A/N: Mb y'all I low-key disappeared cuz finals and writers block were beating my ass 😭 I'll try to update more regularly <3 Take this longer chapter as an official apology 🙏
Chapter Song Rec: Role Model by Brent Faiyaz
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
"No."
"What? Why?"
Miles stared at his uncle in confusion, unsure of how to respond. "It'll be quick, maybe twenty minutes max." Aaron shook his head no in respond, hands on his hips. "Not happening."
"Come on, Tio-"
"You don't even have a plan. And what are you gonna be using these...microbots for? I ain't never heard about this weird-ass programmable matter shit you're going on about building, where'd these blueprints even come from?" Aaron asked, glaring at his nephew.
"I just..." Miles hesitated, looking down sheepishly. "Thought they'd be cool to have." He mumbled.
Aaron raised his eyebrow in response, not believing a word his nephew said. "Are they for someone?"
"What? No!" Miles spluttered, shaking his head furiously as he lied through his teeth. "They're for me! I'm gonna do...stuff with them. Techy stuff."
"Nah, nah, you've been meeting someone." Aaron replied, shaking his head in frustration, frowning at Miles. "Who is it?"
"No one-"
"Don't lie to me little man, this is my operation you're a part of. I can kick you out just as easily as I brought you in."
Miles looked up at his uncle's dead serious expression and sighed. "They're for-" he hesitated again before mumbling, "-a girl."
"A what?"
"A girl." Miles said a little louder, looking up at his uncle awkwardly. Aaron opened his mouth as though he was going to say something in response, but Miles cut him off. "It's not like that! Look, she just needs these to build something. It's not a big deal, I'll be out of there in twenty minutes, flat."
"And why does this girl need government issued weaponry?" Aaron asked coldly.
"It's for a project she's working on." Miles' voice sounded like it was going to crack at any moment. "Like I said, not a big deal."
Aaron stared back at him for a moment, tapping his foot on the floor as he thought it over. "Fine." He groaned. "Twenty minutes, flat. But this chick isn't getting anything else after that, capische?"
"Yes sir." Miles replied, a smile spreading across his face. He held out his fist, bumping it against Aaron's. "Thanks Unc."
"Yeah, yeah." Aaron replied with a dramatically loud sigh. "Who is this girl, man?"
Miles looked down at his feet awkwardly, putting his hands behind his back. "Just someone I met in class."
Aaron gave Miles a stern look. "Did you tell her?" He asked, looking as though he was about to chew him out any moment. "No, no!" Miles replied, putting his hands up defensively. "Of course not!"
"How're you gonna explain to her how you got your hands on these? No 15 year old kid-"
"I'm not giving them to her as Miles. I'm giving them to her as the Prowler."
Aaron stopped, jaw dropping. "You're what?"
Miles hesitated, feeling even worse at this point. "I've been...meeting her as the Prowler." He mumbled, looking up at his uncle awkwardly. Aaron looked pissed. "And why haven't I heard about this?"
"It was only a couple times-"
"You know what?" Aaron cut his nephew off with a sigh, putting his hands up. "Fine. But she finds anything out, you're in deep shit, kid."
"I know." Miles said quietly. Aaron looked at him for a moment, expression softening. "I'm not mad, okay? I get it. When I was the Prowler I..." he faltered. "It's lonely, I know. But the company isn't worth getting others involved, okay?"
Miles nodded in response, giving his uncle a slight, half-hearted smile, which the man returned. "Get going. You're gonna miss the delivery." Aaron said, patting his nephew on the shoulder before turning around, walking towards the door. "Be careful out there, man."
"I will."
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Miles perched on the edge of the telephone pole near the pier, eyes scanning the boxes in an attempt to see which shipment would be containing the tech he needed. His gaze landed on one in particular, bright orange with two security guards in full gear protecting it, although they didn't seem to be doing much. They were having a conversation, not paying attention to Miles as he leapt from one pole to the other in the air above them.
He lowered himself to the ground quietly, approaching them from behind before he took them out one by one. He muffled their grunts and yells with anesthetic-coated fabric, shoving it into their mouths. Once they had both collapsed, Miles tugged open the heavy door with a grunt, peering inside curiously.
There were multiple large metal containers and when Miles pried one open to check, he found the tech he was looking for. Microbots, or at least jars of them. Now all he had to do was steal them and then hack into them later. Easy, right?
