SPIDER-MAN: DARK WOUNDS

THIS ONE'S ON ME:

The window began to creak as I cautiously slid it upwards. Ben was in the house and it would be for the best if he didn't find Spider-man sneaking through my window. I managed to push my body through the half open window to my room and step silently onto my bed. For fear of attracting too much attention I left the window open until I was done getting dressed. I peeled off my mask, my sweat-soaked hair matted to my head. The costume was warm; that was for sure.

xXx

I zipped my navy blue sweatshirt only half way and placed the glove to my costume in the chest beside my bed. I checked the chest for all the parts to my suit and straightened up the room. I began to leave when I stopped myself halfway to the door.

My sweatshirt sleeves were rolled up and my web-shooters were exposed.

Keeping a secret identity was more difficult than I expected. I returned to the chest and dropped my web-shooters in dumbly, feeling like an idiot for forgetting they were still on my wrists. I had been wearing them so long they began to feel like a second skin, as well as my costume.

I swung open the door to my room and entered the warmly lit kitchen. I picked my keys off the counter and headed for the front door when the rhythmic sound of passing air caught my attention. Ben had fallen asleep on the couch with an empty cup of coffee, notepad and pen. A burnt out stub of a cigarette lay in the ash tray on the coffee table. The TV was on Fox 5 News. I walked over to the notepad, interested in what he apparently found so boring.

"Doctor Curt Conners: Lizard Regeneration Formula" was scribbled along the top of the page. The page was blank aside from the title and the beginning of the word "The." I had forgotten about Curt Conners entirely. Not working with Otto anymore deprived me of outside knowledge.

xXx

I pushed open the glass doors of the apartment building and stepped aside as a couple came the opposite direction. On the edge of the sidewalk stood Gwen, wearing a thick, suede coat down to her knees, her hands hidden within her jacket pockets. As I stepped outside, I realized why; it was freezing. The material my Spider-man costume was made of was warmer than I remembered.

"Hey" I smiled, approaching her.

"Hi" she responded as we leaned in for a kiss.

"Ready?" I questioned, pointing my thumb behind my right shoulder indicating that I meant towards MJ's apartment.

"Yeah. I texted you like seven times…" Her hand pointed towards my pocket with my phone. "Why didn't you respond?"

"Uh…my phone was off." I looked up from my pocket to her. She looked at me for a few seconds without comment. "Yeah…"

"OK…can we go up now?" She began to walk past me.

"Yeah, sure…" I pushed open the door for her and followed closely behind.

xXx

We were both left slightly panting at the five flights of stairs we had to walk. MJ's apartment was booming with rave music and laughter.

"This one?" she asked jokingly.

"Yeah." I coughed, letting her lead.

We entered the apartment to the sight of about twenty-five people, most drunk. The radio was cranked up to about as loud as it could go. One couple was making out, half-naked on the couch. A couple of people were passed out at certain spots around the room. The twenty or so left standing were yelling above the music. most holding red, plastic cups in their hands. A couple of empty cups had accumulated around the living room; the most popular room in the apartment. The kitchen was close to empty, only holding about three or four people. A line had formed outside the bathroom. A woman was leaving as we closed the door behind us, a man taking her place.

MJ approached, squeezing her way in-between a small group of people who had formed a circle in the corner by the door.

"Wow…a lot happened in the five minutes it took us to walk up those stairs…" I joked, not cracking a smile to show the sarcasm.

MJ laughed. "No, a couple people showed up early."

"How early?" Gwen asked.

"Only about thirty minutes or so…" We stared at her in disbelief that all this happened in a half hour. She noticed the blank stares on our face rather quickly. "Maryland's kinda boring…you sort of have to learn to be your own party." We laughed at the embarrassed way MJ said it; her hand on the back of her head, her face trying not to turn towards us. "Yeah, OK. Make fun of the new girl. Look, if you're gonna laugh, at least do it in the kitchen."

She turned her back and headed for the kitchen. We followed closely behind. I turned my head slightly towards Gwen, keeping my eyes on MJ's path. "Exciting, isn't it!" I was over-hyping the situation, playing with Gwen.

"Well, for us, it is."

I was slightly offended.

"What do you mean?" I pondered, smiling innocently.

"Well, face it Peter, we aren't the most exciting people in the world. We study, go to school, see each other here and there, rinse and repeat."

We entered the kitchen, the few stragglers left chatting idly to each other moved towards the door, away from us. MJ popped open the door to the fridge and pulled out two cans of Budweiser.

"Gwen?" she teased, holding up an empty cup. Her eyes darted to the glass for a second and widened. "Oh. Wait!" She turned her back to us, her hand pulling tape and a marker out of the drawer. Me and Gwen stared wide-eyed at her and each other while she worked out of sight.

