Web of Spider-Woman

by ComicChick19

Finally! Petra Parker has graduated from High School, and is off to College at Empire State University in Manhattan! But with this new phase of her life comes a new set of challenges, enemies, romance. and adventures! Can she finally achieve a proper work/superhero/life balance? Probably not. Also posted on Ao3 and Wattpad!

4. The Best Four Years of Your Life!

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222; text-align: center;" data-p-id="ee551892460a06ed2813927a157102bd"Issue 4/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e5007e5be5558f577e951bdb3f896a3a" "MAY!" Petra screamed, her voice cracking as she ran into the kitchen./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="76dfec4bce9b736acf6bf0f767769a80" Coming to a sudden halt, Petra dropped down next to May. She was lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious, a shattered bowl of pancake batter next to her. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"I should have known something bad would happen again after the first time I found her like this, but she just kept insisting that I let it go! /emPetra thought. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"How could I be so stupid to think that this would just go away? I-/em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a1bc2bbf5eeb8c7fdcfbf6ced22599c8" There was a frantic knocking coming from the front door, interrupting Petra's thoughts. She didn't pay it any mind, too focused on her Aunt./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7ed7d256963ca77de67bd0a575336279" "Aunt May, please wake up! Come on May, please!" Petra begged. She pulled May's head onto her lap and began shaking her. Whoever was knocking on the front door stopped, and Petra heard the deadbolt turn with a sharp em style="box-sizing: border-box;"creak! /emThe door swung open, and somebody ran into the house./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a5f8560e804d89feb1a3d0b32e1987a5" "Petra?! What's going on? I saw you freaking out through the window, is everything alright?" It was Mary Jane. Petra guessed she must have given up on someone answering the front door and used the spare key hidden underneath one of the potted plants on the porch to get in./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6afc1ed9bf448536c6eba3fbd449046e" "In here MJ!" Petra cried out, a primal sound of terror in her voice. MJ ran in and gasped./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a927d832c5e81f5ddd8210f8c07c5077" "Oh my god!" MJ shrieked. "What happened?!" She kneeled down next to Petra and grabbed onto May's hands, rubbing them with her thumb./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e474f43913c9e5ae20f348b331db0b1b" "I don't know, I just found her like this!" Petra quickly said./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fdda8906a6f0b1067cc505a121d03db5" Petra could feel tears building in her eyes, but she was too panicked to even cry. Aunt May finally began to stir. She turned her head in Petra's lap and groaned. Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked around./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2c4e95848d594ceb532ab1f1183f667d" "Petra? Mary Jane? What's going on?' She asked, confused./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6bb34c887783594bf7f10e85c77fbbe6" Petra's mouth gaped, and she choked on her own words. MJ spoke for her./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="86a77836248dded4b00cad6e8302cdd8" "May...I don't know what happened, but Petra found you on the ground like this, are you okay?" Mary Jane asked, her concerned expression creating deep lines on her face./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ce6ba10b23b83af5de879c4e47442c62" A dark, panicked look flashed across May's face, which she tried to hide. She slowly moved to sit up, with Petra guiding her and preventing her from cutting herself on any of the ceramic shards scattered across the floor./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e585f5246e08d3aca8ccbfe900656aa4" "I-I'm fine. I was just feeling a little light-headed, that's all."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c2650a59cde7c638203de50979185c47" Petra's eyes widened, and the stressed-out part of her that had been trying to suppress her fears finally snapped. "Fine? May, look at how we found you! This is the farthest there is from fine! This is the second time I've found you like this!" At that, MJ turned to look at Petra, shocked./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="85de7f8c105d8315b4d7abebecee6168" "You said that it was nothing last time, and I took your word for it because you're my Aunt, and you know what's best for yourself. But you're lying to me! Something is wrong, and we need to get this figured out! Please May, for the sake of my own sanity, and for your health, can you just tell me the em style="box-sizing: border-box;"truth /em?" The tears that Petra had felt earlier began spilling loose./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7650d39585b33bc047aa1aaa46293085" Aunt May hung her head with shame. She had been keeping everything from Petra, thinking that it would spare her from any pain that the truth would bring. All that she had done was bring her even more pain. May began speaking, and she finally told them everything, with MJ sitting between them, slightly leaning against Petra and providing the two of them her support. There was a heated discussion afterward, and May reluctantly agreed to go to the hospital. Petra had wanted to call an ambulance, but May had objected, not wanting to waste money on an ambulance bill. She offered to drive herself to the hospital, but neither Petra nor MJ accepted, arguing that May's condition meant that she wouldn't be safe driving. In the end, MJ offered to drive everyone. Petra figured it was for the best, she didn't have much driving experience, despite her having a license./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="13d6d88b01a44349156825a981f13be2" May was checked in and kept overnight to be looked at by the doctors. As Petra and MJ walked away from May, she looked on at them sadly. She had been overjoyed when the two had begun dating. She loved MJ, she loved how happy she made Petra, and she thought they made a wonderful couple. She didn't know what had caused the two to end things, but she was happy that they still remained close friends./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bc703553390cec574df4419b3ba4458c" MJ drove the two of them back home. Petra was going to go walk back into her own house, but she hesitated. It was empty. It used to always have someone in it, either Uncle Ben or Aunt May, or herself. But now it would just be Petra. May was at the hospital, and without her, the house felt colder. MJ saw Petra hesitate and offered her a sympathetic look. Walking up to her, she gently grabbed Petra by the arm, and led her back to her own house, offering for her to stay the night. Petra's stomach growled, but she didn't feel like eating. What was supposed to be a nice, fun dinner with May was now lying scattered all over her kitchen floor. They entered the house, and MJ's Aunt Anna had talked to the two for a while about May's condition, but she eventually left to go to bed. They settled down in MJ's room with an inflatable mattress set up for Petra to sleep on. Petra tried to go straight to sleep, but she couldn't stop thinking about May. Eventually, she started sobbing, unsure