The Truth Comes Out

When Gwen swung herself into Miles's New York City, the last thing she expected was to find herself in the midst of a flock of King Kong-sized ostriches. Her spider-sense began blaring immediately and a quick look to her right told her why. An ostrich's beak was coming right for her. Given the size of the thing, it would no doubt do damage if it got her. Letting go of her webbing, Gwen made the decision to fall to the streets beneath and figure out her next step from there. Once on the pavement, she had to duck and roll to avoid the beaks of several ostriches who were determined to eat her like they might a field mouse or lizard. Dodging so many pecking birds was wearing and left little time for her to try and aim her web-shooter at them and bind their beaks shut.

Even so, she managed to wrap up two of the half-dozen ostriches beaks and get herself tucked into an alleyway where none of them could reach her after a brief struggle. Breathing hard, Gwen grumbled to herself, "What the fuck kind of shit is this?"

"Gw— Spider-Woman!" yelled a familiar voice from behind her. Whirling around, she saw it was Miles, or, rather Spider-Man. He had what looked to be some kind of futuristic gun in his hand and over his shoulder was a small, balding man wrapped in webbing from shoulder to ankle with another chunk over his mouth.

"Hey, Spider-Man," she returned. "I'm guessing this is his doing?" she asked while jerking her head in the direction of the ostriches who were all trying very hard to fit their overly large heads into the alleyway to get at her.

Miles looked over his shoulder at the now red-faced man. "Uh, yeah. I guess that laboratory Doc Ock works for fired this guy and…" he gestured with the gun to the ostriches who were now pecking at the brick buildings in an attempt to widen the alleyway's opening. Gwen and Miles would have to do something soon if they didn't want to be eaten by giant ostriches.

"I guess it's better than giant mosquitoes," replied Gwen as she recalled the nightmares she experienced as a kid after seeing the movie Jumanji.

He laughed. "For real!" After he finished snickering, he added, "You didn't say you were coming to town."

Gwen frowned beneath her mask and looked down. "It was a spur of the moment kind of thing."

"Watch out!" Miles yelled as her spider-sense's tingling intensified. Gwen tipped forward and tumbled out of the way just in time to miss out on becoming ostrich food. As she pulled herself out of her tucked-position, she saw Miles aim the gun at the ostrich and a yellow-green light shoot from it and hit the giant bird. A deafening squawk later the bird was normal sized and running away from the other ostriches who'd now turned their feral, dinosaur-like eyes on it. In quick succession, Miles shot off several more rays at the other birds and soon, they were all just regular ostriches running down the street.

"Nice job," Gwen said as she stood up and dusted herself off.

"Thanks!" he said. Then, he turned back to the scientist he dropped in his haste to re-size the ostrich and picked him back up with a little effort and then placed him just outside of the alley and in clear view of the road. "The police will be around soon to grab him," he remarked. Turning to Gwen, he asked her, "Wanna get some hotdogs?"

"Actually, yeah," said Gwen a feeling of relief washing over her. "I know I said this wasn't a planned visit and all, but there is some stuff I need to talk to you about."

He nodded. "Cool, cool. How's the Empire building for this talk?"

Gwen considered the suggestion for all of a moment. She then crossed her arms and shook her head. "That's a little way out of the way," she said. "How about we go to P.S. 34 Oliver H.? It's close by."

Miles bounced in place. "Oh man, yeah!" he agreed. Tone happy and excited, he said, "Do you know I went there as a kid? I had my first kiss in the playground with my best friend—"

"Aliyah?" Gwen guessed, cutting off Miles.

The energy around Miles turned from excited to uneasy. "Uh… Yeah," he said. Miffed, he muttered, "How did you…?"

Gwen sighed. "Maybe we should skip the hot dogs. Come on, Spider-Man." Shooting off a rope of webbing, she began to swing in the direction of the school. Miles was quick to follow her and soon caught up to her side. He tried to ask her several questions about what was going on and how she knew stuff he'd never shared with her, but Gwen would just pick up her pace soaring through the air and ignore him. Each time, Miles would do his best to catch up with her and soon, they were all but racing to the elementary school.

When they finally turned the corner and landed on its roof, Miles grabbed her arm and pulled up his mask and said, "What was that all about? And how'd you know about Aliyah?"

Gwen kept her mask on and turned to look out over the playground down below. She recalled how she visited her 'verse's Miles after she rescued him from being flattened by a taxi. He'd been so happy that she came through and showed everyone she knew him. While Gwen didn't often go out as Spider-Woman in the middle of school-days, if and when she did, Gwen tried to pass by the school if it was on her way to where she was going— If only to remind the kids there and Miles she remembered him and was watching out for him.

As her eyes roved over the play equipment she realized it was different than she remembered from home. Miles 'verse was a decade ahead of hers, maybe they'd simply gotten new stuff since 2008? While it sounded feasible, Gwen wasn't sure that was the case as most of the play equipment, like the slide and swings, looked just how she remembered back in her New York. "Those monkey bars are blue back home," she remarked. "Were they always green or did they change colors from when you were little?"

Miles, still wearing his mask half up, was frowning, clearly frustrated with her. "Man, I don't know. I haven't been here since I was a kid. Spider-Woman, Gwen, what's going on?"

She wrapped her arms around herself and crouched down into a sit as she took a deep breath. Here went nothing ."You know how everyone's universe isn't just different in obvious ways, like being inhabited by cartoon animals, or the spider biting somebody besides a Peter Parker?" she asked.

Miles slid down next to her. Bending his knees, he laid his arms atop them and stared at her as he answered, "Yeah."

