Chapter 1
You walked through the halls of the spider society hq. You were escorting the new recruits for the Arachno-Humanoid Poly-Multiverse. (as Miguel likes to correct you on)
"Lyla." You called out into the darkness. A small holographic figure popped up next to you while you were walking. She adjusted her glasses as she looked over the new recruits.
"Yo. What's up?"
"Can you tell Mr. Hara to come down and meet the new recruits he's asked for?" You said while making a hard roll on the 'R' in his name. There was a silence between you two.
"Please…" you add, now realizing you may have sounded a bit harsh. She pleasantly hums and her hologram shrinks away into a thin line.
"Miguel O'Hara is the guy who runs this whole affair. He'll be down shortly."
"I hope…" you whispered under your breath. You entered the darker room compared to the rest of the hq. He says it's because of his heighted senses being too sensitive to the light but you think it's a little of him wanting to look cool.
You've noticed that Miguel has not been doing well these past few weeks. He's been caught up in his work more than usual and it shows with the way he snaps at people. He'd never admit that his work gets to him but you've known him long enough to know that it wasn't true.You just hope he doesn't bring his attitude with him when he finally comes down.
You watch along with the other spider people as the platform slowly descends. It was put for dramatic effect but you always drilled him for it being silly and impractical. Of course he dismisses your teasing.
The lights of the computer screens behind him gave him an ominous glow. You saw as he looked over the new recruits with a scowl.
"This is spider men 506, 1223 and 761. All the ones you have requested." You say pointing at the respective spider person. The recruits all waited for him to speak first, whispering amongst themselves though Miguel can hear all of it whether they whispered or not, he just continued to eye them down. There was tension in the air with how silent it was but Miguel let out a short scoff and looked away.
"Lora-Ray, show the new recruits to their rooms. I have too much work to do." The only other spider person working in the room perked up when he called their name.
They quickly escorted them and exited. You looked around and noticed that you were the only one left so you turned to follow behind them.
"Not you." Miguel called, leaving you to stop in your tracks.
He glared down at you before stepping off the platform. He landed with a heavy thud as he walked closer to you. You prolonged facing him as you took your time turning around. He looked pissed as ever with dark circles around his eyes and a scowl permanently stuck on his face.
"Geez, always with the dramatics." You say dematerializing your clipboard that was in front of you.
He looked between both of your eyes with the wrinkles on the side of his mouth deepening.
He allows his tense stature to become more loose at the thought of it just being the two of you.
You placed a hand on your hip as you looked at his tired face. His eye bags were darker than they normally were and his eyebrows were permanently scrunched together.
"I don't think you need me to tell you that you need some sleep, viejito. I get that work is important but with rest makes the mind sharp."
"I wanted to show you something I've been working on. I wanted to show you first." He says to totally dismissing what you said about him getting some sleep. You were non-the-less excited about what he has been working on all this time being stuck up in his lab. Lyla wouldn't tell you even if you begged. She would always tell you it wasn't her place to stay or that it was up to him. You would always leave disappointed at your failed attempts to sway your way into knowing.
"I've upgraded the programming to the computer and tweaked our sensors for finding of canon events. I've also made a prototype of a small device that we'll use in our watches to help us keep track of the canon events too." He looks closely at the device and raises it towards you. You happily hold up your arm as he attaches it to your wrist.
"Now, it's still a prototype so I want you to be careful on how you use it. Wear it, see how it feels then report back to me." He types away on his keyboard and you see a couple of screens pop in and out before he turns back to you.
He is silent as he grabs your palm and raises it to eye level. You look at the band as you wait for him to do something. You both watch as a small spider-shaped machine pops out from the bottom of the band and crawls into your upturned palm. You look at it with amazement.
He holds it up between two fingers and looks you in the eye to make sure you are paying attention. "You stick it in the universe you are in, then leave it there until you leave. It will collect the data and send it back to me."
Still holding your wrist, he snaps the bug back into place now fully enveloping it with both of his large hands. He looks at you sternly. "And don't lose it." You look up into his red eyes and nod. He slowly pulls his hands off of yours.
You take this opportunity to inspect the thing. "Uh, huh. So this is what you've been doing up here all this time?" You pull up the screen and scroll through to make sure everything is just like your old band.
