Across the Miles-Verse

In another universe, you and Miles weren't besties from childhood. You didn't support him when he lost his Uncle. You lived your own life your own way, until a certain Particle Collider collapse saw your life taking a drastic turn. 

Maybe you weren't good. Maybe you weren't evil. 

Hell- maybe you weren't even loyal. 

You were, however, very indestructible, now. 

So when the universe promised a chance at new life, who were you to be afraid of change. 

Especially when it came in such a handsome and dangerous package. 

————————————————

The other year, a boat load of earth quakes and power outages happened, and they literally shook up your whole life. 

You were the daughter of a brilliant geneticist who worked for Alchemax in their genetic research division. Your mom was the best and brightest to ever come out of your family and you had always admired her. She encouraged your love of science and smart young mind. The possibilities were truly endless with her as your mentor. 

Through her connections and your brilliance you got into Visions Academy in NYC, where the smartest minds learned to build better. You t her iced in your new environment learning how to do more than just lab work. You also took engineering classes and metal shop classes as well as your art-based fashion class. Your education was well balanced and you thrives under the challenges these classes produced. You became a mentor, a tutor, and somehow a tour guide. 

One of your more memorable tours was for the Morales family. They spoke so highly of their son and his skills and they saw the potential this school could bring out for him. Whether or not he agreed was still to be seen when he finally arrived for move-in and orientation. 

"All right, that's the end of the tour. The schools not overly large, dorms are on one side of the street, classes the other. The bridge to cross between buildings is located on the second story of both buildings and all classes begin at 8:30am sharp. Anyway, here's your room, you'll move in today, can go home over the weekend and start fresh on Monday for your first set of classes!" 

You smiled at the family, comfortable in yourself, even as the boy in front of you seemed stressed about the new environment. 

"Thank you so much, sweetheart. You've been so great in the process." Mrs. Morales smiled at you and you couldn't help but smile back. 

"I've been happy to help! When you start on Monday, if you have any questions or are in need of directions, you'll just want to locate any student wearing the ambassador sweater vests and logo," you said as you pointed out the specific insignia you wore, "And they can direct you as needed."

"Oh! Will you not be around to show him the ropes?" Mr. Morales asked. 

"No, actually. I'm spending this next semester on a co-op with Alchemax Labs. I'm going to be assisting in their genetic testing with lizard regenerative tail cells and how they can assist in limb regrowth for those born without completed limb segments! It'll be quite fun. I'm looking forward to it."

"Wow, that's quite amazing!" Mrs. Morales exclaims. You can't help but beam with pride. You'd worked hard for this opportunity. 

"Thank you. I'm just one of many examples of the possibilities this school can offer their students. I wish you the best Miles. To get into this school means you're full of promise and I'm sure whatever you do will be great. Have a good weekend! And best of luck on Monday!"

With that you waved to the family and walked away to your own dorm that you were packing up. Your mom was coming to get you in about an hour to be able to spend the weekend with her before starting your newest project on Monday. It was a season of new starts and great adventures. You couldn't wait to what this semester brought. 

————————————

This had to be the worse internship of your life. The security was unnecessarily tense, like every employee had a weird weapon of their own design, and the facility was apparently now being funded (and practically owned) by Kingpin. The most notorious criminal currently in the city. You heard it was almost worse at the facility outside the city, and that you had it lucky in the local labs and offices. But it was still a bit stressful. 

Your mom told you to just keep your head down and keep up with work, but like damn. This was so not your thing. Not to mention when the testing facility got broken into the week before, some serious damage occurred, causing a bulk of the specimen to be moved for safety into your facility.  Cataloging and counting all of them took far longer than you wanted and caused you to fall behind on your research. 

So you found yourself at the labs one evening, attempting to clean up the mess that had occurred while also trying to catch up on work that you were now behind on thanks to the chaos. 

You had been moving along really well on the research. The regenerative properties of the reptile tail cells were quick to work and easy to duplicate, the only downside was that it worked too well and too quickly either becoming cancerous to the body or overtaking the native chromosomal details and converting them. Making the subject get anything from small scaly patches to replace the rats fur, or in the worse case, having a bulk of the dna become rewritten. Essentially, the dna felt too fast and loose in its ability to adhere. 

