After a detour to drop off the vehicles in the garage, we drove back to the X-Men apartment in Scott's Camry. After that major fire, we all decided to turn in for the night. They invited me over for dinner. It was nothing special, according to Scott – just a lot of leftover Chinese food. I didn't mind it too much. But as I ate, I couldn't help but feel like there was… well, I don't know if I would have called it tension, but I felt like there was an elephant in the room. After some moments, Craig acknowledged it.

"So, we're back-back?" he asked, looking at Scott.

"We are," Scott confirmed as he stabbed his fork into a piece of orange chicken. "To be honest, I wanted to revive the X-Men name for a while. But I was just waiting for the right time." He then tilted his head. "You seem concerned."

"I'm not concerned." Craig shook his head. He then nodded. "Well, maybe I am. It's just… Look, the X-Men as we knew it had been dead since the middle of the Blip Years, and I've felt some type of way about it for a long time. Don't get me wrong, hearing you calling our little team here the X-Men felt really good. But… and I mean this respectfully … I just want to make sure this is what we're really doing. The X-Men being back means we're going to need more people. It also means there is going to be a lot of folks pissed off at us and we're going to have even more headaches to deal with – especially from our favorite Canadian." He said that last part sarcastically, prompting me to look at him.

At that, Scott nodded. "I know. And we'll cross those bridges when we get to them. But, for now, we still have to deal with Scorpion. The fact he's been quiet since that night is rather unsettling."

"Yeah it is," Kitty agreed. "…Come to think of it, Justin Hammer's been rather quiet, too."

"Maybe Cyclops scared them off after he blasted Scorpion that night," I suggested with absolutely no sincerity in my tone, prompting Scott to scoff.

"If only we were so lucky," he replied. I couldn't tell if he was joking or if he really wished that luck was really on our side. Either way, it was clear that he believed that we were definitely not that lucky. "But, we'll have to keep our heads on a swivel."

"What else is new?" Kitty asked rhetorically. She then looked at me. "Welcome to the X-Men, Spider-Man. I hope you have pain meds – you're going to need them."

After eating and talking with them some more, I went home, with Craig dropping me off. Once I got home, I barely sat down on my bed to take my clothes off when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out to see a call video call from MJ. I smiled as I answered the call and held the phone in front of my face.

"Hey Em," I greeted with a smile.

"X-Men?" she asked as she gave me a look.

I chuckled. "Yeah, I'm an X-Man now. Not only do I look out for the little guys in New York, I look out for mutants now." I tilted my head. "I probably should've been doing that already, but I only learned about mutants the day I ran into The Friends of Humanity."

"So does that mean the black suit is going to be a permanent thing?"

I paused as I thought about it. I then tilted my head. "Do you want it to be?"

She shook her head. "No. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice looking outfit and it looks great on you. But everybody and their momma have grown attached to the red and blue. However, I wouldn't mind if you bust it out every now again."

I nodded. "I can do that. I have it as a quick change outfit. It's something they've been urging me to do for a while. I made this because Craig and I were doing something in Harlem. We were actually driving out of Harlem when the fire happened and we got called up by Scott."

"I see. Did you guys get everyone out okay?"

"We did."

"And are you guys okay?"

"We are. Well, Craig was nursing a headache. Apparently his power is Frictiokinesis."

At that, Michelle chuckled. "That should get you a lot of points in scrabble." I chuckled along with her until we went quiet. "…Hey… can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything, Michelle," I told her. "For you, I'm an open book."

"Oh really?" she replied with a mischievous smile. "So if I was to ask you if you ever thought about me wearing a certain Princess Leia costume…?"

My face heated up. "Well I-I-I-I-I…" I cleared my throat and looked off to the side. "…Yes. But… to be honest… I thought more about you… wearing one of my suits." I cleared my throat before I looked back at the screen. MJ smiled coyly.

"Good to know." I sighed. I somehow knew MJ was going to use that against me later on. She then continued. "I appreciate the honesty. But, my real question is – and before I ask it, I want you to know that I'll never ask you to do it – have you ever thought about quitting the hero life?"

I grimaced. "I think I can count on one hand the times I've gone a whole week without thinking about calling it quits," I confessed. I told this to her before The Spell. But of course, she didn't remember it at that moment. "There are days when I don't want to be Spider-Man anymore because every time I try to be normal, things go left. Like…" I paused for a moment. "…I dated Liz Allan for a bit."

MJ's eyebrows shot up. "Liz Allan?" MJ inquired. "As in the AcaDeca captain before me? That Liz Allan?"

"The very same."

