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Peter shuffled his feet a little bit at a time as he waited for his turn to get on the bus. His class was going on a field trip to the New York Aquarium today, which he was excited for. He had always enjoyed observing all of the creatures that would be there as well as all the facts he could read there. He would also likely come home with 4 or 5 new books too. Peter wasn't much of a spender, but he had always come back from school field trips with a bag full of new books on all things scientific that he would likely read in a week. Unfortunately, the bad news as it pertained to the day was that Ned had texted him earlier saying that he was woke up sick that morning, so he would not be at school today and would miss out. Peter would miss being able to bounce observations back and forth with his best friend. The bus rides to and from were made easier too, as they were filled with lively conversation about all things nerdy. Still, he was determined to find a way to enjoy himself today.
Peter finally climbed onto the bus, and began scanning the rows, looking for which seat he would take. Most of the upfront seats were already taken, but he didn't mind that. He had never been one to especially enjoy being up front, either in class or on a bus ride. He finally found a seat in the back right corner, and he promptly sat his backpack down as he plopped down next to it. He then got out his phone and went to the aquarium's website. Even though Mr. Harrington had repeatedly told the class they would be sticking together the whole time, Peter still wanted to look specifically at what he had to look forward to seeing. He scrolled through the website, taking note of a few things. For instance, there was a new penguin exhibit that had recently been opened. He had been fascinated by penguins since he was a young kid; he was awed by how they glided through the water so easily, how their feathers protected them from the intense cold of the arctic, etc. He also saw that there was a new ray exhibit as well. Yeah, it should still be pretty easy to enjoy himself. He would definitely miss Ned, but he would certainly make sure to take as many pictures as he could to keep him up to date on everything, so it would at least somewhat feel like his best bud was there.
He removed his eyes from his phone for a moment, setting it down in his lap, and happened to glance over in the seat opposite him when he saw none other than one Michelle Jones. Their eyes met almost as soon as he looked her way, then she quickly averted them and went back to drawing whatever she was working on in her notepad. Peter thought for a moment about trying to get a better look at what she was drawing, but quickly decided that was none of his business and turned away, looking at the suddenly very interesting seat in front of him. Then, a thought hit him: how long had she been looking at him before he glanced her way? For a moment, his mind wandered on that possibility, but he soon reeled himself in from that line of thinking. He ran his hand through his hair and face in frustration. Ever since the Avengers had brought the Vanished back, Peter had begun to realize that he was developing a crush on M.J. The dark humor and trivia she frequently spewed that he used to never give a second thought, he now found strangely endearing. Over the 5 months since the blip, M.J. had also been sitting more with Ned and him instead of her usual distance, and had actually been engaging them in actual conversation recently. He had learned things about her, like how Joan of Arc was one of her biggest inspirations, and that she had taught herself how to draw when she was 5. Seriously, 5! The more he had learned about her, the stronger his crush seemed to be growing. However, he knew he couldn't be thinking that way. There was no way someone as darkly cool and mysteriously beautiful as M.J. could ever feel that way about him. He got back on his phone, trying to focus back on the where they would be going instead of the girl of his dreams next to him.
Finally, they arrived at the aquarium. It took a little while, but eventually Peter stood up as it was finally his turn to get off the bus. He glanced over at M.J, and a sudden realization hit him: they would be walking out of the bus right in front of/behind each other. He nervously moved towards the edge of the seat, somehow almost perfectly in sync with her. When he caught a glance at her eyes again, she almost looked....nervous? No, impossible; M.J. didn't get nervous or intimidated by anything. He must be reading her wrong.
They came to the edges of their seats, and after a moment of awkward silence, Peter gestured for her to go first.
"So you think I should go first just cause I'm a woman?" M.J. and Peter swore he was withering away under the look she gave him.
"No, no of course not," Peter stammered out, trying his best to stay above water, so to speak. "I was just, you know, trying to be..."
"I'm just kidding," M.J. replied, and she quickly stepped out in front of him, but not before Peter swore he saw the faintest glimpse of an actual SMILE on her lips. Peter's heartbeat sped up rapidly as he filed in line behind her. Had she really smiled at him?
"Dude, stop," he told himself internally. "Girls like her don't like guys like you, alright?" He did his best to put that thought away once more, trying to look anywhere but straight ahead at the girl whose long and curly hair was swinging back in forth in a ponytail in front of him.
They finally got off the bus, and the class made their way over. It took them a while to get into the building as Mr. Harrington initially seemed to have misplaced their class pass for the day, but thankfully he found it after searching almost every pants and jacket pocket the man had. Peter almost couldn't help but feel bad for the man; Mr. Harrington didn't seem like he knew how to be the best chaperone, but one could never fault the man's heart.