of what was going to happen. MJ got up from her bed and rushed to Petra's side, embracing her in a firm, comforting hug. They sat like that for what felt like hours, until Petra ran out of tears, and drifted off into sleep. MJ laid Petra down, looking at her regretfully, and then went back to her own bed./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a21537b1a55d194024d283a86fb66c05" Petra walked towards ESU's entrance and passed through the front gate. She was wearing her best "first day of school" clothes, a plain red top with a pronoun pin on it, a large black leather jacket on top, and a simple black skirt that reached down just above her knees. Petra didn't wear any jewelry or makeup like she used to. Jewelry made it take longer for her to change into her costume on the fly, and any makeup she wore inevitably got smudged by her mask./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="cb881670accb7b7d2644f9ca3711c7f9" The campus was jam-packed with people, some grouped up and talked to each other, standing in circles on the grass, and others sitting on benches. People walked up and down the sidewalks, a few of them looking up and down from their phones while glancing confusedly at the different buildings, trying to figure out which ones their classes were in. Petra walked with her head down, thinking about everything that had happened recently./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3d2be89eb88653fe6175d554af1ef034" It had been a few days since May was admitted into the hospital, and today was the first day that Petra hadn't been able to spend keeping May company. It was killing her. Petra had been hoping that May didn't have anything too serious, but the doctors were unsure. They couldn't figure out what was wrong with her, and her condition only seemed to worsen over time. So at the hospital, May stayed, with a bunch of professionals fussing over her and trying to figure out what was going on./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="dd447e91fde14714091c62fe41740f24" As Petra walked down the sidewalk, her spidey sense gave her a dull warning about something behind her. "Look out!" Someone cried out, and at the last second Petra absentmindedly stepped to the side. Someone went flying past where she had been standing on a skateboard. The skateboarder fell and tumbled to the ground, their backpack breaking their fall. The skateboarder got up, revealing a girl with fair white skin, back-length blonde hair, and a black headband on her head to keep it all out of her face. She wore an olive green button-up jacket with patches all over it and a pair of homemade crust pants. If one were to look closely, one would be able to see what had once been a regular pair of loose black jeans underneath the large variety of patches that now covered them. She pulled out a pair of earbuds from her ears, loud hardcore punk music blaring from the tiny speakers, and turned to Petra./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="86321464885e1ecb96ceeda9ad165ee5" "I am so sorry! Are you okay?" She asked, sincere regret shining through her bright blue eyes./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bd6a2939879cb33292b0f9b6e8d43006" It took Petra a second to take in what she had said, her head still wrapped up in her own thoughts. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine, sorry." Petra mumbled, before beginning to walk again, her thoughts immediately returning to Aunt May./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d241b361586ff465ddba5c753d92119e" "Oh good. Again, I'm really sorry! My name's..." The girl trailed off as Petra walked past her, not hearing a word that she had said. "...Gwen. My name's Gwen Stacy." Gwen stared after Petra, confused. "Jeez, she seems like a real piece of work."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d2e8aa0b94fc0053b982182805dcb8cf" She popped her earbuds back in and hopped on her skateboard, heading in the same direction as Petra, eventually passing her and leaving her in the dust. Petra didn't notice at all./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c5e8a74e0ea0e21ef14a4cbfbec0d68f" Petra walked into her first class of the day. It was a medium-sized room with various island tables that had chemistry equipment on top and stools for students to sit on. Instead of socializing and trying to make friends with her classmates like she had planned to do before Aunt May had gotten sick, Petra just went to an empty table in the back of the class and sat down. She didn't think she could handle talking to people right now. A few tables over, Gwen Stacy was sitting on her own stool, bopping her head to the music playing on her earbuds, and air drumming along. She looked over and noticed Petra sitting in the back by herself and waved to her, but returned her attention to her music when it became clear that Petra wasn't going to acknowledge her./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a2de88a8dc1bf58ac50db1d3795e9240" More people poured into the class, and somebody sat down next to Petra. She didn't look up or say hello, choosing to just not pay any attention to her surroundings. She was getting angry./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2c0b5aa05b8ee19c5b790c9314b50be4"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" How could Aunt May keep this from me? Did she not realize how much this was going to affect me? How absolutely devastated I would be? /emShe thought to herself. She couldn't make the feelings of anger go away, and just sat there, her temper simmering./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2679f76f96d46afb09f9f148ac05e929" The class's professor walked in, wearing a white lab coat, with a dark green turtleneck underneath it, as well as a pair of khaki pants and brown dress shoes. Shaggy gray hair sat on his head, and a large, bushy mustache adorned his upper lip. His large square glasses seemed to constantly reflect light, shielding his eyes from the class's view. He sat a brown leather messenger bag down on his desk and pulled out a laptop. After spending a few minutes setting up, he turned his attention to the class./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e0a882890a45569d231d5add8a2e75b7" "Good morning class. Although, it won't be morning for long." He muttered that last part to himself. He cleared his throat and continued speaking in his relatively stern and gruff voice. "I am Professor Miles Warren. You all may address me as Dr. Warren. I am one of the professors for our university's esteemed biochemistry department! If you stick to the biochemistry major, you'll actually have me for more classes in a few years." He paused to glance around the class, taking notice of the bored stares pointed in his direction. He cleared his throat, then spoke again./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="881b1c22352a09702d92d4822ba55b12" "If any of you have a knack for reading any scientific articles related to the field of genetics, as you should if biochemistry is the field that you want to go into, then you may recognize me, as my work has been published on many occasions. I don't like to brag, but I AM one of the country's leading minds in the field."