Chapter 2: Uncertainties
Miles Morales could see the light through the living room window through his eyelids but fought to at least stay at rest. He wiggled just slightly so not to awaken the blond girl currently spooning against him with his back pressed firmly to the back of the couch. He was comfortable and not ready to face the world yet. He didn't care about the light trying to make him open his eyes, or that odd sound that filled his ears every few seconds. Sounded like a small engine. Maybe his dad was working on a project. Or even his mom. All he cared about is pulling as much sleep and rest as he could out of the morning.
His eyes finally snapped open when a flash caught his attention. Once he gained focus, he found his mom in the seat across from the couch, leaning forward with a huge smile and her cell phone out. "Mom?"
"Shhh, Mijo," She held up a finger to her lips, "You and Mija curled together like that, asleep, her sounding like a buzz saw… it's the cutest thing I've ever seen."
"You've got to be kidding…" Miles grunted, pushing his face into Gwen's hair, ignoring the second snap of the camera.
"I'll go finish breakfast, give you two a few more minutes," Rio grinned, standing up and padding her way to the kitchen.
He laid there for a few minutes longer, just enjoying the feel of her body against him, and her honestly adorable snore.
Knowing by the scent drifting in from the kitchen, breakfast time was swiftly closing in, and he softly whispered in her ear, "Gwen, mi amor, ya es hora de levantarse…"
Gwen moaned softly, and without waking up rolled over in his arms and placed a peck kiss on his lips. He blinked in surprise when she curled back down into his arms. "I love how your voice sounds when you speak Spanish…" she mumbled into his chest.
"Te amo," Miles whispered into her ear.
"Tea Ammo you, too," She replied, and he couldn't keep from chuckling.
"Now you're doin' it on purpose," He laughed as he kissed her forehead.
"What time is it?" Gwen asked with a yawn.
Miles wrestled his arm free of the covers to look at his wrist goober. "Quarter after eight, what time is your meeting?"
"Council snooze fest is at 10:30," She replied, wiggling back down, "Your appointment?"
"Ten, so we can go together," Miles replied, letting her snuggle into him.
"You know if Pav sees us arrive together, we won't hear the end of it." He could feel her smile against his chest.
"Even if we don't, dude would just come up with some fanfiction about why we faked coming in separately." Miles shook his head at the Society's resident 'shipper'.
"OK, You two. Up and at um, breakfast is ready," Rio called from the kitchen.
"Sleeping Spider and Spider-Chainsaw finally get up?" Jeff asked as he walked from the bedrooms past the couch.
"I better be Sleeping Spider," Gwen said as she sat up, "I know for a fact I don't snore." She said, and Miles and his parents all gave her a look, "What?"
"Mi amor, I love you to death," Miles said, sitting up beside her, "But you snore like a drunken sailor with emphysema." He couldn't contain the laugh when she half-glared/half-pouted.
"C'mon, I can tell mom made bacon!" He said, standing up and offering her a hand.
"Miles Gonzalo Morales, change out of those sleep clothes," Rio stomped her foot and glared at her son. "I will not have my son eat like that with a lady present."
"Yes ma'am…" He ducked his head and flashed Gwen a quick smile before heading to his room. Gwen simply giggled as she joined Rio in the kitchen to offer any help.
"I've got this, Mija, but…" She glanced to see where Jeff was, "How did it go?"
"It didn't go as planned," Gwen whispered with a disappointed tone in her voice. "He had a panic attack… a flashback to… the other me. Then, after I laid down in the living room, I had a nightmare, and we ended up cuddling and sleeping together… that's it."
"Maybe it's for the best," she greeted, "but I am glad you were there for each other. When the time is right…"
Gwen glanced toward his bedroom, "I'll ride him like we're in the Kentucky Derby."
"I… was going to say nothing will get in the way," Rio stifled a laugh, "but from the look in your eyes, I have no doubt you'll do that, too."
Miles came out in jeans and a t shirt, with a backpack holding his suit. "Not wearing the outfit to the Society?" Gwen asked curiously.
