesdropper. But enhanced senses made it hard not to take everything in. I could even hear someone in the office take a sip of some kind of liquid.

"Coffee?"

Speaking of liquid.

I looked up to see Betty, who held out a cup of coffee for me. I nodded as I took the cup. I then moved the camera bag and the portfolio off of the seat next to me so she could sit.

"Thanks," I said graciously.

"Anytime," Betty replied as she sat next to me. "I'm sorry it's taking a while. Jonah is in there with Robbie."

"Robbie?"

"Officially, he's the editor-in-chief here at The Daily Bugle." She then leaned towards me and whispered. "But between you and me, I believe his main job is keeping J. Jonah Jameson from going too far off the deep end – a morality chain of sorts, as a certain website would call it."

"Heh, if what I saw so far is Jonah in check then I'd hate to see him off his leash, so to speak." I took a sip of the coffee. I tried hard not to grimace, but apparently not hard enough for Betty not to notice. She chuckled. "Sorry. It's… not my usual brew."

"No need to apologize. It's drugstore coffee. It'll keep you awake, but that's about all it has going for it." She then smirked. "Of course, it probably doesn't help that it's me serving you and not your favorite barista."

I face felt warm. I looked down at the cup of coffee for a moment. I then looked at Betty. "Do you think MJ likes me?" It was an earnest question. I legitimately wanted to know if MJ still had any semblance of feelings towards me she had before the spell. I wasn't quite sure she did. Or maybe I was just too unconfident to really see for myself. But I was on Step Three of my list, and I needed to make sure that going to Step Four would be worth it.

Spider-Man, ladies and gentlemen – brave enough to take on bank robbers, gangs, and extraterrestrial beings, but too much of a loser to have confidence in his ability to read a girl's feelings. Isn't duality fun?

Betty scoffed. "Like you as a friend, or a potential significant other?" she asked. "Either way, that would be a yes." She looked forward at the door to Jameson's office. "She doesn't let a lot of people get close. And when she does, it's usually because a person makes quite the effort. But you? You're different. She only knew you over a few weeks, but you have her attention. She talks quite a bit about you at school, and she curbed a lot of guys trying to ask her out to the dance since she asked you out to it. Plus, she doesn't smile much around people she only sees as an acquaintance, let alone go and check to see if they're okay because they got the feeling something was up with them." She looked back at me. "You like her, don't you?"

"I do," I admitted. Well, I can't say admitted. I didn't just like MJ. I loved her to death, and I'd love her until my dying days, I was sure.

"Show her a good time at the dance," Betty suggested. "…And… maybe just hang out with her without the rest of us American Idiots."

"…Maybe I– "

I didn't get a chance to finish my statement. The door to Jonah's office suddenly opened. Angrily waltzing out of the office was a black man with salt and pepper hair. He looked none too pleased as Jonah walked after him.

"I'm telling you, Robbie, this is going to bring great things to both The Daily Bugle and this city!" Jonah yelled. The man who I assumed to be Robbie stopped in his tracks and quickly turned towards Jonah, pointing a finger at him.

"No, this whole thing will blow up in our faces!" Robbie yelled back. "And when it does, I'll have to help you pick up the pieces, as per usual! Just do me a favor and keep me out of this bullshit until then!" Robbie turned and was about ready to walk away until his eyes and landed on me and Betty. "Betty, who is he? And is he here for an appointment with me?"

"This is Peter Parker," Betty said. I stood up and brought my hand out for him to shake. "He's here to interview for the photographer job."

"Pleased to meet you, sir," I greeted.

Robbie took my hand and gave it a shake. "Just Robbie will do," he replied. He let go of my hand. "Do yourself a favor and go home before you end up a regular part of this circus like I am."

"Hey!" Jonah exclaimed. Robbie ignored him as he addressed Betty.

"I'm taking the rest of the day off. Any assignment from me that you get done, just leave it on my desk."

"Yes sir," Betty replied.

Robbie nodded before he walked towards the elevator. "I'm sick of this shit!" he muttered underneath his breath, though, with my hearing, it was clear as day.

The room remained quiet for a bit as Jonah took in a deep breath to calm himself. He then suddenly looked at me. "You, you're a photographer?" he demanded.

"Yes sir," I replied. "Would you like to see my portfolio?"

"I don't have time for that. I got places to be and things to prepare for. So here's the deal. Hammer Industries is holding a press conference tonight at The Downtown Conference Center at eight o'clock. I want you there at six. I'll pay you 24 bucks an hour in straight cash. You take good enough pictures, and I'll hire you on as part of the staff here. Deal?"

I was given pause. Hammer Industries was having a press conference. I remembered the talk I had with Scott, Kitty, and Craig on Monday morning. Could this be the answer to who or what could have been targeting me? Well, there was only one way to find out.

"…Y-yes." I cleared my throat. "Yes sir."

"Good. Betty, make sure his credentials are set for tonight."

"Will do," Betty replied. Jonah nodded before he walked away. After he was gone, she turned towards Peter. "You didn't have anything planned for tonight, did you?"

"Just studying," I said. "But I stay up pretty late anyway, so I can delay it by a few hours."

"Okay. Well, come with me."

About thirty minutes later, I stepped out of the building. I had my press badge in my camera bag. I checked my watch, making sure I had time to get to school early. I did. After that, I pulled out my cellphone dialed Scott's number. After a few rings, he picked up.

"Hello Pete," Scott greeted.

"Hey Scott," I replied. "…Um… I need to talk to you."

"Is everything okay? You're not feeling any complications, are you?"

"No. I just had some new information for my part of the group project and I wanted to know if I can run it by you."

"…I see. Where are you now?"

"I'm outside where The Daily Bugle is located."

"Stay there. I'll pick you up."