He knew that our conversation was over.

"Let's get you home." Spider-Man took a step towards me and looped his arm around my waist. "Where to?"

I was stunned beyond comprehension, unable to utter any sort of reply. He gripped me tight but I could hardly even lift my arms to hold on to him as he shot out a web and lifted us high into the air.

The Kingpin is going to use me as bait... The burst of wind to my face awoke my thoughts.

My voice was hollow as I spoke, "673 Spring Street."

We swung through the city, arcing high above the buildings and dipping low into the streets. Each drop brought my stomach lurching higher into my throat. I leaned my head gently against his shoulder, my red hair whipping wildly around us as we soared through the city.

He took the long route, carefully choosing the quieter residential streets rather than the busier streets leading to Empire State University. Swinging through the city was a breathtaking experience and had the circumstances been different, I might have enjoyed it. Instead, I kept my head down and closed my eyes to the city rushing past me.

I couldn't help but feel guilt creeping into my chest, gripping tight and squeezing the air from my lungs. This was my fault. If I hadn't let curiosity get the better of me, I never would have forced Peter into taking me to see the Rhino. If I had never seen the Rhino, Spider-Man wouldn't have had to save me. And if Spider-Man hadn't saved me, news stations wouldn't have televised the rescue over every New York news station... Spider-Man would have been able to retire the mask and the Kingpin wouldn't have found a way to try and lure him out of hiding.

My thoughts spun wildly until I was dizzy with them. We arched into the sky higher than before. He held me tight with both hands, bracing our fall as we landed softly on the rooftop of my apartment building. We stood by the ledge, neither making the first move to step away; I kept my head gently pressed against his shoulder and he kept both hands firmly placed on my waist.

He dropped his hands and I took that as my cue to step away from him.

He cleared his throat, "I don't want you to be afraid, Mary Jane."

"I'm not." I crossed my arms, suddenly feeling very cold. In the distance the sun was beginning to set, casting a golden-yellow light across the city.

"...But I also want you to realize how dangerous the Kingpin is. The Kingpin's men are everywhere. They're more dangerous than guys like Rhino because they look like normal people. They might not always be dressed in black. They could be your mailman or your taxi cab driver or even your neighbor... They could be anyone, Mary Jane." He was rambling, his words rushed into a feverish pitch, "I have to get this figured out before they can find you again." He paused, steadying his nerves and slowing his words, "They're going to be looking for me so I have to take special care to stay away from you. You're safer away from me but that also means if they get under my radar, I might not be close enough to you to know that you need saving."

Suddenly indignant, I turned away from him and stared off towards the setting sun. "I don't need 'saving.'" Even I knew how ridiculous that sounded. Twice now he had saved me and yet here I was telling him that I, in fact, did not need his help.

He stood behind me and for a moment was quiet.

"I understand that but..." He pushed a breath of air through pursed lips, "Gah-... Why is it so hard talking to you?" I felt the corners of my mouth beginning to turn up. Although he couldn't see my face I quickly turned them back down, again assuming a look of stone cold seriousness. "Just do me a favor and lay low for a while... Just until I figure out what I'm going to do about him. Deal?"

"Why are you so worried about me anyways?" I turned to face him. The blazing sunset illuminated the scene around us in the most vibrant shades of gold. He stood in stark contrast in the middle of it; red and blue amongst the yellows and golds. He mirrored my stance, crossing his arms over his abdomen. "You could've let me fall from that building. You didn't have to stop Kingpin's men. You could've just stayed in hiding."

"No. I couldn't have." Any trace of merriment was long gone from his voice. "I learned a long time ago that if you have the power to stop bad men from doing evil things, then it's your responsibility to at least try."

He began to walk towards the ledge and I could sense that our time was almost up.

"One more thing," I called out and he stopped, one foot already on top of the cement ledge. "I never told you my name... so, how do you know it?"

He froze.

