TW: some smut including fingering, some swearing, brief description of vomiting
Sorry for another delayed chapter. I rewrote this chapter a couple times, I wanted to blend in both parts of the perspectives together without it seeming too unnatural and not too much emotional whiplash between both characters lol. Thank you all so much for your continued support in the story.
Thank you for another review snowcloud8! This chapter should clear some things up about Gabriel :)
Miguel's Perspective
Miguel stepped through the portal to Earth 616, dreading the encounter he was about to have with the 'big boss' as Lyla put it. He hadn't visited this dimension's Earth since Peter B invited him to dinner after he made up with Mary Jane. That was a year ago, but now he was returning for a reason that was unpleasant instead of endearing.
It had been a long time since he'd seen the bright green glow of her lab, the interworking wires connecting like a giant webbed computer, spreading across the ceiling and walls. He hesitated, seeing her sitting on her spider-like chair, her back to him. He swallowed down the lump that was forming in his throat. He was close enough now, looking up toward where her chair was suspended; he knew she knew he was here and that she was actively choosing to ignore him.
He cleared his throat, unable to take the pregnant silence and tension any longer. She still didn't turn to face him, she only twitched with annoyance by the sound that resonated from his throat.
"Be quiet, O'Hara. You've done enough of breaking my concentration these past few months." She scolded, flicking her wrist in his direction like she was shooing a fly.
"You requested to meet with me, Cassandra." He droned.
Her chair snapped around, a sneer curling at the edge of her lip. She pointed a finger in his general direction.
"It's Madame Webb to you, O'Hara, we are not on good terms right now." She corrected sharply.
"Madame, can you tell me what this is about?" He replied, his hands on his hips.
She scoffed, her spider chair's arms crawling downward to lower herself to his height.
"I'm blind and even I can see why you'd need to come here to speak to me. You really don't have the faintest idea why I would summon you here?" Her eyebrows shot up from behind her blindfold.
Miguel rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. He had a few ideas why he would be here, but he didn't feel like playing the guessing game with the old woman right now.
"Where should I begin? Your destruction of Universe 1042? Your recent cause of opening a black hole on Earth 9591 that is going to get big enough to destroy its entire universe by consuming all matter in its path? How I deliberately told you to stay no contact with your brother after fixing your mess with how you prevented his canon event from happening? How you got an anomaly pregnant-" she began to list, counting on her long, slender fingers.
Miguel straightened up at what she said, shocked by her last statement. She sensed his tenseness.
"Wait, she's-" He started.
"Yes, she's an anomaly. She wasn't supposed to become Spider Woman, haven't you noticed she has never experienced a canon event herself, O'Hara? She has no family, no attachments, other than you and the Spider Society." Her brows furrowed. "You're telling me you were so blinded by lust for this woman that you couldn't see that she was the very thing you're supposed to prevent?"
"That's not-"
She raised her hand to stop him. "Save your drivel for someone who wants to hear it, O'Hara, I don't care about your romantic life. What concerns me is your continued recklessness. I put my trust in you to help manage the arachno-humanoid poly multiverse, and all you've done lately is create a bigger mess that needs to be cleaned up." She leaned forward in her chair. "Do I need to remind you how important it is to keep balance in the universe?"
"Of course not! In all fairness, Madame Webb, aren't you a medium? You couldn't foresee all of this happening?" Miguel responded.
An unpleasant smile spread on the old woman's face.
"You know how difficult it is to try and balance multiple outcomes from multiple timelines, especially when you have been constantly disrupting the flow of events? Time is something delicate that is hard to repair once disruption occurs, chain-events follow…" her voice trailed off for a moment. "Now with this 'Spot' becoming stronger, I fear he may destroy everything as we know it."
"I already have a plan on stopping him, and for dealing with Miles Morales." Miguel interjected.
Madame Webb was uninterested in his reply, she flicked her wrist again in dismissal.
"Do you recall the events that occurred on Earth 199999? How that Earth's Peter Parker nearly wiped out his own universe in a similar way that happened on Earth 1610 with Miles Morales, and my own Earth's Peter Parker with that collider? How a spell was able to save his universe, and how we are probably two of the few individuals that actually remember that he exists?" She asked.
"Of course, that was a pain to deal with. Doctor Strange-"
"What do you think it will take to clean up your mess, hm?" She cut off.
He didn't respond, not liking where this conversation was headed. He sighed, closing his eyes as he waited for Madame Webb to continue.
"We all must answer to someone for the things we've done, even I have someone above me who assists in keeping spacetime intact. There are consequences when it comes to messing with the timeline, O'Hara."
"What do I need to do? I'm feeling like I'm drowning, I'm trying my best but it's not enough." He confessed.
"You knew what would happen when you killed Doc Ock, yet you deliberately returned to Earth 9591 and murdered him, for what? Half-cocked vengeance? You made the decision to replace another version of yourself on Earth 1042, disrupting Gabriella O'Hara's destined path of becoming Spider Woman. You chose to have sex with that anomaly Spider Woman from a different universe than your own, and got her pregnant. She's from the past, you're from the future, what did you think would happen?"
