With the help of Kitty, we all got our disguises done. My normally brown hair was dyed blonde. Craig's black hair, after he took time to carefully trim it down, was dyed brown, and he put on a fake goatee that matched. Ned was given a dirty blonde color for his normally black hair. Joanna dyed her hair a red orange shade. The rest of the ladies opted to use wigs. Kitty used a blonde one, Betty went with brown.

MJ went with red.

I looked at her as she adjusted it. Was I gawking? A bit.

Okay, I was gawking a lot.

MJ turned and looked at me, giving me a questioning look. "What's up, Loser?"

I smiled slightly. "…Red looks good on you," I replied.

At that, she scoffed. "You think everything looks good on me," she pointed out.

I tilted my head briefly in acknowledgment. "You're not wrong. But that doesn't mean it's not true."

"Well, I hate to interrupt this flirting session, but we need to work on the IDs," Kitty cut in. She then smirked. "You can keep the wig after this is over."

Suddenly, my face became warm as MJ gave Kitty a glare. She then turned her face away. "I wouldn't be opposed," she muttered underneath her breath. I heard it loud and clear. I wasn't sure if she knew that, so I kept it to myself.

Using the fabricator, I made some IDs. At Craig's request, I made sure they were from Texas – San Antonio, to be exact. He reasoned that San Antonio was a good city to choose out of a state none of us was from. After looking up real addresses in that city, I went about designing the IDs and assigning names. I was Michelangelo O'Hara ("A mix of Italian and Irish," MJ reasoned after she chose it). MJ was Mary Jane. Kitty was Roja Reina. Craig was Clayton Duper. Betty was Elizabeth Bly. Ned was Roderick Kingsley. Joanna Cargill went with Tempo Jones ("My usual go-to," she explained). When Scott arrived, I made him an ID. At his behest, he was given the name Erik Le Roux. It was at this point that Joanna looked him up and down.

"…Wait, Erik Le Roux?" she stated. "…You were in the Air Force, weren't you?"

"For a time," Scott confirmed.

"So you're that guy I've been hearing about!"

"What guy?" I asked.

Scott didn't say anything at first. He then sighed. "…There was a time when the X-Men had some friends in the U.S. Government. One of those friends was Frederick Duncan, an FBI agent. He usually helped cover up our major escapades. One time, there was a huge incident the X-Men were involved in. We were able to handle it, but not without major damages despite how hard we tried. It was unavoidable. Duncan helped cover it up, but The FBI wanted us arrested. Duncan was able to negotiate a deal for one of us to join the military to placate his higher-ups. I volunteered and ended up serving in the Air Force. I became a part of AFSPECWAR's Special Tactics force – basically, the Air Force's equivalent to The Navy SEALS. I ended up running missions with Sam Wilson before he became The Falcon – or, Captain America, as he's also known as nowadays – and Colonel Rhodes before he became War Machine."

"There would be so many stories regarding this man," Joanna continued. "According to this one airman, he set up a whole weapons deal in Madripoor, only to ambush those in attendance and capture them. From a marine, I heard he shot a whole flight of jets out of the sky with just his eye beams. And according to a naval officer, he snuck into Wakanda and intercepted a group trying to smuggle out vibranium!"

"That story is not quite true," Scott interjected. "T'Challa invited me to dinner. I just happened to be on my way when I happened across said smugglers."

At that Joanna chuckled. "Well, regardless, I'd hear these wild stories and they'd always have the names attached to them, like Erik Le Roux, Erich der Rote, or Eric del Rojo – all of them translating to Erik The Red."

Ned looked at Scott, smiling in awe. "So you were an Avenger, fought alongside The Falcon and War Machine, and did a whole bunch of wild stuff around the world?"

"…An oversimplification of events, but yes," Scott replied with a nod.

"…Dude, can I have your autograph?"

At that, Scott chuckled. "Perhaps after the mission."

Later on, after searching online, we found a motel we could stay in outside of Palm Springs. The motel was… well…

"If 'you get what you pay for' was a hotel," Craig muttered.

The pictures on the site showed very basic rooms. The TVs were a bit outdated in terms of tech, the rooms looked rather small, and there wasn't a kitchen – just a small stand with a coffee maker and complimentary coffee.

"…You sure we can't stay on this plane?" Betty asked.

