"Once is annoying, twice is suspicious, three times a pattern," Miles mumbled, pacing on the rooftop. "Let alone three times in two weeks. They don't even make demands, I checked. They just take them hostage and ignore the police until Peter or I get there."

"So, they want something from either of you two," Ganke filled in, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"Yeah, but what?" Miles grumbled, coming to a stop in front of his friend. "It's all just escalating. Vulture had them one at a time, Rhino had a whole group of people, and then Molten Man was ready to let them die from smoke inhalation. I don't get it."

Ganke kept on chewing on his sandwich, letting Miles take a moment to think.

"They're not even really making us bleed. Otherwise, I'd think it's about our DNA."

"So, what do we know?" Ganke prompted.

"They create big scenes we can't walk away from. It's a distraction, right? It has to be," Miles said, sitting back down. "But I haven't seen any reports about anything suspicious happening elsewhere. It's all so weird."

"Well, you'll find out eventually, I guess."

"Yeah, but I don't want to find out at the final hour," Miles sighed. "I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"You're already getting hurt," Ganke pointed out.

Miles shrugged. "Yeah, but that's my job."

"Miles, psst," a classmate, Delilah, whispered from beside him.

It was going to be about Peter. He just knew it. He had had enough of people asking him questions about him; they would get all the answers they desired when Peter was ready. Miles could barely resist a sigh when he said, "Yeah?"

She passed her phone to him - and his stomach dropped.

BREAKING NEWS: HYDRO-MAN TAKES HOSTAGES IN MALL

Miles haphazardly dropped everything in his bag, leaving it by the door for Ganke to collect later, and rushed out. He could hear the class muttering behind him before the door closed.

He pulled his clothes off in practiced motions to reveal his suit underneath. He bundled them into a ball and webbed them to a corner above some lockers. He pulled his mask on as he climbed out the nearest window.

Luckily, the mall wasn't too far away - or was that planned…

Within a minute, he was sticking to the building opposite the mall. Police were hastily setting up blockades, and distantly, he could hear more sirens approaching. Miles stayed where he was, trying to survey the situation before the inevitable fight.

The mall wasn't large - three stories tall with only two corridors. A swirling mass of water blocked the doors on the bottom level. He couldn't see any hostages yet.

A swirl of dread kept him from moving. He closed his eyes, slowly counting through a breathing exercise as he adjusted his filter. No matter what Peter thought about it, the filters would help him - especially the five minutes of oxygen supply it had stored.

It had saved him from drowning before. It was about to save him now. He just needed to jump down there and find the hostages, or maybe he should distract Hydro-Man, or…

Or was Spider-Man really needed for this? If the villains wanted him and Peter, wasn't it better to deny them what they wanted and wait them out? They would get bored and let them go.

Bored enough to hurt the hostages they had taken.

Miles shuddered. It was just water. He wasn't afraid of water. He was just… scared of drowning. A reasonable fear when facing a man made out of water. And yeah, maybe he had never faced this guy before and couldn't remember how Peter had handled him - but…

He adjusted his webshooters, ignoring how his hands were shaking.

Could he leave this one to Peter? It was a school day, he'd understand…

And instead, have Peter think he was deciding to shirk his responsibilities with him back. His classmates had probably already reported to Spidey Watch that he'd left to join this fight. He couldn't run from this fight.

With one last deep breath, he camouflaged and swung onto the mall's roof, glad that the skylights let him peer inside.

As he moved towards the center of the mall, he finally spotted the hostages. They were all bundled together on the second floor with Hydro-Man swirling just below them, but without a corporal body yet. Waiting for a hero to come along.

Miles leaned back, breathed out, and then focused on popping open a skylight. If he could slip in without being noticed, he could get all the hostages out of danger before confronting Hydro-Man.

Gripping onto the glass surface, with careful precision, he was able to pop the glass out of the frame and put it to the side.

He stepped back from his new entrance, letting his camouflage fade for several long seconds while he breathed before settling it back into place. Then, as quietly as he could, he crawled inside and down the wall.

Surprisingly, there weren't as many hostages as last time. Hydro-Man must have let most mall goers escape - or had only managed to get one store full of people before the rest had bolted.

Ten people, four in uniforms with name badges, a mum and her two kids, a guy in a suit, and two teenagers. All bound in familiar chains. It was all the confirmation he needed that Hydro-Man was working with the same boss.

When Miles got closer, though, he saw that the kids had already slipped their hands and feet free. The chains were one size fits most, after all. It worked to his advantage.

