Arc One. Chapter Twenty-Seven. A New Room Mate

MJ stood outside the address Gwen had given her, scowling at the faded grey walls of what she knew was an old meth lab. It hadn't clicked with just the address until she saw the building, its once pristine grey outer shell dirtied black by neglect and whatever had been cooked up in and outside. Sure, someone had taken a bit of time to wash and scrub the walls, but it was definitely a work in progress. She silently cursed Gwen in her mind, if she was murdered here, she'd haunt Gwen for all eternity.

She even knew she had been here before. This was where she spent the night with Peter and as she had rushed from the building, before she broke down and admitted everything to Peter, she hadn't even realised where she was. He had brought her here in a state of shock, taking her somewhere safe after the incident at the diner.

Now she had a chance to get a good look at it, she had walked around the neighbourhood. Not just wanting to see the apartment Gwen had talked about but the area as well. A great apartment in Hell's Kitchen was still a bad idea and as she had walked around, it was noisy, busy but fairly clean.

Her instinct to run wasn't sounding too loudly though, there was little to no rubbish on the street, no signs of cardboard beds and temporary shelters, one of the reasons the lab went hidden for so long was the relatively clean and business vibe the area gave off. Even the coffee she just finished, bought from a nearby convenience store wasn't bad. While she had noticed a few piles of cigarettes at the convenience store there was no oil can fire keeping homeless Joe warm. MJ mentally kicked herself for that, she had enough of stereotypes in her own life to start judging others by them.

The pathway up to the main door had at least been weeded and cleaned, its paving stones in sharp contrast to the dandelion covered concrete of the surrounding area. The Brooklyn dockyard industrial area wasn't exactly a thriving area for regentrification but the idea had been circulating for a while, not always a good thing as a few of the more outdated buildings had been burned down or just boarded up but at $1000 a month plus utilities MJ couldn't be picky. It was this or the creepy comb-over landlord that was definitely staring at her ass and was definitely thinking of how MJ could 'cover the rent' if she was short.

Mary Jane "MJ" Watson, an average student with a well above-average appearance, daughter to an absentee mother and an alcoholic father. Tired of dealing with him and the abuse he threw at her, about her mom, about her looks, about her grades, and about how she should pay more rent as she was working. Any excuse to drink and yell.

Her budget was small, her grades meant all she could get was a waitress job, but her looks meant that while she got a lot of phone numbers she also got a lot of tips. It would tide her over till the modelling contract or acting job she longed for became a reality, but even then she got shit for that too.

Women are supposed to empower themselves but she got tired of hearing that. So what if she was attractive? So what if she liked the idea of being a model? or a spokeswoman? Nope, today if you're too smart or too attractive, you gotta be dumber or uglier. Can't have anyone feeling inadequate. Of course, her father made sure she knew it, how to make your flesh and blood feel like crap for being attractive 101 seemed to be his favourite lecture, or quit being a fucking whore as he liked to call it.

Scrunching the paper cup in her hand, it wasn't the time to start feeling depressed MJ she mentally chided herself, time to grab destiny by the tits and swing like a goddamn princess. Taking a deep breath she pushed on the safety bar of the main door and strode tall into what she hoped wasn't a murder rape cult meeting.

"Holy Shit," MJ exclaimed. The outside was bland and boring but inside, she was stunned. Gwen hadn't lied, along one wall were two sets of double, what looked like, storage containers, painted a clean white colour, she'd seen the build your own home videos on viewtube but seeing them in person was unreal. Even between them, she could see a small patch of grass, a few plants and, while she felt it was ironic, a small white plastic picket fence. The concrete flooring was spotless and a brick effect had been etched into it, making paths and a division between each area of the warehouse.

MJ was still stunned, the other side had the warehouse's office, painted a muter grey colour but with open windows and plain curtains blowing gently from a fan inside. "Hey MJ," Gwen waved and came out of the closest, well, home.

"Oh, Hey Gwennie, uh, it's not quite what I thought"

Gwen laughed, "Yeah Pete's been busy, You'll be the one over there, $1000 and he's got a proper lease, Nothing skeezy I promise," Gwen did a mock salute

"Skeezy?" MJ queried her friend but Gwen just shushed her.

Inside the container was even better, and for $1000 MJ could even relax on the job hunt, not having to take some of the more suspect modelling or acting jobs meant less likely to find pictures of her in her underwear or worse on the internet. Modelling yes, pornography, even tasteful nudes, was a no. She wasn't going to be that kind of model, not until she had established herself. She had heard too many horror stories, real or not, about being typecast as that kind of actress. The sexist shitheads in the industry were bad enough without her being expected to do nude scenes or worse.

