Hurrying upstairs, Mary Jane shut the door to her room, leaning against it. Her mind seemed frozen as if it were a computer trying to complete too many tasks, and her whole body seemed to have gone numb. Whether or not she was currently even breathing, she couldn't say.
"Okay, M.J," she said to herself, finally moving off the door. "It's okay, you can think this through."
As she began pacing the room, Mary Jane started with what she'd just heard: a boy that had interacted with Spider-Man had said the same thing that she knew May Parker to have said to Peter. Okay, so what? She'd likely said the same thing around someone else at least once in her life, and maybe it just happened to be around Spider-Man.
Then again, there were Peter's frequent disappearances; there were seemingly countless instances of Peter having disappeared without a trace, only for Spider-Man to arrive on the scene soon after. At the same time, his job was literally to take pictures of the wall crawling superhero at any and every opportunity, so that did make sense... except, now that she thought about it, Mary Jane remembered a few times where he'd made some excuse about his stomach hurting or that he'd forgotten something. In those instances, no danger had been apparent until later, with Spider-Man joining the fray as well.
Her brain threatening to become overwhelmed, Mary Jane sat down on her bed, burying her head in her hands. This was all so much; never in a million years prior to this had she even remotely considered the idea that Peter Parker was Spider-Man. Well, if she was honest, she'd jokingly messed with the idea in her mind, but never taken it seriously. Now, however, as she'd thought through everything she knew, the idea was beginning to make sense.
Removing her head from her hands, M.J. stared down at the floor, narrowing her eyes as her mind came back to the story she'd heard. The boy had needed help, and Spider-Man had helped him. How many times had she seen Peter do the same for others? Whether it was helping someone pick something up on the ESU campus, or his brief stint where he'd done some volunteer tutoring, or when he'd had a heart to heart with her, Harry, or any one of their friends who needed it, he'd been there as best he could whenever someone needed something. Also, she knew Peter to be a protector too, the man having offered to walk with her to auditions that were in more rundown, sketchier parts of the city just to look out for her.
Slowly, as the reality of the matter started to settle in, the confusion in her body began to be replaced by something else: joy. Peter Parker, the man she cared for more than anyone else in the world, was Spider-Man, a hero she'd admired for some time. Something that had been so confusing at first was now the only thing that made sense to her. Now, Mary Jane was beginning to understand why he'd been so distant at times, why he'd occasionally had poorly excused injuries, and why he'd recently been seemingly sending mixed messages. Oh man, had he been getting ready to tell her everything the other night before an emergency had called him away? She recalled how nervous he'd been, his hands having been shaky when she'd taken hold of them to settle him.
Getting up quickly, Mary Jane hurriedly grabbed her jacket, throwing it on as she hurried back downstairs.
"Woah!" her aunt exclaimed at her sudden return. "I thought you said you weren't feeling well?"
"Oh, yeah," M.J. stammered, "I guess it wasn't as serious as I thought it was. See you later!"
Scurrying out the door before her aunt could even get in a proper response, Mary Jane broke into a jog down the street. She could probably still make it to her rehearsal on time, but that wasn't where she was going. She knew that there was no way that she could focus on something like that right now; right now, she had to see Peter. She had no clue what she was going to say or what the best approach was to this, but she just knew that she had to see him. She had to help assuage his fears of revealing his secret; she could hardly hold it against him that he probably wanted to keep the circle of those who knew as small as possible. If it ever got out that he and Spider-Man were one in the same, Peter's life would undoubtedly change in many ways, as would the lives of all around him, for better or worse. Mary Jane needed to find a way to lessen his worries, to help him see that she was more than willing to bear this burden with him.
Again, she had no idea how she would perform such a feat, but then again, Mary Jane had always enjoyed an opportunity to work on her improv skills.
