saying my goodbyes
Meanwhile, in another reality...
Peter loved checking up on Miles, who he missed so much. He wanted so desperately to visit him, talk to him and let Miles know he was still thinking about him but a certain Spider-Man refused.
Miguel had always seemed to have a specific distaste for Miles but Peter didn't understand how he could possibly hate him until he found out the truth. After multiple attempts at making Miguel let him visit Miles, Miguel got fed up and told Peter everything... Miles was practically the anomaly that caused the hundreds of anomalies Miguel had dedicated his life to hunting down and sending them back. And though Peter understood Miguel for wanting to leave him out of it, he couldn't help but worry for the kid.
So every day, when he found himself missing miles, he would use his watch to see what he was up to.
Peter had been quite busy lately, with the birth of his beautiful daughter Mayday being a week before. Him and MJ were getting used to having a newborn and it was a hard adjustment but they were powering through. Hence why Peter had failed to check on Miles for a few days, but last he knew, the kid was doing great so he didn't worry about it too much.
When Peter finally got a quiet moment with both the baby and MJ napping together, he opened up his watch.
The watch showed Miles, standing in front of a casket, tears falling from his eyes, Peter's heart sank. Even though he hadn't seen Miles in almost a year, he felt like he needed to protect him and be there for him. He tried examining a bit more before freaking out, maybe it was a distant relative?
As soon as he looked any closer he was shocked by the duplication of everything. 2 holes, 2 tombs, 2 caskets... He squinted to read the names on the tombs.
Jeff Davis and Rio Morales.
He read again and again hoping his eyes were tricking him but there was no mistaking it, Miles' parents had died.
Peter started pacing around the room, baffled at the information he had discovered. He thought about how scared Miles must be. He mourned for Mrs. Morales and Mr. Davis, but mostly he mourned for Miles. Because losing your parents, at such a young age, is something no one should go through. Peter hated that he missed this and hated even more that he couldn’t be there for Miles, to comfort him.
Knowing he had to do something, his emotions took over and Peter stormed out of his house, grabbing nothing but his watch and his suit.
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The ceremony was quick, which Miles appreciated. Standing in front of his parents grave only really put matters into perspective for him. The last few days had been a fever dream… School has started back but Miles never seemed to have the strength to attend. The city was building itself back up and many many funerals were thrown. They barely had time to rap up theirs before the funeral efficient had to rush to another ceremony.
Miles attempted to leave but every time he escaped one family member another would approach him repeating the same phrases over and over. Talking about how great his parents were, how sorry they were for his situation, or just generally making it worse. He held himself together but every time anyone mentioned their names tears threatened his eyes, fogging up his brain, making it so much harder to stay focused on the conversation.
Eventually, he made it to his uncle who immediately accepted when Miles asked to leave. They drove silently to their apartment. Miles felt immediately relieved when the door shut behind him in his room, where silence filled his head. He finally let out all of his tears and sobs which he could no longer hold back.
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Gwen had recently joined the spider society where she had met many people. It was all slightly overwhelming for her but she enjoyed having somewhere to call home.
The event of the month before never left her thoughts, she wished she could hug her father and go back to her room but knew it wasn’t an option. Gwen occasionally went back to her reality but it was strictly as spider-woman. Just because she couldn’t sleep there didn’t mean she couldn’t protect it.
Otherwise she spent her time on missions or hanging around HQ. Gwen had reconnected with Peter, Peni, Noir and Ham, which was nice. Also she had met Hobie and Pavitr who were both very nice to her. Hobie shared her love for music and they played often together. Pav was fun, he hadn’t went through any canons yet so he was still in the sweet phase of being Spider-man. He managed to mention quite a few times just how easy it was to play their role of vigilante.
Gwen occasionally found herself remembering the boy she met a year prior, wondering how he was doing, hoping they would meet again. When she first joined, her first thought was to pay him a visit but Miguel had strictly prohibited it. She wanted to question it since he let her visit Pav and Hobie anytime but thought it would be best to wait it out.
So when Peter would waltz in and let her know how he was doing, it was simply a nice thing to hear, something to look forward to.
This morning, as Gwen ate her Spider-pancakes in the cafeteria with Hobie, she noticed Peter approaching them. Although he looked different, stressed, she told herself it was probably just the baby.
Peter swung to them, a determined look on his face and took a seat.
“Hey Gwen, Hobie.” He nods towards them as he says their names.
“Hey Peter, what’s up?” She wanted to ask about the baby but was more curious about why he looked so off.
“I have some bad news…” He muttered, focused on Gwen who stayed wordless. “I checked on Miles this morning, and,… his parents died in an earthquake.”
Gwen felt her stomach twisting, nausea filling her chest at the thought of it. He was so young and was now completely alone in this world. The idea of Miles, funny sweet Miles, orphaned, made her sick. "That's... that's horrible." She muttered out.
“I know, he’s all alone and I really wanna be there for him.” Added Peter. “So- I think I’m going to visit him. And I thought you might wanna come.”
“Wh- Peter you know we’re not allowed...?”
“Sounds like a great idea to me.” Hobie contributed, not seeming to care it was prohibited.
“I know, but I can’t just sit by and watch as he deals with the death of his parents alone. That would make me a bad friend.”
Even though Gwen could not loose her place in the spider society, she knew what Peter said was true. She had to be there for Miles, even if she would have to make a few sacrifices. “Fine, I’m in.”
“Same here.” Said Hobie, no one bothered to fight him on it.