It needed something more stable. Something that was meant to hold well and for awhile without needing to progress on from there.  You couldn't help but think about the spiders located in the lab specimen storage.  The variations of the Darwin's Bark spider your lab had obtained earlier in the year were beautiful. With a protein in the silk that made their webs stronger than Kevlar, you knew they were just the organism you may need to strengthen your research without corrupting the sequence. 

Carefully, you extracted two of the spiders into their own specimen containers and got to work on extracting some of its web to access its binding protein. 

You had made it really far, actually, with no problems, no negative reactions, and no dead rats or spiders. The mixture of regenerative cells from the reptiles and the ultra-strength protein from the Darwin's bark spider sat in a beaker on your workspace, a soft purple color to the fluid you hadn't expected. It was as you were extracting some into an airtight needle for your first test subject that everything started going south. 

Remember those earthquakes mentioned at the start? 

The first one made you pause, and question if you imagined it or not. 

The second one had you taking the time to pack up your specimen in their containers, getting ready to move them back to their storage as calmly but quickly as possible. The third one made you realize, evacuation may be more important than safe storage. 

You hustled to your computer and shoved a thumb drive into the doc station. Initiating a shortcut you had coded when you started the internship, you began a full download sequence of the entire computer system as an emergency fail safe. Moving on you moved to place your rats and spiders into their portable travel containers (aka a glorified kennel sitch), calmly singing to them as you were to keep them from being stressed. Finally, you moved over to your needles and fluid. Rushing to pack those up well. 

When the siren to evacuate sounded on the fourth earth quake, you finally felt the first bit of fear drop into your stomach. 

You had to move faster. 

You packaged, cleaned, and sorted all your supplies. Making sure everything you would need to continue your research was safe and secure. 

Your system was quick and efficient, but was interrupted quickly by your mother. 

"Gigi!" You whip around at the sound of your mom's voice echoing through the lab, your nickname somehow hearable above the siren. 

"Mom! What are you doing here? And in dress??"

 There your mother stood, in one of the nicest cocktails dresses you had ever seen. 

"I was here for the gala our boss was throwing. But shit hit the fan fast up there. I went to evacuate with everyone else, but when I got to my car, I saw your car a few spots up. I figured you were up here saving your work." You nodded your head, quickly shoving the two kennels into your mom's hands. One for the rats and one for the spiders and serum. 

"Listen, I'm almost done up here. I just gotta grab the thumb drive from the computer," you jerk your thumb towards the wall of windows the lab office resides behind. "I'll be down in a second. But go- get that out of here." 

She went to protest, but you were not going to let all this work go to waste. What would you show for your internship other than a psycho boss with self-destructive tendencies and a building full of ash and rubble. Ash and rubble weren't going to get you into good colleges. 

Pushing her out the door, you sprint back to the office and slide into the desk chair. Your surprised to find your emergency fail-safe protocol hasn't finished. Wondering what could possibly be in the system for it to take so long? This was high speed shit. It should've been down by now. 

Your legs bounce with anxiety, as you watch the percentage slowly rise. 

   75%

      82%

           87%

              91%

                  98%

100! 

You rip the stick out of the computer. Time to get out of here. 

Running through the lab you trip over nothing! But when you land, you see two of your syringes full of your serum that must've fallen out of the kennels. Reaching urgently, you grab them, check that the caps are in place, and get up. 

You try to get out. 

You assumed you were the only one left in the building. 

You were wrong. 

You crashed into your mom again on level 4. 

"What are you doing!" You say as you drag her back down the stair. 

"Coming to get you!"

"I told you to take the kennels out!"

"I did! They're in my car!" 

"Then why'd you come back in? I had it under control!"

"Cause your my baby girl! I ain't leaving my best creation behind!"

You stare at her for a second. Catching your breath on the landing to the first floor doors. You wanted to say something extra. To say thank you, but then you felt the building shudder, and heard it groan. 

You ripped at the door and started sprinting for the nearest exit. 