Having scouted out the three rooms in the box home MJ was more and more confident about moving here, it was roomier than she thought plus it had the urban kitsch going for it. With the home being sat in a remodelled warehouse she thought running water might be a deal-breaker but the bathroom was fully fitted. In fact, the whole place was better than where she currently lived. Taking the leap, "Gwen, get Peter, I'll sign today"

Gwen squealed with joy and hugged her friend, staying with Peter and MJ was going to be so much fun. She was slightly annoyed that Peter suggested toning down their nightly activities. He'd become more and more daring and they'd hardly spend a night apart, but even if Poison grumbled she had to admit he was right, she'd been sleeping less and less and Poison was complaining more and more, trying to use Peter while they slept.

Opening the front door, Gwen just yelled across the warehouse floor, "Hey Pete, MJ wants to sign today." Neither of them had noticed that Peter was outside one of the portable offices and he had stripped to the waist, painting something.

Both MJ and Gwen caught their breaths, Damn, thought MJ as she saw him without his top on again, Peter was ripped. Even Flash on training schedule wasn't as lean and cut as Peter was, the supposed science geek had more muscle tone and definition than the professional athlete during a season. Her gaze lingered on him and as he turned he grinned and flexed for them. MJ blushed and turned, realising that she'd been staring.

"Still haven't told him huh?" Gwen asked her, MJ shook her head. She and Peter had grown up together but the mugging that took Ben from him also ended his childhood, he wasn't the same afterwards and once they moved to a smaller place they lost contact. At Midtown High he was excited to see her, then came Flash.

It was fine when they first started dating but one innocent answer later and Peter became the object of Flash's ire. She didn't know that by telling him she missed hanging out with Peter she was upsetting him. In less than a week Flash went from nice guy to bully, and the one time she said something he gave her a look she recognised, her father gave her it often enough. Whatever macho bullshit existed in his mind saw Peter as the childhood friend destined to take MJ from him, so Peter suffered.

Even after she tried to make him see reason, she was put in her place, not by Flash though, the other girls made sure to let her know Flash was to be kept happy or there would be consequences and she was now another trophy for the high school hero. Nobody cared as long as he never hit her, nobody cared that the marks he left were on the inside, just like the ones her father gave her.

That then added more guilt to MJ's plate, she had tried to reconcile with Peter, but he'd shied away from her, mumbling excuses as to why they couldn't hang out. MJ knew though, that it was really because of Flash, all because of her boyfriend, soon to be ex-boyfriend. At the hospital, he'd become more than just angry at the accident, more than just upset. She could see the rage, not anger but suppressed violent rage bubbling beneath the surface.

"No, it's been difficult dealing with Flash and my Dad getting on my case to give him more money, as if supporting myself wasn't hard enough," MJ wrapped her arms around herself.

"Flash?" Gwen had been a bad friend in that regard, she knew he was in hospital but not why, with everything that had happened no one talked about that night, about why she'd woken up from a coma. She knew about the fight and that she'd been hurt but as far as she was concerned as long as Pete and MJ were fine then she had put it out of her mind.

"Yeah," MJ sighed. "He lost both his feet. Crushed by the wall that fell. He's been drinking and just, off the rails. Blaming everyone for what happened, even his dad hasn't," MJ paused, Peter had reappeared with a T-shirt on and a stack of papers. "I don't want to talk about it," Gwen noticed the sudden shift in her behaviour and Poison stirred.

"Oh for fucks sake. Pete, MJ likes you, she's got a whole bunch of stuff she wants to talk to you about. MJ sign the damn papers and then get your shit together once you get back here. I'm not living with mopey and mumpy. Grow the fuck up you two." MJ winced as the usually calm Gwen hurled a whole bunch of cuss words but Peter seemed to be oddly calm about it, was Gwen like this when her dad wasn't around? MJ pondered.

Pete sighed, "yeah, I know, but uh, Flash made it clear that I wasn't to go near you, remember the two-day absence I had at the start of term?"

MJ nodded, "oh yeah, you fell."

Peter shook his head, "Flash broke my wrist."

Shit, MJ thought to herself, now he really hates me.

"So uh, Give me a heads up if Flash will come round, I won't interfere, I'm not gonna say he can't but I don't want to see him," Peter warned her.

MJ shook her head, "I, I don't know if he'll want to be here, ever. Peter, I don't even know if I want him here. I mean, this, this is too much for me, shit." MJ took a breath, "when the hell did this all happen, I mean," She motioned around her, "this is amazing."

With Gwen's sudden bombshell and with the state of the warehouse, she saw it, the light. The first real chance she had to actually be free, from not just her father but from Flash as well.