The artificial light from the computer lit up the room, casting everything in a ghostly horror movie type light. Like those cameras which have night vision and then the bad things happen sorta camera. Like that one movie with the woman who threw her boyfriend at the camera at the end of the movie. Why did I watch that movie anyway? I don't even know. It gave me nightmares for a solid month. I dealt with weird villains, but watching a horror movie was the one that really got to me. It was weird.

Anyway, it was nearly one in the morning and I could already tell future me hated me. Why do I do this to myself? I had gotten used to sleeping at a reasonable hour on this journey of mine... ish. Well, I wouldn't call this a journey because that suggested it was in some way good. Forced holiday? Point is, it was ridiculous that it took being dragged halfway across the world, forced to do stuff against my will, escaping, being wounded, just generally running and having no technology around me to go to sleep at reasonable times.

Why did my life have to be so weird?

It didn't help that I knew it wouldn't help me heal any quicker. Maybe a part of me didn't want it to heal... no one knew I was here, including Hydra. I wouldn't have to worry about Hydra for ages. I was one needle in the giant haystack that was the world. They couldn't just break into everyone's homes from here to New York.

Fantasies were nice, but I still had to go home and salvage a life.

I rubbed my eyes wearily, looking back at the laptop's clock. 1:42 am. I had no self-control, I needed sleep but I seriously couldn't be bothered to close the laptop. Ugh.

At least on patrols, I had adrenaline pumping through me, like a low buzz to keep me up and running. Instead, all I was relying on now was my lack of self-preservation and stubbornness. And the fact that I was pretty sure I wouldn't have to do anything tomorrow. UGH.

I wasn't even looking at anything relevant. I was just scrolling through the news like the stupid person I was. I mean, yeah it was relevant to see what had been happening while I was away. Another battle in the streets that resulted in property damage? What else is new? A new superhero joined the ultimates and sucks? Thank you, J Jonah Jameson, no one cares what you say. Another supervillain wants to rule the world? Like we haven't heard that a million times. There was next to no point in scrolling through the news. UGH.

I clicked away from the news, yeah there wasn't anything I really had to look at. Maybe search up Spider-man. I almost immediately clicked away when; "Was the second Spider-man an alien all along?" was the first suggested page.

Oh my god, did people seriously think I was an alien? A freaking ALIEN? I didn't know whether to laugh hysterically or cry.

Just… why. Why was I even protecting all these people? Okay, maybe I'm not really protecting anyone currently because I hadn't stopped a robbery or anything in nearly a month and I had caused some property damage. Well, not me but Hydra with all their guns. Wait I had ripped that fence from the ground… You know what, never mind.

I glanced back at the clock. 1:44 am. Yep, future me still hated me. Whoops. I should sleep. I was tired. My eyes were sore and drooping. But wait… maybe I could play some coolmathsgames to lull myself to sleep.

Yep, that would totally work. I definitely wasn't procrastinating going to sleep. Nope, not at all.

A loud bang sends me skyrocketing onto the ceiling, causing me to almost lose my grip again as my leg sent agonising pain through me. Luckily I held on, which meant that thankfully I didn't land on the couch again which would make the pain worse.

Holy CRAP what was that? It didn't sound like a bang from a gun, it was more like something being hit really hard by a hammer, but it was still terrifying in its own right. It had come from the front of the house. Wait, what the? Did we have a robber trying to break in? My spider-sense was suspiciously quiet… Had hydra put some gas in the house that got rid of my spider-sense? Had I breathed in that gas from when they attacked me and that's what's affecting me? I didn't think I had. I would think my spider-sense would warm me about a gas like that.

I cautiously began to crawl towards the sound on the ceiling. At this point, I didn't think it really mattered if I didn't have my mask on. All of Hydra knew my identity, Shield knew, and probably some people on the internet had guessed. And it was one in the morning, no one would be awake and no one would be able to see my face in the dark.

