Michelle "MJ" Jones

After Peter got changed into street clothes, Craig gave us a ride. He made me and Peter sit in the backseat. I didn't protest, but I was a little confused as to why Craig did that until I saw him turn on the Uber sign on the dash of his car.

During the car ride, the three of us talked about recent events.

"Man, I got to say, after the pain I've been through with them burns, I'm not taking healthy skin granted ever again," Craig commented. "I just hate that I was sidelined for so long while the rest of you guys were doing a lot of heavy lifting."

"I mean, you kind of helped a lot with that text you sent to Buford," I pointed out. "If it wasn't for you, it'd probably take a lot longer to figure out that Liz is Firestar."

Craig scoffed. "I'm surprised you two were able to figure out. No offense to you two, but that text I sent wasn't exactly clear."

I tilted my head as I glared at his reflection in the rearview mirror. "Need I remind you that you're talking about someone who's very observant? Plus Buford is a whole detective." I raised my eyebrows briefly. "But I also needed Ned's help. After Buford and I searched your room for clues, we found your game cartridges for the 3DS. I figured that the clue is Pokémon related, so I called up Ned. Ned pointed out that what you sent was a dex number. I didn't think you'd have a whole dex memorized."

"I didn't." I raised an eyebrow in confusion. As Craig made a turn, he continued to speak. "Whenever I'm pulling all-nighters under the mask, I take these online trivia quizzes and stuff to keep me sane. I just happened be taking one about Pokémon and Vullaby just happened to be the answer – I got the question wrong, by the way. I'm a Pokémon fan. But 150-something dex numbers are a lot to remember."

"But how did you know Liz is Firestar?" Peter asked.

"Well, after I found that stash house, she trapped in the room with fire. And then after she beat me down – badly, might I add – she kind of let slip that she wanted to revenge against Spider-Man for putting her father, The Vulture, behind bars. I guess she figured that I would die in the fire as she knocked me out with a stomp to my head. She was almost right. Before I came to, I was trapped. I barely had time to send that text to Buford before I tossed the phone in the fire, along with my hoodie and mask. I was about to jump out the window through the glass, but there was this explosion behind me that blew me through straight through the window. I'm just glad Buford got to me when he did, or else your boy would've been done for."

I frowned. Firestar… Liz… really tried to kill someone. That wasn't like her. I knew she had a huge dislike for Spider-Man, but if I had a list of people I know who'd kill someone, Liz wouldn't be on it. She wouldn't even be a maybe. There was still a part of me that wanted to believe that Liz wasn't Firestar. But, that part of me was becoming smaller and smaller as time went on. I was at the point where I knew I needed to come to terms with Liz likely lying in my face and being willing to hurt and kill the people I love, all while working with Beck.

Great, this is exactly what I needed – another person I hold a lot of trust and admiration in heavily disappointing me.

"MJ, are you okay?"

I blinked. I didn't realize how deep in my head I was. I looked over at Peter, who looked at me, worried.

"I'm good," I replied. I paused. "…No, I'm not good." I shook my head. "I'm just trying to come to terms with the fact that Liz is likely doing horrible shit, but I… I don't want to believe it, because… you know…"

"I get it," Craig said from the driver's seat. "You know how long I was stewing when my teammates tried to stomp me out after my powers emerged? They talked all that brotherhood crap for years, but that went out the window that night."

"Maybe she's being manipulated by Beck," Peter offered.

"She's been hating Spider-Man since you got exposed before The Spell," I pointed out. "Even if she didn't work with Beck, who's to say she wouldn't have gone after you, anyway?" Peter didn't answer. He looked off to the side. I sighed. "Look, let's just drop it. It's been a long night."

The car went silent. I felt bad. Still, I didn't say anything as I looked out the window. I just wanted to sleep this entire night off and just be glad that my parents and my friends are okay. That was when I felt something slide underneath my hand. I turned my head to see that Peter's hand was under mine. He raised his hand up, lifting mine in the process. He had his hand flat and his fingers slightly stretched out. I looked at him and he looked back at me. He smiled slightly, as if he was trying to offer me something. I knew he was trying to make me feel better. I scoffed as I rolled my eyes before I looked out the window again. Still, I wrapped my fingers around his hand, prompting him to do the same to mine. I lowered our hands onto my lap and smiled to myself slightly.

"You look great in that suit, by the way," Peter commented.

I turned my head and gave him the side eye. "You saw me in this suit before," I pointed out.

He smirked slightly. "It doesn't make it any less true."

I shook my head. I didn't know if I found Peter annoying or endearing at that moment. Maybe it was a mix of both? Yeah, well let's go with that. "…Well, thank you."

"You're welcome."

We arrived at my building. As Craig put the car in park, I let go of Peter's hand and unbuckled my seatbelt. I turned towards Peter. I stared at him for a few seconds before I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into a hug.

"Are you okay?" Peter asked.

"I'm fine," I assured. "…Just wanted to thank you… for protecting my parents."

Peter didn't say anything. He just hugged me back. We held each other for a while. Looking back at it, I'm surprised, Craig didn't say a word. After several moments, I pulled away a bit, just enough so I could see his face. I then leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek. I pulled away. I saw the goofy on his face. I scoffed, trying to hold back my own smile – and partially failing.

"Get some sleep, Loser," I said. "We can all use some." I then looked back and forth between Craig and Peter. "You two have a goodnight."

"You too, Em," Peter replied.

"Ditto," Craig added.

I smiled before I stepped out of the car.

When I got to my home and stepped inside, I barely had time to close the door behind me – I was immediately met by my mom and dad.

"Miche', you're safe!" my mom said as she pulled me into a hug.

