(Author's note: thanks to all of you who have been reading so far. Here is the fifth and final chapter that I promised. Remember that, as of the end of last chapter, Peter and Mary Jane both have all of their memories except for those that pertain to the fact that Peter is Spider-Man. That is why, throughout this chapter, Peter is continuously unaware of or unable to remember things that were caused by or pertain directly to that fact.)

Chapter Five

A week or two after he had been reunited with his wife and had first noticed the strange, inexplicable gaps in his memory, Peter Parker sat at the kitchen table of the apartment he shared with Mary Jane, eating a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs. He had just gotten up a little while ago and was only wearing a pair of shorts with no shirt. Mary Jane was still asleep, but he had made enough breakfast for her as well.

To say the least, the past few weeks had been enjoyable, if not quite unusual, for him and Mary Jane. Peter was certainly thankful and glad to have such a wonderful, loving wife, but he was still plagued and perplexed by the mystery of what had happened with the space-time continuum and the time in which he and Mary Jane apparently hadn't been married. He had a whole slew of assorted memories from the past several months. Almost all of his memories had gaps in them, and some of them now seemed like they hadn't actually happened—which, if the space-time continuum had indeed been altered, he supposed it was true that they technically hadn't happened after all. And he knew that the whole thing somehow centered around Spider-Man, a few other superheroes, and a villainous demon named Mephisto, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't piece much together beyond that. Maybe Peter would never know what had happened, and maybe it didn't matter, since he was back with Mary Jane and they were happy together again, but he still couldn't help but wonder.

Peter was thirsty, and his cup was empty. Resolving to try to put the mystery of his jumbled memories out of mind for now, he stood up and walked to the fridge in search of more orange juice. Suddenly, before he even had a chance to open the fridge, Peter felt a strange sensation, almost like some sort of warning, as if something was coming right towards him at that very moment. Acting on instinct, he made a small jump to the other side of the kitchen and spun around to see what danger the sensation had come from.

Mary Jane, still in her bedtime clothes and arms outstretched as if to give him a hug, stood right behind where Peter had been just a moment ago.

"Oh, Mary Jane!" Peter exclaimed. "It's just you."

"Whoa, there, Tiger," she said, playful though surprised. "Where'd you learn to jump like that?"

"I...I don't know," Peter answered honestly. "I had the weirdest feeling, as if I was in some sort of danger and I was able to know it beforehand, and then...I just jumped out of the way, I guess."

"If you ask me, a wife trying to give her husband a surprise morning hug from behind doesn't exactly sound very dangerous," Mary Jane commented.

"No, you're right, it doesn't," Peter said. "I don't know what happened. But what was that about a morning hug?" He walked over to her eagerly and wasted no time in wrapping his arms tightly around her attractive figure.

"One giant-sized morning hug, coming right up," Mary Jane said.

"Now, that's what I like to hear," said Peter. He relished the feeling of holding her in his arms and being simultaneously held in her arms. Even after years of marriage, this never got old for him. He loved his wife. He loved seeing her and being with her and feeling her enticing touch. It was possibly the happiest feeling he had ever known. Still holding her close, Peter looked at his wife's lovely face and the thick red hair that flowed down from it. "Hey, MJ," he said.

"Yes, Peter?" she asked.

"Have I ever told you that you're beautiful?"

"Yes, Peter."

"Can I tell you again?"

She smiled. "Sure, go ahead."

"You're beautiful," Peter said sincerely, gently kissing her lips. "You're the most beautiful woman in the whole wide world."

"Why, Peter Parker," Mary Jane said, blushing slightly. "You're a shameless flatterer, do you know that?"

"It's only flattery if it's not true," Peter retorted quickly. "But it really is true that you're the most beautiful woman in the whole wide world—and not just the regular ol' world, either, but the whole wide world, which is a lot bigger, and contains many more women who are still not as beautiful as you."

Mary Jane giggled. "Well, if you say so," she conceded. "But you're not too shabby yourself, you know." She moved her finger lovingly across the well-defined lines of her husband's chest. "Just look at those big muscles, after all."

"Yeah," said Peter, looking down at his muscular frame. "And to think they used to call me 'Puny Parker' in high school."

"Well, I'm certainly glad you're not so puny anymore," said Mary Jane. "How did you get so strong, anyway?"

"Well, towards the end of high school, I—" Peter stopped. He had always remembered that there was some event that had caused him to transform from a slim weakling into a stronger, more muscular man—but what was it? He didn't remember ever working out very much. Why couldn't he remember? "I don't remember," Peter said, confused. "I guess it just happened after a while, but I don't know. I really don't remember."

"Your memories are still hazy, too?" Mary Jane asked, taking on a more serious tone.

"Yeah," answered Peter. "I thought it was just the stuff about the past several months, but now it seems like years of my memories have gaps in them. I guess it has something to do with whatever huge, cosmic event messed with both of our memories before."

"This whole thing is just really, really weird," Mary Jane said with a worried tone. "I mean, I seem to remember a time recently when we weren't married, but that doesn't make any sense, because I also remember us being married for all these years, and I know that's what really happened...isn't it?"

"Yes," said Peter. "It is. It must be. I remember being with you this whole time...like, we just moved into this new apartment last month, and I remember that, but I also remember us not being married...it's like I have two different sets of memories, and neither of them are quite complete. There's something missing...something having to with Spider-Man, I'm pretty sure."

"I don't like this, Peter," Mary Jane said.

"I know," said Peter. "I don't like it either. But we'll figure it out. We have to. We always do, right?"
"But...what if we don't?" Mary Jane asked.