He shoved a couple of the large jars into his duffel bag, hoping it would suffice. As he skimmed through the rest of the supply, he came across a small metal plate on the edge of the box. Wiping the dust off with his fist, he leaned closer in an attempt to read the flourished writing.
Q.B.
"Who's Q.B.?" he murmured under his breath, looking around the box to see if there were any more plates. Miles didn't know who's cargo he was stealing from and he didn't want to stick around long enough to find out. Even then, the initials confused him. He was expecting it to be a shipment to W.F., Wilson Fisk, or even J.M., Joseph Martello, Hammerhead. Q.B. was a name he hadn't seen before.
Oh well. It's not like it mattered. After all, they were all the same to him. Just targets to steal from and use to his advantage.
He scratched away an itch crawling up his shoulder as he exited the container, leaving no evidence behind other than the half-empty wooden carton. Now to go find you.
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Your POV
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"Ugh this is so boring." Maria groaned, plopping down onto your bed and stretching herself out. The two of you'd been hanging out for the past couple hours and it was getting fairly late at this point. You were fairly tired yourself. "We could...watch a movie?" You suggested, sitting down next to her.
"I don't know, I have a ton of chem homework." She replied, making a sour face. "I should probably go home and finish it, but I'm so tired." You gave her a sympathetic nod, watching as she let out another dramatic sigh, curling up into your comforter.
"You could always go just go to school early tomorrow and copy off of Ravi." you said. Ravi was always at school early, because he was on the varsity track team and they had weight-training in the school gym every morning before class started, although often he ended up being late anyways because he'd spend so much time in the showers.
Maria made another face. "I'm not waking up early just so I can wait for Ravi to spend an hour washing his hair" she said with a laugh. You chuckled in response, lying down next to her. "Well, whatever he does to his hair obviously works."
"You're not wrong." She giggled, sitting up straight, her messy curls somehow falling around her face perfectly. Every time you looked at her you were reminded just how gorgeous she was. If it was anyone else, you'd be jealous, but Maria deserved it. Despite being pretty, she was always the sweetest, kindest person in the room. You could never be jealous of her. She was your best friend.
"Hmm, yeah I should go finish it then." She said after a moment of silence, flipping her hair over and getting off the bed to look for her phone. You nodded, watching her for a second before glancing out the window. You were expecting to see the moon, maybe a couple stars, but were instead greeted with an unwelcome sight.
Peering into your window, a clawed hand pressed against the glass, was none other than the Prowler. You let out a quiet gasp as you quickly closed the curtains, turning around to see Maria looking at you weirdly. "You okay?" She asked concernedly. "I can't find my phone."
"It's over there." You said quickly, grabbing it off the edge of the bed and handing it to her. "You should go. Chem homework'll take a while and you need to get a full eight hours of sleep!" You were talking very quickly, making it obvious that you were hiding something. "But-" she started to say.
You cut her off. "Teenagers need a full night's sleep to properly function!" You turned her around and put your hands on her back, practically pushing her out the door. The two of you walked towards the front door, with her protesting confusedly the whole time. "Y/n-"
"Sleep well, Maria!! Good night." You closed the door in her face, leaving her standing outside, baffled. She stood there for a moment before shrugging and walking towards the elevator that would take her to the lobby. You watched her through the peephole for a moment before you scrambled back towards your room, running to the window.
You opened the curtains to see an annoyed expression on the Prowler's face as he motioned for you to unlock the window. "Took you long enough to notice me." He said as he pulled himself in. "I thought I'd have to wait outside forever."
"What are you doing here? You should've warned me or something, I didn't expect you to come over!" You whispered, keeping your voice low in case your parents were still awake, although you doubted it. "Did you bring the supplies?"
He lifted his duffel bag to show you, letting it fall onto your bed. You picked it up and rummaged through it, a smile appearing on your face at the sight of the jars of microbots. "Where did you even get these?" You asked, looking up at him in awe.
He looked sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Found 'em."
You raised your eyebrow. "You found them?"
"I stole them." He admitted, sitting down on the bed with his hands in his lap as he watched you work. "But it was for a good cause."
"Stole them? From who?"
"Ion know. Someone with the initials, Q.B."
"Q.B.?" you questioned, emptying the jars onto your desk before spreading them around. The initials sounded so familiar but you couldn't remember what they stood for. Where had you heard that before...?
"You know who it is?" He asked, leaning forward slightly and clasping his hands in his lap. "No...but I think I've heard of them. Whatever, it doesn't really matter, right?" You replied, shaking it off before putting your hands on your hips as you stared down at the mess on your desk.
