"Hurry, Peter; Anna and Mary Jane will be here any minute!"

"Coming, May!" Peter called out as he straightened out what he hoped was the last wrinkle in his shirt. Checking himself over in the mirror one last time, he decided his efforts would have to do and made his way downstairs, eventually finding his aunt in the kitchen. The woman turned to face him, smiling brightly.

"Aw, Peter," she said, coming over to him. "You look so handsome. I just know you'll sweep that girl off her feet!"

"We'll see about that," Peter returned, his words a mix of genuine and teasing.

"Don't be so skeptical; you're a prize for any girl!" his aunt assured him.

"If Mary Jane is as great as you say she is, I'm pretty sure that's not possible," Peter retorted, but I appreciate your enthusiasm. Anyway, is there anything I can help you with before our neighbors come over?"

"Actually, if you wouldn't mind setting the table, I would really appreciate it," his aunt replied. Peter then promptly went over, setting out the plates, glasses and silverware for the meal they would soon be sharing. Honestly, he was just ready to get this whole thing over with; he'd found excuse after excuse for months to avoid meeting this Mary Jane Watson, but his aunt's persistence finally won out. He didn't like the notion of being set up by the much older woman, loved her though he did, but he could see how much this meant to her, and besides, what was the harm in getting to know a neighbor?

Besides, there was just NO WAY the girl could be as beautiful as May said she was.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"Ooh, they're here!" May practically squealed. It was strange and even a bit funny to Peter to see his aunt this way. It seemed as though twenty years had been shed from her life.

"I'll finish in here and be there in a second," he assured her as she walked past him to the front door. Really, he was just stalling, but as he heard May happily greet their neighbor, he closed his eyes, sucking in a breath.

"It's okay," he said. "You're doing this for May. Come on, Pete, make her happy."

Peter then turned and walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.

"You must be Peter," Ms. Watson greeted him.

"That's me!" he affirmed. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"You too," the woman said, gesturing to the still open door, "and this is my niece, Mary Jane."

Taking a couple steps more so that he could see the girl, Peter suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He practically had to pick up his jaw from the floor as he beheld the sight in front of him: a girl about his age, maybe a little younger, with long, flowing red hair that was straight as could be and piercing green eyes that seemed as though they were already in the process of hypnotizing him. She was relatively casual in her dress, with a sleeveless black shirt and newer pants.

His mind slowly beginning to catch up to the situation, Peter managed to squeak out a few words.

"Yo... you're Mary Jane Watson?"

The girl chuckled, a bright, almost proud smile spreading across her cheeks.

"Face it, Tiger: you just hit the jackpot!"

"Spider-Man?"

Suddenly shaken from his thoughts, Peter glanced across the table to see find his opponent looking curiously at him.

"Oh, sorry Dave," he replied. "Guess I was lost in thought for a second. Let me see..."

Carefully selecting his next move, Peter slid one of his red checker pieces up and to the left.

"Let me guess, it was about a girl?" Dave asked.

"What makes you say that?" Peter questioned, trying to sound as if the idea were ridiculous.

"I might not be able to see your face, but I've lived long enough and seen enough to know when something is on someone's mind," Dave explained, shifting one of his black checkers pieces, "and if I've guessed your age right, it's either a girl or something to do with a job/living situation."

"Why Dave, one would think you're trying to actually figure out my secret identity!" Peter said half-teasingly as he plotted his next move.

"Nah," the man replied. "A lot of the guys talk at work like you're probably some rich guy who just sleeps when he's not swinging through the city, but I'll bet your actually quite boring under that mask."

"I'll say that one of those is true, and I'll leave you to guess which one," Peter said, jumping one of his opponent's pieces. "Also, king me."

Shaking his head, his opponent reluctantly did so, placing a second red piece on top, the crown symbol facing skyward.

"Speaking of the job though, how are things going at the plant?" Peter asked.

"Pretty well, actually," Dave said, jumping one of Peter's red pieces as he did. "I don't want to jinx it, but I think I might be up for another promotion."

"What? That's awesome, man!" Peter congratulated him. "I know how hard you've been working the last few years."

"I owe it all to you, man," Dave replied. "If you hadn't literally talked me off that ledge after I lost my son, I wouldn't even be here today."

