A lot happened over the course of the next week or so. Tombstone and many others associated with him were arrested and several key figures were discovered to be on his payroll, including the police captain over the detective and the new assistant D.A. who'd been the one prosecuting Liz's case. The removal of the former from his position ended up leading to the chief appointing Detective Lee in his place, which Peter certainly approved of, as the woman had even explained to him that her new boss actually encouraged her to continue to work with him, which meant his relationship between his alter ego and the police was as solid as it had ever been.

Naturally, as all this unfolded, the charges against Liz were quickly dropped. However, before this could be celebrated, Peter learned from Mary Jane that, when her best friend had finally worked up the courage to visit her brother in jail, she'd found out that he'd committed suicide in his cell by fashioning something sharp and slitting his wrists. M.J. frequently checked on her best friend in the ensuing days to make sure she was okay, and supposedly it had taken a few attempts before the woman would even open the door to see her.

Frankly, Peter felt for his wife as much as anyone right now; in between trying to comfort him and Liz regarding their respective losses, she was also essentially trying to manage both stores by herself, which was proving even more difficult than normal. Once the truth came out regarding Mark and his involvement in everything, both locations lost a fair number of customers even compared to how things had been during the trial, with some of the major businesses that had supported the Madeline's name in the past opting to distance themselves from it as well. Peter could tell the PR side of things, which normally Mary Jane took great joy in, was now becoming one of her biggest stressors.

He was doing the best he could for his wife, but frankly, Peter struggled all the way up until the day of the funeral with grieving Robbie's death. Even as he and M.J. attended the event and he saw the massive turnout of support for the Robertson family, all he could think about was that he'd failed. If he had just pushed harder, if he had looked in the right place soon enough, or if he'd found something on Tombstone faster, his friend might still be alive. It hadn't mattered what Mary Jane or May had said to him up until that point; as he saw all the people there to grieve and help Robbie's widow and son do the same, it all only served to remind Peter that this didn't have to happen.

Nevertheless, he had to admit that the ceremony itself was beautiful. Many individuals gave testimony to the kind of man Joseph Robertson had been throughout his life; Jameson gave an especially moving speech about how his former right-hand man was the best and most decent human being he had ever known, and how even just being around the man every day for years hopefully made him a better person as well. Peter pondered going up and sharing too, but every time he was about to, his guilt prevented him from doing so, like a weight that was anchoring him to the ground. It was frustrating, because he knew that Robbie's life and his impact on people deserved to be celebrated.

Peter simply wasn't in a place to be able to do that.

A couple of days later, Peter finally worked up the courage to do something that he really felt he needed to do: pay a visit to Martha Robertson as Spider-Man. He just really felt that he owed it to her to properly express his condolences as his alter ego, since that was how he was present when Robbie had passed. Maybe he would try and apologize in some way to her; really, even as he fired another web to head in the direction of the house, he still didn't know for sure exactly what he would say, but he just felt that he needed to say something.

Eventually coming to the house, Peter landed on the front steps. He didn't exactly make it a habit to show up at people's front door as Spider-Man, but he also didn't consider it appropriate to show up at the bedroom window of a woman, especially a grieving one, so he rang the doorbell, holding his hands at his wait as he waited. There was no response initially, and Peter wasn't sure how to proceed. Should he try again, or should he just leave the woman alone to grieve in peace?

He didn't get a chance to answer this question however, as the door finally opened, with Robbie's wife coming into view. She appeared surprised at his presence.

"Spider-Man?" she questioned.

"Yeah," Peter stammered. "If you don't believe it's really me, I can crawl on the side of the house if you'd like?"

"No no, that's fine," she said. "Um, is there something that I can do for you?"

"Yes, I... is it okay if I come in?" he asked.

"Oh, uh, yeah sure," Martha replied, opening the door more widely for him. He thanked her as he entered the Robertson family living room space.