You pulled out your computer and scrolled through the blueprints, landing on the sword that you were planning on building. "It looks simple enough, right?" You asked, leaning to the side slightly so he could see.
"I guess." He shrugged, standing up next to you. "You just gotta program 'em, yeah? The code's right here." he pointed towards the scrawled notes on the side.
The two of you spent the next hour connecting the bots to your computer before inputting the code in, having to take multiple test runs to make sure it was working properly. However, once you were done, you were both in awe.
The matter could change shapes and sizes depending on what you wanted to use it for. Because you were planning on making a sword out of it, it would simply either get longer or thicker. You could control it using tiny buttons and touchpads on the hilt.
"Try it out." The Prowler suggested, putting his hands on his hips as he stood to the side and gave you some space. You held the weapon out in front of you before pressing your finger down slightly, causing the sword to elongate a couple inches. The tip sharpened just slightly before you took your finger off, returning it to its normal size.
"Woah." You whispered under your breath. "It works." You looked back down at your desk, a huge smile on your face. "You think we have enough to make another one?"
He pulled your computer a little closer, scrolling through. "Prolly not. You can make this though..." he tilted the screen towards you slightly. He'd stopped on a blueprint of a mask, made of the same programmable material, with lit up slits for eyes.
You looked back at him, a smile on your face. "What exactly are you suggesting?" You asked teasingly. "Well-" He cleared his throat awkwardly, standing up straight. "-I did say we were partners. Which means...well, with this stuff, maybe you could...I don't know, be my sidekick or something?" He said, folding his arms over his chest as he looked to the side, trying to seem indifferent.
"Your sidekick?" You gave him an annoyed look. You weren't amused. "Well, not my sidekick-" He replied quickly, deepening his voice slightly.
"Partners." You told him, raising your eyebrows. "Not a sidekick. Partners."
"Right. Partners." He said as his tone softened. "Partners. Uh...what exactly do partners do?"
You blinked. You weren't sure. What exactly did partners mean? You bit the inside of your cheek, looking up at him. "If I'm gonna figure out what exactly happened to my brother, I'm gonna need a shit ton more of these weapons. Which means I'm gonna need a lot more of these microbots. Which means..." You hesitated. "I'm gonna help you steal more."
His eyes widened. "Haha, no." He said quickly, shaking his head. "Not happening. I work alone."
You scoffed. "No you don't. There's literally two of you!"
"I mean the Prowler works alone."
"I thought you said we were partners!"
"Not in actual crime! I'll get you your materials, but that's it. I can't get you involved in this stuff." He huffed.
"I can take care of myself!" You scowled. "I don't need your help to steal things, Prowler, I can do that on my own. You have the choice between helping me and getting to be a part of this, or doing your own thing."
He hesitated, obviously very frustrated at this point. "Fine." he hissed. "I-just fine."
"Good." Your voice was cold and he seemed to notice it, backing off slightly. "It's dangerous work, Y/N." he said quietly, looking down. "If you get involved...you're not gonna be able to get back out."
"I can take it."
He chuckled under his breath at this. "Yeah, I'm sure you can." You could tell he was smiling under his mask, so you returned it, a slight grin spreading across your face. "So, when's the next gig?"
"What?" He looked taken aback. "Woah, I don't steal all the time you know. Besides, the next shipment isn't for another couple days or so."
"No, no, I mean how can I repay you?" You asked, feeling slightly awkward at this point. He'd gone out of his way to get you the things you needed and you hadn't even given him a proper thank you.
He stared at you for a moment, thinking it over. "Well, there's a couple things I need." he started, taking a deep breath. He was gonna regret this. "I'm getting some things from the Brooklyn General hospital tomorrow. My m-a client, needs them."
"Okay. What time?"
"Around 9pm. I'll come get you." He said, laughing at your forwardness. "You're real ready to become a criminal, aren't you?"
"What can I say? I'm gonna need the practice." You chuckled, leaning against your desk.
He shook his head in response, amused. "I got to go. I'll see you tomorrow." he said after a moment, heading back over towards the window. You nodded in response, watching him intently as he put one leg out. "9 pm. Be ready." He told you before leaping out, the way he always did, disappearing into the darkness, leaving you alone in your room.
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"Psst! What'd you get for number 3?"
"Maria, we're literally in the middle of a test right now!"
"Can you both shut the fuck up?" You asked Maria and Ravi who had begun whisper-shouting over answers in the middle of your guys' history test. "You're gonna get us all in trouble!"
