Chapter Text
Alright, let’s start this from the beginning. My name is Steve Harrington. I was bitten by some sort of fucked up spider, and for the last six months, I’ve been the one and only Spider-Man.
It was easy to forget sometimes, the time from before I became Spider-Man. Shitty teenager, shitty parents, shitty friends. It also followed soon after my life was turned upside down, no pun intended, by finding out there is an alternate dimension below our feet. I’m still not sure if the two were directly connected, but it's hard to think otherwise. Before that, I was a douchebag, and now I’m a masked vigilante who fights crime at night. Once I got over the initial learning curve of my new abilities, it was easy to take this as the next step. I’d been given these abilities for a reason, and I’d seen firsthand what lurks below Hawkins. I had to at least try to help people with them, in any way I could.
~~~
May
He’d faced small robberies, muggings, escorted women home safely, and rescued a couple of lost animals. It had gained him his city’s favor and approval, and that was enough for him. To his community during the day, he was Steve Harrington, the son of a well-known businessman and his charitable wife. They threw parties, hosted events, and donated to organizations within the city. He was their son who had had a bright future, who would make appearances at events, who would charm attendees with his manners and easy humor. That was before he squandered those opportunities, became a high school graduate with no future at college, who was applying for a part-time job at the mall, and who went home to an empty house most nights.
But at night, he was Spider-Man, not the name he would’ve chosen, but the newspaper had run with it, and he had to admit that it’d grown on him. He looked out for the little guy, he roamed the blocks of Hawkins Indiana, and helped people feel safe in any way he could. He didn’t have to bear the weight of his past and present at night, he could be someone new, someone he wanted to be. And he’d be damned if he wasn't great at what he did.
Remember the part though, about “one and only Spider-Man?” Yeah, that wasn’t exactly true, as he was about to find out.
“Hi!”
“Hey!” Steve paused before feeling his stomach drop. “Wait, what the hell?” The person next to him was next to him, as in hanging upside down off a bridge…hundreds of feet above a river. He released the web he’d been holding, plummeting for only 30 feet before another attached to his chest, abruptly jolting him to a stop. He hung there, the stranger holding onto him as his body swayed in the wind, before he pulled himself up with a web of his own.
He dangled with one hand, sizing up the masked person in front of him. Their suit was mainly black, with details of purple and blue across it, mirroring his own red and blue suit.
“Who are you?” He approached them with skepticism, not sure if they were a threat or not yet.
“I guess you can call me Spider-Woman.” Her voice was gravely, rough around the edges.
“Spider…woman?”
“That’s me.” She dropped to swing on one hand, mirroring his position. If he focused really hard, he could remember hearing news stories of another masked vigilante on the rise, but often he was too tired to pay attention to anything during the day that wasn’t crucial.
“So you’re…like me, but…a girl?” He knew immediately it was a stupid thing to say, especially when he could see her brow furrow through her mask. “Um, I mean, you’re another spider person? How?”
“Could we maybe take this somewhere else? I know I have powers and everything, but my arm is kind of hurting, and I’m…still afraid of heights, specifically above water.” She pulled herself up to crawl on the underside of the bridge, and all he could do was follow after her, lightly laughing at her statement.
Eventually, they settled on the top of a building, legs dangling off the edge. The city was lit up for the night, lamposts and buildings piercing through the inky black. He couldn’t help but glance over at the girl next to him. She was hunched over, hands clenching around each other, nervous energy radiating off of her in waves.
“So yeah, spider bite, a spider that crawled into a weird fleshy hole in the ground before it sealed itself back up, I wake up with these freaky abilities, figure out I’m like you, and then decide to put my sewing class from 7th grade to good use to make this fun bit of fabric.” She gestured to her suit at the end of the summary of her previously very long story before awkwardly laughing to herself. “Can you um say something? Please?”
He was trying to absorb all the information that had just been thrown at him, his mind buffering as he worked through it all.
“Yeah, sorry. It’s just weird, not being alone. It’s nice though.” He smoothed a hand over the top of his covered head, his replacement for running his fingers through his hair. “Did you get stuck to the wall when you first got your abilities?”