Peter didn't have an answer. "Tell you what," he said. "Next time I see Spider-Man swinging around town, I'll wave him down and make sure I get some answers from him, okay?" Peter didn't sound very reassuring, probably because he didn't feel very reassured.

"Okay...that sounds great, Peter," Mary Jane said, trying not to sound worried even though she actually was. Concerned and no longer feeling romantic, she slowly pulled away from her husband's embrace.

"Good," said Peter. "Hey, do you want some breakfast? I made bacon and eggs. Sit down and I'll serve you some."

Peter proceeded to eat an uneventful breakfast with his wife, but the tension of the mysterious happenings in their lives hung heavily over everything they said.

***

Later that day, Peter grabbed his trusty camera, stepped outside, and began to walk. Mary Jane had left shortly earlier to run some errands—getting groceries and such, Peter assumed—and he had an errand to do as well. He had been so far unsuccessful in finding a new steady job (he wanted to go back to teaching, but was stuck until a position opened up at the high school), so in the meantime, he could always fall back on taking pictures of Spider-Man. He especially wanted to see Spider-Man today, in case the wall-crawler knew what the heck was up with his and Mary Jane's memories. If Spider-Man couldn't help, then Peter didn't know what he would do next, but he would cross that bridge when he got to it. Right now, his main objective was finding Spider-Man in the first place. That shouldn't be hard—he had done it so many times before. He would just have to—

Peter stopped and thought. How was he going to find Spider-Man? For that matter, how had he always managed to find Spider-Man and get all those great pictures all those times in the past? Once again, to Peter's dismay, he couldn't remember. He remembered all the times that he had sold pictures to the Daily Bugle, but he didn't remember taking any of them, and he certainly didn't remember how he was always able to find Spider-Man each time. Did Peter have some sort of special friendship with Spider-Man? Did Spider-Man tip him off before he was about to show up somewhere? Why couldn't he remember? This was crazy, and it needed to be fixed—fast. All the more reason for Peter to find Spider-Man as soon as he possibly could.

"Hmm," Peter said to himself, trying to make light of the situation. "If I were Spider-Man, where would I be?" He tried to answer that question logically, but something inside his mind was somehow preventing him from imagining himself as Spider-Man. He tried again.

"Okay, well...what would Spider-Man be doing on a day like this?" Peter asked aloud. "I guess it depends on who you believe. Some people say that Spidey's a hero who fights crime, but people like Jolly Jonah always seem to think that he's a menace and a criminal himself. Either way, I guess he's usually around a crime in progress. The problem is that this is New York, where there are probably no fewer than six dozen crimes in progress at any given moment." Peter sighed.

He didn't know what to do, but he didn't want to give up yet. He got on one of the public buses and decided to just ride around town for a while, hoping and praying that he might happen to run in to Spider-Man—or at least something newsworthy, so he could take pictures and not make a total waste of the day. Maybe if he stopped at a place where there was likely to be a crime, he would get lucky and Spider-Man would show up. Peter eventually decided to get off at the bus stop a few blocks away from First National Bank, just in case there happened to be a robbery in progress.

Trying to ignore his distress and confusion, Peter walked down the sidewalk towards the bank, passing several buildings with obscure alleys behind them, but seeing no sign of crime. It was early afternoon, the sun was shining brightly, and it was entirely the wrong time of day for the sort of underhanded deals and deeds that usually took place in dark, obscure alleys. He approached the bank, dejected.

Suddenly, Peter felt the same strange tingling sensation which he had felt at breakfast this morning. A man wearing a ski mask and a dark jacket, holding a bag full of stolen money, was running right towards him.

Peter saw two security guards charge out of the bank, running desperately after the masked man. All of them were coming in his direction. There was no sign of Spider-Man, and if he didn't arrive soon, it would be too late. Peter was in a dangerous position and he didn't want to be hurt by the crook, but now that he had finally found a crime in progress, he didn't want to just stand by and do nothing, either.

"Hey!" one of the guards shouted at him. "Stop that guy!"

The thief was about to run right past Peter.

Peter stuck his leg out into the middle of the sidewalk.

Running at full momentum, the crook hit Peter's leg, tripped, and fell flat on his face on the rough pavement of the sidewalk.

For some reason, the whole thing felt slightly familiar to Peter.

Before the fallen thug could get back up, the security guards ran over, holding handcuffs and ready to apprehend the crook. "Thanks," one of them said to Peter. "He would've gotten away if you hadn't stopped him."

"Uh, no problem," Peter said, proud of himself but still a bit unnerved by the whole situation. "Hey, do you mind if I take a couple pictures? I'm a news photographer."

Peter took a few pictures of the guards arresting the thief and walked away with a slight sense of self-satisfaction about justice having been done. He got back on the bus and headed for home, but he hadn't found Spider-Man, and he still had no idea what was wrong with his memories. He was starting to get worried.

***

Mary Jane was not at the store shopping for groceries, as Peter had assumed. Instead, she was going to her local doctor.

This whole thing with all her conflicting memories was starting to really disturb Mary Jane, and she would have gone in for psychiatric help immediately if she thought it would fix the problem, but the fact that Peter was suffering from a similar crisis confirmed that it wasn't just in her own mind—it really must be some crazy cosmic catastrophe involving heroes and demons and Spider-Man, as far-fetched and unbelievable as that seemed. As much as she would like to get mental help of some sort from the doctor—or to just do anything that would somehow improve things—she couldn't, and so she had decided on the next best thing: she would take her mind off of the problem by going to the doctor for something else entirely, because she felt like she needed to anyway.

