Chapter Text
New York. The city that never sleeps, and Evan Buckley, the kid that somehow manages to get into every possible situation that would most definitely get you in copious amounts of trouble, are a complementary duo. You can’t blame the kid; he just had to get out of that house.
Evan’s house was extra suffocating around this time of the year. He wasn’t sure why; he just didn't know, but the one thing he did know was that moment his mother’s perpetually sad eyes began to focus on the small kitchen calendar on the side of the fridge. She started running her fingers down the cheap paper delicately, over a particular month coming up. He knows he needs to get up and begin looking for an outing that could get him out of the house as soon as possible. Normally, this entails him going to stay at a friend’s house or something along those lines, but it just so happens his school science club was going on an excursion to New York pretty soon, a full week away from home? You bet he made quick work of bullshitting his way into joining that club and even more bullshitting into being allowed to go on the excursion last minute; it helped to be the ‘fun’ guy everyone somehow got along with, and it helped even more that it was his close friends that took up the majority of the club, and they seemed ecstatic at the idea of him coming along. He pretended that it didn’t make him as happy as it did.
Did he join a science club to avoid his parents? Maybe. And it was working. His parents sent him off without complaint, signing the permission slip without even looking. His dad even gave him some spare cash to spend while there. He’d think they were somewhat relieved to have him gone for so long.
“Fun fact, there are spiders that can leap up to 500 times their body length and also have webs that are considered stronger than steel.”
Evan's friend threw his head back and groaned, “Evan, shut up before I backhand you.”
He dropped his head to giggle at his friend, adjusting his backpack before responding, “Hey, at least this stuff is interesting. If I had known you guys did cool crap like this, I would have joined your club ages ago; with my spider knowledge, I’d probably be a great fit”
His friend Louis just raised an expectant eyebrow “It’ll take a lot more than fun spider facts you read to make it in our actual science classes” he smiled when Evan raised an eyebrow to match his “I saw you looking at the topanimalfacts booklet while on the bus ride over here, don’t deny it”
Evan scoffed before placing a hand over his heart dramatically, “Oh, you wound me, you are a bully, Lou, an absolute bully” he pointed at Louis before turning his head to the cylinder box on display “Look at this bully Mr spider, do you see the hatefulness I have to endure here”
Louis cackled at his antics, “Evan, that container doesn’t even have a spider in it.” Oh, would you look at that, the fancy minimalist container didn’t have a spider in it, that’s Weird. Seeing as all the others did, was it just super tiny? But the smaller ones were on a different side of the room, and the lab they were touring said they were displaying all their latest evolutionary research in the brochure, and almost all of it was using spiders, which technically meant none of them should be empty.
“Huh,” he blinked before looking back up “, would be crazy if one escaped”
Louis visibly shivered “Oh my god, don’t say that, I’ve got enough heebie-jeebies being in a room packed with these things, the idea that one could be ON me ” Louise flaps his hand “Ew, no, don’t, I can’t”
Buck put his hands up placatingly, “Woah, calm it, it’s probably just being set up for the next tour group, it’s fine” he turned to wave at a lady worker who was a few paces away “Hey ma’am!, this container is supposed to be empty, right?”
She smiled politely before her eyes widened as they met the container, she made a small choked sound and rushed off to what he thought was her supervisor
“Oh…well that answers that”, Louis said before shivering again “Ugh, I hate spiders”
Evan, who was distracted watching the lady and her supervisor talk frantically to each other before rushing off, didn’t acknowledge his friends’ words, but simply nodded “Yeah, nah let’s move on man”
He turned away swiftly and began reloading his previous facts to his poor friends, rejoining the rest of his class’s group. In his yabbering, Evan Buckley failed to notice a beautiful orange spider tucked away in the hood of his jacket.
“TSS-ow what the fuck-“ Evan smacked his hand against his neck “Who pinched me?”
He turned around to face his classmate, she had her hands in her bag and shrugged, “Wasn’t me Buckley” he glanced around, confused, seeing nobody else behind him.
His classmate made a face at him, “Your neck looks a little red tho”
She took out a little compact mirror from the bag she was in the middle is scuffling through and handed it to him. He took it and craned his neck to see a blooming red dot right on his neck “What the hell? Did I get bitten by something?” A cold shiver ran down his entire body. No, don’t think about it.
“It's probably nothing; don't stress about it.” His classmate took the mirror back and pulled out a small, colourful band-aid from a separate little bag inside her big bag. “Here, so you don’t itch it.” He thanked her and made a playful joke about girls having bottomless purses, and then immediately got scuffed for it.
When walking back to the bus, the empty container from earlier passed through his mind again. Nah, it's better not to think about it, he’s surely just being paranoid.
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The incredibly handsome man for today’s story is Evan Buckley.
Evan was bitten by a radioactive spider while on a field trip to New York, and for like the past, um 123…uhhh many years, he’s been the one and only Spiderman.