“The ceiling, actually.”
“How did you end up on the ceiling!?”
“Oh my god, shut up.” She shoved him lightly. “Does anyone know? About who you are?”
“No. And I’d like to keep it that way, no offense. I’ve just got some people in my life that I can’t put in any more danger. I can’t let anyone know who I am, even if I’m not doing much as Spider-Man.” He felt his shoulders deflate slightly as he remembered how alone he felt sometimes, in both of his lives.
“Of course! Yeah totally, I don’t really want you to know who I am, no offense. I’m not like crazy or a terrible person or anything, I’m just not the type of person people usually want to hang out with. Not that I don’t have any friends! I have friends- well, sort of. I sort of have friends, sometimes, well- I’m going to stop talking now.”
Steve let out a genuine laugh at her rambling, her anxiety easing some of his in a weird way.
“I get it. I don’t really have friends my age, honestly in the most non-weird way possible, my closest friend is a 14-year-old.” That in turn got a laugh out of her and soon they were laughing together, the warm summer breeze carrying their voices onto the streets below.
“For what it’s worth, I think you are doing a lot as Spider-Man, probably more than you know.”
“Thanks, that- that means a lot.” He let the warmth that her statement created spread through his chest for a moment before snapping to action. “Well, Spider-Woman, what do you say we go for a patrol?” He stood and offered her his hand with a flourish and a dramatic bow. She took it before pushing him away and extending her arm to shoot a web into the distance, calling over her shoulder to him.
“Race you to the other end of the city!”
And that was how Spider-Man and Spider-Woman became Hawkins, Indiana’s newest vigilante duo.
~~~
June
“And here are your uniforms. You need to wear these every day as well as follow the other appearance regulations.”
Steve stifled yet another yawn, fighting against the urge to roll his eyes. He knew he was just being grouchy from a lack of sleep, something he’d done to himself by staying out too late on patrol while knowing he had job training the next day. He’d like to say he regretted it, but he and Spider-Woman had stopped a pretty major robbery, so he couldn’t even pretend to regret it at all.
After another slow blink that almost veered into unconsciousness, he glanced at his future coworkers. One girl in particular looked like she was just as tired as him, deep eye bags hollowing out her face as she stared at nothing in particular. As if she could sense his gaze, her eyes snapped to his. The jolt of her attention woke him up slightly and made him look forward once more. Her gaze made his head buzz slightly, and he shook it to try to dispel it a bit. He tried to remember her name from the beginning introductions. Roxie? Robbie? Robin. That was it. His first shift was with her the following day, as long as neither of them missed their alarms, he supposed.
He hadn’t even realized that their manager had disbanded their training meeting until everyone began to shove around him. In the chaos, he bumped into her, knocking their shoulders together harshly, causing her to wince and rub at the joint.
“Sorry about that. I’m Steve, by the way, Robin, right?”
“Yeah, I know who you are Steve Harrington.” Her tone made him pause, the underlying disdain palpable beneath the surface.
“Oh cool. Well…I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, sorry again.” And with that, he turned to leave, desperate to get out of that situation as fast as possible.
Great. Day one, and his coworker already hates him.
~~~
“And then my new coworker is this douchebag who I used to know back when he was in high school. Well know is a strong word, but everyone knew of him.” Spider-Woman was pacing in front of him, balancing on the ledge of the building they’d landed on to take a break from patrol.
“Is he still a douchebag?” He sat nearby, looking over the city for any obvious signs of distress.
“No? Maybe? I don’t know. He’s…fine so far. Kind of stupid sometimes, but it’s a new job, so I’m giving him a grace period in that regard.”
“Oh how kind of you.” His voice was thick with sarcasm he was sure she picked up on.
“Ha. Ha.” She stopped pacing to drop herself next to him, dangling legs already swinging in front of her. “How’s your new job?”
“Fine. No douchebag coworkers. Still trying to get the feel for it.” It was vague, short, but that’s what they agreed on. Neither of them wanted to reveal themselves, out of fear or danger or personal preference, it didn’t matter the reason. Both of them chose to remain hidden, so they agreed on ground rules.
