#peter parkerxmj

[spideychelle-romanogers]

Dear fellow Spideychelle writers,

I love you all. Please keep writing. I need stuff to stalk.

BUT MICHELLE IS TALLER THAN PETER. She doesn’t lean up to kiss him, or go on her toes. He doesn’t lean down or look down to her. It is so important that she is taller than him because she doesn’t have to be shorter for the relationship to work. We beat a gender norm with this couple. We should act like it!

[spideychelle-romanogers]

Request: Michelle’s POV in Don’t Have To Explain It

Or at least part of it. A really sweet guest left a request. I was asked to do a chapter in Michelle's POV. This not my full answer to the request, but instead a gift for the meantime as a thanks for the review. Chapter 10/11 will have a really interesting plot to give you Michelle's POV for so I will grant you a longer gift when that comes out. This, however, is Michelle's POV for a portion of Chapter 4.

I tried not to spoil too much for her story with this, but this does have a few nuggets of information that isn't in the rest of the story. From now on, requests will be put up on my tumblr unless otherwise noted. This fill is canon. This is also un-betaed.

From You Make Me Feel Good/Fated To Pretend: A Prologue: FF.NET and AO3

Michelle jumped whenever she heard a locker door slam too hard, or just about any other sharp sound. She had been caught. Not just caught stealing, not petty theft either, she all but crept around the city with jewels stolen from a family establishment. When she thought she couldn't get any lower in life, she resorted to stealing. In the most unpleasant way possible, Michelle was always surprising herself.

She couldn't get the word 'kleptomaniac' out of her head. Spider-Man said it to her in passing and it horrified her. Something came over her that night and she couldn't explain what. It was just this once in a lifetime opportunity to provide for her family, contribute, off set some of the bad luck they'd had. It felt like a sign. She wasn't superstitious, but when she'd been so out of luck, she needed to believe something good could happen.

Though perhaps the problem was she thought something good involved the misfortune of another person's family.

She was not punishment-free either, she'd messed up so badly that the local hero, Spider-Man, considered her enough of a disappointment that she deserved regular visits with these torturous trips up and down many tall buildings. Every time her feet wasn't touching the floor now she'd get a little angsty. Climbing the rope in gym was becoming more and more disheartening a task. She'd resorted to telling the clueless gym teacher that she had lady troubles every single day for two weeks now.

Though, gym was probably worth the time now because she had to get fit if she is meant to survive juvie.

If she ever went to jail, she made a mental note to tell people she mostly outrun Spider-Man, and would have succeeded if it hadn't been for her wallet. From her brother's word, juvie was rough and certainly not a place for any living, breathing person, let alone a girl like her.

Before she could continue her anxious, unbroken train of thought, she turned out to be within an inch of Flash Thompson's face when she closed her locker door.

"Flash?" she asked, her pitch coming out a bit higher than was to be expected. Clearing her throat, she began entering the code to her locker again. "Go away," she said in her flat, authoritative tone.

"How do you know Spider-Man?" A resounding chorus of 'no's ran through her mind. She didn't say anything. "Michelle, I saw you two together."

"No, you didn't," she lied convincingly. She talked her way out of worse things. She was sure if she hadn't panicked, she could talk Spider-Man into believing he was the criminal and she was the victim in all of this. Unfortunately, he got her when she was vulnerable. "What are you talking about?" She looked at Flash like she was concerned for his health.

"Last night."

"Last night? I was studying. I have a history exam," she said, knowing the nugget of truth would help. Why would Michelle be out the night before an exam? It sounded nothing like her.

"I saw you."

"With Spider-Man, Flash? Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, a tinge of unfamiliar concern in her tone to really sell the deal.

"Stop that." This was so easy. "How did you meet him?" She just stared at him, waiting for it to get uncomfortable. Flash didn't cave. She respected that he occasionally didn't fall for her tricks. "I will ask you during class in front of everyone if you don't just tell me now."

"Flash!"

"I know I saw you." She was cornered at her locker. It wasn't intimidating, she knew Flash would let her leave if she forced her way by. It was just annoying. She couldn't exactly run away while claiming she didn't have anything to hide.

"Please, Flash."

"Okay, can I just ask? Is he someone we know?"

"What?" Michelle asked a little louder than she meant to. She stopped fighting his questions, too confused as to why he would say something like that. The very thought made her uncomfortable. "No."

"But you have to admit his voice sounds familiar!" Flash said, raising his voice. Michelle refused to think too far into that one.

"Thompson. It was the first time I met him. I don't know who he is or what he wanted." Glancing behind Flash briefly, she saw Peter Parker watching them intently. Glancing back to their position, it really did seem like Flash was harassing her. That evaluation was not entirely inaccurate.

"Just hear me out-" Peter tried his very best not to look like he was intentionally breaking up the conversation.

If it wasn't so sad, Peter's lack of acting skills would be amusing. She occasionally tried to catch him in a lie just for the joke of it. There was something so pleasant about taunting him.

Michelle didn't need anyone rescuing her, but it was convenient for the moment.

"Hey Michelle," he said casually as he approached. She didn't even pretend to be surprised by him. "What are you two talking about?" Michelle concluded on saying 'stuff' when Flash spoke up first.

"Parker."

"Thompson."

That exchange worked like a flashing exit sign to her. "Okay. I need to get to class." She pushed past them and walked, focused again on the history exam coming up. She was going to ace it, she just really wanted to finish early. That was her priority now. She was halfway through The Alchemist and only had 100 or so pages to go. The boys behind her were irrelevant to that goal so she'd forget about them now.

"I have physics," she announced as Flash approached her a second time. Clearly, he didn't understand she was spelling out 'I don't have time for this'.