Miguel was silent again, he had nothing to say to counter her point. He did all of those things, he made those choices, often out of impulse or longing. He desperately wanted to plead his case, for his pregnant lover's sake - she was innocent in all this.
"The Celestials aren't happy, O'Hara." Madame Webb added, her tone heavy. "They want to dispose of you in an attempt to stop you from further damaging the timelines."
Miguel's heart skipped a beat, the distinct feeling of fear rising in the pit of his stomach.
Madame Webb leaned in, raising a single finger in Miguel's direction.
"I'm giving you one more chance, O'Hara. If you fail this then you're at the mercy of the Celestials, and you know I won't be able to stop them. Stop Miles Morales from disrupting anymore canon events, try and capture Spot, and keep yourself on a shorter leash when it comes to the arachno-humanoid poly multiverse. You'll need to cut contact with your brother Gabriel for good."
"He knows about the baby now, he's determined on being an active uncle in their life." Miguel answered.
"Must I remind you that he was supposed to become your Earth's version of Green Goblin, must I remind you that you were the one that prevented that from happening, nearly wiping out your own universe? You came to me begging to fix it so he wouldn't turn into a villain, and that your world wouldn't get destroyed." Madame Webb leaned in again to add emphasis to her point. "And what was the one condition to keep everything intact? Go no contact with him."
"I know…" Miguel replied weakly.
"Sacrifices are necessary, that's what makes us Spider People, O'Hara. With these powers you can't have your cake and eat it too. That AI that you have has an algorithm that should be helping you prevent all these disruptions from happening, start following that."
"I understand… Listen, I wanted to ask you about the watch malfunction and Earth 9591. Someone sabotaged the watch and tipped Doc Ock off about it, I want to know who did that."
"I can't say for sure. Could be a Celestial, could have been the Cosmic Spider, or it could be the universe trying to fix itself." She replied with a shrug.
"How could you not know? I don't believe you."
"Even clairvoyance has its limitations, I only see what I'm meant to see." She leaned back in her chair. "Heed my warning, O'Hara, if I have to meet with you again like this I can guarantee that it won't end well for you. It's nothing personal, but trillions of lives are at stake."
"What's going to happen to-"
"Your little pregnant girlfriend?" She cut off again. "That's up to you, O'Hara. As long as she doesn't overstep her bounds maybe the universe won't try to kill her again. Keep her in line. Don't let her snoop around and try to mend contact with any more people you aren't supposed to have contact with."
"I will…" Was all Miguel managed to say.
Madame Webb cocked her head, she seemed unsatisfied with his attempt at assurance. Her chair crawled closer to him, her face was now very close to his as she leaned toward him.
"Do you actually have a grasp of the amount of blood you have on your hands? The cosmos will want to hold someone responsible not only for the balance of the universe being tilted, but for the amount of premature death caused by a single human." Her tone was grave as she sat back in her chair.
Miguel felt like all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room, his mouth had gone instantly dry. This was not new information to him, but he had been so preoccupied with trying to fix his mistakes that he had pushed back the extremely weighted reality of how many lives ceased to exist with the collapsing of those universes. He had poured all of his grief into Gabriella, his mind unable to comprehend what trillions of lives being lost could look like. He dropped to his knees, unable to hold back the bile that had climbed up his throat. He vomited on the floor, clutching his stomach from the sheer amount of pain.
"Stand up, O'Hara, it's too late to gain a conscious now."
Her spider chair pivoted, climbing back up the vast, interlocking wires that covered the entire lab. Miguel wiped his mouth, standing up shakily as she resumed her position, getting back to whatever it was she was doing before he came to see her. He left without another word, feeling like the world around him was collapsing. Time was against him and the pressure was almost too much to bear.
Reader's Perspective
I was having another rough night sleeping. Ever since the attack, insomnia kept me awake, but when I was finally able to fall asleep from pure exhaustion, I was plagued with unpleasant nightmares, and the pain from recovery didn't help. I was having a nightmare about my pregnancy, a horrible spider-human hybrid bursting from my stomach like those Alien movies. In every nightmare I have, there's someone watching me in the dark corner of the room. I can't see them fully, but I can distinguish their shape in the darkness and feel their eerie eyes on me like a weight.
I could swear there was a set of glowing red eyes peering back at me.
The feeling of Miguel shaking me awake stirred me from my awful dream. My eyes adjusted to the darkness, seeing Miguel's concerned face leaning over me. This was the first time I had seen him since he left Gabriel's house in a hurry. Part of me wondered if I was still dreaming.
"Are you okay? You were screaming…" He told me, patting my cheek to get my attention. "I thought someone was attacking you and I rushed in here."
The bedsheets clung to my body because of my sweat. I felt like I was in a furnace, my breathing labored and my heart still racing. Miguel pulled off the sheets, sitting me up in the bed as he supported my back, his free hand feeling my forehead.
