[Osborn Plot] It Begins.

[daretodo]

Continued from here

I walk faster than's strictly necessary, but not fast enough that she can't keep up. Even as we move further and further away from the field, I stay on the lookout, not wanting to risk the chance that I'll miss something -- or someone. People might call this paranoia. I call it being smart. The way I see it, my concerns – and boy, am I concerned -- are entirely called for. 'Cause, well, Norman Osborn isn't exactly your typical psychopath. Just before my three hour tour got extended, I spent months thinking Aunt May was dead because he had a few of my old pals bury her alive in Uncle Ben's grave,* all from the comfort of his prison cell. The prison cell Cat and I had to help him break out of. Long story. And that's not to mention the clones,** Mary Jane's miscarriage,*** Harry's drug addiction,**** Harry's death...*****

Gwen. Not only did he kill the woman I love,****** he apparently killed the mother of his own children.******* I wish I could say that was it. I wish I could say that list of things was finite, but that's only the tip of the iceberg.

And now he's here.

I let go of her hand abruptly – or what I imagine probably looks abruptly, seeing as MJ's not psychic – and I jump up onto the nearest boulder without breaking stride, using the extra height to grab onto a branch. Kicking my legs forward, I use the momentum to swing up and over, finally landing in a crouch. A normal person might be holding onto the tree for dear life. Me? I dig my elbows into my knees and hang my head in my hands.

I don't say anything for about a minute, too busy trying to not hyperventilate. Then: "It happened this morning."

*MKSM #9-12
** ASM #121, ASM #149,
***SM #75
****ASM #96
*****SSM #200
******ASM #121
*******ASM #509 What can we say? Norman's been a busy guy! – Notating Nix.

Comments

[getemtiger.livejournal.com]

For a long moment, Mary Jane shut her eyes, taking breaths as deep and even as she could make them, which wasn't very. There was no denying that the subject was a touchy one for her. Considering all that had happened, she supposed she was fairly well-adjusted, but that didn't mean she had come to terms with all of what had happened. It was made even worse with the knowledge that it hadn't just been a villain, but her then-boyfriend's father who had done all of that.

"He... he told you you could either save me, or a whole tramway car full of kids. Dropped us both over the edge of the Queensboro Bridge," she said slowly, not opening her eyes as she spoke. It made the memories that much more vivid, but it was easier, somehow, to keep herself in control that way. "At the World Unity Fair, he... destroyed some buildings, killed a whole bunch of people." She paused there, expression growing even more serious, and when she continued, her voice was considerably quieter than it had been before. "He wasn't around for very long. You killed him."

[daretodo]

You killed him. Three little words are enough to send me hurtling back into the past, back to the day after Norman died and Jameson sent Luke Cage after me.* Three little words are enough to send me back to each and every time Harry accused me of the very same crime, even after he learned Spider-Man and Peter Parker were one in the same.

It was one thing for the people back home to think Spider-Man killed Norman Osborn. They didn't know any better. All they saw was this menace to society, believing every bit of garbage and vitriol the Bugle saw fit to publish. It's another thing entirely for Mary Jane to still believe that. She's said again and again that I'm the same man she knew, but if that were the case, she couldn't possibly think I killed him.

Whatever amount of calm I managed a second ago disappears, but I don't yell. I don't shout. I don't even so much as move. Instead I draw into myself, my posture changing in hundreds of subtle little ways until it becomes readily apparent that there's no way in hell I'm just a science teacher from Queens. I've said before that it's never been about the mask, and it isn't. I am Spider-Man, plain and simple, and I don't need to cover my face in order for that to be any more or less true.

So it's those same three little words that make me say, "You don't even know me."

*ASM #123

[getemtiger.livejournal.com]

"Excuse me?" With that, Mary Jane was about as far from as quiet as she'd been as it was possible to be without yelling. This wasn't about them, or wasn't supposed to be. All she had done was answer a question as she best knew how to. If things had happened any differently that night, she wouldn't have known it; what she did know, though, was that Harry had seen Spider-Man with Norman's body, and she wouldn't have blamed Peter at all for killing the bastard, not after what he did to her and any number of others. "What do you even mean?"

