Chapter Text
She didn’t mean to stick around. She didn’t need to nor was she welcomed to. That was somewhat expected. The way Miles looked at her after the dust had settled was uneasy to say the least.
“I think… I still need time,” Miles tells Gwen in the confinement of his room. He laid there with bandages around much of his body. Couldn’t exactly take spider-man to the hospital, right? It took Gwen a lot of self-control not to break down at the sight of Miles’s condition. Especially since it was partially her fault that he was in such a position. “I… appreciate everything you did for me. That fight with Spot… it could have gone very wrong. But it didn’t because you were there.”
Miles is clearly thinking about what he wants to say. It’s hard to put into words the experience the boy had gone through in the past 48 hours. It was a testament to his courage and will of being a hero, being spider-man. Something Gwen felt like she could never replicate.
Miles continued, “I feel a lot of things about you, Gwen. I really want to just… scream and brood about the betrayal and lies, “he chuckled, “but you make that hard to do.”
Gwen chuckles as well, though she doesn’t feel like she deserves it. She feels like she doesn’t deserve this tender yet reserved attitude from Miles. The girl is surprised by how the bedridden boy is being so forgiving already by not kicking her out and never wanting to see her again. “I want to trust you again. I want to let you in, but you can understand why I’m reluctant to,” Miles said. “I know why you did it, why you did these things. You were scared and broken. You went through shit too. That being said, it still hurts. I still feel… scared. scared to let you in.”
The spider-woman is really trying her best not to sob right now. A few stray tears are hard to avoid. “I understand Miles,” Gwen wipes her face, “I’ll give you space. Just know that I am always here if you need me. I’m one call away.”
She gives her best smile. It’s weak but she wants to be strong for the boy laying before her. Miles gives a weak smile as well, “thank you Gwen.”
And with that, Gwen is back in her universe. The apartment she steps foot in is empty, and dark. Her father must be working at the moment. It takes all of 10 seconds before she simply breaks down. She cries, screams, and berates herself. Everything is finally crashing in on her. All the events in the past 48 hours, hell, just in general. She realizes that this might be it. She might lose another friend. Lose someone she cared deeply for. Maybe more deeply than a friend…
“It never works, does it?” She sobs. “Gwen Stacy and Spider-man never work.”
———————-
Gwen does what she does best. Just bury those thoughts and feelings deep inside herself. She needs to be the shining example for the city she protects. No one wants an emotionally and mentally unstable spider-woman swinging around the streets, right? She tries to make light of her situation. Not what she did to Miles, rather the suffering she’s experiencing due to what she did to Miles. She often waits for the call, or something from him. During breakfast, during lunch, after school, after dinner, laying in bed, she waits for the watch to spring to life with the weird notification sound Hobie had made for it. Count on the British anarchist to have the goofiest notification noises for his homemade watch.
She waits for the watch to say Earth-1610. A call from the universe’s resident spider-man. Yet, she doesn’t get one. It goes for about a couple days, into a week, and then 2. “Alright, this is just pathetic,” Gwen tells herself as she gets up from staring at the watch. It was currently 2:30 am and she couldn’t sleep. Nightmares ranging from Miles being killed, to his family being killed, to everyone just being killed. The young spider put her head against the wall.
She wants to see him. Apologize until the end of time. She wants to make it up to him. She would go to the ends of the earth to do so. She wanted that warm, fuzzy feeling again when she saw him after a year. She wanted that feeling again when they swung around his city, when they were perched up on top of the building, when she leaned on him, when he would look at her with that handsome smile of his.
“Ugh, I can’t tell if it’s the guilt or the crush that’s making this worse,” she said to herself. During the two weeks of waiting and waiting, Gwen discovered a lot about her feelings. Mainly that her feelings involving Miles were much more heavy than initially thought. And by heavy she means romantic. It wasn’t far-fetched for her to fall for someone like him. Miles was in a league of his own when it came to the inspirational and admirable people in Miss Stacy’s life. The care Gwen had for Miles was deep and she knew it was only a matter of time before something like this would come up.
