Miles looked down at the address on the card in his hand and back at the house in front of him, then at the address on the mailbox, back at the house and finally back to the card in his hand. The house was fairly large, definitely larger than his house back in Brooklyn. It was 2-stories, cream-colored, and had a big lawn.

"Guess running a college is profitable."Miles put down the card and rang the buzzer.

"Hello?"The voice of Milly spoke from the speaker.

"Hey Milly, it's Miles. Um…nice house?"Miles tried to strike up a conversation.

"Oh, Miles, one sec I'll unlock the gate for you."The distinct click at the gate let him know the gate was open, "There, gate should be open; I'll meet you at the door."Miles gave his thanks and pushed open the gate.

Much to her promise, Milly stood at the door by the time he made it. She dressed in a set of casual clothing, shorts a shirt and sandals.

"Checking me out?"She teased much to his dismay.

"Just surprised, you're usually the one to finish early. I kinda expected you to be wearing a dress already." He checked his phone for the time, they still had an hour. "I'm not too late am I?"

"Not at all, my maids are cleaning my dress now. I just need you to choose your tuxedo."Milly closed the door behind him as he walked in.

The inside of her house looked bigger than from the outside, a spiral staircase in the back of the living room led to the second and third stories, to his left and right were other rooms that lead to other rooms.

"Nice house," Miles said.

"Ha, you should have seen our other house when we were closer to the royal family," Milly said.

"You were close to the royal family?"Miles asked.

Milly pointed to the wall on the other side of the room, it was a painting of a raven-haired woman with soft-purple eyes. She sat regal-like beside a man who looked about in his 50's and graying hair, he looked familiar.

"That right there is Queen Marianne vi Britannia, and the man beside her is my grandfather, Ruben the principal,"Miles nodded his head, matching the face to his memory. "Back then the Ashfords were more known for our Knightmares that the college. We personally sponsored Marianne when she impressed grand-dad with her Knightmare skills."She pointed again to another painting of a Knightmare, it looked outdated compared to the Gloucesters and Glasgows he's seen these days.

"What happened?"Miles asked.

"Well, Marianne eventually gained the eye of our current Emperor; eventually he took her as a bride. Imagine the uproar back then, the Emperor marrying a commoner who was an Ace pilot! How romantic..." Milly mock-feinted. "Well, not everything ends happily-ever-after, unfortunately. Marianne was assassinated almost a decade after she married. After she died our name was dragged in the mud with her. Without her to defend us we lost many of our holdings, and eventually, that left us with the college…and the Ganymede underneath Ashford."Milly's voice softened.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"Milly stuck a finger to his mouth.

"There's no need to be sad, bad things happen all the time. My family is probably the least deserving of pity. We're still happy, we still have a house, and we have food to eat. Thanks for trying to be considerate though, you're adorable when you try to be sincere."Milly smirked as Miles's cheeks blushed red.

Eventually, she guided him to one of the conjoined rooms. It was smaller than her living room but compared to his bedroom in Brooklyn it was at least half the size larger. The center of the room was cleared out to show a rainbow cacophony of tuxedos.

"Alright Miles, which one do you want?"The casual question put him off guard.

"What just take one?"Miles asked.

"Oh yeah, my father has plenty. These are just the ones I chose for you to choose from. All the others wouldn't mix well for the environment. Plus my father had a habit of buying new Tuxedo's a lot when we were a bit more liberal with money."She rubbed the back of her neck and laughed, "Anyway, just choose one and I'll have the maids clean it up."

Miles looked back at the row of tuxedos. Well, if he had to choose, "The red one." He pointed to the far left one.

"Ooh, good choice. Marry; can get this cleaned up in time for him?"Marry gave a quick 'yes ma'am' before she left.

This left both of them alone.

Milly sat back down in the living room, looking more casual than she ever appeared in Ashford. She almost sank into the sofa.

"So, we don't really talk outside of Ashford. What's Milly like at home?"Miles asked.

