Working with the Spider Society was something out of a movie (lol). Meeting so many other spiders made the job much more bearable for everyone. There’s something so lonely about saving the world when no one else is around to help, that only a spider person can fix.
That’s where the Society came in, easing your burden one one-liner at a time. Helping shoulder the responsibility and stress of having everyone rely on you to keep them safe. Being able to confide in others who are similar to you is like a light at the end of the tunnel, giving you peace of mind that you’re not alone.
However, there seemed to be one outlier to this generalization, the leader of the whole organization, Miguel O’Hara. Sure he was thankful for the help of all the spiders around him (even if he wouldn’t say it out loud), but he was still as serious as they come. The only ‘unfunny’ spider as Peter B. Parker liked to put it.
Not many people knew where his cruel, standoff-ish personality came from. Only those close to him knew about Gabriella and her doomed universe, with that information it was hard to criticize his want to save the multiverse, even if he could be a little nicer with his methods.
Being one of the few people close to Miguel. you’ve told him this many times before. It was glaringly obvious after the Miles situation that he may go a little too far at times, even if you’re rarely (if ever) been on the receiving end of his anger.
Miguel has always seemed to have a small soft spot for you. You were the first Spider-Person he met when you were dumped on his Earth by the collider on Earth-1610. It was shut down before you could make the full journey there, stranding you on a rooftop in a futuristic-looking city.
After some yelling and swearing (in your defense he does look like a villain upon first glance) Miguel and Lyla were able to return you home to Earth-727, but not without a watch of your own (a prototype which did leave you stranded a few times where a certain evil looking Spider-Man had to come to your rescue).
“You really have to upgrade your tech big man, this is like the third time this week.” Miguel huffed at your comment as if he wasn’t working day and night to make the watches perfect.
“If they’re so bad, you fix it.” You hold out your hands as he tosses the broken watch at you. Wires poking out in different directions showing the inner workings of the technology, far more advanced than in your universe.
“You know I totally would, but this goober-”
“It’s actually a gizmo.” Lyla interjects
“-has your name written all over it,” you draw out as you stand from your chair and place the watch on his desk. “Besides i’m beat. Travelling dimensions really drains the energy out of ya.”
You hop down from the platform as a yawn escapes you, you really weren’t kidding about being tired. You stand in the middle of the room as a moment passes.
“You wanna help me out here boss man?” You tap your foot expectantly as Miguel turns towards you. He’s got a semi-scowl on his face, which you already figure out is his default expression. He taps a few times on his own watch as a portal opens behind you.
“I’ll see you two later, buh-bye!”
“Byeee!!” Lyla calls as you disappear through the portal. Miguel stays quiet as you leave his vision, turning back to the monitors to finish fixing the watch.
That brings you to now, standing besides Miguel watching a mission unfold. Gwen, Miles, and Pavitr were sent to Earth-2174 to stop a vulture variant. Miguel didn’t like sending them on missions together, something about ‘not enough experience’ and ‘so unprofessional it’s concerning’.
“Don’t be so hard on them Mig, they’re trying to prove themselves.” The ‘even thought they don’t need to’ was mumbled underneath your breathe. You knew Miguel heard you, super hearing and all, but he didn’t comment.
You didn’t want to admit he was right, but it did look like the three were struggling a little. It was only a matter of time before Miguel sent in backup, whether the three asked for it or not.
“I should’ve known they weren’t equipped for this mission.” Miguel muttered just loud enough for you to hear. It puzzled you why he couldn’t have faith in anyone.
“Just because they’re not old like you doesn’t mean they can’t handle themselves.”
“If we were there we would’ve had it handled by now,” he pauses as he stares at the monitors, “And i’m not old.”
“Well you’re older than me.”
“By a year, and plenty of other people are older than you.”
“And I consider them all old.” You say as you stand from your chair. Miguel wasn’t allowed in the field (courtesy of you, he really needed to rest more) so you’d be the backup sent in.
“Dios mío, can you please just go help them? Antes de que empiece a perder el pelo.” (*Before I start losing hair).
“Yeah, yeah i’m going big man.” You snicker at Miguel’s groan, he never liked that nickname (but that’s why you call him that). You stretch your arms and legs out as the portal opens. You can faintly hear Miguel’s ‘please don’t call me that’ as you enter the portal.
When you arrive on the other side, the sight you’re met with is not a pretty one. Gwen is holding up a falling wall while Pavitr, with a noticeable limp, leads the civilians under it to safety, and Miles looks to be riding on the vulture’s back in an attempt (a weak one at that) to subdue the anomaly.
You waste no time springing into action. You first go to help Miles, shooting webs onto a building opposite of the vulture. You jump off the roof you originally landed on and use the momentum to swing yourself at the anomaly. The kick landed on the vulture’s shoulder, throwing him off balance. The anomaly rolls a few times on the street below him as Miles is thrown from his back.
“M! You alright?” You yell as you look where he landed. Vulture is, luckily, very slow to get up, not expecting another spider to join the fight.
“Y-yeah i’m good. Just...give me a second...or m-maybe 10.” His head drops to the sidewalk below him as he tries to catch his breath.
You shoot some webs around the vulture’s wings to hopefully slow him down. It’s all you can do for the moment as you can see Gwen start to slip.
“P will you be okay?” You call out as you start to run to Gwen.
“Don’t worry about me! It’s only a scratch!”
You give him a quick nod as you continue on your path towards Gwen. You can tell she’s struggling as her arms start to shake.
“I’m here!”
“Thank god please help me!” She sounds close to crying, god only knows how long she had been in this position. You stand on the edge of the roof the falling wall used to be attached to. You shoot two webs to hold up the wall.
“I’ve got it Gwen! You can let go!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes! Let go!” After a few seconds of thinking Gwen finally lets go, landing on the ground away from the danger of being crushed from the wall. She rests on her hands and knees taking deep breaths just as Miles was before. You feel for her knowing how taxing this job can be, its not always easy saving everyone.
Even with your advanced strength, the wall is still pretty difficult to hold up. ‘Miguel would have no problem lifting this thing up, damn why is he so strong?’ you think to yourself as you will your muscles to not let go. All you have to do is wait for Pavitr to finish evacuating from underneath, it won’t take too long.
Turns out it’s taking longer than you thought. With Miles and Gwen basically out of the fight for the time being, you have no one else to help you with the wall.
“Pav, is everyone out?” You call down readjusting your grip as your hands start to slip, “This is getting a little hard to hold!”
“Almost done, I think there’s someone stuck under here! I think its a child!” You haven’t been paying too much attention to the sounds around you, instead trying to focus most of your attention on not dropping the wall. However, as Pavitr says this you tune your hearing into the sounds below you. You hear it too, soft cries and calls for help coming from under you. The child couldn’t have been any older than 6, making all the more determined to not let your hold slip.
“Gwen help Pav, someone’s stuck under here!”
“Got it! I’m com-”
“Oh, you’re not helping anyone little spider.” A voice you hadn’t heard before speaks up, cutting Gwen off. The only other person who it could’ve been was the one the spiders were here to catch. You look up to see Vulture standing at full height with your webs still caging his wings to his body. From where you’re standing it doesn’t look likes he a danger to anyone at this point.
“Four against one, and you still let me win.” His voice is gravelly as if he has been gargling rocks. It's unnatural and it chills you to your bone.
“I hate to rain on your parade buddy,” you grimace as your feet slip against the debris under you “But it doesn’t look like you’re in any winning position.”
Before you could react, Vulture bares his claws and rips through your webs as if they were nothing. Your universe’s Vulture was never able to do this, what was up with this guy?
“You know that move kinda reminded me of a friend of mine. Name’s Spider-man, red and blue suit you couldn’t miss him,” you’re doing your best to keep him distracted. If he focuses on you they have a better chance of saving whoever is stuck, and anyone else who might be in danger, “Pav you kinda have to hurry.” You say quieter, as if trying to whisper to him.