Those feelings were probably always there she thought to herself. The spider-woman sighed and looked out her window. It was a slow night in the crime world of New York. There were the typical smaller crimes that littered the city at this hour, but nothing that should warrant spider-woman’s attention. I can stop a few thefts. Maybe catch a few thugs, she thought to herself. She was truly contemplating going out until she remembered what her dad had told her.
“ I know you love this city. The way you protect it is proof enough, but why not take a break every once in a while. Let the police deal with the little guy.”
She knows he said this out of care for her wellbeing. It took the entire 2 weeks of her being back for her father to convince her to slow down and take a breath. They were still in a weird place regarding their relationship. She seemed like a person out of her own body when talking to her dad. It’s not like she could talk it out completely with him anyway. “It” being their very complicated and slightly broken relationship. Ever since he quit the force, he decided to become a firefighter. Which Gwen could argue was just as dangerous. The man was mostly out of the house since New York was a melting pot of disasters waiting to happen, especially Brooklyn. He told her that it was his choice. That he didn’t want anything to do with the system that was against his daughter.
He was also honest in saying that he didn’t want to continue as a police officer because he felt guilty. He pointed a gun at his own daughter. It took awhile for her dad to even look at her. He was ashamed. From the brief talk they had he said “I put the law above you, above the only person I have left. My only flesh and blood. I will never do that again.” They both were bad at communication, she knew that. No matter who was ready to talk, they probably would stay in this stale mate for a long time. Gwen sighed as she looked out her window. Brooklyn, New York in general, was beautiful in the evening. Despite all the crime that riddled the city, she loved the evening skies. The stars were always a reminder that the city could be beautiful when it wanted to be.
She took another deep breath and decided to try to sleep again. Maybe a nightmare wouldn’t rear its ugly head into her sleep. Gwen laid back down and closed her eyes for a moment. She could get some shut eye in. Just for a moment, right? All of a sudden she opened her eyes and the sunlight hit her face like a punch from the rhino. She winced and covered her face with her pillow. She peaked from under the pillow to check the time. It was 12:14 pm. Apparently a “moment” meant oversleeping into midday. She was lucky it was winter break or else she would be dead. The spider-woman groaned. Great, now I’m going to have a horrible sleeping schedule, she sighed as she finally got out of bed.
Gwen came out of her room and entered the bathroom first. She showered, brushed her teeth, and did the rest of her morning routine. After finishing in the bathroom, she walked into the living room. Immediately she noticed her father on the couch completely passed out. He hadn’t even taken all of his uniform off. He looked like he had been through hell and back. He probably had gone through hell now that Gwen was thinking about it.
“Dad…dad wake up,” the girl was only met with mumbles and tired whispers. “Dad, you should probably freshen up and sleep in your bed. It’ll be more comfortable.”
Her father opened his eyes, “Oh. Hey Gwenie. What time is it?”
“It’s noon dad, but you should still try to nap before your next shift,” she really did feel bad for her pops. He was doing back breaking work just so she could live a somewhat normal life. Even on the force, he was working double time just to keep Gwen fed, clothed, and in school. He worked hard enough for her to go out with friends and have fun. He wanted her to be a teenager. Then she became spider-woman. Way to really help your dad out Gwen, she pushed the thought down.
“Nah, let me shower and we can eat some lunch kiddo,” Gwen could literally hear her father’s back crack in more places then it probably should.
“Dad…,” the girl was interrupted.
“Cmon Gwen. It’s been awhile since we had lunch and you’re not spidering around town right now so why not? I’ll live,” he smiled at his daughter. She knew he missed their time together as much as she did. She sighed and said okay. Her father’s smile only grew bigger as he got up and walked towards the bathroom. She chuckled to herself. Her father was a good guy. He was human. He made mistakes much like herself. It took awhile for Gwen to really comprehend that idea. She knew he was trying. They both were. It was a lot to figure out, especially since her father knew about the whole multiversal spider people situation. He didn’t know a lot, but enough to get the gist.
After a while George Stacy finally made his appearance in normal clothing. “Alright. What should we have?” He asked his daughter.
Gwen shrugged and the man took that as his opportunity to look around. The man looked up and down the kitchen, eventually ending up squatting on the floor in the canned food cupboard. After some digging, the man realized something.