"Alright class," Mr. Harrington said once they got into the building. "Remember now, we all have to..."
"Stay together at all times," Flash said as he typed away on his phone. "We know Mr. Harrington; we heard it the first 20 times today."
"Right," Mr. Harrington said, looking a little taken aback by Flash's answer. Flash had lately become really into his phone (well, more than usual), and had even started filming when they would go places for some live stream he wouldn't stop talking about. Peter honestly had no idea who would watch Flash's ridiculous antics, but apparently some people were, if the "Flash Mob" the guy kept bringing up was any indication.
They started their tour of the building, and it hadn't escaped Peter's attention that M.J. had remained by his side or somewhere within close proximity to him since they got off the bus. Every once in a while, he'd glance over in her direction, and every once in a while he'd catch her looking his direction, and they would both quickly avert their eyes away. This was all getting very confusing. After all, he'd clearly established in his head that there was no way she could possibly like him, so why did she keep looking at him. This was all becoming a distraction, so as they came upon an exhibit of various freshwater fish, Peter made up his mind to focus on all the various species that he saw. It worked at least a little as he noted all the different species and their various colors and characteristics that he either observed as they swam or read about in the information displays. He took a couple pictures to send to Ned, when M.J. spoke up.
"I noticed that your partner in all things nerdy wasn't here today," M.J. stated in a very matter of fact tone. "I presume those are for him?"
"Yeah," Peter replied, taking the risk of looking into her eyes as he spoke. "For me too though. I've always liked aquariums and zoos and stuff."
"All these creatures should be released back into the wild where they belong," M.J. fired back, her deadpan expression as prevalent as ever all of a sudden.
"Well, studies have shown that animals live longer in captivity than in the wild," Peter retorted, a little surprised by his boldness in answering her back. Nevertheless, he persisted, not knowing when this kind of confidence around her might show itself again. "So, by saying that, you're probably condemning these animals to a premature death."
She gave him a look that he honestly couldn't decipher. It seemed to be some kind of strange mix of both incredulity for questioning her, but also respect for having an at least researched opinion. Peter practically held his breath until she spoke up again.
"I'll give you that one," M.J. finally replied, "but do you honestly think these creatures are happy being contained in places like this?"
"I'd think that always knowing where their food is going to come from and always getting the best care would make them happy, yeah." Seriously, what was with this sudden string of confidence around her? He was terrified of it, yet it also felt strangely...natural. This back an forth dynamic they were suddenly exhibiting felt like something special to just them, and he was really enjoying it.
"I guess we'll never know for sure, since, you know, neither of us can talk to fish," she added dryly.
"Yeah, pity for us," he responded, and next thing he knew they were back to silence, though this one felt a little less awkward than before for some reason. They arrived at another exhibit, this one featuring a bunch of different small breeds of sharks.
"I've always respected sharks," M.J. blurted out as Peter took a quick picture on his phone of the creatures.
"Why is that?" Peter asked, giving her a curious look.
"They're survivors," M.J. responded in her usual matter of fact manner. They've spread themselves out all over the world, and nothing, not even mankind, has been able to keep them down."
"True," Peter added, before going one step further. "I assume it's also because they don't have to answer to anybody or anyone, and can just do their own thing too?" M.J. gave him a tough look initially, and at first Peter thought he had overstepped his bounds. He was readying an apology when she spoke up.
"If I'm being honest, yeah," M.J. admitted, shifting her gaze away from him and back to the animals. "I've just...I've always dreamed of being my own boss one day, you know?" Peter picked up a little bit of shyness in her voice, so he made sure he was careful, but still honest, with his answer.
"I get that," he replied. "I guess the most important thing to me is that I always make sure I use what I can do to help people, to make the world a better place. Everything else is secondary after that." Peter shifted his eyes from the animals to her to find that she was looking at him, and there was a smile on her face. This was not a maybe kind of smile like what he thought he saw earlier, but a more definite one, even if it wasn't completely spread across her whole face. Butterflies suddenly started fluttering around in his stomach as they just looked at each other for a moment, before realizing that the class was beginning to move on to the next location. They both started to head that direction, when Peter suddenly felt a light tug on his pant leg, just above his left knee. He turned around and looked down to see a young girl, probably barely 5 years old, looking up at him with nervous eyes.
"Excuse me," the little girl muttered, clearly very uncertain about if she should be doing this or not. "I can't find my mom." Peter then shifted his feet and bent down so that he could be fully facing the girl, hoping that dropping much closer to eye level with her would calm her nerves a little bit.
"Okay," Peter said softly, "what does she look like? Maybe I can help you find her." The girl didn't answer initially, so Peter elected for more specific questions. "What color is her hair? Is it kind of darker, like mine?" he said, lowering his head and gesturing to his own hair for a moment.