You were so close! 

You could make it! 

You could!

———————————————

You woke up the hospital three days later. 

The whole Morales family was by your side an hour later. 

You didn't make it before the building collapsed. All emergency responders had vacated the area thinking the evacuation was complete. 

No one knew you guys were still in there. 

It wasn't until a day after everything happened that someone spotted yours and your mom's cars. 

Your specimen were fine, but you guys were no where in sight. No one could reach you either. 

Search and rescue were put on the building immediately. And there they found you, crushed under the rubble. Somehow alive and breathing. 

But your mom didn't make it. 

————————————————

It was a miracle you were alive. At least, that's what your grandma said when the Morales family dropped you off at her place post-release from the hospital. 

You knew better though. 

Your report said the surgeons pulled a lot of rubble from your skin. Granite, concrete, shrapnel, and glass. 

The syringes didn't just shatter, but they broke skin and seeped your serum all over your open wounds. 

You mom wasn't so lucky. She was about a foot behind you, according to the police reports. They announced her dead on the scene. All you had left of her, was the necklace she wore with your nickname on it: Gigi. 

So yeah, a miracle, according to some. But you knew the truth. Truth and knowledge is what you sought after. So, no matter how much it hurt you watched the news reports too, after reading the medical and emergency responder reports. 

It was all Kingpins fault. And Doctor Octavius'.  And Spider-Man. The spider people? You didn't know what to think yet. The reports were varied on the amount of people, but the only Spiderman seen outside of the rubble had rescued Officer Morales from being crushed. So you couldn't exactly blame him for not knowing you two were there. He was busy. 

Miles seemed extra apologetic with you though. You didn't see him often, but he always came by to visit you, with guilt in his eyes. 

You didn't let him see how badly you were hurting. Because, in truth, your body didn't ache a bit. It was all in your heart. 

Your specimen had just become pets, kept on two separate sides of your bedroom. With a computer in the middle. You hadn't touched anything really. Mostly taking care of your animals. Trying to take care of yourself. 

Everyone avoided you when you went back to school the next semester. You were the shell of your former self. Loss had carved a hole into your body, that even your super-healing serum couldn't fix. 

You were lifeless. You gave up your role as an ambassador. You dropped out of 4 of your 7 AP classes. You just drifted. Your grades dipped. You weren't there anymore. Not really. You barely listened to anything anymore, just blasting music into your ears with the hopes you'd drown out the pitiful stares your fellow classmates gave you. 

It couldn't drown out the sound of your guidance counselors voice though. 

"...know you've been through a lot these last months. But you were our star pupil. You still can be! You just got to get back in the game, and raise your grades. Plus, every college loves a good story, and yours can be one of the greatest comebacks they've ever seen! You can have your pick of any Ivy League you want."

"What did you just say to me?" Your voice was gravelly. You weren't sure if it was from lack of use anymore, or a side-effect of the healing effort your body underwent after your vocal chords had been crushed by the rubble. 

"I was saying that if you paid a bit more attention in class and put in  a bit more effort you can still get into any college program you want." She wasn't even looking at you as she said that. Typing away on the computer in front of you. 

You stared at her. Processing. Your heart sped up, your back stood straight. And for the first time in months, you felt something again. It was swelling inside of you. Roaring to life with a vengeance never before experienced. 

Holy fucking shit. 

You were angry. 

You were livid. 

How dare she!!!

The chair went flying across the small office in a second. No warning. She looked at you now. 

Your shoulders heaved with barely contained rage. Eyes alight with emotions for the first time in a long while. 

"Fuck you, you heartless bitch!"

And then you stormed out of there. Stormed pass every single person in the school, uncaring of the eyes on you now for a different reason. Unaware of the slight purple glow in your eyes. You stormed right out of Visions academy to your grandmas fourth story walk-up apartment, into your room and you slammed the door. 

Then you got to work.

———————————————

Miles found himself alone more often than not these days. The spiders were gone, Aunt May had moved, and the one person his parents approved of him being around was the one person he could no longer look in the eyes. Because in some way, he felt as if he failed you. He definitely was convinced he failed your mom. And that didn't sit right with him. 