"Oh? You wanna know more about me? You aren't trying to get into my pants are you?"Miles sputtering and blushing gave her something to laugh at, "Oh, you're so gullible, you know that Miles?"The angry stare he gave back made her giggle.

"Oh no need to be serious, I'm sure my parents wouldn't even allow it. Not unless you're secretly royalty."She gave a dry laugh.

"If I was I wouldn't need to borrow a tux from you. Y'know, before I came to Ashford Lloyd never mentioned he was getting married, much less to someone like you."Milly raised her eyebrow.

"Someone like me?"She parroted.

"Er, not to sound rude. But your personalities don't quite fit. I mean, even the few times I've met him he always seemed…aloof? As if he never took anything or anyone serious."Miles sat down on the single-seat chair beside her.

"That's pretty much Lloyd in a nutshell."

"Is it an arranged marriage?"Miles asked.

"Pretty much, my parents have been interviewing for potential husbands-wives too for the nobles that swung that way. They want to reestablish the Ashford name, what better way to do it than by marrying off their young beautiful daughter? It's a classic."

"Do you hate it?"

It took Milly a second to respond, "When I was younger, yeah, the idea wasn't very popular to me. I was the first-born so I was the clear candidate. Eventually, the idea stuck and I accepted it. My dad used to tell me it was the best way for the Ashford to get back in the world with a noble who wasn't liable to be assassinated."Milly shrugged.

"But you're life is being chosen for you, that doesn't really sound right."

"I made a condition when I was older, I would choose who I marry. I took my limitations and turned it to my advantage, granddad told me I reminded him of when he was younger raising the Ashford name. Eventually, I chose Lloyd, he isn't awful like most of the men I met, and we've been pretty clear what we're both getting out of this. He wants the Ganymede, my family wants the status. Not surprisingly he's been pretty nonchalant about it all. The only reason he's agreeing to the marriage is that his father wants an heir."

"So…"

"Lloyd isn't too keen on marriage either, which made him the perfect choice. I was able to choose my future despite the circumstances."Milly gave off a triumphant smile as she'd just done something clever. That only gave him one question.

"What about Rivalz?"Milly was pulled out of her thoughts and looked back at him.

"What about him?"She asked.

"Well…haven't you noticed? I'm sure it's pretty obvious."

"His puppy love? Yeah, I noticed. I've always noticed. Ever since we were in high school I knew."

"You two went to high school together?"Milly sighed and looked as if she was remembering the day.

"Yep, he wasn't very subtle back then. Not like I could respond to it, I'm supposed to marry Lloyd. Plus…I just don't know."

"You don't know?"Miles asked.

"I don't know if I…if I want to change our relationship. Look at me, I always tease Shirley for her crush and now I'm the uncertain one. It's confusing. I don't want to drag you into the mess that is my love life. What about you? Getting along with any of the ladies? Or is it the men that you prefer?"Again Milly's leisure attitude made him blush.

"No, I don't have a girlfriend, I used to have one back in Brooklyn but…it was very casual. We really didn't mess around. Just a fling I guess. I haven't really dated since high school. I just kinda buried my head in books."That was only one half of his reasoning.

Life as Spider-Man was never safe if he died on the job he would bring down his friends and family. He saw May weather the aftermath of Peter's death; he didn't want that for anyone he cared for.

"Sounds like a weak excuse," Milly argued with her ever-present smirk.

"I just haven't found a reason to get a girlfriend."Behind him, Miles could hear footsteps.

"Milly, your dress is ready. Mr. Morales' tuxedo should be ready shortly."Milly gave her thanks and stood up.

"I'll be back, gotta make myself look pretty. Just follow Sebes when he comes down to get you."Miles nodded and Milly left.

Miles was left to his own thoughts for only a minute before Sebes came down. "Mr. Morales, your tuxedo is ready."

The man had a very intimidating aura to him. He was old, but not old enough to be considered anything but competent at being a butler. His whitening hair and beard added to his distinguished gentleman persona.

"Um, thanks."Miles followed Sebes up the stairs to one of the rooms where his nicely cleaned tuxedo waited for him.