Miles crouched in front of them, letting his invisibility fade long enough for them to see who it was, and the finger pressed to his masked lips. They startled but, thankfully, didn't let out a sound.

Wrapping a hand around one of them, he secured one of the kid's hands around his neck with a whispered, "Hang on tight." He did the same with the other one and, after a brief moment of hesitation, jumped up through the open skylight with a web to help him gain altitude.

There was a gurgle behind him that put his heart in his throat, but he kept sprinting along the roof until he was back at the police barricade. A full-fledged operation had been established in the brief few minutes he had been gone. He spotted Peter off to the side, frantically working on something by the firefighters.

Jumping down, the kids yelping with fear, he untangled them from around his neck.

"Status?" the police captain asked. Another officer coaxed the two kids away.

"Eight more hostages in the center of the mall bound like the others this week. Hydro-Man has the whole first floor flooded." Miles told him, folding his arms to hide how they shook.

"Have you engaged with him?"

"No, not yet. I want to try and get as many hostages to safety as I can before I do," Miles said as Peter strolled over to join them. Miles hadn't seen him arrive. He had something in his hands he was tinkering with.

"Stay here, Miles," Peter said distractedly, only briefly glancing up at them. "I'm working on a way to stop him."

"How long will that take?" Miles asked.

"Uh." Whatever Peter was working on snapped in his hand, and he let out a frustrated sigh. "No ETA yet."

"You can do that whole invisibility thing, right, son?" the police captain asked.

Miles glanced at him. "Yeah."

"I want you extracting more of the hostages then," he ordered.

Peter finally looked up. "No, no way. Hydro-Man is way too dangerous, even for us. The risk is too great-"

"Not with his invisibility, it's not," the Captain declared, clapping Miles on the shoulder.

Miles shrugged, taking a step back towards the mall. "I won't engage him. I'll just work on getting them out of harm's way."

"Miles, no, I'm telling you to stay here," Peter ordered.

Miles glanced between the two of them. "I can't just sit here, Peter. I can do this. Let me."

'That's the spirit. Off you go!" The Captain gave Miles a shove forward, and Miles took it for the permission it was.

Ignoring Peter's frustrated yell telling him to come back, he swung himself onto the roof and returned to the skylight. Camouflaging, he crawled inside and down the wall.

Hydro-Man had finally formed a body twice the size of a normal human, stretching almost to the ceiling. Miles crept forward, carefully slow to keep quiet. Hydro-Man looked around, searching for something, probably for him.

Finally next to the teenagers, still invisible, he tested the binding. It creaked under the pressure, and Miles winced when Hydro-Man's head swiveled in his direction. The teenager looked down at their hands, mystified, but Miles didn't dare make himself known to them.

He glanced up at the skylight. He could jump clear through the skylight with only one person, but he would have to make more trips. If he had two, he would risk alerting Hydro-Man.

The mere thought had him nervous, glancing back at Hydro-Man, who had a hand at his 'ear.'

"Don't make a sound," Miles whispered in her ear, and thankfully, she jumped but didn't make a peep.

Still watching Hydro-Man, he supported her legs with one hand - barely lifting it above the ground, and supported her back with his other.

As soon as Hydro-Man looked away, he jumped, sailing clear through the open skylight. He bolted towards the police barricade, letting his invisibility melt away.

"Oh my god," she said, her voice hushed. "I just got saved by Spider-Man."

Miles couldn't help a small chuckle, "Yeah, no worries."

He put her down on one of the first stretchers, stepping back and straight into Peter's chest. "Woah-"

"Don't go back in," Peter ordered.

"Why not? I got her out just fine-"

"Have you ever fought him before?" Peter shut him down, his masked eyes burning into his.

"..No, but I've got my filter. If he catches me, I'll be fine. I can do this," Miles insisted, thwipping a web. Peter grabbed his hand, forcing him to let go of it. "-hey!"

"You're not ready to fight him," he doubled down. "Wait until I've finished making this."

"Even with whatever you're doing, we still need to get those people out of there," Miles tugged his hand free, stepping out of the way of Peter's second attempt to stop him. "Trust me, I've got this."

"Listen to me," Peter snapped, but Miles had already thwipped a web and hoisted himself onto the roof.

Meters away from the skylight, he camouflaged again, crawling inside.

And that's when his spider-sense blared, a tendril of water whipping around him and dragging him down.

"Hello, Spider-Man, how wonderful to make your acquaintance," Hydro-Man gloated, dangling Miles upside down two stories high.

