Author's Note: I wanted to say that this is my first time writing a story where the love interest is a noncombatant. I like for my stories to have a lot of action and I also want my stories to have a lot of romance. So I tend to have the love interest participate in the action so they can play a big part of the action packed story. This time, I'm doing something a little different; here's hoping it goes well. MJ won't have any powers in this story, but she will be very prominent and have other things going on.

Why am I doing it this way, you may ask. Reason #1, it's always been something I've been curious about trying.

Reason #2, I am actually someone who remembers MJ's role in the Sam Raimi trilogy fondly. That's not to say I'll be making all the same mistakes like multiple love triangles and having her say, "This isn't about you; it's about me," to Peter when he was just trying to make her feel better. But MJ had more depth (in the first film, at least) than a lot of people give her credit for. And, I'm just going to say it, her being a damsel in distress both added to the super hero fantasy and gave the battles higher stakes. I'm not saying that's better than having female superheroes, but it's nice to have variety. If you would like to read a fanfiction with more powerful women, there's plenty of those in my story, Disney Princesses: Extermination.

Reason #3, MJ usually doesn't have powers in canon. And when she does, she's usually a copycat of another character (usually Spider-Man). I wanted Spider-Man to be the only character in this story with his set of powers. In fact, there might be a certain character in this story who's known for having Spider-Man's powers, but won't have them here.

Let me know how you feel about this (after you've read how I execute it). My mind is made up that MJ won't have powers for the duration of this story, but, hypothetically, if I were to ever write a sequel, I would take the feedback into consideration.


"How was school?" Aunt May asked from a couch.

"It was good," Peter said, setting down his backpack. "Really good, actually. I have a date with MJ tonight."

"Really?" she asked, setting aside a laptop she had been using.

"Yeah."

"That's great. It's good to see you getting back out there again."

"I know it took me a while," Peter said. "It's just . . . you know; after what happened to Gwen . . ."

"I know. Peter, could you sit down for a minute," May said with gentle seriousness as she patted the couch cushion next to hers.

Peter was worried by the seriousness in her request, but it was comforting to already know she approved of him going out with MJ. "Alright," he said, sitting next to her.

"Do you trust MJ?" Aunt May asked.

Peter immediately knew where she was going with this. "Sure. I don't know if I would tell her my secret right this second, but-"

"She's going to have to know eventually if you're serious about her."

"I am," Peter said without hesitation.

"You know, Peter, I wish you would have told me sooner than you did."

"I was afraid you would freak out."

"Well, it was a little concerning, but it was my job to freak out a little bit. If she's going to be your girlfriend, maybe she should freak out, too."

"You don't need to tell me my girlfriend should know my secret. I've known ever since Gwen died," Peter said solemnly.

May considered telling him that it wasn't his fault, but she decided it was better to be honest and let the lesson sink in. "Have you thought about what else you would do differently? I mean, how did Green Goblin find out about you?"

Peter sighed uncomfortably, wishing May hadn't brought him up. "I don't know. He never told me. But I've been even more careful ever since then."

"Okay, okay." May released him from the topic, seeing how hard it was for Peter to talk about this. "Enjoy your date. And you don't have to tell her tonight. In fact, there might be such a thing as too soon."

"Thanks, May."


"Where are you going?" MJ's father asked, puffing smoke out of his mouth with each word.

"I have a date tonight," MJ replied.

"Oh, good. We got one less mouth to feed around here tonight."

"Yup," she said, not at all surprised.

"You better not get pregnant," her mother said sternly.

Her father added, "If you get pregnant, you're taking care of it yourself."

"I won't," MJ said, secretly rolling her eyes.

"Hey, is this guy rich like the last one?" her father asked.

"No. I don't think he is."

"You made a big mistake, letting that Osborn kid get away."

"Goodbye," MJ said insistently. She walked out the door and doubled her pace to her car, not wanting either of them to tell her anything else on her way out.

MJ drove to the apartment building, remembering the way perfectly. She had been there on multiple occasions, often going as the girlfriend of Peter's best friend. When she arrived, she knocked on the door and was greeted by May. "Hi, MJ," May greeted.

"Hello, Mrs. Parker. I know I'm early, but is Peter here?"

"Uh . . . Peter had to step out for a minute. But he'll be back soon."

"That's fine. I was supposed to be here at four-thirty, so he has about fifteen minutes before he's late," Mary Jane explained.

"Well, make yourself comfortable in the meantime," May said gesturing to the living room.

"Thanks," she said, stepping in and wishing either of her parents were as warm and pleasant as Peter's Aunt May. Near the entrance were two wedding photos; one of May and Ben Parker, and the other of Richard and Mary Parker.