MJ stared at me for a few moments, pressing tongue into the inside of her cheek. She then shook her head. "…Wow. I've been calling you a loser and a dork when, all this time, you've actually got game."

I chuckled as I shook my head. "I really don't."

"Are you sure? I think you do. It may be the whole puppy thing you got with your aura. Is that how you get women to drop their panties for you?"

I couldn't help but burst into laughter. I lay on my back, eyes closed as I tried to regain my composure. After a few moments, I looked back at the screen, seeing MJ looking very pleased with herself. "Em, I'm trying to be serious here." The tone in my voice and the smile on my face made it clear that I was far from annoyed.

"I'm sorry." I gave her a look, showing that I wasn't buying that. "Okay, no I'm not. But please, continue."

I nodded. "So, yeah, I dated Liz Allan for a bit. But, I had to ditch her at Homecoming because I had to take on her father, Adrian Toomes. Of course, she doesn't know I'm Spider-Man and there was nothing I could say to her afterwards that would have prevented her from hating me. Then came the trip to Europe, and all I wanted to do was take you to the top of the Eiffel Tower and ask you." I looked at the Black Dahlia necklace that she was wearing. "…I even bought you that necklace you're wearing now. I was going to give it to you at Paris. But of course, SHIELD needed me, and what was supposed to be an opportunity to just enjoy Europe and spend time with you got hijacked because Mysterio had everyone thinking he was a good guy from another universe trying to protect our version of Earth from meeting the same fate as his, only for me to find out that he was really a disgruntled ex-Stark Industries employee with a lot of screws loose…"

"And that led to you being framed and having your identity exposed," MJ finished for me.

"Exactly." I sighed. "And add in the times when I get injured so badly that I would have been dead a hundred times over had it not been for the fact that I heal fast, and the times I end up inadvertently screwing over the people I'm close to or want to be close to and… Well, more than once, I've considered tossing my suit in the trash and just being Peter Parker." I frowned. "I'm sorry if that doesn't sound very heroic."

"I'm not looking for heroic when we talk, Peter." I watched as her background shifted as she sat up. "Well, maybe I am, but… We're taking a second go at this – our relationship, that is. And when we talk, I want you to be honest with me about how you feel. I want everything. Okay?"

"Okay." I smiled slightly. "I know this goes without saying, and you would have done so anyway, but… please be honest with me. I want everything from you, too."

MJ smirked. "Be careful what you wish for, because you're going to get everything."

We spent the rest of our time talking about different things, such as the upcoming dance, school stuff, and a book she's been reading (Q&A by Vikas Swarup). After the conversation ended, I finally undressed, put my clothes away, and went to bed.

The next morning, I was at The Daily Bugle. While I was uploading photos to a computer, I was doing my very best not to listen to the "discussion" between Robbie and Jonah in regards to the X-Men. I already knew that we were going to get slandered by the latter on his show. The X-Men were the talk of the town after last night. We were trending on Twitter, with a lot of people having a lot to say about us, both good and bad. Some people called us The Avengers for the little guys. Others called us criminals for supporting Mutant rights and having one its members – myself – being the one who killed Mysterio.

Even in death, Mysterio is still a thorn in my side.

Anyway, there were just some other comments, some rather… interesting comments about the X-Men. There were comments about our outfits, our possible romantic status (which reminded me that, out of the four of us, I was the only one who wasn't single), what we looked like underneath our masks, and the like. There was even fan art and people posting links to their fanfiction about us.

Wow.

It was a wild morning, to say the least.

As I waited for pictures to upload, I was reading the American Idiots group chat.

"Okay, question of the day – how do you think Triple J is going to slander the X-Men today?" Craig asked. "Go."

"I bet he's going to say we started the fire," Kitty replied.

"Something, something, Spider-Man is a menace," MJ chimed in.

"BUT, BUT, BUT THE ACCORDZ!111!11!ONE!1ONE!1!ONE!" Ned added.

"To be honest, I expect Iron Man's death to be exploited somehow," Betty chimed in.

Craig sent another message. "I bet my hoodie is going to be brought up."

I was about to type my response when I heard Jonah's voice from the office.

"Parker!" he yelled out. I looked up to see Jonah poking his head out of his office. "In here, now!"

"Yes sir," I said. I stood up and pocketed my phone before I headed inside of his office. Once inside, I took a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. Robbie was still in there as Jonah at back down.

"I have an assignment for you kid," Jonah stated. "F.E.A.S.T. is having a Gala tonight at their Chinatown headquarters. The founder, Martin Li, is hosting this gala. It's a semi-casual affair. I need you to take pictures, as per usual."

"Of course," I said. "What time do I need to be there?"

