A Tangled Knot
A Tangled Knot
Gwen looked Miles up and down. At first glance, the young teen was dressed in the standard Brooklyn Visions Academy uniform, but the longer Gwen took him in, the more she realized how much he stood out. His shirt was tucked in, but his tie had been tugged down and his collar unbuttoned. His pants didn't seem to fit him and looked a few sizes too short, exposing his ankles. But, there was also something else about Miles that Gwen couldn't quite pinpoint. He just looked so…out of place next to the other kids here.
Miles also stared at her. His eyes were squinted, and Gwen could see the wheels in his mind turning.
Gwen shook Miles' hand and the two walked to an empty lab table. "Time is relative, huh?" Gwen asked, raising an eyebrow at Miles as he brought out his homework materials.
Miles' eyes softened and he shrugged. A mischievous smile replaced his inquisitive look. "I have no idea what it means, but it sounds smart and always shuts up Mr. Burnham."
Gwen chuckled. "So, science isn't your strong suit?"
"Biology and theoretical stuff, yeah," Miles said. "I'm better with the hands on stuff."
Gwen tilted her head to the side. "Biology is hands on…"
"Not the fun kind," Miles retorted. "I'm not making anything, I'm just sticking my hands in a dead thing, which is just, uugh!" Miles cringed and his head and arms gave an involuntary shake. "Give me a box of scrap I can tinker with over an animal carcass any day of the week!"
"Well, that's a rather limiting way to look at a pillar of the scientific community," Gwen muttered.
"What?" Miles asked.
"Nothing," Gwen said, reorienting herself around the table so she could look over Miles' shoulder. "What's been stumping you?"
"Yes," Miles said, gesturing to the study guide in front of him.
A chuckle escaped her lips, and Gwen leaned down further to get a better look at the study guide. "Well, this is pretty advanced stuff for a freshman."
"Welcome to Brooklyn Visions, where expectations are great, and spines are crushed underfoot," Miles said, dryly.
There was something else in his voice, a hint of bitterness that he didn't really try to hide underneath the humor. Gwen looked Miles up and down again. The bitterness, the sass to the professor, the way his uniform was so disheviled in comparison to the rest of the kids. If she didn't know better, she'd say that this kid was actively trying to rebel against his school. That, in it of itself, didn't surprise her in the slightest. Gwen was well aware that she and Peter were definitely the outliers when it came to school. She couldn't help it though, she loved to learn, even when she didn't particularly like where she learned sometimes. But there was a difference between hating to learn, and hating where you learn, and to her, Miles screamed of the latter. It was a challenge, but it was a challenge she was itching to rise to.
"Fair enough," Gwen said. She looked at the top of the study guide: Respiratory Systems. Damn, that was her least favorite of the body's systems. Couldn't it have been the Endocrine System? "How 'bout we start at the beginning."
"That seems like a very good place to start," Miles remarked.
Gwen quirked an eyebrow at him, easy wiseass. Miles grinned back at her and twirled his pencil into a ready position. Though, as he did, that inquisitive look of his returned. Gwen shifted in her seat, and realization formed on Miles' face.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—I just, I swear I've seen you before," Miles said.
Well that didn't make sense. How could Miles have seen her before? She had never come around to Brooklyn before beyond the time her father took her to check out a private school. Warren's lab had hosted a few other field trips from other schools. She never remembered the names as she was too busy making sure none of their experiments had gotten loose. "Have you ever gone to Empire State University? I work—well, worked—at one of the labs there."
"No, that's not it," Miles said, shaking his head. He stared at Gwen again, squinting his eyes as Gwen couldn't quite figure out if she was amused or uncomfortable with this. Then, Miles lifted up his hand and placed it in front of Gwen's mouth and his eyes lit up like a light bulb! "You were the girl Venom captured!"
Gwen groaned. Of course that's where he would recognize her from.
Miles placed his hands on his cheeks and leaned his elbows on the table. He gazed at Gwen in awe. "What was it like?"
Gwen took a breath. "I think we should probably get started on your study guide," Gwen said, looking over the paper.
"I can finish it later," Miles said, waving his hand dismissively at the paper. He shifted his chair so he could look directly at Gwen. His notebook and pencil lay forgotten on the table. "What was it like being saved by Spider-Man? What's he like? What's web-swinging like?"
"I didn't really focus on it," Gwen snapped, starting to feel a small well of annoyance at Miles insistence. The private school she had visited with her dad had stressed the importance of passing her classes and tests, didn't Miles understand what would happen to him if he didn't focus on passing? She was here to help him, not talk about her traumatic life experiences. Gwen cleared her throat and pointed to the top of the study guide."What I think we should focus on right now is how the lungs actually breathe."
