Work Text:
It’s already shaping up to be one of those nights. The air is heavy with the threat of rain, and occasionally the sky is ripped apart by lightning. Even from inside the precinct, Jefferson can hear the thunder rumbling.
Thank God his shift is almost over.
“Hey, Jeff! Got plans for the night?” Kate asks, walking by his desk with a few files in her hands. Jefferson grins.
“Dinner with Rio, might call up Miles if he’s not too busy with schoolwork.” he says easily. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Kate laughs. “Sounds like a great night. Hopefully I’ll just be at my desk catching up with this paperwork. I swear, this is the worst part of the job.” Jefferson just chuckles as he pulls out his phone and his keys and sends off a quick text message to Miles. If you’re out tonight, be safe. A moment later it buzzes back with Miles’ reply: Always.
At that moment, Chief Yu walks out of his office. “Davis, a word before you leave.”
On the other side of the bullpen, Tony whistles. “Oooh, teacher’s pet is in trouble!” he teases. Jefferson throws an eraser at him while Kate just laughs from her desk. Yu motions for Jefferson to follow him into his office. The door closes behind him.
“What can I do for you?”
Yu doesn’t bother to sit at his desk. He simply looks Jefferson in the eye and says the words that shatter his world.
“Fisk made bail, and I just got word that the Prowler armor is gone.”
/-----------/
Miles perches on one of the lower buildings, watching the light show up above. City storms are always the best, although he’s never been out swinging through the sky when they happen before. His phone is tucked securely in an interior pocket in his suit – it’s a decent cell phone, and it took him six months of saving up for it. He’d rather not lose it.
The temperature drops. It’s going to start raining soon – sleeting, probably. It might be time to call it an early night, even though the buzzing in the back of his mind says he might want to stay out longer. He closes his eyes for a moment, casting his mind out for his family. They’re all out on their own patrols, nothing major happening in any of them. In fact, it seems to be a boring night all the way around. Only Gwen is dealing with anything, and she’s just talking to a young woman who was too scared to walk home alone after dark.
The others send back gentle pulses of contentment/affection. Miles grins under his mask.
He will never get tired of that.
MOVE
The force of his sense going off sends him vaulting off the roof and into the alley below without thinking much about an exit strategy. Even then, he can feel the edge of sharp claws at his shoulders.
He hits the ground and rolls just as the rain starts. His back is to the end of the alley, but at least no one can sneak up on him from there. His attacker drops from the roof and lands in front of him.
Purple suit. Sharp claws.
Even with the rain, that image has been burned into his mind.
The Prowler.
Prowler stands there for maybe two seconds. It feels like two eternities. They move at the same time, Prowler lunging forward, claws extended, while Miles jumps up into the air and shoots off a web.
His cell phone is vibrating now. Have to take care of that later.
He’s too low to get far, but he really doesn’t need to. The swing gives him about two alleys’ worth of a head start.
He should stay. He should fight, get some answers.
All he can see is Aaron’s face, Aaron’s blood covering his hands, his shoulders, Aaron’s claws around his throat and he can’t breathe –
He blindly reaches for the goober, and by the time Prowler makes it to the alley, he’s through the portal and gone.
/----------/
Mary Jane Watson is used to weird shit happening around her. It comes with the territory, being Spiderman’s wife for almost 15 years. So she’s not too surprised when a ball of colorful light appears, deposits a small child in front of her building, and vanishes. She just stands there for a moment, key in one hand and purse in the other, and blinks.
Okay, then.
She sets down her purse as she slowly kneels in front of the child. “Hey. Are you okay?”
Maybe speaking wasn’t the best idea. His head shoots up, and suddenly MJ finds herself staring at a small, terrified Spiderman. Who’s dressed all in black and red and can’t be more than 13. Maybe. She frowns, inching forward just a little. Peter accidentally punched her in the arm once, back when they were teenagers and he hadn’t been bitten yet. She’s never blamed him for it – after all, she snuck up on him and he’d reacted accordingly – but she doesn’t want to know what a super-strong punch would feel like. Still, he’s a kid, and he’s scared. She wants to help.
“What’s your name, kid? I’m MJ.”
His breathing is erratic, his hands clenching and unclenching into fists as his eyes dart around. Something blue – electricity? – crackles around his hands. For a brief moment, she wonders if he’s going to hurt her, if she can even defend herself from something like that. It dawns on her that he’s soaking wet.
“Kid?” she breathes.
“Miles!”
Peter drops from the sky and lands off to the side, immediately putting his hands out like he’s trying to get a toddler to take his first steps. He doesn’t say anything, nothing MJ can hear. In fact, she’s not entirely certain he even knows she’s there. His entire focus is on the kid.
Miles. He called him Miles.
Oh.
The kid is still trembling, staring blankly at Peter. With a grunt of frustration, Peter pulls off his mask. “Come on, kid, look at me.” he murmurs, still holding out his hands. “You’re safe now. I’m here, and you’re safe, and we’ll get the guys over here and have pizza and you and Gwen can tease me about my crappy apartment, and Ham and Peni can tease Noir for being damned colorblind. That sounds good, right, Miles?”