"Stay with me when the bell rings and I won't tell everyone you and Spider-Man are best friends." Michelle stared at him horrified as they waited for the sharp alarm. "You don't have to tell me who he is-"

"I don't know who he is."

"At least tell me if we know him."

"I. Don't. Know. Who. He. Is," she said, each word pronounced like she was spelling it out for someone deaf.

"So we do?" Michelle just stared at him, wondering how someone so smart could be so dumb. "I knew it!" This couldn't be happening. This really couldn't be happening.

"Flash, I have to get to class," she said, pushing past him.

"Michelle, please." The sincerity that suddenly crept into his voice made her turn. "I get it. You don't know him...But if you did, would you tell him something for me?" Michelle waited, though she worried maybe her best choice was to cut and run. "Just tell him that he's my hero."

She frowned. "I don't know him, Flash," she told him, a small drop of sincerity in her regret. She'd never seen him vulnerable before. She'd keep this in mind.

Michelle was no stranger to compartmentalization. In reality, she was an expert for her age. When her mother left them, she went back to school like nothing happened. When her brother got arrested, she went to a sleepover she agreed to so that no one would find out. When her father got sick, she got through her middle school final exams with straight As.

Teachers would approach her, say they were there for her. She'd never approach any of them, because she was fine. She would survive. She would overcome. No one got to write her life for her. If she said her life was good, then it would be good at all costs. She would fix all of these problems herself and no one had a right to stop her from trying.

That robbery that night, that felt like it was out of her control. It was as though her public life couldn't be separate so long as she had a chance to fix her private life. She would do anything for her family, she would destroy her reputation from them. But there had never been a time that one necessarily had to be a risk to the other.

Michelle didn't know how she could ever have believed she'd get away with stealing. It was as though she had learned nothing from her brother. If an innocent man can be sent to prison, she surely could.

Spider-Man, well, he was a separate type of issue. He was in a completely different field. He was doing her the favor, unknowingly, of keeping the power in her hands when it came to her reputation. So long as her father didn't know, Michelle had a way of fixing these things. If Spider-Man decided to hand her in to the cops, well, that was in his power. He had the better deal, clearly.

So she had to compartmentalize him in a different way. She pretended in the rest of her life that nothing had changed. Her father didn't know about him, his school didn't know about him, she was alone in this secret and everything would stay that way. So long as they stayed clean cut and separate, her world did not need to be messy.

Then Flash Thompson happened to walk on the very sidewalk where Spider-Man last decided to confront her.

Feeling sensitive about the walls she built crumbling, she had to admit seeing Spider-Man on her porch that night crossed the line from worrying into horrifying.

"I feel like we're both getting tired of me stalking you." Truer words had never been said.

"Yup," she answered dryly, staring and wondering how all of this was real. What had she done to deserve any of it?

"So why don't you just tell me?" She took in a shaky breath. Spider-Man may be a superhero but he had no right to her life story. She deserved to have something to herself and her privacy was precious.

"It is non-"

"It is my business." Michelle did her best to hold it together. Having him here made her face that everything was real. She couldn't imagine what would happen if her father came out and saw them there. She was so ashamed.

"Anywhere but here. That kid that saw us goes to my school! He's been following me all day."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I wouldn't wish that on anybody."

"What?" Suddenly, Michelle remembered the message she had to deliver. She knew Spider-Man was coming back, he didn't seem the type to just forgive her on her word. She took in a deep breath, rehearsing the phrasing she had prepared: I know this might not mean anything to you but that guy-

"I just meant, he just seemed annoying. When I saw him." She stared at the masked man. Never meet your heroes, she thought as her heart sank. He noticed her indignant stare. "What?"

What a hypocrite. "Nothing. You just make a lot of judgments at face value." She didn't mean to say it, but she was glad it came out as rude as it did.

"What does that mean?" Poor Flash. She'd never tell him about this.

"Nothing," she answered, already too disappointed to address it.

I hope you all like this! Let me know if you want to hear more from Michelle's POV. I am still taking requests, so just review or hit me up via PM or Tumblr.

[spideychelle-romanogers]

Trying To Mend It

Making of Michelle Jones - Prologue, Chapter 6

Start from the beginning || Series Masterlist || Previous Chapter

After catching Michelle stealing jewels, the new mystery she brings into Peter's life defines his next adventure. There are new dangers coming to NYC and Michelle is playing a bigger part in Spider-Man's mission than Peter ever imagined.

Chapter 6: After a traumatic experience, Peter finds himself healing through his friendship with Michelle.

T/W: none  Beta: Splendid_Splendont  Tags: spideychelle, pan!Peter, demi!Michelle, slow burn

It was Thursday morning and Peter had never felt that his life would be so…dull after everything. The woes of the weeks past were still on his mind, leaving this permanent heat at the back of his neck like something bad was going to happen. Ned would often find ways to calm him down during lunch and Michelle would call him out when he got too lost in his thoughts. Between the two of them, Peter managed to get through the days. For half the week, Michelle was absent but he didn't ask any questions for once when she came back.

Not that it wasn't a surprise to him. Peter was sitting in his biology class ignoring the notes he could have been taking and reading the headlines about Spider-Man instead. His alter ego had been receiving some interest after his back alley bar fight footage went viral, and he was trending online on social media. Hey, there were even a few fan clubs, too! Every now and then Peter would also spot a blog article about how the bank robbers were still at large. Huh, and the-

"-You still stalking that guy?" Michelle's sudden question made him jump, startling him out of his thoughts. How she managed to sneak up on him with his heightened hearing was a mystery. Peter immediately shut off his tablet and turned to her.

"Hey, you're back!" The enthusiasm was supposed to sound sarcastic but to his surprise it came out like he was far too excited.

