Chapter 6 – Am I Dreaming?

There was strange air about this place.

When Miles opened his eyes, he found himself face-up to a ceiling, but not of any hospital room, but a familiar apartment. He sat up on a couch to find that he was back in Uncle Aaron's apartment, just as he had left it.

How did he get here?

Am I dreaming?

Looking around to find all his things but no sign of the man himself, he quickly noticed something red, round, yet wrinkled, floating right next to him on a string, and he was somehow holding it… it was a balloon, a small one near the end of its life.

"Hello?" he spoke, his voice sounding normal instead of labored.

He panned around the room. There was his boxing bag, his plasma screen, his giant speakers… everything was still here, still intact.

"Uncle Aaron?" he called out again, but there was still silence.

He had forgotten how cozy it was here. There was a time when he could always hang here anytime he wanted, but those days were long gone now.

Miles turned his attention back to the balloon… his balloon… there was something about it.

"Shouldn't lose that." A grown man's voice suddenly spoke next to the teen boy, and he whipped his head to see his uncle sitting right next to him on the sofa, grinning broadly. "At least not until you get a better one."

"Uncle Aaron!" Miles dove to hug him, then pulled back, stunned. "How…?"

Uncle Aaron reached over to take his nephew's balloon, untied its know and then blew into the rubber until it was inflated back to full size. Retying it, he handed it back with a wink; his breath shouldn't have helium, yet it was somehow floating anyway.

"Am I really dreaming this," asked Miles, "or am I in… some other place?"

The bald bearded man could only shrug. "Does it matter?"

The teen looked sideways, then nodded. "Yeah… actually, it does."

He couldn't remember how he ended up in this place… the last thing he remembered was… going to sleep… being wheeled away.

"Don't worry kid," said Uncle Aaron, patting his shoulder, "this won't really matter anyway."

Miles turned back to his uncle, sad with nostalgia. "I really missed you."

"I miss you too." Patting him again, he got up from his seat. "You better get going soon."

"What?" Miles was confused. "Why?"

"Don't worry." The man paused, then turned back to him with an equally sad smirk. "We can catch up again some other time. If you do remember this, tell your Pa I said hi."

And with that, the scenery blurred in a chromatic aberration. Miles felt himself being pulled away, along with his strange balloon. He flailed his hands, trying to grab onto something, maybe a thread… he didn't want to leave.

Gwen didn't keep track of many hours had passed since her best friend went in for surgery. It was too much for her to stay inside the building any longer, so went outside to loiter by the entrance.

The sky was turning dark, the orange glow fading behind the numerous skyscrapers and floating cars; it looked a scene out of Star Wars. This futuristic city was truly a sight to marvel at, but for her, it was now a stain in her memory.

There were far too many bad memories that took place here… the lying… the manipulation… the betrayal. This world was once a source of comfort after she fled from her own dimension. She had met other people like herself, she had found camaraderie… and all she wanted now was to be rid of this place. All this glamour, like the Spider-Society, was all just a show… a menagerie of smoking mirrors that hid its true ugliness.

Gwen was so lost in her dubious thoughts that she barely registered someone walking in her peripheral. She wasn't going to acknowledge the figure… until the figure spoke to her.

"Hi, Gwen." It was a woman's voice.

The girl turned her head slightly to see that it was Jessica Drew in a civilian coat, her baby bump showing through.

"Hi." she greeted back, less than pleased.

Her tone wasn't lost on the older woman, regarding their recent history, but she took it with grace.

"How are you?" she asked, expecting a less-than-civil response.

"Good… all things considered." Gwen shifted her half-lidded gaze down to the bump. "How's the baby?"

"Still kicking." Jessica smiled a little, stroking it.

"That's a genuine surprise." Gwen turned back away; her sarcasm was dry, humorless. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to check on you, sweetie." The lady answered softly. "How's your friend?"

"Other than being cut open," the girl shrugged, "fine."

Sweetie… Gwen almost cringed at the word.

"Gwen…" Jessica began, inhaling, "… I know I'm probably the last person you want to see."

