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Peter Parker was in trouble. When he’d snuck into the abandoned warehouse in the dead of night, he’d been expecting it to be quiet. After all, even smuggling rings had to give their goons breaks. He was pretty sure there's laws about this stuff. They were supposed to be all at home, sleeping peacefully and giving him ample time to rifle through their files and figure out who was supplying them. The leader of said smuggling ring was not supposed to be waiting there for him, and he was most definitely not supposed to have a team of almost certainly enhanced guards with him. Peter hadn’t even rested off last night's truck incident yet.
The circle of guards pressed closer to him, their brass knuckles shining ominously in the low light. He’d tried to knock them over with a sweeping kick to the ankles, but they were strong enough to absorb the impact without anything more than a grunt and a hardened stance. He was going to need to be clever, throw them off their game. He had to annoy them into dropping their guard.
“Give it up, Spider-man. You’re outnumbered. Back off now, or we’ll put you out of commission for good,” their leader threatened.
“Whoa now, let’s bring it down a notch. No need for threats,” Peter responded. Keeping his tone light let him not think about the danger, and it didn’t hurt that it also threw the bad guys off.
The leader cackled, walking closer to the circle of guards. “It’s not a threat. Just a statement of fact. We’ve got you in a corner, Spider-man.”
“If you think this is me cornered, you’re worse at this than I thought,” he said. He was bluffing, of course. He just needed to keep them talking long enough to find something he could use to his advantage. Underneath the mask, he scanned the room for anything he could grab and use as a weapon. “Maybe you should consider a career change. It doesn’t seem like your heart is in it.”
All of the sudden, the guards relaxed their stances and stepped back from him. Huh. This was not how bad guys usually reacted to his taunts. They were supposed to be getting angry.
“You’re right, Spider-man,” one of them said. “I never wanted to be a crook, really. When I was younger, all I wanted to be was a singer on Broadway.”
Peter genuinely didn’t know how to respond to this change of behavior. He stood there for a second, trying to figure out what on earth was going on right now. Was he hallucinating? If they'd dosed him with something, it was going to make this whole fight much more complicated.
“You know, I used to be a professional dogwalker before this job,” another one of the guards chimed in. “Maybe I should go back to that.”
Peter was just going to roll with this, he decided. “That… would actually be very nice,” he commented. The guards and their leader all stood there, smiling dumbly at him. It was the strangest thing. They were acting like they were possessed.
Wait a minute. They were possessed!
“Jean?” he asked, looking around.
"Bingo," the guards spoke in unison. Not ever a second later the whole group collapsed into a heap on the ground, fast asleep. Standing behind them was a green and red clad figure Peter knew well.
“Surprise,” she said dryly. “Figured you could use a hand there.”
Peter smiled under his mask. He hadn’t seen much of her since the incident with Damage Control. He’d seen clips of her online, of course, with her new team, and he’d received a few psychic messages since then, but not in person. Not up until now. She looked healthier, more relaxed. The uniform was cool too. High quality.
“I actually had it totally handled, but I appreciate the assist. Gotta let the little guys have their time in the spotlight too, you know?”
“Jerk,” Jean responded, grinning at him.
“Guilty as charged. So, do you need something with these guys?” Peter asked. He couldn’t think of why else she’d be out here. “You got the rest of your team hiding around the corner?”
Jean shook her head. “This isn’t official business. Just wanted to help out for a bit,” she said.
“Awesome, we can do a team-up. Spider-man and, uh, what’s the name you’re going by now?”
“Marvel Girl,” Jean said quietly, a little embarrassed.
Right. That’s what they’d been calling her online.
“You know, I actually like the name. It’s cute, and a little disarming. Makes people think they’re not up against a crazy powerful telepath. You gotta use that to your advantage,” Peter commented.
Jean only shrugged. “We’ll see. I wanted to go with something more threatening.”
“Don’t sweat it,” Peter said. “In this line of work you get to switch it up all the time. You just gotta get a new costume.”
A snore sounded from below them, momentarily distracting him. Peter looked down to see one of the guards clearly in a deep sleep. He’d been so focused on catching up with Jean he’d completely forgotten about the mission he was on. He needed to refocus.
“Well, we can finish catching up later. We should probably deal with these guys first.”
“The rest of the building is clear. And there’s a safe in the back room with records,” Jean said. “Based on what I saw in their leader's head, the code for it is 6473.”
“Nice work. We’ll start there, then.”
The team-up was an absolute success. It hadn’t taken long to find the incriminating documents and drop them off at the police station. Then, with the night still being young, they’d kept going. So far they’d apprehended two small-time robbers, stopped a break-in and scared the daylights out of a creep harassing people outside a club. Well, the last one was mostly Jean. The images she’d put in the guy's brain were most certainly not pleasant. It was nice, having someone at his side while he was out crimefighting. With her telekinetic abilities backing him up, he’d made it through almost double the ground he normally covered, and with barely a scratch. Jean had a whole bunch of new tricks up her sleeve, too. She could levitate now, though she couldn't be persuaded to try it for more than a few feet at a time. Still practicing the technique, apparently.
They ended the night sitting quietly together on the edge of a skyscraper, watching the sun rise over the East river. Jean sat for a moment in silence as Peter slipped away for a moment.
She could hear as he landed softly behind her, sliding into the spot next to her and pulling off his mask. Jean glanced curiously at the plastic bag in his hands. What was he up to now?