As I peeked my head around the corner, the front door swung open and a figure stepped inside. I could only see their outline in the moonlight. Their clothes were baggy, and when I looked them over I couldn't see a gun. But just because I couldn't see one didn't mean there wasn't one. So I kept my head back and my body tense.

I was glad that at the very least I was so tired my brain wasn't even properly telling me to freak out. Like, yeah Hydra is really bad but? My brain didn't recognize that? I was too tired to freak?

Just as I decided to sneak forward and probably pin them to the ground to demand who they were and what they wanted with me, leg be damned, I was blinded by a bright light and literally hissed as I retreated back around the corner, pain making the hiss grow in volume before I abruptly shut up. I had heard something being dropped with a 'thud.'

Crap. This was just great. But, I mean, holy crap for them too. They just say a person on the ceiling retreat into the shadows. Oh crap, they were probably going to grab a garlic or a gun. Either one at this point. Did vampires crawl on the ceiling? They did sleep upside down.

"I'm not a demon!" I called from the shadows.

"That's it, I need more sleep. I'm hallucinating so hard I saw a person on the ceiling. Scratch that, demon." I heard them murmur.

"I'm real, please don't shoot me," I pleaded.

I peeked back around the corner now that my eyes had adjusted enough and saw a girl, probably in her twenties wearing baggy sweatpants and a green hoodie with some logo on the front. There was a bag beside them that had clearly been dropped in shock. Her face spoke a mixture of 'wtf' and surprise.

"See? You can come pinch me or whatever. I'm 100% here. I'm just… on the ceiling. That's the only thing different about me and pretty much every other person on earth. Except for that one person, but they're six feet under the ground. Too soon? Too soon." My voice trailed off into a murmur before I realised something, "Wait, Spider-woman too!"

"Oh my god, I thought Spider-man was dead and Brad was pranking me." She whispered. So that was his name?

"Okay, you've gotta be more clear. Peter Parker, or moi with the black suit. We're different. Wait, dagnabit you kind of know who I am now. Secret identities are the worst. Please excuse me."

"…I thought you were that new one, cause you're much too small to be Peter."

"Hey! I take offence to that. I'm- wait are you Hydra? You're making me blubber everything out so easily. Did you drop a truth serum case in here?"

"Hydra…? What's Hydra?"

"Super evil organization that kidnapped me."

"…Right…"

"Yeah… Being a superhero is weird." I came forward, extending a hand for a handshake as I let myself hang upside down so only my feet were hanging from the ceiling, injured leg hovering a bit so it wasn't taking any strain. The change in position had the added benefit of taking the weight off of my foot. My hand only reached her nose. "Hi, I'm Spider-man. You can call me amazing, Spidey, incredible, Miles, spectacular, ultimate…"

"What?" Her face looked even more confused then when we had started.

"Anyway. Hi." My hand was still outstretched. I sighed. "You're supposed to shake it. At least pretend to know how to be an adult."

She hesitantly reached forward and shook my hand. "What are you doing in my house anyway?"

"Long story short, there was a nice person who called Brad because I was injured and freaking out and he's letting me crash here."

"I'm going to bed now…" They said, picking their bag up and heading down the hallway.

"You do that, I'll be here. Night!" I called. The light switch was flicked off and I was left standing on the ceiling, watching after them. Yeah, I should probably get some sleep too.

Maybe after one more video...

Brad dropped ten dollars beside me as I ate a late breakfast. Or you could call it lunch, but it was still breakfast cause it was 11:37 and not yet the middle of the day. And I was having cereal. So that made it breakfast. Or brunch? Brunch. Let's go with brunch.

"You can go buy yourself something with that if you get hungry and you don't want ramen, or buy something in general. I don't mind, it's yours now. I've got some classes to go to." Brad said as he finished packing some books into his bag.

"Thanks," I mumbled, struggling to keep my eyes open enough to bring another spoonful of cereal to my mouth. I wasn't a morning person at the best of times.

I watched them grab something from the cupboard before they finally zipped up their bag (it had grown two times its size from when I first saw it five minutes ago, I swear) and started over to the door.