Even aside from the problems with her memory, Mary Jane had been feeling strange lately. She had only felt this way once before, years ago, and it had ended in such disappointment and sorrow that she hadn't wanted to get her hopes up again. But she was feeling it again now, and so she was going to the doctor to get it checked out. Maybe some good news, if there really was any, would brighten things up, despite the ever-growing mystery of her memories.

She walked into the doctor's office and sat in the waiting room for a while, impatiently leafing through an old magazine to which she paid no attention at all. Eventually, the doctor called her in and ran some tests. Mary Jane did some more waiting, and a little while after that, the doctor handed her a piece of paper.

"Congratulations," the doctor said.

Something in Mary Jane's soul brightened up.

***

Later, Peter walked through the door of his apartment and saw Mary Jane sitting on the couch, watching TV. She had a bowl of ice cream in her lap, an open jar of pickles with a fork hanging out of it on the end table next to the couch, and a glass of soda, which she gently sipped, in her right hand. "Hey, Peter," she said as he entered.

"Hey, Mary Jane," Peter said, glancing curiously at her choices of food. "Pickles and ice cream?" he asked. "Why, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were—" Peter stopped short, not daring to voice what he was thinking.

"What?" asked Mary Jane.

Peter grinned. "Crazy," he finished playfully. "I mean, what kind of a crazy combination is that, anyway?"

"Hey, don't knock it 'til you've tried it," Mary Jane retorted. An awkward silence ensued, and then Mary Jane asked, "So…did you find Spider-Man?"

Peter's shoulders sagged. "No," he admitted. "I didn't. I'll just have to keep looking, I guess."

"Oh," said Mary Jane, disappointed and not knowing how else to respond.

"We'll figure this out, Mary Jane," he said sympathetically.

She sighed. "I know we will, Peter."

Peter began walking toward their bedroom, worn out from his adventures and wanting to change into something more relaxing.

"Hey, Peter?" Mary Jane called. "I need to tell you something—"

"Hold on, honey," Peter called back, already in the next room. "Let me put my camera away and change out of these clothes."

"But it's—"

"Give me a minute, MJ," Peter replied. In the bedroom that he shared with his wife, Peter noticed that he had finished the current roll of film on his camera. He carefully took it out, put it in the small plastic canister to be developed, and then returned the camera to its usual place on the shelf in their closet. Peter threw the film canister onto the bedside table to remind himself to get it developed later, but he was absent-minded—still preoccupied with the mystery of his memories—and didn't take careful aim. The canister rolled off of the table, onto the floor, and under the bed.

"Oh, great," Peter mumbled to himself. "Wouldn't it be just my luck if that just ruined the film? Well, it's not like I had any great Spider-Man pictures on there anyway."

With a groan, he bent down, placing one hand on the wall and one on the floor, so he could look under the bed. Two things surprised him. First, for some reason, his hand almost seemed to stick to the wall as soon as he touched it, and it took a little more effort than it normally would for him to pull it away when he needed to. Secondly, though it was hard to make out under the bed, he noticed a wad of reddish cloth that he hadn't remembered seeing there before. Curious and temporarily forgetting about the film canister, Peter reached under the bed and pulled out the cloth to examine it more closely. Something heavy and metallic-sounding was dragging along with it as he pulled. "What is this?" Peter asked himself. He got the unknown item out from under the bed, stared at it for a few seconds, and then gasped.

"How in the world…?"

Mary Jane heard him from the other room. "Peter? Is everything okay?"

Peter looked down at the thin red tights he had found, decorated with portions of blue, a criss-cross web pattern, and the familiar insignia of a spider on the chest. A matching mask with two-way mirrors for the oversized eyes sat on top, and so did two circular metallic devices that looked like they could be worn on the wrists. With a million questions racing through his mind, Peter picked up one of the wrist-mounts and examined it with scientific curiosity. A little lever extended from the circular part, and when he pressed down on it, a thin strand of sticky web fluid shot suddenly out from the device and across the room, where it stuck to the wall.

"No way…" said Peter. Amazed and perplexed, he put the web-shooter down and stood up. "Hey, Mary Jane? I think you should come see this!"

He heard fast-paced footsteps as his wife rushed into the room. She, too, gasped upon seeing what Peter had found. "Peter, how—"

"I found it under our bed, Mary Jane," Peter explained honestly. "I have no idea how it got there."

"Under our bed?" she repeated incredulously, bending down to examine the costume for herself. "You found it just lying there?"

"Yes," said Peter. "I—I have no idea what it means."

"Well, what do you think it means?" Mary Jane asked, becoming agitated at all these unexplained events. "It means he's been here. Somehow, sometime, for some unknown reason, Spider-Man has been here, in our apartment, and he decided to stash one of his spare costumes with us."

"Yeah…" said Peter, struggling to make sense of it all. The facts that Mary Jane had stated were obvious, but Peter couldn't think of a remotely reasonable explanation. His usual wit and eloquence with words failed him as he tried to come up with something. "Uh…maybe Spider-Man lives near here, and he needed to leave his costume somewhere so no one would find it."

"We found it, Peter," Mary Jane reminded him. "And whatever motive Spider-Man had, or whatever good he may or may not have done for the city, that doesn't give him the right to break into private property whenever he wants to."

"You're right," Peter acknowledged. "I'm just trying to imagine why he would have done it."

"Peter…do you think maybe he was trying to frame you?" Mary Jane asked.

"Frame me?" Peter repeated. "For what?"