"Nah, just for the appointment… packing it in case I need it, though," he said patting his backpack. Gwen and Rio gave each other a concerned glance but shrugged it off as Rio went back to finishing breakfast and Miles and Gwen joined Jeff at the table.
After breakfast and a short conversation, Gwen excused herself to change into her costume. When she returned, she found Miles and his parents waiting on her.
"Ready to roll?" Miles asked with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Sure, but you ok?" She asked, pulling on her mask.
"Never better, babe," he said, intentionally brightening his smile. "We don't need to be late, ya know?"
"Right, I'll open the portal…" she said, activating her goober to open up the multi-coloured hexagonal portal in the center of the room.
"Thanks for everything, Mamá Morales, Captain," she said, giving an exaggerated salute to Jeff.
"Carry on, Emo," Jeff returned just as playfully.
"Be safe, you two, and have a good day!" Rio smiled as the two walked toward the portal. "Come back anytime, Mija."
The two exited the portal in the massive lobby of the Spider-Society. Gwen noticed that Miles stiffened and sweat appeared on his brow. "Miles?"
"I'm… I'm ok…" He closed his eyes and counted slowly before visibly relaxing. "Just… you know, the first time I was here wasn't exactly a positive experience…"
"I know… I'm sorry," Gwen glanced away but laced her fingers with his.
"I'm here. I'm beside you. And I won't leave you again. I promise."
"Thanks, Gwen…" He smiled a real smile at last and squeezed her hand. "Let's get this day started…"
As they walked in, Several Spiders greeted him offering high fives and knuckles as he walked passed, and each one seemed to put him more at ease.
They made it to the main elevator and stopped for a moment. "Guess this is where we split up. Meet for lunch after my appointment?"
"It's a date," she said as she hugged him.
"Talk to you soon." Miles kissed the side of her head through her hood and watched her walk away before turning to press the elevator button.
After a quick stop at the Starbucks booth (and the same off thought she has every visit about how the company had survived till 2099 with their prices), Gwen continued to what used to be Miguel's chamber. After the fight – if you could call it a fight – with Mephisto, the chamber was remodelled. Better lighting, some Spider web motifs, and a central round table for the Spider Society Leadership Council to discuss business.
She raised an eyebrow at all discussion ceasing as she entered the door. "Um… morning," she said, giving a quick glance around the room and meeting the stares as if she had caught something in the act. "Did I miss something?"
The rest of the Council was all there, Jessica Drew, Peter B. Parker, Peter "Spider-Ham" Porker, Peni Parker, Pavitr Prabhakar the Spider-Man India were all seated. The only exception was Spider-Man Noir standing in the corner continuing to try to figure out his Rubik's Cube.
"Just the usual," Jessica waved it off. "Ready to get started?"
Gwen nodded, and she and Noir took their seats at the table. Gwen pulled off her mask and took a sip of her mocha just as Jessica spoke up. "Couldn't help but notice you never left 1610 last night. You and Morales have a private celebration for his birthday?" the mocha exploded from Gwen's nose.
"Oh! How romantic!" Pav gushed, "To celebrate one's birthday in such a primal, emotional and physical way is such a beautiful thing! And with the tension between the two of you, I cannot even imagine the emotional release that came with the physical as you…"
"Pav, man, children present!" Peter said, holding Mayday's ears as she sat strapped to his chest, blissfully ignorant of the conversation in the room. She had giggled enthusiastically when she saw "Aunt" Gwen shot cocoa out her nose.
"I mean, these two?" Noir said, twisting the cube. "I'm surprise she hadn't swung around the tower a few times already…" Gwen's head twisted toward the black and white Spider with a look of betrayal.
"In this dark world, you must find joy where you can before it's snuffed out brutally before your eyes," Peni said softly with the same emotionless look she'd had since reuniting with her fellow Spider-Women.
"If any of us deserve a happily ever after, my money's on these two," Ham said, kicking his feet on the table, "After all the crap they've been through? I say let Gwen bang Miles' drums for a change."
"Are we going to discuss mine and Miles' love life or the protection of the Spider-verse?" Gwen asked slapping her palms on the table.
"Both?" Pav asked Ham.
Ham glanced back, "Both?"
They both nodded at Gwen, "Both."