Slowly, the kid focuses in on Peter. The electricity stops crackling, but he doesn’t stop shaking. “P-peter?”
Peter heaves a sigh of relief. “Yeah, kid, it’s me. Come on, let’s get the mask off. Just keep breathing, okay?” Miles nods, and Peter reaches forward and gently tugs the kid’s mask up. The kid reaches up and grabs his hands, and Peter just pulls him into a tight hug. His hands must touch something on the kid’s back, because Miles lets out a sharp breath and Peter flinches. “Close call.”
“Y-yeah.”
For a moment, it looks like Peter is listening to something she can’t hear. It’s not the firs time, since he got back from – whatever. Or wherever. She’s still not sure if she believes his story. Then again, the proof is right here, in the form of the same boy Peter couldn’t shut up about clinging to her ex-husband like Peter’s his only grip on sanity.
Peter must have decided something, because he starts to gather the boy up in his arms. MJ reaches out and puts a hand on his shoulder, effectively stopping him. His head snaps around to her. She watches with distant amusement as his eyes widen and his cheeks color.
She could tease him about that. Instead she just points towards the fire escape.
“I’m still in the same apartment. Bring him there – we’ll get him warmed up.”
Peter can only nod. “Thanks, MJ.”
/----------/
Jefferson paces his living room. He calls Miles’ phone for the tenth time. For the ninth time, it goes straight to voicemail.
Normally, that wouldn’t worry him. Miles always loses service if he goes to visit the others. Miles always also tells him that’s what he’s doing because he always loses service, even if it’s nothing more than a quick text message. This time, there was nothing.
This time, the phone rang on the first try. Miles just didn’t answer.
Why wouldn’t Miles answer?
He’s about to try again when he hears the distinctive sound of a portal opening behind him. He spins around, hoping to see Miles, but instead Noir stands in his living room. Jefferson swallows hard. “Miles?”
“He’s fine.” Noir assures him, and Jefferson actually stumbles in relief. Noir catches him by the arm, keeping him steady. “Best we can figure, something spooked him bad and he just jumped. Wound up with B by accident. He’s making sure the kid’s okay before he brings him home.”
“Oh, thank God.” Noir guides Jefferson over to the couch and settles him into it. Jefferson can feel the tremors coming now that the adrenaline is wearing off. “Is he hurt?”
Noir shakes his head and sits on the couch beside him. “No. A little cut up, wet, and very, very scared.” The other man hesitates a moment before taking off his mask and continuing. Jefferson can see the concern and worry written into his face. “He’s – whatever he saw, it got him stuck. His mind keeps playing this loop with his uncle. B’s working him out of it, but we can’t figure out what happened.”
Jefferson can hazard a guess. “Someone stole the Prowler gear from evidence.” he says tiredly.
There’s a long pause from Noir before, “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“What about Kingpin?”
“He’s made bail.” Jefferson leans forward and puts his head in his hands. He can’t quite stop shaking, can’t quite stop seeing the ghost of his dead brother behind his eyelids, and he wonders how bad it is for Miles, who actually watched Aaron die.
Noir nods, considering. This is a problem – if Kingpin has made bail, if Prowler is back somehow, then that means Miles is in immediate danger. Noir knows Kingpin will come looking for the Spiderman that stopped his collider. He should go, see what he can dig up.
But Jefferson is curled in on himself, hands shaking, and he can’t bring himself to leave the man.
B, I’m gonna stay here for a bit.
What’s going on? Peter asks quickly. I can’t get anything coherent out of Miles right now.
Noir grimaces. Someone brought back the Prowler.
There’s a rather long pause.
Oh shit.
How’s Jefferson doing? Ham breaks into the conversation.
Noir sends the impression of a shrug. Better than Miles, but not good.
Okay, you stay with Jefferson. Gwen cuts in. Peter’s got Miles, so we know they’re both safe. Rio is probably at the hospital, and I doubt Kingpin knows anything about her, anyway. We’ll head out and see what we can find on Kingpin
All of you, be careful. Peter warns. I am not explaining that to anyone.
Noir makes a sound of agreement. Jefferson leans against him so their shoulders are touching. “What are they doing?”
“Planning a hunt.” Noir says bluntly.
“Are you going?”
“No. I’m right where I need to be.”
/-----------/
Peter and MJ manage to get Miles out of the wet suit and into a dry shirt that used to be Peter’s. The thing almost comes down to the kid’s knees, but it’s dry and warm, and Peter just picks the kid up and sets him on the couch before sitting down next to him. Miles immediately burrows into his side, pulling up his knees and turning himself into the smallest ball he possibly can for a kid that’s all arms and legs. Peter just puts his arm around him and holds him close. Tears dampen his shirt, but Miles doesn’t make a sound.
Thankfully the cuts aren’t that bad, just long scratches that have already stopped bleeding.
MJ sits down in the chair across from the couch. “Guess you weren’t kidding.”