“I am hurrying!” He says is a rushed manner, it sounds rude coming from him but you can’t take it to heart based on the predicament you guys are in.
It couldn’t have been more than a second you had your attention away from the anomaly, however, it was apparently long enough fro Vulture to pull out three spheres the size of softball from his makeshift tool belt. He takes aim and throws two straight towards you, he saves the other and throws it towards the crowd of civilians to your right.
“Look out!” Miles, who had finally gotten up recently, called out directing your attention back to the threat. Your eyes widen as you see them spheres coming towards you, each fitted with a set of mini vulture wings on the side almost making them look like they’re flying themselves.
‘Well that’s a little cliche isn’t it’ you think to yourself. Miles acts as soon as he can, shooting two webs on the two spheres heading your way. He redirects them to the empty part of the street where they explode taking out a tree and some asphalt below them.
“Well that was a little underwhelming,” Miles says, turning his attention to the Vulture. He shoots his webs onto his wings and pulls him as hard as he can. He connects a kick straight to his chest knocking him on the ground, and subsequently the air out of his lungs, “Not so tough now huh?”
“Y-you will p-pay for this Sp-spider-man! I swear!” Vulture wheezes out as Miles wraps countless webs around him, a lot more than you were able to do before. Should hold him long enough to get the barrier around him.
“I got the last one!” With all the commotion you almost forgot that three bombs were thrown, not just 2. The crowd was further away but the bomb was still moving fast towards them. Gwen moves as fast as she can shooting a single web to attach to the sphere. When it makes contact she swings her body all the way around and lets it go flying through the air in another direction. Unfortunately for you, that direction was heading right towards you and the wall you were busy holding up.
“Gwen no-!” you try to yell, but it was too late. The bomb hit the middle of the fallen wall and exploded on impact. The bricks tore apart like they were legos, all heading back to Earth below them. There were too many pieces for you to catch all of them, no matter how hard you tried.
“No no no no,” you swing the pieces you were able to catch to the side as you swing yourself down to look at the wreckage “Pav! Pav are you there?” Frantically you lift the broken parts of the well searching for Pavitr. The last you knew was that he was underneath it helping whoever was stuck, and there was no way he got out in time.
Gwen and Miles quickly appear besides you and help lift the bricks. The air around you is thick with tension, not a single sound is uttered as you desperately try to find the fallen spider. You move one particularly heavy piece with the help of Miles and start to see glimpses of red and blue.
“I found him! Help me get him out now!” Gwen drops the debris she was holding as she hurriedly makes her way to you and Miles. The three of you tirelessly work to remove every piece of the crumbled wall from Pavitr.
When the debris has been completely lifted you turn Pavitr over from his curled position. There’s blood coming from a gash on the side of his head, his nose is awkwardly crooked seeming to be broken, and his suit is littered with rips and tears. Laying on his left arm, curled into a ball, is a sniffling child. Tears running down her cheeks as she hides her face in her arms.
“Gwen you need to take her to where the rest of the civilians are, try and find her parents or someone who can take her.” You gently lift her head to get her to look at you. She doesn’t seem to have any obvious injuries, other than being a little shaken up from what had happened. Best bet is to get her to her family where they can have her looked after.
“But-”
“Now Gwen! I’m not asking you.” Gwen had never seen you so commanding before. You had always been one of the nicest spiders in the whole society, and everyone appreciated the contrast from Miguel’s hard exterior. Now, however, was no time to be easy going. One of your colleagues, someone who everyone in the society always looked at for cheering up, was seriously hurt. if you didn’t act fast there’s no telling how bad his injuries could get.
Gwen takes a few seconds to look at Pavitr, making sure he’ll be alright enough for her to leave for the next few minutes. She finally makes her move to grab the child when she sees you staring at her expectantly, a stare so intense it rivals that of Miguel’s.
“Ok Miles, we have to make sure there’s no neck injury before we move him. And when we do we have to be very, very careful do you understand?” Miles nods willing to listen to every order you give him. He recognizes that he doesn’t have as much experience with hurt teammates that you most likely do. Being the only spider of his universe and only being with the society for less than 2 years hasn’t prepared him much for this moment.
You try your best to examine Pavitr’s injuries, you’re no doctor yourself so you don’t have much faith in your abilities but it’s all you have for now. You try to feel his neck and spine, seeing if anything feels broken or out of place. What you would give to go back to those first aid training meetings and actually listen instead of being distracted, I mean who wouldn’t be distracted when Miguel of all people is doing the demonstrations in that skin tight suit of his?
After giving him a (very unprofessional and no where near protocol standards) evaluation you decide it’s time to move him. You inspect the area around you trying to figure out a way to safely move him without making anything worse. You look to the side and see a fallen light post, bent and contorted from the earlier bomb explosions. It’s the best bet you have as of right now.
“Miles, get that pole and bring it over here. We have to make something to carry him on.”
“Got it.” Miles is quick to jump to his feet and run to the light post you pointed out. It’s bent at almost a 90 degree angle, with a little more force it would be perfect to make a makeshift stretcher for Pavitr. When Miles returns he holds the pole out expectantly towards you , waiting for your instruction.
“We have to bend the bottom of it to make two sides okay? You hold this side and I’ll try to bend it.” Miles makes a strong grip on the straight side of the pole, you grab the other side as you start to pull down. It creaks under your strength as it starts to bend, not nearly as quickly as you need it to. Luckily, Gwen had returned from her little side mission just in time.
“Gwen you have to help me pull this down!” Wordlessly, she grabs the pole in front of where your hands are pulling down with all her might. The combined strength of you too almost has Miles lose his grip on his side, but he holds long enough for you to bend it completely giving it two parallel sides and a rounded top.
“Alright, now use your webs and connect the two poles so we can lay him down on it.” Once again, the three of you get to work with no arguing. You usually aren’t one to throw around orders at other spiders (that’s Miguel’s job and that’s why he’s seen as the hard-ass and not you), but right now your leadership skills are shining through. Gwen and Miles are getting a first hand experience as to why you’re considered the ‘co-leader’ of the society with Miguel.
With the makeshift gurney finished you and Miles lift Pavitr onto it, you take his legs as Miles holds his head.
“I got it (y/n), I can carry him.” Gwen puts her hand on your arm as you go to lift up the stretcher. You make eye contact with her for a second before you move to let her take your position. You can tell she’s shaken up as well, seeing your friend hurt will never get easier.
You tap a few times on your watch as you call Lyla.
“Lyla make sure the medical team is ready when we get back, Pavitr got hurt I don’t know how serious it is.”
“No problem boss lady, they’ve been notified and will be ready for your return.” You give her a quick smile and thank you as you hang up. You look behind at the two fellow spiders with you as you get the portal ready. Gwen has her head hanging low and you can hear her quiet sniffles.
“Gwen, it’ll be alright. I promise he’s going to get treated and be right as rain within a few days,” You give her a sympathetic look even if she can’t see it behind her mask.
“But it was my fault.”
“No, Gwen, don’t think like that please,” you start just as Miles goes to comfort her as well.
“It was actually Vulture so not really you. Wait...who’s going to bring him back?”
You turn your head to where Vulture is, still strung up in the webs trapped behind the red barrier.
“Oh right...I kinda forgot about him,” you mutter. He’s been awfully quiet since he’s been trapped which is pretty odd for a villain. Usually the keep going on and on about how Spider-man will regret this and they’ll come back stronger blah, blah, blah. “You guys go ahead and make sure the medical team takes him, I’ll get vulture.”
The portal opens behind you as Gwen and Miles make their way through it. When Gwen passes, you put a comforting hand on her shoulder and give a reassuring squeeze.
When they’ve disappeared through the portal you make your way to vulture. You go to pick the anomaly (somewhat awkwardly, its hard to carry these things and that’s why you always make Miguel do it for you :)) and drag it to the orange, hexagonal opening. Tossing the vulture in first you check the scene one more time making sure nothing else could go wrong before you yourself disappear back to HQ.