Gwen just rested her face in her palm. "Let's just get this meeting started already…"
Miles walked up to the mental health and well-being floor of the HQ. Honestly, it shouldn't come to anyone's surprise that psychiatric help was a booming profession in a base for a team of heroes whose common denominator is bitten by radioactive spiders and a truckload of emotional trauma.
"Hey, Miles!" The young blond receptionist greeted him. "Dr. Parker is already in and waiting for you."
"Thanks, Gwen," He waved, before walking into the office. Dr. Mary Jane Watson-Parker looked up and smiled at the young hero. "Hey, MJ," Miles said with a little wave, "Pete make it in ok last night?"
"Hey, Miles. Happy Belated Birthday!" Mary Jane replied. "Have a seat. And Peter did. He was exhausted, though. He said he was going to take a few days off from the suit and just cuddle with May after his meeting today."
"I appreciate him doing that for me," Miles said as he sat down on the couch.
"He thinks the world of you, Miles," Mary Jane replied, grabbing her note pad and a pen, "Are you ready to get started?"
"Sooner we do sooner I can get lunch," Miles replied.
"Definitely see Peter rubbing off on you," Mary Jane laughed as she put on her glasses. "So, have we had any episodes since we last met?"
"Yes…" Miles took a deep breath, "Almost made it the whole week, though…"
"That's progress!" Mary Jane replied, scribbling a note. "So, what happened? Do you know what triggered it?"
"This is embarrassing…" Miles sighed, rubbing his face.
"Nothing said in this office leaves this office," Mary Jane replied comfortingly. "The only reason Peter even knows you're my client is you chose to let him know, and that's as far as any info goes. He never asks, and I'll never tell even if he does. Ok?"
"Ok… Ok…" Miles took a deep breath, "It was last night, reason Mom got Pete to cover for me, they set us up… Gwen and me, to have some… alone time. We've been through a lot, and it was my birthday. Looking back at it, I'm not stupid. And I appreciate it all… and I was as ready as she was to take the next step for us, you know?"
"Ok, I'm getting a picture on what could have triggered an episode, but please continue," Mary Jane nodded toward the young man.
"We… we started to… ya know…" He flushed talking about it. "And we didn't get far. But when I looked at her… for a second… I thought her eyes were red… I thought I saw the… thing with her face instead. And I just panicked. I couldn't get away from her fast enough, and I was having a hard time breathing."
"And how did Gwen take this?" A bit of a protective edge appeared in Mary Jane's voice with the question.
"She gave me space and talked to me. She… was worried she had done something wrong." Miles gave a cold laugh, "After everything… I feel like sometimes she's on eggshells around me."
"She hurt you before, Miles, and she knows it," Mary Jane stated. "Gwen has made it clear she never wants to hurt you again. It isn't a surprise she worries about it."
"I know. I just wish… after… I trust her again. I wish she'd trust herself." Miles sighed.
"Have you told her that?" Mary Jane asked softly, and the look he gave told her no. She just made a 'hm' sound and scribbled a note.
"After, we talked about what happened and why I was freaking out. Seemed like she was angry at herself. She still blames herself for the mess with Mephisto, but all she was trying to do was save me. It wasn't her fault the freak twisted the deal and… brought her in to do what she did." He continued.
"I did tell her that that wasn't her fault," Miles said quickly. "And I tried to tell her to just give me a minute to get myself together and we'd try again… but she insisted that I wasn't ready, and said if I wasn't ready, she wasn't either."
"Wise decision on her part," Mary Jane nodded. "It's an intimate thing, Miles; you shouldn't force yourself to please her if she's unable to return pleasure to you. I know we've discussed your own history with Mephisto's servant as well as what you learned about hers. Not to put words in Gwen's mouth, but I believe she wants your first time together to be better than what you've had before. I don't see her wanting you to force it."
"I guess…" Miles tried to hide the blood rushing to his cheeks.
"If you just powered through, I could see Gwen looking back and thinking she did the same as this Gwenith did to you, forced you into it, even though it was you yourself this time doing the forcing. Relax, let it come naturally. It's better that way, trust me. Now that we've had that talk and I know you want the floor to swallow you whole, do continue."
