A Remembrance in Memory of Peter Parker, Queens, NY, Sunday
Jessica had connections. If she was going to get a towncar to take her to the Peter Parker remembrance at Aunt May's house, she had a guy she could call who knew what was up when he brought young girls to the most famous house in Queens.
And in the back seat, Jessica and Lana were silent until Lana finally voiced her nervousness.
"Maybe I shouldn't--"
"Lana," Jessica interrupted.
"I mean, I barely knew the guy, Jessica," Lana argued.
"It's not about that," Jessica insisted.
"You, I mean, you are Spider-Woman. You're kind of related. I just... I just..." Lana stalled out for just a second. "We just got into a fight and went to school together for five minutes."
"Lana, it's not about that," Jessica said. "This will be good for you"
"How?"
"I think you'll want to see this. You'll want to feel this. You don't even know what--" Jessica stopped suddenly as the car stopped short and jerked them forward. "Whoa."
The driver started flicking off a guy in the middle of the road and yelling, even though the gy couldn't hear him. "Oh, this foogatz! Get out of the road! Guy survives being eaten by a big purple guy and now he's gonna jump in front of my car? Sorry, ladies."
"No worries," Jessica said. At least no one died! That was a nice change from recent events!
*****
When Jessica and Lana arrived at the Parker house, it was a little more overwhelming than Jessica expected. Most of the people were already here and she knew like nobody on her own. May and Gwen greeted her warmly. Mary Jane probably knew her deal. Miles and his friend Ganke would show up eventually from what May said.
But then there were the other superheroes. Liz Allen, Firestar. Former classmate of Peter's. Ended up being an X-Man and eventually lived in Utopia with Kitty Pryde. Bobby Drake, Iceman. Once upon a time he pretended to be Peter's cousin before joining Kitty's movement when Peter died. She hadn't met either of them since she'd been cloned. But here was a familiar face.
"Hey, Johnny," Jessica said. "This is my friend, Lana."
"Well if it isn't my favorite Spider-Woman," Johnny said, leaning in for a hug. "Your friend Lana looks familiar. How do I know you, her friend Lana?"
"Shit. The two of you teamed up to fight me and my mom once," Lana sighed.
"No, that's not it," Johnny said. "Well, I guess that was it. But I wouldn't have recognized you as being her. Taller, better haircut, not exploding stuff.... Wait, did you go to Midtown?"
"For like two seconds. Why? Did you go there, too?" Lana asked, very confused.
"I can't believe the hair dye worked," Johnny sighed. "I was Johnny Parker, Peter's cousin with the black hair."
"Holy shit, I didn't recognize you. I can't believe I went to school with Spider-Man and the Human fucking Torch," Lana said with a facepalm.
"And Iceman!" Bobby yelled from across the room. He was talking to Liz at the moment and asked her, "Who's the cute girl who walked in with the cute girl who failed to mention me?"
"I don't think I've met her before," Liz said. "But don't try to hit on her here. It's inappropriate."
Jessica sighed. Time to introduce herself to the rest of the group, apparently. And try not to be hit on at the weirdest place possible.
*****
The day went on. Miles and Ganke arrived. Kitty showed up, followed shortly by Kenny "Kong" MacFarlane. The fact that Jessica knew him by name got a side-eye from Liz before Jessica blew it off by mentioning that she was a SHIELD agent and knew stuff. Tony Stark had a crap ton of food delivered in lieu of showing up himself.
And once the group had eaten way too much food only to find that there was still way more food to get through, Miles made the suggestion to bring all the leftovers to the Queens Mission and donate it to those in need.
And that was why Jessica was proud to have him be Spider-Man.
It wasn't until then that she had an opportunity to pull Kitty aside.
"Still not returning e-mails? Or texts? Or anything?" Jessica checked.
"Ugh. I'm sorry," Kitty sighed. "The press has been all over my butt since Galactus. They really, really, really want to plaster me all over everything. I already left the X-Men because of the mutant war thing, and now my mom doesn't have any peace."
"Hey, hey, it's okay," Jessica said. "You don't have to explain. Although if you really want to get away from all that stuff, I actually have a solution."
"Oh yeah?" Kitty asked. "What is it?"
"I've got a pretty sweet place in Chelsea as part of my SHIELD and Ultimates severance package," Jessica said. "It's way bigger than I need, and it's so off the grid that I have a PO Box instead of mail delivery."
"I wish I were a former SHIELD agent," Kitty said. "If this is your way of getting me to join--"
"I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't try to talk you into joining the team," Jessica said. "But you can say no and it'll be a standing offer and I'll leave it at that. No conditions."
"You barely know me," Kitty said.
"With a great apartment comes great responsibility," Jessica said. "I'm not going to push this, either, but the offer's there if you want it."
*****
Eventually, everyone made their way back to the Parker house. Goodbyes were said. Kitty and Kong had a moment. The three temperature people took off. Miles and Ganke left. And then it was time for Jessica and Lana to get in their towncar and leave after some final well wishes to Mary Jane, Gwen, and Aunt May.
"So, do you get why I wanted you to come?" Jessica asked, once they were safely on the road again.
"He meant a lot to people. I guss someday that could be me, too," Lana said. "Hopefully I'll still be alive, though."
"He meant a lot to people for one reason. He never gave up," Jessica said. "He always did whatever he could, no matter how futile it was. Whether it was saving as many people as he could during the flood or fighting five of the most powerful, deranged criminals we've ever encountered while losing blood from an earlier gunshot wound. Peter Parker gave every last bit of himself to save people. You're an Ultimate now, Lana. That's all I will ever ask of you. Give everything you can to help people. But please don't die."
"I understand. I'm in. Completely," Lana said.
"Good. Because we're ready to start."