"This is nice," he said, unsure exactly of how to start the conversation. Martha just kind of nodded, her eyes darting back and forth between him and any other direction, the woman clearly uncertain of how to react to his presence in her home. Taking in a breath, Peter decided it was time to rip the Band-Aid off.

"Look, Mrs. Robertson, I don't know if me saying this will do any good or not, but I just really wanted to express my condolences properly... and to apologize."

"Apologize?" Martha questioned, a surprised and confused expression on her face. "What do you have to apologize for?"

It baffled Peter's mind that she really seemed to have no idea what he was talking about.

"I didn't get there in time to save him," he explained, "and if I had, you and your family wouldn't be grieving right now. I don't know, I guess... I know I don't deserve for you to forgive me, but I still just wanted to say that."

"Forgive you?" the woman asked, clearly still confused. "Young man, you have nothing to be forgiven for, at least not by me."

"But... but I didn't save him?" Peter questioned.

This time, the woman didn't respond right away, but rather took a few steps towards him until they were right in front of each other.

"Let me tell you something," she began. "My husband always believed in you; he used to come home and vent every day about how Jonah used to use the paper to slander your name. He would always say, 'Why would someone looking for all the glory put up with all the troubles he had to deal with?' No matter what happened, he never lost faith in you, even in the end. When he told you to go after that man, and you did, he looked at me and told me, 'Everything is going to be okay now.' He knew that you would win, that you would save the day like you always do. He passed maybe not even a minute after you left the room, because knowing you were looking out for me gave him the peace he needed to finally let go. He trusted you with my life, Spider-Man, and you did exactly what he knew you would."

By now, Peter found himself fighting to hold back the tears beneath his mask. He'd never thought of it that way before, how much trust Robbie had put in him to save his loved ones...

"I had no idea," he quickly got out. "Thank you for telling me that."

"Of course," Martha said before her eyes got wide. "Oh, and before you go, I have something for you to pass on to your friend, Peter."

The woman then walked out of the room for a few seconds before promptly returning, carrying some kind of recorder device in her hands.

"Apparently before he passed, my husband left some messages on these for different people," she explained. "I'd been meaning to contact Peter about his recently, but I..."

"It's alright, you don't have to explain," Peter assured her, taking the device from her hand. "I'll make sure that he gets this."

"Thank you," she said. Peter then started to head to the door to leave, but then turned back to the woman.

"I just want you to know ma'am that... your husband... he was a hero of mine too. Any person who is willing to do something like what he did, who was the kind of person he was, well, people like him inspire me to keep going. He really wa... he seemed like a wonderful man."

"He was," the woman replied, "and thank you."

Peter gave a light nod before finally turning and making his exit. He then headed back into the city, finding an isolated spot high above the rest of the world. Removing his mask, he took out the device Martha had given him, examining it. Bracing himself, he hit the play button.

"Hello, Peter," the recording began, Robbie's voice hitting Peter harder right away than he was expecting. "If you are listening to this, well, it means I'm gone. It also means that you were one of the people that I wanted to especially thank for the impact you had on my life... and man, you had a big one. Not many people in the world were privileged with the opportunity to know the man behind Spider-Man's mask, but I was. I got to see every day that the same person who would risk his life by swinging into a burning building or fighting a super villain was someone who would go the extra mile to help a coworker, someone who worked as hard as they possibly could, and someone who gave to others without expectation of a reward."

Peter sniffed, wiping his eyes as the recording continued.

"I know that for the last several years, a lot of people have been looking to me. Something like that... it's scary. I tried my best not to show it, but deep down, the responsibility of running a place like the Bugle terrified me. But then I would look at you, knowing the things you must be dealing with, and seeing the way you carry yourself... it inspired me. Even on my worst days, I would think of the sacrifices you were likely making, and it motivated me to keep going. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, no matter what the world thinks of you, Peter, to me, you will always be a true hero, and a prime example of what this city, even this world needs right now. I know what you do isn't easy, but your example inspires people more than you know. I hope that you never give up; whatever comes your way, keep fighting, but also, don't be afraid to let yourself enjoy the good things in your own life too. Thank you, Peter, for being my hero, even when you didn't know it."