Miles looked down, not disappointed, but in a rather understanding way. He seemed to realize that he'd overstepped some invisible line. "Sorry, sorry, you're right," Miles said, shifting his chair back to face the table. "I could always use more oxygen in my brain."
"I can tell," Gwen said with a smile, nudging Miles with her shoulder, reassuring him that she wasn't really mad. Miles returned her smile and opened the textbook on the table to the chapter on the Respiratory System.
Spider-Man swung through the city as dusk crept in over the skyscrapers. It had been a relatively slow day today. Well, they were all slow days now that more suits had popped up out of the woodwork, but today had been slower than usual. Only a few muggers.
Where was the action!? Where was the mystery? Where was the opportunity to make fun of the costumed idiot of the week!? Sure, Spider-Man appreciated that he was no longer the only costumed crazy that was the bane of evil's existence, but with so many of them populating the skies and the streets, it made it hard to have fun.
Nowadays, he found himself swinging around the city in a daze. Navigating through the concrete jungle on nothing but pure muscle memory, and a handy occasional warning from ye ol' Spidey-Sense.
God, he just wanted some action. He had hoped Captain Stacy had found some leads in Warren's murder by now, but that was his impatience talking. It had barely been a day since they discovered his body, so the fact that there were few leads was to be expected. Yep, it was quite the rough time to be Spider-Man lately.
The sound of Alarm Bells sang in Spider-Man's head!
CRASH!
"Finally!" Spidey exclaimed! Spinning through the air, Spidey redirected his swing toward the sound. He zipped and bounced across the rooftops until he spotted an armored truck laying on its side with flames coming out of the front. "Well, now this looks familiar."
Spidey launched himself toward the truck, and for a brief second, he felt a familiar radio wave-like sensation of his Spider-Sense.
It was just like when he first saw Ben. Was he back in town? Did he cause the crash chasing down someone? Excited at the prospect of his brother being back in town, Spidey landed on top of the truck and ripped off the door. "Hi, do you have the Legos I ordered?"
The driver whipped to face Spidey, and his face dropped to the center of the Earth as he said, "You again?"
"Oh you've gotta be kidding me!" Spidey reached in and webbed the driver, yanking him out. He leaped away and set the driver down on the sidewalk, then, Spidey jumped over to a fire hydrant and popped the cap off. He doused the growing flames in the hood of the truck. So, if it wasn't Ben who did this, who activated his Spider-Sense?
"Okay, who is impersonating me this time?" Spidey asked, as he grabbed the driver and pulled him up to his feet. "I don't understand how you idiots confuse me with other suits! I mean, yeah, I've changed my suit twice, but I've been around longer than any of them! I thought the criminal underworld and I had a special unspoken thing?"
"You Spiders all look the same!" the driver exclaimed. "Get a new color scheme or make your suits different! Or better yet, just stop all together!"
"Us Spiders? Dude, there's only two of us, and the other guy wears a hoodie and has a different name! What else do you want?" Spider-Man shook his head and took a breath. It was always a trigger for him whenever the criminals he took in never recognized him. Was it so hard to remember that he got there before the rest of the superhero community? "What did that other guy look like? What did he want?"
"He looked like, well he looked like him!" The Driver pointed behind Spider-Man, and the young hero turned around to see Daredevil drop from the roof above.
"Horns," Spidey said, nodding to the Man Without Fear, "what are you doing outside of the fire and brimstone?"
"What are you doing inside it?" Daredevil asked, walking toward Spidey. He cocked his head to the side, and stared at Spidey with blank red eyes.
"What are you talking about, this is Midtown," Spidey said.
"Do those lenses block your sight?" Daredevil smiled. Ugh, Spidey hated that smile. It was the same one Daredevil always wore whenever they questioned a criminal together. It was always so smug.
"Do those horns come with a receipt?" Spidey retorted.
"Dude, that's the best you got?" Spidey looked back at the Driver, unable to speak due to shock! "I thought your jokes were supposed to be better than that?"
"He has a point," Daredevil said. Spidey glared at Daredevil, and the Devil of Hell's Kitchen took a breath before looking at the Driver. "This is one of Hammerhead's thugs. I think—"
"Oh, you're one of Hammie's goons?" Spidey said, eyeing the Driver with interest.
"So what?" the Driver spat. "You guys got nothin on me, and I ain't a squeaker!"
"Looks like we have a henchman on our hands," Daredevil commented.
"There's a difference?" Spidey asked.