"Wait, wait, let's talk about this," Miles babbled, wriggling in the water's grip. But no matter how much energy he wasted, the water shifted around him effortlessly. "I have some questions for you."

"Oh, do you now?" Hydro-Man formed a body from the chest up, a stream of water keeping him attached to the river below.

"Yep, yeah, I do." He could see the remaining hostages watching in terror. His hands were still free, and discreetly, he aimed them towards the ceiling. "See, you, Vulture, Rhino, and Molten Man, oh and Shocker, can't forget him. You're all working together, but I can't figure out why or who for. Who's your boss?"

"Why? Easy. Money. Who? You'll meet her soon enough," Hydro-Man taunted, slowly circling Miles.

"Her? Okay, cool, I like hints. Can we play hot and cold?" Miles asked, his head swiveling to the other side as Hydro-Man came up behind him.

Hydro-Man laughed, "Really? Hot or cold? Sure. Why not."

"Okay. Um." Miles frantically racked his brain for any leads he had. "…Has she come from overseas?"

"Warmer."

"Okay, cool, cool. She has… a lot of money from illegal places?"

"Warmer."

"Is she after our DNA?"

"Colder!"

Hydro-Man plunged Miles into the river of water below, the webs he frantically thwipped at the ceiling doing nothing more than drag ceiling tiles down with him. The water soaked Miles instantly, a startled gasp punched out of him.

The constraining water was gone, but it didn't help. He could hardly tell which way was up or down as Hydro-Man churned the water. Miles could hear him laughing, the sound vibrating through the water.

Thwipping another web at any surface, he managed to drag himself to the tiled floor. And if that was down, then up was-

His spider-sense blared, forcing him to let go of his purchase as the shadow of a whip narrowly skimmed past him.

He had five minutes of air, but that was only in a best-case scenario - where he could breathe calmly.

Thwipping another web, he yanked himself towards a pillar. He stuck to it, frantically looking for which way was up.

And had to give up, boosting himself off the pillar, when a ball-and-chain made of hardened water destroyed it.

The water kept on swirling, pushing and pulling him. Swim classes didn't prepare you for how to face a whirlpool. Especially a living one that had you dodging spears of water and debris.

Desperate, he thwipped another web in any direction. This time, he was right.

Miles emerged, flickering into invisibility as he stuck to the roof. He cradled his side, trying to quieten his panicked gasps.

"Itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout," Hydro-Man's eerie voice echoed around the near-empty mall. He formed a body, ascending out of the whirlpool of his own creation. "Down came the rain..."

Hydro-Man locked eyes with Miles, and too late, he realized that he might be invisible - but the droplets from his soaked suit were not.

"And washed the spider out."

Miles leaped from his vantage point, swinging in a large circle around the hulking figure. "Out came the sun and dried up all the rain," Miles continued the song, his voice strained with the panic restricting his throat. He swung high and then dropped his web to duck under another tendril, "and the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again!"

With a frustrated cry, Hydro-Man swirled back before surging forward - a roof-high wave with no way to escape.

Miles tried to anyway, swinging as fast as his burning arms could for the exit.

Briefly, he saw a flash of red and blue before the wave curled around him, a barrel forming before it broke. The wave crashed down into Miles and dumped him into its watery depths. He smacked into the floor, a wall, a pillar, swirling and unable to right himself.

His spider-sense might as well have been useless with how little he could defend himself.

A water whip curled around his neck, hardening as it dug in. Miles grabbed it with both hands, trying to break its grip on him.

"Are you afraid, Spider-Man?" Hydro-Man's voice rumbled in the water, vibrating through Miles's body. Miles grit his teeth. "I can feel your heart pounding. There'll be no one to save you."

Peter had been right. He wasn't ready to face Hydro-Man.

The whip dragged him through the water, slamming him face-first into the unforgiving ground. He heard something crack, and water flooded the filter in his mask.

No.

"You're going to die," Hydro-Man taunted, watery constructs grabbing his arms and legs, stretching them out to his liking. Miles was suspended, helpless.

He was pinned down to the floor, star-fished out.

"Only meters above you is the precious air you need to live," his voice whispered in Miles's ear, laughing as Miles wrenched his head away. "Look at how close it is."

And Miles did, with burning lungs and a heart threatening to pound out of his chest.

He couldn't help but compare it to last time. This time was worse.

Moonlight had glimmered through the murky water then, a beacon of hope for him to reach for. With rope binding his arms and legs, he had been strong enough to break them and reach the surface.

