"A warehouse full of illegal weapons is as cliche as it gets, don't you think?" Peter called, throwing a guy off his back
"Well, they don't call it a 'back alley deal' for nothing" Miles replied. It was so much more fun bouncing things off Miles. How had he done all that banter alone for so many years?
"Great point, there's a back alley just outside. You can't tell me they don't do shady deals out there. Guys!" Peter called to the group "Settle this for us, what's more overdone? Dark warehouses or back alleys?"
"Spider-Man!"
"Since when are there two of them??"
"Kill them!"
"I don't think they're paying attention," Miles sighed
"After all the work we put into these quips"
Peter stuck close to Miles as they moved along the overpass, covering him as goons followed from behind. Technically, they were surrounded, but swinging out would be easy. Especially since Miles had taken out the snipers using camouflage. As Miles fought, sparks flew and built up around him. It was awesome. Being so close to the electricity was weird, Peter could hear the buzz in the air and felt the energy around him. The hair on the back of his neck stood, both from the electricity and the spider-sense warning of general danger during the fight.
Miles flung a guy into the air, following to pull others into air combat. Peter stuck to the ground, finishing off the guys as they hit the floor.
"Do you guys practice swinging and missing? Because you've turned it into an art form," Peter mocked, dodging a crowbar
Miles launched a guy across the warehouse into some cardboard boxes "That guy felt vaguely threatening. I'm sure they're giving it their best effort"
The men cursed "They're picking us off!"
"It's not fair!"
"Hmmm..." Miles said, jumping away from a bat "Two against what- fifty? I'm not convinced... Or are you admitting that we're too much to handle?"
Peter felt the spider-sense peak and in the corner of the mask, an alarm beeped. The one that went off when he was about to get hit by lightning. Peter saw Miles' electricity glow brighter, sparks crackled around the handrails. Peter realized what was happening, the overpass was made completely out of metal.
"Spider-Man, stop!" Peter called- too late. He shot a web out, too late. Miles was fast, springing up on a goon and electricity flared
It was hot and Peter's muscles all tensed up- he couldn't breathe. It had been so long since he'd been electrocuted, it felt somehow worse. One of his oldest enemies was literally made of electricity, he should know what to expect. Peter felt the electricity hit his heart and tried to brace against it, not that it would do anything even if he could move in the first place.
As quickly as it started, it was over. Peter fell, landing on his hands and knees, pulling a hand to his chest as he breathed. His insulation had barely helped. Vaguely, he knew that should mean something but his brain was fried- literally.
"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Miles rested a hand on his shoulder and Peter had to restrain himself- his instincts trying to take over. Get up and fight before he does it again it screamed. Miles hadn't meant it though. His spider-sense was quiet as Miles coaxed a reply from him.
"Can you hear me?"
"Just need a minute" Peter managed to reply. Miles stayed with him, letting Peter know everyone was down
As Peter's mind cleared, it sunk in fully how little the insulation had helped- if it helped at all. He could take dozens of hits from Electro, and Miles wasn't even trying to kill anyone, taking steps to prevent it whenever he could.
"Miles..." Peter said, looking up
"I know, I'm really sorry"
"That was amazing"
"I... What?"
Peter pulled himself up with the railing, Miles stood close, probably in case he fell. Peter wasn't exactly steady on his feet at the moment.
"I've fought Electro more times than I can count but that was something else" Peter grinned "I'm insulated enough for a few lightning strikes, but you had me grounded in seconds- no pun intended"
"You're not mad?" Miles ducked his head
"Nah," Peter said, "I'm fine- that hurt, I won't lie- but I know you didn't mean it"
"I didn't even think... I should have paid attention to where you were"
"You learned about your Venom when I was in Symkaria. You're not used to using it around me, it's okay. Believe me, I'm still getting used to having a partner"
"I could have killed you," Miles said, shaking his head
"What? Come on, I know you don't use enough to actually hurt people. The gear in my suit might've made things worse, but I'm durable. It's okay" Peter tried moving past it "Are we done here?"
Miles nodded "That took everyone out. Shouldn't the insulation protect you?"
Peter shrugged "Guess your venom ignores it? Like how we can stick to walls through our gloves and shoes."
"It did take us awhile to find a fabric that could handle it"
Peter took a few steps, testing how he felt. He was sore and a bit shaky but nothing too bad. He'd be good as new in a few hours
"I'm going to walk you home. Maybe crash at your place, I want to make sure you're okay."
Peter knew Mies probably felt bad- and he didn't mind. It was a Friday night so they didn't need to worry about school. Rio was fine with Miles staying the night so long as he called. Peter was more than happy to let Miles keep an eye on him. It was nice having someone watch his back
"Sure thing, you're welcome anytime. I even made potato soup, it should be keeping warm now"
"Your apartment isn't burning down is it?"