"I hope you don't mind the news," May said. "They've got Spider-Man on camera live."

"Oh, sweet. I love Spider-Man."

May smiled knowing, not letting her see. As MJ made her way to the couch, May told her, "You look gorgeous, by the way."

"Thank you," MJ replied, looking down at her sparkling, black dress. She wished she had dresses that were skimpier, but she was always worried about what her mother would say if she caught MJ wearing what she actually wanted to wear. And for all she knew, May could've had a problem with it, too. The worst part was the jacket which she felt obligated to keep on so people wouldn't see the bruise on her arm.

MJ sat down on the couch and watched as Spider-Man worked his magic. The news reporter announced, "Police have been told by Spider-Man that he has only ten minutes to resolve the situation and they don't know why."

May sighed, not sounding concerned as much as irritated.

The camera pointed straight into the bank.

Armed gunmen loomed over the hostages as their accomplices loaded their bags with cash.

"Seven crooks, twenty hostages, fourteen minutes till four-thirty. And I need five minutes to get back home and change. Gotta work fast," Spider-Man thought.

Spider-Man stood upside-down on the ceiling. They didn't know he was there and he would have to make good use of the surprise. He waited for the exact right moment when two of them were close together. Spider-Man leaped from the ceiling and landed on one of the crooks. The one next to him turned only to get a quick uppercut. As the crook lifted into the air, Spider-Man wed-grabbed his gun and pulled it into his hands.

Two other crooks quickly turned to take aim, but their reflexes and accuracy couldn't compete. Spider-Man used the gun to shoot one of their guns, damaging it beyond function, but not hitting the crook's body. The other crook almost took aim, but Spider-Man shot his gun as well. Spider-Man spun a web from each hand and pulled them both to him at once. Spider-Man threw them to the floor and covered them in webs to keep them there. Spider-Man took another look at the gun he used to disarm them. "If only I were five years older," he said before casting it to the side, out of the crooks' reach.

There were three crooks left; the ones that had been loading up the money. Spider-Man ran toward the vault, dodging bullets as he went. Spider-man dove at the third to last of them, grabbed him and threw him at another of them.

The crook pointed his gun at the hostages, screaming, "THAT'S ENOUGH! YOU'RE GOING TO LEAVE OR I'LL FILL THESE PEOPLE FULL OF HOLES!"

"That's an interesting strategy," Spider-Man said. "I can't imagine you thought it through, though."

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! I HAVE THE HOSTAGES! I DECIDE WHAT HAPPENS HERE! IF YOU DON'T GET LOST, I'LL SHOOT!"

"And then what?" Spider-Man asked curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"Let say you do shoot a few of them . . ." Spider-Man's voice turned dark. "What do you think I'm going to do to you after that? Your boys couldn't shoot me. You really don't have a chance yourself. And I get real angry when innocent people die." Spider-Man cracked his knuckles threateningly. "Do you know what happened to the last guy who killed someone just to bother me?"

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure what happened to most of him. I only found the head. And that guy was a lot tougher than you are."

The crook trembled, thinking over his doom filled options. In a fit of panic, he aimed at Spider-Man instead of the hostages; how unwise. Spider-Man leapt, ending up right next to the final crook. Spider-Man grabbed his gun and pushed it into a collision with the crook's face. Spider-Man struck him hard in the stomach before throwing him upward and quickly attached webs connecting each of his limbs to a different wall. The crook was left suspended above, completely restrained.

"Amateurs," Spider-Man mocked before running out of the bank in a hurry. As he past the police officers, he quickly told them, "All good in there! Hostages are safe and the gunmen are out or webbed up! Okay, bye!"

Spider-Man launched himself into the air and swung away, congratulating himself for doing that with time to spare.

"Such a boss," MJ cooed, beaming at the T.V. "He took um down like that," she added with a snap.

May was not amused. "I think he rushed that. Someone could've gotten hurt."

"He had to act fast to make sure they didn't hurt anyone," Mary Jane argued. "Besides, nobody died."

"I guess not. I just hope he doesn't start forming bad habits," May said, her arms crossed sternly.

The reporter said, "The police have confirmed that Spider-Man only used the firearm to disarm the assailants; none of them have sustained fatal injuries."

"See? He's still going the extra mile when he could have done it the easy way," MJ pointed out.

"Made it," Peter said from behind them. When they turned their heads to him, Peter was surprised to see Mary Jane there already. "Oh. Hey, MJ."

"Peter? How did you get back inside? I didn't hear the front door open," MJ asked, making Peter a little nervous.

"Peter had to do something on the fire escape. He came back through the window," May explained.