──
Upon returning to HQ, you see the medical team of spiders (led by Spider-Doc) carrying Pavitr off on a real gurney to the medical wing. Releasing a breath you didn’t know you were holding, you finally felt yourself somewhat relax. Knowing Pavitr was being helped by trained medical professionals definitely took a weight off your back.
That weight seems to return when you look to the right to see a clearly upset Gwen being comforted by Miles. Her shoulders are shaking as she hides her face behind her hands, but you’re sure if you could see it you would be met with the sight of her tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Gwen, don’t be so hard on yourself, Pav will be okay i’m sure of it.” You arrive on her other side, opposite of Miles. You understand how she’s feeling right now with you yourself not being immune to seeing teammates injured in the field.
“How can I not be? Pavitr got hurt because of me! And now I have to go face Miguel with the stupid mission report and he’s going to be so mad and yell and kick me off the team and-”
“Gwen! Slow down! Just breathe,” During her rant Gwen had jumped up, pacing back and forth in front of you and Miles. It hurt to see her so upset, she was a trusted teammate and you almost felt like she was your little sister. She often came to you and Jess for advice or mentoring, she didn’t need the burden of telling Miguel and facing his fury.
“Don’t worry about Miguel okay, you’re not telling him you did anything.”
“W-what do you mean? He has to know something happened to Pavitr whether I tell him or not.” Both her and Miles are looking at you with skeptical looks. They knew there was no way of getting out of the post-mission report with Miguel, they were mandatory and he made sure to make that clear to everyone.
“We’re not telling him you did anything, I’ll say it was my mistake.”
“No! You can’t do that he’ll just yell at you! It was my mistake I have to take responsibility.”
“And you have! You’re beating yourself up about it out here you don’t need Miguel to add to your stress because that’s all he’ll do if you tell him. You said it yourself, it was a mistake, everyone makes mistakes. Even Miguel, he’s just not as forgiving as he should be,” you take a second to pause, the two teenagers stare at you not liking the plan you thought of (Gwen specifically). “Gwen, Miguel is very intense when he’s angry, as you both know, if I can save anyone especially someone young like either of you from him than I always will. Teammates look out for teammates, and you don’t deserve to be kicked out of the society. You’ve earned it and I won’t let that be taken away just because Miguel wants be an asshole, okay? Don’t say a word about it, it was all me that’s all he needs to know.”
Gwen hesitates, not wanting you to take the fall for her. You understand her reluctance, she’s mature to the point where she understands she has to take responsibility for her actions. But you also know that Miguel will not care, he will be cruel, he will yell, and say hurtful things to anyone who comes near when he’s angry. You can’t sit by and let someone like Gwen, so much potential and skill, go to waste because of Miguel’s anger issues.
“Hate to break up the party, buuuut Miguel would like to see you all for the report.” Lyla’s voice breaks the temporary silence that surrounded the three of you. You see her appear on your watch, a guilty expression on her face. It seems even she knows what’s coming during this report.
“Not a word Gwen.” She takes in your stern gaze, realizing that no amount of arguing would stop you from trying to take the fall for her. She surges forward and wraps her arms tight around your shoulders, the sniffles that had previously slowed down ramping back up.
“Thank you, i’m so sorry (y/n).”
“Don’t be sorry, you didn’t do anything wrong,” you give her a slight smile trying to ease her worries a bit. “Alright, let’s go.”
You aren’t sure what Miguel’s reaction will be when you tell him. You’ve known him long enough to think he would go easier on you than someone like Gwen (and definitely Miles, poor boy), but he can always be unpredictable.
The walk to his office seemed to pass in an instant. Even after all this time knowing Miguel the thought of him being angry with you did intimidate you just a little (maybe a lot). You settled on taking deep breaths to try and calm your nerves.
‘It’s only Miguel,’ you thought to yourself ‘You’ve known him for years everything will be fine.’
The second you stepped through his office doors you realized everything would not be fine.
The platform all his monitors are on was already lowered all the way down. He had his back towards you but you could practically see the anger rolling off of him in waves. His hunched shoulders did little to calm your nerves, and when he started to speak your anxiety went through the roof.
“What the hell happened out there?” His voice was practically a growl at this point. You couldn’t pick out the soft, teasing voice Miguel usually uses when he talks to you. His voice was filled with pure rage and you could all feel it.
“Well we first got there-”
“I don’t want to here from you Morales. Tell me what happened.” He looks directly at you. His usually brown eyes burning a deep red, confirming his level of anger was already through the roof before you can start talking.
“Well when I arrived I helped Miles contain the Vulture while Gwen and Pavitr evacuated. We caught the anomaly and brought him back so it was a success-”
“Then how did Pavitr get hurt that bad? He was knocked out when he came back, did you forget that little detail (y/n)?” The way he said your name sent shivers down your spine. He usually said it much softer with a teasing lift to it, now there was nothing but coldness, almost disgust, as he spit it out.
“Right, about that, it was an accident Miguel-”
“An accident? He could’ve died (y/n)! What do you mean accident?”
“Look i’m sorry Miguel, I made a mistake-”
“Is a sorry going to fix this? Will a sorry help Pavitr get better? What if he died would a sorry magically bring him back? I don’t want a sorry I want you to not be careless in the field!”
“I know it won’t but it was just a mistake, everyone makes mistakes!” You were getting a little desperate at this point. Raising your voice to match Miguel’s own. How could he jump to berating you without even letting you finish a damn sentence?
“What was this mistake then?”
“The anomaly had these little, bomb, things and he threw it at Gwen who was holding this wall to help Pavitr and I messed up the trajectory when I tried to move it from hitting the civilians. It, uh, blew up the wall and the pieces fell on Pavitr...” you rubbed the back of your neck as you finished your explanation. It sounded a lot more ridiculous coming from your mouth in front of Miguel. It wasn’t even like you were lying anyway, you just switched places with Gwen.
Looking at Miguel you can tell he isn’t satisfied with your explanation. You can admit that it was a pretty easy mistake to avoid, but you can never predict what will happen when you’re out on a mission. And you don’t blame Gwen for it, it was, after all, an honest mistake.
“I sent you out there to help them. They couldn’t handle it so I thought you could but it’s obvious you couldn’t either.”
“Now Miguel that’s not fair-”
“It’s plenty fair,” Miguel practically screeches, fangs poking out from his gums as he takes a step closer to you “No one with your experience or position should make mindless mistakes to get another spider hurt! If I knew I couldn’t trust you with this simple mission I would’ve never given you a watch in the first place!”
“Miguel, how could you say that after all I’ve done for you and this organization? You’ve always been able to trust me and one mistake breaks all of that? That’s not fair!” Miguel looks like he’s about to break a blood vessel with how red his face has gotten. He stalks closer towards you, every word coming from his mouth cutting deeper and deeper.
“What’s not fair is I’ve given you a chance you obviously didn’t deserve,” with every step he takes closer to you, you take one back. Soon you’ve run out of space as your back presses into the door behind you. “Everything you’ve ever done has always been with my help, you’ve never done something good by yourself,” that one felt like a dagger to your chest, you’ve never had to rely on another spider to complete your missions. Sure you enjoyed their company but you would’ve done just find by yourself, and you’re sure Miguel knows that even if he’s too mad to see it now.
He grabs your arm at your elbow, claws dangerously close to breaking through your skin. You wince at his harsh grip, never has he ever been this rough with you, not even when you first met and all you did was annoy him.
“Go home (y/n), you’re not needed anymore.” he grabs onto the watch on your wrist and snatches it off, claws actually breaking through your skin leaving behind three long scratches. You snatch your hand away from him, cringing under the pain. You attempt to soothe it by squeezing with your left hand but it only agitates it more. Thick bubbles of crimson start to peak through your fingers from the scratches.
“Miguel you can’t do that!” Gwen tries to protest but she’s quickly shut down by his intimidating glare.
