Mary Jane Watson's eyes opened slowly. Blearily. That had been happening a lot, lately.
She looked around her apartment. Things were a bit messy -- underwear on the floor, a pizza box on the table. She used to be neater, but then she used to be a lot of things. Actress. Executive. Hero. Lover. Supermodel…
Well, all right. She was still a supermodel. But, having ended her work with Stark International after a series of events… Mary Jane was a little bit at loose ends. She didn't like that. Being at loose ends meant seeing the ways her life could have gone… and that was something…
There was pain there. Like a spike in her soul. She couldn't explain or define it -- she could only feel it. Which meant it had to do with Peter Parker. So much had to do with Peter Parker in her life. His absence was like a missing puzzle piece in her soul, but his presence filled her with a pain she couldn't explain or define. So… she felt caught between attraction and repulsion. Chicago hadn't been far enough away to change that, even though her nightclub had been a success. The west coast hadn't been far enough away, even though she'd had a few hits. If she moved on far enough in her life, a yearning inside her drove her back. If she got too close, Peter's life burned her like a flame burning a moth.
There had to be something more, right?
Mary Jane got up and walked into the kitchenette. She'd had a pretty swank spread in Stark Tower, but when she'd decided to get back into modelling and away from Stark's rat race -- way too close to Peter's lifestyle but without Peter's humility. Not to mention Tony Stark's amazing ability to look in a girl's eyes and down her shirt at the same time…
Pulling out a box of coffee pods, Mary Jane dropped a hazelnut pod into the Keurig, put the old, chipped mug into it, and hit the button. She rubbed her eyes, looking out the window. She was in a black tank top and black bikini panties -- if someone were to look in, she'd manage to look half-awake and purely sexual all at once. It was second nature to her, really. But then, not very many people would be looking in on her on the twenty-third floor of the tenement where her condo was located -- an investment she made before jumping back into the freelance world of modelling.
Granted, two or three of those people who'd be in a position to watch her in her underwear through her kitchen window were her close acquaintances… but if Stark went flying by she didn't mind teasing him, and if Peter--
Mary Jane sighed. She couldn't get Peter out of her head today. Needless to say, if Peter wanted to peep, Mary Jane was happy enough to let him peep. She owed him that much. Of course, he'd feel guilty about it--
Mary Jane's smartphone began to play. Kovacs. Black Spider. "She's there to stay until the next fly/She's his prey, it's not the first time/In the arms of a spider, spider, spider, liar…"
Mary Jane grabbed the half and half out of her fridge. She walked over to the Keurig, getting the mug and creaming her coffee even as she picked up her phone. "My MJ sense must have been tingling," she muttered, hitting the button. "Hey, Tiger. What's up."
"MJ? Good." Peter sounded tense. Always a bad sign. "We… we need to talk."
Mary Jane snorted. "It's too early in the morning for this, Tiger. And we're not dating right now, so you can't break up with me. If you banged Felicia, good for you." She sipped coffee.
"It's not -- it's… complicated. I need to see you. We need to see you."
"We? Oh crap." Mary Jane sighed, even as her heart lurched. "Peter, live your damn life. If you found true love that's awesome. Send me an invite to the w-wedding."
"Mary Jane, listen to me -- it's… it's not… it's weird and it's hard to explain and I need to talk to you about--"
"Damn it, Peter--"
There was muffled sound, and Peter sounding like he was arguing with some woman. Yup. This was a guilty phone call, Peter calling to confess he was dating Carlie Cooper or someone just like her and totally unable to--
"Mary Jane?"
Mary Jane froze. The voice on the line was female… and was incredibly familiar. Like a dagger-thrust from the past… the girl who might have been. The ghost who'd always been lurking over her relationship with Peter…
Mary Jane cleared her throat. "Gwen! Hi. Is this… Spider-Woman? Or Ghost Spider? I'm not sure what we call you these days. I'm a little surprised to hear from you. Is there a problem--"
"No, Mary Jane. I'm not her. I'm… I'm me. Gwen. Your Gwen. Peter's Gwen. The Gwen."