[daretodo]

The fact that I have to spell this out for her almost proves my point for me, but I humor her nevertheless: "If you think I could possibly stoop down to that psychopath's level, that I could possibly kill someone outright, then you don't know me at all."

[getemtiger.livejournal.com]

"You say that like it would be a bad thing." Probably it wasn't the most advisable thing to be saying, but Mary Jane was scared now for a whole other reason than Norman Osborn's being on the island, and at the moment, this was a lot worse. It was making her justifiably defensive, more tense than angry, but teetering on the edge of the latter. None of this was her fault, and she wasn't going to let him make it out to be. "He was a killer, Peter. I didn't say you... stabbed him in his sleep or poisoned his drink or did something on purpose; I wasn't even there."

With a huff of air too frustrated to be a laugh, she tipped her head back, eyes turning skyward for a moment. There were way too many bigger things going on right now for them to be having a stupid fight like this, but she couldn't just ignore his saying something like that, either. Still, looking back at him, she softened, just a little, almost imperceptibly. "Besides," she pointed out, her voice making clear how constrained she was keeping herself, "it wasn't you, it was... well, the other you. You're really going to make this about us now?"

[daretodo]

"Yeah, I am."

There's no two ways around it. She said we'll figure this out, but we can't figure out a damn thing until she realizes I'm not a murderer. The whole world can think whatever they want, but not her, not Mary Jane, and definitely not now.

[getemtiger.livejournal.com]

For a moment, Mary Jane fell silent, obviously expecting him to continue. When he didn't, though, saying nothing about the rest of what she'd said, she sighed, shaking her head. All of this was getting increasingly tiring, and it didn't help that she'd been on edge already.

"So what else do you want me to say, Peter?" she asked, not quite defeated, but more worn out than exasperated. "Because I'm trying here, I really am, and I'd really like to get this sorted out so we can go back to figuring out what we're going to do about the psychopath who will probably want to try to kill me again."

[daretodo]

Sometimes it strikes me just how young she actually is. Putting her life in peril even once is one time too many, but from my perspective, this isn't our first rodeo -- it's more like our one hundredth. She's tired, that's obvious.

I'm not.

"I don't want you to say anything. I'm not going to put words in your mouth, just so you can throw them back at me and make things better. That's not how this works. I'm not a murderer, Mary Jane. No matter what happened -- and you can't even imagine all of the sick and twisted things he's done -- I've never been able to kill him. I've never been able to cross that line. And the fact that you think I could makes me wonder what sort of a man you think I am."

[getemtiger.livejournal.com]

Put like that, all of this made a lot more sense, though Mary Jane still didn't see what made it such a bad thing. She hadn't accused him of having some elaborate scheme to do it. She'd always just assumed that it had happened, probably during the course of some fight or something of the like. It shouldn't have reflected on him at all; if anything, it ought to have been a good thing, that she had thought him capable of defeating one of his biggest enemies once and for all.

Now she just had to try to convince him that that was all it was.

"I never said you were a murderer. I told you, it's not like it was... premeditated, or anything like that, or like you had some sort of unfair advantage," she sighed, shaking her head. "It's not even like you walked up to him and did it while he was unprepared. The two of you fought, he got killed. I'm sorry if I don't necessarily think that's so awful." It was more than she wanted to get into now, but as far as she was concerned, Peter had been doing everyone a favor. She had never endorsed violence or killing, but in putting an end to so much more evil because of it, it would've been supporting the greater good. "I'll never know what happened, because you aren't the Peter I knew back home, no matter how similar you might be. But for what it's worth? I don't think anything bad about you. He was the murderer, not you."

[daretodo]

"Sorry if I don't see the distinction between the two. Killer or murderer... It's semantics, stuff for Matt Murdock to figure out. Either way, someone ends up dead."

And I know enough dead people to fill up my own personal entire cemetery, most of whom I'm partially responsible for their deaths. I didn't pull the metaphorical trigger, but in a lot of the cases, I might as well have, just by by the nature of who I am and what I do. But I've been fighting off this allegation for years, tried to convince Harry of my innocence right up until his death, and now all of those feelings of betrayal and frustration are back. Mary Jane ripped off a scab I forgot I even had.