"No," the little girl mumbled. "Daddy always says it looks like the sun."
"Okay, that's helpful," Peter said, hoping his more upbeat voice was encouraging. "Do you remember where you last saw your mom?"
"I...I don't remember," the girl admitted, and she looked down, probably embarrassed.
"Hey, it's okay," Peter said in a soft, reassuring voice. "I'll help you find her, okay? What's your name?"
"Margo," the girl answered.
"It's nice to meet you, Margo," Peter said. My name is Peter, and this is my friend, Michelle," he added, gesturing to M.J, who had also stayed behind.
"If you want, you can call me M.J," she added, smiling down at the girl. "Would you like to hold my hand while we walk and try to find your mom?"
The girl gently nodded her head, and M.J. walked over to the side of the girl and gently extended her right hand, the girl taking it gently with her left.
"Alright," M.J. said. "Peter is going to lead the way, so let's follow him, and if you see your mom, let us know, alright?" Peter watched as the little girl nodded her head in response. He took one last glance at where the class was moments earlier. He really hoped Mr. Harrington didn't have a heart attack when he realized he had lost two students, but he couldn't just leave this girl behind. He wasn't willing to take the chance that someone else would find her before her mom and wouldn't exactly have as noble of intentions. He decided they should head back toward the lobby first. Maybe the mom was back there already, reporting a missing child to the front desk or something. He walked just in front of M.J. and Margo, occasionally glancing back and smiling, trying to reassure the girl that everything was going to be okay. He was glad to have M.J. with him too. Margo seemed to take to her pretty well, plus it allowed Peter to better focus on keeping an eye out for a woman whose hair fit the description of the girl's mother.
They made their way back up to the front. They went over to the help desk, but no one was there, so they waited, and waited, and waited. Even after 5 minutes, nobody showed up. Prior to the blip, this wouldn't have been normal by any means, but when the Vanished were brought back, many places were still understaffed. Peter looked around, the lobby wasn't overly crowded, so it wasn't too hard to get a good look at each individual there. Unfortunately, there was no sign of a woman whose hair fit the description Margo had given them. Peter turned and bent down, again coming close to eye level with the girl.
"Margo, I want you to look around very carefully. Do you see your mother in here somewhere?" he asked. The girl glanced around the room, and Peter tried to follow her line of vision.
"No," the girl muttered, and she almost looked like she was going to cry.
"Hey, it's okay," Peter said, smiling. "We're going to find her." M.J. bent down next to the girl as well.
"You promise?" Margo asked. Peter felt as though the girl's whole world was riding on his answer to that question.
"I promise," he answered.
"We both do," M.J. added, flashing a smile of her own at the girl.
"Pinkie promise?" the girl said, holding out her pinkie towards M.J, who promptly wrapped it with her own pinkie.
"Pinkie promise," M.J. affirmed. Peter then took the girl's finger and wrapped it in his own, also solidifying what was the highest level of promise to children everywhere. Peter then stood up, looking around as he tried to decide which place to search next. The girl had come from behind them, so heading in the direction the class was also going would likely get them nowhere.
"How about we go that way next?" Peter said, pointing to a crustaceans exhibit.
"Okay," the girl nodded, and Peter noted as M.J. took her hand again before leading the way in. They walked around, Peter tuning his enhanced hearing to listen for any talk in the crowd around him about a lost girl, but there was nothing. This time, M.J. asked Margo if she saw her mom anywhere, but the young girl once again answered in the negative. With no way to go but the next exhibit, Peter led them onward.
After over two hours of looking, it seemed like they were no closer to finding Margo's mom. Somehow, they hadn't run into the class either, which seemed even crazier. It's like everyone they all knew had just disappeared. Since the class had arrived around 11, Peter and M.J. both had undoubtedly missed lunch, and Peter's accelerated metabolism was beginning to feel that in particular, but he couldn't give up. He had to believe that Margo's mother wasn't going to leave until she found her, if nothing else because he had no idea what he was going to do if that wasn't the case. Eventually, after scouring almost the entire place, the three of them came to a stop.
"What do you think we should do?" M.J. asked him. She had dutifully held Margo's hand the whole time, and would even chat with the little girl to keep her from breaking down, which Peter had been impressed by. Now, she was also looking to him for answers, and he felt more at a loss now than ever.
"I guess we head back to the front," Peter said. "We've scoured the place; her mom has to come back there at some point though." M.J. nodded in agreement, and the two of them both took a moment to once again reassure the girl before heading back. After about 10 minutes, they finally made it back to the front, and within seconds of that, a woman whose hair looked like what Margo had described met eyes with them, standing about 15 feet away.
