It was never like Michelle Jones to be obsessed with anyone.

No, it was only just her observant nature.

Maybe, with this one, she had taken it to a new level. Maybe to, like, the third story, rather than just keeping it on the ground floor. Like she should have.

It all started when that damn Parker decided he would break into that heavenly smile, his hand over his chest as he laughed, his wide, twinkling eyes gleaming at her and the sound of his laughter music to her ears. What a traitor.

Or maybe it was that time he had missed chemistry class that one time, and had gotten on his knees, his hands clamped together in front of him, gazing at Michelle with his irresistible puppy-dog eyes, pleading her to share her notes with him.

Definitely wasn't that time she had caught him off-guard, doing homework in the quad, the pure look of focus and maybe a little bit of confusion traced in his features, the tip of his tongue poking through his lips in concentration. She had sat in front of him then, and he had jumped in surprise, blushing deeply. She must admit – that boy was pretty cute.

Never had she ever thought that way before. Never had she ever thought she would think that way, especially now. And never had she ever thought she would think that way about Peter Parker.

Dorky, shy, precious, insanely smart Peter Parker.

She'd thought she be the sort of person to fall for a bad boy, or at least her definition of a bad boy, which usually consisted of staying up until nine o'clock at night. Maybe she just didn't have elevated expectations. Well, quite obviously, because she was crushing on Peter Parker.

"And-and then, they were like 'pew pew' and the space-ship just fell out of the sky, and it was, like, so cool and there was all this fire and explosions, and Mr Stark was just like-he was like, oh da-yum, and it was so funny, and-and yeah..." Peter rambled, his voice high-pitched from excitement, as he sat at the park bench in the middle of the quad. Michelle sat across from him, quirking a brow when he did his lame gun impressions. Whatta loser.

Or maybe she was a loser for liking this loser.

"Uh huh." Was all she said in reply, nodding her head once and returning her eyes – rather unwillingly – back to her book. Which, coincidently, was Of Human Bondage.

"No, no, y-you're not sharing my excitement! Okay, this is, like, the coolest thing to ever happen to me, and you should totally be happy for me." Peter sighed, leaning over the bench towards her, and levelling his eyes just above the rim of the book. She forced a smirk down and looked at him. His eyes glinted in triumph when she flattened her book down on the bench, bookmarking it.

"Okay, so what was so amazing about this stupid war you got to fight." Okay, so that may have been a bit harsh.

Something flashed onto Peter's expression, but only for a moment – then it was gone, before even very observant Michelle could tell what it was.

"Oh, well...it wasn't really a war if you think about it." Peter began, sitting back on his seat. "But, uh, I got to meet this part-god – little 'g' god, but a god all the same...well, half a little-g-god, anyway-" he took a deep breath, and Michelle held back a snicker, "he was pretty cool, and his name is Peter. So, I'm pretty sure we're best friends now."

"Oh, yeah, totally-" she began, rolling her eyes.

"And so," he glared at Michelle pointedly, and she grinned, "I also met this talking racoon, or trash panda, or something like that, and a talking tree. Well, not really a talking tree, because all he says is 'I am Groot'. But the racoon seems to know what he means. And there was also this blue and purple girl – apparently, she was made of machinery, don't really know why – and this really huge alien who never wore a shirt and laughed really loudly. Oh, and this other alien who had antennae and could tell your feelings just by touching you. And then a green alien lady, who's Thanos' daughter." Peter word-vomited. Michelle wasn't sure if he ever took a breath, until he got to the word 'Thanos' and then his breath hitched. MJ pretended not to notice it.

"Sounds like a war to me." She stated dryly.

"Okay, maybe, but it was an intergalactic war, as in, in space! You can't sit there and tell me without lying that you wouldn't have thought that was awesome. And anyway, if no one had fought that war, then all you Earthlings would be toast right now." Peter said, folding his arms over his chest, a mock pout on his face. Michelle burst out into laughter.

"'You Earthlings'," she held her stomach, as she laughed at him. His unamused glare increased in intensity. "y-you know, that just because you went to space once, doesn't mean you're alien and have the right to call us 'Earthlings'."

Peter huffed, rolling his eyes, but Michelle could tell he was struggling to hold back a grin.

"You don't believe me, do you?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at her.

"What? That you single-handedly brought down the Universe's mightiest villain? Or that you actually had an intellectual conversation with the King of Wakanda?" She said, itching to keep reading her book. She found she liked it. A lot.

"Yeah. You don't believe me." Peter sighed, twirling his pen around in his fingers.

"I do believe you, loser."

He looked up from his hands, surprise in his expression.

"You do?" He asked hopefully, like he needed reassurance.

"Yeah, but I also believe the government is being controlled by aliens, so I wouldn't look too much into it." She opened her book again, her eyes scanning over the words, but not really reading them.

Did she believe him? Of course, Parker never took down Thanos by himself, MJ knows Peter likes to exaggerate. She'd known Peter was Spider-Man since before Homecoming, but still found it quite a shock when the boy actually confirmed it. She had noticed that Peter had looked way more buff and muscular for about a year before Homecoming, and how he somehow seemed to be able to dodge Flash's fists, and how he somehow seemed to know about a conversation she and Ned had had, even though he wasn't there. She had put that down to Ned being a big-mouth, but now...?