So he dove into being Spider-Man headstrong. After all, there was no other crime-fighting vigilante able to defeat Brooklyns villainous shadows. At least, he didn't think there was. 

But then- they appeared. 

The first time he saw them was when they jumped in, mid fight, against some mechanically powered bank robber. Now, Miles had it under control, it was just taking a little bit longer than planned. Well- more so to say a plan hadn't formed yet, but it would. He always came up with one just in time. Swinging it just worked for him. (Get it- swinging it instead of winging it! Cause he's a spider?? Yeah. It's lame). 

He was pinned by the neck against the fault, waiting for the right opportunity to fulfill a plan when he saw the shadow fall behind the robber, and a gloved hand gripped him by the back of his neck, causing Miles to be released, and the robber to go flying to the other side of the room. He landed with a deep thunk, sliding unconsciously into the wall. 

Miles went to say something when he finally took a look at the person who just saved him. And his blood ran cold. 

It was the Prowler. 

Only, different. 

The suit colors were the same as his Uncle's. The structure was similar to it too. Even the mask, but there was a customized quality to it that made it different. Instead of thick mechanical claws, gloves a little thicker than your jumpsuit covered your hands. A pack with, what looked like, a pair of electric batons rested on your back. And the crown symbol, which his Uncle Aaron always used with 3 prongs, now had 5. 

It was the Prowler alright. But it was someone new. 

Miles wasn't sure if he should be afraid of that or not. 

The masked stranger merely looked at him, before stomping over to the unconscious body, and slinging it over their shoulders. Their face was obscured by a helmet with a digital interface, their voice coming out synthetic and crackly as they addressed the hostages in the room. 

"Fear not, you're all safe now." 

And then he watched you walk out to face the public, drop off the unconscious robber, and then scale up the side of the building. 

Miles didn't stay in shock long. After making sure all the civilians were unharmed, he took off. Thwipping his way across the city in search of this new mystery Prowler. In fact he searched all night long, but came up empty. Grateful for it being a weekend and deciding to call it a night for now, Miles made it back to his apartment in hopes the news would hold some extra information on your identity. 

Who knew he wouldn't be needing to do his homework on you, after all. 

The scream that kid let out upon entering his bedroom made him really grateful both his parents were on the late shifts at their jobs. He had just taken his mask off, after crawling inside his window when he felt your presence lurking in the shadowy doorway. 

Immediately, he swung forward in hopes to catch you off guard. But the only thing caught was his fist in your grip. You didn't hesitate to let it go once you saw you had his attention, and then you stepped forward into the limited light in his room, revealing your face. 

The shock in his voice when he says your name, causes you to smirk. 

"Hey, Morales. Long time no see."

———————————————

- ————————————— - 

Miles Gonzalo Morales used to be a happy kid. Even with the tough crime rates in NYC causing his dad to be busy, and his mom work extra shifts at the hospital to keep up with patient numbers, he was a happy kid. Smart, creative, and friends with the prettiest girl in the whole wide world. At least, he thought so. You and him were attached at the hip. You were just as smart, if not smarter than him, and he worshipped the ground you walked on. And when you got an internship at Alchemax medical research, he couldn't be more proud of you. 

But then there was the incident. 

A new experiment failed, corrupted the electrical system, and caught the whole building on fire. You were there, working. His dad was there helping evacuate civilians. You were trapped on a floor above where the fire started, the building too nice, new, and high to have an exterior fire escape. But the building was too new, too nice, and not prepared for such an outcome. 23 people died that day. 

You and his father were included in that number. He got to bury his father. But your body was never found. The fire department presumed you were in too central of a location, that you burned in the last of the rubble before the flames were finally extinguished. All he had left of you was the necklace he bought for you with the nickname he called you spelled out in cursive: Gigi. His genius girl. 

That happy boy died that day. In memoriam for you and his dad, his uncle Aaron helped him paint a mural on the building wall that stood above his apartments roof. And he took on the mantle Prowler, in an attempt to take back some control of his life, of this wicked city that killed his father and the love of his life. 

