Chapter Text
"I close my eyes only for a moment, and the moment's gone. All my dreams pass before my eyes, a curiosity."
Jeremy felt sometimes that he must be a masochist, considering he didn't immediately skip Dust In The Wind when it started playing. Instead, he turned it up, allowing it to drown out the sounds around him. Pull away from reality and focus on the music.
It was a great song either way.
"Dust in the wind. All they are is dust in the wind."
Jeremy was starting to cross the road, not sparing a glance to the traffic in his distraction.
"Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea. All we do crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see."
He felt a hand grab his cardigan and yank him backwards out of the way of the oncoming car, which honked at him. He blinked in surprise and looked behind him at the person who pulled him out of the way and now back into an alley.
"Dust in the wind. All we are is dust in the wind."
Deadpool was there, still holding his cardigan. He seemed to be breathing heavily, almost as if he had been panicking for a moment there. Jeremy slid the headphones from his ears, realizing it would be hard to hear him with the headphones and the mask keeping him from reading his lips.
"Jesus man, you nearly got hit," Deadpool muttered, and Jeremy blinked. It was rare to hear Deadpool sound anything other than cheerful and almost optimistic in the face of the things they faced on a weekly basis. Even getting his hand chopped off, Deadpool maintained a cheerful attitude. But right now he looked nervous and almost scared because Jeremy had almost been hit by a car.
"Uh...sorry?" he said, unsure how to respond. "Thanks for saving my ass though? I appreciate it." He gave a kind of awkward smile, unsure how to act around Deadpool without giving away his identity.
"Just...be more careful."
Jeremy nodded, before asking, "Can you let go of my cardigan please?"
Deadpool realized he was still holding it and let go, saying, "Shit, sorry." Jeremy tilted his head, a bit concerned. Deadpool was never this awkward around Spiderman. Was he doing something to make him feel awkward right now?
"It's fine," he quickly assured. "No big deal! Um, I'm Jeremy?"
"...Deadpool."
"Well, thanks for saving me, Deadpool," Jeremy remarked, smiling to show there were no hard feelings. "I've got to go meet some friends of mine right now. Later!"
"Yeah, uh, later!"
Jeremy walked away, still a bit confused, before shrugging and sliding the headphones back on. Dust in the Wind was now just ending and he realized he was probably going to be late to meet everyone.
Jeremy sat down in the chair at Pinkberry, where everyone but Jake and Rich were waiting for him. Jenna pulled up her computer and opened Google Hangouts, Rich and Jake appearing on screen, before clicking Share Screen and going through her files.
"So, I've been doing research into some of Squip's political contacts. No connection through party or most policies they support. But I found that all of them agreed to increase funding for one specific lab, which apparently tests the affects of certain drugs on lab mice. All attempts into a background check on all involved scientists have proven unsuccessful. Like Squip, they have no background." Jenna pulled up a file showing names.
"I recognize a couple of names," Rich noted. "I may have been to that lab before but I don't remember what I was doing there. Squip knocked me out sometimes after telling me to go specific places."
"I don't think we should risk sending Jeremy there without some idea of the security this place has," Christine noted. "Even with Deadpool, I think we'll have to wait and get more information first. What do you think, Jeremy?"
"I think you're right, Christine," Jeremy agreed, shrugging his shoulders. "Not only should we wait for more information, but I should talk to Deadpool and get his perspective too. I don't want to make any decisions without his okay, since he is probably going to be taking most of the punishment." Immune to dying didn't mean immune to pain after all.
"I want to add some updates to your costume too," Brooke added, gesturing with her spoon for emphasis. "Jenna and I've been working on some material that might help keep you safe out there."
Chloe nodded. "Once we've got a date, I'll organize something so nobody's parents are concerned. Maybe a massive sleepover? Christine, can your set up be moved to my house for a night?"
"I'm not sure, but Jenna and I could probably put something together."
