Lost Stars - A Post No Way Home Story

Happy Christmas (War is Over)

one year later

Michelle leaned against the headboard of her room, the music blasting in her ears. The table was laden with her books, the pieces of paper in the bin a sign of madness. Things were not making sense to her anymore. What she thought was easy was extremely hard, no matter how many times she revised what she wanted to revise and understood the material. It was like the world had turned against her.

"Urgh!" she let out and banged her head on the table. Michelle had been alone in this dorm for a while now. Her roommate was more or less MIA, though she had sent a message saying she was okay and was just working in the lab.

Ever since she went to MIT, it had been different. It wasn't that she longed for the streets of Queens. Far from it - her parents were more than glad that she was no longer in the epicenter of pure disaster, but the world was either way broken. She couldn't count the amount of times she would turn on the television and see that something had happened.

Flagsmashers in New York. Intimate video of She-Hulk released. Hand coming out of the ocean. King of Wakanda dead.

And now, it seemed her roommate was mixed up in something too.

"I've seen some messed up shit," Riri had told her after coming back from Wakanda for some goshdarn reason. "For real, I think I need to get some therapy."

Now, Riri was busy finishing her homework neatly.

"That's the last of it!" she exclaimed. "I can't wait to go home for Chrismas - MJ, you good without me?"

"Hm? Oh yeah," Michelle dropped her pencil and looked at the clock. What's the use. She would be leaving for New York soon.

"Are you sure?" she insisted. "I mean, you could always stay over with us all Christmas."

"I'm good," MJ reassured. "I have other friends too."

She still had Ned, but ever since they left for MIT things had been different. They weren't in the same department and tried their best to meet up, but their schedules were just far too different to even meet up for lunch.

Ned had been one of the few friends she had, and now...

now what?

She looked down at her necklace, the one of the ruined black dahlia flower. She didn't remember who had given it to her. She didn't remember if it had been broken when she'd received it. She just knew that the person who gave it to her had loved her deeply.

So why couldn't she remember it?

She thought of Peter.

The last time she had seen Peter was during Christmas. She thought about it often: his kindness as he shoveled the food in people's plates, handing out blankets where they were needed. They had been there together - she and Peter. It felt so... organic. So natural.

And it made her sick.

"And here we are!" her mother exclaimed excitedly as they parked out the front of their house back in Queens. "It's your first Christmas after leaving the house. How do you feel?"

"Constipated," MJ said honestly. "Honestly, it's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?" her mother repeated. "My MJ is the BEST in her year! You got into MIT, you're living alone -"

"in a dorm room - "

"and if things go right, you could be working for NASA!"

"That's..." MJ shook her head. Nevermind. She didn't want to work for NASA, but that's not something for her to think about right now. She didn't want to sit around at the dinner table being proud of the amount of money she was spending each semester.

She didn't want to admit it, but college was disappointing her. She thought she would become a lot more of a social butterfly, perhaps be around people who were intellectual. But so far, it was just exams after exams that she crammed into her brain. Sometimes, she longed to be a humanities student. She saw them around the city with their little papers and books to read. There was nothing scientific about humanities, which makes things hard to prove. There is no empirical data that could help you make sense.

MJ excused herself from the house and just walked. She walked by Peter Pan's and looked through the window hoping that she would be able to find...something.

Anything?

She kicked up some snow and sat back down.

"What do I want?" she said out loud. She had everything she needed, but there was something missing. A big puzzle piece that she needed that could make things fall into place.

She fished out her phone and scrolled down.

Parker

Her last message from him was of him congratulating her on graduation, but that was it.

They hadn't seen each other in person since last Christmas.

Something had happened that day that freaked him out.

I need to know what it was, MJ thought defiantly. She needed to visit the shelter, asap. There was no guarantee that he still worked there, but at least the lady would be able to tell her something.

The F.E.A.S.T headquarters was just as she remembered it and with the holiday seasons so close, the place was covered in holiday decorations of all cultures. She looked around, hoping to spot a familiar face. What if he moved away? No one wants to stay in New York nowadays. Maybe he got his GED and left for another college.

"Oh!" Gloria looked surprised to see her there. "You are one of Peter's friends."

MJ felt relief flood through her body.

"Yes! hi! Is Peter here?"

"Oh, uh..." Gloria looked thoughtful for a moment. "Peter doesn't really work here anymore."

"Oh, right."

"Didn't he tell you?"

"Uhm..."

"Of course he didn't, that silly boy," Gloria shook her head. "He's very secretive sometimes. I'm sure I can give you his new number though..."

"Is that allowed?"

"Have you done something that he would have hated?"

"I'm not so sure," MJ said. "But I'll take it."

MJ looked around. Gloria, despite having a full house, was giving her a little bit of her time. There was something about the F.E.A.S.T headquarters that made her just want to stay.

"Can I help out?" MJ asked suddenly. Gloria looked taken aback, but slowly nodded.

She stayed in the backroom looking through the inventory of food. There were other boxes as well. One of them was labeled as May Parker .

MJ accidentally pulled it down with another box and its contents spilled out.

"Shoot!" MJ cursed. She crouched down and gathered the pictures that had spilled out -

one of them of Peter in a suit with a tortured smile on his face.

Next to Liz.

When had that happened?

MJ gingerly picked up the photo, turning it over. Peter's first prom!

There was another pile of pictures that had made it onto the floor. It had Spider-Man. Lots and lots of Spider-Man photos.

At different events of F.E.A.S.T.

In an apartment.

There was a picture of what looked a lot like nano technology that only Stark Industries could have produced -

MJ quickly shoved the pictures into her jacket. It felt like a crime to steal a dead person's belongings, but her heart was pounding against her chest. Something was up.

And that voice in her brain was getting louder. A voice she had been quelling since last Christmas.

Since she accidentally kissed Peter that night of the city blackout.