Morally grey, or straight up immoral, he was the last one to have an opinion on himself like that. All he knew, was that he struck fear into people. Both good and bad. It was never something he would have done had no one died. But- he had to admit how, a few years later: it felt good to be the Prowler. 

————————————————

No one in the media or the city quite knew what to think about you- or well- the Prowler. 

Everyone speculated. A ghost come back from the dead. A new gang leader ready to wreak havoc on the street of Brooklyn. Or maybe not. Because this old woman said you saved her from a brutal mugging. And that single mother said you saved her and her two toddlers from getting run over by a speeding car. 

You were new, and a mystery, and that scared people. But every now and then someone caught evidence of you and spider-man saving people together. And slowly but surely the city warmed up to you. 

Miles's parents warmed up to you too. Because now, you were spending some free time over at their place with him. Or he was over at your grandma's. And you still called them Mr. and Mrs. much to their satisfaction. 

And when Gwen magically dropped back down into Miles's life, you got to meet her. She seemed nice and cool, if not a bit weary of you, and maybe even a bit guilty herself, at your tragic back story. 

She cringed when she heard how you gained your abilities, and how you enhanced them later on, before building the suit. It reminding her a bit too much of her Peter. But here you were, a little depressed maybe, but very sane, and exceptionally heroic, even with the Prowler as your mantle. 

Mrs. Morales could tell Miles really liked that Gwanda girl. But she instantly regretted letting him chase after her once his head disappeared down the fire escape. She wasted very little time tracking you down on that roof and getting you to go after her son. A little selfish maybe, but she liked you and she knew you would make sure her son wouldn't get hurt by that girl. So she didn't let the guilt sting too badly. 

That was how you found yourself following Miles down an inter-dimensional portal, and into a version of New York that somehow had more traffic than your current one. 

Chasing down that Spot dickhead back into Alchemax was a little nerve wracking. The last one of these buildings you stepped foot in saw you coming out with a dead mother. But, you'd learned quickly to overcome your fears in this new line of work. After all, you and Mile refused to let anyone else die if you could help it. 

Besides, you were practically indestructible now. 

So you could handle it. 

But after it was all said and done, what Miles couldn't stand, was you flirting with Hobie Brown. 

Ew. 

"You ever attend a protest before, bruv? With skills like yours, you got true potential to be an anarchist." Hobie had since removed his mask, and was leaning against some invisible wall on the platform, gassing you up post fight. 

"I have once, actually." Your automated voice came through your helmet you still had on. "We shut down a whole makeup company on the East side for animal cruelty. Their stocks dropped 75% and they had to move out of the country to be able to rebrand and resell. They still haven't recovered, and it's been years since." 

Miles and Gwen both watched as the punk's eyes glimmered with mischief at that. 

"Well, man, gotta be 'onest. That's hot as hell. May need ya to jump worlds for a bit and help me bring down some capitalist in my world. Ay? Wanna give it a try?"

"Hobie, that's no what our bands our for," Rebuked Jessica Drew. 

"Come off it, Jess. No 'arm no foul." His attention turned back to you. 

"Say, what's your name mate? Gotta have something killer to go with your wicked skills- yeah?"

Your laugh started electric, but moved to its authentic rumbling as your mask finally deactivated. 

"Well, my name's something I like to keep close to the chest yeah? But you can call me Gigi. It's my nickname." 

"Right on, luv. I respect it." 

Your banter was cut short as you were led through HQ. Miles was in aw, bouncing with excitement at all the spider people he saw. He was in Heaven. Meanwhile, you were in your own hell, you could practically feel the judgement coming off of some of the strangers around you. You didn't belong. 

A lot happened after that. The truth of the Spider-Verse (though Miguel's logic smelled foul. The stink could also be attributed to Mayday's dirty diaper). The knowledge that Miles's dad would die. And the very rude lecture about how neither of you were supposed to exist. Miles's should have never been bit. You should've never survived. 

What a bunch of horse-shit. 