"What are you hiding?" Michelle seemed amused but to Peter's confusion she pulled out her phone and intently stared at the screen. Peter watched her, waiting for her to finish whatever she was doing but her focus didn't relent.

"You've missed a lot of notes, you know," He said suddenly, realizing he wanted her attention back. This was an unfamiliar feeling. "I could give them to you later. There's a big exam coming up if you want to study togeth-"

Michelle took the tablet out of his hands and unlocked it.

"How di-" Peter found himself asking too late. Michelle scanned the opened tabs before Peter interrupted her thoughts. "How do you know my passcode?"

"It's your birthday."

Peter stared.

"Wait, wha-I... how did you know my birthda-" Michelle showed him her phone. His birthdate was splayed out on his Facebook profile.

"You're not very interesting, Parker," She said, before smiling a little at his expense. Peter opened his mouth to tell her she was wrong when her smile became…reassuring? Once upon a time, this was such an unfamiliar look. It was as though going through something horrible was enough to make Michelle see a different side to him. Someone she could relate to, perhaps.

Peter had to stop thinking like this.

"He's going to catch them, these things take time," She continued. Peter looked down at his tablet. The last tab left open was speculating how Spider-Man was going to take the robbers down.

"How do you know he's a 'he'?" Peter asked, to change the subject, "could be a girl."

She shot him a dry look. "He asks to be called Spider-Man and I'm willing to take his word for it." Michelle stopped paying attention to Peter like she always did and went back to her book. That bothered him, he just wanted her to keep the conversation going, keep talking.

At the end of class, Michelle called his name and Peter stopped and turned so fast even she seemed taken aback. "I hope you don't mind but I told my dad."

Peter realized she normally avoided talking about her dad unless she was talking to Spider-Man. "About….?" Michelle nodded. "Yeah. Okay."

"My dad's visiting May later today. I just wanted you to hear it from me first in case I overstepped."

"Oh." Peter knew he couldn't say much without giving himself away. "That'll be good for her." Peter was about to walk away, but even as he turned he thought to himself about how he slammed her locker door and just how wrong it felt. Michelle shouldn't be checking with him if telling her father was okay. Now was time for Peter to own up to his behavior, despite having a very good excuse for it.

So he turned around to say as much... and she was gone. Peter stared at the space she was as if she'd reappear.

He did everything he could in that moment to convince himself not to run home to see her father for himself.

The guilt wasn't minimized at all by the chance to suit up in the daytime on a weekday. He just had to see Michelle's father. Crawling up the wall of his apartment, he sat on the fire escape by his window and watched them. Aunt May was taking the kettle off the stove to make them tea, and there was a short man sitting at the counter there. His back looked straight, but he held it with a light hand on the back of his hips. He didn't have to wince for you to know something was off with his posture.

Peter never realized he wanted to know where Michelle got her forceful authoritative tone that was so pronounced it could last in a whisper, but the answer was certainly what he needed. Her father had the same sound. He had the grumpiness to his tone of a much older man. Peter smiled to himself. Like father, like daughter.

"But this... this lab, are you sure?" May continued.

"Yes. I can't live this way much longer," Michelle's father broke his stiff posture and leant heavily on the counter. "I need to work. Can't sit at home or live between doctor's appointments; Michelle's been cutting school to help-"

His aunt looked up from pouring. "What if….nevermind." May just sighed.

He gave her a knowing look, "What if something goes wrong? Yeah, I know. Hope it never comes to that, but with Vincent away I have to try something; We're struggling enough as it is."

"How is Vin?" She handed him his cup, "Have you visited him yet?"

Peter watched as the two of them slowly relaxed around one another as the conversation continued. They were much more at ease now.

"Yeah, he's more worried about me than himself. The lawyer's awful. Too young. Probably Peter's age."

May let out a chuckle that didn't feel like she was acting at all. It was something rare to hear, especially after everything that happened. "I doubt that, David."

Michelle's father, David sighed. "But he looks like it, May. Don't change the subject, though. How are you doing? You've hardly..." the words faded as Peter began crawling back down the fire escape. Aunt May deserved at least some privacy. And now he worried that maybe he really owed Michelle the same respect.

Speaking of which, she was late. Peter waited for her in the tunnel, writing in his journal to pass the time. It was uncomfortable to do while suited up but he couldn't run the risk. He wrote about the way fear made its way into his life in a way he didn't think he'd ever have to worry about. He thought about mortality in a way that was almost surreal.

Thinking about your own death was difficult enough at his age but having superpowers made the whole thing so much more unbelievable. Yet, he'd imagine situations where he could die, and what that would cost the people who he cared about.

That made him stop writing for a moment, just thinking about how the last few weeks had fluctuated up and down. The trauma was so sudden and there was no warning.

It reminded him of the time his parents watched The Titanic with him, not knowing the plot twist in the movie. He'd grow up making fun of them for this but he remembered at the time the story was so pleasant and then BAM! The boat was sinking. That's how these weeks felt that now that he'd pulled out of the dark.

He still couldn't believe his parents hadn't known the plot.

And that shock in his system was really universal - even in how he behaved with Michelle. First, he was laughing with her, then he was angry, now… now he was hoping to have more of her attention than he already did. The makings of a friendship? Hopefully, but Peter didn't really know what to think.

Michelle came in and startled him out of his thoughts.

"Everyone jumps when I enter a room," She complained, baffled.

"I was just distracted." And definitely not thinking about her, of course. "You ever seen the Titanic?" The words were out of his mouth before he could help them.

Michelle shot him a puzzled look. "Yeah..."