“Oh wow. When’s the last time we actually made and ate food,” he said out loud.
“I…” Gwen paused for a moment, “don’t know. It’s been awhile hasn’t it?”
“Wait, how have you been eating kiddo,” she could see the worried face on her father.
“I’ve been tearing through our can supply. Grilled cheese and tomato soup for a couple of days now,” she gave a small laugh, but she could tell her dad was upset.
“Aw shucks. Gwen, i'm so sorry,” she could see her dad about to beat himself up majorly over this.
“Dad, hey, it’s okay. Really. I mean I can feed myself,” she came to her dad’s side and put her hand on his shoulder.
“Still, I shouldn’t have forgotten to stock up. Especially with how often to go out and such. You need the energy.” Gwen doesn’t know why she was taken aback by her father worrying. It shouldn’t surprise her since she is his daughter. Maybe it was because he was also implying her spider activities. It was still weird that she could be out in the open about it with him. Hell, he even asked what laundry detergent she used to clean her suit a couple days ago.
“Well, I should probably go grocery shopping. Sorry again Gwenie,” he sighed as he got off the floor and began to get ready.
“Dad, you should really rest. You’ve been working a lot lately,” she wanted her father to get some more sleep. He deserved it. Out of anyone, her father deserved it.
“Welp, between me running in burning buildings and you punching scumbags in the face, I say we both need the food kiddo,” he zipped up his jacket. She could see the bags under his eyes and the way he arched his back to relieve some pain. She couldn’t take it. Seeing her dad work so hard so she could succeed. Not just as Gwen Stacy, but as spider-woman too. She felt like crying in that moment. Her father was literally breaking himself for her well-being without a second thought. And she wasn’t going to take it.
“Wait, wait dad,” she blocked the door, “how about I go shopping. Besides I know what we need and you could really use the rest.”
“C’mon Gwen, it’s okay-“
“Dad please,” George could see the plea in his daughter’s eyes. She cared. No matter what she would always put others above herself. It was the Stacy way after all. The man sighed and rubbed the back of his head.
“You know I can take care of myself anyway. Dad, please get some sleep,” she asked again. Practically begging her father.
“Alright alright,” George gave his daughter some money for groceries and a hug. “I’ll get some sleep, kiddo. Stay safe okay? Swing if you have to.”
Gwen laughed at her father’s comments. “Get some rest dad. I’ll be back with food in an hour.”
Her father was her world. She couldn’t believe she left him alone for 6 months. Maybe it was needed, but it didn’t make her feel any less guilty. The space was necessary but she missed him worrying about her. Missed those nicknames and their late night dinner convos. Missed his bear hug and telling her he loved her. Him and Miles would get along so well , she sighed to herself. Of course she was thinking about how Miles would get along with her dad. With one last goodbye and I love you, Gwen Stacy was off to the grocery store. She took her dad’s advice. She swung out the window and into the cold, breezy streets of Brooklyn.
———————-
After stopping some muggers and saving a lady’s dog from almost being hit by a car, she finally made it to the grocery store. It was surprisingly not packed. Then again it was a Tuesday afternoon and most people were probably working. After changing into her normal clothes, Gwen stalked the isles of the store for essential items. Milk, vegetables, bread, more canned food, some juice, protein shake powder, Miguel O’Hara, cheese- WAIT WHAT THE HELL.
Gwen screamed, jumped back, and fell onto the floor with the basket containing her items flying in random directions. She looked up to meet the gaze of her once mentor. Gwen felt like her eyes were popping out of their sockets. What the hell! She thought. The gaze wasn’t an angry “you’ve created a black hole in the multiverse” one, rather a “I’m tired and just pulled 3 all nighters consecutively” gaze.
“Uh Gwen. Are you okay?” The man said with nonchalance. Like he hadn’t just appeared out of nowhere.