"MARGO!!" the woman yelled, running towards them.
"Mommy!" the little girl screamed back, practically ripping away from M.J.'s hand as she ran towards her mother as fast as her little legs could carry her. The woman scooped the small child up into her arms, clutching her child close. Peter turned to look at M.J, who had a tired, yet satisfied smile on her face. They both seemed to silently agree on making a quiet exit, but apparently Margo wasn't going to let them off that easily.
"Mommy, those people helped me find you!" Peter heard the little girl cry out. He smiled, laughing lightly as he and M.J. both turned around to see the mom walking up towards them, still holding her daughter.
"I can't thank you two enough," the woman said, practically on the verge of tears. "We were walking along, we got into a crowd, she let go of my hand, and next thing I knew..." the woman put a hand to her mouth as she closed her eyes, clearly fighting to regain her composure. "Anyway," she said after a moment, "thank you both. I don't know how I could ever repay you enough for this.
"We were just glad to help out," Peter said, glancing over to M.J, who met his glance momentarily before they both turned their eyes towards the mother's.
"Well, thank you so much, both of you," the woman said again. "It's...it's very reassuring to see two young people be so willing to help out a lost girl like that. Peter smiled and nodded, and he could almost sense M.J. doing the same.
"Alright, we better get going," the woman said. "Margo, you want to say bye to your new friends?" She set the girl down and she went over to M.J. first, throwing her arms around her legs. M.J. bent down so she could give a proper hug, then Peter did the same as she came over to him.
"Goodbye Margo," Peter said as he pulled away from the girl. "You be good now, okay?"
"Listen to your mom," M.J. added. "She clearly loves you so much."
"I will," the girl said in what might have been the sweetest way Peter ever heard anyone say anything. The girl and her mom waved bye at them one more time before finally turning and heading for the exit.
"Well, that wasn't what I expected today," Peter said, turning to M.J.
"Yeah, you can say that again," M.J. responded.
"Well, that wasn't..." M.J. shot him a glare before he could finish the sentence. It wasn't a harsh look, but a more playful one.
"You really had to take that literally?" she said.
"What?" he asked, shrugging like he didn't know what she was talking about. She just shook her head at him, a smile staying on her face the whole time.
"All kidding aside," Peter started," I just wanted to say that..."
"Peter! Michelle!" The frantic voice of Mr. Harrington could suddenly be heard. Peter and M.J. just looked at each other, bracing themselves for the inevitable.
"Oh my goodness, I'm so glad I found you both," their teacher said, and Peter suddenly felt himself being pulled into a hug.
"Yeah, we're okay Mr. Harrington," Peter said, awkwardly patting his teacher on the back to reassure him. The man then let go of Peter and started to move to give M.J. a hug too, but she put up a firm hand quickly that made him catch himself before he made what Peter knew would be his last mistake.
"I'm so glad you all are safe," the man said before turning to the rest of the class. "Alright everybody, let's get back on the bus before something else happens." A couple of Peter's classmates grumbled to both him and M.J. about how they all were made to look for them when Mr. Harrington had realized they were gone, and about how they had ruined the trip. Some even asked why they disappeared in the first place, but Peter and M.J. both just ignored them all. When they got back on the bus, Peter found that they both ended up in the same seat this time, and he hadn't even once questioned it.
"By the way, what were you going to say earlier?" M.J. asked. "You know, before we were ambushed by our overprotective teacher?"
"Oh yeah, right," Peter said, and he was suddenly very nervous. He seemed to have no qualms with saying what he wanted to say before, but now that he found himself on the spot, he was nervous to admit it. What if she thought he was making a weird inference or something? Regardless, he knew there was no escape, so he forced it out.
"I was just going to say that I thought we made a really good team back there," Peter said, swallowing as light as he could. "I thought you were great with Margo in particular. I was very impressed."
To his surprise, M.J. did something he had never seen her do before: she blushed. He almost felt like he was in another reality as her face turned a bright shade of red, and she looked away from him for a moment, a huge smile escaping from her lips. After a moment, she finally turned back to face him, her cheeks still a little flushed.
"Thanks," she replied, "I thought you were great too." There was a surprising warmth to her words that Peter had never heard from her before. For a moment, there was a little silence between them once again, but they soon struck up a conversation again. This wasn't just some banter heavy talk (though there was definitely some there), but an honest, get to know each other talk. It was the first one that Peter had ever had with her, and somehow, it made everything that had transpired over the last few hours all worth it. He was still incredibly hungry, he hadn't hardly been able to get Ned any pictures, and he hadn't got to watch any shows or buy any books.
But the fact that he got to work with one Michelle Jones in reuniting a mother and daughter made it all worth it.