He almost kicked down the door.
"Mary Jane? Mary Jane?" His voice was frantic--desperate. He had not bothered changing out of his costume. He had not bothered using a window. All he cared about was looking his wife in the eyes.
Mary Jane had been sitting on the couch when Spider-Man entered. She was surrounded by damp, used tissues and she held one in her hand. Her face was tear-stained with bleeding mascara. Her hair was a mess, her pajama pants stained with chocolate ice cream. She had not taken the news well.
"Peter?"
"Mary Jane." he gave a sigh of relief, glad to have found her. "God Mary Jane, I remember. Everything is gonna be okay now, okay? I remember?"
"Just like that?"
Spider-Man sat down on the couch next to her after locking the door. He sat and took off his mask and kissed her. "Mary Jane Watson-Parker. I've loved you ever since I can remember. You're a beautiful actress trying to find her big break. We got married and you're the best wife a superhero could have."
Mary Jane smiled, but said nothing. He understood how she felt; it was too good to be true.
"It just happened, MJ, like, boom! It was so sudden. I came here as soon as I finished with Doc Ock and the rest of the Six. I had to see you--Mary Jane, I remember."
"How? I don't believe it."
"Believe me, MJ." He stood, putting his mask back on, tugging it hard so it fit firmly on his head. "I need to meet with Nick Fury, make sure I haven't gotten hit one too many times in the head by megalomaniacs. When I come back we can finish that tub of chocolate ice cream, lie in bed and watch an episode of Seinfeld we've already seen five or six times over."
Mary Jane's face brightened. "You really do remember."
He bent over and kissed her cheek. "I'll be back. I promise."
Mary Jane watched as her husband leaped out of her living room window what she always left unlocked. She smiled. He was back. It was too good to be true, but he was back. He was back before it even fully sunk in that he was gone.
Mary Jane turned on the news, knowing that coverage of the Sinister Six would be scarce, but widespread. He had faced them with nothing but hope; no plan, no information, nothing but his instinct. And in the midst of the battle, he remembered. Just like that. Mary Jane smiled. That was her Peter.
Mary Jane cleaned up all the tissues that were scattered around the floor. She had made such a mess. She washed her face of her mascara that ran down her face along with her tears and cleaned up. She got dressed, brushed her flowing red hair, and threw out the tub of melted ice cream that she had left on the coffee table.
Even though she had nothing to worry about now, even though he remembered, even though the Sinister Six had been defeated, she still cleaned to keep busy. She needed to keep busy because being the wife of a superhero needed to keep busy, because even though this crisis had been adverted and even though he remembered everything, that did not mean the world was a better place. That did not mean that life would be happy. Danger and evil did not care if you were happy. Mary Jane had learned this. She was thrilled that her husband remembered her, she was so happy that he was back and that he was healthy and alive. But now it was back to square one; where she sat home, trying not to watch the news while her husband put himself in mortal combat.
But she stopped thinking so pessimistically and went through their dusted collection of DVD's. The third season of Seinfeld seemed to almost have been waiting for that night. Mary Jane couldn't wait.