Outnumbered

Chapter 13

"Sorry it's so late," Peter says when MJ picks up the phone. It's nearly one in the morning New York time, but she made him promise to call him when he got home from JPL.

"It's okay," she says, yawning. "I mean, my boyfriend works at NASA now, so..."

"Boyfriend, huh?" Peter asks, laughing softly.

"Is that okay?"

"Uh, more than okay," Peter assures her. It comes out shaky, his heart suddenly racing. "A-as long as you're okay with it."

"Of course it is, Loser," she jokes. "I'm the one who said it first."

He thinks he hears another yawn, but isn't sure. "Did I wake you?" She doesn't answer right away, which makes him feel a sudden pang of guilt. "I woke you up when I called, didn't I?"

She gives an audible yawn this time. "Maybe?"

He sighs, embarrassed. "I should let you sleep, MJ. Shouldn't have called so late."

"I asked you to call," she says, voice much more awake and direct. "Because I want to hear all about NASA. All of the unclassified stuff, anyway."

"I wouldn't even know where to start." He puts his phone on speaker and runs his hands through his hair as he leans back against the pillows on his guest bed. "It was..."

"Exhilarating?"

"More like...overwhelming," Peter jokes. "Tony introduced us and the framework of the design, but then he kind of pulled back and had me detail everything for the team. Speaking to a room of engineers is not easy. I'm not even sure they could understand a word I was saying. My mouth got so dry that my tongue was, like, sticking to the roof of my mouth, and I had to keep drinking those little glasses of water they put out on the table. By the end, the table was filled. And I was sweating through my dress shirt, so I couldn't even take my suit jacket off until we got back into the car. I guess I don't do that well under pressure."

"Hey, you're charismatic and genuine, which is important. No one likes to feel like they're sitting through a sales pitch. I'm sure they were just as nervous as you were."

He shrugs. "I mean, they were impressed, and we finalized the contracts, so I guess that's good news."

"So then, it was good? Overall?"

"Honestly? It was like...a dream. A good dream."

"Plan B," MJ adds.

Peter gives a small laugh. "Yeah. I guess Plan B isn't sucking so much after all, though I still feel like this could've been part of Plan A, you know?"

"Doesn't make what you did today any less important or meaningful."

"True," he echoes, sighing. "I guess I just had a weird morning, and I was kind of terrified it was a bad omen or something."

"Weird morning?"

"I...I dropped a vial of insulin on the floor before breakfast."

"Oof."

Peter sighs, rubbing his face. "Yeah."

"Does Tony know?"

"Yeah, and he wasn't even mad, which I guess I expected because money isn't an issue for him. But all I could think about was how May wouldn't be able to afford all of this. I wouldn't have a pump or Dexcom. I'd be doing finger pricks and shots. Which...sometimes I wish I could ditch the technology and just do that, but...I don't know. Sometimes I get really scared, even with the tech. It's kind of saved me a few times. I hate that it has, but I'm also really thankful. It's hard to explain. I'm...I'm not making any sense..."