A Helping Hand

"…So you see, I think he's going to steal this artifact from this southeast Asian exhibit they have at the natural history museum." Gwen sighed and shuffled her papers into a pile. "Why, I'm not sure. Everything I read at the library about the stone tablet says it's just has half of the story for a myth that the civilization it belonged to had." She bit her lip. "I mean, sure, it's probably worth some money and that could, no, probably is why Mysterio wants it, but I… Something tells me there's more to it."

Miles nodded, then, he picked up the papers and put them back in her folder she had labeled "history" to keep her parents from looking in it. "Have you seen if there's anything on Wikipedia? Or like other sites online?"

Gwen frowned. "Wikipaedia? Why would I go on there? All my teachers say it can't be trusted to have totally factual information."

"Oh, do they? Psh. Teachers. Nah, girl, it's great for research. Sure, you should check its sources when what you're researching is gonna count, but it's not bad," he reassured her before pulling out his phone. "What's the Wi-Fi password?"

Gwen rattled it off and watched Miles stick his tongue out briefly as he typed it into his phone. When he finished, he then pulled up a browser she didn't recognize and typed in the stone tablet's name. Gwen leaned in and tried to glean what Miles was reading off his phone's screen for the next couple of minutes as silence reigned over them. Unfortunately, she couldn't make out much. Finally, Miles looked up from his screen and said, "Your wiki, which is spelled weird, by the way, says the myth on that tablet has most of a prayer to this civilization's god. Did you know that?"

She shook her head before she leaned back and settled herself more comfortably in her spot on the couch. "No," she answered, "the books at the library didn't say anything."

He smirked. "See? Useful."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh."

"Do you think he's trying to get in contact with this 'god'?" asked Miles, leaning his head back against the couch's back and sticking his legs straight out to rest his sock-covered feet on top of the closed folder on the coffee table. "The Mysterio back home got mixed up with some demons about a decade ago I guess and it turned really nasty with him before my Peter figured out how to separate him from the demon and turn him back into the shitty thief and manipulator he is now."

Gwen gnawed the inside of her cheek, the uneasy pit in her stomach burrowing deeper than before. "I don't know," she admitted. "Maybe." She was going to say more on the issue when the front door's lock was undone and it swung open to reveal her dad. He looked over at them, smiling. "Food's here!" he called, "your mom said she's going to be late, so we should start without her."

"Sounds great, Dad," she said, pushing herself off the couch and pulling the folder out from under Miles's feet. "Let me just clean up what we were doing and we'll meet you in the kitchen."

-o-O-o-

Gwen frowned when "crushcrushcrush" began to blare from her cellphone. Grabbing the remote from where it rested on the couch between her and Miles, Gwen used it to pause Disney's Bolt. Flipping her phone open, she hit talk and said, "Hello?"

"Have you forgotten you promised to be somewhere today? "

She gasped. Fuck. She had. They'd rescheduled band practice for today after Ally had a family Christening she had to go to a few days ago. Rocketing to her feet and nearly upturning the bowl of popcorn sitting precariously on the edge of the coffee table in front of her, Gwen said, "Shit. Yeah. I'll be there in twenty. I'm sorry, MJ. I invited a friend over and—"

There was an intake of breath on the other side of the line. "You have a friend?"

Gwen frowned and turned away from Miles, who was staring up at her curiously from the sofa. Crossing an arm over her chest, she grumbled, "MJ."

"I'm kidding. It's cool you have a friend over. It's too bad those friends aren't me and the girls, but…" She trailed off, only to ask a beat later, "Hey, are you gonna bring them then?"

" Of course," she answered. "I don't want to leave him here all alone. Mom and Dad went to play cards with some friends."

"Him?"

"Oh, stop," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "See you soon, okay? Bye."

"See ya!" MJ sing-songed in return before the line went dead. Pulling the cellphone from her ear, Gwen snapped it shut and sighed.

Returning her attention to Miles, she asked, "So, on a scale of one to ten, how excited are you to meet my band?"

Miles grinned, jumping up from his seat. "Ten all the way!" he declared. "Oh man, this will be fun!"

Gwen gave her friend a strained smile. She was sure it would all be okay, but fun was not how she would describe what was going to come next. The girls were going to be all over Miles the minute they saw him.

-o-O-o-

Walking down the street from MJ's, Miles gave him a bemused grin and shook his head. "Wow, your bandmates are…" he trailed off looking away and resting a hand on the back of his neck. Shyly, he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Um, Juliana's not gonna be bad at me if I don't text her later, right? Like, she's fine, no doubt there, but since we're from different universes and all—"

"—Don't worry," Gwen cut in. "I'll let her know long-distance isn't something you're in to and not to get her hopes up for anything serious."

"Newark's not even an hour away."

Gwen smirked. Maybe Miles had gotten a little panicky and said he was from Newark instead of the agreed-upon Buffalo, but that didn't mean things were ruined. "You never said say you were from Newark New Jersey."

A furrow started between Miles brows. "Is there someplace else called Newark besides Newark?"

She shrugged. "Probably," she answered. "We can look it up later. If there isn't, I can make something up. Juliana's not going to question it. As far as she knows, I don't have any reason to lie."

Miles frowned. "I guess," he replied.

Gwen nudged Miles. "Hey, it's not going to hurt Juliana to be given a little white lie, okay?"