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0123aad7ff9e665ceae20edc3bf45e71" He continued on like that for a while, introducing the subject of the introductory class, and discussing future projects. Finally, he started walking around and passing out paper copies of the class syllabus./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="15470d81bd9590ad51b0bab2bd91f473" "You can also find a PDF version of the syllabus on our class's canvas course. You should have been added to it a few days ago, if you weren't, see me after class." He said as he walked around./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f2fc60b3859446f90a03df8ab08f8809" Professor Warren handed Petra her copy of the syllabus last, and she started absentmindedly flipping through it, still struggling to keep herself focused on anything other than May's condition. Eventually, the class came to an end. A large flood of people began streaming out of the exit. Several people got together in groups to introduce themselves to each other, while others went to the front of the room to talk to the Professor./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6cd8631909a28b49315a42264fa59fd7" Petra stood up and began packing what little she had taken out of her bag. Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Gwen Stacy stood up and walked briskly towards somebody that she recognized./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="29bf1e3fff0a814807c1fc4c589f2be6" "Oh my god! Harry?" She shouted./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="deaff95c7493ea696c8a3f31d5581684" Harry Osborn turned to her and smiled. He was a relatively tall but lanky boy. He had pale skin with short wavy brown hair that formed a large widow's peak on his forehead. He was dressed in a black polo shirt and a pair of unassuming blue jeans that probably cost a lot more than they looked worth./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f89b7f2e4be237c978ff24bdabde19b2" "Gwen! I can't believe we're in the same class! I didn't even think I'd see you again after High School!" Harry said./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="397052a21863d73c1239d55c08644129" "Me neither! I came here because of the biochemistry department! What's your major?" Gwen asked./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="564a8d8db3deafb8c295d5e1c8a564f7" "Chemistry," Harry said, frowning. "I wanted to go into the humanities, but my Dad said it was useless. He wouldn't pay for college unless I went into a science major. Apparently, he thinks I won't be able to run the business after he retires if I don't know anything about what we're selling!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="82b612798e609a33d95fb399decdb71d" "I didn't know you were taking over Oscorp someday!" Gwen exclaimed. She tried to keep any disparaging tone out of her voice. She hated any company on principle, but she'd heard a em style="box-sizing: border-box;"lot /emof shady stuff about Oscorp too./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9306984ea565c1b6ab3df46172f0b179" "Funny, I didn't either, it em style="box-sizing: border-box;"really /emcame as a surprise! A super unwelcome one!" Harry said sardonically, bitterness dripping from every word. Something else caught his attention, and he dropped the subject of his father. "Oh, hey! That girl over there! I met her at orientation, and she seemed really nice, I'm gonna say hi real quick. Hey Petra! How's it going?" Harry shouted, seeing Petra walk by./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="49fecfbd5c6bf5c00a594b4d2577f790" Petra walked past, not noticing Harry at all. She had an almost angry expression on her face and walked with a strange intensity./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="81d617912d78614bb9b072b13a73faa0" "Jeez, I guess I was wrong about her!" Harry muttered, upset./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4f5563d833da3f3bbf985fcecb2794a8" Gwen scoffed. "Tell me about it! I was talking to her earlier and she completely ignored me. I tried getting her attention again before class started, and she did it again!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="70a5393dcb21efdf04f68610ce058134" "Well, ya can't dwell on people like that. Oh, did you hear that some people saw the Human Torch on campus?" Harry asked./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="cd1254b5958facee23e6a2096773c19b" "Ugh, yeah. I saw a giant group of people following her around and taking pictures." Gwen said. "It's just stupid celebrity worship. If she didn't have any powers, nobody would care about her."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7ca553e20e36feffa6f81b5eb7663538" "Jealous?" Harry teased good-naturedly./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="05a35c3eafaea12abef80a7fa1398c9e" "As if, Harry." Gwen said. She rolled her eyes but smiled. "I really want to introduce myself to Professor Warren, I'm kind of a fan of his research, and I want to ask him some questions. Do you wanna keep catching up another time?" Gwen asked./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="47648a972c118b48babd65d7515ece57" "Sounds like a plan, man. We'll catch up later then!" With that, the two went their separate ways, Gwen headed towards the Professor, and Harry for the door./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="420b0208c1f1a9d2b79da1bb7b5946bc" Petra had finally finished all of her classes for the day. She was still feeling angry and was having a difficult time keeping her cool. All in all, she figured that it was probably her worst first day of school ever. She remembered what her Uncle Ben and Aunt May, as well as a lot of her past teachers, had told her countless times throughout her life. "College will be the best four years of your life!" They had said. If this was what the next four years were going to look like, Petra didn't even want to know what was going to happen after. Today had been awful, she couldn't stop thinking about what was going to happen to Aunt May. She had been in a weird state of denial about it ever since May had been admitted to the hospital, but now it was really starting to hit her. How serious this was./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ff04d81f1d146c27461fb3bfcb0331bb"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" Is Aunt May going to die? /emPetra darkly thought. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"What do I DO if that happens? Where will I go? How can I go on? I'm technically an adult now, but I still need her! I love her so much, I don't know if I can move on from that! She may be a little old, but it's still not her time! I can't-! /emPetra's anguished thoughts kept going on and on. Petra pushed the thoughts away and tried to regain her composure. She still needed to call the hospital to check on May./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9262dae31dc4cdb544d6edcc66808549" Unfortunately for her, May was still sleeping when she called, and they didn't have any updates on her condition, telling her that they were still running tests. All Petra had to fill in the time now was to go out as Spider-Woman. She preferred that instead of just going home to an empty house. Petra found an isolated area on the edge of campus where no security cameras would be able to spot her, and she changed into her costume. She hid her backpack on the roof of a building, figuring that she could just pick it up tomorrow, and with a em style="box-sizing: border-box;"thwip! /emshe was swinging away./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3c6c6957fe04e911c735f23ad81493ed"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" It's about time that I got back into the swing of things anyway. I haven't had a chance to go