The Amazing Spider-Man 3

Chapter Three

Mary Jane

"I heard Spider-Man is near where you live! Maybe you'll run into him." Gayle laughed through the phone as MJ shook her head, ripping open a box.

"I doubt it. You do know how many people live in this state, right?" She frowned, putting her phone on the speaker so she could unpack.

"8.427 million." MJ knew her sister was grinning as she spoke, which only made her roll her eyes.

"Ha ha. Don't have to be so smart with me, remember?"

"Oh but I just love to outsmart you, Mary Jane." Her sister laughed, and MJ sighed quietly, taking out her bottles of alcohol and stashing them away in the furthest cabinet. "Have you met anyone cute yet? I want to be an aunt."

"Gayle! I'm 20! I'm not ready for kids." MJ sighed and dropped her hand, resting her head against the cabinet.

Her sister had been complaining for months that she still wasn't an aunt, ever since her oldest sister broke up with Michael. Rough patch of her life led to those bottles in the cabinet. But, at least she wasn't as much of a partier as she was before moving.

"So? One night stands usually lead to preg—"

"Oh my god I'm not having this conversation again!" MJ took the phone and brought it to her ear. "I'm going to finish unpacking. I'll call you later."

"Love you!" MJ hung up her phone, slipping it into her back pocket.

For the next hour, MJ spent unpacking all of her kitchen supplies and setting up her bed, nearly crushing herself into a pancake when the mattress fell onto her. Her new apartment was coming together fairly well, stringing up old Christmas lights in her kitchen and living room to make it more homey.

Her stomach growled with hunger, sighing as she remembered she had yet to get groceries. Grabbing her keys, she ran out of her apartment, heading to the nearest store.

𖣔

MJ was still fairly new to this part of New York, and since she didn't have a car, (thanks to having to sell it to afford the apartment) she was now hopelessly lost after getting groceries, since her phone decided to die halfway home.

The streets lamps turned on as it got darker, cars and people starting to disappear. Her attempt at remembering how to get home failed, and knowing the people of New York, they wouldn't bag an eye to help the poor red head.

"Fuck." MJ muttered under her breath as the plastic bag snapped, spilling its contents into the ground. She knelt down to pick the up, pausing when a shadow looked over her, blocking the light.

"Need help, little lady?" A deep and stoned voice asked, MJ's heart pounding in her ears.

"No thanks. I got it." She answered, continuing to shove the spilled food into the other bag.

"Come on, let me help. Then you can help me with something." There was an evil smirk in his voice, causing a shiver to run up her spine.

"I said I got it." She said in a more serious tone, now rushing to pick up everything. The man leaned down and grabbed her arm, MJ swatting him away. "Back off, dickhead!"

The girl gasped as his hand grabbed her shoulder wand squeezed, yanking her up and pulling her into the alleyway. "Let me go you freak!"

"No one likes a screamer." He whispered into her ear, and as he leaned back, MJ slammed the back of her head into his nose, groaning in pain. "You bitch!"

MJ went to run off, the man grabbing her by the waist and hoisting her up into the air. She let out a horrified scream, flailing her legs as she attempted to pry his hands off of her.

"Hey!"

The man paused, still holding onto MJ as he turned around, seeing a dark figure in the alleyway.

"Buzz off, kid!" The man yelled to the silhouette, MJ's breathing loud with fear as she continued to pry herself free.

"The lady here obviously doesn't want you to touch her. Just let her go and we can all walk away unharmed!"

"I said piss off! Unless you want to end up on the sad end of the news!" The man's grip tightened around her stomach, making it somehow slightly harder to breathe.

"All right, you asked for it." A thwipping noise echoed into MJ's ear as the man let out a muffled scream, dropping her quickly as he attempted to rip off the web that had attached to his face.

The man was suddenly yanked forward, slamming into a trash bin as the figure appeared into the light.

"Spider-Man?" MJ mumbled as she backed away to let him fight the man, who didn't fight back.

"If I ever see you do that to a woman again, I'll do a lot more than slam you into the trash. Off you go now, Buddy." Spider-Man slapped the man's face as he quickly stood up and ran away, the blue and red hero turning around. "Are you alright?"

"I— I Uh.. yeah. Yeah I'm okay. Little shaken up but.. I think I'll be good." A sudden pounding in her head caused MJ to wobble, Spider-Man quick to run to her side.

"Did he hurt you at all?"

"No. But I definitely hurt myself trying to fight back." She laughed awkwardly as the two stepped out of the alleyway, Spider-Man picking up the groceries she had dropped.

"Can you make it home from here?" The masked hero asked, and MJ shook her head.

"No... I was an idiot and got lost. Don't even know how to be honest." She laughed again, groaning as her hand reached to rub the back of her head.

"You know your address? I know my way around here." MJ nodded slowly, smiling.

"Thank you."

𖣔

Spider-Man was decent enough to not swing her home with a head ache and groceries, suggesting that she used whatever frozen food she got to help with the headache.

"It might hurt for a few hours. But you should be okay." She could tell he was smiling behind the mask, and she frowned at a realization. His voice sounded very familiar, though she just couldn't tell why.

"I feel like I know you." MJ blurted as they reached her apartment complex.

"I guess we'll never know." He shrugged as she took the groceries from his hand.

"Not unless you take out that mask." She suggested as he laughed, shaking his head.

"Not happening, sweetheart. Don't go getting into trouble again." He started to back away as MJ chuckled.

"Only if you'll be there to save me." She waved goodbye to him, opening the door to her complex, making her way to the elevator.

MJ rubbed the back of her head again, humming to a quiet tune as she exited the elevator once it hit her floor, walking down the hallway to her and Peter's apartments.

As she went to open her apartment door, the door behind her clicked open, turning to see Peter leaving. "Hey, Tiger."

"Oh, hey MJ. What are you doing out so late?" He asked, closing the door to his apartment.

"Oh nothing. Got lost on my way back. Some dick tried to— do something to me but Spider-Man saved the day again." She rubbed the back of her head again, to which Peter frowned.

"You hurt?" He asked, furrowing his brows.

"Slammed my head into the guys nose. Probably just a headache from it but I should be okay. Goodnight, Peter." MJ smiled softly as she closed her door, leaving Peter once again alone in the hallway.

Silence followed once her door shut, save for the crinkling of the heavy plastic bag that started cutting off the circulation of her fingers.

After a while, MJ put a bag of frozen peas against her head, which helped sooth the pain for a bit, and she slowly ended up falling asleep on her couch.