"She gathered her clothes and went to the living room to sleep. While she was taking a shower, I hurried and turned the couch into the most comfortable bed I could. Let her have my best pillow and blanket. Left her a note apologizing for… stopping things, and all that…" he stated. "Hour or so later, I heard her scream. She had a nightmare about what happened to her friend and one of the things Miguel showed her about Canon Events. Shook her up bad... We ended up cuddling rest of the night."
"Sounds like despite the disappointment, your birthday didn't end so badly," Mary Jane smiled.
"And…" he glanced to her, "this ain't getting out right? No one is gonna hear about what I say in here?"
"Again, nothing said leaves this office, I promise," Mary Jane replied.
"She snores like a diesel engine…" Miles stated, and Mary Jane couldn't hold back the laugh. "It's freaking adorable, but good lord…"
Gwen was honestly bored to tears as the meeting dragged on. When she signed on, she expected to be more about organizing teams to help other Spiders, but the truth was more about dealing with funding the fiscal year. Her eyes went to the empty seat beside her, the space left open in case Miles ever decided to come off his 'part-time' position with the Society and take the leadership spot. When they had decided to go in the direction of a leadership council after Miguel stepped down, he was actually the most common request among the Spiders, but no one was surprised he declined, especially after what happened. Most were surprised he was willing to give them help at all.
A smile crossed her face as she imagined him there making some kind of witty bad joke every few minutes to make Jess mad, or maybe even playing a little footsy under the table.
The lighting suddenly turned red, and the discussion stopped as Lyla appeared in the center of the table. "We got a problem."
"An anomaly jumped universes and could possibly destabilize them if he's not stopped," Lyla explained, pulling up an image of an Electro variant. "He drained one super nuclear power plant. And he used his powers to find a similar one in a parallel earth, ripped a hole and is attacking it now."
Lyla showed a list of numbers. "If he drains this one, he'll likely try again, but with that much power…"
"Not good," Jessica stood up, "Gwen, I'm sending you with Noir, Miguel, Peni, 2002, and Ben to contain him, I'll head up an evacuation of the plant and surrounding area. Let's move, people!"
Electro laughed as he absorbed more power from the electric plant, energy running up and down his body faster and faster, the more power he took. His eyes widened as multicolored octagons appeared around him. Spider-Woman, Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Man Noir, the Scarlet Spider, the massive mechanical SP/DR, and a young lanky Spider-Man swung through and surrounded him.
"Look at the spiders to squash!" Electro laughed, launching electricity at each of them.
"Move fast, people," Spider-Woman barked, swinging fast and hard toward the villain, preparing to do a double footed swinging kick. She was immediately shocked before she could even make contact. Miguel managed to catch her before swinging to the roof top.
The Spider-Man from E2002 and Scarlet Spider prepared some impact webbing and launched the attacks at the electrically powered villain.
He was wrapped up instantly and stuck to one of the smock towers. "A-booyah!" 2002 cheered but stopped when Electro burst free. "Not Booyah!"
"Ron, stop messing around!" Spider-Woman landed beside him.
"Move it!" They both jumped out of the way of another electrical attack. Miguel tried to pounce toward the villain but was blasted away with another electrical charge.
Gwen helped the taller Spider to his feet, and he glanced at her. "You know, a Spider-Man that could absorb energy would be handy with this…"
Gwen nodded. "Make the call, Stacy," Miguel ordered, and she hit the special button in her goober's digital control panel.
"SOS sent, let's keep him occupied til he gets here," Gwen said, firing a web line and swinging around the villain.
"Come on, big guy, think you can hit a moving target?" Spider-Woman antagonized as she flipped and danced through the air around him from webline to webline. She yelped in pain as he finally got a hit close enough and sent her tumbling through the air. She tried to right herself with a webline, but in her daze, she missed her target.
Yet, she wasn't afraid as she fell; her spider-sense told her he had arrived, and a moment later, she felt herself caught as the black-and-red-suited Spider-Man caught her mid-air and swung away from the fight to land on one of the control buildings.
"Alright, mi amor, what's the 411?" Miles asked as he sat Gwen down on the rooftop.