“Go, Margo will take you home.” He turns his back to you as your lip starts to tremble. How could he throw you out after everything you’ve been through?
“Miguel-”
“No! He dicho que te vayas ya!” (*I told you to leave now). He looks terrifying when he turns back to you. Claws extended, mouth turned up into a snarl with his fangs on full display, and those hauntingly red eyes boring into yours. You stare at him for a few more seconds before turning to leave. Just as you get to the door you look back for one more second.
“You’re cruel Miguel, you don’t deserve this team.” You hate how your voice wobbles but you can’t help it. You determined, however, to not let him see you cry. He doesn’t deserve to see his full affect on you, even if he could already tell you were on the verge of crying. You pull open the door as you speed to the ‘Go Home Machine’.
Halfway there you start to get this tingling feeling, on you haven’t felt since you first crash landed in Nueva York all those years ago. Soon your body is a mess of abstract shapes and colors, glitching on the floor where you end up on your knees. God, you had forgotten how much it had hurt to glitch. You’d gotten used to the luxury of traversing any universe imaginable without running the risk of glitching. Now that had all been taken from you because of one stubborn man with anger issues.
Margo gives you a sympathetic look when you arrive at the machine, most likely already been notified of what she had to do. She didn’t want to do it, but she also wasn’t too willing to get ripped into by Miguel like you had. By this time your cheeks had been covered in tears as your hand was also covered in your blood. The pain you were feeling, both physical and emotional, was something you haven’t felt since you had lost your mother to the Green Goblin of your universe. Losing not just your mother, but also your uncle has broken you completely. Finding so many others who had been through the same traumatic experiences as you greatly helped your mental health.
Miguel had, admittedly, helped you the most. Hearing of all the loss he had gone through, and to see him push through it (even if his solution was to become a reclusive hermit in his office). Seeing him persevere and continue to help save the multiverse even after it had taken so much from him had motivated you to do the same. Meeting all the other spiders was definitely an added bonus that cemented your commitment to helping everyone you could.
Now to think that was all over for one, silly mistake.
‘You know what? This is good for you (y/n),’ you try to convince yourself as you step into the machine. It scans you to figure out what universe to bring you to as you’re preoccupied with your thoughts.
‘No more having to defend Miguel against everyone’s criticism. After all these years it turns out they were right about him all along.’ You laugh sadly to yourself, you were too blind by your affections for the man to realize what so many people were trying to tell you. Never again would you be so blind.
──
When you finally arrive in your universe you’re met with a downpour. Just your luck after such a shitty day. You hastily make your way across the city to your apartment, having an injured wrist makes this much harder than it should have been.
As soon as you arrive home you head straight to your bathroom for the first aid kit. Your years as a solo act in your universe gave you the knowledge to patch yourself up after an injury. You peel back your suit to investigate the damage Miguel’s claws did to you. The three jagged cuts are red and inflamed. While the blood flow has slowed down, there were still a few drops leaking out. That’s definitely going to be a bitch to try and wash out of your suit, thanks again Miguel you prick.
You flush out the wound, making sure it can’t get infected with any multiversal bacteria and wrap it up tightly with gauze. You head to your kitchen and down two painkillers with a glass of water, hoping it will stave off the pain long enough for you to go to sleep and be down with today all together.
──
Back at the Spider Society HQ, things had been...tense to say the least. The other spiders had learned what had happened between you and Miguel (hard not to when he was yelling that loud). Almost everyone made it clear they didn’t like Miguel’s decision to cast you out, and those who didn’t started staying in their own universe more and more to avoid a stressed out Miguel.
While you were with the society you were often times the one to calm Miguel down when he was stressed. Sure Lyla was always there to calm him but when she needed extra backup she called you, sometimes Jess and even less likely Peter (those he had his moments), but mostly you. However, with you gone it seemed no one could calm the raging storm that was Miguel O’Hara.
You were the one person who he could stand long enough to actually work through his emotions, no one else could even get close to him without him throwing something at their head and yelling at them to leave him alone.
It’s safe to say that working in the HQ was becoming hell, Miguel could feel it too. He didn’t like the person he was when you weren’t around, contrary to popular belief. He didn’t want to constantly be angry and stressed out over something as minor as the cafeteria running out of empanadas before he could snag one. He needed you back, desperately.
“Lyla please.”
Miguel fiddles with his watch, cursing at the error message he gets every time he types in your universes coordinates. Lyla had completely locked him out of your universe and he had no way to override the control.
“No can do boss man, she needs time away from you, you were too harsh.”
“I know, that’s why I need to go, to say sorry. La necesito de vuelta.” (*I need her back) Miguel whispers under his breath. He was dying without you, he felt as if he was drowning in his own emotions. Guilt; for yelling and insulting you when you didn’t deserve it, pain; for losing his closest friend and ally to his own stubbornness, anger; at everyone else for always annoying him when all he wants is to be alone. The list could go on and on.
“Sorry Miguel, I think it’s for the best that you leave her be for a while.”
Miguel sighs as he falls back into his desk chair. He pinches the bridge of his nose as he slumps further and further down into the chair hoping he could disappear entirely until you returned.
“What if there’s an emergency in her universe Lyla? You can’t shut me out for that.”
“Miguel did you forget that just below you there’s like a thousand spider people who could help? Besides if it really comes down to it I’ll let you go but only, and I mean only, if she’s in serious trouble.” Miguel groans much more dramatically now.
Deep in his heart he knows Lyla is probably right, the last person in the multiverse you would want to see would be him, but that doesn’t stop his heart from lurching every time he thinks of your face as he yelled at you. Your wobbling lip and glossed over eyes had haunted his dreams ever since that mission report happened just over a week ago. He had vowed to himself to never let his anger get the best of him when it came to you. You were dear to his heart, the first spider he had ever met. Sure you were a little annoying, and overbearing, when you first met; but there was something about you that drew him in. No one understood him like you did, and no one else took the time to chip away at his hard exterior like you did. He was a softy at heart, it just took a while for him to showcase that to people he met.
“Oh Miguel~” your voice calls out into the void that is his office. He stands at the top of the platform, hunched over the computer. “You know every time I come in here I always seem to find you in the exact same place.”
“You must come in here too often then.”
“Oh haha, you should really leave the jokes to the spiders who are actually funny big man.” You’ve made your way over to where his platform is elevated, knowing it would take too long to lower (that’s if he would even lower it for you), you shoot a web towards the ceiling and climb your way up to be level with him.
“Was there something you needed?” He crosses his arms over his chest as he turns around to face you. You haven’t let go of the web yet instead deciding on hanging upside down to stare at him.
“Nothing really, just wanted to visit my favorite Spider-man,” Miguel would die before he admitted to anyone how that statement made his heart jump, “And to make sure that certain spider doesn’t overwork himself and skip out on diner again.” You have a bright smile on your face as you hold out the little to-go box you got from the cafeteria. You had learned that Miguel often missed out on meals because he was so preoccupied with his work, it really wasn’t healthy and you were determined to try and break this habit.
Miguel was secretly grateful every time you brought him something to eat. he really did have a habit of forgetting to eat, but recently he might have purposefully stayed in his office for too long so you would bring him something for you both to eat together away from everyone else. It was a nice break from the stressful job of keeping the whole multiverse from collapsing.
“(Y/n)-what the hell is this?” Sitting in the container wasn’t the usual snack you would always bring him, it was a burger with a red and blue bun in the design of his signature mask. You couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled out of your throat as you saw his disgruntled expression. He sits there feigning impatience as you continue to laugh at him.
“Sorry-sorry. It’s just...you should’ve seen your face!” You take a few more seconds to compose yourself and you wipe the wetness from under your eyes, “They didn’t have anymore empanadas unfortunately so I had to settle for something else.”
“And of all things you chose this? I didn’t even know they served these!”
“That might’ve been my idea.” Lyla chirps in from the monitors behind Miguel before quickly disappearing again when she sees his disapproving face.
