Chattel update

“You and Peter have always had a volatile relationship. You break up, you make up. Isn’t it possible he thought you’d enjoy something a little kinky? I know that if I woke up to him and the Black Cat…”

“Are you saying I’m lucky? He could be a fucking Doombot; the real Peter could be in the Negative Zone or… God knows where!”

Jen held up a hand and nodded. “I’ve already flagged Spider-Man’s file. We have a protocol for this. The next time he comes in, he’ll be tested for telepathic interference, LMD replacement, parallel universes… the works. But before we take this any further, I’ll need to talk to him and get his side of the story.”

Mary Jane felt another bead of sweat bullet its way between her breasts. “His side? He broke into my apartment and threatened my boyfriend and practically forced me to have a threesome with him!”

“With him and Felicia,” Jen retorted. “Who you’ve indicated you’re close with.”

“Not anymore,” Mary Jane assured her.

“Have you ever been intimate with Felicia Hardy before?”

“No way!”

“Is it possible that Peter and Felicia thought that, since you’d had a flirtation with both of them, you might be open to a non-monogamous encounter?”

“I never flirted with Felicia!”

“Has she flirted with you?”

“She flirts with everyone!”

“Did you tell her you weren’t interested?”

“I’m not… humorless…”

Jen steepled her hands together. “So Felicia has flirted with you before. Peter and Felicia hook up. They decide you’d be open to being a part of their relationship… they make an overture…”

“They broke into my place!”

“Has Peter ever entered your residence without your consent before?”

“No!”

Jen raised an eyebrow. “Never? He hasn’t snuck in to surprise you by cooking dinner? Join you in the shower? Otherwise initiate a sexual encounter with you?”

“That was when we were dating. It was fine with me—he had a key!”

“And you’ve informed him he’s no longer welcome in your residence? Made him give his key back?”

Mary Jane crossed her arms. “I moved to a new place recently. He’s never had a key.”

“But you also told him he’s not welcome to enter the grounds of your property as he used to do when you were dating?”

“We’re not dating anymore! I was trapped in another dimension, I met Paul—”

“Did you break up with Peter?”

“I told him I was dating Paul now. Who he threatened last night, by the way.”

“People say lots of things without it legally being a threat. No one would arrest me if I said I wished Helen Hunt were dead.”

“This is ridiculous! You should talk to Felicia. He was treating her like some kind of sex slave. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s forced her, if he’s controlling her somehow—”

Jen blinked. “Do you think about that a lot?”

“What?”

“Being controlled? Someone forcing you to do something?”

“No!”

“Many women have fantasies like that. Being made to do something they secretly want to but don’t feel they’re allowed to wish for. It’s interesting you would imagine Felicia in those circumstances. Especially when your story sexualizes her so much.”

“It’s not my story. It’s what happened.”

“According to you. The woman who left Peter for Paul. Because you felt obligated to stay in this relationship you embarked on while trapped in another dimension with children you were expected to raise…”

“What is this?” Mary Jane demanded. “Do you think I’m making all this up? That I dreamed it?”

“I’m just saying that you’re not very consistent in your attitudes. You seem to have a taste for drama. A taste that Peter and Felicia are very helpfully meeting.”

“You think I wanted them to do what they did?”

“You were very descriptive in your telling of what happened to you. It didn’t sound like something you were hesitant to relive.”

Mary Jane jabbed a finger at her. “I hated every minute of it.”

“Is that how you really felt, Miss Watson? Or is that how you feel you ought to have felt?”

“I—”

Jen held up her hand to interrupt her. “Don’t answer. I’m sure you’re sticking to your story.”

“It’s the truth!”

“Of course. I’ll call in Peter to discuss the matter with him; if you’d like to wait in the lobby or use the restroom, have something to eat from the kitchen.”

“Yeah, I know my way around,” Mary Jane said, happy to push through the door and be on her way before Peter could show up.

An hour later, MJ’d had a cup of coffee and a visit to the bathroom and a bagel, but Peter was still in there with Jen. Mary Jane had no idea what was going on. She’d seen Peter go into the room… how long did it take to confront him with the facts?

Surely an apology had to be forthcoming. He’d go his way and she’d go hers and it’d be one more thing for them to let cool down. Something Peter had done because the symbiote was lowering his inhibitions or he’d taken too hard of a bump on the head.

It couldn’t be that Jen believed whatever Peter was telling her.

Mary Jane’s fingers knitted together. What could Peter be telling her for a whole hour? Was he even telling her anything, or was Jen covering his ass, telling him what Mary Jane said and how to discredit her? It sounded so bizarre, but Jen had acted sketchy as hell…

She had to know what they were talking about.