She wasn't sure how she felt about Spider-Man. Or Peter Parker, for that matter. Part of her entertained the idea that Peter Parker was more than just a timid school-boy, and that he was a superhero and with some sick-ass powers. But the other part of her – the bigger part – entertained the idea that Peter Parker was just a timid school-boy. And just that. But she knew Parker would hate being hold up in his small apartment for the rest of his life, living the same, boring life everyone else does. He was meant for more, apparently. And Michelle was worried, as much as she hated to admit it. Sure, she acted cold and distant on the outside, but inside...she was just like everyone else. Maybe with a few quirks.

"Pete! Oh my God, I can't believe you're back!" Came a delighted, excitement-filled voice from behind where the two sat, pulling MJ from her thoughts.

Peter spun around, his eyes wide with glee, and Michelle watched happily as Ned came running across the quad, his bag slung lazily over his shoulder. Peter leapt up from where he sat, and fell into Ned's huge embrace, mumbling 'hi' over and over again into his best friend's shoulder. Ned looked like he was crushing Peter's ribs, but Peter didn't seem to mind. He gripped the back of Ned's shirt, so hard his knuckles turned white. And both were overflowing with happiness and love, but-

There was something wrong-

Because, being a very observant person, Michelle couldn't help but notice a small tear drop down Peter's nose, as he hung onto his friend like it was a lifeline, his eyes squeezed shut. Maybe she had mistaken his expression to be an ecstatic smile, rather than more of a grimace. She pulled her eyebrows into a frown.

But as they broke apart, she turned her expression back into one of little interest. She didn't want to start yet another argument between her and Peter.

"Woah, was it awesome? Did you see Bruce Banner?" Ned asked excitedly, completely unaware of Peter's slightly wet cheeks. Peter nodded, and opened his mouth to start talking, but-

"Okay, I don't need to hear all this again, so I'm going to go home." Michelle said, (sxdas – love, Poh) getting up from the bench abruptly. She had a lot to do.

She could feel Peter's eyes on the back of her head, as she walked back towards the school gates. She hitched her bag over her shoulder more, swiping her hair from her eyes. A small smirk played onto her lips.

And Peter watched her leave, a small twinge of confusion distracting him from Ned. He looked down at the bench, where she had been seconds before, and realised she'd left her book behind. He was about to call out after her, when he noticed-

A small piece of paper sticking out from between the pages.

...

By the time Michelle got home, it was dark outside.

"Honey, is that you?" she heard her mom call, from in the kitchen.

She hummed softly in reply. Her bedroom was the first door to the right, which sucked when there was late-night traffic. She dropped her bag next to her desk, pulling out her laptop, pen and paper. She flicked on her lamp, holding her stylist pen between her teeth, as she put in her password. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, the only noises in around her all muffled and sounds like it's whooshing through her mind. She had one purpose, and nothing was going to stop her from finding out exactly what was going on. Bringing up google, she squinted at the screen as she typed.

1,024 results for Infinity War came up within 3.491 seconds.

"Oh my God..." she whispered, her hand moving subconsciously to cover her mouth, her eyes wide.

Thousands and thousands of images...hundreds of videos-

And she scrolled until she found one of Spider-Man, that surprisingly didn't have any views.

Plugging in her ear phones, something cold settling in the pit of her stomach, she clicked the link. To YouTube. YouTube. Did Aliens have YouTube?

The sound was loud, and she nearly hit the roof in fright. Loud, thrumming bangs that sounded like explosions or gun shots. There was an orange glow across the screen, that, at times, flashed brighter and then went dark again. MJ presumed it was fire. And that was all it was, for almost a minute. Just fire and explosions and dust rising from rocky, yellow-ish land.

And she nearly clicked off the video, when-

There was a static sound, over the cracks and booms. And then, in the middle of the screen – what would've been at least one hundred metres away from where the camera was, maybe even more – there was a sudden black cloud growing. Just there, on the land, growing out into a large oval-shaped thunder-cloud. And then, a towering, wide purple figure stepped out from what seemed like behind it. But Michelle had a feeling the alien had just stepped through a portal, rather than a weird, black cloud. And, as soon as his body had emerged, the cloud dispersed in a wisp of purple sparks.

The camera zoomed in, whoever – whatever – was holding it was quite obviously shaking. And MJ recognised-

Thanos.

Thanos, clad in golden armour, with a huge gauntlet around one of his hands. He flexed his fingers, the stones in the gauntlet shining through the haze, and smiled. The scariest smile she had ever seen – so much evil desire and triumph in the curve of his lips. Michelle felt that cold in her belly grow, and twist.

"Peter!" Came a terrified voice from within her earphones. The noise made her heart tear in two. The way it cracked and was so strained and worried and heartbroken. "Spider-Man! Get out of here! GET OUT!"

And so fatherly.

And Thanos' smile had disappeared.

