Chapter 5 [Daily Bugle—An Hour and Fifteen Minutes After Chapter 3]
[A/N: Even if I don't necessarily buy the whole deal with the Parallel Lives graphic novel, I'm using it here. This one starts off at least Mary Jane-Centric, hits on the potential love triangle and moves back to where it should be.]
Gwen stole yet another look toward the coffee shop's entrance and front windows. Her luke warm coffee barely had four sips taken from it. She tapped her fingers on the table. Her mind kept wandering up the elevator shaft to a certain dark room and a certain boyfriend. She shook her head.
"Pete's okay," MJ assured her. She drained her second refill of coffee. Besides Pete, she worried about Harry. Hopefully the docs can give him something to get him past this garbage. She sighed. Given that certain brown-haired photographers were off limits, she'd played the field. Lifehad been too hard between her parents, stepfather's and sister's issues. Between the clubs and modeling gigs, Escape had numbed her to all of Madness' extremes. Hanging out with the gang from ESU had been a welcome connection to the real world.
And yet Reality used that tie to pull her back down again….
Can I be with Harry? She enjoyed being with him all right. They'd shared a few laughs and some pretty ritzy dinners in places she'd never dream of being on her own. He made her feel at ease at times. Still Commitment sagged down on her shoulders. She looked down at Light's shimmers on the hot liquid in her cup. She loved Freedom's buzz. On it, she soared above the clouds. Yet eventually she came crashing back down to earth again.
And so did everyone else too around herself. Secrets dogged them all it seemed. Harry had his addiction issues. Flash Thompson had PTSD issues from Vietnam and feelings for a woman he couldn't be with. Gwen still blamed Spider-Man for his death.
MJ shook her head. Spider-Man.
"Something wrong?" Gwen noticed her reaction.
"Hmm? Sorry. Just thinking of Harry." MJ shrugged the notion off. "Too wound up with his family stuff. I wish that boy could relax." Just like Petey.
"He and Peter are a pair. They're both wound up so tight," Gwen lamented. "Well I'm going to make sure Peter relaxes when he's done here." She squinted at the entrance once again before turning back to MJ. "Maybe you could sneak back in to see Harry if his father's not there?"
MJ rolled her eyes. "Yeah like Peter could've managed to sneak in if your Dad had put you on lockdown?" She shook her head. Problem is that wouldn't have made any difference. Pete would've crawled over those officers, webbed them up or just bulled his way through them. She tapped her fingers on the table.
Her friend…her crush…her favorite superhero…all in one neurotic yet driven package….
Memoria teased her with that scene long before. She'd come to visit her Aunt Anna. During that time, she'd watched the Ed Carson Show. Awe overwhelmed her at Spidey's segment. She admired his strength and skill on the set. His interview seemed breezy and carefree to her. Envy occupied her thoughts in that moment.
And then Irony and Tragedy turned everyone's lives upside down. Two shots rang out in the night stirring up the entire neighborhood. Police cars lined the block. Their strobes cast the houses in red and blue hues. Aunt Anna consoled May as best she could manage. The police brought Ben's body under a sheet.
And that's when Peter came into the picture. He must've been coming from the show's set. He ran toward his house. An officer tried to tell him the news. Peter brushed past the bigger man with surprising ease. Aunt Anna told him to catch his breath and then join them at her house. He turned and rushed into his Aunt's house. The door slammed behind him.
MJ looked up as the upstairs windows lit up. She tried to figure out a strategy…some way to console Peter. Some way to help. Some way…
And then the visiting red head's world turned completely upside down…
She swore she saw Spidey crawl out of a window. She blinked but a second look confirmed that fact. She watched him glance around. The now familiar finger motion preceded a web line attaching itself to a nearby house. Obsession blinded him to anything and everything around himself. He banked closer to the Watson house before disappearing into the night. She could make out his mouth outline through his mask…
…contorted in a silent scream….
MJ shook herself from her reverie. She studied Gwen across the table. Captain Stacy's death must eat Peter alive. From the TV footage, she saw Spider-Man leaning close to the elder Stacy. He nodded as the elder man said something with his last words. Peter loves Gwen anyway. He's going to marry her. Her Dad said something.
"I wish Peter would find something else besides these pictures. Following Spider-Man around is always getting him hurt," Gwen lamented.
MJ remained stoic. She knew it was Peter's secret to tell not hers. "That's how he earns his bread, Gwen."
Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Peter and I can pursue postdoctoral studies! He's brilliant if he'd apply himself, MJ!" She shook her head. "I mean what is so important about following Spider-Man anyway?"
Wouldn't you like to know? You'd never believe it, MJ told herself. She sipped on her coffee. "Sure you don't want your cup warmed up?"
Gwen cast a forlorn look toward her cup. "I'm sorry, Mary Jane. I know I should be talking to Peter about these things instead of burdening you."
"Hey that's what friends are for." MJ put her best grin on. She took a big gulp of coffee to ease Deflection's strategy onward. "Maybe Peter's done by now? How about we go back up?"
Gwen nodded. "The sooner he is, the sooner I take him back to my apartment. I'll make sure that Man of Mine stays put." She affirmed.
MJ nodded. Man of Hers…yeah. You like Harry, MJ. Just go with him. She finished her coffee. "Lead on then, Girl."
Gwen smiled. "Thanks for listening. Come on."
The two girls headed back for the elevator and their obligation upstairs….