"My, you clean up well Miles."Milly admired him as he walked down the stairs.

Truly, the tuxedo was a deep red, almost the shade of blood, with black highlights across the suit. It reminded him of his costume but color-swapped.

"How do I look?"Milly asked.

Honestly, he was speechless. She wore a purple blouse, the top half of it was transparent, and it had frills across the seams. She didn't pause to pose for him, flaunting herself in front of him.

"Beautiful."He said.

Milly smirked like it was the response she was expecting. "With that much honesty, any girl would be lucky to have you."

And there went his enthusiasm.

"Yeah…honesty."He said.

The buzzer from the gate rang, "Oh, there he is. C'mon let's go, we have a dinner to go to."

The two of them made their way back to the gate where a very familiar face waited for them.

"Lelouch?"The man in question gave a quick wave.

"Hey, you ready?"He asked.

"Sure, just need Sebes to pull out the car."As if on cue, a very expensive looking luxury car pulled out from the garage.

It stopped in front of them all with Sebes in the driver's seat, "Ready to go Miss Ashford?"

"Shotgun!"Milly called as she hopped in the front seat, leaving Lelouch and Miles in the back.

It didn't take long for them to arrive at the restaurant, about 40 minutes if he had to guess. From the outside, Miles could guess that the restaurant warranted the fancy clothes (not like he didn't argue).

"Drop us off here Sebes, I'll call you when to pick us up."Sebes gave a curt nod and stopped in front of the restaurant.

The doors were opened by the staff ever so politely.

"C'mon you two, they're already inside,"Milly said as she walked inside.

Much like the outside, the interior of the restaurant looked just as about as expensive as everything he ever owned. It scared him from touching anything.

"Admiring the scene?"Lelouch asked.

"Out of my element more like."

"With Milly, aren't we always?"He chucked before patting him on his back.

"Yeah, let's go sit."Miles moved ahead of him, Lelouch stood back to survey the room.

Miles followed behind Milly to their seat near the back of the room. Sitting in a large corner was Lloyd and his assistant; he kicked himself for not remembering her name.

"And it looks like the other half of our party has finally arrived, and I see you brought an extra."Lloyd raised his hands in greetings.

"Hello Lloyd, this is Lelouch I messaged you about him."Lelouch gave a quick handshake to the scientist.

"Pleasure is mine, I so seldom find people who find Knightmare construction more than a chore."Miles glanced at Lelouch as they sat down; Milly sat first, then himself, and lastly Lelouch.

"Knightmares are much more tasteful than other military equipment these days. What with the current generation you can hardly find any interesting design outside of the Knights of the Round or whatever the E.U. or Chinese Federation. Knightmares are all form and function, no room for customization."

Miles had to process what was happening. Normally lackadaisical and flippant Lelouch was having a deep discussion…about Knightmares! Where did Lelouch go?

"That's the problem when military contractors these days, fit the mold and never break it! Why that's what my Lancelot was made with the intent of. I'm glad someone realizes it."Lloyd laughed with glee.

"You made the White Knightmare?"Lelouch asked.

"Of course!"Lloyds assistant, jerked her arm at Lloyd making him chuckle, "Well, not entirely." He admitted.

"Tony Stark helped make the user interface and operating system, sorry for not introducing myself my name is Cecile. I work with Lloyd in A.S.E.E.C., our third partner does too but he…"

"Sorry Ms. Cecile, I was held up and-"

Miles turned his head to see who came up. It was a Japanese boy in an orange military garb; his brown hair contrasted his jade green eyes. His focus wasn't on Lloyd and Cecile however. Miles traced his eyes to his side pointed at-

"Suzaku?"Lelouch asked, the surprise in his face

Miles looked back at the two, who in turn kept their faces locked on each other in silence.

"Uh, you know him, Lelouch?"Miles asked it was Suzaku who reacted first.

"Oh, uh no it's…we-"

"Haven't spoken in years, we're old friends."A small smile formed on Suzaku.