"This Electro is trying the Spot's old plan. He's already absorbed one super plant, trying to get this one," Gwen replied. "Jess has already got the area evacuated just in case, but we can't let him absorb all this power. it'd give him the ability to rip the multiverse apart."
"Say less." He fired a web line. "Me and Sparky have a dance date," he said, launching himself into the air.
"Miles, be…" Gwen reached toward him, "careful…"
"Hey Max!" Miles called, as he swung toward the levitating villain.
"Hey, Max!" Miles called as he swung toward the levitating villain.
"Another Spider-Man?!" Electro snapped.
"You know I'm a huge fan. I even got an action figure of you, man! But the thing just had all kinds of static electricity," Miles said, flipping to dodge an bolt of electricity. "Store gave me a new one, though, free of charge."
"My God, that was horrible. I'm gonna kill you just for that," Electro said, firing more bolts. Miles tried to absorb some of the electricity off him, but Electro had too much control over his power, shocking him back.
"How'd you like that!" Electro laughed as Miles barely was able to catch himself.
"To be honest, Max," He said, flipping through the air again, "it hertz…"
"Let's see if I can amp you up a little bit…" Miles started, firing off electrical venom web attacks.
"You're starting to piss me off, Spider-Man!" Electro growled, launching another bolt.
"C'mon, man, give it up, and I won't press… charges!" Spider-Man flipped over another blot and returned fire with his venom.
"Is… is he serious…" Miguel asked, as this is one of the few times he's had the chance to work with Miles since the Mephisto incident.
"Unfortunately…" Gwen sighed. "He's trying to make Electro lose focus so he can absorb the power easier. One of Miles' greatest abilities… being a pain in the ass…"
"You know, have you tried to get power from windmills?" He asked as Electro was now trembling in rage, "Cause, ya know, I'm a big fan!"
"GRAAAAH!" Electro began blasting rapidly, fully losing his temper.
"Bingo…" Miles smiled under his mask as he launched himself forward with a pair of ziplines. He flipped behind Electro and latched onto his back full palms to absorb his energy.
"NO!" Electro screamed as his power began to draw from his back onto Miles' arms.
This was more than he ever had before, more so than even the Spot. But he couldn't let up; he had to drain every drop of power to shut him down.
"Something's wrong…" Gwen's spider-sense connected to Miles began to go off, and her eyes widened behind her mask as they all saw his costume begin to catch fire. "Miles! Stop!" Gwen called toward him.
"Morales! Abort!" Miguel added in, as Noir, Peni and 2002 tried to get to him, but the waves of electricity pushed them back.
A moment later, Electro gave one last flash before the two fell from the air to the ground between the two steam towers.
"MILES!" Gwen screamed as she and the others rushed to him.
Once they arrived Miles was on his knees holding himself as his body began to slowly flash yellow and electrical currents moved up and down his body.
"Stay… stay back!" Miles held up his hand and glanced back toward Gwen through his broken eye cover.
Gwen saw the burnt skin through the torn and ripped costume. "Miles, you're hurt!"
"I… I gotta release this… get out of here…" Miles wheezed as the flashing and electricity became more intense.
"What? Miles you're hurt, I'm not leaving you!" She cried, shaking her head.
"Guys, get… her out of here… now…" he said, struggling to stay up right.
"We have to move," Miguel said, opening a portal and ordering the others to follow suit, taking the unconscious Electro with them. He reached down and grabbed her and lifted her off the ground under her shoulders.
"LET ME GO! I'M NOT LEAVING HIM!" she struggled against him, not taking her eyes off her injured boyfriend.
"Gwen, trust me…" He said looking back at her.
"Miles!" She fought as Miguel pulled her through the portal. They arrived back at the headquarters, and a wave of energy erupted through the portal before it finally closed. "MILES!" she screamed, dropping to her knees.
"Hang tight, Gwen, I'll try to get a hold of him. Morales, you there?" Margo spoke from her communication console. "Miles, come in. Are you there?"
"I'm…" Margo glanced back at the team, fear on her digital face. "I'm not even reading his goober…"
To Be Continued…