"You'll have to be there at 7:30 at the latest since the Gala starts at 8:30," Robbie replied. "And since it is supposed to be a relaxed affair, you can bring a few friends along if you want – as long as they understand the dress code and they're able to act right. Sounds good?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. I'll have Betty get your credentials ready, along with a shot list."

"Okay. I'm on it."

With that, I stood up and walked out of the office. As I returned to the computer I was using to upload photos, I pulled my phone out and sent a text to the group chat.

"You guys doing anything tonight?"

Hours later, I was at the gala with the other American Idiots. All of us were dressed in different levels of formal. I was dressed in black slacks and black dress shoes with a matching turtleneck. Betty was fully formal, wearing a black business vest over a white dress shirt along with a black business skirt. Ned wore a pair of jeans and a black Star Wars shirt underneath a blazer – because of course he did. Craig had on a full black and white suit ensemble. Kitty wore a red trench coat over black slacks and a white button up shirt that had its top button left unfastened. And MJ… MJ wore that flowery dress I saw her in when we were at the opera in Prague. I smiled when I saw her in it. She stuck her tongue at me, but smiled at me afterwards.

We all scattered in different directions. Ned and Betty were dancing to the music. Craig and Kitty were actually mingling with some of the guests that were already there. And MJ stuck with me as I moved around and took pictures.

"So, this is Peter Parker, the photographer, in the wild," MJ commented as I took a few pictures of the live band. "Do you go to these events often?"

"Every now and again, I do," I replied as I zeroed in on the drummer and snapped a picture of him. "Jonah actually has a lot of influence in this city, so, whenever he wants to, he set things up so the cameramen and reporters could cover it. So, I guess it's a perk."

"I see." She went quiet as I took a few more pictures.

I moved around the venue with MJ at my side, taking pictures every now and again when I think I saw a good shot. I then arrived at a spot on a wall. On that spot hung a picture of Aunt May. There was that warm smile of hers that I was more than familiar with. It was an encouraging smile she gave me whenever she talked me out of my funks – and I had a lot of them. She took care of me. Without her, I don't know if I'd ever be the hero I became.

I bowed my head and closed my eyes. I took in a deep breath, trying my best not to unravel.

Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't…

I was taken out my thoughts when I felt a pair of arms around my shoulders. I then felt a chin on top of my shoulder. I raised my head, and my cheek brushed against Michelle's. I looked back at the picture on the wall. With MJ holding me, I was able to stave off the urge to cry.

"…She liked you a lot, you know?" I uttered. "Other than Ned, she was the only person I talked to a lot about you." I chuckled. "…When we got home through the window of my room after the Mysterio video, she walked in on us when you were trying to help me pull off the suit, and I was just in my boxers. She thought that you and I were about to… you know."

"What can I say?" MJ said in a joking tone. "I know how to get you in your birthday suit." I chuckled. "What did she say after that?"

"She introduced herself to you. She was happy to finally meet you." I sighed. "And she told us to use protection." Now it was MJ's turn to chuckle. "…I still miss her, MJ. I know she's my aunt, but she was basically a mother and big sister to me and… I'm still trying to figure out how to live this life without her." I took in a breath, then shook my head. "I'm sorry Em, I didn't mean to kill the vibe."

"Everything, Peter," she responded. "I want everything." I leaned a bit to my left, just enough so we can make eye contact. She smiled. I smiled back at her. My smile then faded when I realized how close our faces were. My face became flushed, but I didn't pull away. I looked down at her lips, finding them rather interesting. The stitches were no longer on her lip – there was only a tiny scar that I only noticed because we were that close.

"How's your lip?" I whispered.

"It doesn't hurt anymore," she replied. I looked her in the eye and took in her expression. Her face was flushed. She had a look of anticipation in her eyes. But most importantly, she wasn't pulling away.

That did it.

I felt my heart pump faster. I heard her heart do the same. Every single last one of my senses acknowledged her and only her. She was all that I could see, all I could hear, all I could smell, all I could feel. At that moment, she was all I wanted to touch. So I closely closed my eyes as I leaned forward and…

"Excuse me." We both parted and suddenly turned around to see one of the volunteers. She smiled at us. "I'm sorry for startling you two, but Martin Li is about to speak soon, so I'm just letting people know."

"Thanks for that," MJ said with a nod. I felt the sarcasm that was being held back. The volunteer nodded before she walked away. MJ waited until she was out of earshot before she spoke again. "Now that killed the vibe." I chuckled as I walked with her to where people were gathering. As I readied my camera, I was thinking that the interrupted would-be kiss would have been the one low note of the night.

Unfortunately, I was about to be dead wrong.