"I don't know. Lots of things. Isn't Spider-Man always running from the cops or having to clear his name of some robbery or murder? There are plenty of possibilities!"

"Come on, MJ, Spider-Man wouldn't do something like that," Peter protested, for some reason feeling like Spider-Man was still a good guy, even if he couldn't explain it.

"How do you know, Peter?" she asked him. "I mean, sure, you've taken pictures of him all these years, and I know you've seen him stop crimes and such, but how much do you really know about the man beneath the mask?"

"Well…not much," Peter admitted.

"That's right," Mary Jane said sternly. "He's not really the kind of guy you hang out with and get to know on the weekends. You have no idea what he'd do or why he'd do it. You can't rule out the possibility, at least."

Peter's heart sunk. "Maybe you're right," he admitted. "I don't remember ever even talking to him much. I never thought he was a criminal, but I guess I could be wrong." He paused to think a bit more, and then said, "I guess we should call the police or something, huh? This could be valuable evidence, after all."

"I think that's a good idea," Mary Jane said.

Reluctantly, his brain an even greater explosion of confusion than it had been before, Peter picked up the phone and dialed.

***

Wearing his civilian clothes instead of his Wolverine costume, Logan sat across the table from Luke Cage in the secret hideout of the unregistered New Avengers. Logan took a swig of beer, let out an enormous belch, and then grinned smugly at Cage. He held in his hand the four, five, six, seven, and eight of spades, facing towards him so that Cage couldn't see them. Cage picked up a couple cards from the deck, examined his hand, and then returned Logan's smug smile.

"You done?" Logan asked him.

"Yep," Cage said confidently.

Logan smacked his cards down face up on the table, spreading them out for Cage to see. "Straight!" he announced proudly. "Okay, whaddya got, Cage?"

"Oh, not much," Cage said sarcastically, laying out his cards on the table. Logan's mouth dropped open in dismay as he saw the ten, jack, queen, king, and ace of hearts all laid out in a row. "Just a royal flush."

Logan jumped up and pounded the table angrily. "You cheated!" he shouted.

"I won fair and square," Cage insisted. "Now where's that twenty bucks we had on this hand?"

"You ain't getting' money outta me for bein' a cheat," Wolverine shot back.

Angrily, Cage stood up to face him. "Logan, I did not cheat!"

"You sure about that, bub?" Logan asked, clenching his fist.

The door opened and closed again. Both Logan and Cage looked and saw the regal-looking figure of Doctor Strange in his full magician attire enter the room. "Gentlemen," Strange addressed them skeptically.

"Uh…hey, great game, huh, Cage?" Logan managed, unclenching his fist and extending his hand to shake Luke's.

Cage ignored him. "What's up, Doc?" he asked of Strange.

"I am deeply concerned about something," Strange told them. "Tell me—have either of you seen or heard from Spider-Man lately?"

"Not me," said Cage.

"Nope," Logan agreed. "I haven't seen the webhead in weeks. I wonder where he's been? Ya think a guy could take the time to hang out with his teammates once in a while."

"Nor have I," Strange stated, "And I'm trying to figure out why. "I have some idea, but I need to investigate further."

"Investigate?" Logan repeated. "You don't think Spidey's been kidnapped or sumthin', do ya?"

"No," said Strange. "However, my powers have detected an unusual imbalance in the cosmic fabric of the space/time continuum as of late, and it seems to be dripping with Spider-Man's residual energy signature."

"Oh," said Logan. "Shoulda guessed."

"Tell me, do either of you remember a battle a few weeks ago?"

"Doc, I remember lotsa battles," Logan said.

"Can you be more specific, Doctor?" Cage asked, trying to be helpful.

"I seem to remember a battle in which we teamed up with the Fantastic Four to help Spider-Man battle a group of villains led by Mephisto," Doctor Strange explained. "But I remember it in another realm, as if it occurred in a separate thread of time. Do either of you know what I'm talking about?"

"Nope," said Logan. "Sorry, Doc."
"Can't say that I do," Cage put in. "What are you getting at, Doctor?"

"I'm not sure," said Strange. "But something very unusual is going on. I know that much.

That's why I was wondering if either of you knew of Spider-Man's whereabouts, because I'd like to see if he knows enough to straighten this whole thing out."

"Didja try callin' him?" Logan asked facetiously.

"I am not in possession of Spider-Man's telephone number, nor even of his true name," Strange said. He looked up at his teammates once again. "I don't suppose either of you know his real name, either?"

The silence of Logan and Luke told Strange the answer to his question.

"I fear that something is very wrong here, especially if it involves Mephisto or changes to the space/time continuum," said Strange. "I feel that finding Spider-Man will be the key to the mystery, though it may be dangerous. If I were to set out in search of him, would you be interested in accompanying me?"

Logan shrugged. "Sure. Got nothin' better to do."

"How are you going to find him, though?" Cage inquired.

Strange lowered his head. "I don't like to use my power for this, but in this case, I'm not sure what option we have," he said. He spoke a series of magical words in some language totally foreign to both Logan and Luke. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light, and an amazing sight appeared in front of the three men. Hanging in the air in giant, translucent letters were the words 'Peter Parker', and the image of the face of a plain-looking man with dark hair appeared directly beneath them.

"I think I've found our Spider-Man," Doctor Strange said.

***

A short while ago, a few NYPD officers had come into Peter and Mary Jane's apartment and carefully placed the Spider-Man costume and webshooters into a large bag, where they would be taken to the precinct to be studied. The rest of the room had been scoured for clues (with the Parkers' permission, of course), but nothing else had turned up. Now, one of the officers stood with Peter and Mary Jane in their bedroom, asking them questions.