As the recording ended, Peter couldn't hold back the tidal wave of emotions crashing down against him anymore. He buried his face in his hand, tears streaming down his face as he wept heavily. He'd known Robbie had thought highly of his alter ego, but the things he'd just heard... he'd had no idea how much the man, someone much older and full of life experience had looked up to him, someone who'd started the whole superhero thing when he was still a kid. The impact he'd had on Robbie, his family...

… it was overwhelming.

Hearing a knock at the door to the apartment, Mary Jane quickly got up, looking out of the peek hole to find that it was Liz. She promptly opened the door.

"Hey," she said enthusiastically, still happy to see her best friend free. Liz's expression didn't match it though, the woman appearing melancholy as she held out a paper towards M.J.

"Here."

Mary Jane hesitantly took the paper from her friend's hand, rotating it around so that it was facing her way. Her brain seemingly froze as she read its contents, her gaze returning to Liz.

"You... you're surrendering your half of the business?"

"Yeah," Liz replied with a nod. It was clear she was holding in a lot of emotions.

"I don't understand," M.J. said with a shake of her head.

"Mary Jane, I came here to tell you that I'm going home," Liz explained, "and... I'm not sure when or even if I'll be coming back."

Now it was M.J.'s heart that felt as though it had stopped. Liz, her best friend, was leaving?

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I need to see my family," she said. "After everything that happened with Mark... I don't know what it will look like yet, but I need to be with them right now, if nothing else to not let the same thing happen to us that happened to him and I."

"Okay," Mary Jane stammered out. "You know it's okay if you just need to take, like, a few months, even a year, right? I can hold things down while you're gone; I'm sure they won't be as organized, but I..."

"I can't stay here anymore, Mary Jane," Liz interrupted, her voice threatening to crack at any moment, "not after what's happened. Madeline's used to be such a place of pride and joy for me, knowing we were doing this together, but now, after everything that's happened, I can't even look at it the same anymore. All it is now is a reminder of what happened with my brother, how intentionally or not, I let it drive a wedge between myself and my family. Maybe one day I will be able to come back, but right now, I can't do it. I'm sorry."

M.J. glanced back down at the paper before looking back at Liz. She knew she would say something, something about how she understood, how the two of them were going to be okay, or how her best friend would figure things out with her family and it all would work out in the end. No words came up though; it was as if the barrage of emotions within had formed a wall in her throat to keep anything from coming up, try as she might to fight it.

None of this was helped by Liz suddenly throwing her arms around her, pulling her into a hug.

"I love you like a sister," she said. "Thank you for always standing by me, no matter what."

She then separated and, before M.J. could even respond, Liz turned and hurried down the hallway, wiping away tears as she did, and soon she had disappeared down the stairwell. For what felt like an eternity afterwards, she just stood there, the shock of the moment rendering her unable to move. Eventually, she closed the door, slowly moving over and sitting on the couch. She glanced back down at the paper, and slowly the reality of everything her best friend just said began to settle in, and she couldn't hold back the tears anymore.

Dropping the paper, M.J. buried her face in her hands as she wept. She had no idea how long she'd been doing so when she heard the door to the apartment open, and soon, Peter had rushed to her side.

"M.J, what is it?"

Finally removing her face from her hand, she met his gaze.

"Liz came by earlier," she managed to get out, composing herself as best she could. "She's turning over her half of the business to me, because she's going home. She's leaving, Peter."

A sympathetic look took over her husband's face, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. She had no idea how she had more tears to shed, but she did anyway as she buried her face in her husband's shoulder, weeping bitterly.

Hoped you like this one despite how sad it was.

Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!

"Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise. Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:20-21