Chapter 17

Peter stared at Miles unconscious form. They were in his apartment and Miles' torso was wrapped in bloodstained bandages. In the background Peter's TV broadcasted the day's news report.

SPIDER-MAN FOUND PINNED TO SKYSCRAPER

"I shouldn't have asked you…" Peter rubbed a hand over his face as guilt ate him up inside.

It was easy to forget… No… It was tempting to forget that Miles was just a kid. Having another Spider-man who knew what it was like was a bit liberating if Peter was being honest. For once there was someone he could leave things to… And now this happened. If Daredevil hadn't helped him get Miles a doctor…

Peter snatched up his mask. It was time to stop whining about the crime wave.

He'd gotten complacent.

That stopped today.

xXx

Tony hated this place. The parking spot was dirty and wet but usually unoccupied during the early morning hours. The cameras in the corner of the fifth floor didn't work, which made it a prime dealing location. Both sides had shown up. Everything was going smoothly but for a few things. Ricky, the man Tony was supposed to deal with stood in front of him.

"You don't have the stuff," Ricky said.

"Neither do you," Tony said.

Both hesitated, unwilling to show weakness, but the coincidence couldn't be ignored. There was a need for information.

"We were going to make it up with organizing a second meeting and doubling the weapons."

Ricky raised his eyebrows. "Going to?"

Tony sighed. "Look, you and I've been on these streets for years Rick so Imma give it you straight. We got hit. Real hard. Our entire supply chain is out."

Rick's eyes widened in surprise but quickly became relaxed once more. "Funny you say that. I was just about to tell you we didn't have the money to pay you."

It was Tony's turn to be surprised.

"All our operations have shut down," Ricky continued.

"How?" Tony demanded.

"All the dealers seemingly overdosed. All our money launderers are dead too. It's all the crucial middle guys. The only people untouched are the grunts we keep on the streets."

"And the money?" Tony asked.

Normally Ricky would never answer that question.

"Gone. Burned up. Grunts leaving because it's going to take a while to get our money back to sustainable levels. Profits aren't looking good."

"Your allies…" Tony said, unable to keep the shock out of his voice.

Ricky shook his head. "I suspect you've been getting the same kind of phone calls as me, Tony."

"They're all in the same boat…" Tony concluded, suddenly feeling faint. "Who could possibly…?"

"The Kingpin maybe…" Ricky said with a tired shrug. "He's the only one I could imagine with that kind of reach."

"But he has nothing to gain from doing something like this," Tony said, swiping his hands down his face.

Ricky shrugged again. "Does he? What does it look like at the top, Tony? You and I have never been there. Guys like us? We play the game just enough to eat and be comfortable. We're good at that. It takes a lot more than seeking the good life to get on the same level as guys like him."

Tony slumped. "Dammit…"

xXx

The apartment was crawling with cops.

Detective Davidson observed the body of the lawyer lying on the polished wooden floor in a pool of dried blood. An officer stood next to him.

"Do we know who this is?" Davidson asked.

"Richmond Grey," the officer replied. "One of Fisk's guys."

Davidson looked up thoughtfully. "This is the fifth one."

It wasn't a coincidence. The question was… what gain could there possibly be in killing all of Fisks lawyers?

xXx

Tombstone stormed into his office in a rage. He smashed his desk with both fists. His middle-management was gutted. That meant that in the vast majority of cases he had to replace them with guys he hadn't vetted yet, which was a whole mess on its own. His secretary cowered in a corner as Tombstone smashed a potted plant.

Tombstone turned and glared at the man. "Up the bounty on the Spiders. All three of them."

"Y-yes, sir!"

Even if it didn't kill them he needed the breathing room to restore his operations and the Spiders covered by far the most ground in terms of crime-fighting in New York, thanks to their web-slinging and their supernatural agility and speed.