"You just found this lying under your bed?" the man asked Peter.

"Yes," Peter confirmed.

"And you have no idea how it could have possibly gotten there?"

"No," said Peter.

"Has anything like this ever happened to you before?" the officer asked.

"Not that I remember," Peter said truthfully, since his memories were still incomplete.

"And I take it you have no idea who Spider-Man is," the officer said.

"None."

The officer scowled. "Has anyone else besides the two of you lived here recently, or is there anyone who visits frequently?"

"My elderly aunt comes by from time to time," Peter said, "Other than that...no."

Silently and with obvious frustration on his face, the officer scribbled some things onto his notepad.

"Thank you for your time, Mr. and Mrs. Parker," the officer said tersely. He handed Peter a business card with his name and number on it. "And remember to call us if you find anything else." He began to walk away.

"Of course," said Peter, who was still perplexed about the whole event. "Um, officer?"

He turned back around. "Yes?"

"You don't think Spider-Man would really try to frame me, do you? I mean, I know the police have encountered him a lot over the years, but isn't he usually fighting crime and trying to help people? Isn't he one of the good guys?"

The officer sighed. "I'm not qualified to say what Spider-Man is and isn't trying to do," he said. "But Spider-Man has had alleged involvement with more crimes than I can count over the years. At the very least, he's a vigilante in violation of the Superhuman Registration Act. He could be trying anything to escape detection, and it's my job to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone." Satisfied that his work at the Parker residence was done, the officer turned around and walked out the door.

"Told you," Mary Jane said to Peter, partly playful and partly glad that the officer had agreed with her.

"Yeah...you did," Peter acknowledged. "I admit, I could be wrong about Spider-Man. I don't know. There's not a whole lot that I know for certain right now."

"Me neither," Mary Jane said. "But you did the right thing in calling the police."

"I know," said Peter. "I'm just so confused right now." Not wanting to let the negative mood hang over them, Peter tried to balance it out with something positive. "But I'm glad I have you, Mary Jane. I'm so glad I have you." He put his arms around her and felt that beautiful, wonderful excitement once again. "One thing I'm not confused about is that, as long as I have you, that's all that really matters."

"Thanks, Peter," Mary Jane said. "I know you're trying to make things better and to be sweet and romantic, and I appreciate it, but it's really not that simple. Yes, I'm thankful that we have each other, but things aren't right, and we both know it. Something is wrong with our memories, and even if it weren't, we just found out that a wanted criminal has been in our house. We're not any closer to answers than we were before, and it's driving me crazy. I feel insecure in my own home, Peter...I feel scared."

Peter sighed. "I know," he whispered. "I understand. To tell the truth, I feel the same way." He held her tighter. At this precise moment, Peter wanted more than anything to make things right, to protect Mary Jane at all costs, and to be able to fix things in any way possible. He wished he knew the answer to all of their questions, and he wished he could apply that answer to a solution to their problems, but he couldn't. The only thing he could offer his wife right now was a hug and vague promises that things would get better. He was powerless and he hated it.

"We'll get through this somehow," he said. It was cliche, empty, and overused, and he hated that he didn't have anything new to say. "I'm here for you, Mary Jane."

"I know you are, Peter," she said sadly. "But what if Spider-Man comes back? What if he tries to hurt us and you can't fight him? What will that mean for you and I and for our b—" She stopped in mid-sentence.

Peter waited for her to finish, and when she didn't, he asked, "What was that, honey?"

"Peter," she said. "There was something I needed to tell you earlier, remember?"

"Right!" said Peter, mentally kicking himself for forgetting all about that in the midst of the crisis with the Spider-Man costume. "Something important you needed to tell me. I'm listening."

On the other side of their apartment, the doorbell rang loudly. Mary Jane dropped her arms to her side in frustration.

"I guess we should go see who that is," Peter said. "But after this, I will hear whatever you have to say, Mary Jane. I promise." Peter walked over to the front door, followed closely by his dejected but curious wife.

Peter was met with a great surprise when he opened the door. Standing before him were three very extraordinary figures who he recognized from the news. On one side was the muscular, dark-skinned hero known as Luke Cage, and on the other was the tough mutant known as Wolverine. In the middle of those two stood the tall, cloaked, and bearded figure of the mysterious magician called Doctor Strange.

"Hello, Peter," said Doctor Strange. "May we come in?"

"Peter, what do they want?" Mary Jane asked him.

"I don't know," Peter whispered to her truthfully. "Go sit down, okay? Things could get dangerous."

Overhearing him, Doctor Strange said, "I assure you, we come in peace. Please, may we step in?"

"Mary Jane, I think these guys used to be Avengers," Peter whispered to her. "They really are the good guys and if they know Spider-Man, then they might be able to help us. If you don't feel safe, I'll tell them to go away, but—"

"No, Peter, it's okay," Mary Jane said, realizing the logic in her husband's words. "Invite them in."

"Sure," said Peter to Doctor Strange, feeling just as awkward and strange as his wife probably was. "Please, come in."

"Thank you," said Doctor Strange. The three superheroes entered the Parker apartment, and Peter, like any gracious host, seated them on the living room couch.

"Uh...can I get you gentlemen anything to drink?" Peter asked.

"Got any beer?" asked Logan.

Luke Cage punched him in the arm.

"No, thank you," Doctor Strange said. "Please sit down, Peter. We'd like to talk to you."

