Standing on the high balcony wasn't the cause of Keira's quivering stomach; her office was twice as high off the ground. No, it was something else entirely that was weighing on her mind.

Thirty days. Everything they had worked for was going to be taken away in thirty days. The baby was still at least three months out from its due date. For God's sake, she hadn't even told Harry yet.

At this rate, all she could hope for was some sort of miracle.

Why do we even need a board? Why should those... those bastards be the ones holding the reins? All they are is a pain in the ass. Maybe--

"Mom?" She heard Harry's voice behind her, knocking her out of her thoughts. She turned around, still holding one hand on the railing of the balcony.

"Oh. Sorry, Harry. Just in my own thoughts, I suppose." She said, forcing out a smile. That's when she noticed the girl standing next to Harry. "Who's this?"

"Mom, this is Mary Jane." Harry introduced.

"Oh, you must be Miss Watson. It's lovely to meet you." Keira said, accepting Mary Jane's outstretched hand.

"MJ is fine, Mrs. Osborn." Mary Jane said, pulling her hand back to fix the sticks in her bright red hair.

"Well, MJ, I hope Harry's been treating you well." She gave Harry a playful glance.

"Very. You raised a good kid." Mary Jane replied. Keira beamed.

"Well, I can't take much credit. His father did most of the work before I dropped in." Keira waved the complement away. Mary Jane quirked an eyebrow up. "I'm Harry's step-mother." She clarified.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't know. Harry talks about you like you're his only mother."

"It's alright. I've tried to do my best after his biological mother passed. It's a joint effort, though."

"Speaking of which, do you know where Dad is? I haven't seen him yet." Harry asked. Keira's smile faltered, if only for a moment. Truth be told, she wasn't sure if Norman would be coming.

"I think he should be here soon." She lied. "Something came up last minute."

"Alright. I wanted to introduce him to MJ." Harry said.

"I'm sure he'll like her. I can tell you picked a good one, kiddo." Mary Jane blushed a little as Keira waved a server over. Three glasses of a virgin cocktail sat on the tray which each of them took. "So, MJ, what do you do?"

"I'm actually trying to be an actress. No hits yet, but I'm looking." Mary Jane said.

"Well, you're putting yourself out there, which is the important thing. Do you sing?"

"A little."

"MJ has a great singing voice. You were Reno in "Anything Goes" for a reason." Harry interjected.

"Oh, so that was you in that show. You did wonderfully." Keira said.

"You saw it?"

"Harry and I did. Norman was working on a project that weekend, unfortunately. I try to see the shows your schools put on. Harry here was in a few at some of the private schools he attended. I think my favorite was Ambrose in "Hello, Dolly" when he was in junior high."

"You never told me that!" Mary Jane laughed as Harry went bright red.

"Mom here sings a little bit, too." Harry said, diverting attention.

"I was in choir when I was in high school." Keira confirmed. "I haven't done it as much since then."

"Dad always did tell me to keep a girl who sings. Makes life more fun."

"He said that?"

"Yeah, because he caught you singing ABBA in your office when you were still dating."

"Ah, right. I remember that." Keira said, looking out at the sky with a fond smile.

She spotted something in the sky. At first thinking it was a large bird, she squinted at it until she noticed the dark smoke trail it left behind. The shape suddenly struck her and her eyes went wide.

That wasn't a bird.

Keira turned back to Harry and Mary Jane having a small discussion. Not wanting to give anything away, she came up with an idea.

"I'll be in the restroom. Harry, I think I heard they were serving lemon bites inside if you two wanted to grab some." She said, making a beeline for the balcony doors and down the stairs. Even as an adult, Harry couldn't ever resist lemon bites. As she ran deeper inside the building, she wondered if she should have said something else. Then again, what wouldn't sound suspicious?

Such a selfish coward. Her conscience spat in her head.

Once the bathroom was in sight, she threw the door open just as an explosion rocked the building. Keira was smart, but it wouldn't take a genius to realize what was happening. But what could she do?

Thin trails of dust spilled down between the cracks of the ceiling tile, dusting her shoulders and hair. Another explosion, more dust. Then a third, followed by terrified screams.

