"It hurts."
"Everything hurts so bad."
Miles just wanted it to end.
Even just getting his eyes to open was such a struggle. They felt as if they had been glued shut with tar.
The boy forced them to open, the action feeling as if he should be using a crowbar. He expected the light to encase his retiñas and obscure his vision, but he was only met with darkness. The dully lit room was easy on his eyes and the boy let out a sigh of relief, instantly regretting it when his chest burned. He lifted a hand to the source of the pain and let out a whimper when his arms flared in agony.
Miles grit his teeth and craned his neck to the side. His eyes landed on his arms that had white bandages and gauze wrapped up to his shoulder. His torso had been wrapped as well. Wait...
"Where's my shirt?"
The boy's eyes widened at the sight. His suit was still on his body but was in tatters. One sleeve hung limply over his left arm while the rest of his upper half had been torn.
The memories came flooding back; Doc Oc, Toomes, the collider, everything.
"Where's Gwen?"
He hoped she was fine. He probably got out on the better end, but still... He had no idea what happened.
What if Doc had killed her?
"No, don't think like that. She's fine."
"Look who finally decided to wake up," A gruff voice spoke.
Miles lifted his head to find Miguel standing in the corner of the room, arms crossed, as usual.
"Where are we? Where are the others?"
Miguel took a few steps toward the boy, eying him like the question he had asked was stupid, "May's spider-garage thing. And the others are up in the house."
Miles bit back a cry as he sat up on the couch he had been placed on and clutched his side tightly. He swallowed hard when the pain died down after his movement ended. He thought for a moments before squinting in confusion, "Why are you down here then?"
"Was Miguel worried about me? Does he actually care?"
"I don't like people and didn't want to listen to talking. Conveniently for me, up until thirty seconds ago you were asleep."
Miles rolled his eyes and let out a huff.
"Nope. Still a douchebag."
"Is Gwen okay?" the boy asked.
"She's doing better than you, seeing as you we're dying an hour ago," the man responded with a shrug.
Miles shivered at the thought.
"That's not an answer."
Miguel gave him a hard look, "It is. Just not to what you asked." With that he began to walk away, tapping a few buttons on his dimension hopper.
Miles cast him an appalled stare, "Where are you going?"
Miguel cast him a glance seemingly deciding whether he should answer or fat out ignore him, before he replied. "I've got to make a few calls," his eyes narrowed, "Stay put."
The escalator started to raise as Miguel stepped onto it and Miles cast him a glare.
"You know, I'm glad that I woke up and lived through that," Miles called after him, "Because if your face was the last thing I ever saw, I would have been so mad."
Miguel rolled his eyes before turning his back to the kid, muttering something about stupid teenagers.
Miles let out an angry breath through his nose, resembling an upset calf, and rose to his feet only to just as quickly collapse on the ground, clutching his leg and whimpering.
He spared a peek down at his thigh to find it a lot less swollen than before, but the pain was still there.
Miles eyes widened as a realization struck him.
"Holy crap! I got shot and lived... That's kinda gangster."
The boy pushed himself into a sitting position and lolled his head back onto the armrest of the couch.
"Hopefully someone will come down soon."
Like a prayer answered from heaven, Miles heard the whirring of gears as the escalator began it's descent as well as two muffled voices.
When it hit ground level Miles was instantly hit with a onslot of questions.
"Hey, Miles! Are you okay?" Peter rushed to his side looking over his bandages and checking his face for more injuries, "What am I saying? Of course your not." He huffed, "Alright, how are you feeling? Or on a scale of one to ten, how-"
"Peter," May interjected, "Are you going to give the boy a chance to answer?"
Miles smiled at the sight of the woman. It had been too long since he'd come to visit her. "I'm fine," the boy answered, "I mean it hurts but... I'm not dying at the moment."
Peter didn't look convinced, "Are you good to walk, kid?"
Miles contemplated his answer before sighing and letting his gaze fall. He shook his head.
Peter dropped down, letting the boy wrap an arm around his shoulder so he could stand.
Miles wobbled to his feet, his arm still slung around the man when May asked, "Where's Miguel?"