"My parents made me watch that when I was young. They didn't know the plot of the film. Everything was so great and happy and then it wasn't." This story felt so much more relevant in his head. "Can you believe that? They didn't know the boat would sink." Peter chuckled to himself but to his surprise Michelle wasn't joining him. She simply stared at him.

"Are you okay?"

Peter rubbed the back of his neck."Yeah, sorry," he muttered sheepishly, "That was random. I'm fine." Michelle seemed blown away by his words. "What?"

"You never share," She told him, then elaborated further "Like, you never talk about your personal life - it's been months now and I still don't even know that much about you."

What was he supposed to say to that? "Oh... well that's the whole point to a secret identity?"

"Don't get me wrong, it's okay. It's just surprising," she explained. "Did you see it in theatres?"

"What?"

Michelle sat down beside him, mimicking his position. "The Titanic, how old were you?" Peter blinked; The Titanic came out before either of them were born.

"I-I didn't see it in theaters. It was a DVD." Michelle seemed embarrassed. "How old do you think I am?" He asked curiously.

"I just….I guess I was expecting- I don't know, Tony Stark. Sort of. Shouldn't have assumed." Now Peter was the one feeling awkward.

"What do you want to call me?" he asked after a long silence.

"What?"

"I can't tell you my name, but I'll go with whatever you choose."

"So…..Karen?"

"Michelle, shut up." They laughed, but there was a moment where she seemed thrown off by his exact choice of words.

"'Spider-Man' it is."

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[spideychelle-romanogers]

I’m Over Picking Fights

Making of Michelle Jones - Prologue, Chapter 5

Start from the beginning || Series Masterlist || Previous Chapter

After catching Michelle stealing jewels, the new mystery she brings into Peter's life defines his next adventure. There are new dangers coming to NYC and Michelle is playing a bigger part in Spider-Man's mission than Peter ever imagined.

Chapter 5: “Going to school was hard on both of them. Aunt May would hug him in the parking lot after insisting on driving him. Peter suggested that she get therapy, but she seemed sure that this fear would pass with time.

Peter wished this had happened to anyone else, as selfish as it was to think.”

T/W: angst  Beta: Splendid_Splendont  Tags: spideychelle, pan!Peter, demi!Michelle, slow burn

"Did you bring your computer?" Peter demanded as soon as she entered the tunnel. She nodded.

"This didn't work last time," She reminded him.

"Tenth time’s the charm. We've been at this two weeks we have to stop these guys." The bank robbers were still at large and it was personal for Peter now in a way that Michelle wouldn't understand.

"If the FBI can't stop them, I don't know how you're going to find them," Michelle warned him. Peter sighed out. "And I can't exactly help you either. I study law, not computers."

"You're in high school, you don't study anything special," Peter noted. That earned him a look that made him hold his hands up.

"What is wrong with you?" Michelle asked, clearly still annoyed.

"Sorry, I'm sorry." Peter couldn't answer her. Not now. Before she could respond, the police radio in the tunnel went off.

"-42nd and 3rd," Michelle repeated what she could make out from the call. He pointed to the laptop to make her keep researching but ran out before they could exchange words. "Take care of yourself," Michelle said as he left. She always said it, always with sarcasm. Today it sounded more sincere than he'd like to believe.

No luck. Peter was practically ripping pages out of his notebook instead of studying when he got home. Aunt May visited him every hour as if something would change, something would happen to him. He couldn't believe the feeling he got every time he looked at her face. After that night, it was like everything about being Spider-Man changed.

Tony told him to drop the Kerrig case, saying he'd called the FBI. What good did that do? One hostage dead, two agents missing, and no progress.

Going to school was hard on both of them. Aunt May would hug him in the parking lot after insisting on driving him. Peter suggested that she get therapy, but she seemed sure that this fear would pass with time.

Peter wished this had happened to anyone else, as selfish as it was to think.

In class, he could barely look at Michelle. It was as if she was on edge with his behavior, whether he was Peter or Spider-Man. She could always tell how he was feeling. As soon as the lab began, she spoke to him as the class got louder and louder, drowning them out.

"I know you normally look like you're about to throw up these days but you've gotten to a dying stage green lately that makes me uncomfortable."

"Not now, Michelle."

"Talk, Parker."

He couldn't level with her as Spider-Man. Maybe this was the time. Peter didn't want her to keep bringing it up. As soon as his mind was made up to tell her, the words poured out of him. "Aunt May- she, uh. We-" Peter swallowed and tried again. "You know those robbers going around town?"

"What happened to May?"

"We were there."

"Last night?"

"Last week." Peter winced when he saw the recognition in her eyes.

"When the one guy-"

"Yep." Michelle didn't speak for a really long time. She took over their project, completing it earlier than the rest.

"Peter, you should be home. You shouldn't have come to school."

"I'm fine. It's May I'm worried about."

"Did she see?" Peter shook his head.

"We were hidden. Behind a table. We didn't see him-"

"Two kids were sent home because their parents were at last night's. You shouldn't be here."

"I'm fine. I can't miss class."

"Peter." He ignored her for the rest of the class as she spelled out reasons for him to go home. He was lost in thought.

Last week.

It was a Sunday morning. Everyone knew better than to go to the bank after dark, so the local banks had decided to close during those hours to protect their customers. Aunt May was going out on routine to take money out of her bank account for two weeks instead of one because of the recent robberies. Peter insisted on going with her, not because he thought anything would happen but because he wanted to scope the bank out. It was the best time to do it.