Jeremy allowed the group to discuss logistics for the sleepover/sting operation, sliding Michael's headphones back on and pressing shuffle again, smiling a little as Bulletproof by La Roux started playing.
He could now see why Michael wore headphones all the time. It was privacy when surrounded by people, calm in a battlefield of teenage angst and anxiety. Retreat into your own world and you won't get overwhelmed by all the people around you. Everything might be falling apart around you, but put on those headphones and turn on the music and you could withdraw from that.
"This time baby, I'll be bulletproof."
Michael had always been smarter than Jeremy. And stronger.
He thought about all the things Squip said in order to tear him down, betting Michael wouldn't have fallen for it, or abandoned his best friend because of what they said. He remembered the semicolon on Michael's wrist and knew he probably wouldn't have been strong enough to get through that. Where did that strength come from? How did Michael push through those things?
Life sucks, man. But you make it suck less. It's kind of like a two player video game. We have to fight together to win!
Jeremy didn't want to think about the possibility that he was the reason Michael stayed strong. Because he had proven to be unreliable in the end. Because he had left him behind, refused to listen to his warnings about Squip, insulted him. Jeremy has never deserved a friend like Michael, and Michael deserved a better friend than him.
You couldn't rely on one person for everything. Especially Jeremy. Because Jeremy was easily pushed to leave in the end.
Squip was wrong about many things. But they weren't wrong about one.
Everything about me is so terrible.
"Jeremy?"
He slid the headphones off, asking, "Yeah?"
Brooke gave him a look as if she knew what he had been thinking before saying, "You never got any frozen yogurt. Want me to buy you some?"
"Oh, you don't-"
"I want to, Jeremy," she said, her tone serious. "Now, I think you'd be a pomegranate fan. With Oreo pieces, cherries, and chocolate syrup on top?"
He nodded slowly, and Brooke smiled, getting up to him some.
"So Jeremy, how did you do on that chemistry test?" Chloe asked, leaning on her hand. Jeremy wondered if she and Brooke were trying to distract him, pull him out of his thoughts. Was he so easy to read that they could all tell that he was starting to slip?
Jeremy gave a small smile. "I actually got an A. I don't know if I could've passed a chemistry test before all this without your help."
"You're the one putting effort into knowing the material better," Chloe remarked, waving her hand to indicate it was no big deal. "I'm simply helping you out with that. Besides, considering all the stuff you have to do, the fact that you are keeping up is impressive."
Christine elbowed him lightly, asking, "So what took you so long to get here?"
Jeremy flushed, saying, "Just...um...got a bit caught up in something. No big deal." He didn't want to exactly tell them that he nearly got himself hit by a car, considering they were already worrying enough about him.
Jenna leaned in, grinning mischievously. "That's not what your face is telling us, Miah."
Jesus Christ, he really was that easy to read!
"So, did you bump into a cute girl?" Brooke asked with a smirk, setting his paper bowl with frozen yogurt in front of him. He quickly took a spoonful to give himself an excuse not to answer his nosy as fuck friends. "Oh, come on Jeremy. I'm sure Jenna won't tell anyone."
Jeremy wanted to bury his face in the frozen yogurt, both because he was embarrassed as fuck and because holy shit, this was fucking delicious. He took a bite and smiled at the taste. Okay, he could understand why Brooke loved Pinkberry so much. He took another bite and shook his head, gesturing to his mouth as an excuse.
Christine shook her head at Jeremy's antics, saying, "Come on. We won't even tell Rich if you tell us."
Jeremy swallowed the yogurt and sighed. "If I tell you guys one thing about what happened, will you lay off?"
They nodded excitedly, and he sighed.
"I didn't bump into a girl. I bumped into a guy."
The four blinked, then grinned evilly. Jeremy added quickly, "That's it. That's all you get. And you can't tell Rich, or anyone. Got it? Jesus."