"Okay, sounds great!" Peter said nervously. He and Mary Jane sat down together on a loveseat across from the couch, holding each other close. Peter addressed his guests before they had a chance to speak. "So, I hope you don't mind my asking, but I'm really wondering if this is about Spider-Man, because I'm really confused about the whole Spider-Man thing right now."

"It is indeed," Strange told him.

"Yeah," said Cage. "We haven't seen you in a while, Peter."

Peter was confused. "You haven't seen me in a while? I don't think I've ever seen you in person before, Mr. Cage...it is Mr. Cage, right? I mean, I don't have superheroes visiting me very often."

"Look, Parker, you don't gotta pretend," Logan said gruffly. "We know who you are, okay? Don't worry, we ain't gonna tell anyone, but we know."

"What do you mean, you know who he is?" Mary Jane spoke up, concerned. "What are they talking about, Peter?"

Logan looked up, incredulous. "You mean even your wife don't know who you are?"

"I'm sorry, but I honestly don't know what you're talking about," Peter told Logan.

"Peter, I know you weren't expecting us to know your identity, but we're your friends," said Cage. "If you're confused, let us help you. We're a team, and we always have been."

"Are you sure you don't have the wrong person?" Peter asked, growing more confused and concerned by the minute.

"Look, Webhead—" Logan began.

"Silence, Logan," Doctor Strange commanded. "He is being honest. I can sense it. He truly doesn't know."

Logan scratched his head. "So we do have the wrong guy?"

"Not at all," said Strange. "Rather, he seems to have forgotten."

Peter's heart started beating faster with hope. "Forgotten what?" he asked. "There is a lot I haven't been able to remember lately. Are you saying you can help me, Doctor Strange?"

"Yes, Peter, I believe I can," the magician said. "But there's no easy way to say this, and so I sincerely hope all your memories will come rushing back once I do."

"Just tell me," Peter pleaded. "What is it that I can't remember?"

"Peter," said Doctor Strange. "You're Spider-Man."

Peter thought about it for a moment. Had Doctor Strange just called Peter Spider-Man? It was impossible. It was preposterous. It was unthinkable. It was crazy.

And then, suddenly, he remembered.

Just as Doctor Strange had hoped, the revelation of his own dual identity had triggered the release of all the other memories that Peter had reperessed, and a flood of recollections from so many years past began to flood over his mind. He remembered being in high school when he had been bitten by a radioactive spider. He remembered being selfish and failing Uncle Ben and resolving never to make the same mistake again. He remembered fighting the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, the Sinister Six, and countless other villains. He remembered taking pictures of himself in action and selling then to the Daily Bugle. He remembered bonding with an alien symbiote, seeing Gwen Stacey die, meeting clones of himself, telling Mary Jane and Aunt May about his dual identity, unmasking and switching sides in the superhero Civil War, making a terrible deal with Mephisto, living without Mary Jane for a time, and fighting the final battle that had led him to this point. He remembered all of it.

"Mary Jane!" he exclaimed happily. "I remember! I remember it all! Do you?"

"Yes!" she shouted, equally joyful. "It all makes sense now. I remember it all. You've always been Spider-Man, and I love that about you." She gave him a huge, celebratory kiss on the cheek.

"Doc, thank you so much for coming here and telling me that," said Peter. "For the longest time I couldn't remember who I was, and I had no idea why! That's why you hadn't seen me with the New Avengers, because I haven't been Spider-Man at all lately!"

"Makes sense," said Logan. "But one thing I don't get. How the heck do you just 'forget' that you were Spider-Man?"

"I think I may have the answer to that," Doctor Strange spoke up. "Peter, do you remember the battle where we all defeated Mephisto together?"

"I sure do," said Peter. "I remember it all now!"

"So do I," said Strange. "But it's odd that we do, because if my theory is correct, it technically never happened—at least, not in this timeline."

"That'd sure explain why I don't remember it," Logan said.

"Please explain, Doctor, I'm curious too," said Cage.

"Peter, this whole ordeal started when you made a deal with Mephisto to erase your marrigae in order to save the life of your aunt. Am I correct?"

"Well, technically it started before that," said Peter. "My aunt was shot because I unmasked myself during the Civil War and all my enemies knew who I was. But I know what you're saying. Go on."

"So, for a time, the space/time continuum was changed so that your marriage never occurred. But the Fantastic Four helped you find out what had happened, and you enlisted all of our help to fight Mephisto and put things back the way they were supposed to be. Do you remember that?"

"I do," said Peter.

"We did put things back the way they were supposed to be, which is why you still have your marriage right now," Strange explained. "The original timeline was restored, and the time in which you weren't married, including our victory over Mephisto, is no longer part of this timeline."

"I think I follow you so far," said Peter. "But if that's the case and it never really happened, then why do we still remember it? In fact, why do I still remember not being married to Mary Jane just as much as I remember being married to her?"

"I can't say for certain," Doctor Strange said. "I was able to perceive the differences in the timeline because of my connection to the spiritual world which transcends all dimensions. One possible explanation for your memories would be that, Mephisto, out of spite for being beaten and still wanting to make you suffer, intentionally made it so that your memories of not being married would stay with you, even though, in this timeline, you really have been married the whole time. After all, he relished in your unhappiness in the time you were apart. And at the final battle when you forced him to put everything back, you didn't make him agree to any condition saying that you didn't want to remember the time when you had been unhappily unmarried, did you?"

"No," said Peter. "Not that I remember."

"Right," said Doctor Strange. "I don't know for certain, but it's quite possible that Mephisto may have done something like that to you, just because he wanted you to always remember the time when you were unhappy and because you didn't say he couldn't. But one thing I do remember you saying, since I was right there next to you, is that you wanted no one to remember Spider-Man's identity. I assume you wanted to prevent this sort of thing from ever happening again, but did you really have to say no one?"