"You're burning up." He commented.
I was far too dazed to respond. He ended up carrying me to the bathroom. I half-dozed off into his chest, so exhausted that I could barely keep my eyelids open. The lack of a full night's rest was starting to catch up with me. The sound of one of the shower faucet's turning on stirred me awake. He steadied me to stand, I swayed slightly but was able to gain my bearings. He gestured for me to raise my arms over my head, I obliged, and he removed my sweat-soaked shirt. The feeling of warm steam wafting from the shower made my skin prickle in anticipation, the more my body started waking up, the more I craved getting into the shower.
Miguel kneeled in front of me, pulling down my shorts. I stared down at him, dreamily. Maybe it was the fever, or the memories of him pouring out his soul to me in such a sensual confessional at his brother's house earlier today, but I longed for him at this moment. Being nude in front of him as he undressed me wasn't helping my situation.
"I didn't make the water too hot or too cold, let me know if it's not comfortable to step into." Miguel informed me, standing up fully so he could reach in the shower to test the water. "Do you need help climbing in?"
He extended his hand toward me to assist. I clasped his hand with both of mine, and brought it toward my mouth, and started sucking on two of his fingers. His eyebrows shot up in surprise, looking flustered.
"What are you doing?" He questioned, his tone even.
"When we were at your brother's house earlier today, the way you kissed me… it made me feel like you desired me, like I was the only person on the planet with you. I want you to kiss me like that again." I confessed.
His face went scarlet. He averted his eyes from me, rubbing the back of his neck. He definitely was flustered, it was honestly cute and made it hard to resist teasing him. It's been weeks since we've actually been intimate, granted I was recovering in the hospital, but I missed him. That kiss today was special, I yearned for more.
I took a step closer to him, pushing my naked body into his as I wrapped my arms around him.
"These last few weeks have been hell. I haven't been sleeping, stress and fear has been giving me really horrible nightmares. I just want to forget about it all, even if it's just for a moment." I added, staring up at him.
He stroked the top of my head. "I'm sorry, I know things have been difficult for you lately. I'm trying my best to balance everything, but with Jess gone I have been stretched thin."
"I can tell, you seem so worn, Miguel. You need to take your mind off of things, too." I went to step into the shower, holding onto his arm to lead him in with me.
"I don't know if you're in any condition-" He started.
"Let's just pretend we're a normal couple and let the world melt away." I closed the short distance between us again. "I want you to touch me, Miguel, please."
It didn't take long.
Miguel had my back pressed against the shower wall, the tile cold and sending chills down my spine. He kissed me on the lips hastily, his tongue finding its way in between my own parted lips. He held one of my legs up, gripping my thigh as it wrapped around his waist. His other hand's pointer and middle finger were stroking my clit in circles. It was dizzying how good it felt. I moaned into his mouth as he worked his lips against mine. His fingers slipped into me, making me gasp. I craned my neck back, letting out a whimper. He didn't let up, he curled his fingers inside of me, making me squirm. A satisfied smirk was plastered on his face; now it was my turn to be flustered. He quickened his pace, teasing me as he leaned in to suck on my collarbone.
"Miguel, I… fuck…" I swore, it was almost too much to take.
"You begged for it, mi vida. Don't tell me you're already throwing in the towel." He joked, muffled against my neck.
"I never told you to stop." I retorted with a playful whine, leaning into him. "Sometimes I feel like you're holding back."
"Trust me, I am." He admitted, pulling his fingers out of me.
He propped up his muscular thigh and repositioned me to sit on his thigh. I moved my hips against him, the friction felt good but it wasn't anything compared to how he felt inside me.
"Don't hold back, then."
He laughed, kissing my forehead. "I have to, your body still hasn't healed fully, and you're pregnant."
"Excuses, excuses…" I shook my head.
The sound of a loud thud from outside the bathroom door alerted both of us. Miguel whipped his head around, guiding me down on my feet and shutting off the water. He straightened up, listening for anything else out of order.
"I don't sense anything…" I whispered, hugging myself, already getting cold from the lack of hot water running.
"Wait here." Miguel instructed, stepping out of the shower. "Lyla, is there anything out there?" He spoke into his watch, drying himself off quickly with the towel, then slipped his boxers on.
"I thought I saw someone, but as soon as my sensors picked it up, they were gone." Lyla reported.
Miguel left the bathroom and spent a good minute looking around. I got out of the shower, draping a towel around myself as I waited for him to give the all clear. He checked every inch of his spacious apartment, but he found nothing. He opened the bathroom door, giving me the signal that it was safe to come out. When I stepped into his living room I saw that a small shelf had been knocked over between the front door and hall closet.
"Someone was definitely in here." He pointed out.
I shuddered, my thoughts immediately returning to the figure standing in the darkness with the red, glowing eyes.
Sorry if my characterizations of Madame Webb aren't completely comic book accurate. I'm going to mostly be focusing on my own interpretations when it comes to certain characters.
I've got big plans coming up for the story!