Then there was that crazy chase scene, and the ever dramatic way Miguel clawed at the force field of the go home machine. He wasn't the only one with claws though. And you quickly activated your own set you had previously put away to help Miles activate the machine, in order to poke at one of his eyes. 

With a flash you and Miles were transported to the top of a roof, on a rainy night, far from those psychos and closer to home. 

Well- not so much that last part. It didn't take long for you to realize you weren't on the right world when Miles's Uncle Aaron stepped through the front door to lend Rio some cash. You had deactivated the chunkiest parts of your suit. Using your stealth mode  to hide in the shadows, sneaking past everyone as best as you could, lingering out in the hallway when Aaron and Miles stepped through. 

The shock on his face didn't last long, but the suspicion that soon replaced it made you uneasy. He had you both follow him up the steps. You walked behind Miles, your nerves growing as you watched him glitch, realizing at some point in that fight, he band that stabilized him had come off. You fingered your own for comfort. 

And then you were on the roof, starting at a painting of  your face, while Miles stared at his dad's. 

You were fucked. 

——————————

Miles Gonzalo Morales knew he had some weird ass dopple-ganger downstairs. His Uncle Aaron took a second to text him. He talked about his dad. 

That made him angry. 

Watching you walk out onto the roof behind this imposter- now that put him into shock. 

It gave you and the Miles-copy to get caught up in the murals. 

It ended up giving him the best moment to strike. 

Surprise always was the best way to catch someone off guard. 

Only he didn't. 

———————————

No matter what you were feeling, staring at the mural, you had learned not to let your emotions cloud your senses. A skill that paid off the minute you felt someone intend to strike. 

"Miles!" You shouted, as you wasted no time to rip him back, stepping forward in his place, and getting a wicked metal fist to the face. 

You head whipped right, face shredded. 

Silence echoed as you slowly lifted your head, wounds healing as you turned to face your attacker. 

Oh goody, it was the Prowler. What fortuitous timing, you kinda wanted to see how you could fare against another Prowler after helping Miles outsmart a whole base full of Spider-People. 

Your smile was borderline evil as you activated your suit, mask quickly covering your face. 

Miles G. was frozen when he realized how he'd just harmed. Freezing always bit him in the butt. 

This time, it saw your own gloved fist flying towards his face. 

The fight was neck and neck, punch for punch. You got lost in the movements, a deadly dance between two mirrored souls. A dance that cocooned you both in your own world for a bit. 

He swung right, you dodged left. He kicked low, you kicked high. A balance and a rhythm formed. You became the yang to his ying.  Though I'm a way, that's what you always were to your Miles too. 

He was too kind hearted, you tended to bring the brutality. This Prowler, who you suspected to be this worlds Miles, was already brutal, and you somehow brought a gracefulness that had long been missing. 

Even as Aaron and this copy-Miles fought, the alive Uncle couldn't help but notice the way you both moved. His Miles was showing weakness. He would have to remedy that. 

Now, Aaron wasn't what he used to be, especially without his Prowler suit on. But, he didn't need a glove to take out a spider. A hammer could do too. His hammer, just happened to contain bullets, and was ya know- a gun.

You stuttered in your movements when the gunshot went off. The swing you had been dodging now making impact on your stomach. You fell, quickly rolling, and hopping back up on your feet. 

The hit didn't hurt. You'd been through far worse for a little impact like that to even bruise your reinforced skin. The fear though- that hurt. You watched as your Miles fell unconscious to the ground. Limp and lifeless. 

"No!" You scrambled to him, hands grabbing at his lame body, helmet deactivating to properly see where his wound was. You had just located the spot on his right shoulder when you heard a new bullet click into the chamber. 

"Uncle Aaron!" This world's Miles reached out an arm, at seeing his Uncle aim a loaded gun at your forehead. His hand was swatted away as Aaron spoke. 

"You either come with us willingly, or I shoot you both in your heads." 

Your eyes dart momentarily to the Prowler behind this original. Emotions weren't readable on his masked face, worry pulled at his muscles. He feared for your life. You thought of the mural behind you. 

You were dead here. And clearly you had meant something to this Miles. More than a super companion. You could use that to your advantage. 