Miles's lips scrunched to the side in distaste. "Something about, making a phone call," he shook his head, "I don't care."
A questioning look crossed May's face, but she didn't ask anything.
Miles craned his neck to face Peter, "Is Gwen okay?"
"She's got a broken arm, but is otherwise fine. She's a tough kid," Peter informed, "She's with the others upstairs."
"Can you... Can you take me?"
Peter smiled softly, "Sure thing, kid."
Peter and May led him over to the elevator and They stayed in silence as the platform began to rise.
Finally May spoke, "The others wanted to come down too, but... It's not exactly safe outside."
Miles glanced at her, "Because of ... the Venom."
Peter sighed, "More like Venoms."
*******
As Miles, Peter, and May stepped through the back door, a thought rang in the boy's mind.
"I have to find my parents. I have to find Ganke."
A high pitched squeal broke the boy's train of thought, "Miles!" You could guess who it came from.
Peni rushed up to the boy, and cast him a toothy grin.
Noir cast him a nod, "How's your leg treating ya, Miles?"
Miles chuckled lightly, "Not too kindly, but I'll manage."
He released his hold on Peter, to limp through the small crowd. He stumbled, but Riley deftly caught him and helped him back to his feet.
Anya placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a worried look, "Estás bien?" she asked, "We were worried." She glanced at Gwen quickly, before her eyes returned back to the boy, "Ella sobre todo."
Miles tried to fight the smile to threatened to break onto his face as he answered. "I'm okay," he shrugged, "I could be worse."
Anya rose a brow, "Not much."
Miles chuckled softly. His breath caught in his throat when he caught sight of a familiar pair of entrancing blue eyes.
His voice sounded frantic as he forced out the words, "Gwen, are you okay?"
Gwen scoffed, "Of course you would be worried about me right now."
Miles squinted, "Yeah, I'm worried about you! Your arm in broken."
"My arm?" she said her voice raising, "Your everything is broken!"
"I didn't break anything!" he defended, voice raising to match hers as he threw his arms up in exasperation, "You broke your arm. I'm fine!"
"You can't walk, Miles! You can barely even stand! Your in a much worse condition than I am!"
"I'm fine, Gwen!" he yelled, "I'm worried about you!"
Peter groaned, "Can you two just kiss already. I mean we're all waiting for it."
"Shut up, Peter," the two spoke in unison. Their heads both snapped over to face each other and a blush formed on the boy's face. Miles's eyes flicked down to the girls lips as the though of kissing her briefly crossed his mind, before darting back up to her face to find it expressionless- devoid of emotion. He could never tell how she was feeling and it kinda scared him. The boy really hoped she didn't see him.
"How cute." Peni cooed.
"Peni, if you like having your arms attached to you body, I suggest you stop." Gwen hissed.
Anya leaned over to Peni and whispered, "Are those two dating?"
"No, we are not," Gwen spoke, her expression hard as steel.
Miles felt himself deflate at her blatant objection, though he gulped and straightened up when Gwen cast him a questioning glance.
Suddenly a thought came back to the boy. It struck him like a bolt of lightning, "I have to find my parents," Miles spoke suddenly. The room quickly descended into silence.
Peter cast him a sympathetic glance, "Miles, you can't."
Miles grit his teeth, "And why not?!"
Peter sighed, "Miles, why do you always have to make me feel like the bag guy? We'll think of a plan, okay? If we get rid of the Venoms we save everyone. For now we have to assume that everyone else has been... venomised."
"But we don't know that," Miles persisted, "I have to try."
Peni looked up at the boy, her eyes rounded in sadness, "Miles, we all have family and we're all worried about them, but... Peter's right. We have to focus on stopping Venom in order to save them."
Miles leaned against the wall behind him and hung his head. "Alright," he sighed, "Fine."
"Okay, everyone," May announced, "I'm calling it a night. There's extra blankets and pillows in the closet for you all. Peter knows where." With that May left the room and the room rose with idle chatter.
After talking to Peter for a while, Miles scanned the room for Gwen finding her staring blankly forward from her spot on the couch. The boy stumbled his way over, sitting beside her on the loveseat and letting out and exhale as the pain began to subside, when his muscles relaxed. The two teens sat in silence for a few moments before she spoke.