She reemerged with the same cup. This time a piece of tape with the name "Gwen" written in black marker was pasted to the side. "It's got your name on it…" she grinned, waving the glass around.

Gwen let out a quick laugh and shook her head. "No thanks."

"Pete?" MJ pulled out another plastic cup of the same style sporting a piece of tape with my name.

I looked at the cup, then the beer, then Gwen. Gwen smiled lightly. I wasn't sure how to read her face. I was in this alone.

"Uh…" Beer. Gwen. Beer. Gwen. "Sure…"

"Alright!" MJ chirped, opening both cans with hesitation.

I looked back at Gwen, hoping the same smile was still there. It was.

"Beer?" Gwen teased, punching me in the shoulder.

"Rinse and repeat my ass." I smiled, punching her back.

MJ came back, both cups filled to the brim. The frothy, brown liquid dripping down the sides of her drink. She handed me mine while still licking the excess alcohol from her cup. I took a sip and regretted it instantly. It tasted terrible. The only times I ever drank was with Harry. We would stop by his place and down a beer or two. Although, his beer's were imported and actually tasted pretty good. This was just gross. I figured I'd pour it into someone else's cup. They wouldn't notice, and even if they did, they probably wouldn't care.

"Pete." MJ started, swallowing the small amount of beer in her mouth. "There's someone I think you should meet." She led us out the kitchen archway, back into the living room. She leaned into me, pointing towards the couch against the back wall. "You see the kid on the couch?" There was one person on the couch. A boy, about our age. He wore a blue t-shirt and jeans. His sneakers were new and expensive. His hair was moderately long, straight and well-groomed. The kid looked like he had money. However, he sat by himself, on the edge of the couch. His beady eyes scanned the room. His eyes met MJ's and he smiled, his hand rising slightly for a wave. MJ waved back. "That's Max Dillon. His Dad was CEO of the Stark outsourcing plant down in Maryland. His Dad's job got moved to the Stark building in the Financial District, so he moved too." She took a sip of her drink and continued. "He isn't very popular, obviously. He's also had a crush on me since fifth grade."

"Yeah…? What am I supposed to do?" I was completely lost in her story and more interested in finding a way to ditch the cup.

"I need you to talk to him. I invited him to be nice. I didn't realize he would have no one to talk to."

"Why me?" I asked.

"You're the only guy here that isn't a total asshole."

"Thanks…" Not being an asshole got me a date with a loser.

"Me and Gwen are gonna bad-mouth you in the kitchen."

"Fun!" Gwen grinned, a smile from ear to ear spreading on her face.

They left the living room laughing, loud enough for me to hear. I took a deep breath and made my way to the couch. Max was 'fake drumming' on his knees while he scoped out the room. Probably looking for MJ. His eyes locked onto mine, freight froze him in place. I smiled as I placed the cup on the coffee table in front of the couch and took a seat.

"Uh…hi…" Max stuttered.

"Hey, Max. I'm Peter. Can we talk?"

His body loosened slightly. "Oh…oh, yeah, OK…"

"So, I hear you're going to school here now."

"Yeah…I'm a senior…" His face broke into maniacal smile. "Did MJ tell you? Did she talk about me?"

"Uh, yeah…" He looked away still smiling, the gears in his head creating a perfect future for him. "So, what's up?"

"Huh? Oh. Well, My Dad works at Thompson Corp., as CEO. But, um, we had to move here a few weeks ago. My Dad's job got transferred to the building down here. That's sorta why we moved…" He was looking at the ground the entire time. "I don't really like talking about myself…I can tell you all about MJ, though!

He was slightly more than obsessed. "Ah, well…sure."

He twisted toward me, his eyes not leaving mine. "Well, her dream is to be an actress. She's acted in the school play a few times; she's pretty good…in my opinion. Oh, she moved here-" His smile dropped from his face and he looked back at the ground. "Never mind."

"Hey, you can't leave me hanging!" I smiled. "What were you saying?"

"Uh…no, no. I can't…I'm not allowed to…"

"I won't tell anyone, I swear."

"You sure?" he breathed deeply.

"Swear."

He took a deep breath of air and rubbed his hands together. He leaned in towards me, "People say she moved her because her Dad is running from the cops, kinda." he whispered.

"What?" I gasped, half smiling.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have-oh man!" he retreated, shame filling his eyes.

"No, no, no! It's fine. Continue." I pressured, fulling invested in the story.

He started, "Well, apparently her Dad drinks…a lot. And hits her! Mostly her sister, Gayle." He pointed to all the cups of beer, mine included. "Someone musta told the authorities because before I even knew it, they were moving. Her Mom doesn't live with them because of this. I think she left when MJ and her sister were little. Gayle's at college right now. She got the hell away from her father the second she turned eighteen."