"Yup. It was delicate work but I managed to get it done. I just needed a good enough test subject." He goes back to tapping on his computer but you can hear the smirk in his voice.
"Ah, si. cuando me necesitas, es cuando me llamas." (ah, yes. when you need me, is when you call me.)
You say with a little bit of bite in your voice. You're not going to pretend like he hasn't been ignoring you for weeks. He turns around at your statement and rubs the back of his neck in frustration.
"No es como si no estuviera ocupado. I'm sorry, okay? I'm over here saving the entire poly multiverse." (It's not like I wasn't busy.)
"I get it. But it's not like you have to do this alone. Even back in the labs we always had each other."
Miguel knew you were right. Back before he got all of his powers, the company he worked at was the Alchemax Corporation. When you transferred in to become a lab assistant for the many scientists in that department but none were more valued and as brilliant as Miguel and you guys quickly became close.
It wasn't the first time Miguel has gone missing on you. After he had gotten his powers he was presumed dead because no one knew what had happened to him. that was before he found you sometime later and asked if you could be his assistant with fixing the multiverse.
Miguel was the closest person you had in your life and you would stick with him through thick and thin. In this case, it was an easy enough choice, though it wasn't as easy for him. Going away from his home, his work, the family he left behind, and just freshly losing his kid, he was distraught.
He showed you everything that he has been up to while he was gone. but he really blew you away when he first showed you the Arachno-Humanoid Poly-Multiverse. You couldn't believe all of the things he had done so far.
He also mentioned that you were present in almost all of his "canons". He pulled up a web like hologram that surrounded the two of you and in every single reality, you were always in his story.
You were filled with joy but also worry at your questionable choice in friends.
"You know she's right, amigo." His virtual assistant said with a cocky grin while leaning on his shoulder. Miguel obviously fed up with the fact that she was listening in. He squashed the hologram, effectively turning her off for good.
He let his body soften as he materialized a chair. He layed back on it, letting the force of his body weight swirve the chair to the right. The tiredness now kicking in after only running on adrenaline. He pinches his eyes close, feeling the sting.
"Come on. How about we get you to bed. I'll make sure what needs to be done gets done and you can rest easy. Hm?" His leaned back head only tilts to the side to look at you. He runs his hands through his pulled back hair in thought.
You couldn't help but stare. His legs are sprawled out as he sits relaxed on the chair. The flexing of his muscular arms while he combs through his locks are captivating and the way his half-lidded, tired eyes look down in thought at your suggestion. It was enough to make you feel lightheaded.
~~~~~~~~~~
But…
It wasn't for you.
When you came into the lab when he was off on a mission, you were talking to lyla and got her to show you a picture of the multiverse. You swear it felt like hours scrolling through the universes with you and Miguel.
Even though you were a constant in his story, you were always the side character of the narrative. You would be shot, stabbed, thrown away, lose touch, go on to do other things. But in every universe you looked at, you were always there for him. Until you weren't. In all your searching, the same pattern of unrequited love came in every version of you.
It was heartbreaking when you had come to the realization. Lyla had looked at you with sympathy but at that point you were over it. Just salt in old wounds.
You already had come to the conclusion that it was just never meant to be. Miguel had a family before all of this happened and your heart grew farther and farther from him.
But it's not like you weren't still there for him. He had lost his family that was yet another time he disappeared on you. You eventually forced your way back into his life and helped him get back on his feet. He didn't want your help and as stubborn as he was, you were just had stubborn. You helped him and slowly you saw him get back to his old self again.
Then the incident happened and he ran off to do his own thing. Running around the multiverse until he found himself back to you. Of course you went along with him. All you had was work, no one around you. No family, no friends, corrupted coworkers, and a mega company trying to cover up what they did to him. You joined him when he started the spiderman organization and helped him with everything. Quite literally.
(If you're being honest, he should be praising you for all that you've done.)
But you hardly think about that anymore. It's in the past and you both have other things to worry about. Especially with all of the recruits you have gotten and the progress you've made.
~~~~~~~~~
"I will only listen to you, not because you're right, but just because you won't quit if I don't." He put his pointer finger up to make sure he made his point clear.