"Yeah?" Bingo. A long silent gap filled their conversation before Gwen added, "He still hasn't glitched, so… I guess that means the Spider-Verse won't implode on us after all." She faced the woman again with her iciest glare yet. "Is that why you're here?"

"There never was a canon event…" this response surprised the younger hero a bit, "… or at least I think not. It's supposedly debunked."

Gwen stared at her former mentor, her face unchanged, unsure if this bit of information was supposed to make her feel better or not.

"Is that supposed to make me feel any better?" she voiced her thoughts aloud, "Am I supposed to just forgive you? Look…" she backtracked, "… I'm grateful that you all had a change of heart and decided to help us in the end, I really mean that…" Gwen inhaled shakily to conclude, "… but too much has happened already."

Jessica took in this girl's words and bowed her head solemnly. "You're right." she said. "We've actually gone back to the drawing board to rethink how we do things now."

Gwen raised her eyebrows, folding her arms now.

"If… you're interested, perhaps you and Miles could give us some inputs."

"You want advice from an anomaly and a liability on how to run your Spider-Cult?" Her bitterness returned tenfold, then she held her hip to mock the woman. "I can't help you."

The older Spider-Woman bit her lip and sighed, nodding in defeat.

She turned to leave, but not before saying, "For what it's worth… I'm really sorry."

Her apology, while shallow in her ears, managed to placate her somewhat; she remembered, in that moment, that she too had made the same mistakes.

"Yeah… me too." Her anger was now gone, replaced only with regret.

Right then, the two heard hurried footsteps approaching them from the entrance; Rio Morales was running out towards them, short on breath; she looked exhausted but also… exhilarated. Gwen hoped that this was good news.

"He's… out of surgery now!" she exclaimed between short breaths. "You can come back inside now!"

Gwen drew air out of her lungs that she hadn't realized she held in all this time.

"Is he okay?"

Without waiting for an answer, she ran back into the building, rejuvenated with hope.

She whirled her head back at Jessica, who remained back, and yelled to her, "Thanks for coming!" The two were then gone.

The pregnant Spider-Woman, somewhat uplifted now, began her leave.

Once she was out of sight, she raised her watch to communicate with Miguel, his masked bust popping up as a hologram.

"So, how'd it go?" he asked straight away.

"Miles pulled through the surgery."

"They found him a heart?"

"No, they implanted a pacemaker."

"So… he hasn't glitched then?"

Jessica shook her head.

"That's curious." She saw Miguel rubbing his chin in wonder.

"How so?"

Pausing for a moment, the hologram lifted his head again. "I'm gonna spend a few days out of my dimension without wearing the watch."

"What?" Jessica paused in her walk, stunned. "Why?"

"Just a hunch." he stated calmly.

"And what will I do until then?"

"Keep things in order."

"But where will you—?"

The hologram blipped away before she could finish her question. She shook her head and walked on, shaking in frustration. "I can't even…"

When Miles finally came to, he was laying up and facing another familiar ceiling; he was back in the hospital room.

Squinting hard, he tried to think… there was something he felt he should have remembered. There were clues sprinkled here and there inside his fuzzy head, but it just wouldn't click.

A memory?

A request?

A warning?

He sighed hard… whatever it was, it had escaped him.

His ears picked up what sounded like gasps of delight from multiple people, and he craned his head up to see his mom, his dad, Gwen, Peter, and the rest of his Spider-Friends, sitting around his bed. They all shuffled forwards to see him wake up.

He was back, he realized; he had made it through the surgery.

Something was different now… he could feel it in his chest. It still ached, but there was some evenness now, a weight that felt only a little lighter.

At once, this one strange question popped into his head. "Where's my balloon…?" he could only mumble.

TO BE CONTINUED.

Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your reviews for my last chapter! I was so overwhelmed! These next few chapters I'll write will be a sure treat, especially one for Gwen and Miles, but you'll have to wait a few chapters first. Trust me, it'll be worth it! One battle is won, but the war is far from over. I'm also gonna try and give the other characters each their time to shine, even in small moments. Stay tuned!