Tombstone seethed for a while longer. There was no question. This was that woman's doing. How long had she been capable of this?

xXx

Wilson Fisk had been receiving a lot of phone calls today and many requests for meetings. Hectic did not begin to describe how today had gone. As he stared through his office window at a New York City bathed in the colours of sunset, Fisk thought and thought. He had the Hand, several institutions in his pocket and many lawyers. That combined with his vaunted strength had made him complacent. He had forgotten what it was like to be pressed. Always there was some advantage he had.

A hero sent him to jail? His empire still ran and he lived in luxury. He left jail? His empire still ran and he could expand it even faster while present. Few could match his physical strength and those that could needed his resources and goodwill far more than they wanted his position, even when they didn't realize it themselves. Naturally, because he built things that way.

His phone rang. Fisk was tempted to ignore it until the Caller ID rang out. It was an office line from Germa.

Fisk put the phone to his ear. "What is it?"

"I believe you have discovered that a blade of sufficient quality can cut through many stalks, no matter how many of them have been bunched together," Yukino's voice came through the phone. "Take care that you do not also discover that the greatest trees can also be replaced given enough time."

"You did all this?" Fisk didn't have the energy left to get mad. That would come later.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She sounded amused. "I do know that it's not a surprise to me that when a man throws his weight about, someone will respond eventually. You really should've taken no for an answer. Greed is ugly you know?"

It was funny. He knew the need for speaking in this way. After all, he was recording the call. He recorded all his calls and edited them to suit his needs. And yet it was making him angry to listen to her.

"I will speak bluntly, Mr. Fisk."

And just like that, his expectations were being defied.

"I can do this as many times as I like," Yukino said. "It costs me nothing but one night. I believe you are becoming aware of how much it costs you to maintain this game you play with me. Keep your dogs away and there will be no need for a repeat experience."

It had been small scale before. Place a few moles in the company, manipulate some records, obtain the Utsugi she had and call it a day. Except every single person who tried to get in the company suffered an accident unrelated to work. Those who manipulated records died mysteriously. Targeting her family ended equally disastrously.

Yukino's daughter had manifested speed and strength that could only be explained by a dosage of Utsugi. And yet when he had her sent to AIM to be examined, she had broken free and destroyed the research, and his inside man had been demoted and punished for the destruction she caused on her way out. Mr. Arthur was even harder to touch with the combination of Yukino's watchful eye and his own precautions- until he bumbled blindly into trouble by himself.

"Jail cannot protect you from me, the law cannot protect you from me, the heroes cannot protect you from me… Do you understand what I'm saying Mr. Fisk?"

"An obvious bluff," he scoffed, but he knew as he said it that it was likely not a bluff.

To bluff well, you had to say things that were possible, not entirely outlandish. If you had any sense, you only said what could be true mixed with what your enemies were likely to believe. If there was one thing he could say about this small Japanese woman taunting him on his phone it was that what she said, no matter how outlandish, was frequently what she did. Even if he didn't believe it, the one thing that Fisk could understand was that she believed it. And that was dangerous. Very dangerous.

Yukino sighed. "If you make yourself a problem I will erase you. City be damned. Tread carefully from now on Mr. Fisk. I would like to keep my focus on my company and its services. Health is wealth Mr. Fisk, do mind your weight."

She cut the call.

Fisk crushed the phone.

xXx

Gwen was not expecting what she saw on her phone when she woke up that morning.

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"Miles…" Gwen's blood froze when she saw the picture.

A number of photos from different angles all showed the same thing. Miles pinned to the side of a skyscraper by a sword, bleeding and unconscious. How long had he been there? Was he even still alive?

She promptly charged out of her bedroom window, willing her symbiote to reshape itself into her suit.

School could wait.

xXx

Danny Rand sat in the meeting room enjoying the view of New York as much as he could. He'd arranged this meeting with Yukino to get the measure of what she was putting in the teas she was selling. He'd come across it by chance. A student of his happened to drink it because it made them feel good. That student had the healthiest and clearest chi aura of all his students despite having the most mediocre skills. It wasn't a big leap what the likely cause was given that their lifestyle was little different than the average American.