Mary Jane dropped her coffee mug. It shattered on the linoleum of her floor.
"Mary Jane?"
"...you… oh God. The Jackal's back again?"
"No, Mary Jane. I'm not a clone. I was plucked out of time, saved, brought up to date… and the how's complicated, and going to get more complicated, and we really, really need you to come over." She paused. "And… could you… bring me a t-shirt and skirt or leggings or something?"
"...you're alive… and naked?"
"...I wish. My clothing options aren't what they could be."
"...yeah. Yeah, okay. You're at Peter's? Give me an hour and a half. God help me, I'm pretty sure I remember your sizes."
+++
Peter opened the door, then grabbed Mary Jane in a tight embrace. She was a bit startled, but returned the hug. Her eyes closed, and for one eternal second it was almost like everything was right in the world…
"C'min. MJ… things are… things are maximum weird right now. Like, for us maximum weird."
"That's legitimately terrify… ing…"
Mary Jane had stepped inside the apartment, and… there she was. Gwen Stacy. Real as life.
And she was wearing a black and green lace teddy that was practically painted on her body, with stockings and heels. Even that damn headband was matching green and black.
"...oh Jesus, Tiger. You hit the jackpot without me."
"He sort of did," Gwen said, blushing. "It's complicated. Did you bring--"
Mary Jane held a paper bag towards Gwen. "White tee, black yoga pants."
"God bless you." She grabbed the bag. "I'll be right back."
Mary Jane watched her go. She then turned to Peter. "That was really Gwen," she said.
"Yeah," Peter said. He was in grey sweatpants and no shirt. And he had sex hair. She knew his sex hair.
"You nailed Gwen. In lingerie."
"...yeah."
"And she's not dead."
"...she's not dead."
"...did… you… happen… to make--"
Peter pointed to the end table next to his door. There was a thick mug of coffee. Hazelnut, from the smell.
"Good. Good. Good." Mary Jane picked the mug up and took a long sip. "This is a coffee kind of explanation, I can just tell."
+++
Mary Jane was right. It was a coffee kind of explanation.
"So… let me get this perfectly straight," she said, looking from Peter to Gwen and back. "You… have a genie."
"...yeah," Peter said. "See, the Goblin, Kraven, the Kingpin -- even freaking Shocker were fighting over this lamp, each trying to get it away from the others, and I was in the middle of it, but there were too many of them for me to fight off directly and they'd cut off my escape. So I rubbed the lamp. I mean, I didn't know what else to do."
"No, absolutely," Mary Jane said. "That's perfectly rational. 'Every one of my enemies are trying to get this lamp, so I better turn it on.' Totally smart thinking there."
"...anyway -- the next thing I know I was back in my apartment, and Ova--"
"Ova?"
"The djinn of the lamp."
"...she's named after eggs?"
"That's just the beginning of the sex part," Gwen said. "You'll love this."
"I can tell." Mary Jane rubbed the bridge of her nose. "So you and your genie were back here. Then what?"
"Then she summoned the Avengers and the Fantastic Four and… I want to say the X-Men? Anyway -- they took out the baddies. And she explained what she was."
"A genie."
"A djinn. Specifically… a djinn of lust."
Mary Jane paused again. "A djinn… of lust."
"That was kind of my reaction, too," Gwen said. "But he's telling the truth. Ova is effectively omnipotent… but only in matters of lust, or sex, or desire. She can do anything -- give you anything -- but only if you can tie it back to sex, somehow."
Mary Jane stared at Gwen, then looked back at Peter. "So if I wished for Ova to give me a refill of coffee, she wouldn't be able to, but if I asked her to lactate me some coffee--"
"Oh God," Gwen said, rubbing her eyes. "Now that visual's in my head and there's no getting rid of it."
"Okay." Mary Jane paused. "So you tried to free her, or get rid of her, but you couldn't."
Peter blinked. "How'd you know that?"
Mary Jane rolled her eyes. "You literally got a sex genie who could give you anything but you had to enjoy orgasms in the process. Naturally your first reaction was 'how do I get rid of this amazing thing?' It's you. You're allergic to just enjoying good fortune."
