A/N: I wasn't planning on writing a second chapter for this, but it just sort of...happened. Besides I adore MJ and Peter so, so much. I need more of their interactions like a person needs water. MCU, you better deliver.

Also I'm on break for another three days, which I why I've been updating so much, lol. Hopefully I can maintain some semblance of an updating schedule over the semester otherwise y'all aren't going to hear from me until spring break.

When Peter finally tells her he's Spider-Man, MJ slaps his face so hard, his ears ring.

She then sighs, gently patted the cheek she'd just slapped with the faintest wrinkle of concern buried between her eyes, and asked if he wanted a cup of tea.

Befuddled but grateful, he accepts.

She told him she'd found out pretty early on and he isn't actually too surprised. MJ had always been one of the smartest people he knew. With very little prompting, Peter tells her all about being Spider-Man. The people he's helped, his one-sided chats with Happy, how his Aunt found out he was Spider-Man, Ned's fascination with the suit, Karen his AI, and Tony Stark's mentorship.

He doesn't talk about Liz.

Michelle might not have had any feelings toward Liz Allen, either positive or negative aside from 'hail, fellow womb bearer' but even she had to admit Peter's treatment of her was pretty shitty. Don't get her wrong; MJ loved Peter, the fucking bonehead, but dear heaven. He pines over the girl for months and months in the most obvious way. Stuttering and stammering and staring like the lovesick fool he was, he'd made Michelle want to vomit on a near daily basis from the sheer, sickening purity of it all. It was like a scene out of a middle school romance novel. When he finally manages to get a date with her, to Homecoming nonetheless, he, what? Blows it off because…?

At the time, MJ still had no idea Peter was Spider-Man, thus having no idea about the showdown that happened as he left the Homecoming dance. When he tells her, with a cautious, still shattered look in his dark eyes, about his fight with Vulture, Michelle goes very still.

Very still and very quiet.

Peter could have died that night, should have died that night. And not a single person in the world would have known until afterwards. He'd worn his old Spider-Man suit, not the high-tech monstrosity Tony Stark had given him, and it offered him no protection. From what she understood, he had a healing factor that protected him and a sturdier body than the average person. But he shouldn't have survived being crushed under a building, smashed through buses, and redirecting a crashing plane and the resulting explosion.

She came so close to losing Peter without even knowing it.

Michelle feels the sudden urge to bitch slap Tony Stark.

Or burst out crying.

Or both.

Instead, she just hugs him tightly every time he comes to talk to her after a patrol. He doesn't question it, somehow sensing she needed this reassurance that he's still alive, and hugs her back just as tight.

Eventually, (she should've anticipated this), Peter takes her to meet the other Avengers. He's squirrelly the entire trip upstate. He's chatty, bouncing around the back of the car, and so very nervous, she can see it pouring out of his eyes. Even Happy sees it. Her hand brushes his for a moment and Peter flinches so hard, the air shivers.

He's nervous, understandably so. Who wouldn't be nervous when introducing Earth's Mightiest Heroes to a short, freckled girl with too many opinions from Queens? Peter's probably wondering if upstate New York will survive the fallout. She'd already promised not to question Tony Stark on his former arms dealer status, but everything else was fair game.

He shouldn't have been so nervous. MJ is perfectly polite, though the barbs she exchanges with the Black Widow send Peter into paroxysms of frantic waving and throat-slashing gestures. Thor likes her and pats her back so hard she nearly went flying across the room, Captain America was just as tall and drop-dead gorgeous as his pictures had shown, and she doesn't punch Tony Stark in the face like she planned. Instead, she steals his peanut butter bagel and curls up next to Peter, a gloating smirk on her lips.

The Avengers are impressed by the sheer cast-iron balls on this tiny girl; the way she looks at Peter with exasperation and love so obvious in her eyes, she might as well have been holding up a blinking neon sign that screamed "I LOVE PETER PARKER". The addition of Peter into their jaded, old ranks is like a breath of fresh air. Sam pulls Tony aside at one point, despite their disagreements, and tells him to keep the boy and the faithful MJ safe.

"If anything happens to them," he warns. "We'll be seeing how well the world does without Iron Man. Make sure they stay safe, Stark."

Watching the two interact, Tony is inclined to agree. Peter has never seemed so at ease around any of them. But with Michelle Jones by his side, he's laughing, joking, sharing stories of the people he's helped, and seemed totally relaxed. The girl in question hung over his shoulder, hassling him and making him laugh.

The sheer sappy love vibes rolling off the two was almost sickening but…cute in a way. Yes, he thought, they needed each other like a drowning man needed air. And he would do his best to keep them together.

A/N: Aw, Dad Tony towards the end there. ;) Leave a review if you liked it!