Peter rolled his eyes "Not you too. No! I got a crock pot- designed for cooking when you're away."
They crawled up to the window where they'd come in. Peter sent a text to the police and they swung away. Miles stuck close in case Peter needed help. His muscles weren't happy and he'd had to slow down and land a few times to get around tight corners, but he'd swung with much worse, and they got to his apartment without issue.
"I think I got a hint of what it was like for you to take me swinging."
"Pretty nerve-wracking isn't it?" Peter said, taking his mask off now that he was inside "I'm fine, you should see the condition I've swung around in"
"That doesn't make me feel better," said Miles
Miles followed him as Peter went to his dresser to find clothes for them to change into. Peter threw a pair of sweatpants and one of his old college t-shirts at Miles.
"You sure you're okay?" Miles asked
"I'm sure. In the morning, it'll be like it never happened"
Miles went to the bathroom to change and Peter beat him to the living room. Years of practice and whatever. Peter was preparing bowls for the two of them when Miles got back. It was a perfect meal for a chilly night like tonight.
"You sure you're not mad?" Miles asked. Without the mask, Peter could clearly see Miles searching his face. The kid was punishing himself more than anyone else ever could.
"I'm sure, you didn't mean to, and it was a good lesson to learn now. If that happened when we were fighting someone more powerful, we would have been in trouble." Peter handed Miles a bowl of soup "Careful, it's hot"
Miles took it and froze "What's that?"
Peter followed his gaze and there were red lines branching out across Peter's arms. Peter moved his sleeve up and they continued. A peek under his shirt showed they covered his chest too.
"I haven't had these in a long time," Peter said, Miles looked confused. "Okay don't freak out, they fade fast for me"
Miles' eyes widened "From the electricity?"
"Yeah, fractal scarring. This is the path the electricity followed. You can see the outline of the web-shooters and the wiring for the suit. Pretty cool actually."
"I don't think it's cool!" Miles had put his soup down and grabbed Peter's arm inspecting the scars
"Miles it's okay, the tech in my suit just made it worse, besides I've been electrocuted before much worse than this. Electro-"
"Is one of your oldest enemies I know" Miles looked devastated
Oh man, Peter had only brought him up because it was the only other experience he had with electricity like this, Miles didn't think Peter saw him in the same light, did he?
"You're not like him. You have a similar power but that's it"
"That's not what I'm worried about..." Miles let go of his arm "You called out to me before I used venom. Your spider-sense warned you about me being dangerous."
"Okay, I thought we went over the spider-sense. I don't really have time to set anything up so go get me my mask" Peter pointed to the couch where he'd left it when he came in.
Miles turned around and after a few steps, Peter threw an empty bowl right at his head. Miles spun around and caught it
"What??" Miles looked bewildered and Peter smiled
"There, your spider-sense warned you about me. Am I dangerous?"
"Uh... Pretty sure electricity is more dangerous than a bowl" Miles said, placing the bowl on the counter
"That's not what we're going over. This is a class about the spider-sense, it'll warn you about your environment and anything that will hurt you- no matter how small. When you cook, you get a warning about the oil popping right?"
"Yeah,"
"Working so close together in a high-stress environment like tonight is going to lead to mistakes from both of us. The spider-sense is going to warn us about it and hopefully we won't get hurt, but sometimes we will. Don't for a second think that makes you dangerous.
Miles blinked and shook his head, finally breaking into a smile "Kind of an intense lesson there teach,"
"Yeah, well you forgot the last lesson so I tried doing an object lesson."
"What was your plan if I didn't catch it?"
"I would have made you practice your response time," Peter said, it hadn't actually crossed his mind that Miles could have missed that catch "If I'm letting you dodge bullets, you better be able to catch a bowl"
"Alright, alright, fair" Miles said "Now did your kitchen catch on fire during class?"
"Eat your soup!" Peter said pushing one of the bowls toward Miles
Peter grabbed his bowl and they sat on the couch eating soup and catching up on the news. Peter had insisted on putting Jameson's podcast on but Miles convinced him to listen to the Danikast this one time
"Why do you even listen to Jameson? He hates us!"
"What? He's our biggest fan! He rides that line between 'conspirisy theorist' and 'extreme critic' and-"
"He accused you of eating pigeons! Twice!"
Peter laughed "That's my favorite episode."
Miles shook his head "The Danikast actually has a real report of the news you know"
"Ah fine, I'll listen to both of them then, would that make it better?"
"It's a start," Miles said
"Did you call your mom? Peter asked
"Yeah, she's cool if I stay here. Do you mind? I just want to make sure you're okay."
"As I said, you're welcome anytime, even if I'm not here- you've even got a key to the window," Peter said, grinning at his own joke.
Miles shook his head, but Peter caught his smile
"Hmm... I'm realizing if you sleep on the couch and I sleep in my room, it's not exactly going to give you peace of mind." Peter said, thinking through their options
An idea struck and depending on how they went about it, could actually be a ton of fun.