As the Iron Fist, Danny had to know more. The door to the meeting room opened.

"Ah, Mr. Rand…"

Danny turned and froze as his senses were overwhelmed. Chi. Tonnes of it. All coming from the tiny Japanese woman giving him a polite smile.

"You're early," he said, not completely able to keep the stress out of his voice.

"I consider it a good habit."

Normally, powers like this were trying to kill him. Yukino was not acting like anything was out of the ordinary. Was she even aware of her monstrous amounts of chi? Danny breathed deeper to calm himself. Establishing that was what this meeting was about, although she wasn't supposed to know that. As far as Yukino was concerned this was about a partnership to supply her products to the line of dojo's he was sponsoring. He had to play the role.

"Well, have a seat please," he said.

"Of course…"

xXx

When Miles woke again he was in an apartment he didn't recognize. The girl fast asleep at the desk next to his bed was a lot more familiar.

"Gwen…" Miles croaked. His throat was dry.

She didn't even stir. Guess she was a heavy sleeper. Miles lay back and stared at the ceiling, the presence of Gwen calming him. This might be her place. He'd never visited. It was at this point that Miles became aware of a dull ache just under his ribs that reminded him why exactly he might be lying in a bed.

Many emotions struck him in that moment but the one that stood out the most was…

I got caught.

He looked out the window. It was night time. Someone needed to tell Peter.

It was at this moment that Gwen stirred. She sat up straight rubbing her eyes and blinked when she realized he was awake. She was on him immediately but cautiously.

"You're awake. How are you feeling?"

"I'm thirsty and my chest hurts."

She got him water. "You have stitches there. You should be careful."

Miles drank it gratefully, with her assistance. Miles lay back on the bed once he had drank his fill. "I can feel them. You stitched me?"

Even as he asked the question he knew it wasn't likely. Unless she acquired medical skills while he wasn't looking.

"Peter took you to a doctor," she said. "He's the one who found you and brought you. I only saw when I happened to check my phone that morning."

Miles frowned and made to sit up, flinching back when his stomach pain flared up in response. "Saw? What did you see?"

Gwen sighed, "You were on the news. It made headlines."

Miles covered his face with his palms and sighed, "Great."

"What happened to you?" she asked him.

He told her about his infiltration, what he found and the girl he had encountered. Gwen listened clearly distressed but not wanting to distress him in turn.

"Well, what's important is you're still here."

And the way her voice quivered when she said that made him feel worse. Didn't her Peter die trying to be a hero too? It wasn't the same but since when did emotions care about things like that? He reached out and grabbed her hand. It was shaking.

"Yeah… you're right…" he said.

Peter too. Peter would be going crazy wouldn't he?

"Where's Pete?"

"Fighting crime," Gwen said. "He comes back three times a day to check on you."

"He still can't catch a break huh?"

Gwen looked away for a moment, "There's been an uptick in small time crime. All the really complex things he was dealing with before are kind of dying down. Seems like a lot of the crime families got attacked at once and they're all trying to pick themselves up. Pete's out there making sure as many of them don't get the chance as possible."

Miles couldn't help thinking, My help was supposed to make things better.

"How long has it been?" Miles asked to distract himself.

"About three days, since you were found."

"Ah… I'm gonna get in trouble with school."

Gwen laughed at that, "Right. School."

Miles smiled because laughing would hurt too much.

She stayed with him while he recovered. Miles eventually got to tell Peter what he found and go home.

xXx

It was a glorious week. Peace, quiet and the joy of observing the results of a well-executed plan. When Yukino received the call that she had a visitor she allowed them in.

John sat opposite her. Her office was large, with a black and gold lotus on her wall and a nice view of the opposite building and the streets below. She chose as well as she could with what she could afford at the time and now she was unwilling to change it.

She sat at her desk and look at the papers he had put on it. Then she looked up at him.

"I'd hoped you would sign," she said.