So you didn't fight them, then. And when a sedative was aggressively forced through your skin, you didn't even flinch. As long as it meant your world's Miles loved, you were prepared to do as needed. 

———————————————

Miles G. sat in the shadows, watching. The other version of him hung on his Uncle's punching bag. The bullet wound patched for now. But they would be ready to hurt him again there if needed when he awoke. 

When he wasn't watching him, he was watching you. 

And as his eyes swung from the bag, to the chair you were tied in he was surprised by you again, as you stated him down, even as he thought he was hid well. 

"Hey Miles. How's life?"

"Watch it- girly. You're in our house now. You play by our rules!" His uncle cut off his answer from across the kitchen. You turned your head at that. 

"Damn- you get grumpy in your old age, Davis. Maybe Miles should be grateful he was spared from your menopause stage in our world." 

"Hm. Right. "Your world"," he said with air quotes. "I apparently die there- huh?"

You just stare at him a second longer. "I apparently died here. Ain't that right- Morales?" You turn to face him again. He steps out from the shadows this time. Face illuminated by the blue of the apartment and the red of the city. 

"Yeah, cariño. You're dead here."

The silence is loud as you process that statement. It's selfish, what you're about to do. But, part of you needs to know. 

"And my mom? Did she die too?" 

The Miles before you cocked his head to the side a bit. 

"Her little girl died. She was crushed. Still hasn't recovered mentally from that. But no- she didn't die there. She's still very much alive."

The sharp inhale gave you away, as tears stung your eyes. You were too emotional in that moment to care about how to best handle the situation. 

Your mom was alive. 

Miles watched as your eyes shot to look out the window, revealing the left side of your face fully to him. 

You had no scars, no scratches. The only sign he had hit you was the blood that now lay dried upon your skin. And as your eyes searched the skyline he saw something inside you that mirrored his own soul. 

A new beginning was possible for both of you. 

The love of his life, who had been reduced to ash and a necklace was alive and in front of him. And stronger than he could have ever imagined. And here in his world, your mom was alive. The only other person you had lived in this world. The only person you had truly known in your world. 

As a tear sod down your cheek he knew. He knew exactly what he had to do. 

"I can take you to her if you want."

Your head whipped back at his statement. 

"Miles!" Aaron's words went ignored as you looked at the boy before you. Truly looked at him. 

He was harder. Sharper. Colder. This Miles had been through the wringer. Her had lost. Just like you had. He looked so much like you did. Matching scars on your hearts that were once thought permanent somehow experiencing their first sense of true healing in a very long time. 

And for a very selfish moment, you forgot about the unconscious Miles behind you. 

Maybe the Miquel was right. Maybe your Miles was never supposed to be bit. Maybe his dad was supposed to die. Maybe things always had to be a certain way. 

Yet the universe seemed to enjoy tempting you here. Tempting you both. A new start. A new life. Less loss. Less hurt. More strength. It was all possible. A reality that laid just past your reach. Waiting for you both to step forward and take it. 

Maybe you weren't really good. Maybe you had been playing pretend this whole time. The Prowler after all was never meant to be a good guy. The Miles before you was proof of that. 

And maybe if it really wasn't meant to be- when you grabbed his hand for the first time, the universe would burn this world to the ground. But as you looked into this Miles's eyes, you realized that part of you long since hollow was slowly refilling. 

Maybe, just maybe, this whole canon timeline thing was a bunch of bullshit. Besides- it was about time someone got their happy ending. It was time you got your happy ending. 

You had a feeling with the devotion that resided in his eyes, and a living mother- you could find happiness here. You could maybe- just maybe- feel like you were living again. 

"Can we stop for ice cream on the way there?"

The satisfaction in his eyes was both heart wrenching and predatory at the same time. He couldn't help but feel like part of him was siding back into place. He was getting you back. And nothing and no one could take you from him this time. You were perfect. 

"Mamí," he said leaning forward to place his face by yours. "You did always know just what to say to get me going."

And then he kissed you. 

And your world was rocked in a whole new way. 

You couldn't lie either. You think you liked it a little too much.