Chapter 1
“Oi Miles! Nice moves out there.”
“Thanks man! You too.”
Miles smiled as he and Hobie bumped fists.
“He wasn’t the only one out there you know,” a voice called out.
They both turned to the side to see Gwen with her arms crossed, an amused look on her face.
“Oh but of course,” Hobie said as he wrapped an arm around both of their shoulders, pulling them close. “I could never forget about you Gwendie. You and Peter Pan here are the ultimate web-swinging duo.”
“Hey!”
The trio all lurched forward as someone slammed into Hobie’s back. It was Pavitr, looking down at Hobie with a pout.
“I thought you said that was us bro!”
“I don’t like consistency.” Hobie shrugs, a smirk on his face.
Miles and Gwen laughed as Pavitr and Hobie started to argue, the four of them walking through the endless hallways that seemed to make up Spider Society. As they did, Miles started to reflect on how they’d ended up here.
It had been about a year since the big fight with The Spot. It had taken the combined effort of the entire Spiderband in order to defeat the villain. But they had. And he was able to save his father too. So everything had largely turned out ok. But in the aftermath, there had been some tough conversations.
One of them had been telling his parents that he was Spider-Man. He’d received a long conversation about keeping secrets and putting himself in danger from both of them. But he didn’t let his resolve waver, not even when they’d begged him to quit. How could he sit by and watch while bad things happened, knowing he had the power to stop them?
Once he’d explained that to them, their arguments had ceased. Rio and Jeff had embraced him, telling him that they were proud of the man their son had grown into. They also ungrounded him, on the condition that he always let them know when he was off to fight crime.
Miles had also talked to Miguel and Jessica. When his dad survived and his universe hadn’t collapsed, Miguel was forced to admit that maybe canon events weren’t so set in stone. The 2099 Spiderman had apologized, in so much as the always serious man could. Jessica’s apology had been much more heartfelt.
The older woman also gave him a bit more information about the stoic leader. Miles remembered Miguel telling him about the universe he had destroyed. He hadn’t known how fresh those wounds had been. For as much anger as Miguel seemingly had for him, he held twice as much for himself. It didn’t excuse everything, nothing could. But it helped.
The two left him with an open invitation to join the society if he ever wished. But they also knew that might be beyond what he was comfortable with so they assured him there was no pressure to accept. He appreciated that.
And then there were the last two conversations. Peter B. and Gwen. The people he was closest to.
Pete had been a fairly easy one. He was his mentor. And ok, he may not have been the best one around, but he’d still shown Miles a lot. And after his uncle died, he’d looked to him as someone he could rely on in the same way. And if he could forgive his uncle for the mistakes he made, then he could forgive Pete just the same. They’d hugged it out and that was that relationship mended.
Gwen, on the other hand, had been a lot tougher. She was easily the most important person in his life. Which meant that she was also the person who could, and had, hurt him the most. It had been a long talk, one in which both of them had shed many tears. But in the end, they’d found themselves back on the Williamsburg, sitting next to each other, the bonds of their friendship beginning to repair themselves.
“Watcha thinking about over there?”
Miles was brought out of his memory by the feeling of Gwen bumping his shoulder with hers. He looked up, seeing a small smile on her face. He could just make out the small gap in her teeth. She was so cute. Wait, what?
“Oh nothing,” Miles replied, hoping his blush wasn’t noticeable. “Just thinking about how much fun I have hanging with you-you guys. All of you guys.”
If Gwen noticed his slip-up, she didn’t say anything, only humming in agreement.
“Yeah. I’m glad you were able to join us on this one. Would’ve been a lot tougher without you.”
“Of course.”
Gwen, Hobie, and Pavitr had elected to stay(or in Hobie’s case, re-join) Spider Society. After assurances from Miguel and Jessica that things would be run much differently now. Miles could never bring himself to fully join up, the memories from last time still too deeply ingrained. But if his friends ever felt like they needed backup, he was always willing to help out.
The group eventually reached the corridor that led to Miguel’s command room.
“You sure you don’t need me to come with you guys,” Gwen asked, looking over at Hobie and Pav.
“Nah. We can deal with big, blue, and constantly in a mood. No need for all of us to suffer. We’ll catch up again soon.”