"Why'd you do it?"
His head swiveled over to her, "What?"
"Why'd you... come for me? I would have been fine."
"If by fine you mean dead, then..."
"You know what I mean, Miles," she whispered harshly, her expression stern, "I just... If I hadn't gotten captured then-"
"Hey," Miles interjected roughly, "None of this is your fault."
"You almost died, Miles," she shut her eyes tightly.
"And that's not your fault either."
"I just..." she sighed and hung her head, her flaxen hair covering her face.
Miles wanted so badly to brush back those golden strands, but he stayed out.
Gwen sucked in a breath and Miles could clearly see that there was something she wanted to say, but didn't know how. He just patiently waited as the girl got her bearings about her.
"I asked you before why you came for me if you knew it was a trap. You said I shouldn't have to ask. What did you... mean by that?"
Miles swallowed hard.
"Is now the right time? Is he ready?"
The boy dropped his head as he thought of how to answer that truthfully, while not revealing... well everything.
"I wasn't just gonna sit there while something bad could have happened to you, because... I care about you."
She looked up to him, her eyes filled with conflict, "Why though? I'm not... I just..." She let out a defeated sigh.
Miles straightened up, his brows furrowed, "What do you mean why? You're amazing." Gwen looked taken aback, but Miles continued. "You're funny, you're brave, you're graceful, and you're always there for me. You're just- You're the best!" Miles face was contorted in way that showed that this should have been common knowledge.
The boy beamed at the way the girl looked down trying to suppress her smile. "Thanks."she muttered, her voice light and soft.
"Alright guys, we should head to bed," Peter announced, standing next to Miguel, who Miles guessed at some point must have returned, "Can't fight Venoms if we can't stay on our feet. Tomorrow we'll brainstorm a plan on how to stop these guys."
"Okay, Mom," Ham grumbled.
"Cool it, Wilber." Peter shot back.
Porker snarled, than turned his back to the man with his arms crossed, "Whatever, I've got better things to do than deal with you."
Peter smirked, "Like what? A Pig-nic with Bugs and Daffy."
Gwen groaned as she slid a hand down her face, "Peter, that was horrible."
"I thought it was kind of funny," Peni chimed in.
Peter grinned, "Thank you, Peni. Finally somebody with a sense of humor."
Noir shook his head, "Don't encourage him."
Porker pouted. "Yes, please don't," he grumbled.
"What happened to going to bed?" Ben spoke up, raising a brow.
Peter turned to face him, "Oh right, that."
Everyone conversed getting their sleeping arrangements together.
Gwen, Peni, and Anya would sleep in the extra bedroom upstairs, while Peter and Miles stayed in the old bedroom of the Peter Parker of this dimension. Noir and Ben would sleep on the couches and Porker planned to sleep in May's cat bed, much to Peter's amusement.
Right before everyone could disperse Miles brought back to light something that was es into away at him, "Peter," he spoke quietly, but everyone could hear him- superheroes and all, "I can't stop thinking about it. It's killing me," his voice was pleading, "I don't want to just leave my parents and Ganke when there's still a chance that they could be... okay."
Peter turned around with a sigh and Miles could see everyone's sympathetic looks turned toward him. "Kid," the man a breathed out, "I know it's hard, but we can't risk ourselves on a chance. We will save them eventually."
Miles nodded. He wasn't going to argue with Peter. There was no use.
He slipped past the man and began his ascent up the stairs with no further words spoken. He could feel the others stares on his back , but he payed them no mind.
Eventually everyone settled into their room. Miles had taken the bed, because Peter had insisted that he need to heal, while the man made himself a makeshift cot on the floor.
Miles waited a few hours until he was sure everyone was asleep and Peter's obnoxiously loud snoring decimated his eardrums, then made his move.
As quietly as he could, Miles slipped out of the room that still held all of the blond Peter's things from his high school day's. He supposed May wanted to keep his memory alive even if he wasn't. There were Star Wars posters on the wall along with detailed lego sets that must have taken hours to set up as well as many picture frames displaying the Peter. Miles smiled slightly to himself, glad that May wasn't alone anymore.