They ignored you, continuing to whisper to each other while you groaned, burying your face in your notebook again. You'd finished your test a couple minutes ago and had already started brainstorming designs for your new suit. After all, if you were going to be the Prowler's partner, you'd need a cool suit, right?
If he got to look all stylish with the cropped jacket, Prowler logo and rocking the Nikes, then you should have something too. Right now, you were stuck between making yourself wear all black, or giving yourself some sort of color scheme.
All black would blend in well, but a color scheme like purple or blue would really set you apart. You knew for sure you were going to be all tech-themed though, with the sword and the mask you'd already built. There were blueprints for armor that didn't require programmable matter though, which you were planning on fixing up once you got home.
But should you wear a jacket over it? If so, should it be leather or like a hoodie? Should you tie a jacket around your waist? Wait-should you wear a hood? What color should it be, purple or blue? Probably purple, but that would match with the Prowler too well, it would seem like you were copying him. What about a backpack, should you wear a backpack?
"Hey! What are you drawing?" Ravi peeked over your shoulder, snapping you out of your thoughts. You slammed the notebook shut, catching the attention of the teacher who gave the two of you an annoyed glare. "Nothing." you muttered, shoving it back into your backpack. "It's nothing."
As the three of you walked out of class together a little later, you caught a glimpse of Miles, leaning against his locker while talking to a taller kid-what was his name? Timothy? Taylor? Oh, right, Tyler. You didn't know him very well, but you did know he was on the basketball team and was fairly popular among the girls in some of your classes.
You debated waving to him, but you decided it would be too weird. As the three of you walked past him, his eyes made contact with yours and he gave you a quick smile which you automatically returned.
Were you guys friends? Well, technically. He sat with you guys at lunch the past few days, he talked to you during Calc a couple times, but other than that...not really. It was difficult to say whether the two of you could really consider yourselves friends.
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Miles' POV
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She smiled at me!
That was the thought running through Miles' head as he broke away from Tyler and his group to go find your lunch table. The whole moment had been fairly awkward, but at least he'd caught your look. And your smile.
He was barely even taking in his surroundings as he bumped into the pillar, nearly dropping his lunch, which he'd found again in his locker with a note. The note said the same thing as last time, 'So you don't go hungry <3', and he was really thinking about confronting you about it. After all, maybe it meant something, right?
But what if it wasn't you? What if it was someone else doing it? That would make the whole situation even more awkward than it already was and he couldn't risk ruining the shaky friendship the two of you had at the moment. Oh well, he'd figure it out eventually.
His gaze landed on Ravi who was already sitting at the table on his phone, probably waiting for you and Maria to get lunch from the lunch line and show up. Miles raised his hand up slightly to catch Ravi's attention, and the brown-eyed boy quickly scooted over for Miles to sit down next to him, an awkward smile on his face. He seemed to be getting used to Miles' presence.
But before he could say anything, the two of them were interrupted by a loud
BOOM.
Part of the wall caved in and rubble flew everywhere. Covered in the ruins was none other than the infamous Doc Ock, a livid expression on his face. He struggled to get up, using his metal arms to do so, before something or someone flew right at his face. The Vulture.
The whole of the cafeteria erupted in chaos, with students screaming and running out of the building while some others took their phones out to record. Ravi grabbed Miles' arm, pulling him to the side right as another piece of brick was shot right at them.
The Vulture and Doc Ock seemed to be fighting, with metal arms and beamed shots flying everywhere. "Come on, man, we need to get out of here!" Ravi said quickly, forcing Miles to snap out of the trance he'd fallen into. "Wait-wait where are the girls?" He asked, looking around with a terrified expression on his face.
"Shit. Maria and-" Ravi started under his breath. "Y/N." Miles finished, looking over towards horde of students fighting each other to reach the exit.
"Come on, we need to go." Miles said, forcing Ravi towards the exit while he struggled. "But what about-"
"We need to get ourselves out first. Then we'll go find them, okay?" Miles cut him off, pulling him through the crowd and out the exit.
He needed to find a place to change. "Stay here!" Miles told Ravi, putting his hands in front of him to make sure he stayed put. "But-!"
"Just trust me! If they come out, stop them. I'm gonna go check the other side!" Miles practically sprinted towards the broom closet of the cafeteria, checking once to make sure no one was looking before slipping inside. He was wearing most of his suit underneath the outfit, and all he needed was his mask to complete it.