"Nah, you did all the hard work," Peter assured him, finally making a move after surveying the board. "All I did was listen."

"That's something no one else did," Dave said, "and I..."

The man then leaned forward, surveying the board more closely for a moment before slumping back into his chair.

"...and it looks like I'm all out of moves; guess that gives you the two out of three for today."

"Yep!" Peter confirmed.

"What are our overall records anyway?" the man asked.

"Let me check," Peter said, taking out his phone and scrolling to find the results.

"Also, where do you even put that thing?" Dave questioned.

"Trade secret, I'm afraid," Peter replied, finally pulling up what he was looking for. "Oh wow; it seems that, with today's results, we are now dead even at 75-75 apiece!"

The man's eyes widened.

"We've played one hundred and fifty games already?" he questioned.

"That's what it says," Peter said.

"Wow," Dave replied, shaking his head. "It's crazy to think it's been that long."

"Well, they say that time flies when you're having fun!" Peter remarked.

"True," Dave said. "Thank you, Spider-Man; us doing this... it makes me feel like my son is still a part of me. That boy loooooved checkers!"

"I don't blame him," Peter replied. "I had someone play quite a bit with me when I was little. If I'm honest, this is therapeutic for me too; it takes me back to a simpler time before, you know, when I needed to at least pretend like I knew what I was doing in life."

"Well, I guess that's it for the day then," the man said, rising from his seat and extending his hand for Peter to shake. "Thank you again, Spider-Man."

"My pleasure," Peter said, accepting the man's gesture. "Also, sorry about missing last month, but I..."

"It's okay; even if I hadn't seen about the hostage situation on the news, I know when you do miss, it's for a good reason," Dave explained. "But anyway, same time next month, assuming you don't prove too busy?"

"Absolutely!" Peter confirmed. "Thanks, Dave, and good luck with the promotion!"

He then fired a web and leapt off the edge of the building, swinging into the city. He made his way deeper into Manhattan on patrol but saw no crime in sight.

"Really?" he thought to himself. "It couldn't be like this around 2:00 yesterday?"

As he continued, Peter's spider sense went off very faintly, just enough to register that someone was joining him. It didn't take long to find out who it was as the familiar yellow streak of fire emerged beside him that was none other than the Human Torch himself, Johnny Storm.

"Hey, Spidey!" he greeted, his back now turned to his fight path, his arms crossed. "How's it going?"

"Pretty quiet, actually," Peter replied.

"You mean boring?" Johnny suggested.

"Uh uh!" Peter denied. "If I even let myself think that way, I might as well brace myself for an apocalyptic event within twenty-four hours."

"Still, how about we spice it up a little bit?" the Torch suggested, rotating back to a more normal flight position. "First to the top of the Empire State Building wins?"

"You're on!" Peter agreed, and soon the two were off. Johnny pulled ahead almost immediately, but Peter knew that he had one thing that could give him the advantage: unless he wanted to cause a PR nightmare for the Four, his opponent would have to go around a couple of buildings, where as there were spots Peter could squeak through if he positioned himself just right.

He stayed not too far behind his fiery competition, eventually coming to a building just finishing construction as they turned a corner. Peter's opponent clearly hadn't remembered it, almost coming to a complete stop as Peter zinged through the narrowest of spaces, pulling ahead for the first time. From there, it was a straight shot to the Empire State Building, and soon, he touched down on it, his feet racing up as fast as he could towards the top. He fired a couple webs to yank himself further upward even as he could hear Johnny's flames drawing nearer.

Making one last leap, Peter barely touched the high point of the building barely a second before Johnny did.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, landing on a slightly lower part of the roof.

"Man!" Johnny complained. "How do you do it? I can literally fly at supersonic speeds and then some!"

"True, but then again, we almost never go in a straight line, do we?" Peter fired back. Besides, you and the team are always so busy in Latveria, the Savage Land or who knows where else for you to keep up to date with the layout of the city."

"Alright, you got me this time, but next time I'm going to pick somewhere that I know the path towards like the back of my hand!" Johnny vowed.

"How are the Fantastic Four these days anyway?" Peter asked.

"Oh, we're good," Johnny said. "We'd be even better if we became the Fantastic Five..."

"Johnny... believe me, it's tempting right now," Peter conceded, "but I still..."