“I don’t know bro, you tell me,” Gwen spewed with annoyance and sarcasm now that the initial shock was fading. It was a good day, a normal day even! She was even talking to her dad! Saying more than 3 words! And now the man that had almost killed the boy she loved, AND kicked her out of the spider society, was here. She gave a good look at the spider-man before her. He was wearing normal clothes. Some boots, khakis, a leather jacket, and a hat. It was like 10 degrees outside and the man looked dressed for an autumn stroll in the park.
“I know it must be surprising seeing me her-“
“Yes Miguel, It is. And I don’t know if you know this but I’m not exactly your biggest fan at the moment,” Gwen began picking up her items that were scattered on the floor.
“Here, let me…”
“No. Just no,” Gwen was not having it with the man. “What are you doing here? I’ve left the spider society ( well, more like forced out ), I haven’t gone to see miles in weeks, and I’ve stayed within my dimension. What could I have done to warrant you to wake from the dead and come out of your cave.”
Miguel was taken aback by the hostility. Well, he shouldn’t have been, but seeing someone who used to fear you now see you as annoying, well it threw his ego down a couple pegs.
“You’re right. You haven’t done anything wrong. But I do need to talk to you. I need your help,” Miguel said.
“Help? HELP? First, how about sorry? I’m owed an apology- no no scratch that- MILES is owed an apology for all the shit you’ve done. And you have the audacity to show up here? Asking for my help?” She was genuinely livid at how calm he was. He was treating this like it was two buddies who haven’t seen each other in a long time catching up again.
“Look, I’m working on the apology and I am sorry about the damage I’ve caused, okay?” Miguel took a deep breath as he noticed the patrons of the shop stare at them. “I should’ve heard Miles out, I should’ve been more empathetic. I’ve been reflecting on what I’ve done and I realize that I need some work.”
“That’s great Miguel, but still. You do realize how dumb it makes you look to appear out of nowhere and ask for my help like the last month hasn’t happened,” Gwen was calming down but her guard was still up. “I was treated like a liability and Miles was treated like an animal. You didn’t even try to welcome him with any ounce of hospitality when you first met him. I’m not just angry because of my treatment, but also my friend’s.”
“Friend” was a weird word to call this person you have overwhelming romantic feelings for. Regardless, that wasn’t what was important at the moment. Gwen studied his face. He did seem to be remorseful. She could see the thousand yard stare that Miguel usually had on his face when he was deep in thought. Maybe not remorseful… but regretful? Honestly the girl couldn’t tell anymore and she gave up reading him a long time ago.
“If this wasn’t important then I wouldn’t have come here Gwen, “Miguel began, “I understand your disdain for me, but this situation doesn’t even directly involve myself.”
Okay, maybe Gwen was a little interested now. What could Miguel, multiversal warden and protector, need her for that didn’t even involve him? At least not “directly” as he states.
Miguel continued, “but I can’t exactly explain here. You’d have to come back to the society. You’ll have to see this for yourself.”
“How do I know you aren’t going to imprison me, hm?” The spider woman questioned.
“Wha- why- look I get it. After the Morales situation I might have set a precedent,” Miguel sighed. He was really not ready to play 21 questions, but he supposes he deserves this.
“You think. I might not seem afraid of you Miguel, but I am afraid of being taken away, especially after you literally tore a fabric of reality trying to get to Miles. That was terrifying ,” it was reasonable to be suspicious of the man before her.
“Like I said. I’ve been working on myself,” the towering man huffed. “You’ll just have to trust me.”
Gwen contemplated, looking deep in thought. The futuristic spider-man just stood there like a statue wondering what the girl could be thinking about. Miguel honestly knew there’d be resentment and hesitation from the young spider. He didn’t blame her. Over the couple of months during the incident, and the weeks that followed the incident with the spot, the man reflected on many things within himself and his life. After what happened with Morales, every spider was hesitant towards him. He could hear the nervousness and fear in their voices. The people who used to be friendly towards him, were now distant and remained silent when he greeted them.
He created a very negative atmosphere within the society. So much so that even Peter B. Parker quit the society following the containment of the spot. As he opened the portal to his world he told Miguel something that he couldn’t stop thinking about since, “you’re a shell of who you used to be. I understand your loss, we all do, but if you can’t even handle a teenager wanting to save his dad… then maybe it’s time to take a back seat.”