Coming upon the agreed meeting location, Hobie tapped the side of his helmet, setting it to check for heat signatures within the building. The suit's thermal imaging quickly displayed seven individuals within the building, all but one of them seemingly carrying a weapon. Wesley had clearly come prepared with backup, likely anticipating Hobie to attempt to secure the device. While this was not what he'd hoped for, Hobie hadn't expected this to be easy. This would likely take time, time to either earn Wesley's trust enough or at least get him to be overconfident in his control of the situation.
He just hoped that whatever this job Wesley had in mind for him would be something quick, easy, and clandestine if possible. The thought of anything that would likely involve violence or would significantly harm individuals made him feel queasy; he REALLY didn't want to end up back in jail, and this was most certainly a violation of his terms of parole. Still, he'd gotten himself into this situation, and right now, he didn't see another way out but to play along for now.
Leaping from his perch, Hobie gracefully flew through the air and into the building in question through a window, landing gracefully but powerfully as he squatted down, also catching himself with his hand.
"Wow, well done, Mr. Brown," Wesley said, his clap practically oozing almost as much sarcasm as his tone, "or do you still go by Prowler these days?"
"You said you had a job for me?" Hobie replied, standing up and coming up to him. Wesley countered by strolling around to his side, clearly trying to maintain a distance between them. Some of the men his suit had picked up outside were plainly visible, the others likely somewhere in the shadows.
"Straight to the point," Wesley remarked. "I can respect that. First things first though: I'm really curious about that fancy suit of yours. Tell me, how powerful does it make you?"
"I don't know," Hobie answered, somewhat flustered by the man's question for some reason. "A lot stronger than you and all six of your backups, at least."
"Ah, so you can survey environments in great detail," Wesley noted. "That could definitely come in handy down the road, but I'm more curious about some of its other features. For instance, what kind of weaponry do you have?"
"Well, I have gas pellets and projectiles that can stun people," Hobie cited.
"Okay," Wesley replied dejectedly as he continued pacing in a circle around him. "Not quite as exciting as I was hoping for, but still useful I suppose. What else can it do?"
Hobie resisted the urge to grit his teeth in frustration beneath the mask; he really didn't relish giving the man ideas for future "assignments," but he had to remember that he might be playing a longer game than he wanted here.
"My boots and gloves are built to have an extra punch or kick to them if I wish, and this armor allows me to lift several thousand pounds like it's nothing."
"That's more like it," Wesley replied, coming back so that he was in front of Hobie, but still much too far away to attack. "Now, let me ask you this: do you believe that Spider-Man still trusts you?"
"What?" Hobie questioned, confused by this pivoting in the interrogation.
"Well, you did claim to be his ally to the press before he whisked the two of you out of sight," Wesley replied. "Was the ensuing conversation a positive one?"
Hobie thought for a moment, trying to choose his words carefully. He had no clue where this conversation was going anymore, but he chose the answer that he hoped was the one the man wanted to hear.
"Yeah, it was. I'd say he trusts me."
"Excellent!" Wesley replied. "Oh, that is just what I was hoping for. You really will be perfect for this assignment."
"What assignment?" Hobie questioned, his curiosity at an all-time high, as well as his concern.
"Why, to be the man who took down the Spider-Man, of course!"
"Wait, what?" Hobie challenged incredulously. "I didn't think I was signing up to be some kind of hitman!?"
"Come now, Hobie," Wesley insisted. "Like I said, you are a talented individual, and we save only the most important missions for our most talented people."
"No!" Hobie insisted vehemently. "I'm not a killer; I won't..."
Suddenly, several powerful surges of electricity went through Hobie's body, causing him to drop to the ground in a heap.
"Now now," Wesley said. "That's not the kind of gratitude I was hoping for in return for being the only one to offer you a job. After all, this is a big gig, and you would be very well compensated for your troubles... enough to finally put a ring on that pretty girl's finger, perhaps?"
"Leave her out of this," Hobie growled, his body still in burning pain in places.