Everything was fine. Aunt May was next in line, then she had her money. They were ready to go but Aunt May had to go to the bathroom. Peter waited outside. He saw the men coming in, but before he could do anything, they made eye contact with him. He recognized the unmasked face and the glint in his eye had been enough to make them nervous. They put on their masks. Peter didn't have a suit, but he was ready to run for them when he heard the door to the ladies' room open and Aunt May come out. He turned around and pushed her back inside. They hid in the handicap stall as the robbery went down. Peter wanted nothing more than to go interfere but he knew he couldn't leave Aunt May's side or she'd go after him. She cried quietly and Peter held her, promising to protect her if anything happened.

The thing about a situation like this is your immediate thought is about how you will die. It's not about options. Not unless you're Peter Parker. Peter had not yet reached a crisis where he knew it was the end. But he watched his aunt stare at him in that crisis like the worst part of this was that he tagged along. She was imagining their death, and Peter imagined what he would do if he couldn't save May. He imagined her death over and over, every situation in which he would fail to save her. She was his only thought.

Then the gunshots started. Peter's heart froze. His aunt cried out and he covered her mouth. She was sobbing and he was doing his best to calm her down without words. Seconds passed by like years. The gunshots echoed in Peter's head. The trauma of the matter wasn't the results of what happened in the situation. It was the moments where he didn't know what was coming, where he imagined their death so often it crushed him as if it was really happening.

Then it was over. There were police sirens. Peter put his aunt into the arms of a police officer who escorted them out as she sobbed on him. They stumbled down the path. Peter felt like nothing could ever be wrong again because they got through the experience. Then he saw it.

A body bag.

It was in the center of the room. Like it was waiting for his notice. There were two cops standing next to it. The cop escorting them out blocked his view. He was a young boy, he assumed they thought they were protecting him. Perhaps they were. If Peter had never seen the body, he never would have felt this splitting ache.

"Was it an officer?" He asked, as if it would change anything. The EMT attending to them shook his head.

"Just a man." Peter stared at him like he had to be wrong. "He died a hero." Those words echoed in his head for days. So he spent the time quiet and sick to his stomach, wondering whether he had done the right thing. Was Aunt May's fear really a good enough excuse for him not to have done his job? He could have saved that man.

Of course Tony knew he was there. By the next day he called a meeting. During that time, Peter didn't say a word until Tony proposed that he take the suit away for a few days. As he reached for Peter's backpack, Peter threw it behind him.

"If you take this away from me, I don't know what I'll do." Peter remembered saying something along these lines. The words and his dead tone were enough to scare Tony into submission.

Present.

In just days, his life took a dark turn. He went from sharing a laugh with Michelle to pushing her away. Liz reached out to him when she heard from Michelle what happened. If he had the capacity to understand, he'd have noticed Michelle told Liz as a way to help and distract him. Instead, Peter just slammed Michelle's locker door closed in front of her and asked who else she'd told. She said no one. Peter flinched when he saw the fear in her eyes. He shouldn't have been so harsh. He apologized but she scurried away from him and avoided him for the rest of the day.

He only visited their tunnel to pick up some information they'd found. Michelle was there working harder than he'd ever seen her.

"The debt is forgiven," He announced.

"What?"

"You don't have to repay the jewels. Go home." There was a lot of silence. He thought she was packing. He heard her go through her backpack. He picked up her laptop and began searching. She threw paper in front of him. When he looked down, Peter saw newspaper clippings about the robberies.

"We have a job to do and I have a debt to pay."

"No, you don't. Go home I'll get you your laptop later."

"I am not leaving until we catch them. It's personal now and you can't stop me." Peter looked up at her, baffled. He'd been so rude to her and now she was going to Spider-Man to catch these robbers. It was personal for her when they weren't even friends.

Michelle was a good person. The dark lens his entire life took since the robbery lightened a few shades. They stayed up all night to figure things out. A whole day passed and another night, no robberies. They caught a few leads by daybreak.

Peter hurried off to school to change into his normal clothes when Michelle left the tunnel. He met Michelle in the hallway and she yawned before greeting him.

"Late night?" He asked, yawning too.

"Yeah. You?"

"Same."

"Looking at porn?" She joked, as if everything was fine and he hadn't crossed a line the day before, slamming his locker. Peter laughed louder than he normally would have, exhausted. He was just lucky she wasn't putting two and two together.

"Michelle, shut up," He begged, laughing still. She laughed and split ways as she went to class. They shared a quick look before going back to their separate ways. Things were back to normal again. Traumas, like all things, have a way of grabbing you. Peter wrote this into his journal, the one he'd been keeping since he became Spider-Man. It didn't mention his name or Spider-Man's. It was just his thoughts. Traumas pull you into their hold and it's like the entire world has changed with you. He's not going back to the way he was before this happened. Aunt May was still scared and he was still haunted. But one thing about his life hadn't changed. Michelle was not necessarily his friend, but she was stable. And that was what he needed in a moment like this.

Now all he had to do was get back to work.

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[spideychelle-romanogers]

Don’t Have To Explain It

Making of Michelle Jones - Prologue, Chapter 4

Start from the beginning || Series Masterlist || Previous Chapter

After catching Michelle stealing jewels, the new mystery she brings into Peter's life defines his next adventure. There are new dangers coming to NYC and Michelle is playing a bigger part in Spider-Man's mission than Peter ever imagined.

Chapter 4: Michelle surprises Spider-Man with sorely needed information.

T/W: none  Beta: Splendid_Splendont  Tags: spideychelle, pan!Peter, demi!Michelle, slow burn

After taking another swing in the gut, Peter had to call for a break. Limply hugging the floor, he wheezed for air as Tony approached him. They had been sparring for about half an hour, Peter having to fight Tony without his suit.

"This is sad," Tony noted.

"This is crazy!" Peter didn't want to complain but after a week of this, he'd had enough. He knew he was in training but Tony went very hard on him whenever they practiced. "When is our training going to stop kicking me in the ass?"