And we can’t say he was called the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man until very recently; before that, he had the coolest name. The ‘travelling weaver’, well that was what the majority of america USED to call him now he’s just plane old Spiderman, BORINGG, would honestly prefer the travelling weaver, or maybe even the EmberSpider, something cool like that but I’ll settle for simplicity sake, also being called the Ember would totally out him at his job, Buck’s paranoid enough being a firefighter and being spiderman, the orange colour pallet was enough for him.
Anyways, back to it, as previously established in the flashback and opening, he was bitten by a radioactive spider on a school trip to New York.
Skipping the icky bits, we’ll just say once he came back, he went through some *cough*... changes. This happened midway through puberty, so although it was a good playoff for his weird behaviours, it was still hellish. That's rough buddy.
Once he turned 18, he up and dipped out of Pennsylvania. And has been travelling since. Along the way, he met some people who helped him find his path and who helped him pave the course of whom he wanted to be. he even met this wonderful lady in Peru who taught him how to make his very own suit, her versions were umm very…skintight to say the least, it’s nice not being mistaken for a robber anymore with the black dusty cowls he was always wearing. Unfortunately, she passed away in an incident by the beach, which urged him to seek some stability. This is where he eventually made it to Los Angeles after struggling to find a purpose outside of his heroic hobby with the Los Angeles Fire Department. And that leaves us with today
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Hen sighed, “Chimney, let it go”
“I don’t get it! I just don’t get it!” Chim stared at his phone ludicrously, open to the daily online news articles of LA, “Every single time, how does he do it? Like yeah sure super powers, but there is no way in hell he’s somehow just able to just predict if a giant fucking bus is going to hammer him, he wasn’t even paying attention!”
the 118 were having a qui-*cough* slow day at work today. The main 5 had situated themselves fairly comfortably in the firehouse living space, with Chimney lounging full man spread on the corner couch, frustratingly grasping at his cellular device.
Hen had plopped herself on the other side of him with a book, and she simply gave him a raised brow
“Your fascination with The Spiderman is sort of hilarious chim” Bobby, who was in the kitchen chopping up some veggies, stopped chopping to throw a small chunk of capsicum over the counter where Buck quickly caught it in his mouth.
Chim turned, craning his neck over the couch to look at Bobby “You don’t get it Cap, every single firehouse in the entirety of Los Angeles has met the dude, has seen him in action on the scenes, except us! I have so many questions I wanna ask him, it’s killing me, man!”
“You and every journalist in the entirety of Los Angeles. And ugh, Bobby, don’t call him THE Spiderman, makes him sound way too official” Eddie the new guy who buck only recently started somewhat getting along with didn’t even look away from his phone, some shitty Tetris game with too many ads tattling on his screen. Oldman core
Bobby just gave a light-hearted chuckle, slicing another piece of bell pepper. “Noted. Just Spider...man, right?” He threw another veggie piece, and Buck caught it effortlessly again
“Actually, it’s Spider-Man. The hyphen’s important,” Buck chimed in with a grin, causing Chimney to roll his eyes.
“Of course, that's what you’d take away from that, Buckley,” Chim muttered, but there was no heat behind his words.
He switched his attention back to his phone, scrolling through articles with a huff of frustration. “Seriously, tho, the dudes is like an annoying anigma. There’s no pattern, no predictable way to tell where he’ll be, and yet he’s somehow always right on time for every big emergency. It’s crazy.”
Buck suppressed a smile, leaning back on the high chair with an air of practised nonchalance. “Maybe he’s just lucky. You know, he's got like a sixth sense or something.”
“Yeah, right. A ‘spider-sense,’ or whatever,” Chim shot back sarcastically.
“I bet he’s got some insider connections,” Hen added, flipping a page in her book without looking up. “Those vigilantes have their ways.”
“Maybe he’s a cop. Or, I dunno, an alien? A secret government experiment? How else did he get those powers?” She peeks an eye over her book, narrowing it at Chimney “A man in the chair, perhaps?”
Buck shifted slightly, feeling the familiar twinge of anxiety coiling low in his stomach. “I don't know, I feel like he's just a guy, right? Someone trying to do good with what he was given”
Bobby smiled, “It's good you have faith in the guy, Buck, but I think our Chim here is more into the mystery aspect of his life”
“That’s what I’m saying!” Chim leaned forward, pointing his phone in Buck’s direction. “He’s gotta have a day job, right? Something that lets him drop everything and swing into action at a moment’s notice.”
Eddie glanced up from his game, giving Chim a scrutinising look that Chim shot right back before he turned to buck. “What do you think, Buck? I mean surely you’ve gone down one of your internet rabbit holes on the guy more than a few times by now, and if I remember correctly, you are the only one out of all of us who has talked with the guy. What do you think he does based on his vibes?”
Buck’s smile faltered and was replaced by a slight grimace at one of his early-stage slip-ups, but he quickly plastered his smile back on and shrugged.
“Yeah, I’m not sure if I’m being honest, i got nothing out of the guy, ” Buck said with a mock thoughtful expression “If I were Spiderman, I think I’d have a job like a… construction worker??”
“Pshh please.” Chimney rolled his eyes dramatically. “You? Spider-Man? Sure, you’ve got the muscles—”
“Aww, thanks, Chim.”