"I'm just pointing out some possibilities, that's all," Wesley replied. "Now, can we count on you to get the job done, Prowler?"
Managing to turn over to his knees, Hobie then forced himself to his feet.
"Yes."
"Excellent," Wesley replied. "Now, you're free to use any methodology you like, but know that you only have twenty-four hours to complete this task, and if you should fail, well, let's just say that I hope you really like that suit, because you'll never be coming out of it again... at least not in good condition. Good luck."
Finally growing too anxious to sit any longer, Mary Jane stood up from her spot against the wall and began pacing back and forth. She knew that she was much earlier than her and Peter had planned to meet, but that didn't matter. She needed to see him, to help him understand that she could carry his secret... without letting on that she now knew said secret, of course. She was chastising herself for not thinking up more of a game plan on the way to Peter's apartment, as she now felt woefully unprepared as she wrestled to come up with an idea.
That was the thing about being an actress; M.J. was used to being the one to bring other people's ideas to life, rather than her own. Even in her modeling days, she pretty much exclusively followed the instructions of photographers, videographers and others who were guiding her every motion to make whatever she was wearing look as good as possible. She'd always enjoyed trying her hand at improvising, something that had been true even as she left her aunt's house an hour ago. Now, however, as it dawned on her that Peter could be back any moment, she was beginning to be reminded why she didn't improvise in her performances that often...
... she wasn't good at it.
As she spun around, having lost count of how many loops she'd made up and down a part of the hallway, she suddenly saw Peter, who was staring at her from the corner.
"Hey," he said as he came up to her.
"Hey," she greeted, the word coming out much faster than it needed to.
"I thought we were meeting later?" Peter questioned. "Didn't you have a rehearsal today?"
"Oh," M.J. said, realizing she'd been caught red-handed. "Um... yeah, I mean I did, but then the director came down with the flu, and then a couple of the other actors did too. It seems something must be going around, so I'm sure glad that I'm actually NOT around them right now!"
She was kicking herself internally; was this what it was like to be in Peter's shoes? Having to come up with something on the spot to people every day?
There was a moment of silence between them, which only served to ramp up M.J.'s anxiety over the situation, prompting her to speak once more.
"You mind if we go in?"
"Oh, yeah sure!" Peter replied, himself appearing a little jittery, which served to relieve M.J. somewhat. As he took out his key to open the door, her brain raced to try and think through what she would say next. It was clear that her showing up earlier had thrown him for a loop, likely because he hadn't thought up exactly what he would say or even hadn't worked back up the courage yet to tell her everything. She decided that she needed to start simple, hoping to help him feel a little more comfortable in her presence again.
"I thought that I remembered you had a couple of job leads you were looking into. Any luck there?"
Peter shook his head.
"One had already hired someone else and the other had dismissed me from the running due to 'lack of experience.'"
"That's ridiculous," M.J. asserted. "I mean, it's an entry level position, right? So, how do they expect for you to have any experience if nobody will give you any?"
"Beats me," Peter replied, placing his arms against the counter and hanging his head. Mary Jane was kicking herself again; the words she'd just uttered were likely the exact thoughts that he'd had over the better part of the last year and a half. She then tried bringing things back to a more optimistic place.
"Well, someone has to hire you eventually," she said. "If you like, I could, you know, check over your resume for you, see if I could offer any suggestions to help bolster it up? It might help you not have to swin... run, run all over town!"
Wow, had she really almost slipped like that!? Fortunately, Peter seemed too lost in his own world to notice, though he did glance her way, finally standing up straight again.
"Thanks," he said. "The way things are going, maybe I'll take you up on that. I'm sorry; I would offer to get you something to eat or drink, but I'm kind of out of... well, everything."
"Oh, don't worry about it," she assured him. "Besides, even if you did have something, I'm sure you would need it more than I do!"
"Why is that?" Peter questioned, tilting his head.