"Oh! While you're here please don't blow up the house. It would take forever to find a new roommate and house I could stand. Also a lot of money. Bye!" They shouted over their shoulder as they went to close the door, and then the door shut with a thud followed by a click as they locked it.

I shovelled another spoon full of cereal into my mouth, looking down at the ten dollar note. What should I do with it? I knew I didn't actually have to spend it but I was starting to get bored on the computer, especially because it would be dumb to log onto any of my accounts to contact home. Hydra would be on to me pretty quickly.

Wait, were there any pay phones around? I wouldn't have to worry about time zone differences so my parents should be awake… wait, what day was it? They might be at work, but if I called their mobiles it should be fine. How long had I been gone anyway? I finished off the last spoonful of cereal, put my bowl in the dishwasher and then went over and looked at the laptop. So it was October 29th and that meant I had been gone for…

Holy crap.

Forty-seven days.

I groaned loudly, throwing my head back. I was going to be doing summer school, at the very least! I mean, at least it was only the start-ish of the year but it was still a huge knockout. Ugh, this sucked.

Anyway, payphones. Something I need. I had a look at Mr Google and found that there were several at train stations around me. The closest station to me was a few blocks away. Hmm.

I mean, every hero ever in the history of ever always use over-sized hoodies or a cap to hide their secret identity or to look 'inconspicuous' but who are we kidding, they all look suspicious as hell. Wait, if it's sunny outside it shouldn't look weird and I'll be able to get away with it.

I glanced out the window, it was probably sunny enough. Should I take my costume too? It might look a little weird to wear a long sleeved and long pants but in the long run, it would be useful.

An hour later (I got distracted, checking the exact location of the payphones had turned into me watching a YouTube video or two, and then I thought I should check the weather again and what times trains got in so there wouldn't be as many people around when I got there. that what taken me at least twenty minutes to work out when it would be quiet. It then took me five minutes to find a hat I could borrow. So, all in all, I had lost about an hour to doing pretty much nothing. Whoops.) I carefully climbed out of a window towards the back and shutting it nearly all the way closed but leaving a small crack so I could get back in when I came back. headed out the door, leaving a window open a crack so I could get in that way. I didn't have a key after all.

I tugged my hat down a bit lower before I grabbed my temporary crutches and hobbled onto the sidewalk. Brad had snuck them from the hospital for me to borrow so I wouldn't have to hurt my leg more than I had to.

This felt nerve-wracking and it didn't help at all that I was more defenceless than usual. I mean, these crutches were amazing but they wouldn't be much help when climbing up a wall.

I mean this quiet week had helped me calm down but now being out here again made all the nerves that had seemingly stored up come crashing back. It made me wary of anyone walking the street. The flight attendant had proven to me that anyone could be apart of Hydra. You never knew who could be one of them, and you would be none the wiser.

It made me anxious.

And the worst part is that since they had already once swarmed and nearly gotten me in Washington, there was every chance that they could do it again. They would be looking for me here, no doubt. If it hadn't been for Brad and that other nice lady I would have had to wait quite a while there in that store or had to camouflage longer than I was able to. They might even have infra-red technology so anything I could have tried to get out of there could have led them to me.

I quickened my pace as much as possible, the sooner I talked to my parents the quicker I could go back to his place and plan out my next move.

It didn't take long to get to the station and when I walked in I almost sighed with relief. I had timed it well, it was quiet. There was only a pair of teenagers on their phone and a man in his mid-forties on the next platform across. Besides from that, the only other person was the man sitting in the booth. None of them were paying attention to me besides from a brief glance over, which meant I would be fine.

Well, unless they recognised me from the news. Then they would probably call the police and that was a huge can of worms I didn't want to think about. Hydra and the police actively looking around for me would really hurt my chances of getting home. The police could be corrupt with Hydra agents too!