My brain exploded. It was starting to make sense now. Them moving, no mother figure, her father's anger, the beer. All of it connected. "Holy crap…"

"Don't say anything! Please! I really like her…" he begged, eyes widening, mouth half-open.

"Calm down, Max. I won't say anything. I swore, remember?"

"Thank you!" he smiled, showing his perfect teeth.

"I gotta go, Max. I'll see you in school, though. We'll talk then."

"OK…yeah, cool. See ya."

I got up slowly, stretching out my back as I got to my feet. I turned to walk away when Max called out my name.

"Peter!"

I snapped my head in his direction.

"Your drink!" he pointed a single finger at the red, plastic cup on the coffee table.

"Keep it!" I shouted back, entering the kitchen.

I walked into the kitchen, breathing deeply. The smell of body odor and beer left me breathless and I was glad to get fresh air into my lungs. Gwen and MJ were laughing, a single hand covering their mouths, the other locked against the counter-top to prevent them from falling over.

"Speak of the devil." MJ smiled, taking a deep breath of air.

"Ah, cute." I rolled my eyes, resting beside Gwen.

"How was talking to Max?" MJ questioned, smiling. She obviously knew it was awkward. Which it was for all the wrong reasons.

"Nice…nice. He's very interesting."

"I gotta use the bathroom." Gwen interrupted, brushing past me.

There was some awkward silence between me and MJ for a while. Neither of us were exactly sure where to start. MJ took a sip of her drink, set it down and began.

"Tell me about yourself, Peter."

The question caught me completely off-guard. "What? Like my…life story?"

"Well, sure. Let's start there."

"OK…" I circled my tongue around my teeth, looking for a place to begin. Just saying 'Shit' wasn't a long enough story. "Uh….Well, I was born in Forrest Hills. My Mom and Dad were both scientists at Stark Industries. They were working on some sort of cancer thing with another scientist; Brock, I believe. I met the owner, Tony Stark once. I was about six at the time. All the equipment and tech there just blew my mind. I still, to this day, think that's the reason I care about science the way I do." I stopped for a second, trying to retell my past perfectly. I swallowed hard, my eyes looking at MJ for a quick second. She stared, engrossed in my words. "When I was ten years old, my parents had to take a trip to work for some sort of meeting. It was a Saturday, and I had to stay at my Aunt and Uncle's house for a while. I did this anytime my parents had to work while I wasn't in school." I regained my composure and continued my story. "I was playing chess with my Uncle Ben, probably beating him. I don't recall. The phone rang, and my Aunt May picked it up. She began to cry uncontrollably. Uncle Ben jumped up from the table to console her. Then, HE began to cry. Not quite as loud as Aunt May, but it was obvious. Naturally, I got worried. When I asked them what happened, my Aunt told me I wasn't old enough to understand. Uncle Ben bent down to my level and told me, straight to my face. My parents had been killed, crushed in a car accident. A drunk truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and shot across the lane; right into my parents car. The truck's height propelled it above the car and crushed them both instantly." I stopped telling to let it all sink in. I was on the verge of tears, the same feeling from that day making it's way back up.

"Wow…" MJ sighed, head hung low. "That sounds terrible."

"Oh, just wait. It gets better." I smiled. "I lived with my Aunt and Uncle for a while. We had fun, but deep down I still remember what is was like having parents. When the other kids would talk about their parents, I couldn't help but feel left out. If it wasn't for that one day, I could have joined them. I sort of isolated my self from the other kids because of this. Deep down, I guess, I was jealous of them. Then, one day, when I wasn't home, a man out on the street; no place to go, no money, no food, entered my house and began to ask them for money. No one really knows what happened for sure, just the ending. Both of them were shot dead by this maniac. The image of their bloody, life-less bodies, broken and helpless on the floor still haunts me to this day…" I held back the years, not wanting to get emotional.

MJ's was wide-eyed and amazed. "Oh my God…Where were you?"

"Library." Same lie I told Aunt May and Uncle Ben.

"How long ago was this? Three, four years ago?"

I held out my hand, counting the time since then.

"A little over three months…" I noted, coldly.

"Oh, man!" MJ gasped. "Is that why you live next door?"

I nodded faintly, not in the mood to speak. We sat there, silent. Not because it was awkward or weird. Not because we were strangers. It just seemed right. Being Spider-man had make me completely forget about my past.

Gwen returned a few minutes later. Smiling and giddy. "What'd I miss?"

Me and MJ looked up solemnly.

"What happened?" She moved in close to me, placing her hand on my shoulder.

"Nothing." MJ shrugged. "We just didn't have anything to say."

"Really?" Gwen asked, shocked.

"Yeah." I assured. "It's all in the past."