Peter Parker

"How's it looking?" I asked.

Scorpion and I were situated in an unoccupied apartment. That apartment was in a building across the street from another building – the same one that MJ's parents' apartment was in. I was surprised that we were able to find an apartment in such a convenient location at first. Scorpion then explained that Scott was able to convince the tenant to go on a month long vacation.

It's funny how far a few million dollars can get you.

I was sitting on the floor with my back to the foot of the bed. I looked over at Scorpion. She was looking out of the window with a pair of binoculars. Next to her, under the window, was a sniper rifle that was propped up on a bipod, ready to be lifted and situated on the windowsill. This rifle looked a bit more subdued than the one she had with her in Madripoor – the one that could basically come a long range grenade launcher with the right kind of ammo. It was probably for the best. I didn't want to turn this area into a warzone. Of course, that was never a guarantee. What I want to happen and what actually does happen is not something that always lined up.

"Nothing yet, Little Arachnid," Scorpion replied.

I looked forward. "Should we be worried?"

"I don't think so."

"…Okay."

"…You don't think MJ would flip, do you?"

"No." I remembered when The DODC arrested me, MJ, Ned, Aunt May, and Happy. She didn't even come close to breaking. So I wasn't really worried about MJ informing on us – especially since something told me she'd rather do time than do the one thing she resented Cass for. "That's not what I'm worried about." What I was worried about was…

"Let me guess, Beck?" Scorpion remarked.

"Yup," I replied. I didn't trust him one bit. Big surprise, I know. So, needless to say, I was nowhere near sure that he wouldn't try to pull the rug from underneath MJ, so to speak.

"Have a little faith. MJ's folks have us looking over them after all. You do remember the plan, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do." I looked at her. "You suppress them with sniper fire and I swoop in and take them out in the chaos."

"Is that all?"

"…I also have to be ready for Firestar if she comes." I pressed my lips together. I didn't really want to fight her. Actually, that wasn't true. I did want to fight her. I was just afraid of how violent things could get. The only reason Scorpion and I were here was because we wanted to protect MJ's parents from being arrested. The moment Firestar pops up – if she pops up – things could turn very ugly.

Such was life.

"Hopefully it doesn't get to that point," Scorpion stated. "And maybe things will be –" She stopped midsentence. "…I think we have company." I stood up as she paused again. I heard the sound of car engines revving up. "…Two black SUVs with windows tint that can't be street legal. Yup, they're expecting resistance." She lowered her binoculars and started picking up her rifle. "Codenames from here on out, Spidey – it's show time." She looked out the window. I heard tires screech. "Let's see… two… four… eight men. They're in tactical gear, ski masks included, and armed with rifles. It's all black, too – it's basically the PMC starter kit."

"Sounds like a party," I deadpanned as I walked up to the window. "You ready for this?"

"Ready as I'll ever be. Just remember the plan."

I looked at her and nodded. I climbed out of the window and crawled until I was above it. I turned my body over. With my feet and hands against the wall, I was facing towards the street. I eyed the group. I saw them gather. They seemed to have been going over some things. I almost wanted to see if I could listen in. I stood… stuck pat. I was supposed to wait until Scorpion's signal.

That signal came in the form a bullet sailing the through the air and into one of the windows, shattering it. As expected, the group quickly moved, taking cover behind the SUVs and other vehicles that were parked as civilians who happened to be out and about scattered and ran. I was glad for that – the less I needed to worry about innocent people getting hurt, the better.

I launched myself off the wall and went sailing through the air. I then did a front flip before I landed on top of the SUV in a three point stance. As my Pincers deployed and extended out, I looked around at the gunmen.

"Missed me?" I asked in jest. I saw the look of fear in their eyes. I became serious. "I know who you guys work for and I know why you guys are here. Please understand that anyone who works for Beck is liable to be hunted down by the X-Men and probably put in the ER because of it. Despite the less than jolly mood I'm in, I'm going to give you one chance. Drop your weapons and leave here now, and I'll let you go without incident. You choose not to heed my warning, however…" I stood up and cracked my neck. "…well, I hope you saved the money Beck's been paying you."