Gwen finally took off her mask. While she wished she could keep it on and hide, she knew he would feel her sincerity more if he saw her face as she told him about the kid Miles back home. Meeting Miles's dark, dubious gaze Gwen bit her lip. "I know ours are pretty alike, all things considered, but I'm actually about a decade behind you and your universe."

He blinked before a furrow started between his brows. Turning his face to the sky he murmured, "Huh, really? I guess I didn't notice. You aren't shocked by my smartphone like Noir and get most of the references I make."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "We have iPod touches, Miles. Your phone isn't too shocking. A lot of your references aren't so future-based I don't understand them either. They're also pretty easy to figure out in context too."

He winced. "…Uh, sorry. This time thing, it's what you want to talk about?"

She sighed. "Not exactly."

"Then what is it?"

Gwen breathed in and out, preparing herself. In a voice just above a whisper, she told Miles, "A few months ago now, I met you."

He grinned, a slightly confused light coming to his eyes as he said, "Yeah! It was great too. You and Peter really helped me out—"

Gwen put a hand over his mouth and shook her head. "No," she said, "I mean in my universe I met you."

He pulled her hand off, eyes big and stunned. "You did?"

She nodded before bursting into a half-babbled speech about the little boy she'd come to adore. "My Miles is five going on six, he sings Ricky Martin with his mom, has playdates with Aliyah, his girlfriend, and sometimes comes to see my band play if we're on a stage someplace little kid friendly."

Bewildered, Miles backed himself away from Gwen, and said, "No, stop. You're joking, right? Come on, Gwen, you're tripping."

"I'm not."

His expression changed to one of agitation. Standing up, he yelled, "You're just getting around to saying something now? We've been talking on that interdimensional goober almost just as long! Not once, not ever, did you think you should say, 'Hey, Miles, d'you wanna guess who I ran into today? His name rhymes with crocodiles!'"

Gwen let her gaze fall to her feet. In a whisper, she said, "I messed up."

"Uh, yeah!" Miles all but shouted as he began to pace the roof. "This is so not cool, Gwen," he told her in a seething hiss as he passed her by in one of his laps across the roof.

She felt tears prick her eyes, but refused to let them show. This was her fault and she didn't deserve to cry about a situation she had created. "I'm sorry."

Finally, Miles stopped his pacing and turned to look at her. When Gwen peered up at him through her bangs she saw instead of anger or hate, there was a distinct sadness in the slope of his shoulders. "Can I ask you something? Why did it take you so long? Do you not trust me or something?"

She shot to her feet. "No! I trust you so much," she reassured Miles. "You're my friend. I just didn't want to make things weird between us by telling you I babysit a little kid version of you in my universe…"

His mouth fell open, gobsmacked. "You babysit me?"

She winced. "…I should have said that first, shouldn't I have?"

"Gwen!" he exclaimed after a frustrated groan.

She put up her hands in a placating way and slowly walked closer to him. "I know," she said, "I'm doing a terrible job of this friend thing. In the name of being a better one, though, there's one more thing I have to tell you."

He crossed his arms. "And what's that?"

She stared at Miles and hoped what she was about to say wouldn't make things worse than they already were. "I've met your uncle in my New York too."

There were a few seconds of stunned silence on Miles's part before he whispered, "…Uncle Aaron?" Eyes turning wet, he asked, between hitched breathes, "How— How is he?"

Gwen looked out to the playground once more. "He's alright," she answered. "My Miles and he look to be pretty close."

Miles stepped forward, his voice full of hesitation, he murmured, "Is he…?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh."

Gwen swept forward when she saw the tears that'd gathered in Miles's eyes were now starting to slip down his cheek. Grabbing one of her friend's hands, she said, "Hey, hey! Look, I'm not just sitting by, okay? I've been working on him! He's going to be a hero, alright?"

He pulled away from her and swept angrily at the tears on his face."How do you know?"

"He's saved us," Gwen said.

Miles furrowed his brow. "What?"

"Me and my you were kidnapped one day. Your uncle, as the Prowler, came and rescued us. Then there was this whole hostage thing at a police outreach fair we were at and he showed up again as the Prowler to save you."

His eyes were wide as he whispered, "He really did all that?"

"Yeah," Gwen replied as she offered up a hesitant smile.

Miles ran a hand over the top of his head and breathed out. When he met Gwen's gaze again, he asked, "Do you really think you can turn him into a hero just 'cause he's gone out of his ways to keep your me safe?"

Gwen said, "I'll do my best to."

"Why?"

A sadness washed over Gwen and she sighed. "You loved your Uncle the same way I loved my best friend. I, we, know what it's like to lose those who are closest to us. Why wouldn't I want to make sure it doesn't happen to the Miles in my universe?"

"It's just that… He's a villain. You don't think the little me in your New York wouldn't be better off without his Uncle Aaron?"

"Are you better off with your Uncle Aaron dead?" Gwen asked.

Miles didn't answer.

Gwen reached out to her friend and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. I never told you this, but my Peter… He wasn't a hero either. It didn't and doesn't change that I'd give anything to have him back."

He looked at her for a long moment. "If you ever have questions about your Aaron, don't be afraid to hit me up, okay? I don't know everything about him, obviously, but I'd like to believe it's enough that I can still help you."

"Thanks, Miles," she said. "I will. You're a good friend— Way better than I ever could hope to be."

Miles laughed. "Aw, don't be so hard on yourself. You're just rusty," he said. For a moment, he looked unsure, but then he swept forward and lifted Gwen off the roof in an embrace. "Thanks for not just looking out for your me, but your Uncle Aaron too. It means a lot to me."

Gwen didn't say anything, just wrapped her arms around Miles's neck and hung on. She hoped she wouldn't fail her Miles or the kid one back home.

Miles knows! Feelings about the lead-up? Gwen telling him the truth?

Thank you all for reading :)