"As much as I'd like to, we might need to go into town eventually," Scott replied. He then looked at Craig. "Do you need me to cover everyone?"

"I got it," Craig stated dismissively. "I say we do two rooms – one for the guys, one for the ladies."

"…Um, I kinda have to vote against that," MJ stated.

Craig looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"

"…Well… Ned, Betty, and I… we may or may not have forgotten to pack clothes for this trip, or anything for that matter, and… Peter is the only one here who wears clothes that perfectly fit me."

Craig didn't anything at first. He looked back and forth between MJ and I a few times. He took in a deep breath, looking as if he wanted to say something. However, he then closed his mouth and shook his head. "Okay, four rooms then – because I'm almost 100 percent sure Ned and Betty would complain about unfair treatment. Also, we need to get you guys some clothes, so… Peter, would you kindly…"

"Fabricator?"

"Fabricator."

"Are you sure you can pay for all of our rooms?" Betty asked in concern. "…I don't want to be more of a burden than I already am."

"Don't worry about it," Craig assured. "I have more than enough money for it. I'd have more than enough for it if we were staying in five star suites with room service meals cooked by Gordon Ramsay."

"…How much money do you have?" Ned asked.

Craig shrugged. "I don't know. I stopped counting after the first 100 million." The whole room went quiet as MJ, Ned, Betty, Joanna and I looked at him with a look of surprise. "I told y'all, I'm occasionally in the business of robbing drug dealers. And in the summer of 2024, business was booming."

"Wow," I muttered.

After fabricating some clothes and luggage for Betty and Ned (MJ insisted she was content with sharing my clothes), Happy flew us over to an area of the desert near the motel we scoped out. With all of us in the SUV, Happy flew in low before he hovered in spot and lowered the loading ramp. With Scott in the driver's seat, we backed out of the plane. As Happy waved to us from the loading bay, we drove off towards the motel. During the drive, Kitty took time to pass around burner phones and collect our normal phones, locking the latter away in a special metal case.

"It blocks cellular signals," she explained.

Once we arrived, Craig made sure to pay for our rooms for a three night stay – with straight cash, too. During this, I had on the sunglasses that housed Edith. As Craig took care of the payment, I stood in the back of the group and had Edith scan the motel for any semblance of a surveillance system. There was one. It was nothing major, but there was a camera in the motel office, a camera on each floor that covered all of the doors to the motel, a camera in the parking lot, and a camera covering the backside of the building. By the time Craig was done, footage our arrival was erased by Edith. Even as we made our way up to the second floor, I had Edith scrub the footage that was caught on the other cameras and cut the feed on the second floor camera. Was I being paranoid? Maybe I was, but I needed to make sure there was no evidence of us being here.

"So, how come you paid in cash?" Betty asked Craig once we were on the second floor. "Not to critique how you do things, I'm just curious."

"It's so we don't leave a paper trail," Craig explained. "One can trace a card to its holder. But it's hard to trace cash to the payer."

"But can't they, like, find your fingerprints on the cash?" Ned pointed out.

"Well, for one, finding the exact bills he touched would be extremely hard in and of itself," Kitty responded. "If they do find those bills, money still gets passed around on a daily basis. There'd be a lot of other prints along with his. And even with that aside, finding his fingerprints won't do anything since he has never been locked up or been a part of anything that would require his fingerprints being a part of any database."

"Which is why he's handling the money, and I'm not," Scott added.

I looked over at him. "You've been locked up?"

"Despite my best efforts, no. But I've been enlisted in the military, and that requires giving my fingerprints for an FBI background check – one that was 'coincidentally' performed by Duncan and his people. Of course, I could request to have my fingerprints and any DNA information destroyed, and I have but…" Scott shook his head. "I'm a little paranoid that they still have my information." He came to a stop, prompting the rest of us to do the same. He looked at all of us. "For the sake of cover story, 'Tempo' and I are a married couple. The rest of you are high school students who wanted to take a quick trip for the sake of decompressing and going on a trip together before you go back and focus on finals, and your parents trust us enough to chaperone you six. Understood?" We all gave our confirmations. "Good. Now, there are four rooms. Joanna and I will be in one room. Craig and Kitty will take another room, and so on and so forth."

"So what's the plan for the desert trek?" Craig inquired.

