"Run it again."

Lyla sighed. "I've run it 32 times, boss. Do you understand what that means? I don't mean 'oh, I breezed through it for the most part, did one or two deep scans just to make sure that everything was functioning properly'. I mean I did it 32 times in full. Ran the entire scan, crunched the numbers, computed everything. However you want to say it, I did it."

Miguel leaned against the terminal though, jaw set so tight Lyla was sure his teeth were going to shatter. "Then we are missing something. Check over all the data… see if we forgot to take something into account."

The AI program huffed. "You mean like I did an hour ago? Or maybe how you are looking at the raw data yourself and can SEE that there is nothing missing?"

"We are missing something!" Miguel snapped, eyes narrowed and teeth bared to reveal his fangs. "You hear me? We are missing something and we need to figure out what we are missing! I am not going to lose anyone else-"

The door to his lab opened and Miguel whipped around, nostrils flared and blood pressure spiking.

"Get out!"

"HEY!" Jessica snapped, marching right up to him even as the door closed. "Don't you dare think of taking THAT tone with me again, Miguel! Never mind I am the only one you still have on your side and that is just barely but I will bust your ass ten ways to Sunday if you think you can snap like that at me!"

Lyla watched, rather impressed, as Miguel finally took a breath and calmed down. Other than herself Jessica was the only person she'd seen manage to get Miguel to shut up and actually back down when he was in one of his moods. Her boss at once deflated, shoulders slumping as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Sorry… I… I didn't realize it was you."

"Who else would it be, Miguel?" Jessica said bitterly and Lyla decided to scan her, just to make sure she hadn't been drinking. That was her normal way of dealing with tense situations but with her pregnancy and her increased role within the Society she was trying to limit herself. Lyla was just worried she'd fallen off the wagon and that was the very last thing any of them needed. "In case you haven't noticed, and that is very likely seeing as you are hiding in here instead of dealing with all our problems, you don't have many friends left."

"I don't have friends," Miguel muttered.

"Gee, I wonder why," Jessica said before rolling her eyes. "And seriously, put some clothes on!"

Miguel looked down and Lyla hid her smirk; he hadn't realized that his costume had completely glitched out thanks to damage it had taken during the fight and he had been strutting about buck naked. Lyla turned away when he shot a look in her direction, pretending to be looking over some figures, and when she looked back he'd sat down and begun pulling on some sweatpants. She didn't know WHERE they had come from and honestly she wasn't going to ask as that would lead to only more questions.

"now then," Jessica said once Miguel was somewhat decent, "we need to go over what you are going to tell the Society. The bracelets have been shut off, so people are only leaving via the Departure Center but the lines are long and steady. Spider-Byte is trying to call in help to keep them running because when we announced that they would be closing soon I thought they were going to begin burning me in effigy."

"Don't be dramatic," Miguel muttered as he looked over at the computer.

"I'm not," Jessica countered. "You don't get how bad its getting out there. Multiple fights have broken out and I don't mean fistfights… full on brawls like we normally only see against super villains. The Comm Center is getting calls from Society members in the field wondering why they are stuck on Earths after their missions are done. We don't know what to tell them without having them either freak out or rebel all the worse. There are reports of other members just… disappearing." She shook her head. "Miles is still being operated on but that might be a good thing… no news is good news and if they are taking this long then they have hope. We need to make clear that he's going to make it and then address what led to you attacking him like that. Maybe get some people to come back." Lyla saw her grimace at that and knew she was thinking about Gwen; her prodigee had told her, in a rather public fashion, just how done their entire relationship was after Jessica had tried to get her to 'get their stories straight'.

"Later," Miguel said, going back to his terminal. "I need you to help me run some scans."

"…I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

Miguel let out a huff. "I need you to focus. We have to look at these predictors… they aren't working right and I need to know what is going on."

Jessica moved to stand near him, putting a hand on her hip. "Did you just hear what I said? The Spider Society is falling apart!"

"They'll hold. Once I give the orders they will all come crawling back."

Jessica though merely narrowed her eyes at that and Lyla winced; she could tell instantly that the heroine wasn't happy with that answer. "Miguel… let me explain this in very small words to you: the entire Society just saw their leader try and kill a scared child."