“Here you go,” he said, offering her a drink. “Best boba in midtown. And also the only one open 24/7. Used to go all the time when I was short on time before school.”
Jean looked at the drink. It was oddly colorful, the cardboard sleeve wrapped around it cut out in the shape of a butterfly. More cutesy than she’d imagined from one of earth's mightiest heroes.
“Boba tea? I thought you’d go for something stronger.”
Peter shrugged. “Honestly I don't even really need the caffeine. My body absorbs that stuff like nobody’s business. It’s more for the sugar than anything. And you have to get all the pearls out, so it’s like a little challenge. Keeps the mind awake,” he rambled.
Jean looked at him skeptically. “Sure, Peter.”
“I’m not joking!” he exclaimed. “You get down to the last few, you have to really start maneuvering the straw around. Just try it before you deny it.”
Jean couldn’t help the smile. This Peter never failed to put her at ease. Not the snarky Spider-man, but the real goofball Peter she’d only been able to see a few times. Before, everything they were involved in had been so serious.
She took a sip of the drink, letting the flavor wash over her. Green tea, and just a hint of something fruity. It was good. Really good.
She opened her eyes to see Peter staring at her in excitement. He’d caught her in the act.
“See, I knew you’d like it!” He said. Somehow, his grin got even wider.
“It’s alright,” she said, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. After only a moment, she took another sip, averting her eyes so as not to see his expression. She could only handle so much.
They sat there for a moment, drinking quietly and watching the city wake up below them. She could still feel the gentle buzz of people’s minds down below, some sleeping fitfully and others getting up for work, but this far up it was easier to ignore. It was only a soft thrum.
After a long moment, Peter broke the silence.
“So what actually brought you down to Queens?” he asked. “Not enough excitement out in the ‘burbs?”
Jean shook her head. “We deal with plenty,” she said, thinking about the recent missions Xavier had sent them on. With mutants, there was always something to do. Some new threats to deal with, some mess to clean up. Jean liked it best when she got to go solo and recruit a new mutant to the school. They were scared and she got to be there for them and guide them through it. She could be strong for them. It was everything she knew her sister would’ve done.
“Problem with your teammates, then?” Peter continued. “Boy drama?” He leaned forward as he asked, wiggling his eyebrows in a ridiculous gesture. When she didn't respond, Peter's eyes widened. "Girl drama?" Jean groaned.
“Don’t you start,” she said, putting her hand up. She knew if she said anything now she’d never hear the end of it.
“Just saying, you and that visor guy seem to be getting along. I've seen the videos people are making of you two online.”
“His name is Cyclops, thank you very much. And we’re just friends.”
Peter considered it. “Now, that’s a pretty sweet code name. How’d you end up with Marvel Girl again?”
“You have no room to judge,” she shot back. “We basically have the same name pattern. Descriptor, type of person. And frankly, Marvel is a cooler descriptor than Spider is.”
Peter thought for a moment, looking skeptical. “Debatable. Spiders are very fascinating creatures,” he said.
Jean rolled her eyes. Last time she’d tried to telepathically contact him, he’d been deep in a nature documentary marathon. She’d learned more about the animal kingdom that night than she had in four years of high school.
Peter continued. “And plus I get to be a man, while you’re just stuck being called a girl. It’s a double standard, I tell you,” he muttered. He actually looked offended at that. Man, this guy had a strong sense of justice.
Jean smirked. “I think Marvel Woman might actually be worse.” Peter let out a snort, and Jean could feel her cheeks ache from how much she'd been smiling tonight. It felt good to be able to relax like this. What she did with her team was important, but it was never this casual, this freeing.
“Yeah, that is pretty rough,” Peter said, still smiling. “We’ll workshop it.”
They sat there for another moment. Jean let the moment soak in. At the edge of her mind, she could feel the questioning press of Xavier’s mind. He was probably wondering where she was, after leaving in the night like that. She’d crawled out the window as quietly as she could, drawing on some tricks another kid had taught her in foster care. They probably hadn’t even noticed she was gone until somebody went to knock on her door for breakfast. She sent back to the professor a brief sliver of her current emotions, trying to ease his worry. She was safe. She was even happy. She needed a moment like this. Xavier's acknowledgement entered her mind and then his presence slipped away quietly. He knew when to give his students some space.
“So, do you need to head back soon?” Peter asked. “Got some robots to defeat, or whatever it is you guys do?”
He was trying to be chill, as if he hadn’t just admitted to watching clips of them online. She could’ve laughed. Instead, Jean just shook her head.
“I’m taking the day off,” she said. She hadn’t actually decided that until this very moment, but it felt right. The others could more than manage without her.
“Awesome,” Peter said, his face lighting up. He jumped up from his seat on the ledge, reaching out to help her stand up right after. “I’ve been working on some new gadgets, if you want to test them out. Oh, and I just downloaded the pre-special edition versions of the original Star Wars trilogy. We could marathon them if you’re up for it. I’ve got snacks.”
Jean nodded in agreement. It wasn’t like she never had a day off, or even that she didn’t veg out with some of the other kids at school from time to time. This was different. She liked her fellow classmates, but she still wasn’t quite ready to let them in. They hadn’t been through what she and Peter had been through. Hopefully they wouldn’t have to.
“You’re on,” she said, stepping forward. “Lead the way.”