out patrolling at all ever since May was admitted to the hospital! Maybe this will cheer me up a bit! /emPetra thought as she swung away from the Upper West Side and towards Midtown. She reached the edge of Midtown and stopped on top of a roof, scanning the city, while contemplating the events of the last few days. In the distance, she could see one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarriers floating lazily over the edge of Brooklyn. That always made Petra uneasy. They'd just popped up one day out of the blue, and now they were apparently policing the whole globe? She felt like the presence of a giant, overly-militarized police force, only invited disaster to the city. Petra hopped off the building and made her way deeper into Midtown./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="831a97fff5f320b3e48af1c9d55248d2"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" I hope I run into something newsworthy soon. I could use some money from the Bugle right now! It won't be much, but it could help with the hospital bills. /emShe thought. She also wanted to check to see if J.J. had any I.T. work that she could do for extra cash. Jameson, ever frugal, couldn't be bothered to hire an I.T. guy, even though they had started publishing digitally over a decade ago. So, of course, Petra, being as good with computers as she was, found herself helping out with any tech problems in the building, on top of being their best photographer./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6a89d62a36cd1477b7c72af9885aa276" As "luck" would have it, just a few blocks away, Petra heard the sounds of gunfire. She changed directions and started swinging towards the sounds, and came across a baffling scene. An armored car meant for transporting cash was turned over in the middle of the street, with two gangs of people on either side, taking cover behind abandoned cars, and the truck itself, firing on each other. The drivers of the truck were sprawled out on the street, unconscious. On one side was a group of about a dozen men wearing purple body suits with gray masks, just like the ones she and Jackie had encountered robbing a warehouse full of scientific equipment at the beginning of the summer. On the other side was a group of thugs wearing black ski masks, and armed to the teeth with machine guns of various makes and models. The weird men in purple were periodically ducking in and out of cover, shooting at the thugs with laser rifles. The thugs were doing the same. Petra hurriedly began setting up a camera on one of the skyscrapers nearby, holding it in place with her web fluid./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c54e405920abd3c292fd87475f54d59e" "Leave now if you want to survive! The Master Planner has need of this money to fund his experiments! You have no right to swoop into the middle of OUR job and take everything for yourselves!" One of the men in purple shouted from behind his cover./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a09816e790eea30731937a5ea5df9a9e" On the other side of the truck, one of the thugs shouted back. "YOU have no right to pull a job here! Not without paying tribute to the Kingpin! This is HIS territory!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5773cef6b7a0cd0f663ad1e6c9ce4a2f"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" The Master Planner, I remember hearing one of those guys mention that name when I was fighting them in the helicopter! Never heard of this Kingpin guy though, I'll have to remember that and look into it later. /emPetra thought./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fb56e19d19e5163829be97e3d55e00f9" One of the Kingpin's men stealthily climbed onto the upturned side of the truck, getting ready to fire down on the Master Planner's men for a surprise attack, but just as he was about to pull the trigger, Petra hit him with a web and pulled him off the truck. She webbed him to the second story of one of the many skyscrapers lining the street and then landed on top of the truck./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b2862fa15438d74afe3bf82ad1340b74" Petra started quipping. "A shootout? In the middle of the street in broad daylight? You guys are just asking for jail time aren't you? I'll give all of you ONE chance! Put your guns or your laser doohickeys, or whatever weapons you have, on the ground now and surrender! Or else all of you are getting your shady asses kicked into the next century!" Petra said, maybe a little too confidently./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="156cb6681f937c1c0fc272be2ddf54a6" Everyone paused to look up at her. Then one of them shouted to the others./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d904a8d898f5301142cf8f6876d1eec2" "Truce until we kill this em style="box-sizing: border-box;"mutant /emasshole?" Petra couldn't tell which one said it, but it pissed her off. The recent spike in mutant phobia was getting on her nerves. She wasn't even a mutant! She was a mutate! Not that that mattered to a lot of people. It was just another reason she hid her powers as Petra Parker. She already had to deal with enough hate as an out trans woman./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="732e949eb70546a95dd85b50b218de06" "Agreed." One of the men on the Master Planner's side said. Her spider-sense started going off in droves, and she started flipping through the air, just as both groups started firing on her./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a97575b3dfef6dde39dfeb2f73b19f20" "Well, thanks for that I guess! The bigotry makes me feel a lot less bad about dishing out concussions!" Petra shouted, twisting out of the way of various bullets and laser beams./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e32b738fe00c8d72e49b641a0c2036a9" Despite her spider-sense and incredible acrobatic abilities, she was still outgunned, and a few bullets managed to knick her, tearing at her costume and drawing blood. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Ugh! I just fixed this costume! /emPetra thought angrily. She sprayed a large web toward the thugs working for the so-called "Kingpin", catching a few of them and keeping them pinned to the ground as they tangled with the web./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="124ddc46b5a4f87ff83d306143a1edd8" Weaving through bullets while shouting various demeaning insults, Petra managed to knock out a few more of the thugs and goons attacking her. Behind her, she heard the sounds of sirens approaching./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="08c4dbd6c4693672545912dc18fb794f"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" Great, it's the NYPD, I wonder if they'll actually be helpful this time, or if they'll just try and shoot me like they usually do! /emPetra was betting on the latter./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a28c6fcff5d93294c845d0ab32a0e508" The squad cars pulled to a stop, and their doors flung open, with the passengers stepping out and taking cover behind the open doors./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9de5ca5b23e37d9e0adc81a3f23d6327" "Everybody freeze! I want your hands where I can see them!" One of the cops shouted into a megaphone./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="87066ef8b9b22ebf6067fce328275fb8" "Fuck, the pigs are here! Let's get out while we can!" One of the Kingpin's men shouted, before taking off towards an alley, with the others following in suit. Petra was busy tussling