Ugh. I need to get out of here, go figure out this mess on my own, but at the same time I can't. I can't leave her alone out here, and I hate Norman all the more for it. Some paradise.

"But so we're clear? You are not going to end up dead."

Not unless I die first. See, the thing is, just like I've never been able to kill him? He's never been able to kill me. Maybe it's the righteous anger talking, here, but I know I can stop him. Problem is, it's a question of when -- will I be able to stop him before it's too late?

[getemtiger.livejournal.com]

Hearing that wasn't as reassuring as it ought to have been. Mary Jane didn't doubt his ability to protect her -- he had, after all, saved her life any number of times -- but just then, all she could think about was how wrong everything was. Norman wasn't supposed to be on the island, she wasn't supposed to be unable to recognize him, and she and Peter certainly weren't supposed to be fighting now. They had enough other things to worry about.

"Then we're going to have to figure out something to do," she replied, her voice, for once, betraying just how unsettled she was. Even if he was capable of saving her, she didn't want Norman Osborn getting anywhere near her, not again. "I'm sorry if I upset you, Peter, but I was just telling things as I knew they happened. You need to remember that it wasn't you. You can't take it personally. I don't think you're anything like that creep."

[daretodo]

She still doesn't understand. Good thing I have plenty of experience in the art of being misunderstood. I'm not the kind of guy to just give up on a cause -- far from it -- but I'm running out of ways to phrase this. And yeah, repetition is one of the key components of learning, but it's also really annoying. Probably not the best course of action I should be taking right about now, even though it's one of my favorites.

"You're moving," I tell her, all business. I've yet to move from my spot, not having done so much as scratch my nose in the past five minutes. I'm used to being still. Lying in wait's one of those handy things I've picked up over the years, but Peter Parker's supposed to be clumsy -- only way to explain why I look like an extra from Fight Club half the time -- so it's not something I tend to do out of costume. I haven't worn the Spidey suit in months, sure, but it's like riding a bike -- you never forget. "Norman likes to work through official channels... He'll check council records, housing requests, newspapers, etc. No one can know where you are. You can't keep a pattern, can't make it so he can expect you in such and such a place at such and such a time." I wait a beat, eyes flicking towards her. "You getting all this or should I write it down?"

[getemtiger.livejournal.com]

Mary Jane shot him a look at the last question, finding something a little unsettling in it. The rest, though, she could do. It sucked, thinking about needing to live like that indefinitely, but given the other options, she could manage. It was worth it.

"So I guess that means I'll be quitting my job," she said, something a little questioning in her tone, as if waiting for his input. "Then once I move, do I keep moving? Get a new hut every so often? Anywhere, or should it be out in the middle of nowhere? And can I... stay with people, tell people, or would that be bad?"

For all her questions, she wasn't asking the most important one. She didn't know what she would do if she weren't able to see him anymore. Somehow, though, she couldn't quite bring herself to say it, if only because she thought she already knew what the answer would be.

[daretodo]

"It's been my experience that the more people who know something, the greater the chance there is that someone'll let something slip," I reply. "You don't tell people you're moving. You make excuses for why you can't meet at your place. Either that or you make excuses why you have to stay at theirs. You stay in well-populated areas. You lie. You... Well, you lie a lot."

I swear, this was all a lot easier when she could just hop on a plane and fly across the country, well out of Osborn's grasp. Manhattan's a pretty big island, and he's had no trouble finding her there -- she almost doesn't stand a chance here, precautions or not. For obvious reasons, I don't share that detail.

"You're forgetting something."

[getemtiger.livejournal.com]

She didn't necessarily like the idea, but Mary Jane could lie, and she could do it well. It came with the territory of being a good actress, something she wouldn't have bragged about but that she mostly knew was true. Already her head was practically spinning as she tried to work out how she was going to do this, who she could go to, who wouldn't ask too many questions. She could do this. They could do this. She may have, frankly, been terrified, but she had every confidence in that.

As soon as he spoke again, though, all of that was nearly forgotten. She had a feeling she knew what was coming, but that didn't mean she liked it. Expression going blank, she nodded a little, just to show she understood. Her voice just barely loud enough to be audible, she said, "You."

