The Parker Back Yard, New York, Late Wednesday morning
Things had returned to a kind of normalcy for Peter. Aunt May was back home and was getting ready to go back to work next week. They had talked out the whole Spider-Man thing at length and Peter promised to keep her up-to-date on situations where his life was in danger. (May insisted. She rathered the truth so that she could focus on the fact that Peter was surviving instead of worrying about what unspeakable terrors he was hiding.) They even talked about the night Ben died at length. Furthermore, May had decided that he should go back to Fandom for the second summer session. She was getting tired of the way he hovered, offering to get her anything and everything she might need. She needed more privacy than that.
Away from home, Nick Fury seemed to be warming to Peter. He wasn't getting the scary threats anymore, and SHIELD agents that he met in the field were actually being nice to him (probably because Fury was giving them some scary threats). He seemed to be getting more and better press, too, which was nice. There was that annoying increase in Spider-Man merchandise that he wasn't seeing a penny from, but aside from that life was good.
Really, if it wasn't for the clone mess that was still out there that he would be responsible for wrapping up in a year, everything here would be nearly perfect. There was just one loose end left. He just didn't expect it to be wrapped up in his backyard while he was taking out the garbage.
A feminine - and familiar in a completely bizarre way - voice in a tree called out "Hey!"
"Wha?" Peter asked, dropping the garbage bag in the can. "Hey! It's you."
"Yeah, it's me. I said I'd be in touch," Jessica said, dropping down. She pointed towards the door to the house. "How is she?"
"Better. Everything is a lot better," Peter said. "A lot. What about you? How've you been since that whole big thing?"
"Things have been interesting. Mostly I'm trying to keep ahead of anyone looking for me and that's going okay so far," Jessica said. "As evidenced by my not being in handcuffs."
"If you go with SHIELD, you won't go in handcuffs. I talked to Nick Fury about you," Peter explained.
"Fury's a tool," Jessica said.
"But he likes me/us now," Peter said. "He's actually been pretty cool."
"Still a tool. He's gonna get tired of us eventually," Jessica pointed out.
"I'm not sure about that," Peter said. "Anyway, think about it, okay?"
"I'll think about it. Not hard, because, you know, it's stupid and you're an idiot, but I'll think about it," Jessica promised.
"That's all I ask," Peter said. "Oh, but if I'm an idiot, you are too."
"Nope. You've got stupider over the past couple years, I've gotten smarter. Simple as that," Jessica said. "And this while you're going to a boarding school and I'm not going to school at all. That's impressive."
"Speaking of which, I'm actually heading back there today," Peter noted.
"So I'll be even smarter next time you're here?" Jessica asked. "Very nice. Why are you heading back so early?"
"Aunt May wants me to be in a place with relatively fewer things to fight," Peter said. "And then after graduation I'll get better trained anyway, and that makes her feel more comfortable."
"Well, whatever works for you, Mister Responsible" Jessica said, sounding a little annoyed.
"Hey. I have a responsibility to myself and Aunt May," Peter said. "She had a heart attack when I told her everything. If she prefers that I'm away from New York for a year, I'm going to do that."
"Hey, I'm not complaining. I'm just saying that you should have fun with the Queen of Dye and Bad Fashion," Jessica said.
That caught Peter a little off guard. "Nice. You know what, I have a train to catch. Send me an e-mail when you cool off a bit."
"Or I might just leave you alone. Bye," Jessica said. She fired a web at a nearby tree and slingshotted herself out of the yard.
Peter thought about that for a moment and came to a realization. "You don't have to be alone," he said, long after she was gone.
But now it was time for him to get together and head to the train. He'd have to follow up on this some other time.
[OOC: And Peter shall return to Fandom tonight, hooray!]
Away from home, Nick Fury seemed to be warming to Peter. He wasn't getting the scary threats anymore, and SHIELD agents that he met in the field were actually being nice to him (probably because Fury was giving them some scary threats). He seemed to be getting more and better press, too, which was nice. There was that annoying increase in Spider-Man merchandise that he wasn't seeing a penny from, but aside from that life was good.
Really, if it wasn't for the clone mess that was still out there that he would be responsible for wrapping up in a year, everything here would be nearly perfect. There was just one loose end left. He just didn't expect it to be wrapped up in his backyard while he was taking out the garbage.
A feminine - and familiar in a completely bizarre way - voice in a tree called out "Hey!"
"Wha?" Peter asked, dropping the garbage bag in the can. "Hey! It's you."
"Yeah, it's me. I said I'd be in touch," Jessica said, dropping down. She pointed towards the door to the house. "How is she?"
"Better. Everything is a lot better," Peter said. "A lot. What about you? How've you been since that whole big thing?"
"Things have been interesting. Mostly I'm trying to keep ahead of anyone looking for me and that's going okay so far," Jessica said. "As evidenced by my not being in handcuffs."
"If you go with SHIELD, you won't go in handcuffs. I talked to Nick Fury about you," Peter explained.
"Fury's a tool," Jessica said.
"But he likes me/us now," Peter said. "He's actually been pretty cool."
"Still a tool. He's gonna get tired of us eventually," Jessica pointed out.
"I'm not sure about that," Peter said. "Anyway, think about it, okay?"
"I'll think about it. Not hard, because, you know, it's stupid and you're an idiot, but I'll think about it," Jessica promised.
"That's all I ask," Peter said. "Oh, but if I'm an idiot, you are too."
"Nope. You've got stupider over the past couple years, I've gotten smarter. Simple as that," Jessica said. "And this while you're going to a boarding school and I'm not going to school at all. That's impressive."
"Speaking of which, I'm actually heading back there today," Peter noted.
"So I'll be even smarter next time you're here?" Jessica asked. "Very nice. Why are you heading back so early?"
"Aunt May wants me to be in a place with relatively fewer things to fight," Peter said. "And then after graduation I'll get better trained anyway, and that makes her feel more comfortable."
"Well, whatever works for you, Mister Responsible" Jessica said, sounding a little annoyed.
"Hey. I have a responsibility to myself and Aunt May," Peter said. "She had a heart attack when I told her everything. If she prefers that I'm away from New York for a year, I'm going to do that."
"Hey, I'm not complaining. I'm just saying that you should have fun with the Queen of Dye and Bad Fashion," Jessica said.
That caught Peter a little off guard. "Nice. You know what, I have a train to catch. Send me an e-mail when you cool off a bit."
"Or I might just leave you alone. Bye," Jessica said. She fired a web at a nearby tree and slingshotted herself out of the yard.
Peter thought about that for a moment and came to a realization. "You don't have to be alone," he said, long after she was gone.
But now it was time for him to get together and head to the train. He'd have to follow up on this some other time.
[OOC: And Peter shall return to Fandom tonight, hooray!]