“Ustedes dos serán mi muerte.” (*You two will be the death of me) He sighs out as your laughter fills his office once again. He turns to face his monitors again so you can’t see the smile forming on his face from the sound.
“You still moping in here?” The sound of a foreign voice startles Miguel out of his daydream. He was caught up in his thoughts he hadn’t heard anyone walking towards his office, let alone coming in.
“Leave me alone Peter.”
“No can do Miguel, i’m not your biggest fan right now but Mayday still likes you so I brought her to see you,” without warning he swings up to the platform and plops the redheaded child in Miguel’s lap, “and you’re punishment for being such a dic...I mean meany-head is having to deal with my child.”
Secretly Miguel liked this punishment, it wasn’t really a secret to Peter though. Ever since Gabriella he had a soft spot for young children, even if he lost one of his own. Mayday took to climbing up Miguel’s stretched out arms and onto his shoulders, playing with his brown locks between her chubby fingers.
“No soy tu niñera, Parker.” (*I’m not your babysitter, Parker).
“You know I can’t understand you when you speak Spanish,” he rolls his eyes as he leans on Miguel’s desk, “But i’ll just assume you’re thanking me for blessing you with seeing my insanely cute child.” Peter smiles as he rubs Mayday’s hair, it sticks up in all different directions from his actions prompting Peter to take a picture with a frowning Miguel in the frame.
“You have to stop pouting dude, this is all your own fault.”
“You don’t have to remind me.” Miguel snips back, holding out his hands to catch the baby currently doing a somersault on the top of his head. She lands perfectly into his awaiting hands quickly going to smush Miguel’s cheeks when she’s face to face with him.
“Why not just go and apologize man, your super smart scientist brain ever think about that?” Peter is met with an incredulous look as soon as the sentence leaves his mouth.
“Obviously I thought of that already, Lyla won’t let me go.”
“That’s smart (y/n) would probably, like, rip your head off if she saw you,” Peter chuckles to himself and he grabs Mayday from Miguel’s lap. She had taken to drawing the lines of the spider on his chest with her finger as the adults talked, “Anyway, gotta end our little visit little Mayday has to be put down for a nap and MJ will actually kill me if I keep her up any longer.”
Peter descends from the platform with a swing of a web, landing silently on the floor below them. Miguel swivels his chair around to watch him leave the office.
“Maybe with this alone time you can start to think out your apology to (y/n), because boy oh boy is it going to have to be spectacular for it to work.” Peter lets out a little laugh again clearly enjoying torturing Miguel with this. He gives a wave to Miguel as he finally moves all the way out the door to go home. Miguel lets out a long sigh as he slouches back down in the chair, feeling the start of a headache brewing in his skull.
──
Back in your universe, you had been doing pretty well on your own. You had taken down your universe's vulture, luckily with no accidents happening this time. Fortunately for you, the villains of Earth-727 seemed to be taking a break from their villainous activities. After the vulture incident you hadn’t heard so much as a peep from any of the big players out there.
Most of what kept you busy was going to work during the day and patrolling the city at night. You were able to stop multiple robberies, a kidnapping where the victim even bought you a milkshake as thanks (no matter how many times you tried to refuse), and even saved a cat stuck in a tree in central park.
Sure it was mundane, but it’s what you did everyday before the spider society so it wasn’t anything you couldn’t handle. Although you did miss everyone at HQ real bad.
It had been approximately 3 months since Miguel kicked you out of the society. At first you were angry; cursing Miguel and his anger issues for taking it out on you. Then you were deeply sad; crying yourself to sleep as the loneliness you thought you had previously lost crept back into your mind. After the sadness weened out of your system the anger came back tenfold. It was almost like a cycle, bringing you back and forth between both emotions till it felt like they blended together. Now, you were just content with how you were living your life. Sure it wasn’t ideal to lose all your friends but you were proud of how you had adjusted to not having the society in your life anymore.
Peter had come to visit with Mayday many times, sometimes joined by Gwen and Miles. Whenever Gwen visited she always gave you the biggest hug and apologized a million times over for what happened. You never blamed her, only Miguel, but no matter how many times you told her she didn’t need to say sorry it was always the first thing out of her mouth when she saw you.
As soon as Pavitr had recovered from his injury, he popped in to say hello and catch up. You loved seeing him back up and healthy and sharing a cup of chai with him became very therapeutic for you both. Sometimes, but not always he was joined by Hobie who enjoyed showing you both new things he had learned on his guitar.
Jess stopped in often to chat, the most out of anyone. You and her had grown very close over the years. You both were basically second in command to the society it was only a matter of time before you two became close friends.
While the visits were nice you wanted nothing more than to actually go to HQ. You were offered many chances to go back every time a spider popped into your universe.
“Come on (y/n), if you really want to go just come with me. Miguel probably won’t know and if he does he’ll probably be glad to see you!” Jess tried to bargain with you as she set the coordinates on her watch to HQ. Ben Reilly and a bunch of other Peters had been asking to see you recently, they weren’t brave enough to go against Miguel and visit (even though Miguel wouldn’t have done anything to them).
You sighed as you set down your mug of coffee. It was nearly 11 o’clock on a Saturday morning when she came to visit. You hadn’t even been awake when her arrival jostled you out of your sleep.
“Jess I really don’t want to go back right now, if I see Miguel I might just punch him in the face.” Even the thought of Miguel made you slightly sick to your stomach. Ultimately, you did want to see him, he was a close friend after all! You just didn’t think you were ready to face him just yet.
“Which is exactly why you should come back, I’d pay to see that!” You share a laugh as you bid her farewell as she steps through the portal.
Today had been a slow day like usual. Aimlessly swinging around the city could only pass the time so fast. It seemed all of New York’s criminals had taken the night of which was good for the citizens but detrimental to your boredom.
That leads you to where you are now, sitting on the edge of a roof of a random building that made up your New York’s skyline. Looking out over the city had always made you feel at peace, calming you down from whatever the day had previously thrown at you.
You sit there, humming a tune to yourself as you kick your feet back and forth, when all of the sudden you feel the familiar tingle run down your spine. The hairs on the back of your neck stand up as you feel the presence of not one, but multiple people behind you. And not just anyone, this feeling is only brought on by the presence of a fellow spider.
You rise to your feet as you turn to where the group stands. You catch the fading image of the portal closing as your met with your closest friends in the society.
Jess and Peter give you a big smile as Gwen and Miles appear on the opposite sides of them.
“Wow! Hey guys what are you doing here?” A bright smile paints itself on your lips as you greet your friends, the mundane-ness of the day leaving your mind. Seeing your friends always lifts your spirits, but they usually never come together especially not four at a time.
“What we can’t visit our favorite Spider-woman of Earth-727.” Peter returns with a smile just as large, bringing a laugh out of your throat.
“You do know I’m the only Spider-person of Earth-727 right, Peter?”
“Eh that’s not the point.” Peter shrugs his hands as he answers, falling silent once again.
“You know we all love to see you (y/n), but there is a real reason we’re all here today. Mig-what are you doing back there?! Get up here!” Jess reaches behind her and pulls something to the front of the group. Well, not something but someone.
In front of you stands a sheepish Miguel, rubbish the back of his neck with his palm. He looks nervous as he keeps his gaze towards the floor not on your eyes. As soon as you see him, your expression changes from one of joy to anger. The group behind Miguel sees this, as the prepare for what could become a screaming argument on a random roof in your universe.
“Hola.” He awkwardly waves at you as he musters up the courage to meet your eyes. He regrets it when he sees your expression, but he maintains eye contact nonetheless.
“What do you want Miguel?” That one stung, you almost never used his full name when referring to him. You always opted for silly nicknames or shortened versions of his name (that he says he hated but now hearing his full name come from you, he would give his whole life to hear a nickname instead).
“I-uh need your help with-” Before he can finish his sentence he’s met with a hard smack to the side of his head, “¿Que?” he stutters out as he turns to Jessica, who’s giving him a disapproving look.