Instead, through the debris-littered, swirling water of Hydro-Man, all he could see was artificial light blanketing the mall. His arms and legs bound by a living entity that adjusted with every wriggle, with every burst of desperate strength.

Cold water surrounded him, soaking him to the core, colder granite at his back. Cold, cold, cold.

Nothing to reach for, nothing to save him, no hope of escape.

A bubble escaped his lips, the last of his precious air. His chest burned, his throat constricted, his vision waning.

No one was going to save him.

He had to save himself.

He had one last hail-mary idea.

One that had stopped someone of elemental origin before. One that, theoretically, could save him.

He was going to die. He had to try.

Fueling the pain into his chest, his bio-electricity condensing under his skin, he let it build for several long agonizing seconds until his fingers were numb and his toes tingled.

He dropped a Venom bomb, the strongest he had ever produced. It webbed through the water in rebounding zaps. Distantly, he heard Hydro-Man cry out in pain before the sound abruptly cut off.

Even as his bindings broke, he was too weak, too exhausted to do anything but close his eyes and sink into inky blackness.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine," a hushed voice whispered, every number followed by a thump, thump, thump, thump.

Miles coughed, spitting out some water. His eyes opened, but his vision was obscured by his own mask halfway rolled up. There was the sound of footsteps racing towards them and overlapping voices - their tone urgent.

Yet he couldn't wake up, his eyes rolling back. It might have been a minute or ten, but when he came around next, a hand was pushing his mask the rest of the way off of his head, an oxygen mask secured over his face.

Miles blinked, inhaling the artificially concentrated air. He looked up. It was Peter looking after him.

"..What?"

"You're fine," Peter mumbled, his tone distracted as he helped Miles sit upright. "You're okay."

Miles planted a hand on the ground to keep his balance, the other coming up to the oxygen mask. "What happened?" he croaked.

"You almost drowned, and one of the victims is in the hospital. His heart stopped." Miles' breath caught, staring at Peter. His mask was on, obscuring his expression, but Peter's costume was dripping wet. His head was turned, lingering on a spot a few meters away. "I had to do CPR."

"CPR?" Miles echoed.

"Did you even think before using your bio-electricity?" Peter asked, his voice hardening. His bug eyes finally turned to stare Miles down. "If I had jumped in a second sooner, I would have been knocked out too. Then there would have been no one to pull you two out."

"Why- there shouldn't have been anyone in the water-"

"I was working on a solution," Peter interrupted. "I knew I could destabilize him with shock waves. No one would have gotten hurt."

"Is the victim- are they okay?" Miles asked.

Peter looked away again. "No. Of course they're not. I got their pulse back, if that's what you're asking."

Miles's heart sank, burning with shame. "I didn't know."

"You should have known better," Peter snapped. "You decided to go inside when I had told you not to, twice, and then I had to rescue them and you."

"I was invisible the whole time," Miles started, racking his brain, trying to piece together what went wrong. "I- I was being careful. I don't know how he knew I was there-"

"No, it's not about that, Miles. It doesn't matter how skillful you think you are. You didn't listen to me. I had a solution that didn't risk anyone. You should have trusted me to do my job!"

"I…" Miles felt a tear roll down his cheek, its warmth a contrast to how cold he was. "I'm sorry…"

"What did you think was going to happen? Huh? Hydro-Man can control water. You're stupid lucky that that electricity even worked. You almost drowned," Peter scolded, his head half buried in his hand.

"I wasn't trying to fight him. I didn't want to," Miles croaked, turning away to hide the tears that streamed down his face. "I was just trying to save the people. I- I didn't want to drown, he- he cracked my filter-"

"What is it about that fucking filter?" Peter growled. "It dulls your senses and makes you act stupid. You wouldn't have gone in at all if you didn't have it, right?"

"..No. I wouldn't have. But it- it saved me. It keeps on saving me. It's saved me from drowning twice now-"

"So this isn't the first time you've almost died being stupid around water?" Peter whirled on him, a hand jutting out. "You've been this- this irresponsible twice?"

"I- I wasn't being stupid last time. They tied me up and threw me in the Hudson. They thought I was dead. It wasn't my fault," Miles's voice cracked, his breath hitching in a vain attempt to stop a sob from breaking through.

"Nothing's your fault, isn't it?" Peter sneered. "You're a child playing superhero dress up and then get all surprised when this job almost kills you." The last two words were punctuated by Peter's finger jabbing into Miles's spider symbol.