[daretodo]

"Me."

This is supposed to be the part of our conversation when I give the it's not you, it's me speech, but I'm the one thing my experience hasn't been clear on. I've pushed her away, kept her close by, made her stay with my relatives... But when it's come right down to it, it's never seemed to matter what I do. Everyone I know has a target painted on their backs for the sole reason that I exist -- that doesn't change based on our physical proximity.

"If I'm with you, there's all the chance in the world that you'll get caught in the crossfire." The anger's still there, but it fades from my voice, at least. I physically can't bring myself to relax anywhere else. "But if I'm not with you, there's all the chance in the world you'll get caught by him when I'm too far away to do anything about it."

[getemtiger.livejournal.com]

"Are you breaking up with me?" Mary Jane asked bluntly, unable to help herself. The anticipation, she was sure, was worse than the act itself. Standing around and wondering if this was the end or not wasn't going to do her any good, and if he was breaking up with her, there was no way she was just going to stay here much longer. She just needed to know so she could deal with it.

[daretodo]

Her question hits me harder than any punch ever could. For a second I forget to breathe, the shock registering all too clear on my face. It's replaced quickly by confusion. Uncertainty. That's not where I was going with this in the slightest, so I ask, "...do you want to break up?"

[getemtiger.livejournal.com]

The response struck her as strange, but she was enough on edge herself that she didn't even think to ask about it. It wasn't like this was going to be easy, either way. If there was anything she was sure of -- and there wasn't much that fit that criteria -- it was that anything that happened now wouldn't be for lack of feelings for each other. "Well, it kind of sounds like that's what you're doing," she pointed out, tense. "And, I mean, I'd get it. If you did."

It wasn't an actual answer to his question, but she didn't want to say anything that might affect his decision. There were bigger things at stake here.

[daretodo]

"What?" I say, going back over the last couple of minutes to see where she would've gotten that idea from. Okay, so maybe I could've put things a little differently, but I really wasn't going that way, scout's honor. When I was younger, it would've been my first idea. Keep in mind, though, that when I was younger, I was also an idiot. Breaking up to protect someone sounds good in theory, but in practice? Not so much. If anything, you end up worrying more, and then you have the disadvantage of not having a good reason to check up on them. And here in the Land of No Cellphones, that's sort of a necessary thing to have. "What good would it do? It's not like it would trick him."

[getemtiger.livejournal.com]

"Then what do you want to do?" Mary Jane asked, considerably more quiet. She couldn't let herself be relieved, not yet, when everything still seemed to be such a mess. There was no simple solution here, but if he wasn't breaking up with her, it seemed to her that he must've had something else in mind. Just then, she really didn't care what it was, either. All that mattered was doing the best they could to stay safe.

[daretodo]

"Well, not hurting you is one of the better ideas I've had in the past thirty seconds," I reply, huffing out a short, disbelieving laugh. She can say she'd understand all she wants, but that doesn't fly with me. "But the fact is, I can't protect you every second of every day. It's... It's not feasible. That's what I was getting at before, not breaking up."

And I'm starting to have the sneaking suspicion that she suggested that from personal experience.

[getemtiger.livejournal.com]

"So, what, you want to hire me a couple of bodyguards?" Mary Jane asked, raising an eyebrow. After all of this, she couldn't quite help the edge in her voice, but she was sure he would understand. This couldn't have been any easier for him than it was for her, after all. "I can be careful, Peter. I won't, you know, go wandering around alone late at night."

[daretodo]

Yeah, bodyguards wouldn't be conspicuous at all. Sheesh. It's not that bad of an idea in theory, but the only person I'd really trust to do the job isn't here, ruling it out right off the bat.

"I'm hoping you weren't doing that before anyway."

[getemtiger.livejournal.com]

"To and from work," Mary Jane said with a shrug, suddenly self-conscious. It hadn't been a big deal, before. Now, she wasn't sure she wanted to do much than sit around her hut, or at least after she got her new one, whenever and wherever that may be. "I won't have to worry about that anymore, though. I'll quit as soon as I can. Tonight, even."