"You're right. We should cancel all of this. Just skip training altogether. You go back to school, I go back to doing anything but this-"

"Okay, okay," Peter got up slowly, having to pick himself completely off the ground like a sticky piece of gum. Every part of him was aching. He pulled his arms back up.

"I'm proud of you kid," Tony said mostly sarcastic before swinging again. He'd barely hit Peter before he collapsed. "Okay, I'm calling it. Take the next few days off. Keep practicing. Come back when you're ready." Peter stared after him, pathetically trying to get up and failing.

"Let me get back to street watch."

"You're at about saving cats from trees level."

"I can do more with the suit."

"You are only worth what you can do without the suit. Give it a few weeks, kid."

A few days later, Peter had yet to hear back from Tony. He knew why he was being ignored. Somewhere during the break, he'd gone on to stop a few in-progress robberies on the local banks in his area. There was a system for figuring out when each of them was going to get hit, but he didn't really know what it was. Whatever the formula was for the timing, the police definitely had it pinned down so as long as he followed them, he'd always end up at the right place at the right time.

However, this led to him getting a lot of attention in the media and nearly getting caught twice. Every day the headline would feature Spider-Man, with pictures of the criminals that were caught. Peter was going to try and read some of the articles but he heard Michelle approaching him and had to shut down his tablet.

Getting through class was no big issue. She was generally occupied with her own thoughts. She seemed really fidgety, looking at anyone but Peter. Michelle asked him to be the one to get the book when the teacher called for them to pick up texts at the front of the class. He didn't think it would cause any issue, but raising his arms to get the book and then carrying it over was enough to keep him wincing the entire time. Michelle made eye contact with him, and waited as if she was expecting an answer. He didn't know what to say.

"Are you okay?" Michelle prompted.

"Why?"

"You can barely move without groaning and that textbook is only like two pounds but you look like you're getting your teeth pulled."

"I, uh, I fell down some stairs." The expression on her face was hard to read. She leaned in and lowered her voice:

"Is this Flash again?" Peter didn't think anyone knew about that.

"No! I told you."

"Right. Okay. Stairs." Michelle raised her hands in defeat. After a brief silence, she opened the textbook and continued. "What's the deal with you two anyway?"

"Just drop it already," Peter quipped back quietly. She didn't say too much after that and Peter regretted his words. He was starting to think that it was concern in her tone and he quite liked that feeling. He wanted them to be friends. It was hard to get on terms with this decision he had and Peter wished he knew more about the situation. Michelle wasn't one to open up but it was finally hitting Peter that she had to have a good reason for what she did.

He acted on an impulse as Michelle began drawing on her notebook. "How's your dad?"  She stopped.

"Why?"

"I just don't think I've asked in a while."

"He's fine." She met his eyes, looking serious.

"I haven't seen him-"

"Just drop it already," She echoed. Peter nodded, realizing that reply was only fair. She started tapping her foot again, and it wasn't until he realized that she had stopped at any point that he realized she had been doing that all of class.

“Are you okay?” He asked after a minute.

“Just nervous.” Peter never met her again the next day. He had asked her to go to the roof of the library. It had been a week since he promised to meet her and he hadn't contacted her since as Spider-Man. He just didn't have an idea or a decision on how to handle the theft. It didn't feel right to let it go all together but the only way to keep Michelle around long enough to understand what was wrong was to postpone the decision.

Peter tried to dash to his room and get his suit but Aunt May stopped him at the door as he was on his way out. She was trying to get into the apartment with all of her grocery bags. He put down his backpack and instantly took one of the boxes out of her hands.

"Peter! Where are you off to?" She asked curiously. He was honestly just startled to see her. It was too early for her to be out of work. "And don't say work. Today is your day off." It was so uncharacteristic of her to be keeping track of him, Peter didn't even know what to tell her.

"I just got here. I'm just going to go up and study. Big exam tomorrow."

"Oh." Her demeanor changed completely. "I'm sorry. I've just been worried about you. You've been at your internship so many hours each day."

"Don't worry," He shrugged, "It's fine." He went to help her quickly with the grocery bags. He started unpacking as soon as they finished bringing them in.

"You seem tired all the time. I just don't want this to hurt your grades or run you down."

"It won't." For the first time, Peter really worried about his schoolwork. Parent-teacher conferences were coming up and Aunt May was a huge stickler about school, worse than Tony. If his grades went down at all, he knew she'd force him to quit the 'internship'. If only she knew how much it meant to him. There was no other excuse he could have for being at Tony's so often. Peter knew this was one of the least of his problems but it did add to his worry.

Finally running out, he had to sneak out the window to get to Michelle. It wasn't that great an inconvenience, he just felt bad for lying to his aunt. It was one thing to keep secrets but he knew there was a chance she'd come and check on him. It'd look like he ran away to defy her or something and he didn't like the idea of that. He did his best to spare his aunt any grief.

Michelle looked so upset to see him when he called her into the alley as Spider-man. She had been heading to the library, as always. If there was one thing Peter could appreciate it was that at least her schedule was predictable, even if she wasn't.

"What's wrong?"

"You made me go up on that rooftop for nothing." She looked so much angrier about this than was reasonable. He couldn't even tell where it was coming from.

"I know. I'm sorry. I had to cancel. You might have heard, I've been busy."

"Yeah, it's all over the news. "

"Can we go up and talk about this?"

"I don't want to go up there." He really couldn't see why she was being so difficult.

"Fine, pick a rooftop, any rooftop."

"You're missing the point. I hate tall buildings."

"Like you're afraid of heights?" he asked, confused.