"Well, it's good to meet you Suzaku, my name is Miles. Miles Morales."

"Suzaku Kururugi, I work in the Special Division with Lloyd and Cecile here."

"Yes, Kururugi is a great inclusion to the Special Division."Cecile praised.

"What do you do, Suzaku?"Miles asked.

"Oh, I'm an engineer, I worked on the Lancelot. Lloyd found me and offered me a position."

There was a small but noticeable stillness in Suzaku, what for Miles couldn't tell.

"Well with introductions out of the way, how's about we order some food I'm absolutely starving! I hear the Crab Rangoon is to die for."

"-then Lelouch took a pie to the face! The look on his face was priceless."Miles wiped the tears from his face.

DANGER

Miles looked around frantically; his spider-sense was warning him of something…what was it?

"Miles, you okay?"Milly asked.

"I don't know, I just…"

BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM

Miles ducked his head, along with everyone else in the restaurant.

"Alright, you dirty Britannian's hands up!"Miles turned around, 6 men and barged into the restaurant with rifles and masks. But the masks weren't very typical of a robber; it was a replica of Zero! Not an exact replica it was shoddy, but the resemblance was enough.

"No one try any heroics and you can all leave this place without a scratch!"

1 hour later

"What is the hostage count?"

George Stacey stepped out from the police cruiser with Watanabe. Both of them walked up to the lieutenant in charge.

"Sir! We have an estimated 20 hostages; many of them are royals and the rest are staff. No communications have been sent or received by the terrorists."George let the information hang for a minute, considering his options.

"Get me a speaker horn, after that go get some rest we'll handle the rest of it."The lieutenant gave a quick yes sir and left.

"Any idea's Watanabe?"George asked.

Yuri stood still for a moment, this was a test. "First we should find out what their motives are, opening up a line of dialogue between the terrorists and us will help us determine where to go next."

"Good job private, you are listening after all."The lieutenant came back with the speaker horn and handed it to George.

"This is the Area 11 police department, we have the building surrounded. This will be your first and final warning to put down your guns and surrender."

Inside the terrorists were stealing everything they could off the people. Jewelry, high-end tech, anything that could be sold for a pretty penny was taken and shoved into a bag.

"Ignore them."One of the men said.

Miles sat on the ground with everyone else, they'd already taken his phone so now he was only looking for a good time to cloak and slip out of their view.

"I can't seem to go out anymore without being caught up with terrorists," Milly said quietly.

"Don't worry; eventually they'll have to leave than the police will handle them,"Suzaku said.

Miles couldn't wait on the police to move first, the terrorists could very likely take another hostage for insurance or kill someone. He just needed to find a way to distract them.

He looked around, maybe antagonize them? No, the space was too small they'd much likely shoot him than drag him somewhere out of sight. Rushing them was down, Suzaku was an engineer and Lelouch…well the less said about his physicality the better.

He looked around again and his eyes drifted to the tables, each table had a candle. He looked up at the ceiling, "The sprinkler system." That'll do.

Miles slowly positioned himself behind everyone and pulled out his web-shooters from his pocket just as slow (never leave home without them). He put on the web shooter and aimed it at a nearby candle, with a thwip the candle quickly landed in his hand.

No one seemed to notice, all their attention was focused on the terrorists.

Miles positioned himself near a smoke detector; enough smoke from the candle would be able to trick the sprinklers to rain down on everyone. He tossed it into the air and shot a web glob at it to make it stay. Now was just a matter of waiting.

With a loud and sharp klang the valves burst open soaking everyone. The terrorists were too stunned to notice Miles cloak and run to the nearest corner.

'Great, now I ruined my tux.'Miles mused as he took off his tuxedo and changed into his costume, which surprisingly fit under it all.

"What the hell?!"One of the terrorists yelled.

Suzaku realized the opening this was and charged the nearest terrorist, a quick punch to the face was enough to make him fall. He kicked away the rifle from his unconscious body and ran up to the next. This one however had enough time to put the gun in between them.

"Traitor, you'd rather live under these Britannians than fight for your country!?"The terrorist asked.

