Ned knocked on the door to Peter's suite in the compound medbay Friday after school. He was nervous. He hadn't seen Peter in more than a week and now that the teachers at school knew about Peter's cancer, they kept on quietly asking him how Peter was, because Mr. Morita had told them that Ned was in the know. And Ned didn't know.

May answered the door. "Hi Ned," she whispered, as she led him into the comfortable living room foyer right outside of Peter's hospital room. "We should keep our voices down because Peter's trying to rest and with his super hearing and all…"

"Okay," Ned whispered, "I brought Peter some homework, but I also brought a new Lego set for us to work on and some books and comic books for me to read to him if he's not feeling up to that."

May smiled kindly, "That's very nice of you, Ned. I'll go and see if Peter is awake enough to see you."

Ned anxiously fiddled with his hands. He wasn't used to this. The Peter he knew was strong and healthy, always bouncing and full of energy and life. Ned wasn't ready to see his friend weak and sick. It wasn't normal. It wasn't Peter.

"Ned," May said in a normal voice, "he's awake enough to see you."

His face must have crumpled or something, because the next thing he knew, May was hugging him. "I know, baby. I know. It's really hard to see him like that, but I know seeing you will help him feel a little better, at least internally."

Ned wiped his eyes. "You think so?"

"I know so. He's really missed you. Go in only when you're ready, though," she said with a smile.

"Okay," Ned said, nodding. He took a deep breath, adjusted his backpack on his shoulder, and walked into the room.

He wasn't prepared for what he saw at all. The figure on the bed was very pale and weak-looking. Peter was usually anything but. He was curled up into a tight ball, a bucket for him to empty his stomach into on his nightstand next to a water bottle and a bottle of pedialyte. He also had a tube coming from his chest that was connected to a bag of clear liquid.

"Hi Peter," Ned said, inching closer.

"Hey Ned," Peter said, turning his head to look at his friend. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good. How's it going for you?" Ned replied hesitantly.

"Oh you know, same old," Peter said with a slight smile on his face that Ned knew was fake and was for his benefit. Ned felt his eyebrows raise in disbelief.

Peter's face fell. "I feel sick all the time. Like, really sick. I can barely keep food down. I know it's the medicine and that it's supposed to be helping me to get better, but it sucks. It really, really sucks."

"That sucks, man," Ned replied, sitting down in the chair next to Peter's bed, managing to keep his face relaxed, but internally his thoughts were swarming. What if Peter never got better? What if Peter got better and was never himself again? Ned was very concerned.

"When do you think you'll be able to go back to school?" Ned asked, trying to keep his face open and neutral.

Peter made a face, "Not for a while. We're trying a stronger chemo this week. I still have several rounds left to go, and if they still make me this sick, I won't be able to go to school until I'm done with them. I actually get anti-nausea medication now, though," he added, pointing to the clear bag of fluid.

"When was your last round?" Ned asked, curious.

"This morning."

Ned nodded, "Oh."

"Yeah," Peter said, face downcast, "I get really sick afterwards. I can't even really walk right now."

"That sucks, man," Ned said.

"Yeah."

"Well, I brought homework…," Peter made another face. Ned laughed and continued, "…Legos, a few books, and comic books."

Peter lit up. "Which comic books?"

"Only the best. I brought the newest Star Wars ones, a few new D.C. ones, and this one, which I thought you might get a kick out of."

Ned held up a bright red, gold, and blue comic book. It had Iron Man on it, as well as Spider-Man. The title read, "The Adventures of Iron Man and Spider-man."

"Thanks man!" Peter said, a huge grin on his face, "I doubt it'll be realistic, but I'm sure it'll be funny!"

Suddenly Peter's face fell again. "Do you think I'll ever be Spider-man again?"

"You will," Ned said, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder. "You're going to kick cancer's butt and then you'll be right out there again, just like always, saving the world."

"You think?"

"I know. Peter, you are the strongest person I know. If anyone can beat this thing, it's you."

—

MJ had always noticed Peter. At first, it was because she admired him for his ability to give insightful answers in class. And then, it was for his caring heart that he showed very willingly. After those observations, she began watching him with increasing interest. She noticed his sadness when his uncle died a few years ago and his joy whenever he and Ned shared some nerdy discovery. She noticed the sudden disappearance of his asthma and glasses last January. She noticed how he began to disappear from clubs and meetings and spent more and more time doing something outside of school and less and less time focussing on his schoolwork. She noticed how he disappeared in Washington and when he ran out of the Homecoming dance.

So when he was missing from school for nearly two weeks, MJ noticed.

—

"Where is he?"

It was bright and early on a Monday morning when Ned looked up from his locker to see Michelle standing next to him, arms crossed and eyes not quite hiding her concern.

Ned closed his locker and fidgeted a little with his books. "Um..I don't…"

"And if you're about to tell me you don't know who I'm talking about, first of all, I call bull. Second of all, where's Peter? I know you know," she said, fixing him with a steely glance.