The titan looked over to the source of the noise, his eyes narrowing slightly at the sight of red and gold iron blasting through the air. He held his hand into the air, the one with the gauntlet on it, and squeezed it into a fist. Hundreds and hundreds of metres behind him, there was a growing light. One of his planet's many moons.

Michelle could feel her heart pumping against her ribs. Where was Peter?

"K-kid, no! NO!" A scream erupted through her ears, and she winced at the volume.

And then, a red and black figure flew into the frame, arms outstretched and grappling onto a web connected to who-knows-what. The look of surprise on Thanos' face earned a short puff of laughter from Spider-Man. And then he swung himself through the air, his feet hitting Thanos square in the chest.

The mad titan stumbled back a few paces, shocked, and the Iron Spider landed behind the alien, skidding against the dust.

"Okay, now go! Run, kid!" Came Iron Man's voice, and Spider-Man quickly turned his head toward his mentor's approaching suit. He nodded once, as Stark landed in front of Thanos, who looked pissed. Not saying a word, the monster raised the Infinity Gauntlet and slammed it into the side of Stark's head.

"NO!" Peter screamed, swinging himself over the top of Thanos' head, landing feet away from where Iron Man now lay, motionless. He was scrambling towards Tony, but-

Michelle gasped, a tear dripping down her cheek. She squeezed her eyes shut, but the screams and cracks of earth and bone remained. She could only picture it-

The ginormous hand grabbed the lean frame of Spider-Man, right around his scrawny neck. And the hero let out a terrified whine, that could've been for his own life, or the life of the father-figure knocked down just metres away from him. And then he was pulled into the air, his limbs dangling helplessly, his hands scratching against those squeezing his breath away. Then, CRACK! He was shoved into the land, the force creating a dent in the rocks. There was no scream, no shout of pain from the hero, and his struggling became weaker. Then again, slammed into the land, cracks appearing underneath his body. His body, that was now limp.

"No...no, get up. Get up." Michelle found herself whispering, her throat tight. Of course, Peter was here now, wasn't he? He was alive, so why was she so scared?

Then there was a blast of light and fire, as Iron Man shot his repulsors at the giant. He was still on the ground, but his arms were up, and he was shooting and shooting and-

Thanos fell. He stumbled, tripped and fell. Not dead. But he was down.

"Kid, kid, Jesus-!" Terrified, pained breaths escaped Tony's mouth, as he extracted himself from his suit. He climbed out from the iron and staggered towards Peter's broken figure. The older man was panting, his face screwed up in pain and confusion, probably suffering from a concussion.

He fell over Peter's body, gripping the boy's shoulders, shaking them slightly, desperately. He ripped off the mask, realising his eyes were closed peacefully.

"Hey, hey, hey open your eyes. Kid, open your-!" He shouted, and he sounded like he ripped his throat.

But Peter's eyes flickered...then opened. All wide and scared-looking. But not hurt. And that wasn't good.

"T-Tony?" The kid asked uncertainly, blinking slowly like he wasn't sure if his mentor was really there.

"Y-yeah, kid. I-it's me." The billionaire broke into a smile, as his eyes filled up with tears. Peter sighed, letting his eyes close shut for a moment. Relief was obvious in his face.

"I'm sorry, T-Tony. I'm sorry." Jesus, that boy was apologizing? "It doesn't hurt." Peter whispered, his glassy brown eyes gazing up at Tony. The man's hands were shaking, as he shook his head slightly.

"Stay with me, kid. Just-just don't go to sleep, 'kay?"

Peter nodded. He nodded, and the light in his eyes faded a few degrees.

"You did good, underoos." Tony whispered, and bent further over Peter's body as the boy's breath hitched in his throat. He was going to die. He was-

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry, kid, I-!" Tony mumbled into the boy's shoulder as he hugged the dying body. And for once, it was just a hug. No, 'oh, I'm just getting the door for you' excuse. He had to hug the kid before he died.

And although tears were now streaming down Michelle's face, dripping off her nose, she couldn't help but narrow her eyes as a dark shadow was cast over the two. It was Thanos, the purple figure behind where her Peter was dying, blurred out by the camera's focus. And she felt a rush of anger. So strong and so fierce she nearly smashed her screen.

Tony must've heard the titan get to his feet, and he leant away from Peter's still body. The boy wasn't even breathing, and his eyes were closed. He looked dead. The billionaire wasn't crying anymore.

No, he must have been feeling the same rush of hate and anger as Michelle, just ten times worse. His mouth was in a straight line as he looked to the side, away from where Thanos was standing metres back. He seemed to be waiting for something-

And then, Thanos said-

And Michelle knew she would have nightmares for years-

"I hope they remember you."

And she slammed the lid of her laptop shut.

--

First chapter! What do y'all think??

I had quite a bit of fun writing the plot to this story, and I can promise a lot more of Spider-Man in this one! I would really love to hear your theories!

Also, this is one of the only chapters from Michelle's POV - most will be from Peter's. How do you think Peter survived? Is it really Peter? Ooooh...

I'm gonna leave you all thinkin' ;)

Anyway, I want to thank all of you, AGAIN, for all your support on my previous book. You really made everything way more fun to write. I hope this one is just as successful, if not MORE! Love you all.

LuvForStydia xx