"Okay," MJ said, taking that at face value. With that out of the way, MJ focused on Peter's look. He was wearing a bright red blazer with a matching pair of pants. Under the blazer was a black, button up shirt. The only problem was his slightly messed up hair, but May was quick to bound to her feet and fix it up a bit. Peter was kind of embarrassed, but that was better than having messed up hair all night.

"Have a nice date," May said.

"Thanks."

"And be home by nine o'clock," she told Peter, looking serious.

"Right, right," Peter said, intimidated.

May dropped her strict façade with a laugh. "Kidding. I trust you. Midnight is fine."

"My mom will kill me if I'm out past eight. We better get going," MJ said.

Everyone said their goodbyes and they were off. As soon as Peter closed the door behind them, Mary Jane asked, "Does your aunt really trust you to be out all night?"

"She kind of hast to," Peter thought. He told MJ, "Yeah. I mean, I never did anything to lose trust over. And we already talked about what is and isn't acceptable behavior. Do you really need to be home by eight? Because the movie is two hours long."

"Unfortunately, yes. Last time I was out past eight, she blew her top." What MJ didn't tell him was that her mother burned her favorite dress. And she had only been out five minutes past eight.

"Well, we can still make it. That gives us enough time," Peter said.

They climbed inside her car and MJ put on some music. She intentionally picked the dirtiest album she had to see if Peter could handle her at her most explicit. She even sang along with the naughtier verses. "You have a really good voice," Peter complimented.

"That's your take away?" MJ laughed. "I would have thought you were from a PG 13 household."

"The household sure, but you'd be surprised how little fazes me at this point. One time, a guy yelled both f words at me and threw a bottle at me," Peter said, unbothered.

"Really? What did you do?"

"I caught the bottle and smashed it over his head," Peter said proudly.

"Oh, uh-huh. Sure, you did," MJ huffed, assuming he was joking.

Peter knew she wouldn't believe that story, but he was not joking.


When they got to the restaurant, they were shown to their table where Peter pulled the chair out for MJ. "That's new," MJ thought before taking her seat.

As soon as the waitress was gone, MJ said, "So, I've been dying to ask; have you just been waiting for me to break up with Harry this whole time? You haven't dated anyone after Gwen until now."

"It's a little more complicated than that," Peter said uncomfortably.

"I might not be a genius like you, but if you talk slow, I'm sure I can wrap my small mind around it," MJ mused.

"I thought about dating a few other girls. But I saw them all as lesser than Gwen. I didn't want to date them and then treat them like they were lesser than Gwen. She was really something special, you know?"

"So . . . I'm not lesser than Gwen to you?" MJ asked, a little surprised.

"No. You're not. I might have dated someone else if I could find anyone on Gwen's and your level, but I couldn't."

MJ stared at him, stunned. She found the idea of her being as good as Gwen ridiculous. Gwen was top of her class, never broke the rules and knew how to achieve her career goals. She wanted to ask Peter why he saw her that way, but doing so would have exposed her insecurities and she wasn't brave enough for that. MJ tried to think of something to say, but they were both distracted by the sound of sirens blaring.

Through the windows, they saw two police cars chasing after a speeding suspect. When MJ set her eyes back on Peter, she saw a very odd reaction. Peter was staring at the table, anger boiling inside him. His fists were clenched on the table and his lips were tightly pursed as he held completely still.

"You okay, Pete?" MJ asked, concerned if not amused.

Peter sucked in a deep breath through his nose, trying to relax. "I'm sure the police can handle it," he said pleasantly.

"Yeah. They can."

"They'll catch up to that car, then the driver will kindly pull over and apologize to the officers for his reckless driving," Peter fantasized.

"Okay," MJ laughed. "Unless the driver starts shooting people."

Peter shushed her, placing a finger on her lips. "No, no, no," he said calmly. "No one is going to get shot. Everything will be just fine."

"If you say so, Tiger." Changing the subject, MJ asked, "You said before that you felt guilty about Gwen. But why? It wasn't your fault."

Peter sucked in a deep breath, trying to figure out how to approach this question. "It's a bit complicated, but basically, I tried to save her, but I couldn't."

"No one could expect you to save her, Pete. It's not like you're Spider-Man."

Peter let out a small, somber laugh and shook his head, amused by his own misery.

"This isn't like not standing up to some random jerk for her," Mary Jane said. "Green Goblin was dangerous even by supervillain standards. Spider-Man could barely handle him. There's nothing you could have done."

Peter knew that wasn't true. But he didn't know how to tell her at this stage. "I heard that it was an accident," Peter said, a little choked up. "Green Goblin dying, I mean. Do you think it's messed up that I wish Spider-Man killed him on purpose?"