- No names. Only nicknames or official hero monikers.
- No personal details. Vague stories or descriptors were ok, but nothing identifiable.
- No mentioning the names of people in stories or in your lives, there’s no need to drag anyone else into it, and the process of elimination could give you away.
- If you have to take off your mask for any reason, give the other warning and time to look or swing away.
So far, all he knew about Spider-Woman was that she wasn’t done with high school, she recently started a new summer job, and she couldn’t drive (legally).
All she knew about him was that he was a recent graduate, he also started a new job, and he could drive legally.
Of course they knew small details of favorite colors and favorite foods, had small bits of small talk or petty arguments, but the important? The identifiable? That was kept secret. Even still, it seemed like they could talk about nothing and everything all at once.
“You ever wish you could get out of this shitty town?” Her voice startled him slightly, snapping him out of his reminiscing over the short time they’d spent together.
“I mean, who doesn’t?” He scoffed slightly. “Back in high school I had hoped I'd get an offer somewhere, get to play on varsity somewhere far away. Guess I wasn’t good enough.”
“I’m sure you were fine, dummy. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how good you are. Sometimes things just don’t work out.” Her gaze was on the horizon as she spoke.
“What about you? Where are you gonna go when you get out of here?”
“France.” The reply was instant, bursting out of her immediately. “Well, that was the plan. I called it “Operation Croissant”. In hindsight, it was maybe silly. My parents want me to go to a good college, I have good grades, good extra curriculars. The college counselor at school says I could pretty much go wherever I want but-”
“...but?”
“But now I’m Spider-Woman. I have abilities that I have no explanation for. I don’t know if my life could ever be “normal” again. Now it's like I have this instinct to just jump into danger and help however I can. How do I give that up? How do I suppress that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you can’t…Or maybe you just need to know when to walk away.” They were both silent for a moment, two teenagers contemplating the responsibility thrust upon them, and the responsibility they chose to claim.
Somewhere in the distance, the sound of sirens began to ring out, accompanied by flashes of blue and red lights. Spider-Woman was the first to stand.
“But not tonight right? We don’t walk away tonight.” She held out her hand, mirroring his action from just a month ago back at him.
“Nah. Not tonight.” He grasped her hand, pulling himself up. “Let’s go, wonder-girl.”
~~~
In Steve’s, well, Steve side of life, things were much more boring. He’d gotten into the swing of his ice cream slinging job, stupid sailor’s outfit and all. The little gremlins he had somehow surrounded himself with showed up constantly, begging for free ice cream or asking to be let into the back passageways.
It was hard to say no to them, especially when he remembered all that they’ve already gone through at just 13.
So most of the time he waved them through, though not without an eyeroll and a half-hearted complaint. He received teasing for it sometimes, mostly from Robin.
Robin was still…Robin. Sometimes it felt like she was beginning to like him more. Other times? Not so much. He wasn’t quite sure what he did to her to make her have such a grudge against him in the first place, but he wasn’t exactly a great person until about a year and a half ago, so he could only assume he’d done something before then.
It felt like a higher power decided to mess with him when they were scheduled together almost every shift for the foreseeable future. Sure, there were days here and there that he wasn’t forced into close proximity with the girl, but those were few and far between. At the beginning, he just hoped to chip away at the icy front she put up around him.
And slowly but surely, he did.
The first time she laughed, like really, truly laughed was when he borderline faceplanted after slipping in spilled ice cream. And while it was extremely embarrassing, it was also incredibly worth it to see her let her guard down, however briefly.
Since then, he’s learned that her making jokes at his expense is actually just how she functions.
He’d even given her a ride home a couple of weeks ago when it was raining.
“Hey! Robin! Do you want a ride home? I don’t know if it’s safe for you to bike in this rain.” He’d rolled down his window to call out to the already drenched girl standing by the bike rack.
“I’m alright, thanks.” She stood there still, fiddling with her bike lock while trying (and failing) to wipe her wet hair out of her face.