"I know, I know," Johnny replied. "You want a life as Peter Parker too. Again, you know that you don't HAVE to reveal your identity to the public if you were to join up with us, right?"

"That wouldn't be fair to you guys," Peter insisted. "Look, you have no idea how much I appreciate the offer, seriously, but I want to make a difference in my own way."

"Do you even know what that looks like right now?" Johnny questioned.

"...No," Peter conceded, "but I'm figuring it out."

Johnny sighed.

"Alright; I have to get back, but can I at least have Reed and Sue put out some feelers for you? They still have a lot of contacts within the scientific community, even ones not well known to the public."

"Sure," Peter relented. He hated feeling like someone was trying to give him a handout, but maybe May was right about him being a little stubborn. Okay, a lot stubborn, but what was the difference?

"Okay," Johnny said. "You take care of yourself, alright Spidey?"

"As long as you agree to do the same," Peter quipped.

Johnny shrugged.

"Eh, no promises."

"I'd like just a regular coffee, please."

"That'll be $3.50."

Peter pulled out his debit card and handed it to the employee, who promptly scanned it. He noticed she had a curious look on her face before scanning it again.

"I'm sorry sir, but your card is being declined," she explained.

"Oh, um..." Peter, realizing must of used the last funds in his checking account to buy more of the chemicals for his web fluid that morning, began rummaging through his pockets, eventually pulling out his wallet. To his disappointment, all he found was some spare change inside, with not even a single dollar bill to his name.

"Yeah, you, uh, better just take the next order," he said, taking his card back. He then turned and found a table over by the window, slumping down into a chair. He let out a sigh, allowing himself to feel sorry for his little predicament just for a moment before pulling out his phone. He pulled up an article on the latest research in biophysics, both because he liked staying as on top of the latest advances across the fields of science he could and because science just made him feel better, thinking of all the new things people were discovering out in the world that he hoped to be a part of one day...

"Excuse me, sir?"

Peter glanced up to find one of the employees standing beside him, setting a drink down on his table.

"I'm sorry, there must be a mistake..."

"Another customer bought it for you," the woman explained. "They said you would know by the name on your cup."

The woman then turned and walked away, leaving Peter to glance down at his cup, eyeing it curiously. He rotated it around, revealing the name written on the center.

"Tiger."

His eyes suddenly widening in surprise, Peter quickly turned his head, rapidly scanning the area. After a moment, he spotted that familiar long, straight but thick red hair before the person turned around to reveal none other than Mary Jane Watson. He got up from his seat and came over to her, the woman smiling brightly as she stood up to greet him.

"Hey," Peter said as they greeted one another with a hug. "I didn't expect to see you here!"

"What can I say: I love to surprise," M.J. replied.

"You always did love a dramatic entrance, even if this was much more subtle," Peter said, gesturing to his cup. "Thank you, by the way."

"Of course," she said. "You had that sad puppy dog look when you couldn't get what you wanted, so I just had to do something to cheer you up."

"Well, I mean, seeing you would have done the trick by itself," Peter said.

"Glad to know that I haven't lost my touch," Mary Jane replied, her smile brightening in what seemed to be an almost mischievous way that was producing butterflies in Peter's stomach.

"Anyway," he spoke up, "what are you doing back here in New York? Hollywood couldn't handle Mary Jane Watson?"

"You could say that, yeah," she replied, her tone suddenly a little less playful. "Listen, I'd love to talk more, but I have an audition that I need to get to. I'm free later tonight though; how about we meet in Central Park and catch up for real?"

"Sounds perfect!" Peter said. "How about seven?"

"It's a date," M.J. said. "Catch you later, Tiger."

She then turned and took her leave, but not before glancing back at his way and giving him one more smile before she went out the door. Peter just stood there, his body frozen as he seemed to be in a mix of surprise and bliss. Had she really come back? Was she staying for good, or was this just a brief visit before she left again. Also, did she really refer to their rendezvous as a DATE? She sure did look as beautiful as ever too...

Peter was eventually shaken from his trance-like state by the ringing of his phone. He didn't even look at who it was as he answered, his eyes still trained in the direction Mary Jane had left in.

"Hello?"

"Peter," came the voice of Matt Murdock. "Can you swing by the office in the next half hour? I have some information that I need to pass onto you about Fisk."

Hope you're all still enjoying it!

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

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:12