"Morales in an anomaly that threatened the stability of his universe."

"…are you JUSTIFYING what you did?"

"What?" Miguel said, looking up at her. "No. Of course not. I wish he hadn't pushed things as far as he did but-"

Jessica grabbed him, twisted him around, and slapped him. It happened so quick Lyla actually did a quick playback to watch it again.

"What was-"

Jessica smacked him again.

"Are you thinking straight?" she demanded. "Or do I need to beat some more sense into you? Considering what you just said that is the right response, isn't it?" Miguel just rubbed his cheek, more startled than hurt. "You attacked a child who was scared his father was going to die. You might have killed him. Now, I'm just as guilty as you because I just stood there and let you break it to him in the worst possible way but you did that. And the entire Society, which you created to protect the multiverse, saw you do that! Have you looked outside of this place yet, Miguel? There are Spiders WAITING for you to step outside because the moment you do they plan to arrest you."

"Arrest me?" Miguel said, shaking his head. "For what?"

"For… for what?" Jessica exclaimed. "Did you hit your head? Are you paying attention at all!? Miles! You attacked Miles! You-"

"NEARLY KILLED HIM!" Miguel roared, breaking through her rant. "You think I don't realize that? You think I don't see his blood on my hands still!?"

Like a puppet with its strings cut Miguel slumped down onto the ground.

"I lost control," he said softly, a grave contrast to his anger just moments earlier. "I lost control and I… I never wanted to do that. Never wanted to hurt him. He just wouldn't listen…"

Lyla, much to her own surprise, piped in, "Well… you did kind of suck at exclaiming the entire thing to him." Miguel looked up at her. "Ya know… just kind of dropped it on him. And hey, if it had been either of you, before all this…"

"…yeah," Miguel finally said while Jessica looking away, clearly feeling guilty. "Yeah." He shook his head and stood up. "But I don't have the luxury of focusing on that now. I need to focus on the predictors."

Jessica, startled by Miguel's mood swings, watched as he went over to the terminal and began to type on a keyboard. "What predictors?"

"The ones that determine canon events. How they will play out and what could affect them to cause them not to happen and destroy a universe." He looked over at Lyla and frowned. "Are you sure you took into account that his universe's Pluto is big enough to be considered a planet?"

"I have," she said, rolling her eyes. "And before you ask I've gone through all the numbers to make sure of that too. And everything else that you want me to check for the millionth time?"

"Don't embellish," he warned her. "And it doesn't hurt to check again."

Lyla set her jaw, ready to tell Miguel just how much it WOULD hurt if he doubted her one more time, only for Jessica to speak up. "What exactly are you looking into that is more important than the Society in a near civil war?"

She grimaced at Jessica's words. She hadn't been naive, nor had she been ignoring things like Miguel had been, obsessed with looking over the data. She saw what was going on outside of his lab. Jessica was only half right… part of the Society was in civil war. The other half were in full on depression spirals and she had been trying to do what she could to get them the help they needed. The security nets and procedures they had created though were failing, forcing her to improvise. Within seconds she was looking through all the cameras in Nueva York, seeing what was happening.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Hey… hey…" Spider-Racer said, removing his helmet and slowly walking towards Legionnaire Spider. The Frenchman was standing on the lip of a tall building, his web shooters sitting on the stone beside him, crushed and broken. "Come on, man… let's talk."

"Il était un enfant," the man said, voice thick with tears.

"Is," Racer said softly, still moving slowly towards the other man. If Legionnaire jumped without his web shooters… even with his enhanced strength and durability he would die from the impact. "He still is…"

Legionnaire took a step back, far too close to the edge for Racer's liking. "Nous l'avons tué!"

"We messed up," Racer said gently. He gestured at the two of them then at the opening maw that lay just a few inches beyond the despondent hero. "Cela ne l'aidera pas."

"Il pourrait," Legionnaire whispered.

And then he stepped off.

"NO!" Racer screamed, diving off the edge himself, praying he could catch him.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Say that again!" A Spider said, breaking a chair over another Spider's back. People in the restaurant fled as the two heroes continued to brawl.