"Hey Miles... want to build a fort?"
~~~~
Miles stared at Peter, completely confused "Like a pillow fort? Do you build pillow forts often?"
"Don't look at me like that, It'll be fun!"
"Uh... last time I built a fort, I was like 7" This was like a kid thing right? Was Peter trying to be funny? Miles didn't get it
"You're looking at it all wrong- look," Peter grabbed a blanket from under the couch and shot a web at the wall, sticking the end in his hand to the other wall. He hung the blanket over the web, creating the first "wall" of the fort.
Peter was right- he'd looked at it all wrong, they weren't even limited to the floor, they could stick stuff to the walls and ceiling. Building a spider fort would be awesome.
Peter brought out pillows, blankets and even two hammocks from when he'd gone camping with Uncle Ben about ten years ago. They worked together, taking every idea thrown out and running with it.
"Hang the hammocks up high- as high as you can reach," Miles said
"Okay, but I'm leaving a little room so we don't hit our heads in the middle of the night
The couch was set tall on its side and webbed to the wall to act as an anchor point for webs. The end result was a chaotic mess, a half attempt at a web before they realized they didn't quite have enough room. The hammocks were strung up high with blankets hanging around on all sides creating floating "room". The couch cushions sat on the ground, indicating the start of footholds leading up to the hammocks.
Miles was happy with it, it had been a ton of fun to build. He plucked at one of the webs
"You're sure this isn't the webbing that dissolves in a few hours?"
"Yup!" Peter called from the top, adjusting one of the blankets "It'll stay as long as we like"
Miles caught sight of the fractal scars again and guilt panged in his chest. It was a mistake, just move on
Peter was going out of his way to distract Miles from what had happened. The least he could do was y'know- be distracted. He also had a sneaking suspicion that Peter was having just as much fun as he was.
Peter climbed up the web and stuck his portable desk light to the ceiling in between the hammocks, flicking it on, it flooded harsh across the room, the webs casting stark shadows on the walls.
"Pete, that thing is brighter than the sun!" Miles winced against the bright light
"I don't have any flashlights!"
"We both have enhanced vision- just turn it off!"
Peter did and Miles turned off the apartment lights. Between the glow of New York behind the window curtain and his enhanced night vision, he had no problem climbing up to the hammock. Miles sat in it sideways, swinging it a bit
"I wanted to tell ghost stories," Peter said, pretending to be offended
"Would blinding yourself make it spookier?"
"Yes"
Miles rolled his eyes and Peter handed him a blanket. They sat talking for a while. Miles asked about Spider-Man fights he'd already watched online hundreds of times, and Peter told his side and explained his intentions.
"That fight looked so precise! Everyone thought you were building a web to catch scorpion!"
"Ehh, I was trying to trip him, but he kept moving. When I did eventually trip him, he fell into the other webs and got himself tangled."
"But you made a joke about catching a scorpion in your web!"
"Yeah, I told you, quips are one of my superpowers"
"Alright," Miles sighed" Now who do you think is your strangest villain?"
"My? You wear the Spider-Man name, you inherit my enemies, don't forget that"
Miles smiled, Peter was always reminding him that he was Spider-Man too, every opportunity he got. "You know what I mean. Swarm was pretty weird"
"Yeah what's up with that guy? I fought a spector once and that one made more sense."
"A spector?" Why hadn't Miles ever heard of that? "Like a ghost?"
"Nah, not all spectors are ghosts, although people thought she was. Turned out she was a teenage girl with super speed. Like she went so fast, you couldn't see her even if she was right next to you, trying to talk to you. Everything went so slow for her that everything was completely still in her perspective. She was just frustrated and lonely. I actually woundn't count her as villain, or even a fight really."
"Where is she now?"
"She learned how to control her powers and moved out of state with her mom."
Miles guessed Peter had helped her get a handle on her powers. He always tried to talk first, even with his seasoned villains
"Did you... train her too?" Miles tried to be casual. He wasn't jealous- that'd be stupid right? It didn't matter if Peter did have an apprentice before him. It shouldn't bother him.
Peter saw right through him and laughed "Don't worry, she didn't want to be a hero, she just wanted to be normal. She even asked me to take her powers away using her dad's research."
"Did you?" Miles asked, trying to ignore how he'd been called out.
"No. I found a way, but if someone had taken my powers away when I was still scared and confused, I definately would have regretted it."
"You were scared when you got your powers?" Miles was suprised but it made sense. If Peter hadn't been Spider-Man for so long before Miles got bit, it would have been a lot scarier
"Yeah, I had no idea what was going on and I was afraid Oscorp would somehow find out what happened. The spider was theirs so if I was caught, they'd have legal claim to me. I was absolutely scared. Villains are why I kept the mask, but at first I was just using my powers to win wrestling contests."