John closed his eyes for a moment and his breathing changed the way it did when his patience was being tested. It got quick and he would forcibly slow it down by breathing deeper. It was what made his voice boom when he was mad.

"I will not," he said quietly.

"Why not?" she asked. "I think even you can agree that any foundation-"

"I will not sign," he said, "and you will make up for this."

Yukino watched him, feeling her own aggressiveness coming to the fore. "I was going to say that even you can agree that any foundation of trust we could build a relationship on is long gone."

"Then you will rebuild it, even if it means crawling through mud," he replied bluntly.

"You know I dislike it when you give me orders," she said.

"Is that what you're hearing?" he said. His voice was calm.

"I've made my choice John."

"And I have made mine."

She leaned back in her seat. "What will it take to make you sign? What about… Alexandra?"

John cocked his head, "What about Yukiko?"

Yukino stared. John stared back.

"You always did have an aptitude for our type of communication," Yukino conceded.

"My language is also context based. I remember your mother explaining that to you in more detail at some point."

Yukino knew who he was talking about. His people didn't even have a word for mother-in-law.

John stood up. "I'm done here."

"I can still fight this John. The courts favour women on issues like this now," she said. "All I need is a sympathetic judge and a sufficiently plausible sob story."

John didn't even pause on his way out, "Don't make me insult you."

And then he was gone.

xXx

I was in the Counsellor's Office today. Mrs. Heath was unhappy with me, as usual.

"-and you won't use the drugs they gave you for ADHD-"

It was like she was assuming that just because I didn't like the idea of me having ADHD all my behavior was stemming from that.

"Well, Mrs. Heath, if I've tried the drugs and they made no difference, maybe the problem isn't ADHD?"

The bespectacled counsellor reared up to her full and unimpressive height, "Well, Alexandra, if the problem isn't the drugs and you don't have ADHD, maybe you're just lazy!"

I expected it. I saw it coming a mile away. It still hurt.

I stood up abruptly.

Mrs. Heath seemed to realize what she just said, "Alex, please sit down."

"Sorry, Mrs. Heath, I'm off to go be a failure. You know… since I enjoy that so much." I slammed the door on my way out.

I hated yelling. I hated fighting with her. But I was so tired of her. Of class. Of school. If this was all there was to living… maybe I was getting tired of that too…

I sighed and walked out one of the side doors instead of going to class. I had a perfect attendance record this year, barring when I was pulled from school. I would almost certainly be missed. I found I didn't care that much. I climbed to the roof of the school, dumped my bag and sat on the ground next to it. I fished my new phone out of my pocket. Normally I had no use for the thing besides calling Dad or playing random time sink video games. But there was someone who hadn't been coming to school lately.

Alex: Haven't seen you around lately. You alright?

I had no idea why I was texting Gwen truthfully. I just hadn't seen her in a while.

Gwen: I'm okay. Just helping out a friend who's been sick. How about you?

Alex: I'm good. Who's your friend?

Gwen: It's Miles. You haven't met him. He's in Brooklyn.

It was at least good to know she had friends besides me. I frowned as I remembered that she actually mentioned knowing two people that could help me to study. I hadn't paid it much attention because you could know people who were friendly, but not necessarily your friends.

Alex: So you do have friends XD

Gwen: What's that supposed to mean? -_-

Alex: I thought you didn't have any friends. I'm so happy for you.

Gwen: Wait, you mean you only accepted when I asked to be friends because you thought I had no friends? O.O

Alex: Ummm… noooo? O_O

Gwen: You're lying to me rn aren't you? -_-

Alex: .

Gwen: I can't believe you've been seeing me that way this whole time! .

Gwen: Have you been faking the entire time?

The small smile I'd had throughout this conversation fell slightly.

Alex: No. I don't play with people like that.

Gwen: Oh okay. I believe you ^_^

For some reason reading that made my eyes sting a bit.

Alex: Hey you want any help with your friend?

Gwen: There's not much to do here. I just make sure he eats when he's supposed to and he doesn't move around too much.