She sat there for a while, trying her best to block it all out. Subconsciously she knew it was the wrong thing to do, but she didn't make any attempt at fixing it... neither now or in her personal time at the lab. Useless.

Well, she was useless because she was just hiding. And whatever was going on, the people were scared and possibly getting hurt, she realized. Letting out a sigh, she marched out of the restroom and flew down the stairs out the front doors of the hotel.

Chaos. Times Square was in chaos with chunks of marble raining down and people fleeing. The set pieces for the festival were being thrown asunder and at the center of it all...

She didn't want to think about it.

Grabbing fleeing people's attention, she directed them inside the hotel, knowing it would hold and act as a much better protection than being outside in the open. In her field of vision, a red and blue blur swung by.

Ah, right.

Wherever chaos was, Spider-Man was sure to follow. That didn't really matter to her either way. They both had the best interest of the people in mind, so it wasn't going to be a problem.

Only after she noticed that Spider-Man was going toe to toe with a green figure did she realize that it very much could be a problem.

Yet again, what could she do about it?

Gunfire came from the glider as Spider-Man was chased around. Keira didn't remember installing that, that was for sure. She couldn't watch any more. Her priority became ensuring her safety and that of others. The screams of the people eventually drowned in the ringing of her own ears.

She barely even registered the damaged glider flying haphazardly away. Please let him at least land close to the house. Keira thought. A high pitched scream from above grabbed her attention, the falling figure of Mary Jane suddenly in front of her. Her heart lept into her throat as she scrambled to find something to break the fall before it turned tragic.

As it turned out, she didn't need to do anything. Spider-Man swung down and grabbed her before she could hit the ground. He whisked her away as the Square suddenly seemed so silent. The attack lasted barely twenty minutes and yet it felt like an eternity.

Harry.

Keira bolted back inside the building and up several flights of stairs as though she was running a marathon, not an emotionally charged woman six months pregnant. The glass doors of the entrance to the balcony had shattered, but she managed to spot Harry lying on the ground outside. Panicked, she threw what was left of the door open and knelt down next to him, trying to shake him awake. She feared the worst before he suddenly stirred.

"Oh, thank God you're okay." She said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"What happened?" Harry asked, resting the heel of his hand against his forehead, clearly suffering a headache.

"The festival was attacked." She said, keeping it simple. "I think you got knocked out."

"Clearly." Harry said, grimacing at the pain.

"Oh, Harry, you're bleeding." She pointed to a small gash on his temple. "Let's get you back to the house and get you patched up."

"Can you just take me to the apartment? I want to make sure Peter's okay." Harry said as Keira helped him to his feet.

"Sure."

They walked down a few flights of stairs before Harry stopped short.

"Oh my god... Mom, your board members." He said. Keira's heart began to race.

"What about them?"

"They... they're dead."

Time seemed to stop for a moment. No, no, that can't be.

"What?"

"Whoever attacked the festival had them as the target. He just... flew over and threw a bomb of sorts before they just... evaporated. Didn't Ms. Lyman say that someone stole some of your technology?"

Keira didn't respond for a moment. Suddenly it all made sense.

The board expects your resignation in thirty days.

"Yes, you're right. It was them. Good memory, kiddo." Keira said weakly. Her ears rang as they made it to the ground floor. She didn't bother to look for the car. Keira just walked a few blocks with Harry until they could find a taxi to bring them to the apartment. The ride over was in eerie silence, as was the elevator ride up. Harry unlocked the door and all but collapsed inside onto one of the armchairs.

Keira pursed her lips as she pulled out the first aid kit from on top of the fridge. She cleaned and patched his wound just as Peter came inside looking exhausted.

"Oh, Pete, thank god." Harry said, letting out a sigh. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. What about you?" Peter asked.

"Some debris knocked him out." Keira said, closing the plastic container and putting it away. "It's good to see you safe, Peter."

"You, too."

"Harry, why don't you call Mary Jane and make sure she's alright. I'm going to head home, but let me know if either of you need anything." Keira said. Harry grimaced a little bit as Peter looked at him oddly. She didn't notice, Keira just went for the door and left in a rush. She kept her cool better than she had expected.

As the elevator descended, multiple thoughts invaded her mind. So much happened and as far as she knew, she was the only one who knew the truth.

Gonna be a hell of a shit show tomorrow.