It was a little hypocritical, but Peter was right nonetheless. He chased a literal child through Nueva York, dug his claws into the boy's shoulders, said he was nothing, said he was a mistake, and now he realized just how psychotic that must have looked. He cared about everyone in the society, but he was so analytical and pessimistic that he couldn’t even fathom someone wanting to break the mold to save their loved one. He feared everything from Miles making the same mistakes he did, to Miles destroying the multiverse because of his actions. Fear was the reason why he couldn’t even look Jess in the eyes after everything that had gone down. Fear was the reason he took over another universe just to be with a family unfamiliar to him. Fear… was the reason he almost killed an innocent 15 year old boy who just wanted to save his dad.
“Miguel? Yoo hoo,” the man snapped back to reality to face the hand of the girl in front of him.
“Sorry, I was thinking. Did you say something?” The older spider asked.
“Yeah, I said I’ll do it,” Miguel was surpris-
“but…”
Oh. Oh no there was a but and but usually meant a catch. Gwen continued, “after whatever it is that you want my help with, you will apologize to Miles. No matter how he responds, you owe him at least the privilege of ‘I told you so’ yeah?”
Ooh another shot at his ego. She was right though, Miles does deserve it. “Alright,” Miguel put his hand out, “I promise to give Morales a proper apology.”
Gwen was reluctant, but eventually she shook the enormous hand. It was more like his entire hand devouring hers and shaking her arm like a pool noodle. She might have been toned and built for her size, but Miguel O’Hara is a literal wall that could not be trampled by anyone.
“Alright, well first things first, I need to get groceries for my dad and I’m not leaving until that is done so it looks like you’re helping me blue panther,” Miguel wasn’t actually disappointed with helping one of the younger spiders with such a minimal task. Plus, the quicker they got this done, the quicker he could get this problem solved. The two began trekking the isles of the store in search of new goods. Eventually, after a very confusing moment with carrots being named broccoli and broccoli being named onions in Gwen’s universe, they had obtained all the items that the girl had made a mental note of.
The two had checked out and headed back to the young woman’s home. While swinging Miguel took another moment to reflect on his actions over the last few months. He treated Gwen pretty poorly as well. Even when she did a great job, and she usually did, the introverted man would just nod and continue his work. It was something he did to everyone, right? Well he thought so, until Jessica called him out for it.
“Your double standards are annoying,” she said one night after a rigorous mission. Another variant in a universe they didn’t belong in. Gwen had taken down the variant with ease. It was a rhino variant too so it was no small feat. Jess and the young woman thought that would be enough for Miguel to at least verbally say “good job”. It wasn’t though. Miguel simply told her to file the report and goodnight.
“Double standard?” The man was already irritated with the accusatory tone given by his partner.
“Yes! Miguel, I know you’ve seen how much she’s improved! And you keep blowing her off like she’s nothing,” Jessica said.
“I have not! What? You expect me to congratulate her for every mission?” Miguel faced Jessica.
“You never tell her anything for any mission! You just give this ominous grunt and walk away,"Miguel rolled his eyes at Jess’s comment.
“She wasn’t even supposed to be here in the first place, you know this. She’s a risk. Teenagers have impulses and we don’t know how much we can actually trust her,” Miguel explained.
“Yeah because being cold and non-responsive will definitely not push her away and will definitely not result in her trusting us less,” Jess sighed as she sat down, “you realize that she’s still a child. She needs that affirmation and clear communication. You saw how it was with her dad. She needs guidance from us Miguel.”
The brooding man just sighed. Gwen was a liability. No matter how much rapport they built with her, she would still go against the grain given the chance. She could not visit Miles Morales at all costs. They would have to tell her the truth about the boy if they wanted to go anywhere with the young spider-woman.
How much good that did him. Well, it did do him good. It helped him get off this pedestal he created for himself. It also helped him realize that the multiverse was so much more bizarre and completely relied on chance, probability. What happened to him was different from what happened to Morales. Him and Lyla could not explain how or why it was different, it just simply was.