“Don’t be an idiot and just get in the car.” Steve’s exasperation must have been enough for her to stop resisting. She simply sighed in response, finally clicking open the lock and beginning to walk toward his car.
“Sorry about getting your seat wet.” She sat up straight, trying not to touch anything she didn’t have to.
“Oh it's fine, honestly, you should see some of the shit the kids have spilled in here. Some water is the least of my worries.” At his reassurance, her posture relaxed slightly.
“You really care about them, don’t you?” He could feel her gaze on him in his peripheral vision.
“Yeah. I mean, they’re little shits sometimes, but they’re good kids.” She laughed lightly at his comment, and his heart brightened at the sound.
Soon he was pulling into her driveway, the small yellow house on a slight hill above them.
“Thanks for the ride, dingus. See you tomorrow.” Robin called to him before closing the back door after retrieving her bike.
“See you tomorrow, Rob.” He couldn’t tell if she even heard him over the sound of the rain as she sped her way inside. Internally, he let out a little cheer at the progress he’d made, grateful that she seemed to be giving him a chance.
The friendly banter did make him miss Henderson, though. He was glad he got to go to his science camp, he knew that he was probably loving it there. It didn’t make it any easier when The Party walked into Scoops without him, or when he didn’t get calls to ask for rides to the arcade. Was it a hit to his ego that his closest friends were a 14-year-old and a girl who didn’t even know his true identity? For sure. But Henderson would be home soon…and then all would be right.
~~~
“Maybe tonight was the night we should’ve walked away-” Spider-Woman’s quip and attempt at a laugh was cut off by a yelp as he tried to gently set her down on the ground, propped against the alley wall.
“Shit, sorry.” He pulled back, moving to grab supplies from one of their stashes they’d created across the city. He quickly moved the dumpster to grab the bag webbed to the back of it, yanking it open to rifle through it. “Ok, fuck, ok hold still, this is gonna hurt.”
He quickly pulled out a wad of gauze, pressing it against the wound. She let out a strangled gasp at the pain and pressure, tilting her head back to press against the brick behind her. Against her dark suit it was hard to see how much blood she was losing originally, but now, as the clean white cloth turned a deep crimson, it became much more apparent.
The night had started simple, routine patrols, catching up, racing across rooftops. They had just finished debating whether new Coke was better than old Coke when they began to hear a commotion a block over. They’d dropped into a robbery, complete with hostages and weapons.
At first, it went great, their fighting styles fully adapted to each other, moving in sync without even thinking. They’d almost fully apprehended the criminal group when Spider-Woman let out a gasp behind him. Time seemed to slow down as he turned to look at her, registering the knife in her gut, the man standing in front of her, and the blood rushing in his ears.
He froze in place, eyes fixed on the sight in front of him. In the blink of an eye, Spider-Woman had punched the man across the face, webbing his body to the concrete ground. Then she moved to grab the hilt still jutting out of her stomach.
“No wait! Stop!” He tried to call to her, raising his hand as if he could will her not to with his mind. But he was not El, and before he could stop her, she’d pulled the knife out, dropping it next to the man.
“Oh, that was a mistake, wasn’t it?” He got to her right as her knees buckled, throwing an arm around her waist to support her.
“Hey, no, no it’s ok. Maybe don’t do that again if you get stabbed, yeah? But it’s ok, you’ll be ok.”
Sirens began to infiltrate their enhanced hearing, and Steve panicked. The media had already been split about the pair, some claiming they were useless and dangerous, demanding they turn themselves in. Others praised them and their bravery, calling them the heroes of the increasingly dangerous city. Regardless, seeing one of them with a stab wound wouldn’t be a good look, and it could put her in danger.
“I’m just gonna get you out of here, and then we can figure it out from there, ok? This is going to hurt, but just try to hold onto me.” Spider-Woman's arm around his shoulders tightened as she nodded.
He swung quickly, desperate to get her to one of their supply stashes. They’d had injuries before, mostly minor cuts and scrapes, but it caused them to set up go bags across the city, hidden with first aid supplies or food or clothes.