"The best plan I can think of is trying to see if someone from a certain place of employments works in the area. Perhaps we can get some information from them."

"I can help with that," Joanna spoke up. "I still have some contacts in the area. I'll reach out to them and see if I can get some information tonight. Once I do, I'll let you guys know, and we can go from there."

Scott looked at her and nodded. "Really working hard for the money, huh?"

"Just being a supportive wife," Joanna said suggestively. She then stretched her arms out as she groaned. "I think the kids want to settle into their rooms. Why don't you and I get acquainted with our room's bed?" With that, she walked over to the door of the room, leaving a flustered Scott in her wake.

"Try not to make macaroni too loudly, Mr. Le Roux!" Craig said with a smile, causing me and the rest of the American Idiots to snicker.

Scott glared at Craig. "Cr… Clayton, please don't be a little shit." With that, he turned and walked after Joanna.

I watched him for a bit, then turned my head towards Craig. "You must want to be blasted," I said with a smirk.

"If he does, it'll be when he finds out the room I got him only has one bed," Craig replied a barely contained laugh.

Michelle looked at him with a cheeky grin. "You're evil."

"Nah, I'm just a man on the 'Erik/Tempo' bandwagon."

"I ship it," Betty added.

"So do I," Ned agreed.

We all watched as Joanna and Scott unlocked the door to their room and step inside. A few seconds later, the door opened, and Scott stormed out, looking straight at Craig. Before he could get that far, an arm reached out, grabbed him by the shoulder, and pulled him back in before the door closed. We all looked around at each other before we busted out laughing. At several seconds, we all contained ourselves.

"Okay everyone," Betty spoke up. "Let's all go into our rooms and rest. We'll likely going to need it." She looked at me, Kitty, and Craig. "Especially you three." She went quiet as a look of remorse appeared on her face. "…Clayton, Roja, Michel… I'm sorry. The three of us are. We let our worry over Michel overshadow our trust in you guys and made us a liability. I promise that this will be the last time we – "

"Okay, stop the cap," Craig cut in as he shook his head. "This won't be the last time. The next time won't be the last time. And the time after the next time won't be the last time. You guys love Michel too much for that. And I respect that. It doesn't change the fact that you three are idiots for doing this." He huffed out a breath. "You want to apologize? Fine. I'll accept your apology. But at least do me a favor and do something that'll make you guys a non-liability, okay? Learn some martial art, learn how to use a gun, get some tech… something. It's all I request."

"Deal," Ned replied. "I always wanted to be a superhero, anyway."

Betty gave Ned a glare. "Roderick, honey, I don't think that's what Clayton meant." She looked at Craig. "…But you're right. We'll all do something."

Craig nodded. "Good. Now let's go to bed, already."

We finally made our way to our rooms. I looked inside and… Yeah, it was just as the photos showed. There was one bed, a nightstand, and what looked like a small cabinet with a door. Said cabinet a drip coffeemaker that looked like it bought from Walmart, along with a small canister of coffee grounds and a gallon of purified water. Next to the small cabinet was a black mini-fridge. The carpet was brown and looked like it could use some shampooing, and the TV stood on top of set of drawers which I assumed were for clothes. MJ walked over to the cabinet where the coffeemaker was, picked the canister of coffee up, and looked at it.

"Don Francisco's Coffee," she muttered. "…Well, at least the coffee is pretty good." She set it back down. "So, is this the best motel you ever stayed in?"

"I've stayed in a lot better," I replied. I walked over to the bed and put my luggage on it. "At least this place is cleanly."

"I guess." She walked over and sat on the bed. "It's not exactly your apartment."

At that, I scoffed as I unzipped one of my suitcases. "Are my ears playing tricks on me, or did you just compliment my place of residence?"

She shrugged. "I mean, I still think you should find another place to live. But, I can't really be too down on a place we reconciled in."

As I started pulling out clothes, I nodded in acknowledgment. "Good point."

"I'm good for that every now and again." She chuckled. "So, do you have any kind of soap or body wash?"

"I would hope so." I reached for my toiletries bag and unzipped it. I then pulled out a bottle of Irish Spring 5-in-1. I handed it to her. She looked down at it, then gave me a look.

"Really, Peter?"

"What?" I smiled. "It's efficient."

"It's a waste of money," MJ declared. "When we get back, we're going shopping for cleansers that actually do the job properly." She sighed. "But, I guess, for now, this will have to do. What about deodorant?"

