Take-Two

"Dad! I have band practice in twenty minutes," Gwen complained as they pulled into a spot in front of one of Brooklyn's many precincts. Crossing her arms and sinking low in her seat, she muttered, "I knew I shouldn't have accepted a ride from you."

When he finished parking, her Dad reached over to try and ruffle her hair. She jerked away from him, annoyed. "C'mon, sweetie, I'll be five minutes. I'm just doing a favor for a buddy and dropping something off." Unbuckling himself, he suggested, "Why don't you come in with me?"

"How about I don't?" she grumbled as she turned her attention to the busy street outside.

He sighed. "Suit yourself," he replied.

Gwen was about to sink further in her seat and ruminate over her poor-decision making skills when she saw a police officer round the corner of the building with a little boy on his back. The two of them were laughing together, obviously having a good time. Gwen imagined the kid was probably coming back from lunch with his dad. She remembered doing that sometimes when she was little and her own father had to work a weekend shift. She'd be dropped off for an hour and they'd go get McDonald's or hit a sandwich place together. They were some of her favorite memories of him from when she was a little girl.

Once they were close enough for her to make out their facial features, it took Gwen no time at all to identify the boy as Miles. Her surprise quickly faded, however. Of course it was Miles. That was just her life now. Chance had brought her to one Miles and now he was popping up everywhere here too. Gwen's hand went to the button to release her seat-belt, then wavered a moment. What was she doing? The little boy didn't know her. He knew Spider-Woman, the hero who saved him from being hit by a taxi, the hero who proved him honest by waving at him during his recess a few days later.

"Having second thoughts, sweetie?" Dad asked, hand on the door handle.

Gwen bit her lip, that urge to hide away from this Miles was still there. Maybe even stronger than before now that she wasn't in her mask and was just Gwen Stacy, Captain Stacy's kid, drummer of— Well, they hadn't settled on a name for the band quite yet, and dancer. Gwen pushed all the turmoil down. She should say hi. They'd probably not see each other again any time soon, if ever. So, she should say hi. Gwen would like this Miles to know both sides of her too— Even if he wouldn't know her and Spider-Woman were the same person.

"Yeah," she replied. "I have to pee anyway."

He chuckled. "Sure, Gwen."

She only huffed at him as they got out of the car. Just in time too, as that was when Miles and his were walking in front of her dad's car. She smiled at the two. "Hi," she said, drawing their gazes.

Miles's dad nodded at her as Miles himself waved. "I like your hair!" he told her.

Gwen's fingers went to the uneven side. "Thanks," she mumbled, remembering how her friend Miles had forced her to try an alternative style after he got his fingers stuck in her hair. She didn't think it looked that great, but it was nice to realize that Miles really did like her new haircut and hadn't just been trying to make Gwen feel better after what he did to her.

"Ah, Davis," her dad said, upon turning around after he'd been in the back of his cruiser grabbing his delivery. Waving the small-ish square package around in his hands, he said, "This is perfect. I have a delivery for you from O'Keeffe."

Miles's Dad, Officer Davis, replied, "Thanks, Captain." Taking the package from her dad, Officer Davis asked, "Would you let O'Keeffe know I appreciate this when you see her next?"

Gwen's Dad nodded. "Of course."

Officer Davis glanced at her. "This is your daughter?"

Her dad reached over to put a hand on her shoulder. "Yes she is, she's hitching a ride to band practice with me today."

"Daaad," she grumbled, couldn't he have just left it at 'yes'?

Miles's father only smiled. "Band practice? What do you play?"

She sighed a little. They were going to be late to practice, she just knew it. "I'm my band's drummer. Sometimes I do backup vocals too."

He whistled. "Wow—"

"Drums? That's so cool!" Miles yelled from his dad's shoulders, causing poor Officer Davis to cringe at his loudness. "I asked for some for Christmas last year, but Santa wrote me a letter to say he only makes toys, not instruments."

Gwen was startled into laughter. His parents had sure thought fast. Good thing too. She could only imagine the noise complaints his parents would have gotten from their neighbors if they had gotten Miles drums for Christmas. "Oh yeah?" she said when she stopped giggling. "So what did Santa give you instead?"

Miles threw out his hands. "A biiig coloring book and a bucket of markers!"

She nodded, smiling. "Sounds like a fair trade-off."

"Yeah!"

Her dad cleared his throat. "If you want to be at practice on time, we need to hit the road, sweetie."

"Yeah, alright," she replied, reaching for the cruiser's passenger-side door handle. "It was nice to meet you M—" She stopped. Gwen shouldn't know the boy's name, they'd supposedly just met.

"Miles!" he told her, grinning. "I'm Miles."

Gwen returned his grin. "It was nice to meet you, Miles." She looked at his father and made the decision to offer him her hand. "And you, Officer Davis."

Miles's father's eyes were warm as he accepted her offer for a hand-shake. "You too, Ms. Stacy." When he let go of her hand, he then offered his own to her dad, who took it. "Thanks again, Captain," Officer Davis finished.

"You're welcome, Davis," her dad replied.

With a last parting wave from Miles, the two walked off for the precinct's entrance as Gwen and her dad got back in his cruiser. Once they were buckled and ready to go, he looked over at her, smirking. "I thought you had to use the bathroom."

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "You're the one who said we had to go," she reminded him. "And… I guess I can hold it fifteen minutes."

He chuckled at started the car. "Officer Davis's son was a cute kid, wasn't he?"

Gwen couldn't stop herself from smiling. "Yeah, I guess so," she agreed as they pulled back into New York traffic.

How did you like it? Gwen's now met bb!Miles out of the mask too :)

The next story in this series will be posted next Monday.

Thank you all so much for reading!