“Not this time.” He really should be focusing on her – after all, this is something that he wants to fix – but Miles has his undivided attention.
Well, not quite. He’s keeping an eye out on the others as well. He’s just glad Noir decided to stay with Jefferson. Neither father nor son need to be alone right now.
MJ makes a sound of frustration that brings Peter’s gaze back to her. “You see what I mean, don’t you? About him?”
This really isn’t the conversation Peter wants to be having right now. “I saw the minute you pointed it out. You don’t have to hammer it home.” He saw it a hell of a lot earlier than that. He saw it when he launched himself at Kingpin, not with the thought of making his death count, but with the terror of watching this kid face that monster alone. He sighs. “Come on, MJ, let’s not do this now. I just want to get him stable so I can get him home.”
MJ sighs and leans back in the chair. “Okay, you’re right. I’m sorry – the whole situation has me a little on edge, and my inner bitch is coming out.”
Peter snorts. “I’ve seen your inner bitch, and that’s not her.” he teases lightly. “Look – I want to fix this, okay? I want to make you happy. Whether that means being your husband or being your friend is up to you, but you don’t have to decide tonight. Hell, you can tell me to bug off and I’ll do it.”
She examines him for a moment. “I don’t want you to leave.” she says slowly. “But – would you give up being Spiderman for me?” He tries to hide his reaction, but something of it must cross his face, because she smiles. “Yeah, I didn’t think so. I – I need something a little more normal than you can give me, you know? I don’t mind the craziness every so often, but I don’t think I could handle having portals opening around me every three days.”
He looks down at Miles. The kid is out cold, still tucked into his ball with his fingers clenched in Peter’s shirt. The occasional tremor still races through his body, but he’s finally starting to calm down. At least his mind is completely blank instead of looping Aaron’s death.
“So – friends, then?”
He looks up in time to see her smile. “Yeah. Friends.”
Finally, Peter smiles back. He can work with that. He can work with all of it. “Thanks, MJ.”
/-----------/
When Miles wakes up again an hour later, he’s completely coherent and still in his position tucked into Peter’s side. Peter himself still has one arm around him while he flips idly through the TV channels. Miles can hear some noises coming from behind them – MJ? Is that where he is?
Peter glances down at him. Ready to come back? he asks quietly.
Miles nods. I think so. Sorry for –
Don’t you dare apologize, Miles. Trauma sucks, and that was a shock. Don’t you dare apologize for handling it the only way you could.
Slowly, Miles smiles. Thanks, man. The smile fades away as he considers. Does Dad know I’m with you?
Yeah. Noir’s with him now. I sent him over there to let him know you were with me. Figured you didn’t leave a note. Miles shakes his head. Peter smiles. He’s okay. So’s Rio. They’re home, safe, and just waiting for you so they can hug you half to death.
That gets a laugh out of Miles, which in turn draws MJ from the kitchen. She has a steaming cup of hot chocolate in her hands, and she gives it to Miles. “Figured this might help.” she says. Miles nods his thanks and takes the cup, still looking a little wary of her. MJ smiles gently. “I’m not gonna hurt you. I promise, you’re safe here.”
“I know.” Miles says quietly. “Just – how did I get here? I don’t really remember.”
Peter frowns slightly. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
Fear spikes through Miles before he can get control of it, and he flickers out of sight for a second. MJ lets out a startled gasp, but Miles keeps his attention on Peter. “P-prowler.”
“Yeah. Jefferson told Noir that someone stole the Prowler gear from evidence. You jumped dimensions to get to safety and wound up in front of MJ’s building.”
“That must have been interesting to see.” Miles mutters. He finally takes a sip of the hot chocolate. MJ grins.
“Almost as interesting as watching your light show. You can turn invisible too?”
“Light show? You mean the venom – wait, did I hurt you? Please tell me I didn’t – “ He’s already sitting up, eyes widening, even as Peter and MJ reach out to him.
“No, no, you didn’t hurt me.” MJ says quickly. “You were – sparking, I guess? – and I kept my distance. Trust me, I’ve had this one – “ she jerks her thumb at Peter – “throw webs at me when he showed up scared out of his mind. I know what I’m doing.” She offers him a reassuring smile. “I’m just glad you’re better, okay?”
“Okay.” Miles finally settles back and takes another drink. “You make really good chocolate.”
MJ laughs. “Thank you.”
He can feel the others reaching out to him, carefully, wanting to touch but not wanting to scare him further. He meets them instead, pushing affection and appreciation at them while they swamp him with relief/protectiveness/love. He practically melts under the waves, and Peter grins at him.
“You ready to head back?”
Back means returning to the reality that Kingpin is probably out of prison now, that he wants Spiderman dead, that the Prowler is still out there in his city.
But he’s not going back alone.
He’ll never do anything alone again.
“Yeah. I’m ready.”
/-----------/
Miles steps out of the portal, and Jefferson pulls him into a crushing embrace. Miles hugs back just as hard.
“He’s not gonna hurt us again, Dad.” he whispers fiercely.
“I know, Miles. We won’t let him.”