“Isn’t there something else you would like to say before asking for a favor, Miguel?” He racks his brain for a few seconds trying to figure out what other thing he would have to say, when it hits him.
“Oh, yeah, right,” he clears his throat as he turns back to you, “(Y/n), i’m sorry for how I treated you before. I was stressed from everything that happened before and I got angry and took it out on you when you didn’t deserve it. For that i’m very, very sorry. Can you forgive me?”
A small snicker can be heard from your right before you could properly answer. You turn to see Miles trying to cover his face as obvious little laughs keep falling from his mouth.
“I’m sorry guys, it just I've never seen him apologize before, its jarring,” he lets out a few more laughs as he turns to look at the rest of the spiders there. When he’s met with Miguel’s scariest looking ‘death glare’ he stops instantly, “Ok, ok i’m shutting up.”
Miguel turns back to look at you, a hopeful glimmer in his eye. You can admit (to yourself, not out loud), that seeing him like this gave you a hint of satisfaction. The fact that you were one of the few people, possibly even the only one, who could force Miguel to apologize for his actions. His ego had always been way too big to even think about admitting he was wrong, however, if it meant seeing you again everyday he would do it a million times over.
“Why didn’t you come earlier?”
“I wanted to, believe me, but Lyla wouldn’t let me.”
Lyla suddenly appears on your shoulder, sporting her fabulous fur coat and glasses as she guiltily smiles.
“Yeah you can blame me for that, I thought you would’ve wanted your space from Mr. Doom and Gloom over there.” You chuckles at Lyla’s answer, feeling glad that it wasn’t his choice to wait three months to see you. It would’ve been devastating to know he didn’t think of you at all over the time you had been gone.
You look back at Miguel, contemplating your answer. You wanted nothing more than to see Miguel again, even after how he acted. But there was no way you were going to totally forgive him so quickly.
“Hold on-how did you guys know to find me here?”
“I’ll give you a hint...it starts with a T and ends with ‘racker’.” Lyla chirps up once again from her perch on your shoulder. She no longer has a look of guilt on her AI face, it’s more smug this time.
“Miguel O’Hara you put a tracker on me?!” Miguel stutters for a few seconds, not sure how to respond to your question.
“I...don’t know what you’re talking about (y/n).” He shifts back to nervous Miguel, a state of being you rarely see him in. He goes back to rubbing his neck, a nervous tick of his you’ve picked up on since knowing him.
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I might’ve put a tracker on you but it’s only because you have a habit of getting lost!”
“I do not.”
Once again, Lyla buts into the conversation. This time she has an orange square in front of her filled with dates and various Earth coordinates.
“Ooo, sorry (y/n) but I do have to agree with Miguel on this one. I have a whole list of every time you’ve gotten lost in a universe that isn’t yours.” Lyla scrolls through all the listings on the screen as Miguel looks on with a slightly smug expression. He loved being right, and you would love to wipe that look off his face right now.
“Even if you think I get lost often that doesn’t mean you should track me!”
“Well how else am I supposed to find you when you wander away from me all the way into New Jersey on Earth-32752?” Miguel questions, placing his hands on his hips. He looks at you expectantly, raising his eyebrows slightly for every moment it takes you to respond.
“You know Miguel, I don’t like you sometimes.”
“Yeah you’ve made sure to tell me.”
A pregnant silence fills the air between you. It almost feels like you’re already falling back into normalcy with Miguel; you both annoying each other but at the same time loving each other’s company. It feels so natural to you both that you seem to forget the four other people standing on the roof with you. They realize as well how well you too get along even when you’re supposed to hate him.
“Can you please forgive me (y/n)?” It’s odd to hear Miguel plead, even rarer to see him do it in front of others. It tells you how serious he is about the situation, melting your heart every time he repeats it.
“It’s going to take a lot more than that O’Hara, but I’ll help you for now.” a slight smile formed on his face, but you knew if it was just you two his face would’ve been sporting the biggest, toothy smile one could imagine.
“A lot more anomalies have been popping up recently, we need all the help we can get containing them,” You hum in response as you watch him start to switch back to professional Miguel. It’s a shame, relaxed Miguel has always been your favorite, “Are you busy now or?”
“Did it look like I was busy when you got here?”
“You do know when someone asks you a question you’re not supposed to answer with a question of your own?”
“Whatever O’Hara let’s just go.” When you finish Miguel grabs the extra watch he had stored for you and tosses it in your direction. You easily catch it and place it on your wrist. The familiar weight on your arm bringing you comfort you hadn’t felt in 3 long months.
“It’s good to have you back.” Gwen softly says as she wraps her arms around you. You give her a soft smile as you squeeze her back, giddy with excitement at the prospect of returning to HQ. It had been so long since you had been there it made you a little nervous.
Jess taps her watch a few times as another portal opens where the previous one stood. One by one everyone walks through back to Earth-928, until it’s only you and Miguel left. He stands on the side of it waiting for you to head through first.
“Te echaba de menos, cariño.” (*I missed you). Miguel says barely above a whisper, as if all of New York would hear if he spoke louder. He wanted it to be just between you two, so you would know how much he meant it.
You’re not ready to say that back yet, luckily he understands this without you having to voice it. To suffice for your lack of words you squeeze his arm and smile at him. Taking a moment to appreciate his beauty in the late afternoon glow of the sun. While you didn’t want to say it out loud, you definitely missed him and his company over the time you had been away.
When you finally look away, he lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as he follows you through the portal.
──
When you first got back to HQ, you spent the first few hours catching up with the Spiders you hadn’t seen in so long. It was refreshing to see all the Peters again and hear all about their respective MJs.
After your little reunion with everyone and a quick stop at the cafeteria to have lunch with some of those spiders as well, you made your way to Miguel’s office. When you first arrived he had stood back, letting you greet your old friends. He wanted nothing more than to take you to his office so only he would have your attention, but he knew that wasn’t fair of him. He told you to meet him in his office when you were ready, and in the time between he had been watching the clock waiting for your arrival.
Miguel could hear distant footsteps coming down the hall towards his office. Immediately he could tell who they were from; much softer than most spiders, and quicker too.
You push open the door letting light stream in from the hallway. Miguel always had his office dim to not strain his eyes and the sudden change in brightness took some getting used to for you.
“You ready to work now Miguel?”
“Well that is why I’m sitting in my office.”
“Must you always be a smart ass with me?” You scoff at him as you swing yourself up to his platform, as you’ve done a million times before. Miguel shrugs his shoulders as he pulls up a chair for you to sit. You take it gratefully as you wait for Miguel to clue you in on what he was working on.
“As I said earlier, anomalies have been popping up much more frequently than before. We’re starting to get stretched a little thin.” You hum in understanding as you watch the monitors. They detail every anomaly that’s been contained for the past month, and predictions of where the next one might be.
Miguel had always needed your help with this, you had some kind of sixth sense of when and where anomalies were going to strike. You could catch the slightest glitch in an universe and help stop it before it could cause too much damage. You were the only one Miguel ever specifically asked for help from.
“All right then let’s get to work.”
──
You work side by side seamlessly. Having done this so many times before it’s almost like second nature to you both. Miguel steals glances at you often, mesmerized with how good you look when you’re focused. You’ve made some headway with your work and trying to stop the anomalies before they happen.
You stretch your hands over your head, groaning as your bones pop. You lean back in your chair as you look over to Miguel. He’s standing at full height, completely towering over your sitting frame, as he watches the screens. He feel your eyes on him as he turns his head.
“Yes?”
“Don’t you think it’s time for a break Mig.” Oh, there’s that nickname again. His heart beat starts to pick up as he tries to calm himself down.
“I don’t need a break.” “I think you do. You know that little stand down the street that sells those amazing gyros? I think you should take a break and go get some for us.” One time Miguel had bought you one from the little Greek stand down the road from HQ. You had been helping him for 3 days straight with little to no breaks and he wanted to show his appreciation. Every since you tried them that first time you always made him walk down and by you one whenever you needed a break.