"Sure, whatever you want to call it to make you happy. And maybe get some new clothes on. I doubt the gross spidey suit will feel comfortable on your bed." He looked down thinking it over.
"Fine, no, you're right. Some regular clothes would be a welcome change..." He dematerialized the chair he was sitting on and stretched out his whole body. You pretended not to look.
"Now what do you need me to do today?"
"Nothing." He said simply. "I think we both need a break for today doncha think? I'll tell lora to postpone the visit I had today and I'll-.."
You waited for him to finish the sentence but he just looked at his screen unmoving. You heard faint voices coming from the computer so you peek from behind him to see what he was looking at.
The video on the screen played, showing him and the moments he had with his daughter. You look at his face to see that it is entirely focused on the video.
You placed a hand on his shoulder, already knowing he's not fully over the death of his daughter and it looks like he might never be.
You move your thumb to try and comfort him. He looked down and then at your hand. The audio of the video being the only thing filling the silence.
"Miguel." You try saying his name to make him look at you. He finally looks into your eyes with a strained look on his face before looking back at his computer and clicking off the video.
"No it's good, I'm fine, I'm fine." He said now standing up stiffly and faced away from you.
He knows you didn't believe that for a second. But he couldn't afford you seeing him being hurt. Not like the last time where you helped him build himself back up. He had to stay strong and act like a leader. He needs to set the example he needs to-...
You placed your warm hand on his back, letting it slide down a bit.
He turned around towards you, he couldn't tell if you felt pity for him, if you were angry or upset. He couldn't read the intense emotion in your eye and it drove him crazy.
He wanted to spiral, he wanted to just have the room to himself so he could be alone. But how could he when you were standing right in front of him.
It was probably the tiredness that left him so vulnerable to shutting down but you were always the anchor that kept him still. In every story. In every universe, you were the one there for him. By his side through the very end.
You briefly touched his arm to get his attention from his thoughts and back onto you. You hate to see your friend so affected by his past, you would do anything to see him just be happy.
"Miguel. It's just us. You don't have to be afraid to talk to me." You said half jokingly but showed him with your eyes that you really meant it.
He took a deep breath in and like all of his thoughts had put themselves together, he took a deep breath out.
"Yeah. I know. I mean why be sad when I have you.-" he watched as your eyes opened up wide. He hurried to correct himself.
"Not, not just you. Uh. This place! This place and you and everyone technically." He looked to the side, cursing under his breath about his choice of words.
"It doesn't mean you can't be sad. I know it still hurts. You don't have to always push it down." You looked up at him, trying to meet his gaze but he just refused to look at you. You tenderly reached out your hand, millimeters away from making contact with his wrist.
He looked at your outstretched hand, hesitant to go forward with giving him a more intimate touch. You were always scared to show how you truly felt about him, you wouldn't go further than just little touches here and there. But when Miguel saw what you were trying to do, he closed the space between the two.
He moved his hand to rest on your shoulder while yours held onto his bicep. A million questions and bad memories flashed in his brain as he mindlessly caressed the spot on your arm.
He finally met your worried look. All of the exhaustion, anger, sadness, stress had all fallen down on him once when he looked into your eyes.
He grabbed into you like his life depended on it. His giant, muscular arms enveloped you in a tight embrace. You had almost got the air knocked out of you with how fast he pulled you in. You quickly recovered and held him back.
His eyes pricked with tears that threatened to fall. Your body was on the chubbier side which made hugging you that much more gratifying, your body fit so well with his, it's like it was meant to be there.
Your body wash and shampoo and all the other things that you've touched for the past day all filled up his senses as he tucked his face into your neck. He can hear your heartbeat speed up.
The tears fell silently. Just having you here lifts all of the weight from his chest as he sobs.
You closed your eyes, rubbing your hands up and down his large back to try and comfort him. You give him a small squeeze once in a while to remind him that you are here. Slowly his sobs turn into quiet sniffing. His smashing grip on you loosened up to a comfortable embrace. He had bent down quite a bit to get you closer into the hug but you didn't mind. You secretly are savoring the contact.
It had been a while of him crying and after he calmed down some more, he finally pulled away. The heat of two body's close to each other lingered as you now felt chilly without him.