I searched through my bag. "I got…" I pulled out a light blue spray bottle. "…Degree antiperspirant. It's a spray, so we can share it." I then pulled out one of two loofahs I packed. "I also got an extra loofah you can use."

MJ smiled sheepishly at me. "…What about an extra toothbrush?"

"…I think I do." I looked through my bag. I then pulled it out and handed it to her.

"…You know, you're a lot more prepared than I thought you'd be," she commented as she took the toothbrush.

"It's a habit from Aunt May," I explained as I went back to pulling out my clothes. "Whenever I went on trips that involved a stay at a hotel or motel, she'd over-pack for me until I was old enough to pack my own stuff. And I continued to over-pack, especially when she always checked to see if I have everything." I sighed. "It seemed like trips are the only thing I can properly prepare for. That is, until Thanos' forces attacked Earth and my Europe trip got hijacked by Nick Fury." I scoffed. "That's the Parker Luck for you." I heard the mattress creak a bit. I then felt a hand on my cheek. I looked up at MJ. She gave me a slight smile.

"Your Parker Luck can't be all that bad," she cooed. "You found your way back to me, after all, even if you did drag your feet a bit." She leaned forward even more and placed a kiss on my forehead. I smiled at the touch. "It just sucks that we can't take pictures of our time here."

I chuckled. "Yeah, don't think the other X-Men would appreciate you showing pictures of us out in the dessert to your folks." I stopped chuckling as a thought occurred to me. "…Um… MJ… what did you tell your parents?"

"…About this trip, or about us?" she questioned.

I paused for a moment. "…Both."

"Well, for the latter… they don't know about us yet." She withdrew her hand. "…I'm going to shower and get ready for bed."

I watched her as she grabbed the 5-in-1 body wash, the extra loofah, and other toiletries along with one of my t-shirts (a gray one) and a pair of my boxers (a black one). She walked to the bathroom. When she closed the door, I sighed. I felt like I hit a nerve. I went back to unpacking. As I did so, I was treated to the sound of the shower running as background noise.

After I put everything away in the few drawers we did have, I changed out of my clothes into a t-shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants. I then grabbed the remote the TV, lay on the bed, and turned the TV on. I flipped through channels. A bit to my surprise, this place had a decent cable package. I kept on going through channels until I settled on one that just played music. I set the remote down and just lay on the bed. I didn't even recognize the song.

I was worried about MJ. I had a feeling something was going on that I didn't know about. I just wasn't sure what to do. A part of me wanted to pry, but I didn't want to push MJ away. A part of me wanted to just leave it alone, but I was afraid that whatever it was that was bothering her was going to wear down on her until she exploded at the worst possible moment. I huffed out a breath through my nose.

Being a superhero is hard. Love is even harder.

I was taken out of my thoughts when the door to the bathroom opened. I looked over to see MJ walk out, dressed in the t-shirt and boxers that she picked out of my clothes. Her hair looked a bit damp. I tried to ignore the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra underneath her shirt. She gave me a look as she walked over to the bed.

"Yeah, we're definitely going shopping for shampoo, body wash, and facial wash when we get back," she declared.

"Is it really that bad?" I asked as I scooted over, giving her room to join me.

She scoffed as she lay next to me. "Look, when we cuddle, I like to play with your hair, and I'd prefer that your hair didn't feel like a Brillo pad." She raised her eyebrows briefly. "I will concede that it smells good, though."

I smiled. "That's what I aim for." We went quiet. We both stared up at the ceiling. Once again, I was at a lost for what to do or say. So, of course, I spoke without thinking. "Are you okay?"

Michelle turned her head towards me. "Yeah, I am. Why?"

I turned my head towards her and met her gaze. "…I… just noticed you sort of avoided my question earlier." MJ didn't say anything. She turned her body and sat up, putting her back towards me. I wanted to leave it alone. But as I moved until I was on my knees, I couldn't help but press. "…Michelle, I know we're on a rescue mission right now, but… if there's something going on with you, I want to know. I want to help and…"

"I don't think you can help with this one," MJ whispered out. Her shoulders raised a bit before they lowered as she took a deep breath. "…How much do you know about my family situation?"