[OOC: Parts from and inspired by Ultimate Spider-Man #200 by Brian Bendis and David Marquez. Now to figure out All-New Ultimates!]
And in the back seat, Jessica and Lana were silent until Lana finally voiced her nervousness.
"Maybe I shouldn't--"
"Lana," Jessica interrupted.
"I mean, I barely knew the guy, Jessica," Lana argued.
"It's not about that," Jessica insisted.
"You, I mean, you are Spider-Woman. You're kind of related. I just... I just..." Lana stalled out for just a second. "We just got into a fight and went to school together for five minutes."
"Lana, it's not about that," Jessica said. "This will be good for you"
"How?"
"I think you'll want to see this. You'll want to feel this. You don't even know what--" Jessica stopped suddenly as the car stopped short and jerked them forward. "Whoa."
The driver started flicking off a guy in the middle of the road and yelling, even though the gy couldn't hear him. "Oh, this foogatz! Get out of the road! Guy survives being eaten by a big purple guy and now he's gonna jump in front of my car? Sorry, ladies."
"No worries," Jessica said. At least no one died! That was a nice change from recent events!
*****
When Jessica and Lana arrived at the Parker house, it was a little more overwhelming than Jessica expected. Most of the people were already here and she knew like nobody on her own. May and Gwen greeted her warmly. Mary Jane probably knew her deal. Miles and his friend Ganke would show up eventually from what May said.
But then there were the other superheroes. Liz Allen, Firestar. Former classmate of Peter's. Ended up being an X-Man and eventually lived in Utopia with Kitty Pryde. Bobby Drake, Iceman. Once upon a time he pretended to be Peter's cousin before joining Kitty's movement when Peter died. She hadn't met either of them since she'd been cloned. But here was a familiar face.
"Hey, Johnny," Jessica said. "This is my friend, Lana."
"Well if it isn't my favorite Spider-Woman," Johnny said, leaning in for a hug. "Your friend Lana looks familiar. How do I know you, her friend Lana?"
"Shit. The two of you teamed up to fight me and my mom once," Lana sighed.
"No, that's not it," Johnny said. "Well, I guess that was it. But I wouldn't have recognized you as being her. Taller, better haircut, not exploding stuff.... Wait, did you go to Midtown?"
"For like two seconds. Why? Did you go there, too?" Lana asked, very confused.
"I can't believe the hair dye worked," Johnny sighed. "I was Johnny Parker, Peter's cousin with the black hair."
"Holy shit, I didn't recognize you. I can't believe I went to school with Spider-Man and the Human fucking Torch," Lana said with a facepalm.
"And Iceman!" Bobby yelled from across the room. He was talking to Liz at the moment and asked her, "Who's the cute girl who walked in with the cute girl who failed to mention me?"
"I don't think I've met her before," Liz said. "But don't try to hit on her here. It's inappropriate."
Jessica sighed. Time to introduce herself to the rest of the group, apparently. And try not to be hit on at the weirdest place possible.
*****
The day went on. Miles and Ganke arrived. Kitty showed up, followed shortly by Kenny "Kong" MacFarlane. The fact that Jessica knew him by name got a side-eye from Liz before Jessica blew it off by mentioning that she was a SHIELD agent and knew stuff. Tony Stark had a crap ton of food delivered in lieu of showing up himself.
And once the group had eaten way too much food only to find that there was still way more food to get through, Miles made the suggestion to bring all the leftovers to the Queens Mission and donate it to those in need.
And that was why Jessica was proud to have him be Spider-Man.
It wasn't until then that she had an opportunity to pull Kitty aside.
"Still not returning e-mails? Or texts? Or anything?" Jessica checked.
"Ugh. I'm sorry," Kitty sighed. "The press has been all over my butt since Galactus. They really, really, really want to plaster me all over everything. I already left the X-Men because of the mutant war thing, and now my mom doesn't have any peace."
"Hey, hey, it's okay," Jessica said. "You don't have to explain. Although if you really want to get away from all that stuff, I actually have a solution."
"Oh yeah?" Kitty asked. "What is it?"
"I've got a pretty sweet place in Chelsea as part of my SHIELD and Ultimates severance package," Jessica said. "It's way bigger than I need, and it's so off the grid that I have a PO Box instead of mail delivery."
"I wish I were a former SHIELD agent," Kitty said. "If this is your way of getting me to join--"
"I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't try to talk you into joining the team," Jessica said. "But you can say no and it'll be a standing offer and I'll leave it at that. No conditions."
"You barely know me," Kitty said.
"With a great apartment comes great responsibility," Jessica said. "I'm not going to push this, either, but the offer's there if you want it."
*****
Eventually, everyone made their way back to the Parker house. Goodbyes were said. Kitty and Kong had a moment. The three temperature people took off. Miles and Ganke left. And then it was time for Jessica and Lana to get in their towncar and leave after some final well wishes to Mary Jane, Gwen, and Aunt May.
"So, do you get why I wanted you to come?" Jessica asked, once they were safely on the road again.
"He meant a lot to people. I guss someday that could be me, too," Lana said. "Hopefully I'll still be alive, though."
"He meant a lot to people for one reason. He never gave up," Jessica said. "He always did whatever he could, no matter how futile it was. Whether it was saving as many people as he could during the flood or fighting five of the most powerful, deranged criminals we've ever encountered while losing blood from an earlier gunshot wound. Peter Parker gave every last bit of himself to save people. You're an Ultimate now, Lana. That's all I will ever ask of you. Give everything you can to help people. But please don't die."
"I understand. I'm in. Completely," Lana said.
"Good. Because we're ready to start."
[OOC: Parts from and inspired by Ultimate Spider-Man #200 by Brian Bendis and David Marquez. Now to figure out All-New Ultimates!]