"Yeah, I am," I said as I hugged her back, acting a bit confused as if I didn't have a feeling as to why my mom seemed so relieved. "Is everything okay?"

"It's been a crazy day," my dad replied as my mom let me go. I looked at him. "Your mom and I were watching TV when there was a breaking news report about a shooting at the 53 in Manhattan. Then about an hour or so later, there was a shooting in the street outside. I took a peek through the window, and I see Spider-Man outside taking down these masked men!"

I raised my eyebrows, acting surprised. "He's back?!"

"With a vengeance, apparently," my mom confirmed. "By the time the police arrived, he was long gone. I'm no expert on body language, but the guys in masks… they look shook."

"It's probably a good thing Spider-Man was on the scene," my dad commented as he shook his head. "Who knows what those people would have done." I raised my eyebrow as I smirked in amusement. He tilted his head. "What?"

"Did you just say something positive about Spider-Man?" I jested. I threw my hands up melodramatically as I walked past my parents. "Oh God, please be with us in this impending apocalypse! Let us not catch frostbite from the winds that froze hell over and may the flying pigs pass over us!"

"Oh really funny, MJ!" I turned and looked at my dad as I gave him a shit-eating grin. He glared at me. "You little shit."

"Melodrama aside," my mom chimed in, giving me a slight glare before looking back at my dad, "I do have to agree. Seeing you praise Spider-Man is unusual. Did you have a change of heart?"

My dad shrugged at my mom. "I still don't trust him." He then tilted his head briefly. "But, he did save my daughter from The Friends of Humanity, so I guess he deserves some slack." He looked at me. "That's all I'm willing to give him for now, you hear me?"

I smiled slightly. It was a start.

The next day, after school, I was actually in a good mood. Granted, I still wanted to beat my boss's ass barehanded – or maybe with a chair – but I didn't feel like I was dangerously close to acting on those urges. I guess I felt a bit hopeful. Even Cessily noticed.

"You know, things feel a lot different in here when I'm not worried you're about to crash out," Cessily said. She sounded like she was joking, but I had a feeling there was some sincerity to her words. I looked at her as she mopped the floor. I smiled.

"I guess I'm feeling a little relieved," I replied. "I know things are still far from okay, but it's not as shitty."

Cessily stopped in her mopping and looked at me. "What changed? Was it because your folks are okay?"

I nodded slowly. "That's part of it – a huge part of it, even. But it's also because Peter and I finally hashed things out."

"I figured as such when you told me you and Peter got his suit back into working condition." Cessily went back to mopping. "That must've been a long talk."

"It was. During that talk, we realized that there was a lot we didn't know about each other, even before The Spell. And, coincidentally, the two of had a chat with a therapist the night before, and we realized a lot of our past issues had an effect on how we handled things."

Cessily finished mopping. She gave me a pointed look. "I hate to say I told you so, but I do remember saying you should've have seen a therapist sooner rather than later."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah." I looked at her. "…You were right."

Cessily chuckled. "I'm known to be every now and again." She became. "So does that mean you two are…?"

"Friends… we're friends. Anything more than that will have to wait after everything is over."

Cess nodded. "Got it. Still, I'm glad you are guys are okay."

I was about to tell her that I was glad too before I heard the bell sound from the front door opening. I looked towards it quickly. I was half-expecting Beck to show up. I then raised my eyebrows in surprise.

Standing at the door was Peter. I couldn't even remember the last time he was here. Actually, I did remember. It was right after we broke up. I couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic… which was weird, considering that it wasn't THAT long ago since he was in this place. Maybe I just missed the sense of normalcy. It was weird without him. But now that he was here, it felt like one of those "nature is healing" memes, except a lot less tongue-in-cheek.

I smiled as I walked up to the register. "Well look what the cat dragged in," I deadpanned. "I see you finally came back."

"Where else can I go to get your sarcasm with my coffee and sweet?" Peter asked as he walked up to the counter.

I scoffed before I continued the banter. "What? The coffee at The Daily Bugle doesn't do it for you?"

Peter gave me a halfhearted glare. "I'd rather drink antifreeze."

I gave him a look. "Yeah, let's not do that. So what will it be?"

Peter smiled. "The usual."

"One coffee and pastry of my choice for the caffeine and sugar addict, coming right up."

Peter narrowed his eyes. "I hate you."

I laughed. "You love me."

"I do, and that's what makes it worse."

I shook my head. "Oh shut up and take your usual seat while I prepare your fix. This time, it's on the house."

Peter smiled at me. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

I watched him as he walked over and took his seat. I smiled slightly before I went about fulfilling his order. While I was doing so, I heard Peter and Cessily speaking to each other.

"I'm glad you're back on your feet," Cess stated.

"Yeah, it feels good," Peter replied. "It feels even better to be back in the real world, albeit in a limited basis. By the way, Scott told me you were looking after MJ, Ned, and Betty at Midtown. Thank you for that."

"I'm just repaying a debt I owe to Scott… and to you."

"Me? What have I done for you to owe me anything?"

"I don't know if you remember me, but you saved me a long while back. It was during a fire. I know what doesn't exactly narrow it down."

"Yeah, it doesn't, but I'll take you at your word. After what you've done for my friends, though, I say we call it even."

I smiled in amusement to myself as I brought the coffee over and placed it on the counter in front of Peter. I then turned and stepped up towards the pastries. I eyed them as I thought about which one to give Peter. After some moments, I decided to grab an apple fritter. After plating it, I walked over and placed the donut in front of Peter. Peter looked down at the coffee and fritter and smiled.

"I didn't realize how much I missed these until now," he said.

I chuckled as I shook my head. "You're a dork," I replied.

"Your dork."

"And you better not forget it."