I shook my head and hobbled over to the payphones only to find that it only accepted coins. Dang. This must be a pretty old machine, and it meant I actually had to talk to the guy and I was pretty sure there were cameras over there that could recognise me. It was either this or no call, so I sucked it up and went over to the guy.

"Hi, could you change this into coins?" I asked quietly, pushing the note over to him.

He looked up and nodded. For the twenty seconds it took him to change the note into coins, I anxiously fiddled with my hands, keeping my head down. Then he handed me the coins and with a hurried 'thanks' I collected them all and scurried over to the payphone.

I slipped four coins in, hoping that would be long enough. I carefully pressed the numbers in that I had had memorised since I was five because; "New York is a big place Miles, you could get lost and if you remember this number we can come get you sooner."

I took a deep breath and listened to the whirr as it was connected to the phone on the other end. Then it began to ring. I bit my lip as butterflies exploded in my stomach. What if they didn't pick up? I could just leave another message and say I wasn't that far from New York. Maybe they were busy? It was a Tuesday after all. They could think that it was just some random phone call. But maybe after the last time I had called they knew now that any call could potentially be from me.

The rings were nearly out and as much as I wanted to hear one of their voices I wasn't going to try a second time. I was feeling anxious just walking around out here, especially because it wasn't absolutely required. My chances of getting caught were way too high for me to be anything butanxious. I hated that I was this way, and that logic told me not to try again.

I crossed my fingers, please pick up.

Ring-

"Hello? This is Rio Morales speaking."

I inhaled sharply, I couldn't believe she had actually picked up. Tears welled up in my eyes and I wiped them away as quickly as they had appeared. "Um, hi, uh. It's me, Miles."

Great job Miles, the first thing she hears of your voice in nearly a month is an 'um.' So smart.

"Miles? Oh my god, Miles! Are you okay? Are you hurt? We've been worried sick! Where are you?"

"I'm, uh, in Washington. I'm okay, I'm hurt but I'm... getting better. I'm coming home soon." I answered, suppressing a hiccup or sob. How much could I tell her? I didn't know. Hydra could easily be listening on the other side. It would be smart of them to track any calls that went into their phones. But just to hear her voice…

"I-… I can come get you now. It's not that long of a drive-"

"No! Don't!" I barged in, voice rising a tad bit to higher than I would have liked. I cringed in on myself. "Just… the people who got me… they're really bad people. They know who I am and where we live. If I come home, well, they might hurt you." There was a pause on the other end. Shock, probably. I quickly filled in the silence. 'I'm okay, I promise. I'll be coming home soon but I need to go grab some people to help. SHIELD probably. I want to come home, but I can't. They'll kill me if they catch me again."

"Miles…" she whispered. "What have you gotten yourself caught up in?"

I hung my head, even though she couldn't see it. My voice dropped to a whisper. "It's big. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be ashamed for. Your Dad and I… we thought you had run away until you called Ganke. The police were almost ready to give up looking... Please be careful."

The phone beeped a few times, letting me know the time was nearly up. I closed my eyes, which allowed a tear to run down my face. I had talked to Mum, she knew I was okay but I still couldn't come home. I had the nagging thought that if I stayed on this call any longer I wouldn't have enough time to get away. Considering how fast they had reached me not two days ago it was a reasonable assumption.

"I have to go Mum. I'll be home as soon as I can. I'll…" I realised in that moment that it would be difficult to explain where I had been without revealing myself. I also realised that I was sick of the lies, of hiding my injuries and my worries. I would tell them. "I'll tell you everything when I get back. Stay safe and be careful. I love you."

"I love you too Miles, so does your Dad. I miss you."

Before I could add anything else, the phone line went dead. I leaned my head against the wall. I realized that a tear was dripping down my nose. I quickly wiped it away. I would stop Hydra before they could hurt anyone I cared about. Only then could I well and truly relax. I was only one human, but if Hydra thought I was so valuable as to chase me across the world surely I could help take them down.

I sniffed and wiped the last tear away. I wanted to get home so badly, and I would.

I would even if it nearly killed me.