Alex: But you would like a visit, right?

Gwen: Don't you have class?

Alex: Don't sweat it. Tell me where you are, I might be closer than you think.

By virtue of having super powers that let me cross New York in minutes.

Gwen: Alex, are you skipping school? O_O

Alex: Yes. But if it makes you feel any better, I'm already skipping class. This is just a question of what I spend my time doing.

There was a long pause. For several minutes there was no response. Gwen was probably asking for permission. In the meantime I lay back staring into the sky.

Then she sent me an address.

Alex: Looks like I'm pretty close. See you in half-an hour.

Gwen: K

I put the phone away and changed into my costume. Once I had packed my clothes into my bag, I shouldered it and dove off the roof, making my way toward the address she just gave me.

xXx

Herman sat in his hide-out looking over his finances. He sighed. He was a few million short of what he needed to pay off the various rents on all his hideouts without dipping into his investments. And there was the laundering fee the local mob liked to charge to clean up the money. He was short all because of those Spiders.

He sat back in his seat. Well there was that bounty going round for the Spiders that Tombstone posted. People would probably get on that given how high the price was. Herman had no doubts that there were randoms who had already been taking shots at them that the Spiders hadn't even noticed because being attacked by "thugs" was just another working day for them. Heroes only noticed the big names.

Herman could picture it already. Swoop in, web up the poor fools with some quippy one-liners, then off to the next crime without so much as a glance backwards. Back before he'd fixed the vulnerability of his gloves being short-circuited by the Spider's webbing, he'd gotten much the same treatment.

Herman thought about how much money was on offer for just one of them. Then he glanced at his gloves in the corner. Well, he knew at least one of them that he could take down. He'd need a team though. Alexei was down for it as always, bless him. Just need to talk to some people for the setup. And do some research too.

xXx

Rio Morales was worried about her son. She knew he was Spider-man of course. He'd confessed that a long time ago, when they'd first moved into this reality. It was scary sometimes, but sometimes she was also proud of him. So she knew where he got the injury from, she knew how he felt about it and she knew that Gwen was up there. As such she was a tad surprised when the two kids told her to expect a visitor.

"Is this like Ganke?" she'd asked.

"No, it's not like Ganke," her son had replied, glancing at Gwen.

"She's just a concerned friend," Gwen had supplied.

Rio had raised her eyebrows, "Concerned friend coming all the way down from Queens on a school day? Did the heroism make you people forget that you're still children?"

"It's not like that," Gwen had replied.

Rio had been skeptical, but now that the girl in question was here she wasn't sure what to think.

"Good afternoon," the girl said. "Is this the Morales residence?"

Brown skin, Brown eyes, Black Afro and a round face with a button nose. Blue Jeans in black high-top skater shoes and a black tank top revealing slender but muscular arms. Said arms held McDonalds for three and a plain looking cake with no icing stacked on top. In all honesty she'd been expecting a delinquent with piercings, tattoos and a shady look in their eyes. This girl was… cute.

"Yes, I'm Rio Morales," Rio replied.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Morales, I'm Alexandra Arthur. I came to see Miles and Gwen?"

And she was greeting properly too!

"Yes, come in. They're inside. Let me take some of those off your hands."

"Thank you."

The girl looked around the house. Rio gave her a minor tour, just enough to give the girl her bearings. It was a small place because it was New York but the girl's gaze was appreciative. She smiled every now and then and asked questions about the placement of furniture and colours. Rio found herself liking the girl with every word. Why was a girl like this skipping school?

Rio opened Miles door to find Gwen sitting at the desk in Miles room and Miles himself lying on his bed. He was recovering quickly thanks to his powers. Rio still gave him the verbal reaming of a lifetime when she'd heard what happened.

"Hey guys, Alexandra is here," Rio said as she stepped through and set her load down on Miles desk.

The girl followed close behind and stopped in the doorway with a smile. "Hey."

Gwen looked surprised, "You came."