“Why can’t you go?”
“Not my universe remember Mig? What if someone sees me and their whole life changes because I’m just that incredibly gorgeous,” Miguel can’t help but agree with your statement, “And your whole worlds falls apart because of it? Hm?”
That was all just a round about way to say you didn’t feel like getting up and walking down. Miguel knew this, and he also knew he would do anything to make you happy so he agrees.
He quickly changes to something that isn’t his spider-man suit, he opts for a simple shirt and sweatpants outfit as he makes his way down the street. Meanwhile, you’re in his office watching one of his universe’s movies that Lyla picked out for you. You don’t understand everything, but luckily the Spanish you’ve picked up on from Miguel helps you get the overall plot of the movie.
Miguel returns about 20 minutes later, holding two aluminum foil wrapped gyros in his hands. You look down to the floor below to see him make his way to the platform. His skin-tight shirt does nothing to hide the sculpted muscles of his arms, shoulders, and back. You thought he looked good in his Spider suit, but seeing him in a relaxed outfit does something to you. You can imagine coming home and seeing a Miguel O’Hara in a comfy outfit like this waiting for your return. It’s not a bad daydream to have in your opinion.
“Sometimes I think I spoil you too much cariño.”
“Good thing you love spoiling me then huh?” Miguel lets out a small laugh, one that you love hearing. He’s always so serious with most other spiders, hearing him relax around you brings a certain warmness to your chest you can’t quite place.
“What are you watching?”
“I don’t know,” your voice is slightly muffled through your first bite of food, “Lyla picked it out for me.”
“Can you even understand it?”
“Enough, yeah. Now shh I’m trying to watch!”
Miguel knows he won’t get any work done with you here like this. You presence much to distracting for him to ignore (and for the fact that if he makes any noise working you’ll yell at him that you can’t hear your movie). Resigned, he pulls up another chair from the ground floor and sets it next to yours. He starts to eat his food as you both get absorbed into the movie in front of you.
As the end credits roll Miguel can’t seem to take his eyes off you. All throughout the film he took sneaking glances besides him, for some reason not being able to control his eyes as they drifted to you. You’re talking about the movie and the ‘surprise twist’ that you never saw coming (Miguel did, it was very obvious but you probably didn’t understand enough to catch on early), but he’s not really listening. His gaze shifts from your lips to your eyes every so often, the only thought on his mind being how soft your lips would feel against his.
He tries to stop his mind from wandering to kissing you, but it’s all he can think about. It reminds him so much of the first time he realized how badly he wanted a kiss from you.
Miguel had not been having a good day whatsoever. His one monitor was broken completely, the others one kept freezing on him, and there was this faint music coming from one that he could not find for the life of him.
It’s safe to say he was pissed off.
Not to mention how many times different spiders came into his office to tell he things he never needed to hear in the first place. Was his mean, scary, intimidating reputation working anymore? All he wanted was alone time but instead he got a headache from hearing a different Peter Parker voice every hour of the day.
You hadn’t been at HQ all day. You had some responsibilities in your own universe that needed tending to first before you could swing by. You were finally free to visit the headquarters right around 6 o’clock in the afternoon, an hour before your daily diner ‘date’ with Miguel. It wasn’t actually a date but you’d like to think it was.
You said hello to some friends, listened to stories from various missions and universes before making your way to the cafeteria. You grab two empanadas, one for both of you, and make the familiar journey to Miguel’s office.
“Oh Migster! You up there?” A head pops over the edge of the platform, Miguel’s head to be exact. He stares down at you for a few seconds before starting to lower it down.
“Migster?” He raises his eyebrow at you clearly confused at the questionable nickname.
“I’m thinking of new ones to give you, you don’t like it?”
“Not in the slightest.”
“I’ll just have to keep thinking then,” you give him a big smile as you set the two food containers on the desk in front of you both. “I’m guessing you haven’t eaten yet today?”
“What makes you say that..” he trails off, clearly showing his guilt no matter how much he tries to play it off.
“The day you eat without me forcing you will be the day the sun explodes Miggy. We both know that.” He grumbles quietly to himself, knowing you’re probably right but not necessarily wanting to admit it. You’d never let him live it down if he did.
He takes one of the empanadas as you pull up two chairs to the monitors. He sits in the chair across from you as you do the same. The first bite he takes almost makes him moan from the taste. They aren’t the best thing he’s ever tasted but after a whole day of having nothing in your stomach, almost anything would taste heavenly.
You make sure he starts to eat before you take your first bite. You were always worried about him and his self destructive habits. Not eating, always working, and barely sleeping are not good for you, even a genetically enhanced person like Miguel.
Miguel loved how you worried for him. He loved how you would sit down and talk with him to make sure he ate or took a break from work. He especially loved when you would force him to leave and even walk him home to his apartment in Nueva York. You’d only done that a few times, but he enjoyed being able to talk in the privacy of his own home. He also very much enjoyed your face being the last thing he sees as he drifts to sleep. Even if you left to your own universe before he could wake up, just knowing you cared so much made his heart flutter.
You were busy talking about your day, ranting about your coworkers and noisy neighbors who stay up until 4 in the morning playing music at the highest volume. Knowing you were losing sleep because of them made Miguel want to go have a little chat with them himself. After everything you do for him it’s only fair he takes care of you too, right?
Truthfully, halfway through your rant Miguel stopped listening. Not on purpose, of course. After deciding to take care of your neighbor problems himself (he knew he was intimidating, this would be no problem for him), he started to zone out.
The way your mouth formed around the words hypnotized him. Never before had your lips looked so inviting as they did currently.
Never before had the wrinkle in your nose when you laughed enticed him as much as it did now.
Never before had the sparkle in your eye when you mentioned something you enjoyed resulted in a warm, fuzzy feeling to erupt in his chest.
Never before had Miguel looked at you in this way.
And never before had he wanted to kiss you so badly.
His heart seemed to be breaking with each second that passed without his lips on yours. It seemed like only a second had gone by before Miguel was engulfed in these feelings about you. What had brought this on? And why couldn’t he stop himself from staring at your lips?
The sound of a blaring alarm snapped him out of his daydream. Right next to his head on the monitors was surveillance footage of Earth-329, a variant of Green Goblin glitching in the middle of an abandoned building.
“Duty calls,” you stand as you start to stretch out your arms and legs. You had always warned Miguel that not stretching would get him hurt during a mission, you were right, after a particularly hard mission he had been sore for a week after while you were fine the next day, “You want to take this one big man?”
Thankful for the distraction of his earlier thoughts he nods as his mask covers his face fully. Surely a mission would cleanse his thoughts (it didn’t actually since you were beside him the whole time with your skin tight suit and contagious laughter, he was down real bad that night when he went home).
He’s getting a weird sense of deja vu from how similar the situations are. He’s stuck here daydreaming about you while you talk and talk and talk.
Just like before, your lips are more enticing than the food in front of him. The crinkle of your nose once again making his heart rate rise, he realized he never wanted to see you without a smile on your face. It was on of the most beautiful views to him, right behind the smile his daughter used to give him.
You were talking to Lyla more than him so you didn’t really noticing his staring. However, when you did look back over to him to see if he was listening it was obvious he was zoned out.
“You alright there Mig? You’re staring pretty hard over there.”
Finally Miguel snaps out of it, locking eyes with you. He clears his throat, embarrassed for getting caught even if you didn’t know what caused his staring.
“Yeah, yeah I just wanted to let you know again how sorry I am. I don’t think I said it enough earlier.” You stare for a few seconds, your own heart melting at his statement. You’ll never get over the softness of his voice as he repeats it.
“It’s okay Mig, I know your sorry. You do have to be extra extra nice to me from now on to fully make up for it though.”
“That’s fair.”
“And possibly do my mission reports for the next week so I don’t have to.”
Que long sigh from Miguel.