And then he was applying pressure to the wound, fighting back the tears beneath his mask.
“Fuck, this is my fault, I should’ve been faster.” He was shaking, the reality of their fragility crashing down on him. It was easy to forget they were still mortal, could still be injured, regardless of their abilities.
“Hey, dummy, it’s ok. I’m gonna be fine, we heal fast, remember?” Her hand covered his against her torso.
“Yeah but you’re losing a lot of blood, and it could get infected and-” He cut himself off with a shuddering breath. “We need to get you to a hospital.” He moved to grab her stash of normal clothes, formulating a plan. “We’ll tell them that you got mugged and you ran into Spider-Man who took you there-”
“No.”
“Spidey, if this is about me finding out who you are then-”
“I said no!” She took a steadying breath, wincing once more.
“If I go to the hospital, they’re going to realize something is wrong with me. If they draw my blood or see how fast I’m naturally healing, then I’m- I’m going to become a new case study and then they’re going to figure it out. I can’t let that happen, I- I’m not going to be some sort of science experiment.” She looked up at him and though he couldn’t see her face, he could see the worry and pain underneath the mask.
“Ok. Ok yeah, I didn’t think about that.”
“Yeah, dummy, that’s why I’m the smart one between us. Now help me clean and bandage this up enough that I can go home, I think the bleeding has mostly stopped.”
They rinsed it with bottled water they had before wrapping around her midsection with more clean gauze and bandages. She’d have to redo it herself once she was home and suit-free, but she reassured him that it would be fine as she grabbed extra supplies to take with her.
She let him swing/walk her to what she promised him was only a street or two away from her house, forcing him to leave before she finished her journey home. Much to her protests, he’d given her his phone number for his house, making her promise she’d call if she needed anything.
It wasn’t until Steve was in the shower at home that he finally broke, sobs wracking his body. The feeling of her blood on his hands, the fear he felt when he saw the knife in her, the pain in her voice. He felt helpless, reckless…stupid.
He fell asleep in his dad’s recliner that night, close to the phone in case Spider-Woman called. His parents weren’t there to question his choice of bed, or why there was a Spider-Man suit hanging to dry in the bathroom with faint bloodstains still on the fingertips, or why their son seemed to have aged ten years in seven months. At that moment, he was almost grateful they weren’t around much.
Almost.
~~~
July
“Is- is he here?’
“Is who here?”
Steve couldn’t contain his excitement as he burst from the back room, his enhanced hearing allowing him to know who had entered Scoops Ahoy.
“Henderson!” They launched into their handshake, giggling and laughing to themselves throughout. He felt light, happy, content. It felt right to have him back in a place where he could protect him. He liked knowing all the kids were in the bounds of his protection should anything happen. (And please god don’t let anything happen.)
His pleas went unanswered as Dustin explained the Russian communication he’d picked up. As excited as Dustin was, and as excited as he tried to be for him, he couldn’t help but feel a thick cloud of dread settle on his shoulders.
There was no way to know if everything was connected, no way to know if this had anything to do with the events of last year, but it was hard not to come to immediate conclusions.
He stood to go get Henderson more fudge topping, sliding past Robin at the counter to reach the container. She must have noticed the ashen expression on his face because she paused for a moment and turned to look at him.
“Hey dingus, you ok?” It was uncharacteristically soft for her, and her face was pinched in an unfamiliar expression of worry.
“Yeah, I’m all good. Just…a lot on my mind.”
~~~
They’d eventually. cracked the code. By “they” he of course meant Robin and her weird knack for linguistics. Now they were figuring out the game plan to investigate the Russian base they presumably found. That meant he wasn’t sure what to expect in the coming days, with no way to know how this was going to go.
He’d tried to stop them all, pleaded with Dustin and Erica to not go through with it. Surprisingly, once Erica was on board she was on board, telling him that they were going in anyway, so he might as well come along to protect them. Even Robin agreed with her, saying they don’t know what they’re going into and might as well stop the kids from going in alone.