"…Honestly, not much," I replied earnestly. "I know that… your parents were on the verge of divorce for a while. And, recently, they've been trying to work things out. That's what you told me prior to The Spell."

She nodded a bit. With her right hand, she patted the space next to her. Without hesitation, I crawled over before I sat on that very spot. She didn't speak for some moments. I looked at her. Her expression was neutral, but as she clasped her hands together, I could practically hear the gears turning in her head. So, I gave her time, quietly waiting until she was ready. Eventually, she spoke.

"You and Ned are the only people close to me – outside of my family – that have ever been to where I live at," MJ began. "My mom and dad… they fought a lot. It never got to the point of physical violence, but it got really damn close to it. It been like that for years and… every single time, I'd go to my room, lock the door, and just listen to music in my headphones, just waiting for it to pass." She sighed. "So many times, I'd look for stupid reasons to not be home, whether to be a wallflower at Flash's stupid parties or to take refuge in a library or museum. A few times, Liz Allan would ask to hang out at my place, and I'd come up with some bullshit excuse why she can't. What I didn't want to tell her was that I didn't want her around in case things between my mom and dad went left – which was often.

"So, my parents file for divorce and stay away from each other. And… I didn't know how to feel. I enjoyed the peace. I enjoyed being able to walk around barefoot without worrying about stepping on a piece of whatever was broken during their fights. I enjoyed being able to listen to music and going to a library or museum without it being an escape from home. But… my father wasn't there anymore. And the peace just didn't seem worth it, even though, logically, it should be. And…" MJ trailed off as she shook her head. "I somehow just felt worse during that time."

She chuckled humorlessly as she looked at me. "They used to be kind of strict with me. They would need to know where I was going, who I was meeting up with, stuff like that. But, they've given me quite a bit of freedom since they spend a lot of time going to marriage counseling and couples retreat. I didn't even have to give much of an explanation. Like, right now, I'm supposed to be having another sleepover at Betty's house. This leeway I'm getting… It just feels like they're trying to apologize for me being in the middle of their bullshit without actually apologizing." She frowned. "I want to be happy that they're working things out. I really do. And I know it may feel kind of selfish for feeling this way but… I feel like they're so focused on fixing things between them that they're not even thinking about how I was affected by all of what happened between them.

"But it's whatever, I guess. When I need to, I can feed them some half-assed excuse as to why I'll be gone for a couple of days since they'll likely be out, too." She looked forward and let loose an angry breath. "As long as they're better now, I suppose."

I didn't say anything. I wanted to, but I didn't know what to say. Instead, I slowly reached over with my left hand and gently grabbed her right wrist. I pulled softly. She looked down at my hand for a moment. She then pulled her hands apart, allowing me to take hold of her right hand. She moved her hand in mine, lacing her fingers between my fingers before she squeezed my hand firmly. She leaned against me. I leaned my head towards her, allowing her to place her head against mine. We stayed like that for several minutes. It wasn't a comfortable silence, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence either.

"I'm sorry, Em," I finally said.

She scoffed. "Still apologizing for things that are not your fault, I see," she replied with no judgment or malice. "…Can you hold me?"

"You know I will."

Michelle pulled away from me and gave me a small smile. "Lie down, Loser."

I complied, moving on to the bed and placing the back of my head on the pillow. MJ crawled onto the bed and lay over my body, placing her head on my shoulder. I wrapped my left arm around her shoulders. With my right hand, I picked up the remote to turn off the TV.

"Leave it on," MJ whispered out.

I nodded as I lowered the remote down to the bed. I lifted my head a bit and looked at the screen and read the title – The Rain Don't Last by Hope. I laid my head back down on the pillow and just listened to the lyrics.

"Somebody said that nothing lasts forever

Just the storm so I've been told

But it seems that when it rains it pours…"

"…Hey Em?" I whispered.

"Yes, Loser?" she whispered back.

"I'm sure you and your folks will talk it out… and I'm sure things will continue to get better between them. But… if you ever need a place to crash and get away from it all, my place is open for you. I'll even give you a spare key, if you want."

"…I might take you up on that."

I turned my head towards her and smiled. I then placed a kiss on her forehead, causing her to chuckle heartily.

And then we continued to lay, with nothing breaking the silence but the music.

"And you know the rain won't last forever

And you know the storm won't always flow

But if the sun don't shine forever

You gotta let it go…"