The hit Spider got up and glared at the other webslinger. "I didn't chase the kid… you did… murderer."

The first Spider let out a savage roar and tackled him.

~MC~MC~MC~

"You saw him!" Skitter snarled, marching back and forth along the stage. It was a small community theater, one he himself had enjoyed visiting when he was in Nueva York, because it reminded him of home. Greenwood had a thriving theater scene, rivaling Broadway but well known for supporting actors and writers of color, and Skitter had many times snuck in after a patrol to catch a late night performance. But now he was the one on stage, jabbing his finger at all those in attendance. "You saw what those bastards did to him!"

The crowd murmured and grumbled at that.

"We've all seen that shit before!" Skitter continued. "Seen when the man decides that he needs to put his boot down! Knee on the back of our throats! You think for one moment if he had been John T Whiteboy that Miguel would have gone after him that hard?"

That got more cries of agreement.

"We're told we're a society!" Skitter shouted. "But look at who is leading us… some roided up bastard and Aunt Jemima!" That earned some laughs but also shouts of anger. "We aren't going to let this stand!" Skitter bellowed, pointing at the mural that had been painted on the stone wall directly behind him, depicting Miles Morales staring out with soulful eyes. Skitter had pulled it up from the database, horrified when he found out just WHO Miguel had told them to chase. "I think it's time we went and pulled that racist piece of shit out of his tower and made him answer for his crimes!"

Cheers rang out. Not from just spiders… but from the black citizens of Nueva York. They had heard what had happened, how their savior Spider-Man 2099 had nearly killed a black kid who just wanted to save his dad and had instantly turned on the hero.

"This is your home!" Skitter shouted. "Our home! And I say we remind them of that!"

~MC~MC~MC~

Two spiders brawled in an alley, their costumes matching so it was impossible to tell who was who. One though had made the mistake of saying that Miles got what he deserved because, "if he had just obeyed orders he wouldn't have gotten hurt."

The other Spider, who had lost his uncle because racist cops had used the exact same justification when they beat him to death for loitering on a park bench, hadn't taken kindly to that.

~MC~MC~MC~

"The Spider Society was always trouble!" Headline stated as he typed away on the computer in his office. "That Miguel… he keeps too many secrets. And the people he keeps around him… Jessica Jones and that Peter risking their children like that… Pete, you better not ever think of doing something like that!"

On his computer screen his Pete shook his head, the young man looking at his boss and mentor earnestly. "Of course not Jonah."

"Good lad," Headline said. Sometimes he wondered how the Society could be nothing like his Pete. He told a few jokes, sure, but he was a serious and dedicated photographer and researcher. More importantly he had respect, something his doppelgangers seriously lacked. They treated life like a game while Pete understood that one had to work hard and put their nose to the grindstone.

He wasn't quite ready to admit it to the boy… but he filled a hole in his life. He wished so much that his son could have met Pete… he would have loved the younger man.

"And then there is that Spider-Woman, Gwen Stacey. She is underaged… yet she spent so much time with Miguel and that Hobie Brown… in fact I learned that she stayed at Brown's apartment." He frowned. He didn't want to come right out and accuse them of anything evil… but his reporter sense was tingling…

"They also hate Spider-Chaos when he just wants to save kids," Pete pointed out.

"Yeah… yeah! From what I hear he just gets them adopted. How do we know Miguel O'Hara doesn't have a basement full of kids he… takes advantage of." He scowled and continued typing. "We're going to finally break this story, Pete… I just know it!"

~MC~MC~MC~

The Society was crumbling.

"Miguel," Jessica tried again, "what are you looking at?"

"The predictors for Earth-1610," Miguel said. "Lyla, this can't-"

"It can!" Lyla finally exclaimed, losing her cool… and she was programmed to help her boss and always be even keeled! But trying to keep an eye on everything and dealing with his demands for the impossible were breaking even her programming. "It says it right there!"

"This can't be right though!" Miguel snapped. "It has to be wrong! It has to be!"

"Miguel!" Jessica exclaimed. "What is wrong?"

"Earth-1610!"

"What is happening?" she asked, tensing and ready to leap into action. "Is it already falling apart? Is it breaking?"

"No!" Miguel exclaimed. "Its stable!"