with one of the members of the Master Planner's gang, and couldn't chase after. The cops started firing, gunning down one of the Kingpin's men, but the rest made it to the alley while firing back. Petra knocked out the goon she had been fighting, but the rest of the Master Planner's gang had made it to an open manhole, disappearing through the opening, and closing the lid behind them. Petra was about to chase after but turned her attention to the thug bleeding in the middle of the street. He was still alive, but groaning in pain. Petra ran up to him to make sure he was okay, but a warning shot was fired by one of the cops./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="61c660ebef6ac643db463f9039b5cf25" "On the ground Spider-Woman! We're bringing you in!" The cop with the megaphone said. People were beginning to pile up behind the police, now that the street battle was over. The onlookers watched on, talking amongst themselves. A few of them were shouting in support of Spider-Woman, while others were jeering angrily. The rest just pointed their phones at the scene, recording the standoff unfolding before them. News helicopters started circling above them, filming as well./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="181903bdb43bf7f73c4e74ce2cb984a2" Every cop on the street had their guns trained on her. Everything went to a standstill. Petra was getting sick of this. She didn't know what to do either. The last time this had happened, the cops had been distracted by the Punisher, but now she was on her own. She looked around, scanning the situation, looking for an out. The downed thug groaned weakly next to her. Nervously, Petra spoke up./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3ddca8a8f5c5090ee7e7aba9e8cd0939" "Hold it! I was just trying to help! Can we forget about whatever beef you guys have with me and help this guy for a second? I think he's bleeding out" Petra shouted./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="68b64fdac54f985655ee69e85b035d8e" "Drop the act, we know criminals when we see them! On. The ground. You em style="box-sizing: border-box;"mutie /emfreak!" He called back, disgust in his voice./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="71966c94e3c5d1af0e4ef9ebb7346385" "He's dying!" Petra pleaded. "Let me take him to a hospital!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3e1e7f0386c37e7af04a2fd9fd9cc1c4" The cop rolled his eyes uncaringly. Petra couldn't believe this. "Shoot her! I want the other guy in handcuffs!" He ordered./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c05f3ed340c06239d479b3d3a9e2a0a6" Bullets started flying again. Petra dodged and started swinging away, snatching her camera from its hiding place as she went and clipped it to her belt hidden under her costume. Her spider-sense was making the back of her head throb with its frantic pulsing. Petra kept swinging, but eventually, her luck ran out, and a bullet hit her, digging itself into the back of her left thigh. Another one hit her right shoulder, exiting on the other side. Petra howled in pain, nearly losing her grip on her web and falling to the ground. Desperate to get away before she could possibly pass out, Petra swung in between two buildings, struggling to carry her own weight while swinging with a hole in her shoulder and a bullet lodged into her leg. Petra went another block, trying to avoid being seen. She could hear police helicopters flying somewhere, probably on the lookout for her. She kept swinging, adrenaline the only thing fueling her, for as long as she could. She wasn't sure how far she went, everything was becoming a blur./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1cc53817374d0de168c97e7de9c8f562" Petra dropped onto the roof of an apartment building, hiding from the sight of a helicopter by standing behind the roof access door's wall. Shaking, she gently lowered herself to the ground and then collapsed against the wall, her heart beating a mile a minute, and her breathing heavy. She reached her left arm back to feel her shoulder and winced from the stinging sensation it produced. It hurt a lot, and she let out a loud scream, unable to hold it back. She drew her hand back and saw that it was covered in blood. She couldn't be bothered to check her thigh at this point./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7012140b4b34562f16d3b4bbfc540bdc" As the adrenaline rush that had been keeping her going started to wear off, the pain started to increase. Petra felt herself growing tired. "G-Get...a hold of yourself...girl. You probably got hurt worse...fighting...Paste Pot Pete! Literally...the lamest villain out there!" Petra chuckled weakly, fighting against her body to maintain consciousness. "Think of May. You can't...let things end here. You still need her...but she also needs...you!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="49899b649a4151f3103cfcebdd40d7fa" With a groan, she pulled her arm behind her head and fired her web shooter at her shoulder. Petra winced as the fluid hit her wound, plugging it and stopping the bleeding. She wasn't done yet. She shot another web at her shoulder but kept it going so that it was more like a thick piece of paper than a thin string. She ducked her head to pull her arm over it, wrapping the web tightly around her shoulder. She kept it going for a few loops, grunting through the pain. Finally, she was done, and she moved on to her thigh. Petra finished wrapping it and sighed with relief. At least she wouldn't bleed out. Maybe./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bd148324a982afd313154b85444ea6ca" The edges of Petra's vision were going dark. Giving herself a quick burst of motivation, she slapped herself across the face. Hard./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9b5c5c93a40da271f184abe160e2c298" "OW! JEEZ!" Petra screamed. That really woke her up./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="158852e4fc2bc91dcb5708f9b3862ae2" Suddenly, the door to the roof burst open, and three people ran out, frantically looking around the roof. There was a man with rich brown skin and long dreads. He had a septum piercing and short facial hair that formed the outline of a goatee on his chin. The other two were women, the first with a slightly deeper brown complexion, and short, choppy hair, and the second a Vietnamese woman with warm bronze skin and long, flowing black hair. All three of them looked like they were in their mid to late 20s. Their eyes landed on Petra, and they all gasped./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1f7f232be5d8e74a1e9c4e7d172113ae" "Oh, shit!" The man exclaimed./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="38d0f416793c770a5993d9208e4a1539" "It's Spider-Woman!" The second woman shouted. "I think she's hurt!