Part 1 - Fires of Revolution

Chapter 16 - Aftermath

The Resurgence and the survivors of the resistance fleet burst back into the world between worlds. Edward covered his face with his hands.

"Remind me to never even consider using the weapons R&D put on this ship." He said loudly, a mixture of sadness and rage in his voice.

Gwen had other concerns.

"Did we get Miles? Before his ship hit the Bird of Prey, I mean."

Edward looked at her, remembering him. He tapped his com badge.

"Admiral Melbourne to transfer one, did we get the kid?"

"In the nick of time, sir. He took a bit of shrapnel to the leg so I had him taken to medical."

"Acknowledged. Melbourne to medical, have you got the kid we transferred?"

"Yes, Admiral. He is here. He took some shrapnel in the leg, but it's been removed. He will be back on his feet in a a few minutes, I believe."

"Good. I'm coming down there. Have him moved to the interrogation chamber. You don't need to call in any interrogators."

"Yes, sir."

"Melbourne out."

Gwen gave Edward a questioning look.

"Interrogation chamber?"

"We both need to speak to him. The interrogation chamber is sound proof."

"If you say so."

They stood up. Gwen followed Edward into the turbolift.

"Helm park us up where control wants us. Ops, the bridge is yours."

The door closed and the turbolift began to move.

Half a minute later, Gwen and Edward entered the medical room. It was full of officers who had been injured. The chief medical officer came over.

"He's in the interrogation chamber as you requested."

"Thank you, doctor. You can return to your patients."

"Yes sir."

Edward led Gwen into a room off to the side of the main medical room. Miles was sitting in a chair in the centre of the room. His leg had some sort of device attached to it. The door slid shut.

"Miles!" Gwen exclaimed.

She rushed forwards and hugged him as tight as she could without hurting him.

"Gwen. I'm an idiot. All the crews of all those ships are dead because of me."

Edward gave a cough.

"I'm not a fan of guilt tripping, but if you blame yourself for the deaths of those people, you also have to blame yourself for the death of millions more, and the destruction of the entirety of Middle Earth." He said quietly.

Gwen gave him an angry look. Miles' eyes widened in horror.

"Wh...what happened?"

"Conall was winning the fight. I decided to try out some of R&D's latest doomsday devices: a temporal missile. It destroyed the dimension."

Miles hid his face in his hands. His shoulders began to shake. Gwen realised he was crying. She hauled him to his feet and hugged him again. He buried his face in her neck.

"Miles, it's OK. They were all going to be killed anyway. Minas Tirith was..."

"Gone. I know. If we hadn't gone there, Conall would never have done that."

"Their deaths aren't our fault. Their blood is on Conall's hands. If he wasn't such maniac then this would never have happened."

Miles shook his head. Edward began to pace, deep in thought.

"Miles. If you feel responsible for their deaths, then it may help you to tell us why you did what you did." He said slowly.

Miles looked up at him, then turned his head to look at Gwen. Galadriel's words echoed through his head: it was his choice whether he answered or not. He made his decision.

"I'll tell you, but only Gwen. There're parts of it I don't want you to hear."

Edward stopped pacing and nodded.

"I'll be outside."

He disappeared, leaving the two spiders together. Gwen opened her mouth to say something, but Miles pulled her towards him and pushed his lips against hers. It was comforting, but in his mind he feared it would be the last time it happened once he told Gwen everything. It might scare her away, or she would think he was extremely selfish and hate him. After all, the whole point of being Spiderman was to put everyone else before him. He pulled away, despite Gwen trying to pull him back. She was worried that he would leave her forever.

"Gwen, what I'm about to tell you is going to sound stupid, and possibly really scary. Promise me you won't just walk away."

"What is it he wants to tell me that scares him so much?" She wondered. "I promise."

Miles took a deep breath.

"When we were in Minas Tirith, the night before we left to go to the resistance, I woke up in the middle of the night. I went for a walk for some reason. I wish I hadn't, now. I entered the throne room only to find myself staring at a weird pedestal thing. This woman, Lady Galadriel was her name, made me look into the bowl in the pedestal. Or...I chose to. It showed me images: it showed Edward being killed, even before we met him; it was Conall who stabbed him. But that wasn't the main thing: it showed you. You were carrying a child in your arms, our child. Then you went all dark and kinda evil looking and New York was burning. At that point I couldn't look anymore. Galadriel told me that would happen if I failed to overcome my greatest enemy."

Gwen nodded slowly, processing everything Miles said. She pictured what he had seen how he described it. Even though it wasn't a first-hand look at the images, her own version of them made her shiver a little with fear.

"I...I think I'm getting the picture. You were confused and scared about what you saw so you stole a ship to find this Lady Galadriel to get more answers."

"Yeah. I found her in the middle of this really weird forest. I looked into the bowl thing again. I saw...Gwen, I saw the battle that just happened. Galadriel told me I had to leave in order to choose my path, or my time would run out to do so."

"You saw the Resurgence being destroyed, and me with it, didn't you?"

"Not destroyed, but you were lying on the floor, looking really dead. After that I saw you fighting Conall to save me and the child. Gwen, you probably think I'm an idiot. If you break up with me because you think it wasn't worth all those lives then I don't blame you."

Gwen shook her head. She took a couple of steps toward Miles and pulled him into another kiss. It only lasted a few seconds. When she pulled away, she leaned her head against his.

