Rio walked through the city, her hip hurt from where the rubble pinned her after the explosion. Her heart hurt more, her little family was broken. Jeff was dead and Miles was just as lost as she was. People kept visiting the apartment, checking to see if she was okay. How are you supposed to be okay when your husband is killed in a terrorist attack? When your son crawled through rubble and death to get to his dad and wouldn't talk about it?
Miles was volunteering at FEAST and Rio was so relieved that he was liking it. Peter had made the perfect suggestion. Rio had spoken to May- they'd lost Ben in a similar way, he'd been murdered. Selfishly, she hoped Peter really did know what Miles was going through and would know how to help. May certainly knew how to help her, offering words and actions no one else quite knew how. They had visited Jeff's grave together and even went to the restaurant he'd taken her to when they were first dating. Rio cried and May held her hand.
Rio ended up at the cemetery, then at Jeff's grave yet again. Flowers, stuffed animals, and even bottles of alcohol covered the ground. All gifts and tokens for Jeff. She picked up notes and cards, making sure to read each one in place of Jeff. It just felt right. They were mostly sympathy cards, with several notes from the survivors of City Hall.
As she moved, she took the time to arrange the gifts that had fallen over or gotten buried. She had the sudden need to make sure it looked nice, that it didn't look like a pile of junk sitting on Jeff's grave. Near the front under a teddy bear was a small bouquet of blue and red flowers. At first, she thought it was supposed to be patriotic but a small note fell from where it was tucked between the stems. It was short, but it hit her hard.
'I'm sorry, I promise I'll find them'
Her hands shook and tears fell. The note wasn't addressed to Jeff, it was meant for him, but she felt it was for her too- and Miles. She knew in her heart that Spider-Man was there that day. Miles pried every detail from his dad about the night they worked together. Jeff told them that he was now a great friend of Spider-Man and joked about inviting him to dinner sometime. When Jeff called him about the demons, he broke protocol and put the phone on speaker for Miles to hear.
"It's technically breaking protocol to even call Spider-Man"
Jeff had been showing off, trying to impress Miles and they'd heard Spider-Man's banter and how friendly Jeff had been with him. No way was Spider-Man going to miss the ceremony. Shortly after the call, Miles had run off with Ganke, the two of them trying to see if they could catch a glimpse of Spider-Man as he chased a helicopter through New York.
Jeff laughed "If you do see him, tell him his partner says hi!"
He turned to Rio "I'm a cool dad right?"
"Of course honey"
When Spider-Man never showed up at City Hall, she knew. He'd been there and something had happened. Miles knew it too. He had Ganke keep track online to see if he had been spotted since the attack
"He can't be dead too, right mom? He got away. Dad saved him. He's okay right?"
When Spider-Man was spotted a few days later, stopping the Demons from setting off another bomb, they were both relieved. Jeff was dead and losing Spider-Man would have been too much. Jeff was up there after saving Spider-Man, if he had died too, it would have felt like it had all been pointless.
She'd left the other notes with the gifts they'd come with, but she put Spider-Man's in her pocket.
'I promise I'll find them'
She kept it with her in her wallet wherever she went. Carrying it long past seeing it fulfilled.