“—But you’re way too forgetful, don’t even get me started on your bad luck. If you were Spider-Man, you would have died within the first week,” Chimney paused “Also, a construction worker? Really? At least try to be a bit more creative”, that got a chuckle from the team
Buck laughed along with the others, relief washing over him as the conversation shifted away from Spider-Man again. He glanced at the clock on the wall.
It was always tricky balancing his dual life, but it was worth it. Every rescue, every saved life, and every smile from a grateful stranger made the sleepless nights and constant danger worthwhile.
Still, sometimes it felt like he was walking a tightrope, teetering between two worlds that could collide at any moment. These conversations, tho sparse and far between, always made him nervous, like one day, no matter how careful he is, they’d just think too hard and figure it out
Having to seamlessly blend in at scenes to be able to take off without being noticed, his costume under his uniform making him wear long sleeves even in summer, his large eyebags that Bobby won't quit making a fuss about, even after a year of working together. The reality of these things always hits him when he least expects it, and sometimes that irrational fear of being outed gets to him.
“Yeah, if Buck were Spider-Man, he’d probably get stuck in his own webbing,” Hen quipped, making the others burst into another round of laughter.
“Or tangle himself up trying to put the suit on,” Eddie added with a smirk. Buck pretended to scowl at him to cover his sheepish blush, knowing he'd done at least all of those once or twice.
“Alright, alright, laugh it up,” Buck said good-naturedly, standing up and stretching. “But don’t come crying to me when I go tell my bestie Spider-Man to turn the other cheek when danger arises”
The conversation ended abruptly with the alarm making a chorus of groans come from everyone as they all moved to action “they say its an at home emergancy, sorry Buck but it's your turn to be the man behind today” Buck was quick to groan louder for a different reason, Eddie patted him on the back before taking off.
“You know if we see Spider-Man this time, I'll make sure to ask him about you” This caused Buck to chuckle.
“Dream on, Buckaroo,” Chimney called after him as they all made their way down to the rigs. He rolled his eyes.
“Try to get some sleep while we’re out!” Bobby, the ever-relentless
When he saw the fire truck roll out of view, he wasted no time in slipping away
As he stepped out the back he took a quick precious moment for a deep breath of the cool Los Angeles air. Buck felt the familiar hum of anticipation thrumming through his veins. He glanced around, making sure no one was watching, and then pulled out his phone, to check the latest police scanner reports.
“Alright,” he muttered under his breath, eyes scanning for any signs of trouble. “Let’s see what kind of issues I can cause tonight”
Within moments, Buck was on the move, slipping into the shadows as he made his way to his hidden stash of gear. He couldn’t help but smile as he reached into the compartment, pulling out the sleek, dark orange-and-black suit that had become his second skin. Using his super strength to dart to the nearest roof
“Showtime,” he whispered, and then he was off, leaping into the city with natural ease.
Meanwhile, inside the fire truck on their way back from what turned out to be a false emergancy. The 118 were still idly chatting when the truck began to violently shake. Everyone scrambled to grab anything to keep themselves stable. The engine had been shaking so aggressively that it was dangerously close to toppling over. Everyone was yelling and holding on for dear life, and after a few minutes of what felt like hours, the truck slammed back on the ground, not toppled, and everyone landed with an oomph trying to regain their bearings
“Is everyone okay?!” bobby turned over and yelled
Hen was checking over Eddie and Chim for any injuries “we all seem to be okay cap, what was that?”
“Must have been an earthquake, a big one, so it seems”, he replied, already checking his phone
“Any nearby active stations check in and be aware that immediate assistance is being requested at-”, as they rattled off an address, Bobby swiftly tuned in, saying they were nearby and en route. His phone buzzed, and when he glanced down, his brow furrowed. “Uh-oh. Looks like there’s a situation downtown. Some kind of—”
“—building collapse,” Eddie finished, already having fished out his phone. “It’s all over the news…it was an earthquake”, as the words left his mouth, Chim yelled in surprise, pointing at the nearby buildings where a familiar dark orange hero was swinging ahead of them.
“Wait, was that Spider-Man?” Hen started, but Bobby shook his head.
“Doesn’t matter. We’ve got a job to do. Let’s move out, team.”
As the truck’s sirens were turned on, Chimney couldn’t resist one last comment, throwing his arms up in exasperation. “I swear, if we get there and Spider-Man’s already taken care of everything again, I’m gonna lose it!”
Hen smirked as she gently elbowed Chim. “Guess we’ll just have to see if our elusive friend shows up this time.” She leaned in close despite the microphoned helmets, “You even might get to talk to him~” she teased.
Chim just looked unimpressed while the truck's sirens blared. Eddie's phone buzzed “Buck sent a text asking if everyone was alright”
Their captain replied swiftly, “Tell him we're fine and to try and get everything back in order at the fire station”
“Ugh, he's gonna be so mad he's missing out right now” Hen commented, smiling at the idea of Buck grumpy because he's an action junkie.
Bobby chimed in, “He’ll live.”