"I'm not going to break up with you. I love you. If I break up with you then it looks like the entire war will be in vain. At least, that's how I see it. We're too young to have a child right now; but with the way things are going, maybe one day."

A weak smile spread across Miles' face.

"I'm sorry I never told you. I was..."

"Scared and confused; I would have been too. Seeing us with a kid together implies a lot of things that could have made things really awkward between us. But we can talk about anything, Miles. I promise."

He nodded. Gwen pressed her lips to his again. This time, neither of them tried to pull away. Neither of them was scared, neither had anything to hide.

Edward had decided to make himself useful whilst he waited for Miles and Gwen to talk. He was helping the doctor and the medical team to treat the wounded from the battle. Ten minutes after he had left, the door opened. He looked up. Miles beckoned him over. Edward gave a couple of quick nods to the doctor to indicate that he was going again, then stood up and walked into the interrogation room. The door closed behind him.

"Have you sorted things out?" He asked.

"I think so." Replied Gwen.

"Good."

"I guess all that's left is my punishment." Said Miles downheartedly.

Edward sighed and leaned against the wall.

"I must say that stealing a craft of any sorts is a serious offence. If you were an SGC officer, you would be relieved of duty permanently then sent to a prison for a few years. Unless there was a genuine reason for it, such as a mind meddling alien."

Miles sank down into the chair.

"I guess I'm going to prison, then."

Edward closed his eyes, racking his brain for a solution. He worried a lot about this boy whom he had only met a few days before. Something hadn't been right in his mind. Did that fall under a mind meddling alien? Gwen had said that it was something in the mine, although he was pretty sure there was more to it. He also worried about what would happen to the pair's relationship if he was sent to a prison. Whilst Miles had been out of his mind most of the time he knew him, he could tell Gwen loved him a lot. His sense of logic told him that Miles returned the strength of those feelings, or Gwen wouldn't be investing herself this much. However, there was the other hand: if Miles went unpunished then other people may think they could get away with similar stunts. Edward clicked his fingers and opened his eyes, having made up his mind. Gwen and Miles were watching him intently.

"For a number of reasons, I've decided you aren't going to prison. However, as I said before, stealing any craft is a serious offence and cannot go unpunished. You will be confined to quarters for a week unless ordered otherwise. In those cases you will have an escort with you to ensure you don't do anything out of order."

Miles and Gwen looked at each other happily, a million thoughts racing through their minds. Miles summed most of them up by kissing Gwen once more. Edward looked up at the roof awkwardly, pretending he hadn't noticed. When the pair broke apart, Miles opened his mouth to say thank you to Edward. However, two beeps from Edward's badge stopped him. Edward tapped it.

"Admiral Melbourne speaking."

"Sir, this is ops. We need you up here now. Bring the kids as well."

"On my way."

Miles and Gwen looked at him questioningly.

"Come on." Was all he said.

A minute later, the trio entered the bridge. Edward was about to ask for a report, but he didn't need one when he looked at the face where the view screen usually was.

"Conall." He sneered, moving into the centre of the bridge.

"Hello, Edward Melbourne. Yes, I do remember your name from the numerous encounters we have had."

"What do you want?"

"Just to put on a little show to you and the two friends you've taken from me."

"Taken? They left you of their own accord. Now hurry up with this 'show'."

Miles could hear the hatred in Edward's voice. It was raw, unfiltered anger. He could also hear it in Conall's voice, but much more subtle. It was like a taunt.

"As you wish."

The camera zoomed out, revealing five people with bags over their heads and their hands tied behind their backs. Miles recognised Conall's skyscraper. He was standing outside it.

"A little...personal touch to this war, shall we say?" Conall taunted.

He pulled the bag off two of the people's heads. They looked to be in their late forties, perhaps early fifties. Edward's eyes widened in horror.

"You wouldn't." He challenged Conall.

"Wouldn't I?"

Conall drew a golden dagger and held it to the throat of the left person, a woman. Edward took a step backwards, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. Conall give a half smile, then drew the knife across the woman's throat. She collapsed to the floor, a pool of blood forming around her. The right person, a man, cried out in anguish. Conall crossed to the other side of his line of captives and pulled the bags off those two people's heads. It was Miles' turn to feel fear; his blood ran cold as he recognised his mother and father. Conall held the knife to his mother's throat.

"Miles Morales...perhaps if you weren't so head-over-heels for Gwen you might have avoided this. We had a deal, you know. And you broke it by following her stupid theories."

He pulled the blade across. Miles' mother fell to the floor in the same way the other woman had. Gwen already knew who was under the last bag. Her theory was confirmed as Conall revealed her father.

"Last, but not least. The girl who stole my own powers and thought that because she hid behind others that she was untouchable; aka Gwen Stacy. I'm sure we'll meet in battle again soon enough. And next time, I won't be fighting in the hope you might come back to my side."

Conall sheathed his dagger. Gwen thought for a moment her father might be spared, but Conall drew a golden longsword. He plunged it down through her father's back before sheathing it similarly to his smaller weapon.

"There we go, a little more personal, eh? These two I will leave alive for the moment. Feel free to come and get them. Oh, and I have something else your precious resistance might be wanting."

Conall pulled out a turquoise object, the same one he had taken from Doc Ock before he had killed her.

"You might be needing this. Until then, au revoir!"

The screen went black and the view screen moved back into the central position. The bridge remained silent for a moment before Edward turned and walked through a door to the side.

Crossovers in this Chapter

- Star Trek
- Lord of the Rings