[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/oQJAsoY.png?1[/img][/center] The words roll over me again and again as I stare blankly back at Mary Jane. She knows. How does she know? I've been so careful. Okay...so maybe I haven't been all that careful. Repeatedly ducking out of hangouts, mysterious no shows, and being late to both band practices and gigs definitely do not help with the whole secret identity thing. But I never thought in a million years she'd figure it out. "I take it from the stunned silence I'm right?" she smiles mischeviously. "God, I am just the best." I bury my face in my hands and rub my eyes before looking back up at her, "Yea, you're right. I'm Spider-Woman. But how did you-" She rolls her eyes, "Please, Gwendolyn. I've known you far too long. While you may never have been strictly on the ball, you've never been this far off of it. I didn't know why that was. Maybe you were just going through something. When we had our fight I sat and thought about it a lot. And then when you ducked out of the party right after some crazy guy threatened people on TV, I kind of put two and two together." God it all makes way too much sense, and it was way too easy for her to figure it out. What if more people are catching on to me? That would not be good. "I just...I'm sorry I kept it from you," I admit. "But dressing up and fighting bad guys is a dangerous gig. I didn't want to get anyone else involved." "Anyone else other than Peter, you mean," she raises her eyebrows at me. "He left a minute or two after you did. Said he just couldn't sit at the party knowing you left by yourself. So I figure he knows too." My shoulders slump, defeated, "Yea. Him and my Dad. The reason Dad got kicked off the metahuman force is because I revealed myself to him the night Black Tarantula took over the hospital. It's why he couldn't arrest Spider-Woman." "Wow," she gasps as the info is absorbed. After a few moments she put her hand on mine, "I get why you thought you had to keep this from me. I really do. But I'm not a damsel in distress that needs protection. I can handle myself." Chucking, I wrap her in a big hug, "MJ, I love you, but there's no way you could handle yourself against a supervillain. Just would not happen." "Give me those webshooters and let's see about that," she grins broadly. "I bet I could take them down quicker than you could." The two of us laugh together, and it feels right. This fight, only a little longer than a week old, is our longest. Peter, MJ, Harry, and I have been nearly inseprable since we became friends. This moment is a reminder why. I have the best friends. They are my strength. They're the reason I can do what I can do. And now I have another one in the loop. "Listen...considering Harry's dad is trying to kill me," I start, realizing the Osborns definitely cannot learn my secret identity. "Don't worry, I won't tell him," she rubs her arms. "I think we may have to break up, anyway. After I figured everything out last night, I sat back and watched him. Every time one of the Goblins was destroyed in your fight, he would flip out. It's like he wanted you to lose, to let those people die, all because his dad's project was on the other side of you. It's just...uncomfortable." "Don't break up with him," I shake my head. "The two of you are good together. Just help him see that maybe Spider-Woman is goo for the world. Help him see the light and all that kind of stuff. I dunno." "I'll try," she nods. "I just hope he isn't too far gone." [center]**********[/center] "You did well," Richard Dragon's words or praise catch me off guard as I enter the dojo. "You could have taken down that maniac with much more anger. But you were controlled. You showed why you are a hero to everyone watching. I can't say I approve of taunting the man after you beat him, but you have your own sense of style to perfect." I recoil in mock shock, "My god! Who are you and what have you done with Richard Dragon!?" "Funny. Very funny," he sighs. "So you watched me on TV last night, huh?" I poke the bear. "I didn't think you were the TV type." "Just because I'm older than you doesn't mean I don't like to be entertained, student," Dragon shoots back, a wicked look in his eye. "You young people all think the same." "Yea, and I bet you had to walk to school in the snow, uphill both ways, when you were my age," I shoot back. "That's not funny." "Oh come on it's a little funny." He ignores me and motions for me to join him in the training room. When I enter, I find that it's not setup for our usual meditative exercise. No, this time it looks like I'me actually going to get to do some fighting. "Don't get too excited," the sensei warns. "you've shown you can control your emotions in a fight that you are winning, but can you control them in one you are losing?" "What's that now?" I ask in confusion. "I will attack you," he shrugs. "You will not attack me back. You can dodge all you want, but you cannot attack back." This sounds like it's going to be terrible. [center]**********[/center] "You put him through a wall?" Peter asks with surprise. "So I take it you failed today?" The frustration of today's exercise has subsided, but the bruises haven't. I've got like three ice packs covering bruised areas from today's training. Dragon gave me everything he had. Well, at least I think he did. He could still be holding back. I dealt with it as long as I could before losing my cool and tossing him through a wall. I helped him fix it afterward, but he was definitely not happy about it. "Yea, it definitely did not go over well," I groan. "Luckily he didn't kick me out permanently after destroying the place where he lives." Honestly, he told me he never thought I'd make it as long as I did, so at least I have that going for me. Maybe his training is doing me good. "So what's the plan for tonight?" he asks. "Movies, popcorn, and relaxation," I respond, satisfied not to move for the rest of the night. Or the weekend. Or the year. [center]**********[/center] "My dear," Otto Octavius snakes his way up to the catwalks of their warehouse on his mechanical arms, up to where Felicia Hardy had constructed her den. "I was wondering if you could do me a favor." "Sure thing, Doc," she smiles at her benefactor. "What's up?" "Tomorrow night there will be a shipment of drugs coming into the city. Raw material for our miracle drug," the doctor smiled under the goggles he wore. "I need you and Marko to steal it." "Doc, that's what I'm best at," Hardy smiles like the cat that caught the canary.