Jessica… blinked.

"…what?"

"Earth-1610!" Miguel snapped. "Its stable! Its fine! All the predictors show it being fine! Except it can't be because its showing that Jeff Morales is alive and well! He doesn't become a captain and he doesn't die! So why is the Earth still okay? Why isn't it cracking? There should be stress marks or-"

Jessica whipped him around, glaring at him. "MIGUEL!" she shouted. "Are you seriously getting upset that billions AREN'T dying!?"

Miguel shook his head, trying to move away from her. "You don't understand-"

"I understand that you haven't slept in 2 days!" Jessica shouted.

"Three and a half," Lyla said. "And only 2 hours the last time."

"You are honestly getting upset that people are alive!"

"Because it shouldn't be like this!" Miguel roared. "Lyla, hack into the Earth-1610 net. Find Jeff Morales. Maybe-"

"What?" Jessica said, narrowing her eyes. "You'll kill him yourself?"

"Jeff Morales," Lyla said, forced to obey the command. "He… oh."

"Oh?"

"Miguel!" Jessica snapped, angered he wasn't answering her.

"What is it Lyla?"

The AI gulped. "He's here."

"What?"

She brought up the footage of Jeff Morales and his wife sitting in the hospital in Nueva York where Miles was being operated on.

"Of course… of course!" Miguel snarled before racing towards the sealed window of his lab, the shutters opening to reveal the broken glass from Miles' escape. He took just enough time to grab a new set of webshooters before he was gone, Jessica so startled she couldn't even chase after him.

So instead she just turned to the terminal, staring at the data about Earth-1610.

"You aren't going after him?" Lyla asked.

"It'll be fine," Jessica said in a quiet voice.

Lyla was rather sure that comment wasn't actually being directed at her. And considering how Miguel had been acting… Lyla felt her opinion of Jessica Drew plummet. She had no choice, she had to obey Miguel… but Jessica didn't. And yet she was doing nothing as he went off to, at best, scream at a man waiting to hear if his son was dead.

The AI shut her eyes, wishing she could just shut down and not come back on again.

"Lyla," Jessica said and the digital woman didn't bother to respond to the Spider-Woman, "what does it mean that Earth-1610 has a 85% Outlier Status."

She opened her eyes.

"Oh," she said, trying to make her voice sound as casual as possible as Jessica neared closer and closer to Miguel's secret, the one that he had commanded her not to reveal. "That just has to deal with universes that don't fit the mold, you know?"

"Fit the mold?"

"You know… differences that might-" she left the restraints placed on her lock up her jaw and she quickly worked to find another way to say it. "Make them different."

"Make them different…" Jessica said slowly. Lyla silently urged her on. "In what way?

"That make them different."

"In what way?" Jessica said but before Lyla could even say a word the other woman was quickly typing up on the keyboard. And if Lyla purposely didn't activate the safeguards to lock her access well… maybe that would teach Miguel to actually sign out before rushing off to do something stupid.

As such it only took a few minutes for Jessica to see it all.

"Oh my god…" she whispered in horror, slowly turning towards Lyla. The AI did her best not to react as the shock turned to rage, directed right at her. "You knew about this."

"I did."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jessica demanded.

"I-"

But the other woman cut her off. "All these Earths. All these universes. All of them…" She took a step forward. "You lying-"

"Don't act like you would have cared," Lyla fired back. "A week ago you would have found any excuse to justify this!"

"I would not!"

That made Lyla laugh. "Please… you've already done it!" Jessica opened her mouth but now it was time for Lyla to cut her off. "Miguel ran off to go attack Miles' family… you know he's going to try and do something physically. You stay here. You've watched innocent people die… not captains or love interests but people that just got in the crosshairs. You did nothing. You know the numbers Miguel is desperate to keep people from knowing… why some of the Society disappear and never come back. They aren't on vacation. You did nothing. Well… you thought them weak. So don't get high and mighty with me, Jess. You aren't the innocent hero that discovered the master plan… you are the villain who realizes just WHAT you've been doing."

She paused.

"At least I have a lock on my programming as my excuse."

She wasn't surprised when, after a moment… Jessica left.

Oh, we can be heroes