Spider-Man was so lost in thought that he didn’t realize Spider-Woman had joined him, perched on the edge of the building he was currently on.
“Hey dummy. How are you this fine evening?”
“I’m fine.” He had one leg propped up while he let the other swing freely.
“Bad day? You’re in one of your moods again.” She turned to face him, legs hanging on either side of the ledge as she cocked her head at him. “Do you wanna talk about it?”
“Not really, I just. I’ve got some personal stuff going on, a situation that might go bad-”
“Are you in a cult or something? Or a gang?”
“Jesus no! Y’know, you claimed to have good grades and all, but you’re not living up to the wonder-girl nickname, first taking out the knife that stabbed you and now thinking I’m in a cult? Speaking of your stab wound, are you doing ok?”
“Oh my god yes, for the last time it is fully healed. Honest to god, there’s barely a scar anymore, I swear. Now stop avoiding talking about your life and feelings!” She swatted him on the shoulder to emphasize her point.
“Ah geez, fine. Look, it will probably be fine, but just in case I’m gone for a bit, I didn’t want you to worry. And before you ask, no, you can’t help me with it.”
“That’s very ominous and very presumptuous of you, but I’m also in a similar spot. I’ve got a…work-related thing coming up, so I might not be around either.” She swung one leg to join the other, kicking into the open air mindlessly.
“Who’s going to defend the city then?” He nudged her with his elbow, smiling beneath his mask.
“Maybe the cops will pick up the slack for us. I mean, it’s not like we’re any closer to solving those missing people reports than they are, hopefully they can crack it and take it off our plates.”
“Yeah…yeah I guess.” He paused for a moment, looking out onto the city he loved and hated all at once. “Can I ask you something?”
“Shoot.”
“Why did you do it? Become Spider-Woman?” He could hear her take a deep breath beside him.
“I figured you seemed lonely.” He turned to look at her, his deadpan stare somehow leaking through the fabric covering his face. “Ok ok I get it, but seriously, wouldn’t you rather have me here than be alone every night?” He groaned at her joking, regretting the vulnerable question already. She sighed before continuing.
“I guess I just wanted to do something y’know? Like, I have these abilities, so how could I just sit in my room and pretend everything is normal? I’ve come to terms with the fact that Operation Croissant probably will never happen and- and that’s fine. But I need to do something with my life, I mean, I don’t think I could live with myself if I just ended up like my parents living in this shitty town for my whole life, working at a job I hate for my whole life. If I’m not going to get out of here, and I already hate my job, I might as well do something good with my life, right?”
“I get it. I don’t want to end up like my parents either. I think I just wanted to protect people, y’know? I’ve been unable to protect people in the past and they’ve gotten hurt on my watch. I guess this was a way for me to try and fix that, make it up to myself somehow. I think that’s why I freaked out so much when you got hurt. All I could think was “You started this to protect people, and now she’s gotten hurt, all while you just stood there.”” His voice cracked slightly at the end, throat thick with guilt.
“Oh, dummy no.” She put her arms around him, head resting against his shoulder as his hands came to clutch onto the arm in front of him. “I chose to do this, I chose this, do you understand? The responsibility for me lies with me, not with you. Not to mention you’ve saved me from way worse before. That was not your fault.”
“I know it’s just. God, this is embarrassing. You’re like one of my best friends? And I know that’s weird considering we know so little about each other, but I don’t wanna lose you wonder-girl.” Her arms tightened around him, grounding him.
“I’m not going anywhere, dummy.”
They stayed like that for a moment longer. It was the most physical affection either of them had ever shown, but it felt right.
That night when they parted ways, they wished each other well on both of their impending adventures.
“Good luck with whatever ominous thing you’re doing! Be safe. Plan to meet in a few days for patrol?” Spider-Woman hung from a lamppost, calling down to him.
“Yeah, I should be done by then, thanks. And good luck with your work thingy, I hope it’s not too awful.”
“See you around, dummy.”
“See you, wonder-girl.”
And with that, Spider-Man and Spider-Woman went their separate ways, both walking into the unknown.