"I'll explain later, for now, I think I can do with a better view." Daredevil aimed his Billy club at a building next to them and shot toward the roof.
Spidey adjusted the Driver in his arms and prepared to jump after Daredevil. "Woah, you just gonna let him take control like that?" the Driver asked, trying to hide his nerves, but it was to no avail.
Spidey just laughed. "You don't question the devil in his domain." Spidey leapt after Daredevil and threw the Driver forward. He tumbled across the rooftop, screaming, until Daredevil's foot stopped him from rolling off the edge.
"He questions you," Daredevil whispered, leaning over the Driver. "What is Hammerhead doing in Hell's Kitchen? Last I heard he was up in Midtown."
"Hey, I'm just a driver!" the Driver said, raising his hands. "I just move whatever they tell me to move."
Daredevil leaned further toward the Driver. "And what did you move for them? Those containers in the back are rather…odd."
Spidey rolled his eyes. Show off.
The Driver swallowed. "Look, I don't know what the hell was in those containers, but like I tried to tell the other guy, I don't know where they went."
"Other guy?" Spidey asked, perking up.
"Who did you hand them off to?" Daredevil asked.
"I don't know, they just opened my truck and took them. It was fast," the Driver said. "I was on my way home when I got jumped by this red maniac!"
"The one that looked like me," Daredevil said.
The Driver nodded, then pointed at Spidey. "Only he had that one's gimmick."
"Do I finally get to sue someone for spinning webs?" Spidey asked, eagerly holding his hands together like he was praying.
"And he was doing his best Batman impersonation," the Driver said.
"What did this new Spider-Person want from you?" Daredevil asked, looking at Spidey with a hint of exasperation.
"He wanted to know where and who I delivered the cargo to," the Driver said. "Nearly poked my eye out with some blade in his wrist before he just left."
"He just left?" Daredevil asked sharply. Spidey could feel the Devil of Hell's Kitchen's eyes narrowing under his cowl. "Why?"
"How should I know?" the Driver exclaimed. "One second he's trying to shishkebab me, then he grabs his head and swings off! I ain't complaining though, I like both my eyes!"
Spidey rushed toward the Driver. "Wait, he grabbed his head?"
Daredevil lifted his foot off the Driver's chest and looked back at Spidey, his head tilted with curiosity.
"Did he look off balance?" Spidey demanded. "Like he stood up too fast after sitting down for too long and no blood got to his head?"
The Driver screwed up his face, trying to remember. "Uh, kinda. I can't really tell. He took off before I could get a good look at him.
Spidey walked away from the Driver and started to pace. "It's impossible, there can't be another one," he whispered to himself. "Warren is dead, and no one else knows how to do it. And Warren can't have done it before he died cause then I would've noticed!"
Daredevil walked over to Spidey, halting him in his tracks and his ramblings. "Spider-Man, what is happening? What do you mean by; another one?"
Spidey looked at Daredevil with wide lenses. "You really should be called Batman with your damn hearing," he hissed at Daredevil. Spidey walked toward the edge of the roof.
"Where are you going?"
Spidey stopped in his tracks, one foot was hovering over the ledge. "I have to make a call."
"Someone with your powers and a little more seems to be swinging about my borough," Daredevil said calmly, though a hint of an edge did seep through his teeth. "You share whatever you catch, agreed?"
"You know, my Aunt and Uncle always told me that I wasn't supposed to make deals with the Devil," Spidey retorted.
Daredevil cracked a smile. "Smart parental figures. I'll see you when your fishing trip is over."
"See you then, Horns." Spidey gave Daredevil a two-fingered salute before leaping out into the city.
"Well, ask and you shall receive, Spidey," he remarked as he swung in the direction of Midtown. "Really need to specify the kind of action you want, next time Web-Slinger. Is it possible to reverse psychology the universe into giving you exactly what you want next time? I should ask Reed, next time I see him."
Spidey pulled out his phone from the hidden compartment in his suit and dialed a number.
"Hello there, Swinger," a sultry voice said instantly.
"General Kenobi!" Spidey responded in a raspy imitation of General Grievous.
For a moment, the young superhero heard nothing but static and the wind whistling in his ears. "Uh, what?" Felicia said, and Spidey could practically see her face twisted with confusion.
He sighed. "Well now we have two problems."
"Oh we do, do we?" Felicia remarked.
"Yeah, but I don't know which is a higher priority," Spidey answered. "The fact that you didn't get a Star Wars reference, or the fact that we have a Spider-Powered maniac on the loose terrorizing Hammerheads crew for some reason."