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="72624f7425c8dc3a990b464090e6cfba" "Well no shit, we all saw the news! I think she got shot!" The other woman said, sarcasm dripping from her voice./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e6ea6140199807f19af327a51d5f09fe" They slowly started approaching Petra, their hands held out in front of them in a non-threatening gesture, as if she were a hurt wild animal./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="067db7a52e90c38a70fa2f2c4e334a77" "Are you okay? We heard you screaming from our apartment, it's right below." The man said, gradually crouching down to the ground./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5c7de7a69203892272bf7532db7ad33e" "I'm-unh, I'm f-fine. Don't worry about me." Petra said, trying to scoot away from them./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="567514eb721aac589628f353c05c3708" "You don't look fine." The Vietnamese woman said. "Look, my name's Giang, this is Lajon," she pointed to the man crouching down in front of her, and then pointed to the other woman, "and this is Rose. We have a first aid kit in our apartment, we can help you out! You don't have to worry, we won't turn you in to the police." She said./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="210beb45e925ad46940e277cfebcc4b0" Giang smiled at Petra, an urgent look on her face. The others nodded./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f1f677b027b5e8827d5605d97eb3a2bc" "Listen, thank you," Petra paused to take a deep breath, the pain flaring and disrupting her speech. She gradually attempted to stand up. "But really, I'll be fine!" As soon as she said that, she let out a yelp, having put too much pressure on her left leg as she stood up./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="68c100ef5dec38de6e3e4fee3605c8ae" "Uh-huh, sure," Rose said. "and I'm Tony Stark. Why don't you just come down to our apartment, we can help you! Or you can stay up here and we can bring our first aid kit!" She said./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="04602b52e0be05a4e79d14d41df41ecf" "Seriously guys, thank you. That means a lot, but I can't let you help me, the police are still out looking for me right now, and I can't risk putting all of you in the middle of that." Petra said solemnly./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="42492b1b0eaa8d5e4441c99c07fe7c8c" Petra fully stood up, taking greater care not to put too much pressure on her leg. She slowly started limping towards the edge of the roof, but Lajon suddenly moved in front of her, blocking her path./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="dcfc10b32bc7123cb6afe38b6f8476c0" "You're clearly not in any condition to go swinging, or whatever. You could hurt yourself worse. It's admirable that you want to keep em style="box-sizing: border-box;"us /emsafe, but why don't you take a look at yourself? Let us help you!" Lajon said./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="40a8b4af80a53db5c496ecdd74a371a7" "I'm sorry," Petra huffed. "But I can't let you do that."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="df55d12cc461536b377b1347779a46bb" With a sudden burst of energy, Petra leaped off the building, keeping a careful eye out for the police helicopters that were still out searching for her. The trio on the roof called out for her, but she couldn't hear what they were saying. She was grateful for their attempts to help her, but all that she had come to learn about power and responsibility wouldn't allow her to risk it./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9e04c6c7a7f5dcc127935bb130a07be7" Petra was sick of this, though. She already had so much to deal with, but she still tried her best to go out and save people. And what did the police do? Shoot two holes in her. She had been doing this for three years, never asking for thanks, and the police still wanted her gone. Petra eventually made it to a truck that was headed for Queens and hitched a ride on its roof, practically collapsing onto it from the strain of swinging so far with her injuries. It passed over the Queensboro Bridge and ended up taking her fairly close to Forest Hills before she had to abandon ship when it started going in a different direction. Petra could hear the truck driver swear as she hopped off the roof, surprised by the sight of his masked stowaway. Finally, Petra made it home, crawling inside through her unlocked bedroom window, pulling off her mask, and collapsing on her bed. She couldn't stay that way for long though, not with the bullet still lodged in her thigh. With a long-suffering sigh, she sat up, careful to avoid putting pressure on her leg, and crouched on the ground, looking underneath her bed and pulling out her own first-aid kit./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="594fd2c2f2dd0ed648725f83bbb2673b" Laying out a towel underneath herself on the bed, Petra peeled off the web she had wrapped around her thigh, then pulled off the pants of her Spider-Woman costume, as well as the boots, and twisted her leg the best she could to get a good view of the wound. She winced, not liking the way it looked. Petra took some painkillers, not that they would do her much good, and felt around to find the bullet, before carefully pulling it out and disposing of it in a baggy. She washed the wound and disinfected it, before getting to work on stitching herself up. She then moved on to her shoulder, pulling off her gloves, then the webbing, and then her shirt. Stitching the shoulder was a lot harder with there being an entrance wound and an exit wound, but after a while, Petra was able to sloppily finish her work. It was definitely going to scar though./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="48d8a4984989429246fab9996971c33c" Petra knew that she wasn't supposed to shower after getting stitches, but she smelled like blood and sweat, and she couldn't stand it. So, carefully wrapping her thickest webbing around her wounds, hoping that would be enough to prevent them from getting soaked, Petra limped into her bathroom and started showering. She finished up, then removed the new webbing, and replaced it with actual bandages to wrap around herself. She threw her suit into the washing machine in her basement, and then settled down in her kitchen, dressed in pajamas, to make herself a bowl of mac n' cheese./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4ded82ea2149909fd3054d4355bb1f1c" Petra set a pot of water on the kitchen stove and waited for it to boil. She stood there, thinking of the day, thinking of the week she had had. Wondering about May's condition, and how this would affect her school life. Today was supposed to be a fresh start for her. New school, new classmates, new friends, new stage in her life. But she hadn't even talked to anyone today. She guessed that she most likely had come off as a reserved loner to her classmates. She figured that might be salvageable. Petra decided that she would make a better effort to socialize the next day. Speaking of the next day, she realized that she couldn't wear shorts or a skirt tomorrow, or anything that exposed her shoulders, or else people would see her injuries. That would suck, the heat had been awful lately, and wearing jeans would only make it worse. Someone knocked on the front door, and Petra stepped away from the stove to see who it was./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="022e91034f78805a94b89bb86fd63830" "Coming!" Petra shouted. She checked the peephole and saw MJ standing on the porch. She was dressed in her usual getup, a sleeveless shirt, this one all black, and a pair of blue jeans. Petra opened the door./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2a0802b4e13b7232679d16ee73579eff" "Hey, tiger. How are you feeling?" MJ asked as she walked in./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c90ee567f5e4c6d7d7c62c4929ecce60" Petra sighed. "I'm, y'know, I'm hanging in there I guess." Petra closed the door and locked it, then walked back to the kitchen, with MJ following. The kitchen was almost spotless, Petra had done a deep cleaning of it after she had returned home from spending the night with MJ. She made sure that there were no remaining pieces of the shattered bowl, and not a single speck of pancake batter anywhere. The two of them leaned against the kitchen counter, and Petra continued to wait for the water to boil./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="59aedd1d3a4cf92660fa81e7dbfbe436" "You guess?" MJ prodded, raising an eyebrow questioningly./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2a43a2ddf583d944a23379e70878fd01" "Okay, so I'm not "hanging in there" very em style="box-sizing: border-box;"well/em, per se, but I still am." Petra said. "I'm really stressed right now, and normally I'm good at managing stress, but with it being May, I just- I'm not handling anything very well."