"Ah, I'm just so happy you are finally admitting your bisexuality," Christine said in her most mom-ish voice that Jeremy wanted to sigh. "Anybody would be lucky to have you for a boyfriend."
"No worries, Miah," Jenna assured, smiling happily. "I'll be as silent as a giraffe."
Everyone at the table blinked.
"What? Giraffes are mute!"
The group laughed, including Jenna, and Jeremy felt a smile return to his face.
Sometimes it was better not to get lost in your own head.
Jeremy was walking away from the Pinkberry, about to pull on the headphones again when a crash grabbed his attention. He looked up to see a giant man tossing cars around and immediately moved, racing to an alley way and yanking his bag off, pulling off his clothes and pulling on the gloves and mask. Tucking the bag into a safe place, he raced out again, taking in the scene around him.
People were screaming, desperately hiding in nearby buildings. Everyone was running from the bedlam as well as they could.
"Jeremy, you're on the scene, right?" Christine asked through the earpiece, getting his attention. "Chloe and I were already out of the way of the attack. I can't see what you see until I get home but I am hearing the news. What does he look like?"
"Big hulking dude. He looks like he lives on a diet of testosterone and live bears. He's throwing around cars."
She hummed, before deciding, "Sounds like he is all strength. He'll likely be slower than you. His strength is his most dangerous feature. Keep moving, be faster and smarter. Don't let him hit you, okay? I'll see if I can get any info from Rich or add anything once I get home. Just hang on, okay?"
"Okay." With that, he got himself to a high vantage point, fired one of his spinnerets to the top of a nearby building, and swung in, using the force to kick his opponent off balance.
"I think the zoo lost a tiger," he noted as the guy regained his balance. "Did you happen to eat him?"
The guy slammed both hands downward, and Jeremy dodged, paling a bit at the cracked asphalt. Okay, maybe taunting the fucker wouldn't go so well. He dodged another attack, deciding his best plan was to keep him distracted and not throwing cars around until everyone was out of immediate danger, than go on the offensive. And hope that Deadpool got here soon.
He desperately dodged each attack, adding the occasional snarky comment as he did.
Then the guy swatted him, throwing him back, before lifting a car and tossing it towards a kid who was running across the street.
Jeremy barely managed to recover well enough to act quickly, shooting one of his spinnerets at his feet to keep them planted and the other at the car and yanking backward, pulling it away from the kid just as a familiar red suited hero dove forward, grabbing the kid and rolling out of the way. He sighed with relief, thanking god for Deadpool, right before getting kicked, sending him to the ground painfully.
He pushed himself up, lifting his mask to spit blood out of his mouth before readjusting it, turning around.
"No more playing around, huh?" he said, smirking under his mask. "Let's do this then."
He fired his spinneret, attaching himself to a building before firing again and swinging towards the villain, kicking him in the face solidly. He dodged a punch, grabbed the asshole's shoulders and yanked him down hard, bringing his knee up to meet his face. He stepped back to avoid a sloppy hit before shooting a spinneret to the ass' face, blinding him momentarily.
"You alright man?" Deadpool asked, running up to him. "That looked like a bad hit?"
"I'm good," Jeremy said, rolling his shoulders back. Ouch, dammit. "Glad you're here though. This fucker is gonna go down."
The two fistbumped before diving back into the fight as the man finally ripped the webs from his face.
Deadpool pulled one of his swords from the sheath and took a stance, remarking cheerfully, "I'm gonna be nice and give you the not completely lethal sword, buddy." Then he ran at the fucker, dodging a frantic swing as he got behind the guy and sliced the back of his calves, sending him onto his knees. He then slammed the flat side of the sword into the back of the man's head, dazing him.
Jeremy gave a solid palm strike to the guy's face, pulled him down by the shoulders to send his face straight into Jeremy's lifted knee, then grabbed his arms and forced them behind his back, using his spinnerets to restrain his arms up to the elbows. He shoved him to the ground.