The boy limped out the door, shutting it as quietly as possible, and let out as sigh of relief, glad that Peter hadn't woken up. His eyes scoured through the darkness for the nearest window, finding one only a few feet to his left.
The boy took a step, but tripped over something and fell on his face. He winced, praying that nobody woke. He picked up the small item and his eyes settled on a shoebox with a note taped to it.
Miles,
I know you're planning on sneaking out to look for your parents and your friend and while that is extremely noble of you, it is also incredibly stupid, especially given that you can barely walk.
But I realize that I can't stop you so I'm giving you one of Peter's old suits. He made it to numb pain and help speed up his advanced healing properties when he knew he couldn't stop and rest. I'm positive this will come in handy, plus you swinging around the city in only bandages is not ideal. I've also equipped it with some of that color scheme I know you like.
Please, be safe, don't be reckless, and come back in one piece. I'll be waiting.
Love,
— May
Miles smiled from ear to ear. May was the best and he was so lucky to have her.
The boy opened the little box and his eyes widened at the sight of his suit. It looked like a more advanced version of his old suit, but the difference was the fabric was stronger almost...armored.
This would definitely come in handy if he ran into one of those venom things he saw outside.
A quick change later Miles hooked his fingers under the windowsill and lifted in just enough for him to sneak out onto the roof.
He could feel the difference with this suit on. His legs still hurt, but it wasn't nearly as much of a struggle to walk. His torso and arms stilled burned, but he was now confident that he could make the swing from Queens to Brooklyn.
"Thank you, May."
Miles treaded lightly over to the front of the house, a few of the shingles slipping under his feet, he rounded a corner and checked his wrists making sure his web-shooters were secure.
He lifted his wrist up to fire when...
"I like your suit."
Miles froze like a deer in headlights. He slowly turned his head, the air leaving his lungs when he found Gwen, dressed in the white spider-suit. She stood with her arms crossed, mask in her right hand, and a sly grin adorning her face.
"How... Why... What?" Miles didn't know what to say. He didn't even know what to think.
"Where... when. Shall I keep going?," she mused, cocking her head to the side, her blond locks flopping over.
"Wh-what are you doing here?"
She smirked the sight shot a thrill through Miles chest. The girl rose a playful brow, "You didn't think I'd let you have all the fun. Did you?"
"I umm," Miles was speechless, "H-How? I thought I was-"
"What? Sneaky?" she laughed, "Anybody paying attention would notice."
Miles's nerves dissipated and were replaced with a teasing grin, "Paying attention? Am I just that attention grabbing to you?"
Gwen's eyes widened for a moment before her expression turned to stone as she once again became unreadable. She rolled her eyes, "No."
"It's alright. I get it," Miles interjected, grinning triumphantly, "I'm extremely lovable."
"Yeah, about as lovable as an Algebra lesson at seven in the morning," she shuddered, "No, thank you."
Miles shook his head as a breath of a laugh slipped past his chapped lips. He turned to Gwen taking on a serious expression, "Are you sure you're even okay to swing with your arm?"
I've got two," Gwen shrugged, "Plus, I'm not just gonna let you go out your own. Going against Venom you would need at least one good fighter."
Even with the playful insult thrown his way, Miles couldn't help, but smile. She was so cute.
His voice took on a tender tone as he told her, "You're the best. You know that?"
He clearly caught her off guard. He could tell by the way her lips parted and her head instantly turned toward her shoulder as she refused to meet his gentle gaze.
Her voice came out in barely a whisper as she answered, "So I've been told."
She finally met his eyes and Miles smiled. Even in the darkness the beautiful blue seemed to shine brightly, entrancing him.
When he seemed to have been staring too long, Gwen cleared her throat looking out toward the skyline as she bit her bottom lip.
She turned back to Miles her expression, hard, "Ready?"
Miles sighed as his eyes faced forward, His eyes catching sight of the stars that were now visible due to the extreme darkness of his overthrown city. He had to find them. His parents and Ganke. He had to.
"As I'm gonna be."