"I-, uhh," He brought his other foot onto the ledge and stood tall, the wind whipping past him. I stared at his back as he continued to speak, "I overhead Peter calling your name the day Rhino attacked the city."

"Peter?" I furrowed my brows, suddenly irate, "Peter left me there as soon as he saw how dangerous it was. He's a coward."

Was it just the wind or had I heard Spider-Man chuckle softly at my words?

"Being brave doesn't mean running blindly into danger. But then again, maybe you're right." Spider-Man raised his arm and a thick line of webbing shot out and attached itself to a building across the street. "Maybe he is a coward." Before I could reply, he stepped off the ledge and disappeared into the setting sun.

"Where have you been!" Gwen dropped the phone from her ear, her eyes wide as I burst through our apartment door. She brought the phone back to her ear, "No, it's okay, daddy. MJ just walked in. Thank you. I love you too."

I was sopping wet. I simply stood in front of the closed door, unsure of my next move. Gwen sprang into action, tossing the phone onto the couch while simultaneously moving towards the kitchen to grab a kitchen towel.

"You've been gone for almost two hours, MJ!" She grabbed the towel and brought it to me. Like a mother, she began to dry me off. "Where have you been? I was so worried about you!"

"I," The image of Spider-Man and I embraced on the rooftop just moments before sprang to my mind. Gwen was my best friend but she was first and foremost the police chief's daughter. Captain Stacy despised Spider-Man; choosing to view him as a nuisance vigilante rather than a hero. If he knew Spider-Man was back, Spider-Man would have not only the Kingpin to worry about but NYPD as well. "I was with my boyfriend."

Gwen had been dabbing the water from my jeans when my bold-faced lie sprung from my mouth. She immediately perked up, eyes wide again.

"Huh? Since when do you have a boyfriend?"

My pride stung but I tried my best to hide it. "I-... I met him at the casting today." It was like a snowball effect; more lies sprouting from the previous one before it.

"Oh," Something on Gwen's face told me that she sensed my wounded pride. "Well, you'll have to bring him over sometime so I can meet him!" She changed tactics. Although I wasn't the best actress in the world, Gwen was far worse than me and I could tell she still didn't believe me. Regardless of whether she believed my lie or not, she no longer questioned where I had been and thus, the lie served its purpose.

"I will." I gently took the towel from her hand, forcing as cheerful a smile as I could. "Well, hey, I'd love to hear about your first day at ESU but I'm pretty beat. Let's talk tomorrow?"

"Yeah, no problem." Gwen walked to the kitchen table and nodded towards a stack of books. "I've got a lot of studying to do anyways."

I walked to my bedroom; if it could even be called a bedroom. With only a mattress, a clothing rack and a few boxes, the small room hardly qualified as a bedroom but it had one redeeming factor: a window that opened to a fire escape overlooking the street below. Out of all the places in the city, sitting on that fire escape was my favorite.

I stepped onto my bare mattress and hoisted myself out of the window and onto the metal fire escape, sticking my arm back into the window to fish for my pillow. Finding the pillow, I tossed it onto the metal grating then laid back, staring through the grating at the black starless sky.

I was never one for making plans, choosing instead to fly by the seat of my pants through life. If something didn't get done today, there was always tomorrow, or the next day or the next day after that. I never questioned the future because I always assumed that it was a guarantee; tomorrow would always be there. I figured I would start worrying about the future when I got old. Even when the Rhino had me at death's doorstep, it never truly dawned on me that I could, just like every other person on this planet, die.

Tonight, however, I realized just how fragile "tomorrow" actually is. Tomorrow I may still be alive but what about the tomorrow after that? Even if I made it through life unscathed, eventually there would be a tomorrow that I would never get to see.

I listened to sirens far off in the distance.

Someone's tomorrow could be ending tonight.

...and If I didn't play my cards right, the Kingpin could very well end my tomorrow's much sooner than I had anticipated.