A bit to my shame, I was hoping that they didn't heed my warning. It seemed like they were going to at first. As I looked around, I saw them looking at each other. After some seconds, however, I felt my Spider Senses go off. I looked over my shoulder to see one of the gunmen run up to me with their gun drawn. I sighed. They really thought he had a chance.

I quickly turned around and shot a strand of webbing in their direction. Once it hit the gunman's rifle, I pulled on the web, yanking the rifle out of their hand. After I caught the rifle in my hands and broke it across my raised thigh, I let the pieces drop to the ground. I hopped off the SUV. I took in a breath. I let my senses take over. I heard heartbeats – eight of them. And all of them were beating rapidly.

"…You should have taken the deal."

Within in an instant I was in front of the would-be shooter. I turned before I sent a sidekick into their stomach. As they doubled over, I turned and faced them. I grabbed their head and pulled it down in a clinch before I started sending alternating knees into their face. I stopped at five. I would have kept on going, but I heard footsteps. I looked over my shoulder. Seeing two of the men towards me, I quickly turned and tossed the would-be gunman into them, bowling them over. With all three of them on the ground, I quickly webbed them down. I heard the sound of a gun cocking. I looked to my right. I then flipped backward, dodging the gunfire. After landing on my feet, I aimed my arms out. I shot two strands of webbing. Once they hit the shins of the shooter, I quickly pulled, taking him off of his feet. I was going to pulled him towards me, but the back of his head hit against the door of the SUV he was in front of with a thud. I cringed and shuddered as I took in a breath through my teeth. That's not what I wanted to happen. I wanted to check to see if they were okay. I was taken out of my thoughts when I heard footsteps again. I turned around, ready to go on the offensive as of two of the men rushed me. I heard two more gunshots. They dropped to the ground a few feet in front of me. As they clutched their shoulders, I looked up at the apartment that Scorpion was situated in and nodded. After I webbed the two of them down, I turned my attention to the two remaining gunmen.

They were situated behind a car behind a car, no doubt taking cover. I couldn't see them, but their heartbeats might as well have been GPS markers. As I slowly approached them, I could hear their panicked conversation.

"We were supposed to arrest the girl's parents!" one of them said.

"Well, that was the plan!" the other one replied.

"Well no one told me that Spider-Man was back!"

"L-l-l-look, let's give up! What's the worse he could do?"

It was at that point that I reached the car. I grabbed the car with my left hand and slowly moved it off to the side, revealing the two crouching men. I stared down at them. They stared up at me. This went on for several seconds. Then one of them put their hands up.

"Look, Spider-Man, I was just –"

I didn't let him complete his sentence. With my lower left pincer, I smacked him across the face, knocking him out cold. After I webbed him down, I turned my attention to the other. He stumbled on to his butt as he tried to scurry away.

"Don't move," I warned, causing him to stop in his tracks. I shook my head as I looked down at the cowering man. "Don't you dare move." I walked up to him slowly before I crouched down in front of him. "…I'm not going to hurt you. As a matter of fact, I'm not even going to web you down. I want you to be on your way in a healthy state as possible." I placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to sputter. "However, I need you to do something for me. I am… imploring you… to pass along a message to Beck. First, I want you to tell him everything you saw here. Second, I want you tell him that I know he's alive. Third – and this is the one that's the most important – I want you to tell him that he can do anything he wants to me, but keep Michelle Jones anyone related and/or connected out of this. That's because until I'm done with Beck and that fiery cohort of his, that 'friendly neighborhood' thing is going right on the back burner…" I squeezed his shoulder firmly. "…and anyone who tries to go through a civilian to get to me…" I tilted my head briefly. "…let's just say, I'll make sure they don't make that same mistake twice. Am I clear?"

