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There were a few facts in Michelle Jones' life that were simply true. Insane, unprovable, but true.
Her and Ned's friendship went all the way back to high school and these days they were still an-almost-package-deal, which sometimes confused her boyfriends, but also — confused herself. Because her and Ned's friendship went all the way back to high school and had a little giant hole in it — because she didn't befriend Ned, she's pretty sure. Fuck it, Ned was pretty sure too, he just didn't like thinking about it, and she couldn't blame him — this is where things got complicated. Because once upon a time Ned's friendship came as a package deal with someone else. As in, she befriended someone and Ned came as a set.
Or worse. She fell in love with someone, and received Ned's friendship as a bonus.
She's grateful for it too; without Ned by her side she would've fully believed she went insane.
There were a few facts in Michelle John's life that were simply true. She and Ned were inseparable. They used to be friends with Spider-Man — civilian friends who covered for him on school trips when he had to run off to save people. She used to be in love with Spider-Man. She used to know who he is. And now she didn't.
In the grand scheme of the universe it was not the weirdest thing that happened to her — once she got dusted for five years, there's always that — but it was the first one that felt so personal. Missing memories? Of something as important as a first love and even the first friendship? Memories are what make people into who they are, and Michelle "MJ" Jones was tearing at seams everytime she tried to make a sense of how she ended up with her life, because there was a hole right at the centre of it. And that hole was probably Spider-Man shaped.
Two pieces kept her sanity intact: the broken necklace she could barely remember an origin of — just that it got broken when her class was attacked on the sidetrip to London — and Ned. Who sometimes looked as equally lost as she felt. Who stayed. Who helped her start a new Spider-Man investigation board after moving, who helped her find a lead.
Because MJ and Ned might not have been Lois Lane and Clark Kent, but they were going to find answers. And — maybe — a friendly neighbour Peter Parker could be their key.