"Yeah, really hard choice there, hero," Felicia replied, dryly. "What's this about our Spider-Powered suspect?"
Spidey relayed his encounter with Daredevil, Hammerhead's Driver, and his weird Spider-Sense sensation.
"Well, that definitely makes things easier for me," Felicia said, her voice taking a calculating tone.
"How so?"
"Well, I was just gonna put feelers out to all of my old contacts and see what I managed to ruffle up, but now I know who to go to specifically," she explained.
"Which means our search time goes down drastically," Spidey finished. "Who knew being an ex-con would come in handy!"
"I could've told you that from the start, Spider," Felicia remarked. "I suppose we can–"
BRING!
"Aw, shit!" Spidey exclaimed. His alarm for dinner at Aunt May's went off.
"What is it?"
"Dinner tonight," Spidey grumbled, swinging himself in the direction of Queens. "And I invited Flash too!"
"Wow, cheating on me already?" Felicia asked.
Spidey cracked a smile. "Oh, like you're upset about missing dinner with my Aunt."
"I don't know," Felicia said, thoughtfully, "it would be funny to see you introduce your Aunt to both your boyfriend and your partner."
Spidey cringed. "Did you have to put the image of Flash Thompson as my girlfriend in my head?" he asked, gagging. "You couldn't have made it Johnny Storm? Captain America? Hell, I would've allowed Deadpool!"
"Reeeeeaaaaalllly?" Felicia drawled.
"…okay, maybe not Deadpool," Spidey amended. "But I stand by Johnny and Cap."
Again, only static and the wind reached Spidey's ears, until he came to a stop on top of a building.
"I'm just gonna put that into my Superhero Blackmail file," Felicia's playful voice said. "It's snuggled right next to the file labeled Big Spoon Or Little Spoon."
Spidey laughed, his joy quickly died in his throat. Did he really have the time to have dinner when he had a possible lead he could track on his mysterious sticky handed killer? "Maybe I should meet up with you. You know, to exchange notes?" he suggested, trying to keep the nervous waiver of his voice hidden from Felicia.
"Nah, I think I'm good Spider," she responded. "You don't exactly fit in with the crowd I'm gonna be slumming it with."
Spidey shifted on his perch and sprawled out on the roof. His legs dangled over the edge of the building and swayed in the wind.
"What is it?"
Maybe it was because of how simple the question was, or it was the fact that he didn't have to tell her this face to face—well, mask to mask, but whatever the reason, Spidey felt compelled to answer her truthfully. "I just—missing one dinner wouldn't be the worst thing in the world." Okay, mostly truthfully.
"Spider, remember what I said yesterday?" Felicia asked, her tone calm and patient.
"Share the load," Spidey answered, feeling an unknown weight lift from his shoulders.
"I can handle questioning a few gangsters on my own, while you enjoy a dinner with May," Felicia reassured him.
"Okay." Spidey took a deep breath, still not convinced. He should be out there, looking after his neighborhood. Dinners happen every night. It's a basic human function. But crime, crime was sporadic. It could strike at any time, and he needed to be there for the people who couldn't protect themselves from it. Right?
"You know what makes you so lovable, but also so damn frustrating?" Felicia asked him.
"My talent for sparkling conversation?"
"That sense of responsibility," she said. "You're so devoted to it that it really does make one question their path in life. But at the same time, that same devotion is exactly what prevents you from being that devoted to everything else in your life."
Spidey looked up at the skyline of New York and watched as the Avengers Quinjet returned home, Moon Knight's Mooncopter flew in the distance, and Johnny Storm drew a large 4 into the sky. Not to mention Daredevil keeping watch over Hell's Kitchen. New York had plenty of heroes for the night, and Felicia could handle herself. Perhaps he could use the night off? After everything with MJ, he could use just a simple night. A family dinner to put his mind at ease. Maybe, he could stay the night, and he and Aunt May could watch one of their old favorites together.
"Your right," Spidey said. "Thanks, Felicia."
"Anytime, Peter," Felicia responded. "Now get going, its bad manners to be late on the first date."
Spidey laughed and leaped out into the night. "Be sure to share whatever you catch with Daredevil,' he said to Felicia. "He wants in on whatever's going on."
"I'll leave that to you," Felicia said. "Last time we met, it ended both very well, and rather poorly."
"Well that's a story I need to hear," Spidey said, his interest piqued. He shot himself down toward a train. "But another time. Good luck, Felicia."
"Remember to pull out his chair for him before he sits down!"
"Ha. Ha."
With that, Felicia hung up the phone, leaving Spidey to look forward to a night with his family, and his new friend?