"…Y-y-y-yes!" he sputtered.

I nodded. "Good." I let go of him. "Run along now. And after you deliver that message, I heavily encourage you to find another line of work – preferably one where I never see you again." I stood up and watched as he scrambled to his feet and ran for one of the SUVs. After he got in, he turned the vehicle on and sped off. I nodded.

"Not bad, Little Arachnid," Scorpion said through our communication channel.

"Thanks for having my back," I replied as I looked up at the apartment.

"Hey, us X-Men have to look out for each other, right? I'll stick around to keep an eye on things. Make your way to the bunker. I'm sure MJ's there."

I nodded. "Will do."

I shot a strand of webbing and started swinging away.

As I moved through the city, I saw people look up at me and wave. I smiled slightly underneath my mask. There was no doubt in my mind that word was going to spread across the city – Spider-Man was back in town.

I didn't know how to feel about it. I wasn't even so sure I was ready to really be back yet. Come to think of it, it was very a long time since I've really felt like I was anywhere close to back to normal. I knew why – life happened. It wasn't the first time my personal issues had an effect on my life as Spider-Man. As I told MJ, I'd be hard pressed to remember a week where I didn't think about hanging up the tights for good. Still, I knew I had to make my presence known again. I knew what that meant. Liz… Firestar… she'd have her sights on me. I also knew that Beck had to be pissed. I don't know what happened at that meeting between him and MJ, but if SUVs pulling up to the building that MJ's parents lived in was of any indication, then it definitely didn't go Beck's way.

"I guess I'm back," I muttered to myself. I looked down towards the city once more. "…I'm not going to be back to my friendly neighborhood self yet, though."

I arrived at the Bunker some minutes later. When I walked into the meeting room, I saw MJ talking with Craig and Kitty. I felt relieved to see her. I knew MJ wasn't going to flip. I was just afraid that she would get hauled off. MJ eyes landed on me as she turned her head. Her eyebrows rose up. She then smiled as she walked towards me. I lifted up my mask as I walked towards her. When we met halfway, we hugged each other tightly. After some seconds, we pulled away from each other a bit before we looked each other in the eyes.

"Hey," I greeted with a slight smile.

"Hey," MJ greeted back. She tilted her head. "Everything went okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. Your parents are safe and Carmilla and I handled the guys sent after them without an issue." I nodded towards her. "You?"

She nodded back. "I'm good. I didn't expect Kaine to be there to rescue me, but I'm glad."

My smile became slightly wider. "I'm glad, too."

"I'm happy you two are okay," a voice said above us. I looked up to see Kaine descend slowly on a strand of webbing, hanging upside down. He stopped descending when he was about eye level with me. "You still owe me a suit, by the way."

I scoffed. "After what you did for MJ, I owe you more than a suit."

Kaine smirked. "I punched Beck. Let's call that a freebie."

"While I'm happy that everyone is in good spirits," Kitty stated, getting all our attention, "especially how the last several days or so have gone, I have to remind everyone here that things are going to get real from her on out. So I'm going to ask that everyone keep their head on a swivel. There's a still a loose end that we'll have to deal with before we can really start to put things into motion to deal with Beck." She looked towards my direction. "…While you'll still have to crash at David's place, you're free to go back to school and work. Just be careful, okay?"

I nodded. "I will be," I replied.

"Good." She started looking around at all of us. "Get as much rest as you can. Things are going to get ugly real soon and the last thing I want is any of you all making a stupid mistake because you're tired. Is that understood?"

"Crystal," Kaine said.

Kitty let loose a breath. "Alright. Craig, take MJ and Peter home. Kaine… can you stick around?"

Despite everything, I couldn't help but smirk. But I said nothing as Craig walked up to me and MJ.

"Let's go guys," he ordered. As MJ and I walked with him, I heard him mutter underneath his breath. "The two lovebirds need room."

It took a lot of willpower not to laugh.