"You know... because, like I said, you're running around, trying to show off that pretty face in meet and greets on the job hunt!" M.J. replied. Peter just kind of nodded; the conversation still seemed to be getting nowhere, so once more, she switched gears.
"Anyway, did you see that news story they're doing on Spider-Man tonight?"
"Robbie told me about it at the Bugle," Peter said. "I don't know if I'll watch it though."
"Why not?" M.J. questioned as incredulously as she could, though hopefully not too much. "Don't you want to see the impact the New York's favorite hero has had on its people?"
"Trust me, whatever they are going to show on there is only part of the story," he said.
"Wow," she challenged. "I wouldn't have expected the guy who makes a living off taking pictures of Spider-Man to be such a skeptic?"
"I didn't say that," Peter replied almost defensively, seemingly trying to backtrack.
"You know, you've ever actually told me how exactly it is you manage to get those pictures of him," M.J. said, leaning over the counter as she feigned curiosity. "Do you know him? Is he an old friend, perhaps?"
"Of course not," Peter replied, visibly nervous. "It's just a combination of being at the right place at the right time with being good with long lenses occasionally."
"I see," M.J. replied. "You know, it's hard not to wonder about him sometimes. Like, what's his life like under the mask? He doesn't strike me as the billionaire playboy-type; otherwise, he'd probably be wearing some kind of armor or something. No, Spider-Man seems more like the good Ol' salt of the earth type of hero, don't you think?"
"I guess so," Peter said almost dismissively. "Why this sudden interest in Spider-Man?"
"I don't know, I guess that news story just got me thinking," Mary Jane answered. "You know, now that I think about it, some of the pictures and footage of him I've seen, he seems kind of... lonely, maybe? You've photographed him; wouldn't you say the same thing?"
"I mean... maybe," Peter replied. "He does carry a heavy load though."
"Right, but what if he didn't have to carry that load alone though?" Mary Jane asked. "What if, I don't know, he had someone that he knew was out there, rooting for him?
"That does sound nice... for him, I mean," Peter quickly added, and it was hard for M.J. not to chuckle a little at his facade now that she was seeing it clearly. "But..."
"But what?" she asked, coming around to him. Their conversation was momentarily interrupted by Peter's phone ringing; he checked it before silencing it and putting it away.
"Nothing," he finally replied.
He was clamming up again; she had to push harder.
"Peter, there was something you were going to tell me last night," she said. "Something that it felt like was really weighing on you. What was it?"
Peter opened his mouth seemingly to answer, but nothing came out. He started to try again, but his phone rang a second time. He took it out, excusing himself as he turned to answer.
"Look, if this is about my vehicle's extended warranty, the joke's on you, because I don't even own so much as a moped..."
"Contact Spider-Man and tell him to meet me at the top of the old First Bank of New York building in ten minutes."
"Wait, who is this?" Peter questioned; whoever it was was using some kind of voice modulation, so there was no way of recognizing them off that alone.
"His new friend from the other day," the figure replied. "I've come across some vital information that I know he would find interesting. Please, hurry."
After that, the line went dead. Slowly slipping his phone into his pocket, he turned to M.J.
"Who was that?" she asked.
"It... it was a job," he finally answered. "They said that, if I hurry, I can still make it for an interview by the end of the day!"
"Oh," M.J. replied, though not as enthusiastically as he would have expected. "That's... fantastic! I hope you get it."
"Thanks," he said. "Me too, but I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Tiger," she said. "I can wait."
Though he was a little surprised by her sudden patience, Peter had bigger fish to fry, saying his goodbyes before stripping down to his suit again once she'd left, leaping out the window.
The person who'd contacted him almost had to be the Prowler, and he had no clue what information he might be referring to, but one thing was certain: he needed to get to the bottom of who this mysterious new figure was.
Hope you're still enjoying it! I appreciate the comments; I'll get to them as soon as things let up for me a little, which should (hopefully) be soon!
Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!
"Therefore, He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them." Hebrews 7:25