“Yeah, it was great seeing you guys,” Pav added excitedly. “You all gotta come to Mumbattan again soon. There’s so much I didn’t get to show last time.”
“Only if your aunt makes that delicious chai tea for us again.”
“For the last time, chai means TEA bro! How many times do I have to correct you?”
“At least one more it would seem, mate.”
Miles and Gwen snickered between themselves as they watched the two head down the darkened hallway, their bickering echoing off the walls. That them alone. Gwen shifted to face him, bouncing on the balls of her feet, arms crossed behind her back.
“Soooo you wanna grab something to eat? All this inter-dimensional crime-fighting really works up an appetite,” she asked, a bright and hopeful look on her face.
Miles opened his mouth to accept, only for his watch to beep. He looked down at it, seeing a text message from his mom. That was one of the new additions Hobie added to their watches. Couldn’t exactly get service in another universe could you?
“Ah man, I’m sorry Gwen,” he looks back up, apology all over his face. “My mom invited someone over for dinner and she wants me to stop for groceries before I come home. I gotta go.”
“Oh, no worries Miles. I understand.”
Despite what she says, he can see the way her eyes dim a little and her smile downturns a little. It’s not a look he likes to see on her face, so he hurries to remedy it.
“But I can totally grab lunch with you tomorrow! I wanna try that one burger place we swung past.”
Her eyes shine again.
“Yeah, that sounds great,” she nods enthusiastically.
“Perfect,” Miles exclaims, opening up a portal and diving in backwards, waving at Gwen as he heads back to his universe. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”
“Hey Lenny! What’s going on man?”
“Miles, how you doing brotha?”
Miles dapped up the owner of the bodega before heading to the back of the shop. He pulled out his phone to check the list his mom had sent one last time. As he started grabbing things, a noise from the tv up in the corner caught his eye. It was the evening news.
“Yo Lenny, you mind turning this up for me?”
Miles focused on the screen as the volume was brought up and he could hear what was being said.
And now for our leading story. The new Hammerhead Industries facility is now open. Hammerhead Industries, one of the leading technological research and science companies in the world, has many facilities all over the country and now has one right here in Brooklyn!
The image cut to a massive white building. One that Miles knew well. That section of the city used to house a lot of the less fortunate people around. Unfortunately, Hammerhead came to town and bought the plots from the city. Tenets were kicked out and apartment buildings were demolished in order to break ground on their new facility. It was all very… slimy.
The CEO of Hammerhead Industries, Joseph Hammerhead, claims that this will be their most advanced facility yet. There will be groundbreaking research and development being done that, as the CEO put it, will “change the world.”
Miles had only seen pictures of the man, never in real life. But the guy was imposing. The top of his head was flattened, a consequence of a procedure. His skull had to be surgically reinforced after a terrible car crash. It worked, but it left his head disfigured. He never wanted to meet the man.
“There’s something crazy going on over there, yeah,” Lenny shouted from behind him.
“Yeah,” Miles mumbled to himself in agreement. He felt his phone beep again. It was another message from Rio, asking what was taking him so long. Crap!
Miles walked through the front door of his home, seeing his dad sitting at the table, typing away on his computer.
“Hey Dad,” he called out as he made his way to the kitchen with the grocery bags.
“Miles! I was wondering when you were gonna show up.”
“Sorry. I got caught up watching the news at the bodega. Did you see that Hammerhead Industries opened its new building today?”
“I did. I know they’re a tech company, but something about those guys feels off to me.”
Miles couldn’t have agreed with his father more. He walked into the kitchen to see his mom standing at the stove. He set the bags on the counter and walked up behind her.
“ Hola Mamá,” he greeted, kissing her cheek.
“Hola, hijo. Me alegro de que por fin hayas vuelto. What took you so long?”
“Lost track of time, Mom. Sorry.”
“Well, I’m glad you found it. Dinner will be ready in about an hour and our guest should be here around then too.”
“Who exactly did you invite over?” he queried. His mother just smiled coyly.
“You’ll find out when they arrive Miles. Now go. I know for a fact you need to take a shower. You always stink after you get back from your adventures.”
“Mom!”