"No," MJ said, not needing to think it over for very long. "It's natural to feel that way. I miss Gwen. And that freak almost killed me, too. If I had the chance, I would have made him suffer first. I know Spider-Man likes to give out second chances, but no one would have blamed him if he had an exception that one time." Now, that made Peter feel better.

"Since we're saying things that are kind of dark, can I admit something?" MJ requested.

"Sure."

"I know it's selfish. But I wish Gwen had moved out of New York long before any of us met her. I wish she wasn't your girlfriend when I met you. I wish I didn't date Harry because you were already taken. I wish she wasn't there when the Goblin came around." MJ regretted saying that. "I'm sorry. I know what I'm supposed to say is, 'I wish you and Gwen could have been happy forever', but-"

"Maybe that would have been for the best. If we never met Gwen, she could have had a pretty good life," Peter said. "Were you interested when I was dating Gwen?"

MJ opened her mouth about to say one thing, but she decided to say the truth instead. "No," she told him.

"Ouch," Peter said playfully.

"No, not 'ouch'," MJ said, a little frustrated with herself. "I wasn't interested because I was after the popular, rich guy when I should have been looking for the guy that would treat me right. I don't care that you're not rich; not anymore."

"Was Harry really so bad that he got you to swear off rich guys?" Peter asked, trying to lighten the conversation.

"I've just been thinking about what's really important lately," MJ explained. "I guess I've liked you for a while, I just didn't realize it until recently."

Peter wanted to enjoy the fact that she wanted to date him for the right reasons, but he couldn't help but be embarrassed. All that time he spent, fantasizing about her, she wasn't fantasizing about him. He wanted to be the one she needed the way he needed her. He hoped this would be the night he told her he loved her, but after hearing that, he wouldn't risk more embarrassment.

"I knew you liked me, by the way," MJ said, making him more embarrassed.

"You . . . did."

"It wasn't hard to see."

Peter didn't know how to tell her that it hurt that she didn't breakup with Harry sooner so she could be with him. He knew it shouldn't have hurt, but he couldn't help it. MJ apparently knew she could have had Peter, but she chose to stay with Harry for a while. Peter tried to take solace in what MJ said about what's really important. And he knew he shouldn't have felt that way. He was on a date with MJ; he had what he wanted. What did it matter that she dated someone else for a while? "What gave it away?" Peter asked.

MJ scooted her chair next to his and stared into his eyes. Peter thought it odd that she did this instead of answering his question, but he didn't complain and he didn't break eye-contact. Captivated by her seductive, green eyes, he hoped that his hazel eyes would be enough for her. "The eye-contact," MJ answered. "You struggle to look into people's eyes for very long because you're socially awkward. But not my eyes. You can just keep staring and staring."

MJ had him pegged. Peter didn't like looking into most people's eyes for long because it felt intimate. And he couldn't help but see that intimacy as sexual which usually made it uncomfortable. But when he looked into MJ's eyes, he wanted that intimacy; it was sometimes hard to look away. Peter was starting to get over the embarrassment. The way MJ was looking at him was enough to quell his insecurities.

For no reason MJ could discern, Peter whipped his head around, distressed. He looked worried, as if he had heard a gunshot. But MJ didn't hear anything.

"You okay, Tiger?"

Peter didn't say anything. He just kept staring out the window.

"Earth to Tiger; what's up?"

Suddenly they could hear screaming coming from outside. MJ didn't know how, but Peter apparently knew something was wrong before anyone else. "Not now," Peter groaned in frustration.

A few people ran past the window on the outside before a rat-monster busted through. It stood on its slightly humanoid hindlegs and sniffed the air in search of food.

MJ rattled in her seat. Her eyes were wide open as she let out the loudest and longest scream in the room. She jumped up and backed away, nearly tripping over her chair.

Peter, on the other hand, rose slowly from his seat, looking at Vermin as if it were a drunk neighbor who showed up to a birthday party uninvited.

Peter was seething at the wretched rat-monster that dared interrupt the first date he had in a year. "I am gonna turn you into cat food and sell the cans to crazy cat ladies," Peter said.


Author's Note: The reason I chose Vermin for this part of the story is because I needed a way for a supervillain to interrupt the date. So how do you get a supervillain to attack a restaurant? By having that villain be a wild animal in search of food, of course. This version is a little different from the canon Vermin. The canon Vermin is basically a human with rat characteristics. This Vermin is a mutated rat that was never human. Also, this Vermin can't summon rats like the canon one can. I was actually going to have a giant rat monster be a villain that had nothing to do with Vermin, but then I remembered that there was already a rat-themed Spider-Man villain, so I just gave that monster the name, "Vermin".


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Couple Reviews by MVPKnight