“If you insist.”
“And announce to the whole society that I’m your favorite spider and you would never yell at me and it was all some long elaborate prank because you were upset everyone likes me more than you-”
“All right I think you’re done (y/n).” You let out a laugh at his exasperated voice. You always enjoyed annoying him above all else. You both fall silent when your laughter dies down.
After a long pause, Miguel speaks up again.
“I will say that I’ll never yell at you again. It made me feel terrible after I did.” You place your hand on his arm giving a reassuring squeeze, letting him know it was okay and that you did forgive him. Another long silence fills the space, and once again Miguel was the one to break it.
“Why did you take the fall for Gwen?”
The question surprises you, you never knew he knew the truth about what happened on the mission. You twiddle your fingers as you look down to your lap, trying to find the right words.
“She made a mistake, she didn’t deserve to get kicked out for that,” you take a slight pause, forming your thoughts into words, “And you wouldn’t have been as eager to let her back in like you were for me.”
Miguel knows you were right, if it was literally anyone besides you he wouldn’t have thought twice. Except maybe Jess and Peter, but it would’ve taken him much longer to admit it and apologize.
“You have to work on your people skills Miguel.”
“So you’ve told me.”
“I mean it, you’re pretty scary when you’re angry, even to me.”
This causes him to deflate a little bit. He never wanted you to be scared of him, or anyone really. He wanted respect, both in the field and out of it (like being left alone when he wanted to be *cough*peter*cough*), but didn’t want his teammates to fear him.
“I know, i’m sorry.” He grabs your hand from where it rests on your thigh and squeezes it, trying his best to convey his sincerity.
“I’ve heard you say that so much in the past 24 hours it almost sounds natural coming from you.” Miguel scoffs at your comment, dropping your hand as fast as he grabbed it. You giggle at his actions as you watch his stand.
“You can never enjoy a moment can you.”
“I just can’t help but be funny I guess.”
“Love the confidence (y/n)!” Lyla chimes in from the desk as Miguel lets out a sigh, clearly disagreeing with your statement just not voicing it out loud. You groan as you stand, stretching out your limbs and back as you fill the space next to him.
“I don’t think anything is going to happen tonight Miguel, you should get some rest.” You place your hand on his shoulder, a gesture you usually make when you try to comfort him or make him do something. It always works, he can rarely ever say no to you.
“I’ll be fine, if you’re tired you can go.”He turns to look at you, not knowing how close you were when you stood. You’re not standing on top of him, but you are close enough to make his thoughts wander when he glances down to your lips.
He wouldn’t have to move much to kiss you, just a few inches. His thoughts are consumed with the idea to the point where he can barely focus. You could be saying something to him and he wouldn’t even be able to register that your mouth was moving, let alone make out the words you were saying.
You’re in a similar boat. The distance wasn’t too distracting to you at first, you’ve gotten used to appreciating Miguel’s beauty in the back of your mind. This time, however, Miguel’s expression throws you through a loop. You can’t quite place what he’s thinking, but a warm feeling starts to spread in your chest when you notice his gaze shift down to your lips for a second. They dart back up quickly, but you caught him.
The hand you placed on his shoulder starts to slide down to his bicep. You give a slight squeeze and Miguel turns his whole body to face you. You’re now chest to chest (more like chest to stomach with his height), staring at each other in silence. Neither of you notice but Lyla is quietly watching, munching on pieces of a holographic popcorn container.
The tension between you two only seems to grow as Miguel slowly starts to lean in. He’s doing it subconsciously, his body making its own decisions at this point.
You meet him in the middle as your lips finally touch. Your eyes snap shut as you’re consumed by the feeling of his lips on yours. It’s much better than you expected, his lips surprisingly soft for someone with such a rough exterior. It’s better than you could’ve ever imagined, and you ask yourself why it took you this long to do it.
Miguel can’t think straight. It’s been so long since he’s kissed anyone (a whole universe fell apart last time he did), but he’s sure this is the best he’s every felt kissing someone. Your lips are the softest thing he has ever felt. The scent of your perfume pulling him even more, and the taste on your lips keeping him there until he has to take a breath.
You two break away with your chests heaving, trying to fill your lungs with air again. This pause doesn’t last long, he just can’t keep himself off of you.
This kiss is much more intense, your arms wrap around his neck tangling in his hair. Meanwhile, his left hand cups your cheek keeping you in place while his right one keeps your body pressed into his by resting on the bottom of your back.
He licks your bottom lip, asking for permission to enter your mouth. You happily open up wider for him as you both tangle your tongues together as he backs you into the desk behind you. You use your one hand to hold yourself up as he starts to lean over you, deepening the kiss even more. He grabs your thigh as he wraps it around his waist and holds it there.
His fangs rub against your bottom lip as your mouths move against each other. The slight prick every time they get caught on your skin sends shivers down your spine. Miguel notices every time, and can’t help the smirk that forms on his mouth at the response.
This is the most intense kiss you’re ever shared with someone, it’s only fitting it’s with Miguel of all people. Someone you never should have met, but have come to care for more than life itself.
The intensity of the kiss makes your body temperature rise, becoming more hot and bothered as time goes on. What makes it worse is the feeling of something poking at your stomach, becoming more and more prominent as the kiss continues. You can tell what it is, and it excites you more knowing the effect this is having on him.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, even this. Miguel’s ears pick up on the sound of approaching footsteps coming down the hall. He breaks away from you to turn towards the door, trying to make out if they're heading towards his office or not. And in true ‘Miguel Luck’ they are.
“What’s wrong?” You ask, chest heaving up and down as you catch your breath. Whatever made him break away must be important or you’ll lose your mind.
“Someone’s coming.” His voice turned a little raspy from being so out of breath, it only adds to the feeling pooling between your legs. He sighs as he looks down at you. He wants nothing more than to continue what you were doing, whether someone walks in or not. However, he has some respect, for himself and whoever would be unlucky enough to walk in on basically their boss in such a compromising position.
He separates himself from you, letting your leg fall back on the ground. His hand still cups your face as he gives one last, short kiss on your lips. You happily return it, disappointed when he pulls away so suddenly.
The door opens right after as Hobie and Pavitr walk in. You and Miguel are standing next to each other, chest still rising faster than normal, as you both try to cool your blushing cheeks and smooth out your hair.
“Miguel we’re here for-oh! (Y/n)! Hi!” Pavitr excitedly yells up from the ground. Miguel sighs as he hits the button to start to lower the platform. Both of the two younger spiders were away on a mission, not knowing you had returned to HQ yet.
“Hi Pav, Hobie.” You wave, giving them a bright smile. It’s not your normal toothy smile, but you still are glad to see them even if they interrupted you and Miguel.
“We aren’t interupptin’, are we?” Hobie questions, obviously suspicious of how you two are acting. He doesn’t know what happened, but he knows something is going on. You’re praying he doesn’t find out anytime soon.
“What do you want?’ Miguel interrupts getting straight to the point. The last thing he wants is to talk to any other Spider-person when all he’s thinking about is having you wrapped around him again.
“It’s time for our mission report, duh.” Pavitr explains, completely oblivious to the tension between Hobie and you and Miguel. He’s none the wiser to the fact that something was happening before they walked in.
“Do it later.” Miguel orders, already starting to turn back to the monitors wanting them both to leave.
“But we always do it right when we get back..” Pavitr trails off, clearly confused with the change in rules.
“And I said, do it later.”
They both stare up to you both. Hobie’s eyes narrowed with suspicion while Pavitr’s are wide with confusion. He looks to Hobie who doesn’t return the gaze, still trying to get a read on you two.
“Come on Pav, we’ll do it lateh.” Hobie takes steps back, still turned towards the platform where you stand. Pavitr looks to him, back at Miguel, then sighs as he walks towards the door holding it open for his friend.
When they both finally leave, Miguel lets out a sigh standing from his leaning position. He turns to you as he closes the gap again, taking your face into his hands.
“Where were we?”