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b232dcac22f67b1e92cb80cf205bdf0f" MJ leaned against Petra and patted her shoulder comfortingly. "I don't think you've ever handled things very well, Petra. Why don't you tell me about it?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7cf73079d4779dc5c9cf82eae9363940" Petra ranted about the first half of her day, how she couldn't pay attention in class, how she had failed to even meet any of her classmates, about how the doctors didn't have any updates on May. When she finished, MJ looked at her, as if beckoning her to continue speaking. When Petra just made a confused face, MJ let out a frustrated groan./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0d171da7a7555b87a72fbf5b91cb626c" "I'm glad that you told me about all that instead of bottling it all up inside, but you're leaving a really big thing that happened today out!" MJ said, annoyed./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fe540e3ea3edf8a7d7bb734d8ad52e6c" Petra had a good idea of what MJ was talking about, but she didn't want to speak about it with her. "I dunno MJ, I personally live by the code, what happens in the bathroom, stays in the bathroom." Petra said, attempting to use bad humor to change the subject. MJ looked very unamused./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d74dff4e0088b28313d4f6270f0664d4" "Bad bathroom jokes won't distract me Petra. I know you know what I'm talking about. It's em style="box-sizing: border-box;"all /emover social media, and the news was covering it too. I saw you get shot, from a million different angles!" MJ said, a stern yet worried expression on her face./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="629485d3311a47c172cadee4df657ff6" Petra was like a deer in headlights. She took a few minutes to say anything, nervously glancing between MJ and the pot of water. In her nervous state, she briefly wondered when the pot would start boiling, it had been a while. Petra finally spoke up./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="cb057723e46c5de1dbbcd9f263679ef1" "Okay, so I also had a rough time in costume today. But I took care of it, there's no need to worry!" Petra said, annoyed./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="be7cc6a26469499fd322960e762fc518" "No need to worry? Petra, you're no better than May! You just can't admit when you're hurt, or when you need help! Did you have to pull any bullets out? Did you have to stitch yourself up? You act like the burden is on you and you alone! Why can't you just ask me for help?!" MJ shouted, upset./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e04303da7bb61f07cd2e2fd65f36bf5e" "I won't because it's the entire reason why we broke up!" Petra's eyes widened when she said that. She didn't mean to drag that into the conversation, but now there was no taking it back./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="99f2c8ea6adb79a524718d019812b043" MJ exhaled slowly, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. After taking a moment, she spoke again, her voice level and steady. "Petra, what do you mean by "we" broke up? YOU were the one who broke up with me, don't act like it was a mutual thing!" She said, leveling a glare at Petra. "So why don't you finally just tell me? WHY aren't we together anymore?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4ab08ece22c8d123b06142af291a5fd2" Petra stuttered. She didn't know what to say./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="406d71156406465c0aa012db29cbc009" MJ's face changed to a softer expression, and she stepped forward. "Please, Petra, I need to know. You just dumped me, out of nowhere, and I never understood why!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="dc524a392c8369402cef553f69b56ff3" Petra's eyes filled with tears for what felt like the millionth time that week. She wiped at her face and sniffed. "I-. I really thought I was doing the right thing." Petra said. "For em style="box-sizing: border-box;"us /em." She emphasized./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9b26ba0c748c994cdfdf0b60c23cfe4d" She looked to the left, to the right, to the floor, anywhere but in MJ's direction. "Because...what I do, it clearly stressed you out. There were already enough close calls when I would be fighting supervillains while you were in the same area. And I can't even count how many times you would find me, beaten and bloodied, all freaked out about me. I was just a burden to you while we were together. So, I decided to end things. I thought it would be for the best. And until now, I've been telling myself it was what we both wanted. I guess it made me feel better about the whole thing."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="04aba65c71ebb8b5aa724cb190807e39" Petra's gaze gradually made its way back towards MJ. She had clearly been crying, albeit silently, and when Petra reached up to touch her own face, she could feel that she had been as well. She'd been doing that a lot lately./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3311084309520f46982c6bb79d564777" MJ sniffed. "It's definitely em style="box-sizing: border-box;"not /emsomething that I wanted! Why did you never talk to me, about any of this Petra?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ccf5501c4db06599b775a4206b2771cf" "I-I don't know. I didn't know how to bring it up. And I thought it would make things worse if I did!" Petra said/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c5c0aedcb4ac962f57c098601cd96f64" They fell back into silence. After drying off their tears, they looked meaningfully at each other but didn't say anything. In the silence, Petra swore she could hear every little thing. The house, settling in its foundations. The trees swaying in the wind outside. Her and MJ's hearts beating, slowly growing faster. The blood rushing in their veins./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9e882206357f4c7793c07ee22f392ebd" They were standing an awful lot closer to each other now. Petra drifted closer, and so did MJ. They kept drifting, staring into each other's eyes longingly. Eventually, one of them made the first move, though neither of them knew who. They embraced and drew each other into a kiss. Small at first, but slowly growing deeper. It lasted for a few minutes, the two of them only briefly pausing for air, until they both seemed to come to their senses, and they broke apart, but stayed close together, holding each other in a comforting hug, with their heads resting on each other's shoulders. Their heights, not too far apart, with Petra being only slightly taller, made it comfortable./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2f5ba4ebe3d259515ada8ab533eb6ebe" Petra wiped her mouth on her sleeve, then looked at MJ. "Um." She didn't