His mother simply shooed him away and out of the kitchen. He walked into his room, closing the door, and stripping off his shirt. A quick sniff of his armpits revealed that his mother was right. He needed a shower. Badly.
He spent most of the time in the bathroom trying to figure out who his mother could have possibly invited. But he kept coming up blank. By the time he was finished cleaning off, he’d resigned himself to the fact that he would just have to wait until whoever it was showed up.
He spent the time until the food was ready sitting at his desk, drawing in his sketchbook. He found his marker once again tracing the outlines and filling in the details of one Gwen Stacy. It was kind of pathetic at this point, how stupidly in love with her he was. With the ability to see each other pretty much whenever they wanted, they’d gotten a lot closer. Their friendship had never been in a stronger place.
But as he stared down at his terribly accurate drawing, he couldn’t help but want more than friendship. But he was scared. Scared to lay his feelings all out on the table. He wanted more, but he couldn’t bear the thought of ruining their relationship if Gwen didn’t feel the same way.
“God I’m a sap aren’t I,” Miles thought to himself. And he thought his pining had been bad before when he had no idea if he ever would see her again.
He was brought out of his melancholy musings by the sound of the doorbell ringing.
“Miles, could you get that for me?” His mother’s voice echoed through his room.
He got up, leaving his sketches for another day and heading to the front door.
“I wonder who it is.”
Nothing could have prepared him for who he saw when he opened the door. It was a young woman. With an ivory complexion and curly dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. There was a wide smile sitting on her face. His face was contorted into shock.
“Phin?”
“Hey Miles!”
Boy wasn’t that an understatement. He hadn’t seen Phin Mason since he first transferred to Brooklyn Visions. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her in tight. Which she reciprocated.
“It’s so good to see you,” he exclaimed as he leaned back from the embrace. “How are you? It’s been…”
“Years,” Phin finished for him. “Yeah, I know. A lot’s changed.”
“It really has.”
“You’re much taller than I remember.”
“I finally hit that growth spurt. I told you it was coming.”
He didn’t know that a bite from a radioactive spider would be what did the trick, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers. Phin laughed.
“That you did.”
“Is that our guest of honor I hear?”
Rio walked out of the kitchen, smiling as she saw Phin. Jeff following right behind her. She walked up to the young girl, pulling her into her own hug.
“I’m so glad you could make it.”
“Thanks for inviting me Mrs. Morales. And it’s good to see you too, Officer Morales.”
“Actually, it’s Captain Morales now,” Jeff corrected her, jokingly puffing out his chest.
“That’s amazing,” Phin exclaimed before her voice dropped and became serious. “Sorry. I mean, congrats on the promotion, Captain.”
She mock saluted him. There was a brief pause before they all burst out into laughter.
“It’s good to have you back Phin. We missed you,” Jeff told Phin sincerely.
“Especially this one here,” Rio chimed in, gesturing toward Miles, who blushed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “But I’m sure we’ll talk about that later. Dinner’s just about ready so let’s all sit down.”
“So Phin…”
Miles and Phin looked up from their conversation as Rio addressed the brown-haired girl. Now that bellies were filled, this was the perfect time to talk.
“...tell us everything you’ve been up to. I know it’s summertime so you’re out of school. Are you still into robotics?”
“Umm, I’ve actually moved onto something different. I’ve been studying biotech. Mostly on my own.”
‘Nerd,” Miles snickered. Phin gave him a look.
“This coming from the guy who wears a tie to school every day and an ascot on Tuesdays.”
Miles snickering quickly came to a stop.
“Who told you that,” he aggressively questioned before turning to his mother. “Was it you mom?”
“I may have let that slip while talking to her on the phone.”
His look of betrayal only earned him laughter from everyone at the table.
“Not cool.”
“I mean she has a point son,” his dad said. “I remember you guys always doing science stuff together. Along with her older brother Rick. How’s he doing by the way Phin?”
Phin paused at that. Miles watched as her entire demeanor shifted and became downtrodden. He was sure his parents noticed it too.
“He’s…good,” Phin eventually threw out. “He’s out of town on a project so he’s actually gonna be gone for the next month. Which sucks but, at least I got the apartment to myself.”