"Makes sense. If someone had taken your powers back then..." Who knows where New York would be? Peter took down a lot of villains using his powers. No way would he have beaten someone like Rhino without the spider-sense or even his reflexes.
"You know, thinking about it, I think the real outlier here is Fisk." Peter said, "Everyone else has powers or some kind of suit that uses like shockwaves or something, and then there's just this guy."
Miles laughed as Peter continued, half talking to himself
"I mean, he has a bunch of samarai swords, but so does my neighbor Kyle. It's a really weird thing for a mob boss of New York to collect."
"Still took you like 8 years to take him down" Miles teased, still grinning
"Yeah, isn't it weird? Rhino is like 700lbs and wears indestructible armor and we had him locked up within the week. Meanwhile, ham hands over here just control New York, killing people whenever they get annoying and-"
"Ham hands??"
"Yeah, have you seen that guy? His hands are huge- how does he even eat with those things??"
Miles broke into uncontrollable laughter, Peter joining in after a few seconds. Miles tried to stop, but between the stress of the night, and the late hour, everything was funnier than it should be.
"Hey-" Peter started, his laughter cutting him off "Hey, we're going to wake people up. We need to get some sleep."
Miles managed to calm himself down, still grinning, needing to hold in his laughter whenever he thought of Fisk
"Dude! Now whenever I run into Fisk, I'm just going to laugh at him,"
"Like a true Spider-Man"
"Go to sleep." Miles pushed Peter's hammock with his foot, causing both of them to swing.
~~~~
Miles woke up to dim light, nothing had really changed to wake him up, he just wasn't used to sleeping in a hammock. Peter was still sound asleep, lying on his side with one arm hanging out of the blankets. He tended to sleep much deeper in general. If the spider-sense didn't wake him, he was pretty much dead to the world
Miles pulled up his phone, eyes burning from the bright light. It was just past 4 am. With the light, he noticed the fractal scars on Peter's arm fading. The lines broken up and invisible in several spots. It made him feel a little bit better.
Does this mean everyone I've used venom on gets these? Peter said that the technology of the suit had made it worse, but he still might want to reign back the electricity a little. Miles wondered how his electricity would work against Electro. He had assumed that it wouldn't work, but he had also assumed that Peter's suit would insulate him from venom. He really hadn't meant to get Peter caught up in the attack. He was just so used to using it alone when Peter was away, that he hadnt even thought about it. Miles would really need to pay attention in the future.
Could Electro shock him? Miles didn't think so since he'd run into so many things that didn't- like electrical fields and electric fences. But the more Miles thought about it, the more curious he got. Would it be irresponsible of him to hope he got a chance to fight him someday? Thinking about it, a lot of the villains had suits that might be vulnerable to electricity. It probably wasn't wise to obsess about that in the middle of the night though, so Miles put his phone away and adjusted before falling asleep again.
~~~
When Miles woke up again, it was much brighter. Peter was gone from his hammock, but Miles heard him at his desk. He was probably working on his suit or a new gadget.
"What are you working on?" Miles called, climbing out of the hammock and down the web
"Just taking a look at the insulation of my suit," Peter said, not even looking up as Miles approached " My suit can take over 500 million volts without it electrocuting me. I'll still feel it, unfortunately, but it won't stun me like last night."
"Yeah?" Miles rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, and Peter glanced up at him.
"Hey look, I'm fine. The scars are gone" Peter held his arm out. The lines had completely vanished
"Like nothing ever happened," Miles said, echoing Peter's words from the night before
"Just my curiosity is left. I know you don't use nearly that much or the guys we fight would end up in the hospital before being sent to prison. It definitely ignores normal insulation at least"
"Yeah, we tested it a bunch before I started using it in combat. Well- after Rhino." Miles said, thinking "You think there's a way for you to insulate against my venom?"
"Maybe..." Peter looked thoughtful "I'll have to look into it. Maybe study up on electric eels or something."
"Cool," Miles turned to the fort "Want me to start taking this down? It'll be a little suspicious if someone stops by."
"Yeah, you've got a point." Peter sighed "Shame we can't just leave it for a few days, we need to build another sometime. I already have ideas on how to make it better"
"Absolutely!" Miles said, "Or maybe we can go camping. Might be more fun in New York than in the middle of a warzone"
"We can do both," Peter said, pulling down blankets. "Once summer hits"
They moved around the room to dissolve the webs off the walls and furniture, half-heartedly dismantling the fort. They talked about a camping trip they quickly realized wouldn't happen. Unless they camped in Central Park, leaving New York City wasn't an option. Too much could happen too fast.
"Okay here's the plan," Peter said "Once the Avengers get back from wherever they are, we make a break for it."
"What if they're looking for you again?"
"Even better! They won't leave until we get back!"