"Do you think I didn't know that going in?" Miles spat back, furiously wiping at the tears tracking down his face. "I watched you die! I've almost died so many times! But I- I'm not allowed to stop. It doesn't matter what I do, I'm trapped with this mask and this responsibility that you put on me!"

"That I put on you?" Peter laughed, but it was clear there was no humor behind it. "Oh, so you're blaming me?"

"I'm- I- I'm trying my best." A sob wracked his body, his shoulders curling in. "I didn't want anyone to get hurt. I'm s-s-sorry."

Peter stood up, looming above Miles, Peter's shadow casting him into darkness. He paused, just for a second, before he looked down at Miles."What deal did you make with Fisk?"

Miles's breath hitched. "What?"

"You met him two days ago. Did you really think I wouldn't find out about that?" Peter's voice had gone cold, icy. "You've made a deal with him before. Was it for money?"

"No!"

"Did it get you those spinnerets? I'm struggling here, Miles, because I don't know enough about the kid who stole my title," Peter spat. "All I seem to know is it's some kid called Miles Morales who gave up his secret identity in a spectacular clash," his voice dripped with venom, "against some guy called Kraven."

"I-"

"The more I learn about you, the more I think you're exactly what the Daily Bugle thought I was. An attention-seeking, reckless child who does all this for the thrill of it. Not to mention your ego, thinking I had anything to learn from you!"

"That's not-"

"Shut up," Peter snarled. "No. I don't want to hear your sorry excuses. I won't have you tarnishing Spider-Man anymore."

"I made a mistake today. This isn't fair!" Miles cried out, hugging his own arms around himself.

"This is more than fair." Peter's narrowed eyes locked with Miles's. "I'm going to find out all your little secrets. I will find out how badly you've dragged my title through the mud. Then I'll deal with you appropriately."

"No-"

"Tomorrow night, I expect you by 59th Street. Don't keep me waiting."

Peter walked away, every step echoing like a gunshot through Miles's ears. Everything else was static, the cold an afterthought even as he shivered.

He was going to find out everything. All that Miles had regretted and tried to better himself from. Yet Miles knew the list of sins weighing his own heart down like they were permanently tattooed on the back of his hand.

Judgment day was coming, and his heart was not lighter than a feather.

The window was open, waiting for him. As soon as he landed on the ledge, a towel was wrapped around him along with some arms.

"You're alright," Ganke murmured as Miles returned the hug, burying his head in his friend's shoulder. "You did it."

A choked sob was muffled in his shirt, Miles's breath hitching. "I'm okay," he whispered, the words blubbery. "I'm okay."

Ganke held him even as the moment stretched, rubbing a hand up and down his back, drying him and comforting him in the same motion. "That must have been terrifying, right? But you did it."

"I fucked up," Miles gasped out, his legs giving out. Ganke adjusted his hold to support Miles to sit back against their bed. "I- I-"

"Shh, hey, hey, you're fine. Just take a moment to breathe, okay?" Ganke softly murmured, taking Miles's mask off for him. "Breathe. Can you feel my hand?"

Miles tried to focus, but everything was static. He shook his head, gasping for air like he was starving for it. "N-No-"

"That's fine." Ganke shifted so he was kneeling in front of Miles, his hands cupping Miles's face. "Focus on me. Breathe with me."

Miles tried to follow Ganke's exaggerated, slow breathing, but hiccuping sobs kept breaking through. Every time it did, Ganke would softly reassure him and start again, his hands shifting to clasp Miles's hand in his.

The sun was starting to set by the time he had managed it, but Ganke kept on breathing slowly and deeply until Miles moved to sit up.

"Are you okay?" Ganke asked, sitting down beside him, a hand rubbing his back.

"I fucked up," Miles muttered, a gloved hand roughly scrubbing away a stray tear. "Someone's in the hospital because of me. They almost died."

"But was it really you that, uh, 'fucked up,'" Ganke asked.

"I should have been paying attention, I wasn't paying attention," Miles ground out, curling in on himself. "If I had, they wouldn't be in the hospital. I let them get hurt. I hurt them."

"What? That venom bomb? That was- it looked epic, just FYI, you should watch that back sometime. Biggest shock I've ever seen you produce- sorry, not the time." Ganke cleared his throat, his hand shifting to Miles's shoulder to give it a squeeze. "You were desperate! You were just protecting yourself."

"I should have listened to Peter, I should have known he would save me," Miles mumbled, absently wrapping the towel further around himself.

