Spideychelle one-shots

After: Part Six

It's no surprise that the media exploded after the very public message was discovered. Superheroes were either loved or hated, and Peter had had to deal with a lot in terms of his career. The fact that he'd been AWOL for years, and had been spotted only in conjunction with the kidnapping of MJ, who had a high profile and important career, only added fuel to the flames. 

Basically, it was bad. So he really shouldn't have been surprised that the police came knocking at Aunt May's door. 

Just because he'd expected them didn't mean he wanted to talk to them, though. Sure, everyone knew who he was. Spiderman wasn't exactly a secret identity anymore. But that didn't mean that he wanted to discuss it with the cops. 

Still, it probably wasn't a good idea to mouth off to the law when his ex-girlfriend had been very publically kidnapped and the world had taken that as an excuse to yell about superheroes doing more harm than good. Which okay, Peter definitely understood their point of view.

"No, I don't know who it is," he said. "Or where she might be. If I did, I would be out there saving her."

The officer - Officer Wilman, he thought - scowled at him. "There's no need to be like that, Mr. Parker. And may I remind you, we are the law enforcement. We are equipped to handle these sorts of things. Not kids in spandex." 

So she was one of the hero-haters then. Great. "I think I'm more equipped to deal with someone with superpowers than you. What'll you do if your gun doesn't work on him, huh? I've been doing this for a while, and it's been years since anyone's called me a kid." 

"Right." The officer looked like she'd rather be anywhere than here, and Peter could relate. He bet she drew the short straw coming and talking to him. It's not like he'd had the best rep with cops in the past - he was a little too mouthy for their taste. And no one likes a 15-year-old in a homemade costume swinging around the city, trying not to get shot. 

But they can't be serious if they think he would ever sit this one out. It's MJ. 

"Is that all, officer?" he asked, in the politest tone he could manage. She looked at him like she knew exactly who he was fooling, which was no one, but she nodded anyways, putting away her phone. 

"Thank you for your statement, Mr. Parker," she said, giving a brief nod to Aunt May. "The authorities will be in contact." 

With that, she left. Peter snorted. "The authorities will be in contact. I bet they will. When I save her." 

He rubbed his aching eyes with the palm of his hand. They were no closer to saving MJ, no closer to having any idea what had happened to her. 

Who had happened to her. 

She won't be the only one who bleeds. 

He flashed back to their lunch, how MJ had looked at him, really looked, with her eyes large and brown and soft. 

How she had gotten it. How she had always gotten him. 

If he just thought harder, if he could just figure this out - he was supposed to be smart, so why did he feel so dumb?

What if - 

"Oh," he said, eyes wide. "Oh!" 

"What?" May said, placing her coffee down on the counter. 

"Her phone," Peter said. "I mean - she probably had it on her, right? She might still - I mean, I could track it. The signal." 

"Right, but - it's not like she has the same phone, how are you..." May trailed off. "Unless you have her number?" 

She raised her eyebrows. 

"Shut up," Peter said, blushing, "she gave it to me so we could arrange lunch - which was NOT a date, okay, so stop giving me that look. That's all." 

"Uh huh," May said. 

"What?" Peter asked. "Actually - never mind. I need to get to work. You know, saving people." 

"Move, Lover Boy," May said, smiling, ruffling his hair as he passed by her. 

Peter slid into his room and booted up his computer, mind racing ahead of him. He could use satellites to triangulate her phone's general position, as long as he had her phone number and was willing to engage in some potentially illegal activities. 

Not the first time, and it wouldn't be the last. 

He plugged her phone number into the computer program, then waited for it to identify her phone. 

"Please be on..." he muttered. If her phone was turned off, he was completely out of luck - he tried to remember if she'd looked at her phone at all when they'd been at lunch. 

His computer beeped, letting him know that her signal had been found. 

Yes.

"How's it going?" May asked. 

"Good," Peter said, "I just..." he trailed off, tracking the screen with his eyes. "I mean - you see, how it works is that all cellphones are required by law to, um," 

"It's okay," his aunt said. "You don't have to explain it to me, Pete. It's working, though?" 

"Yeah," Peter said, breathing out. "Yeah, it is." 

"We're going to find her," May said. "She's gonna be fine." 

And for once, Peter actually believed her. 

"Okay, we've got it," he said, eyes glued to the computer screen. 

"You have her location?" May asked. 

"Approximate location," Peter said. "She's not that far away... Something about this is weird, though."

He scrubbed a hand through his hair. "I mean, the triangulation is not exact, right? But there's nothing around here at all. It's the middle of the highway, and there's nothing but fields to either side. Nowhere to hide someone." 

"Maybe there's a cabin or something," May suggested. "Something that's not showing up?" 

Peter bit his lip. "Maybe. We can hope. Or maybe this is all wrong, maybe they dumped her phone in the middle of nowhere to trick us. But I have to try." 

He was still wearing his suit from earlier, a blue hoodie zipped up over it, and he shed the extra layer.

He didn't have time to boot up Karen yet, but he could still load the data into the suit's navigation capabilities. 

"Just in case..." he said, pulling the mask down over his face, "it might be a good idea to let the police know. I'm sure they've done the same thing we have - but if they know I'm heading there as well, there's less chance of me getting shot accidentally." 

May nodded. "Be careful," she said, watching with worried eyes as Peter pushed the window open. 

"Always," he said, with a cocky grin that he didn't really feel, and swung out of the window. 

There we have it - the (hopefully) penultimate chapter. These things always get away from me and end up being way longer than I've planned.

I know this chapter is pretty short but I wanted to give you guys something.

Thank you for everyone who has sent me kind wishes, it has really helped - unfortunately, one of my grandparents did pass away last week after a battle with cancer.

All of your comments were amazing and made me feel a lot better, so thank you. 

I love all of you,

-Viwrit3r