Peter thought back and realized the implications of what had happened. He wanted to kick himself. "Wow," he said. "Okay, I officially deserve the Biggest Idiot of All-Time Award."

Logan spoke up. "Well, I wasn't gonna say nuthin', but—"

Doctor Strange stepped on Logan's foot.

"I was so excited and angry and hasty to put things back the way they were that I forgot to specify the few people who were supposed to know my secret identity, including myself and Mary Jane," Peter said. "And so Mephisto took that literally, which is why, even though we got the timeline back, our memories haven't been complete for these past couple of weeks."

"Precisely what I concluded," Doctor Strange confirmed.

"Mary Jane, I'm so sorry!" Peter told his wife sincerely. "All this time you were so afraid because you couldn't remember things correctly, and it was my fault all along! Can you forgive—"

"Relax, Tiger," she said, obviously in a much happier mood now. "It was an honest mistake, and things are better now. You beat him. You really beat Mephisto, and you got our marriage back. The only thing that matters is that we're together, right?"

"Right," Peter answered, kissing her affectionately on the lips.

Logan whispered to Cage across the couch. "How'd the webhead end up with such a hot babe, anyway?" Cage shrugged.

Doctor Strange stood. "Well, I don't want to stay too long, now that the matter has been resolved," he said. "But I expect that your teammates will be seeing more of you in the days to come, Peter?"

"Definitely, Doc," Peter said in between kisses. "Thanks for coming, and thanks for everything. Really, thank you so much. But I hope you don't mind showing yourselves out...I'm a little busy over here." He kissed Mary Jane again, and each touch of their lips felt new and fresh and exciting and rejuvenating and beautiful and amazing all at once. They finally had all their memories back, and they were together again for good.

"Man, all that cosmic space/time stuff sure makes my head hurt," Logan said. "I could sure go for a drink."

"See you around, Spider-Man," Cage said. "Or Peter, I guess I should say."

Luke Cage, Logan, and Doctor Strange exited the Parkers' apartment.

"So," Peter said to his wife once they were alone on the couch together. "We've got our memories back, our lives back, and our marriage back. What do you want to do?"

"Well—"

"How about an all-night, non-stop kissing marathon?" Peter suggested comically.

"Peter—"

"How about I take you out to dinner at a nice, fancy restaurant, and then we come back here for the kissing marathon?"

"Peter—"

"How about I just keep kissing you and kissing you forever and ever and ever?"

Mary Jane giggled. "That does sound nice," she said. "But can we talk first? We really should talk."

"Of course," said Peter, who was in a happy, giddy mood. "I like talking, too. I talk all the time. Talk, talk, talk. So can you believe what just happened? Our marriage was messed with by an evil cosmic demon, and we still came out on top?"

"That is pretty amazing, isn't it?" Mary Jane asked. "I'm so glad to be back with you now. I really wasn't happy when we weren't married."
"I know," Peter said. "Neither was I."

"And I knew I wouldn't be," said Mary Jane. "Do you remember when we first made the deal with Mephisto? Did you see me whisper something to him?"

"Yeah, I did," said Peter. "What was up with that?"

"I knew that Spider-Man and all the people he helps were more important than my life and my happiness," Mary Jane said, speaking with difficulty about the unpleasant experience. "And I knew that you had to carry on being Spider-Man, no matter what, so I gave Mephisto an extra incentive. I told him that he could not only take our marriage, but my happiness as well."

Peter's eyes widened. "Mary Jane—"

"Don't try to take the blame or feel sorry for me, Peter," she said. "I knew what I was doing, and I did it for you, and for Spider-Man. But it's true. The whole time that I was away from you, I had a successful career, and a few boyfriends...but I really wasn't happy without you at all."

Peter was silent for a moment to let the words sink in. "Thank you, Mary Jane," he said at last. "Thank you for what you did and for what you gave up. I fight dangerous criminals all the time, and you're so much braver and better than I am. I love you."

She smiled. "I love you, too, Peter."

They both sat in silence for another few moments until the phone rang. Reluctantly, Peter got up from his wife's embrace to answer it.

"Hello?"

It was the officer who had been investigating their apartment just a short while earlier.

"Mr. Parker, I'm afraid we've got some bad news," he said.

"What is it?" Peter asked nervously.

"Our men at the precinct have examined the costume you found, and there it's given us few, if any, leads on Spider-Man. The only fingerprints they found all over the costume were yours."

Peter's heart sunk. "Mine?" he protested, fearing again for his recently reclaimed secret identity. "Why would my fingerprints be on the Spider-Man costume? What are you saying?"

"Calm down, Mr. Parker," said the officer. "No one's accusing you of anything. You did pull the costume out from under your bed and handle it for yourself before we arrived, right?"

A wave of relief swept over Peter. "Right! Of course I did!" he said. "That must be the only reason why my fingerprints are on the costume."

"Of course," said the officer. "But we haven't found anyone else's fingerprints. I guess Spider-Man is very careful, and he usually wears gloves. But we'll be watching your area for any further sign of him, and we'll let you know as soon as we find anything."

Peter wanted to kick himself again. "Great!" he said insincerely. "Thank you." He hung up and sat back down next to Mary Jane.

"What was that all about?" she asked.

Peter groaned. "Well, if you'll recall, the police have my Spider-Man costume, thanks to my big blunder in handing it over to them myself because I didn't know I was Spider-Man. And they'll be watching our area for any sightings of Spider-Man." He sighed. "Boy, if I had a nickel for every time my costume got lost or stolen, my secret identity was in trouble, and the police were on my tail. Good ol' Parker luck. I guess things really are back to normal."