know what else to say./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a5d02ddd84cbbf73f1784ab8b25eb3ff" "Yeah." MJ said awkwardly./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6bea678c79ecd1bb7f1f24519a83076b" "Uh, it's been a while... since we, uh... did that." Petra awkwardly stated./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3cee7a983db171f7e906fefcf64644ab" MJ smiled and laughed, lightly giving Petra's back a pat./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0145fdf5be2323e914d9c432df6c2fff" "It was nice, I missed it. I've missed us. I know I was the one who ended things, but I'm still not over it. I know we were in High School and all, but I was in love with you MJ, and I don't know how to move on. I have so many regrets." Petra admitted./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ae3808fcf33c900bd89c3943060e30a1" MJ squeezed Petra in their hug, and then untangled herself from her, her hands grabbing hold of Petra's. "I know Petra. I don't know if you can tell," MJ said, a hint of sarcasm making its way into her voice. "but I kinda haven't moved on completely either. But..."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="967e91e124ed278f277b38e3552b31e9" Petra sighed and closed her eyes, bowing her head. "But there's no going back, is there?" She asked./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ba03efb3856af8d7b1fa2f7237a17541" "No, I don't think we can." MJ sadly stated./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7323a6192bd73ee339fb89a7d02e5ca1" Petra sighed. She could feel more tears trailing down her face. She felt a little relieved though. It felt like a load of pressure had been taken off her chest, and she could breathe a little easier now. It still hurt, but it was like a cloudy sky had parted, just slightly, and if she squinted, then she could see the sun./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4ee506c7010f533df04a4bac5a544a60" "It was stupid of me to break up with you." Petra stated./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1555455fa02a5531147122a52255e1f4" MJ smirked. "Your damn right, tiger." She said. Her smirk faded, and she started speaking again. "Yes, your double life stressed me out, but I was dealing with it, and I think we could have talked things out. What really stressed me out, and what still stresses me out, is how bad you are at asking for help, or accepting it when it's being offered to you. All I wanted to do was em style="box-sizing: border-box;"help /emyou, Petra. And you pushed me away. That hurt. We were a couple, you shouldn't have kept everything to yourself, you should have let me support you, that's what partners do. And as crazy as it is, that includes stitching each other up when one of us gets shot."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d86df1c3356adf10de7113dbbb6af2b7" Petra nodded. She understood now. She couldn't help but think of the people on the roof from earlier, who had desperately tried to help Petra, fearing for her safety. Sure things had turned out relatively fine, but it could have ended badly too. She still was unsure if she should have accepted their aid or not./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e3d289247177299d74148b872b8e2bcb" MJ kept talking. "I'm still here to support you Petra, just like you're there to support me. We may not be a couple anymore, but we're still friends. BEST friends."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9d653eee10a542672e8e62fe74fc187c" Petra sniffed and wiped her eyes clear of any lingering tears. "Thank you, MJ. That means a lot." She said quietly. "I'll...try to be better with that kind of stuff."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d8ced6b1a0c3db91aef4cbeb5ed13be3" MJ smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Petra," She glanced over to the stove, at the pot of water that was still not boiling. "Um, Petra?" She asked./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a985166acba7a5b5444b85d1b50507ce" "Yeah?" Petra said, confused./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6f1689d053699a7dd81c57928b7d1fea" "You do realize that you actually need to turn the stove on for the water to boil, right?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fae0db0dc44ec39b1cc3a1ebc7bee9dc" Petra's eyes widened, and she whipped around to face the stove. Checking it, she realized that she had apparently forgotten to turn the dial on the stove, thus, no boiling water./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="18b6729df20f1e96bb5ff1d5657c0f34" "No! You gotta be kidding me!" Petra exclaimed./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="265f2d42dc079a3d3c29940c95b97689" MJ was doubling over with laughter. Petra turned the dial all the way up to ten and settled back into waiting for the pot to boil, embarrassed. MJ was still laughing./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="69bfd54e6d70da5a3bf7c08d3aa987d5" "It's not that funny, MJ!" Petra said, folding her arms over her chest./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7583faf2b416debea31942bab1538f9f" She turned her head away desperately trying to hide the smile that was forming on her own face. MJ just started laughing harder at that./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6e93ccfdbacb3211bbf6a31b08c34caa" "Typical Parker!" MJ teased. "Petra Parker, certifiable genius, forgets that you actually need to turn the stove on for it to do anything!" She said, imitating a news host reading out a headline./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b91cc4dea2bba906d4a3804697fa6932" "Whatever." Petra said, barely suppressing her own giggles./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b216504199978157b769969de7b57b92" The two verbally sparred back in forth for a while, while Petra prepared dinner, now making it for two instead of one. They ate mac n' cheese together at the dining room table, along with whatever else was available in the fridge to go along with dinner. They ended the night on a high note, laughing and reminiscing about the good memories they had shared together. Eventually, MJ had to leave, and Petra walked her to the door. As MJ was stepping out, she turned around and pulled Petra into one last firm hug./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d18da1520729119a7d7186347c92d5f2" "Goodnight, Tiger. Get some sleep. And please, if you're struggling, just reach out, okay? Don't just sit on it, or wait for someone else to notice that you need help. Okay?" MJ asked./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e0104db832be8274171a9bbc0ec8713e" "Okay." Petra affirmed./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="44ed02a0f290afa523599221e10127c9" The two parted, and MJ walked out the door, waving goodnight, and Petra waved back, before shutting it. Petra turned around and walked to the kitchen, quickly doing dishes. She then made her way to the basement to switch her laundry over to the dryer, before heading to the second floor to go to her room and finally sleep. It had been a long, mostly terrible day, and she needed sleep. She was happy she had had that conversation with MJ though. She hadn't realized how desperately they had needed to talk, about everything, until MJ had forced the conversation to happen. She was glad MJ had, she felt so much better. Petra collapsed into bed, pulling her covers over her. After a little bit, she fell asleep, feeling a little more ready for the next day that was approaching. /p