His Protective Dad (Starker FF) Completed ✓

The First Challenge

A few weeks had passed since the wedding, and Peter and MJ were settling into their new routine as husband and wife. Life was good, but being Spider-Man didn’t come with a manual on how to balance married life and superhero duties. Peter was starting to feel the pressure.

It was a late evening, and Peter had just returned home after a grueling day of classes and a particularly rough patrol. His suit was ripped in a few places, and there was a slight limp in his step from where he’d taken a nasty hit. As he slipped in through the window, trying not to make too much noise, he noticed MJ sitting on the couch, her arms crossed, looking at him with concern.

“Rough night?” she asked, her tone calm but her eyes full of worry.

Peter sighed, pulling off his mask and setting it on the kitchen counter. “Yeah… you could say that. There was this robbery near Midtown, and things got messy. I’m sorry I’m late.”

MJ stood up, walking over to him, her gaze flicking over the bruises he was trying to hide. “You don’t have to apologize, Peter. I get it. But… you’re hurt. This is the third time this week you’ve come back like this.”

Peter rubbed the back of his neck. He could feel the tension building in the room. “I’m fine, MJ. Really. Just a couple of bruises. It’s nothing new.”

MJ crossed her arms, her voice softening. “Peter, this isn’t just about you getting hurt. It’s about how we’re going to do this. You’re out there saving the city, and I get that—it’s who you are. But we need to figure out how we’re going to make this work. I don’t want to lose you.”

He froze, her words hitting him harder than any villain ever could. “You’re not going to lose me. I promise.”

MJ sighed, shaking her head. “I know you’re trying to protect me by not talking about it, but Peter, we’re married now. We’re supposed to be a team. I can’t help you if you keep shutting me out.”

Peter felt the weight of her words, guilt gnawing at him. She was right. Since the wedding, he’d been so focused on keeping his superhero life separate from their marriage that he hadn’t realized how much it was affecting her. The late nights, the missed dinners, the constant worry in her eyes every time he came home battered and bruised—it wasn’t fair to her.

“I don’t mean to shut you out,” Peter said, his voice low. “I just don’t want you to worry. But… I guess that’s impossible, isn’t it?”

MJ stepped closer, taking his hand. “I’m always going to worry about you, Peter. That’s just part of loving you. But I also want to help you, even if it’s just being there when you need to talk. We’re in this together now. You don’t have to carry it all by yourself.”

Peter swallowed hard, the weight of her words settling in. He hadn’t realized how much he’d been shutting her out, trying to protect her from the darker side of his life as Spider-Man. But MJ had always known who he was, and she had chosen to love him despite it. She wasn’t asking him to stop being Spider-Man—she was asking him to let her in.

“I’m sorry,” Peter whispered, his voice thick with emotion. “I didn’t mean to push you away. I just—”

“Hey,” MJ cut him off, placing a hand on his cheek. “You don’t have to do this alone anymore. That’s what marriage is, right? We face things together.”

Peter nodded, feeling a rush of warmth fill his chest. She was right. They were a team now, and he needed to start treating her like his partner, not someone to protect from his world. “I love you,” he said, pulling her into a hug, resting his chin on top of her head. “I’ll try to do better. I promise.”

MJ smiled against his chest, wrapping her arms around him. “That’s all I ask. We’ll figure it out, together.”

As they stood there in the quiet of their apartment, Peter realized that this was the first real challenge of their marriage. It wasn’t some supervillain or world-ending threat—it was learning how to balance the life they were building together with the chaos that came with being Spider-Man. But as long as they faced it together, he knew they’d be okay.

“We should probably patch up that suit, though,” MJ teased, pulling back and glancing at the torn fabric. “Unless you’re going for the ‘battle-worn hero’ look.”

Peter chuckled, finally feeling some of the tension lift. “I’ll let you handle the fashion advice, Mrs. Parker.”

They both laughed, and for the first time in days, Peter felt like things were going to be okay. They had a long road ahead of them, but they’d face it together—one step at a time.