Right as he pulled it on, the door was ripped off its hinge by the Vulture, who chucked it right at Doc Ock. "Get out of here, old man!" Doc Ock exclaimed, grabbing the door with his arm before breaking it in half. "Don't call me old!" The Vulture replied, lunging straight at the man.
Miles shot a grapple out towards the winged criminal, holding him back before he threw a punch right into his face, knocking him to the ground. "Prowler." Doc Ock said under his breath, completely enraged. "You'll regret that."
Doc Ock and the Vulture fought often, but Miles could always count on them to band together whenever the Prowler appeared. After all, that was one of the few things all the members of the Sinister Six shared in common. A hatred for the masked vigilante that patrolled the streets.
"Yeah, likewise." Miles replied, voice deepened and transformed by the mask he wore.
He extended his gauntlets and Doc Ock did the same with his metal arms, pointing them towards Miles before lunging at the same time as him. Miles dodged one of the hits, slashing one of the arms into half with his sharp claws.
Doc Ock let out a groan of frustration before trying it again, resulting in Miles cutting off another one of his metal arms. Suddenly, the villain reached all his arms towards Miles at the same time, and unable to fight them all off, Miles was caught, lifted off the ground. He struggled, kicking as he tried to escape, but it wasn't really working. The Vulture was coming back to his senses too, groggily sitting up on the floor.
"Any last words?" the doctor asked, a menacing smile on his face as he glared down at Miles. As Miles opened his mouth, he watched as a brick was flung into the villain's face. The man glanced over, eyes narrowing in anger.
Miles looked to the side too, and his jaw dropped to see none other than you, with another brick in your hand while Maria stood behind you, holding your arm. Wow, he thought to himself, a smile forming on his face underneath the mask.
Using the doctor's disorientation to his advantage, he slipped out of his grasp before sending a flying punch right into the man's face, effectively sending him flying back into the wall. Sirens could be heard getting dangerously closer, and the villains took that as their signal to leave, scrambling out of the hole they made in the wall, leaving the three of you alone in the cafeteria while the rest of the school waited outside.
Miles glanced over at you, giving you a knowing look before running off himself. In the corner of his eye, he could see Ravi rushing towards the two of you, along with multiple teachers and other students.
He wanted to do the same and check if you were okay, but he had to change out of his suit first.
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Your POV
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The school gave everyone a free leave for the week, since the cafeteria was so badly destroyed. Although most of the students were celebrating, Ravi was pissed off.
"Great, now we can't have the Fall Festival here! What are we supposed to do? I was looking forward to that." he pouted, kicking one of the pebbles in front of him as he walked alongside you and Maria. The three of you were planning on going to the mall that was only about a half-mile from the school, since all of your parents were either at work or really busy.
"Aww come on, Ravi, the Fall Festival isn't even that great. Besides, they'll probably just host it somewhere else, they're not going to cancel it." Maria reassured him, taking his hand and swinging it in the air as she walked.
"Yeah cheer up, Ravi, think about the bright side. No school for a week, maybe longer depending on how long it takes them to fix the cafeteria." you said with a smile.
Suddenly, you heard footsteps coming from behind you. The other two must've heard it too because they turned around at the same time as you, curious looks on their faces. The footsteps were coming from none other than Miles Morales, who was running towards you guys.
He stopped in front of you, panting slightly. "Hi."
"Hi!" Maria exclaimed.
"Hey." Ravi said with a slight smile.
"Hi." You said, looking down at him confusedly.
"W-where are you guys going?" He asked, hands on his knees as he caught his breath before he stood up straight, clearing his throat.
"We were just going to the mall. Wanna come?" You asked him with a grin, glancing over at Ravi's faltering smile. "Yeah. Yeah, sure." He said, coming up next to you as the four of you walked along the street together.
"Are you okay?" He asked quietly, leaning in slightly. "I heard you got stuck inside the place while they were fighting."
"I'm alright." You smiled up at him. "The Prowler took care of it." You said, remembering the look the masked vigilante had given you before he ran away.
"Yeah, he did. I'm glad you're okay though." He said, looking to the side and avoiding your eyes.
"I'm glad you're okay too." you chuckled, in a good mood for some reason. You hooked your arm into his the way Maria had with Ravi. "Now let's go. I really want boba."
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
A/N: I'm thinking of changing the name of this book cuz 'Safe' doesn't really suit it. Any suggestions? Also, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Definitely a lot longer than usual, but I didn't want to have another cliffhanger and I also wanted to include some more action lol