"Um, Michelle…"

"My friends call me MJ."

Ned nodded and tried to hide his surprise.

"Just tell me he's okay," she said, fidgeting with her hands and looking at the floor uncertainly.

"He's not," he said, pulling Michelle- MJ- into an empty classroom.

As soon as he was sure they were alone and shut the door, he turned to her.

"He's sick. He's…really sick."

"Like how sick are we talking about?" she asked hesitantly.

Ned swallowed hard, hating that he had to be the one to tell anyone this news.

"Peter has cancer."

MJ took a step back, her eyes going wide.

"It's a type of aggressive bone cancer in his hip. He's getting treated at a really good place though…"

"How long will he be out of school?"

Ned sighed. "Right now, they don't have an estimate. It's going to be a long time though because his immune system is toast."

MJ nodded, still processing this news.

"When are you visiting him?"

"Um…today after school."

MJ straightened and looked him right in the eye. "I'm going with you."

Ned fidgeted a little. "Um…but.."

"I'm going with you," she said even more firmly, leaving no room for Ned to argue, so he didn't.

"Meet me outside the front door after last hour. I'm getting picked up then."

MJ nodded and promptly left the room.

—

MJ felt very small as she and Ned were driven up to a huge building in upstate New York. It was the Avengers' secret compound.

Breathe, MJ. You're just here to see Peter. Breathe.

She felt out of her element. Maybe even shy. She was used to putting on a brave or disinterested face in font of everyone, but now she felt like her mask was not only being peeled off slowly like a very stuck band-aid, but was about to be ripped off the rest of the way and stomped on. She struggled to keep her feelings off of her face.

She also felt guilty that she hadn't figured out about Peter's illness herself and sooner. She had been watching him for a while, after all.

If she had figured it out, would she have been more or less worried?

If she had figured it out, would she have been more or less supportive?

She supposed that she may never find out.

The car stopped and the driver motioned for her and Ned to get out.

Her usually talkative classmate was quiet as he led her down and through many halls before entering a wing that looked like a hospital and stopping before a door.

M.J. could practically feel herself shaking with nervousness. It was one thing to visit your sick friend, it was another entirely to visit your sick friend who didn't know you wanted to be his friend and didn't know you knew he was sick.

Before opening the door, Ned turned to face her. "He looks pretty bad right now, and he's probably pretty nauseous. They're having a hard time finding an anti-nausea medicine that works for him."

MJ nodded, fiddling with her hands.

Ned nodded back, and then opened the door to a small, comfortably furnished living room.

"You stay here," he said, "I'm going to see if he's up for visitors. It really depends on the day."

MJ nodded again and then sat on the edge of one of the plush chairs, still nervously playing with her hands. Normally in a situation like this, she would just write or draw, but right now, she was too afraid for Peter to be able to concentrate on either.

She took the time to take deep breaths and compose her face, effectively putting her mask back on.

—

Peter looked up when he heard Ned quietly open the door and come into his room. He had heard Ned talking to someone in the hall and in the living area attached to his room, but he didn't know who it was.

"Hey man," he said as soon as his friend came around the bed so Peter could see him better.

Ned gave Peter a little smile.

"Who's in the living room?" Peter asked, curious. Everyone who cared about him and was close enough to him to visit him had already visited before, so he had no idea who Ned could have brought with him.

"Michelle," Ned said with no preamble. "She knew something was wrong because you haven't been in school, so she accosted me in the hallway and demanded answers."

Peter raised his eyebrows. "Okay…."

Ned gave Peter a pleading look. "I told her everything about you being sick. Nothing about," here he whispered, "you-know-who."

Peter continued to look at his friend quizzically.

Ned bit his lower lip before continuing. "Please don't be mad. She asked and demanded answers, and she's scary when she knows you're lying, and…"

Peter sighed. "It's okay, Ned. If anyone was going to figure it out, I'd rather it be Michelle than Flash."

Ned nodded. "Do you want to see her?"

"Sure, as long as she's here."

Ned turned and went to go get her from the other room. Peter sighed again and carefully rolled over to face the door, trying not to get tangled in the tube connected to the anti-nausea cocktail which, for the moment, seemed to be working.

"Hey Michelle," he greeted her when she stepped into the room.

Michelle seemed to take him in for a moment before regaining her composure and nonchalantly sitting in one of the room's chairs.

"My friends call me MJ," she informed him, crossing her legs.

Peter gave her a little smile and nodded before asking, "What are you doing here, MJ?"

She looked him straight in the eye and said, "You're in crisis. I sketch people in crisis."

Peter smiled. It was nice to know he had another person in his corner.

A/N: I almost feel like I cheated when writing this chapter, because most of it is recycled writing from my original (and unrealistic) draft of this story! Some advice for my fellow writers: always save your old drafts; you never know what you can recycle and use for future drafts!

Feel free to leave me a note, I'd love to hear your feedback!