"Nothing will be solved with violence and terrorism; you'll only make them hate us more!"Suzaku pushed the terrorist back but could distinctly hear the sound of a rifle raised behind him.

"Too bad, now die traitor!"The terrorist behind him aimed his rifle to kill Suzaku.

"Not so fast boys, save some for me."A thick wire shot to the gun and yanked it out of his hand.

The source showed none other than Spider-Man.

"It's Spider-Man, shoot him!"Miles jumped over the gun fire and landed on the terrorist behind Kururugi.

Suzaku punched the terrorist in front of him, the aforementioned terrorist punched back to little success.

Behind him, Miles continued to dance with the rest of the terrorists making quick work of them.

"C'mon guys, is that all you got? My Grandma can aim better than you can!"Miles taunted again as the terrorist shots missed.

He shot a dozen web globs at the last three gunmen. Their hands were at too an awkward an angle to properly shoot him.

"Sad to say I'm the fast cowboy this side of Area 11."The last three terrorists could only look at him with pleading eyes as he quick kicked them all on the ground.

Behind him, Suzaku finished the last terrorist and put him on the ground.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for your night at this fine establishment. Please stay seated while I make sure the cops outside don't accidentally shoot you."

Before anyone could object Miles made his way to the front entrance. He turned invisible to make sure the cops didn't accidentally shoot him either. A quick web-zip to a nearby light pole gave him the comfortable distance to talk.

"Hey cops, over here!"

The entirety of the police force there turned their eyes to him.

"The terrorists are down, you're free to enter. You're welcome by the way."A wave of clicks followed as every gun that was pointed at the door to the restaurant pointed at him.

"Okay, maybe you don't have to thank me. Maybe an IOU?"Miles sheepishly asked.

"Spider-Man, put your hands up you are being arrested!"The threatening voice of a man using a speaker horn yelled.

"Um, no thanks! I appreciate the offer but I think you guys got enough criminals. Well…see ya!"Before they could respond Miles went invisible.

"Damn him,"George uttered.

"At least he saved us the problem of those terrorists,"Yuri said.

"Not now Watanabe,"George grumbled.

"Again I'm so sorry for choosing this restaurant,"Lloyd said.

"It's not your fault."Milly laughed it off; honestly, she was getting tired of being in hostage situations.

Lelouch stood looking at the situation around him, a quick call to Ohgi revealed some less than stellar information. Copycats using the name of Zero for petty crime, of course, this would happen.

"Lelouch?"His attention was turned to Suzaku who had just gotten from talking with the police.

"How are you holding up?"Lelouch asked.

"Funny, I was gonna ask the same thing. I'm glad to see you're safe, after the last time we met…I didn't know if I'd see you again."

"That reminds me, Milly told me you talked to her about looking for me. How did you know?"

"Oh, that? Well, when I couldn't find you after Shinjuku I memorized what you were wearing it was obviously a uniform so if I could find it I could find you. It just so happened that Milly came with her uniform on when we met. So when I saw her outfit I put two and two together…"

"You recognized the school's symbol."Lelouch realized.

"It was only a matter of if you still went by Lelouch. We hardly had any time to talk back in the ghettos. So is Nunnally…?"

"She lives with me and goes to school in the high school portion of the academy. You should come by sometime and see her, she 'd love to know you're okay."

"Yeah, that sounds great."

"Where is Miles?"Lloyd asked, looking around trying to find him.

"Over here!"Miles walked from behind them with some adhesives on his arm.

"I got a few scrapes trying to get out, but I'm okay."

"Great, it'd be a shame if you died so young."

"Um, thanks?"

"While tonight has been nothing short of intense I wanted to actually give you something Miles. I'm sure you'd appreciate it."Lloyd pulled out a card from his breast pocket and handed it to Miles.

"Consider it an IOU whenever you hit the big time."

Miles looked down at the name of the card. "Tony Stark!?"

Long chapter, sorry it took so long but I had a bit of a writing slump. Hope you enjoy.