Michelle "MJ" Jones

I didn't hear about the run-in with Kraven until the morning after. I was having a good day. For better or for worse, I didn't get another memory flash. I didn't get a visit from Dark Mirror MJ. And I got a text from Peter saying that we were on for Saturday. So, I stayed off of social media. It wasn't that hard for me since I can go days between logging on, but I literally went out my way to not use my phone for anything other than checking my emails and texts. I didn't even check any of my DMs. I didn't want to do anything that would potentially sour my mood.

When I got to school, the fight was all people talked about. At lunch, Ned showed me and Betty the video on his phone. I grimaced. I really could have done without J. Jonah Jameson's commentary, but, unfortunately, the "news" report was the best video he could find. I was surprised by how quickly the fight ended. For all the anticipation that was built up, I would have thought Kraven would have gave Spider-Man and Frictor a bigger challenge. What I wasn't surprised about was how brutally Frictor ended the fight. It didn't take a mind reader to know that he didn't take kindly to the disrespect Kraven threw his way.

I kept on watching the video until it cut back to Jonah going on his normal anti-Spider-man/anti-X-Men rant. Luckily, Ned had the sense to close the video at that point.

"…Kraven really was all talk," Ned said with a scoff.

"If he's the best hunter in the world, I would really hate to see the worst," Betty commented.

"Yeah, that was rather… uneventful," I said. Too uneventful – that was what I wanted to say. I wanted to be happy that Kraven got put in his place. And, there was a small part of me that was happy about it. But, for the most part, I was worried that this wasn't going to be the last we've seen of Kraven. So many possibilities were going through my head, from Kraven taking a dive to lull everyone into a false sense of security to him having a Plan B. Of course, there was a possibility that he was riding high on his own hype. But I always expect disappointment.

Some people would call me pessimistic or paranoid, but is it really being pessimistic or paranoid when your intuition is right more often than not?

"MJ… MJ… MJ, Earth to MJ," Ned said. I blinked a few times before I looked at Ned. Both him and Betty were looking at me with looks of worry. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I was thinking about something and I just went off on a mental tangent," I assured.

Ned nodded slowly. "…Okay. Well, anyway, are you and Peter doing anything this weekend?"

"As a matter of fact, we are. We're going on a date. Why?"

"Oh, we were just looking for someone to go on a double date with," Betty explained. "There's this movie I wanted to see and…"

"Why not just ask Craig and Carmilla? I'm sure they'll be down."

"You know," Ned began. "That's actually a good idea."

I smirked. "I'm usually good for that."

For the rest of the school week, the fight between Kraven and Spider-Man & Frictor was the talk of the town. At school and at work, I overheard people talking about it. There were people that were happy Kraven got taken down early, growing tired of Spider-Man and The X-Men being targeted. There were people who were disappointed because The X-Men were still on the loose. I had to put my tongue in park. Some people in the latter group had some very negative things to say. There was the usual "Spider-Man is a murderer" talk, along with conspiracy theories about how Spider-Man and the rest of the X-Men were orchestrating these events to make themselves look good. But now, apparently, even the PETA had something to say, criticizing Spider-Man and Frictor for harming the dogs that Kraven sent to attack them.

Ugh.

Saturday morning rolled around. I was eating breakfast with my folks. About twenty minutes in, I was wishing I stayed in my room. Once again, the topic of Spider-Man came up. That meant, once again, my dad unwittingly badmouthed my boyfriend. I stabbed my eggs with a fork, trying to tune him out. But I could only do so for so long.

"Hey, Dad, can we not?" I asked, interrupting him. "Can we just have a normal breakfast without the Spider-Man bashing?"

At that, my dad scoffed. "The way you defend him, sweetie, you sound like you're dating him."

"Michael," my mom said with a look of warning.

"No mom, I think it's about time I reveal my secret," I deadpanned. "Dad, I'm dating Spider-Man. We're actually very serious. We cuddle at night, we do upside down kisses. He even takes me with him when he travels. Have you ever been to Palm Springs?" I smirked.

"You're screwing with me," my dad responded, not the least bit impressed.