"Shut up." It seemed like a quip at him for figuring it out. Michelle turned and was suddenly staring at the street like she had seen a ghost.

Fear of heights. That made a lot of sense. Peter thought about how angry she was about getting picked up and taken to the rooftops. She hated getting picked up. It wasn't about him, it was about the altitude.

"Can-" Peter immediately forgot what he was going to ask when he followed her eye line.

It was Flash Thompson. Staring at them. About to reach for his phone.

Peter didn't even know what to do, he just immediately flew himself to another rooftop to get away. By instinct, he supposed, he grabbed Michelle too. When they reached the roof of the café across the street, she was out of breath and clearly uncomfortable. He winced. He couldn't even tell what was worse, the fact that Flash saw them or that he just brought her to a rooftop seconds after being told that she was afraid.

"Sorry, it's a habit."

"Please get me down, I want to go home." Though she didn't sound scared, her tone was empty. It seemed more like a request than a demand. He nodded and took her down to the sidewalk, without a word about it. She shut her eyes the entire time.

The next day at school, Peter immediately searched for Michelle the moment he walked through the doors. As soon as he saw Flash by Michelle's locker, he turned back around the corner to watch from afar. Michelle got to her locker, and was clearly trying to ignore him. Peter had to be relieved that Michelle was willing to keep a secret. She wasn't really answering his questions.

"But you have to admit his voice sounds familiar!" He heard after a few minutes. He didn't like to see Flash raising his voice at Michelle but it at least meant he'd be able to hear them.

"Thompson. It was the first time I met him. I don't know who he is or what he wanted."

"Just hear me out-" Peter came out from behind the corner, trying to look casual. "Hey Michelle." He never really visited her outside of class and lunch, but she wasn't surprised when he approached. Peter would just do anything to get Flash to go away. "What are you two talking about?" He could already feel the 'none of your business' coming, but Flash piped in instead.

"Parker."

"Thompson."

Michelle had been about to answer when she noticed the tension between them. "Okay. I need to get to class." She pushed past them and walked, not turning back even as they both stared after her.

The fact that Flash recognized Spider-Man's voice concerned Peter. Had Michelle picked up on that too? Maybe she knew who he was by now. He planned on inquiring about that during their class together but she never showed. She was marked absent and he couldn't really think of a good reason why. He took to reading the news on his tablet as he waited for her. After a few minutes, the class went on to start their lab project for the day. Peter worked alone when someone joined him. Looking up, he startled when he saw it was Liz. "H-Hi."

She chuckled. "I don't have a partner. Can we work together?"

"Yea-Y-Yes. Yes. That's-" He cut himself off when she started giggling. "That's fine." Peter understood in this moment the irony of how he was this training to be a superhero but talking to his crush was enough to make him forget how to speak English. She didn't seem to mind. He just hoped he wasn't blushing.

As they worked, Peter did his best not to stare. Focusing on the project kept him from saying anything stupid, but Liz seemed very interested in talking about anything but the project. That wasn't surprising, considering whenever he looked to her during the class he could tell she wasn't getting much done. Liz was more of a social person, she liked to talk too much to be able to focus during her projects.

Okay, maybe it was a little weird that he'd noticed that. Did that mean he stared too much? Was Michelle right about that?

Liz talked most of the time though so he never had to say anything. Suddenly Liz was saying goodbye and he realized that the class had actually ended minutes ago. He packed up quickly, realizing he was going to be late to class. Before he could walk out, he saw Michelle sitting at the desk closest to the door.

"Wait, you were here?"

"Came in late."

"Why didn't you come sit with me?"

"Liz was there. There was no way I was getting in the middle of that." She looked amused, like there was a joke he was missing.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She laughed and stared at him for a minute. "Oh, you're serious." She didn't even bother explaining. Peter stood there and waited and she just didn't answer him. "Never mind." Peter wanted to get more out of her, but he knew better. Michelle was never one for straight answers.

"Shouldn't you be leaving?"

"My next class is here. And that's still none of your business," She noted. At this rate, he was starting to get used to that answer. It never seemed to be related to her wanting to offend him. If she wanted to offend him, he'd know. He knew her well enough to start recognizing those patterns at least.

"Where were you?"

"Flash Thompson. He's been really needy today." She shrugged.

"What does he want?"

"I don't know. He's always trying to copy my homework. Doesn't take no for an answer." She was such a convincing liar. Peter didn't like the chill it gave him. If he didn't know the truth, he'd have no real chance of catching her. "Thanks for interfering before."

"What do you mean?"

"I saw you around the corner. Thanks for butting in." Peter had to soak in the fact that this was probably the nicest conversation they'd had in awhile. "You're going to be late to class," She warned him, nodding at the clock.

Peter smiled. "That's none of your business."

Michelle actually laughed.

"You want what?" Tony asked, as though begging Peter to say that he misheard. Peter was in the middle of training, now sparring with a coach specializing in some form of combat that Peter couldn't pronounce or spell, but it involved sticks and reaction time. Tony was wandering around their stage, working on a diagnostic for Peter's suit.

This was so much more time investment on his part than Peter had expected. He had lowered his expectations after they talked about retiring Spider-Man. Peter still couldn't figure out why Stark was so available to him when he clearly didn't want Peter around.

"One of my classmates is convinced I sound like Spider-Man," He lied. It was an embellishment of the truth at worst. If Tony taught him one thing it was that lies that get results are worth the trouble. "If there was just a way to slightly change my voice through the mask, I'd be able to cover my bases." He was heaving his breath by now, exhausted from sparring.

Tony considered it. "One of these days, you'll have to start telling me the truth." Peter sighed. "Lucky for you, this sounds like a fun challenge. I've never had to use voice distortion in any of my projects before."