“You’re living by yourself right now Phin? Are you sure you’re ok? We don’t have a ton of room here but I’m sure we could make room for you…”
Phin waved the older woman off. “No, it’s fine Mrs. Morales. I would hate to take up space here. I’m managing well. And our next-door neighbor stops in to check on me too. I’ll be ok until he comes back.”
“You sure,” Rio asked her one last time. Miles saw her eyebrow raise in the way it always did when she doubted someone was telling the truth.
“I’m positive,” Phin assured her. “Besides, could you imagine me and Miles living under the same roof? He’d drive me insane.”
Miles just pouted again, which caused Phin to snort in laughter.
“I hate you,” he deadpanned.
“Love you too.” She stuck out her tongue at him.
It was a short while later that Phin got an alert on her phone. She looked at the message she received, her eyes scanning the words.
“Oh, I have to go,” Phin apologized. “I promised my neighbor I’d fix her air conditioning unit.”
“You want me to give you a ride home Phin,” Jeff offered up.
Phin once again waived no. “Oh no that’s ok Mr. Morales. I can take the subway.”
“At least let Miles walk with you to the station then Phin,” Rio countered. “You don’t mind do you, Miles?
“Not at all!”
Under the pressure of three expectant Morales glares, Phin had no choice but to relent.
“All right.”
“Good. Now come and give me a hug before you go”
Phin stood up and went to hug Rio, who squeezed her tightly.
“You’re always welcome here dear,” she whispered in the teenager's ear before letting her go. As Phin was saying goodbye to Jeff, Rio pulled Miles to the side.
“Miles, keep an eye on her,” she quietly told him. “I don’t know what’s going on but something’s up with her. And knowing Phin, she won’t talk to anyone about it. Except, maybe you.”
“I understand Mom. I’ll make sure she knows that she has a friend to talk to if she needs it.”
“ Ese es mi hombrecito,” she lovingly told him, kissing his cheek.
With Phin done saying her goodbyes, she and Miles left. The streets weren’t as packed as one would suspect so their walk to the station was accompanied by very little background noise. They didn’t say much as they walked. Miles could tell that Phin was deep in thought about something. He finally decided to break the ice when it became clear that she wasn’t going to speak up.
“So what’s going on with you?”
Phin seemed surprised to hear him say something.
“What do you mean?”
Miles shrugged. “I don’t know. You seem, distracted. Wanna talk about it?”
Phin looked like she would spill, before ultimately deciding against it.
“No tonight,” she shook her head. “I don’t wanna ruin our first night back together with my problems.”
Miles nodded, a bit frustrated she wouldn’t open up but understanding it just wasn’t the right time for her.
“How about you,” she reversed the question back at him. “What’s going on in your life?”
“Oh, nothing much. The usual. Trying to get good grades.” Miles tried to deflect. He couldn’t exactly tell her that he was Spider-Man. He hoped it was convincing.
“I know that voice, Miles. I know when you’re keeping things from me.”
Miles sighed, thinking about his big secret. He wanted to tell Phin, but it was probably better if she didn’t know. Hell, the only reason his parents knew was because he had no choice but to tell them. “I guess…I got a lot going on too. Just like you.”
“Yeah, I completely understand that,” Phin agreed.
“How about we hang out,” Miles suddenly asked her. “Just the two of us? Take our minds off what we’ve both been dealing with. Tomorrow work?”
“You’re not too busy?”
“Of course not. It’s summer break. I got nothing but time.”
That wasn’t entirely true but he could make time in his superhero schedule to chill with an old friend.
“Okay. I’ll text you.”
Miles pumped his fist as Phin confirmed the plan. “Great! It’s a date. Wait, not like a date date. A friend date.”
Phin giggled as Miles stumbled over his words.
“Still as smooth as the last time I saw you,” she quipped.
“Whatever dude.”
They finally arrived at the stairs down to the station.
“It was great seeing you again Miles.”
“Yeah. It was great to see you too Phin.”
They hugged before Phin made her way down. She stopped at the bottom to wave at him one last time before disappearing into the station. Miles stood there for a small moment before beginning to make his way back. After a long day filled with both new and old friends, he was exhausted and he could just about hear his bed calling out to him. He was going to sleep well tonight.