"You're squipped, aren't you?" Jeremy quietly said to the dazed man. The man's eyes started glowing blue, and he jolted, clearly being shocked for his failure.
Deadpool tossed a flask to Jeremy, who caught it easily as he said clearly, "Nice try, Squip. Well we aren't going to go down easily. So next time, don't get innocent people involved, you son of a bitch." Then Jeremy opened the flask and poured it into the man's mouth. The glow faded and he finally passed out.
It was a good thing Deadpool always carried Mountain Dew Red on him now.
He stood up, telling the fellow hero, "I know you probably want to hang out, but I'm gonna need to take care of my wounds. Sometime soon, okay?"
"No worries, Spidey," Deadpool assured him, punching his bicep lightly. "Take care of yourself, okay? See you later?"
"Yeah. Later!"
With that Jeremy slung away, heading to grab his clothes before going to Christine's.
Jeremy was lying on Christine's couch as she healed him while Rich and Chloe talked.
"So you didn't know the specific guy?" Chloe asked Rich.
"No, but I bet he is from the labs that Jenna mentioned earlier," Rich explained. "Which is another reason that Jeremy should wait. If there are more guys like that as their security, Jeremy should be fully prepared. One gave him a bit of trouble. I'd hate to see what would happen if he faced ten."
"As well as Deadpool," Jeremy piped up from the couch.
Rich nodded in agreement. "Yeah yeah, we'll make that you both are fully prepared, Spidey."
Jeremy flushed a bit, earning a snicker from Chloe. Christine, despite seeming tired from the healing, managed to give an affronted gasp. "Jeremy! How could you betray the boy you bumped into earlier?"
"What's this?" Rich asked, a smirk on his face.
"Christiiiiiiine," Jeremy whined, even brighter red than before. "You promised you wouldn't tell him."
Christine patted Jeremy on the head gently, saying, "Stop whining and let me finish healing you up so you can go home, okay Spidey?"
Jeremy sighed, muttering, "I never gave any of you permission to use that nickname."
It was in his personal opinion that there were some nicknames exclusive to certain people. Jenna was the only person who called him Miah, Christine held exclusive rights to Jerry, Brooke, Chloe, Rich, and Jake called him Jer affectionately, Private was an inside joke between him and his dad, and no one was allowed to call him Jer-Bear anymore (Because if someone did, Jeremy wasn't sure he wouldn't break down right on the spot because that was what Michael used to call him). Spidey was a Deadpool exclusive nickname and it felt weird to be called that by his friends.
Christine yawned, saying, "Welp, I finished up. You weren't too badly injured thankfully. I'd hate to have to divide up healing sessions." She looked at Chloe, asking, "You'll drive these two back to the Heeres' before you go home please? I'm too tired."
"You got it, Chris." Chloe gestured for Jeremy to get up, and as he did he grabbed the white headphones, sliding them around his neck for comfort after a long, stressful day. He didn't plug them into his phone; Chloe would be very offended if Jeremy listened to his own music in the car instead of hers. He didn't need to have them playing music to get comfort out of them really.
Michael was gone, but these headphones provided a shadow of the same comfort the boy himself used to give, and Jeremy would take a shadow over nothing. He could almost imagine Michael slinging an arm over his shoulders as he followed Chloe and Rich outside to Chloe's car, calling him Jer-Bear with the faint sounds of Bob Marley coming from his headphones. He could almost close his eyes and pretend nothing changed, that it was just the two of them against the world again. Before Squip. Before the fire. Before Jeremy was bitten.
"Jeremy?"
He looked up at Chloe, who was gesturing for him to get in the back of the car. Ah, Rich must have called shotgun. Jeremy gave an unsteady smile and climbed in, leaning against the door once it closed and looking out the window. And in the back of his mind, he finished the song from earlier.
Now, don't hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky. It slips away, and all your money won't another minute buy. Dust in the wind. All we are is dust in the wind.
Dust in the wind. Everything is dust in the wind.