He nodded and his expression turned more confident. "Yeah, you're right," he agreed. Miles then stopped suddenly, earning himself a few mutters from the people walking behind them, and pointed at a corner shop just a few storefronts down. "Hey, wanna get some snacks and slushies to finish off the movie with?"

Gwen smiled. "Sure, why not?" Together, the two of them hurried over to the shop and began to debate which candies they should buy and what flavor slushie was the best. Once inside, they spent upwards ten minutes looking at all of the junk food and the other product the store carried before making their decisions and heading for the slushie machine. While Gwen filled her cup up with blue raspberry, she heard Miles give a sharp gasp beside her. Looking away from her cup, she asked, "What's up?"

Miles didn't reply and she had to follow his gaze to where it was at the counter. There, stood the familiar outline of Aaron Davis. Gwen felt her own mouth drop open and was about to suggest they duck into the chip and cracker aisle until he left when the sticky, coldness of slushie dripped onto her hand. Yanking her hand away from the spout, she exclaimed, "Ugh!"

Aaron looked over his shoulder at the sound and, of course, spotted her and Miles. He smirked and quickly turned back to the clerk behind the counter to finish his purchase. A minute later, he was standing in front of them, stuffing a pack of Newports into his jacket's pocket.

"You smoke?" Miles said, dismayed.

Gwen couldn't help but glare at the back of his head. What kind of question was that? And with that tone? Was he trying to offend him? Aaron snorted and looked from Gwen to Miles. "Since the late nineties," he answered. Returning his attention to Gwen, he put on a smirk and said, "Hey."

She bit back a sigh and returned, "Hi."

As Miles gaped at the two of them, Aaron said, "How's it going, kid? Staying outta trouble?"

"I don't go looking for trouble, trouble finds me," she replied.

"Oh my God, are you quoting Harry Potter ?"

She frowned at her wide-eyed friend. "Harry? It's Henry Potter."

"So, Gwen, who's your friend?" Aaron asked, interrupting the two of them. Both of their gazes snapped back to Aaron, who was grinning at them in amusement.

"Uh, he's, um" she stammered as she felt her cheeks heat up.

Miles quickly stepped in and offered Aaron his hand. "I'm Niles."

Aaron raised a brow and squinted at him. "Yeah?" he said. "Ya know, you look real familiar. Do you got any older brothers? Maybe a young uncle?"

Gwen bit her lip and watched Miles flounder she had only seconds before and mutter, "Uh…"

"A cousin? Maybe named D'Shawn? Xander? Oh, how about Stripes?"

Miles shook his head and said, "Nah, sorry, man."

"Huh," Aaron replied, still squinting at Miles. "Where you know Gwen from?"

"It's kinda a long story…" replied Miles scratching his chin and laughing.

She nodded with a small chuckle of her own and added, "Way longer than you want to stick around for."
Putting a hand on Miles's shoulder and causing him to jump, she told Aaron in hopes of changing the subject, "He's visiting me for the weekend. We just stopped in to get some slushies and stuff to eat while we watch a movie."

"Yeah? Guess you two don't go to the same school then, huh?" he replied, slouching slightly and putting his hands in his pockets.

Gwen shook her head as Miles answered, "I go to Brooklyn Visions Academy."

Aaron's eyes shined at Miles's words. "Oh yeah? That's tight! Visions is something else I hear. Good for you, man." He then turned a teasing smile on Gwen. "It's good to know you got friends who are going places and not just leading you into trouble."

She huffed and crossed her arms. "MJ and the girls are going places, they just like to have some fun along the way," said Gwen, doing her best to ignore the way she could feel Miles staring at her.

The man laughed. "Aight, aight," he replied, putting up a hand. "I'm just playin' with ya." Looking to the door, Aaron said, "I gotta be leaving, but it was nice seeing ya, Gwen." He offered a fist to Miles. "And meeting you, Niles."

"Yeah, same to you," Miles replied, meeting Aaron's fist with his own. Together, they watched him walk out of the store and walk down the street. After he was gone from view, Gwen turned to Miles and asked, "Ready?"

He nodded, a brief smile curving his lips. "Yeah."

-O-

The credits from Bolt scrolling across the screen, Gwen lifted her head from where she had it laid on her couch's arm and looked over her shoulder at Miles, who was slumped in the corner of his side of the couch. His eyes were half-lidded and a half-eaten bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos sat on his stomach. Prodding his leg with her toes, she called, "Miles?"

He blinked a couple of times and focused his gaze on her. "Yeah?" he asked before stifling a yawn in the crook of his arm.

"Earlier…" she murmured. "Earlier was okay, right?" She bit her lip. "You aren't… sad or anything, are you?"

He shook his head. "No," he answered. "I mean, I really, really, wanted to hug Uncle Aaron when I saw him, but it was… good. I liked saying hi." Picking up the bag of Cheetos, he folded the top half over and put it on the coffee table next to their empty boxes of Ike and Mikes. He smiled sleepily at Gwen as he leaned back into the couch and put his arms behind his head. "I miss my uncle, but I like that there is one here." Eyes falling closed, he whispered, "And that he's got you to look out for him."

Gwen stared at Miles for a long time after, watching the slow rise and fall of his chest. As the TV turned to screen-saver mode in front of her, she made a silent vow to herself to make sure her Aaron never died. For both of her Miles. For all the Miles in all of the worlds. She would not let little Miles know the heartbreak hers knew and she would not make her Miles grieve again for his uncle.

Aaron has made an appearance :) What do you think?

Thank you all very much for reading !