You watched as he stared at you with red eyes and puffy lips. He still held onto your shoulders like he was afraid you would go far. He has lost everything but through everything, he still has you.
You fixed the hair that fell forward and it back out of his face and swept it back. He then grabbed a hold of the arm that was fixing his hair.
"You know I've always thought…." Be began with a deep and scratchy voice from crying. The grip that he had on your arm loosened as his hand inches its way up to squeeze half of your hand and wrist.
You stood quite this whole time still wondering if what you think is gonna happen, is about to happen. You didn't trust yourself to speak with how tight your throat suddenly felt.
"I've thought to myself. If I fall in love with someone else. If I do something I'm not supposed to. Am I wrong for moving on and forgetting my daughter….? Am I wrong for doing something that for once can go right in my life? I don't know how to put this…" your heart was pounding in your chest. You were stunned by what he was telling you. Could this be what you think it is? You try not to hold out hope but you can't help yourself.
He looked up at you staying quiet. He searched your eyes so he can decipher what you were feeling. He lets his fingers lace between yours. You swear you feel your entire face and neck burn red.
He couldn't hold back the laugh he had.
"Hermosa... Your heartbeat is beating like crazy." (Beautiful/ lovely)
With your mouth slightly agape and your eyes wide, you finally came back down to earth. You looked away from him, probably thinking you looked stupid. You covered your mouth with your hand.
"Sorry, sorry I was… um.. I was trying to…." With your flustered state you didn't notice that his freehand slipped under your chin so you would look at him.
"No te preocupes… I should be the one apologizing here. What I must have put you through all these years." (Don't worry about it.)
You look up at him with a sorrowed smile. " You must be kidding." You lay your hand on the side of his face, which he leans into with a sigh.
"I'd go through the whole multiverse just to see you happy." Your smile widens as his face tries to get closer to the contact from your hand.
"I know. I've seen the universes. Lyla showed me." Your eyes go wide at lyla outing you like that. But your bigger concern is how long he had known.
"It happened recently. I've never actually… when I looked back on my other universe selves, I've always looked at my family. I hadn't… realized…. You were there. You were there this whole time, every time, and I always took advantage of you… like I do now." His eyebrows knit together at how stupid he was not to realize it sooner. Regret filled him as you didn't deserve so much mistreatment especially when you were in front of him right now trying to help him.
You pulled his face towards you before hesitating. You always hesitated when it came to committing to things but Miguel was sure enough for the both of you and pulled you in.
His lips moved with so much passion in the kiss while you wrapped your arms around his neck. He let out a gruff groan at the contact and you melted right into his arms grabbing onto you, trying to pull you closer.
Once he let you go you almost fell on your knees. You were completely dazed with the lingering feeling of Miguel's lips on yours.
He looked at you concerned and waved a hand in front of your face while holding your shoulder to keep you steady.
You finally spoke, now being fully back in the moment. "I couldn't tell you how long I've waited to do that." You couldn't help the laugh that escaped you. He joined in and hugged you one last time. You hugged back.
"Now I have to go take a shower. You cried on me. You sweated on me." You counted it out with your fingers while you said it. He let out another hardy laugh.
"How about we take one together then preciosa?" You looked at him confused until he scooped you up to carry you out. You wanted to say something back but instead you clung onto him like he would drop you any second.
You were nowhere near close to being light, and the fact that he could carry you without struggling not only turned you on immensely, but also concerned you on how strong he actually was.
"Wha-...showe- shower??? Together?? Hell no, put me down right now there is no way that I'm doing that with you." You tried pulling yourself away from him but you really didn't want to at the same time. He just laughs at your attempts to escape.
"I know that you've been curious about what I look like without this suit." He whispered in you ear while smirking, obviously trying to get a reaction out of you. It worked as you stopped struggling and imagined the skintight suit being pulled off of him. Your face and ears burned.
"Your blood smells so sweet when it rushes closer to the surface of your skin. I can't say that I haven't imagined that about you either." He says dipping his head on the side of your neck and kissing it. He has you completely wrapped around his clawed finger as your brain is just overloaded with him constantly teasing you. He carries you out of the room and closes it up behind him.