"You'll get through it, Peter," Mary Jane assured him lovingly. "You always do, remember? You're Spider-Man. I'll sew you a new costume and you'll be Spider-Man again, and you'll help people and save lives regardless of what the cops or anyone throw at you, because that's who you are. It's what you have to do."

"Great power and great responsibility," Peter remarked, referring to Uncle Ben's old adage.

"Right," said Mary Jane. "But...I wouldn't say things are quite exactly back to normal."

Peter thought for a second to figure out what she meant. "You're right!" he exclaimed. "Aunt May! She knew that I was Spider-Man before, and she deserves to know again. We'll have to go tell her everything so her memories will come back, too."

"Well, yes, I guess we should," Mary Jane said. "But I was talking about something else, something I've been trying to tell you. I've been trying to tell you the same thing all day!"

"Oh, right!" Peter said. "I keep forgetting in all this excitement. I'm sorry, Mary Jane. This time I really am listening, and if the doorbell rings or the phone rings or the house burns down three seconds from now, I'm not going to do anything until I've listened to what you've been trying to tell me. So please, go ahead."

"All right," Mary Jane said. "Now that I have all my memories back, I think I can explain it better, anyway. Peter...even though we have two sets of memories, we really have been married all these months, and that means we've slept together for all these months too, right?"

"Well, yeah, of course," said Peter. "What does—"

"She interrupted him. "And do you remember when we first made that deal with Mephisto, and he showed us our daughter who he had brought backward from the future, who we would still be able to have as long as we stayed married?"

"Yes, I do," said Peter, realization dawning on him. "Mary Jane, are you saying—"

"Peter, I went to the doctor today," she said. "I'm pregnant!"

Peter was speechless with surprise and delight. "Mary Jane, that's—that's—" He didn't know what to say, so he just threw his arms around her and began kissing her again. It never got old. "Thats wonderful," he eventually managed.

"It's so wonderful," she agreed. "I've wanted a child for so long, and now this, combined with getting you back again...I'm so happy, it's almost overwhelming." Tears of joy began to stream down Mary Jane's face.

Peter put his hand to his wife's face and gently wiped away her tears. "I love you, Mary Jane Watson," he said. "I'm so thankful that you're my wife."

She smiled that beautiful smile that had captured Peter's heart the first time he had ever seen it. "I love you too, Peter Parker. I love you so much."

"Hey," Peter said. "All this calls for some celebration. How about we go get Aunt May and I take you both out to dinner tonight? After all, between you being pregnant and me being Spider-Man, we've really got a lot to tell her!"

"And when we get back, we can have that all-night kissing marathon you mentioned," Mary Jane suggested.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Peter exclaimed happily. "That sounds like an amazing idea."

They walked out of the apartment together hand-in-hand, heart-in-heart, deeply and truly in love, looking forward to the newly rediscovered life they would share as Peter and Mary Jane Parker, husband and wife, expecting parents, and two of the only people in the world who knew the startling secret of the amazing Spider-Man.

The End!

References:

When writing this chapter, I had to wonder where Peter and Mary Jane would be living now that they are back together. There house was destroyed in Amazing Spider-Man #518, after which Tony Stark allowed them to move into an apartment in Stark Tower, since Spider-Man was part of the New Avengers. However, because of the falling out between Peter and Tony during Civil War and Tony's fall from power after Secret Invasion, I assumed that, if Peter and Mary Jane were to have been married that entire time, they would no longer be living in Stark Tower. Therefore, as of this chapter, they have recently (shortly after Secret Invasion) moved into a new apartment, as Peter mentioned, until they can save up enough money for a new house. Along the same lines, I wondered about Peter's current job, since he become Tony Stark's personal photographer in Amazing Spider-Man #524, but is no longer with Tony Stark. As of this chapter, Peter has been doing odd jobs and is thinking of returning to taking pictures of Spider-Man unless and until he can back to the teaching job that he had before joining Tony Stark.

Doctor Strange revealed to Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 5: The Life and Death of Spiders TPB (I forget which specific issue) that he, being a Sorceror Supreme, had the power to magically learn Spider-Man's secret identity, and to do so by making his name appear in big flashing letters if he so chose.

I wanted to have Peter and Mary Jane still remember the events of Brand New Day because that period contained several new characters and relevant events of Spider-Man's recent history, and I figured one last spiteful act from Mephisto would be a good way to include that.

The original deal between Peter, Mary Jane, and Mephisto, in which Mary Jane whispered something secretly to Mephisto, took place in Amazing Spider-Man #545.

Aunt May learned of Peter's dual identity in Amazing Spider-Man #478.

Amazing Spider-Man #591 explained that the mental blocks that caused Peter and others to forget Spider-Man's identity can be easily broken with one piece of information, after which all related memories come flooding back in all at once.

Mephisto showed Peter his future daughter in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24 and Sensational Spider-Man vol. 2 #41.

Mary Jane was pregnant once before during the Spider-Man Clone Saga of the 1990s, but the baby ended up being stillborn.

Author's Note: Though I've said it already, I'll say it again as I wrap this up: many, many thanks to all of you who have read and enjoyed and commented on this story. I was very happy to be able to write it, to work with such real and enjoyable characters, and to see Peter and Mary Jane ending up so happy together in the end. The whole thing was a blessing to write and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Even though this story is over, may it never be the end for Peter and Mary Jane Parker.