"But you didn't know. Dude, you were facing your worst nightmare. Literally. I know how many nightmares you've had about drowning-"

"Ganke," Miles cut in, meeting his eyes. "He's going to find out what happened last year."

Ganke looked at him for a long moment, his eyes searching his face. "What do you mean?"

"Peter's going to find out about Fisk. He's going to take Spider-Man away from me," Miles said, his breath hitching as a sob threatened to break through again. "He's going to find out how- how I-"

"How you were blackmailed into a bad deal? Wow, it's almost like you were fifteen and terrified for your parents' lives," Ganke finished for him.

"I worked with him, Ganke. I-I worked with his kill- his- his murderer," Miles choked out, folding his arms around himself. "How messed up is that? I should have-"

"We're just kids," Ganke whispered, his gaze soul-searching. Seeing through Miles. "You were scared, and you were going to use that deal to your own advantage. You planned on taking him down, too, after you had finished with Owl. Divide and conquer is a thing for a reason."

"And Owl is dead because of me, he'll figure that out and-"

"Because of Fisk. You barely even laid a hand on him." Ganke corrected, his voice firm.

Miles looked down at his hands, where he knew his spinnerets were. Another sob hitched in his chest. "I fucked up last year. I fucked up so bad," Miles whispered, choked.

Ganke sighed. Knowing that Miles wasn't going to give up the fight, he instead wrapped a hand around Miles and gently encouraged him to lay his head on his shoulder. "Let it out, dude."

Miles leaned in more, soaking up his warmth as tears tracked down his face.

By the time the tears had finally stopped, his adrenaline all gone, leaving aching, tired muscles and throbbing cuts, the sun had dipped below the horizon. He sniffled, the sound so gross he cringed, and sat up. "Thank you."

"Anytime. You should get changed out of your suit, you'll catch a cold sitting in something that damp," Ganke suggested, but didn't move from next to him.

"I have a spare suit here, I'll hang this one up to dry-"

"No way. You aren't going on patrol, are you?" Ganke asked in disbelief.

"I have to," Miles mumbled. "I know I have another mask around here. I have to repair this filter-"

"I'm putting my foot down," Ganke cut in. "You aren't going on patrol tonight."

"There might be another villain attack-"

"There won't be. There's already been an attack tonight. There won't be another," Ganke said, as if he had any way of knowing.

"There could be. I need to show Peter that I-"

"That you care?" Ganke guessed, eyebrows raised. "That you're 'keeping up with your responsibilities?' Dude, you're doing more than I would as Spider-Man."

Miles just shrugged, looking away so he didn't have to meet his eyes. "I have to try."

A musical beep from Miles's desk interrupted them. Ganke grabbed Miles as he tried to stand to check his watch. "No way."

"I need to check that-"

"No, you don't. My foot is down. What you need is a bubble bath and to watch shitty youtube videos with me. Also, eight hours of sleep," Ganke scrambled to stand up before Miles did, standing in front of the desk as if to shield it from Miles's sight.

Miles couldn't help but smile at his antics, even as he said, "Ganke…"

He folded his arms. "It can't be that important."

Miles got up, letting the towel fall to the ground. "I'm going to check my watch, and I'm going to go on patrol. I have to do this."

"Actually, all you really need to do in life is eat, sleep-"

"Ganke."

A silent standoff commenced. Ganke caved first. "If I give you this watch," he bargained, picking it up, "will you hang out with me afterward and play some video games?"

Miles hesitated. Ganke pouted, giving Miles his best sad, kicked-puppy look. "We haven't hung out in so long-"

"That's dirty pool," Miles muttered, head in his hands to cover his smile. "Fine. Fine! But we're going to have the police scanner on, too, okay?"

Ganke finally handed it over with a sigh, sitting down on the top of the desk with his arms folded. "Deal."

Miles put the watch on, the screen coming to life with a beep.

Miguel: Meet me at HQ

"This shouldn't take long," Miles said with a sigh. "I'll be back in a bit."

"At least change out of that suit before you go, and maybe have a shower too. It can't be that urgent, right?" Ganke said.

"I'll do that when I get back. I don't want to put on one suit just to take it off again ten minutes later," Miles explained, and Ganke's eyes lit up.

"You're not going to put another suit on tonight?"

Miles shrugged. "You're right, it's been a while since we've hung out."

"Okay, okay, yeah, go, go! I'll be here when you get back," Ganke said, bustling Miles out the window with a fresh mask shoved in his hand. "See you soon!"