"Well, yeah," Peter noted as if it was obvious. Tony stared at him. "You always want people to know that it's you." Tony smiled.

"That's true. I'll do it. Speaking of covering your bases, would you like to tell me why you've been actively ignoring my instructions?" Peter picked himself up off the ground. "Do you think I don't read the news?"

"It's a long story."

"Uh-huh. You've got to be more careful. Remember you're still working out of your house. Anyone could be following you and you're not exactly equipped to go public." Peter had expected him to make threats or try to convince him to stop pursuing this case.

"That's it? Seriously?"

"I'd say 'don't go' but you don't exactly listen." The instructor switched tactics. With one swing sweeping across the floor, Peter fell to the ground with a loud groan. Tony seemed pleased. "You are getting better!"

"Really? Because it feels like you're just paying people to beat me up."

"Can't blame me for trying. Maybe then you'll listen."

Spider-Man met Michelle at the entrance to her house. She startled when she saw him on her porch. "I feel like we're both getting tired of me stalking you," He started.

"Yup."

"So why don't you just tell me?"

"It is non-"

"It is my business." It was a full minute before she finally spoke up.

"Anywhere but here. That kid that saw us goes to my school! He's been following me all day."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I wouldn't wish that on anybody."

"What?"

"I just meant, he just seemed annoying. When I saw him." She stared at him. "What?"

"Nothing. You just make a lot of judgments at face value."

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing. Can we meet anywhere we won't get caught?...And don't say a rooftop." Peter shrugged. She sighed out, disappointed. "I know a place but you can't tell anyone."

"Is this wall ever going to end?" Peter asked, uncomfortable. He and Michelle were wedged in so tightly Peter didn't even think he could breathe too deeply. There had been a rough staircase covered with caution tape at the opening. He knew ahead of time that this was going to less than comfortable. After dodging that tape, she pulled him into a tiny ridge in between two other walls, filled with scraps of metal and long steel bars.

There was a bigger tunnel to slip through, a spacious one, but she told him to join her in this suffocating hole instead. Peter felt like the walls could crush him at any second. He'd seen a number of spiderwebs and even Michelle seemed surprised at the difficulty. She had told him she hadn't been there since she was much smaller, but he didn't know she meant THIS small.

"This is the shorter way, trust me. The other way is blocked off. They didn't think anyone could fit this way so there's nothing to stop us." Michelle pulled out of the hole and ducked under through a gaping hole in the wall.

Peter had no idea what to expect, but when he pulled through the hole, he was stunned to see the full tunnel. It was so spacious. The many levels separated the space, each step being about two feet taller than the next. The lowest level seemed like it had been paved in a specific pattern.

"Subway tracks," he observed. She nodded.

"My brother and I found this when we were just kids. We'd bring things here. We were obsessed with this show where the kids had some magic tree house or bus or something and they'd travel through time. We'd pretend this was our lair. It was a long time ago. I figured it had to still be here I just wasn't sure. It looks exactly the same."

"What is this place?"

"We never really figured that out. If it was a subway platform, no one ever finished it. I've seen some people come every once in a while to tape it off or add more signs but that's it."

"What happened to your brother?" He asked suddenly. Michelle clammed up instantly.

"Why do you care so much?"

"I'm trying to find reasons to let you go, but you're not giving me a reason."

"I'm not exactly a sharing person."

"Just tell me why you did it and I'll leave you alone." It was a full minute until she spoke up again.

"My dad got injured a year ago at work. He can't walk anymore." She seemed to be debating with herself what to say. "We've been living off his disability checks and with my brother not around anymore, it's been sort of difficult to keep things going. His treatment is getting more expensive. The doctors think that some kind of surgery might fix it. But we can't really afford it. He's getting desperate."

"Desperate how?"

"There's this company looking for test subjects for some trial. He wants to sign up since it'd mean someone else would be paying for the treatment."

"That's good."

"I don't like the idea of my dad being someone's guinea pig. I know stealing seems drastic but he's all I've got. Turn me in if you want but I'm not giving them back. I don't want him to do something he'll regret. He's not thinking clearly."

Peter stayed quiet for a long time. He was trying to figure out what he could do. It would be wrong to let this go. He couldn't just start making exceptions. At the end of the day, whoever owned that store was going to pay for the fact that Michelle stole. The property wasn't Peter's to give away, even if he stopped the other thieves. Michelle didn't have the money or means to pay it off and neither did he.

"Use the money," He said finally, knowing that that was the one part of his answer that he knew for sure. "We need to find a way for you to pay it off."

"Pay it off? Like what?"

"I don't know yet."

"Don't you have your hands full with the Kerrig robberies?"

"The what?"

"The bank robbers."

"Kerrig?"

"All of the banks they've hit so far use Kerrig safes. They have some universal key or something. It was a flaw in their repairing model."

"How do you know that?"

"I did some digging."

"Why?"

"I don't know this is just something I do. Benny says he knows a guy who was bragging about it at the bar a few years ago. He disappeared off the map or something, no one knew where he went." Peter had an idea but he held back, knowing it'd only make things more complicated.

If Michelle could prove useful to his work, he could possibly find a way to pay back the jewels. Surely there was a criminal or two they could lift money off of. Maybe it wouldn't be right but if they were going to jail anyway surely it didn't matter. Michelle pulled him out of his thoughts suddenly. "It's really weird talking to a mask. That eye thing is creepy-"

"Meet me here tomorrow." Peter immediately ducked under the hole and started making his way through the thin wall again. Michelle didn’t even get to answer but it was probably better that way. He already knew she'd try to refuse.

A/N: This chapter has been posted in Michelle's POV (for that guest who requested it).

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