Alexandra shrugged, "Of course I did."

"Alright," Rio said, drawing all eyes to herself, "I'll be in the kitchen. Your father will be home soon and he'll need something to eat. You three behave okay?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Will do, Rio."

"Yes, Mrs. Morales."

Rio left and rolled her eyes. That Gwen was still using her first name.

xXx

I glanced at Miles Morales and patted the bag of McDonalds, "I hope you're okay to eat this stuff."

He laughed, "Yeah I can."

I fished him a burger and tossed it to him, "I couldn't think what to get so I was very basic about my choices. I didn't get you soda though. You'll have to settle for watermelon juice."

Gwen took it from me and stared, "How did you get Watermelon Juice from McDonalds?"

"Drank the McFizz and used the container to go get actual juice from a Watermelon at a grocery store. I apologize in advance for any seeds."

Gwen handed the drink off to Miles who was staring at me, "You did all that?"

"They had a palm-sized one. Some of it was luck I'm not going to lie to you. I wasn't sure what you could have and soda is basically sugar poison."

"And burgers aren't?" Gwen said.

"They're nutritional poison," I replied.

Miles snorted in the middle of getting an elbow underneath him.

I moved toward him, "Here."

I took the drink and helped him sit up properly, then gave it back to him. Gwen was busy digging through the rest of the bag for her share. She came out with a burger and a Coke and moved to sit on Miles' bed.

"You can have the chair, Alex," she said.

I pulled out my own burger and sat on the chair Gwen had been sitting on. I waited till they had both had started eating before I took a bite out of my own burger. In the middle of it, I got a random sense of alarm that I hadn't said itadakimasu until my brain remembered that this wasn't a context where it was expected or necessary. As we ate I took them in. Gwen was a familiar face… but Miles was new to me.

He was kind of handsome truthfully. Brown skin, Black hair, brown eyes, the African American Big nose. That Afro looked well-kept too. Couldn't see most of his physique through his baggy PJs but his arms were pretty muscular for a skinny dude.

"I didn't actually expect you to come," Gwen said.

I glanced at her, "Why not?"

"I mean… school," she said with a shrug. "Where were you anyway?"

I thought about reminding her that my visiting was to spend time with her and help out Miles, not to dissect my issues. Then a thought struck me. Why did I have to hide it? Why was I the one who had to explain or justify anything? Yeah, I wasn't good enough. No I didn't know why. I just did what looked the best to me. That was the only thing I could do.

"I left early," I said. I could feel something inside unravelling in some inexplicable way. A stone in my heart, becoming something softer.

"Did something happen?" Gwen asked.

"Nothing that hasn't already been happening," I said. "I had to see the counselor. Her intrusive thoughts won today… She said what she was really thinking."

Gwen blinked, "Oh…"

"Are you…"

"I'm good," I said. As I spoke I felt my eyes stinging again.

Gwen stood up to hug me.

"No, Gwen I mean it. I feel okay. Better than okay." The tears were streaming now. I wasn't even crying because I was hurt at this point. I was crying because I had someone here I could share it with who wasn't judging me for it. Someone who wasn't my father. Someone who wasn't family was capable of looking at me, knowing my shortcomings and they didn't throw me away…

Her grip around me tightened. In a moment of weakness I would never have allowed just a few hours ago, I leaned into it.

I was so tired of being strong…

"Uhhh… should I leave?"

I looked up to see Miles mid-bite staring at the both of us. I laughed and wiped at my cheeks. Gwen smiled tentatively, looking between him and me.

"My bad," I said, "That's not why I came here."

"Hey man, it's fine," Miles waved me off with a grin, "So… how did you two become friends anyway?"

Gwen told the story and I pitched in with my perspective every now and then. Telling it to someone else… some of it was actually kind of funny. I'd never seen it that way. We were there for hours, the three of us.

Dad, I think I might've made a real friend this time…

Gwen and I laughed as Miles shared a funny story of his own.

And maybe one more.