I scoffed. "Of course not." Well, technically, I was screwing with him. But little did he know at the time that I was telling him the truth. Okay, I was telling 95 percent of the truth – I kind of forced my way onto the X-Men's trip to Palm Springs, after all. But hey, to-MAY-to to-MAH-to, am I right? "Honestly dad, it is common courtesy to keep your hate boner for Spider-Man tucked while eating with others."

"Michelle, seriously?!" my mom exclaimed.

"I do not have a hate boner for Spider-Man!" my dad protested.

"It's a pretty hateful boner," I quipped.

At that, my mom slammed her hand on the table. My dad and I both looked at her. We didn't utter a single word. We knew better.

"Okay, since you two can't talk about Spider-Man like adults, a new rule is in effect from here on out," my mom practically growled out. "We do not discuss Spider-Man during times together – not at the dinner, not when we're watching a movie together, not when we're out. As a matter of fact, from now on, the topic of Spider-Man is off limits. It is very obvious that you two have varying opinions on Spider-Man and you two won't see eye to eye about him. That's fine. What is not fine are you two constantly arguing over it. The next time you guys argue over Spider-Man again…" My mom pointed at me. "I'll ground you until you graduate…" She then pointed at my dad. "…and I'll banish you to the couch until she graduates. Is that understood?"

"…Yes ma'am," my dad and I muttered out at the same time. I still wanted to tell my dad to kick rocks, but if this meant that I won't hear my dad badmouth my boyfriend for a long while, then I'd take this as a win. Besides, I'd rather not test my mom's patience.

If Peter thought I was one to be feared, he'd probably liken my mom to a deity.

Later on, I met up with Peter at his apartment. Apparently, he just came in from patrol. When he answered the door, he was still dressed in his Spider-Man suit. He quickly stepped aside, allowing me to come in. As he closed the door behind me, I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"So, did you just come back from patrol, or did you want to spice things up tonight?" I mocked. He locked the door before he turned and look at me, giving me a halfhearted glare.

"Very funny, Em," he deadpanned, causing me to smirk. "But seriously, I just got done with patrol. I stopped a carjacking. I helped an old lady across the street. I even helped a food truck with some orders since the line was getting long." He pointed to the kitchen counter, where a plastic bag was. "Do you like Shrimp Po' Boys?"

"Honestly, with the morning I had, I'd take anything," I said. I wanted to tease him more, but the look of concern over his face made me hold my tongue.

"What happened?

I frowned. "Are you aware that my father doesn't like Spider-Man?"

He smiled unhappily. "Even before Mysterio, he wasn't a fan of Spider-Man. Peter Parker, though? He didn't mind Peter so much… before Mysterio."

"I see." I walked over to the kitchen and reached into the bag with both hands. "My dad and I kind of had an argument over Spider-Man. I usually don't engage with him on that topic because I can't defend you as much as I want to. Fortunately, my mom stepped in before things got too heated. Spider-Man is banned as a topic of conversation in the household for the time being." I pulled out the Po' Boys and looked at Peter. He didn't look too thrilled. "Oh, and to add to the irony, both my parents want to meet you, as well as Craig and Kitty."

At that, Peter scoffed. "Does your dad have an opinion about the X-Men, too?" he asked.

I bared my teeth as I cringed. "Do you want me to answer that?" I replied.

Peter sighed. "I guess not." He put on a smile that I knew was forced. "I've had worse reactions."

I tilted my head. "Such as?"

"Well, as you already know, I had a whole SWAT team arrest me, along with you, Ned, Aunt May, and Happy. I got hit with green paint. I had a brick thrown through the window the apartment that Aunt May and I lived in." He shrugged. "What's the worse a few words could do?"

And just like that, I regretted bringing up the subject. I knew he was in a way better place than where he was when we started to reconnect. I knew he was in therapy to deal with the issues from everything leading up to The Spell and the aftermath of it. None of it changed the fact that he didn't deserve to go through any of that. Half of the city was down on him, not knowing how much he had to give up to save not only this city, but this entire universe.

"Fuck 'em," I said. "They don't understand how lucky they are to have you, and they'll probably never know." I quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, I'm here now, so…"

Peter looked happy to be on another topic. "Do you want to get out of here?"

"Honestly?" I shook my head. "Not really. I wouldn't mind lazing around."