He couldn’t lie and say he wasn’t jealous of Miles for his success in saving his dad. Miles, while going through hell, will be happy with his father alive for the rest of his life. Miguel on the other hand, will suffer from the loss of his family… twice. Maybe that’s just how it goes for him. It was the multiverse telling him that he was cursed. No matter what, Miguel O’Hara could never be happy.
“Alrighty. We are here,” Gwen said as the duo dropped into an alleyway next to her apartment. “I’m going to put the food away, tell my dad I’m leaving, and then we’re good.”
“Do you need help with cover?” Miguel asked. Gwen just stared in confusion.
“Wha-what do you mean by that,” the girl asked.
“You know, like a story to tell your dad. Something so he won’t suspect anything,” Miguel shrugged.
Oh my god he doesn’t know, Gwen thought to herself.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” The older spider was confused. So, the spider woman of earth-65 just told Miguel the truth.
“Your dad knows?!” Miguel whispered.
“Well, yeah. How was I going to explain to my father the portal I went through that night, or how you literally trapped him in a force field,” the young spider did have a point.
“Well I- I just- I don’t know. I’m surprised you were so open about it with him,” the man seemed genuinely shocked.
“Yeah I’m done lying to him about everything. He knows I’m spider-woman and he knows enough about the society to understand where I’ve been for the past few months,” Gwen shrugged.
“And he’s…okay with that?” Miguel asked.
“Well. Not necessarily. He can’t really stop me from being spider woman though. We’ve talked about it and said our grievances as well. He understands that I must protect the city and I understand that I’m his only daughter so it makes sense why he’d be nothing but worried. We still have a lot to work through, but it’s been… freeing to be open about it with him,” she smiled as she thought back to the conversation she had with her father. All the tears and regrets on both sides. Her father had a lot of respect for her for pushing through all of those tough times, especially when he was accusing her of murdering Peter.
“You’re stronger than I could ever be kiddo. I’m glad you became who you are today.” Gwen began sobbing right after he said that to her.
“Welp. I’m going up. Be back in a jiffy,” Gwen thwipped up the side of the building and back into the apartment.
She made it into the apartment with the groceries in one piece. She began putting them away when the girl heard the door to her dad’s room open.
“Oh. Hey kiddo. I see your back,” her dad said. He sounded like he just woke up. Good. Means he got some rest.
“Yeah dad. Sorry it took so long,” Gwen put everything away at a fast pace.
“You’re good. You’re moving fast. You got somewhere to be?” He asked. She could hear the disappointment in her dad’s voice already. Gwen turned around and faced her dad.
“Yeah. MJ is…” you don’t have to lie to him anymore Gwen! “Sorry. Um I know I said I was done with the whole spider society thing, but the leader, uh, came back and asked for my help,” Gwen honestly didn’t know the reaction her father was going to give her. The last thing she expected was a chuckle and a sigh.
“Well, can’t say I’m not disappointed. But it must be urgent if the leader guy needs your help again,” George rubbed his chin with his hand, seeming to be deep in thought.
“I’m sorry dad. I did want to have-“
“It’s okay Gwenie. Seriously. We’ll do a rain check on that lunch or dinner. I promise I’m not mad or anything. I mean I am sad,” Gwen laughed at her dad’s attempt at making her feel guilty. She knew he was only joking, but she could see his genuine sadness peek through.
“I’ll be back in no time,” the spider woman hugged her dad. “I promise.”
“I know kiddo,” her dad kissed the top of her head and bear hugged her. “You know, having spider strength means I can’t really squeeze you with my hugs anymore.”
Gwen laughed again, “sorry dad. You can blame it on the spider.”
George laughed again, “well, don’t keep your friend waiting. I’ll be here when you get back, kid. Stay safe and keep in touch okay?”
“I will dad,” and with one last hug and one last I love you, Gwen was back in the alleyway with Miguel. She really wants to make it up to her dad. For all that lost time they had. They both are putting in the effort in fixing their rocky father-daughter relationship. She appreciated him for trying and pushing through the awkwardness.
“Ready kid?” Miguel asked as he opened a portal.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Gwen took a step inside the portal. She had no idea what would be waiting for her, but she hoped it wouldn’t be anything she couldn’t handle.