"...it's not that simple," Peter said. "Ova can do anything… but only with sex. And she represents more than just a day of fun. If I wished for ten Mary Janes lubed up and ready to go, there'd be ten of you, all really you, and all--"
"Hot to trot."
"Now that sounds fun! I'm glad you're getting into the spirit of this, Master!"
Mary Jane yelped, jumping. Peter and Gwen were startled, too.
There was a lush, beautiful woman standing there. She was blue skinned, her hair many colors and shimmering. "Hi!" she said, brightly.
"...damn it, Ova," Peter said. "We told you we had to talk to Mary Jane about this -- alone."
"Yes, Master. And you did. And now that you told her about it I could come back!" The djinn giggled again. "You really did hit the jackpot, didn't you?"
"...tell your sex demon to shut up," Mary Jane said. "She's not helping."
"Hey! I'm not a demon--"
"Ova… please," Gwen said. "This is pretty hard to get your head around."
"Really?" Ova giggled again. "Hi. I'm Peter's Djinn. I can do anything, so long as there's lust involved. Was that hard to understand?"
Mary Jane looked at Ova, then looked back at Gwen. "That's why you were in lingerie. She could make you clothing, but only sexy clothing."
"Got it in one," Gwen said, deep red.
"...and… she could save you, and prevent changes to the timeline in the process… but only so you could rock Peter's world."
"With her vagina!" Ova shouted, giggling again.
"Ova, I swear," Peter said. "Just…"
"Shutting up now! Let me put on another pot of coffee. Manually. No lactation needed. Unless you want--"
"No!"
The djinn giggled again, walking over to the coffee maker.
Mary Jane took a deep breath. "Okay," she said. "First? Gwen? I… I'm so glad you're back. And if that meant you and Peter--"
"Fucked!" Ova cut in.
"--then I'm glad it happened. And I'm glad you two are happening."
"...Mary Jane," Gwen said. "I… didn't… say that…"
Mary Jane rolled her eyes. "Clearly you were brought back last night. Peter had fresh sex hair. You spent the night in his bed. I can do the math, Gwen. It's fine. If there's anyone in the world Peter can fuck without me getting mad? It's you."
"...thank you," Gwen said. "Seriously. Mary Jane… you and Peter… everything that you two have meant to each other… I can't begin to compete with--"
"It's not a competition. Not between you and me." She looked at Peter. "So. I get why you had to tell me. And really -- it's fine. And I'm thrilled." She paused. "And I'm also a vagina you can fuck mostly guilt free to perform miracles, right?"
Peter turned magenta. "MJ… you're never just a--"
"No, she's right," Ova said. "You keep arguing but come on. You can change the world for the better, Peter, but you need to fuck to do it. So who're you going to nail? Gwen has to sleep sometime! And there's always Captain Stacy…"
"Captain…" Mary Jane blinked, turning to look at Gwen. "...oh."
"Peter could bring me back," Gwen said. "He can bring Dad back too. But..."
"But it has to involve sex. So either squick city or Peter explores a whole new side to his sex life. And speaking as someone who's a Kinsey 1 or 2, I know Peter's a solid Kinsey 0. Which wouldn't stop him if it was the only way." Mary Jane shook her head. "You need me to bring your father back. And in the process…"
"You need to fuck her dad," Ova said. "Exactly. Coffee with two creams. Coffee cream and sugar. Coffee black. Danishes." She set the drinks and plate of pastries down.
"Where… did the danishes come from?" Peter asked.
"Danishes with frosting are sex on a plate. You get those for free."
Mary Jane looked at Peter. Peter was looking down at the table, not meeting her eyes.
Mary Jane turned to look at Gwen. "Okay," she said. "I'm in."
Gwen blinked, her face breaking into a smile. "You are?"
"Hey -- Captain Stacy? Always kind of a silver fox. I can cope with that." She paused. "And of course I'll help save your father." She looked at Peter. "Uncle Ben? We'll have to discuss."
Peter turned magenta. "Wait, who said--"
Ova giggled. "Oh, I knew you were going to be fun."