He nodded. "Okay."

So that's exactly what we did. He got changed into a pair of red shorts and a black Stark Industries T-Shirt. Feeling a bit overdressed, I raided his drawer and got changed into a pair of blue sweatpants that I was pretty were mine and a white tank top. After that, we sat cross-legged on the floor, our knees just touching as we ate. After that, we went on his computer – a new computer he bought with some of Stark Industries money that he further upgraded and encrypted to a degree that a person not in the know would consider ridiculously excessive – and watched a movie. Specifically, it was Everything Everywhere All at Once. As we watched the movie, I laid my head on his shoulder. I had a can of Arizona African Rooibos Red Tea in my hand.

"Do you ever wonder if there's a universe out there where you didn't get screwed over by Mysterio?" I asked.

"Every other day or so," Peter admitted. "Especially since I learned that every dream I have is a glimpse into another universe."

"So I've been told." I took a sip. I then realized what I just said. I looked up at Peter, who gave me a questioning look. "I walked with Ned to The Inner Sanctum a couple of days ago. I met America and Clea. I'm guessing they're friends of yours?"

"Yeah. I met them when I reconnected with Doctor Strange."

I nodded. "America says Hi, by the way. But yeah, I had a talk with Clea. She's kind of intimidating. But she's cool."

Peter smiled. "Stephen thinks so. I think him and Clea are a thing."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, great, now I have to re-evaluate my opinion."

"You still don't like Doctor Strange?" Peter asked, even though I figured he already knew the answer.

"Nope," I replied, popping the P. Peter actually laughed for a few moments. "But yeah, Clea and I had a talk. I think we're kind of friends now? It's kind of hard to get a read on her."

Peter nodded. "That is true. So, what did you guys talk about?"

"I, uh…" I trailed off. I tried to think of something to tell him as I averted my gaze. Unfortunately, I ended up looking at his bed. Another memory was triggered. This time, it wasn't one from before the spell. No, this one was of the talk Peter and I had after I gathered and sorted out the feelings from Peter revealing the truth about The Spell to me, Ned, and Betty. It was at this point that feelings of guilt and disgust welled up inside of me.

If there were two things I hate being, it was being a stereotype and a hypocrite, and, right now, I was being both. I read a lot of novels and watched a lot of movies. How many of the stories of those books and movies could have been easily resolved if the characters communicated more openly about their issues? Yet here I was, not communicating with Peter about what I going through. There was a voice in the back of my head practically yelling at me that me being quiet with Peter about what I was going through would turn around and bite me in the ass. Also, me being quiet also made me a hypocrite. I made Peter promise to not keep anymore secrets from me and to, at the very least, tell me that there is something going on even if he couldn't tell me about it in detail. Yet, here I was, keeping a secret from him that he should probably know about.

"Em… you okay?" Peter asked.

I looked at him. I saw the look of concern on his face. I frowned before I looked forward at the keyboard. I reached out and tapped the spacebar, pausing the movie. I stood up and walked a few steps away from him. I covered my mouth with my right hand and looked up at the corner of the apartment. I stood there, taking a few moments to gather my thoughts. During this, I heard a floorboard creak. I knew Peter was standing up. I sighed and turned around.

"Peter," I began slowly as I looked at him. "There's something we need to talk about."

He tilted his head. "What happened?" he asked.

I opened my mouth to answer before I closed it. I hated this feeling I was having – this fear and anxiousness I had over how he was going to take what I was about to tell him. Would he be mad at me for not telling him sooner? Would he understand why I didn't? Would he be happy? Would he be sad? Would he push me to try to remember more and more? What if I didn't want to continue to remember? Would he be okay with that?

Well, there was only one way to find out.

"…Peter," I whispered. I brought my arms upward. "Come here." He looked a bit confused. But he only hesitated for just a moment before he walked into me, wrapping his arms around my abdomen as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. I held him tight against me and I rubbed my cheek against his. He held me just as tight with one arm as he slowly ran a hand up and down my back. We held each other for several seconds before I pulled away a bit, leaving a few inches between our faces. With my left arm still around his shoulders, I placed my right on the left side of his chest, over his heart. I took in a breath before I looked Peter in the eye.

"Peter… I might be getting my memories back."