Chapter Text
The aftermath of the latest battle could have been worse. It definitely could have been worse, the buildings could have been completely destroyed. But, they’re still standing, proud and tall, and Miles takes this as a win. Even as the PDNY begin to clear the area, grumbling under their breaths as they pass through the scene. …okay so it’s not ideal , but it beats having another incident like Alchemax and the collider. As well as the whole, bringing other versions of Spiderman into their reality. So, not the ideal situation but not as bad as it could have been. This should be a win!
Sighing, Miles looks at the destruction between Spiderman and the latest villain of the week, okay so calling this a “win” is stretching it but it’s not his fault that villains of the week want to be villains of the week. It’s just a tad bit concerning how many people are villains, the PDNY should be looking into that phenomenon as opposed to them trying to figure out Spiderman’s identity.
“So, what happened this time Spiderman?” Officer Davis asks, looking between the scene and Miles.
“Oh you-”, clearing his throat, Miles tries to make his voice deeper, “just the villain of the week trying to…I actually don’t know what this guy wanted this time.”
“You don’t know?”
“...should I have?” Miles retorts, squinting his eyes to look at his father. After the explosion at Alchemax things between the PDNY and Spiderman have become…complicated. They’re not actively calling Miles the antagonist but they still want to know his identity, and his dad for one has stopped seeing Spiderman as a menace. They’re not friends but their work relationship is a bit professional.
“Don’t you always? Classic bad guy monologue and all. Unless you were too busy making jokes to find out what he wanted.”
Staring at his father, Miles feels personally attacked, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe something along the lines of, you joke around too much to actually get the job done?”
“Hey! I am over here doing your job-”
As Spiderman argues with Officer Davis, the other officers at the scene groan and roll their eyes. The working relationship between Spiderman and PDNY is not working at all. Sometimes they’re able to put aside their differences and work cohesively together and other times…well other times this happens.
“Officer Davis, we need you to look this over,” Officer Rodriguez cuts in, “ and please stop arguing with Spiderman.”
“I’m not arguing , I’m-”
“Now, Jefferson.”
Grumbling, he makes his way over, still making a show to let Miles know that their conversation isn’t over.
Rolling his eyes behind his mask, Miles gives his dad a salute and shoots out a web.
..
Sitting at his desk, Ganke rubs his hands over his eyes, frustrated at his empty document, willing for something to appear. The sound of something slamming into the dorm window shocks him out of his trance and physically makes him jump.
“You almost gave me a heart attack!” he whispers, opening up the window to let Miles in. “Do you seriously need to come through the window like a bug?”
“I mean, I am Spiderman. It fits,” he answers, moving to remove his mask. “I thought we agreed we’d keep the window unlocked so that I wouldn’t smack myself against it every time I come back.”
“No, you decided that. I never agreed to anything.”
“What? Yes, you did. I can clearly recall you agreeing to that.”
“Now you’re just making stuff up,” returning to his chair, he makes an effort to keep his eyes glued to the screen as Miles begins to undress out of his suit. “Besides, I’m not the one who locked it, to begin with.”
“Then who did? A ghost?” grabbing whatever is closest to him, Miles changes into a mixture of his and Ganke’s clothes. “What are you even doing?”
“I’m supposed to be writing an essay for my English class but nothing’s coming to mind,” letting his head fall, Ganke rests it on the top of the desk. “So, who was your latest villain this time?”
Groaning, Miles falls onto Ganke’s bed, throwing his hands up to cover his eyes. “Don’t get me started on that.”
“Ehh, this essay is not going to happen tonight, I need something to justify procrastinating.”
Spinning his chair to look at Miles, he gives an encouraging nod for him to start the story. It always starts the same; some villain has something go wrong in their lives, and they blame Spiderman, yada yada, same old same old.
“And then my dad blames me for not knowing what that guy wanted! Can you believe that?” he asks, throwing his hands up in frustration.
“I mean…they usually tell you what they want. The classic villain monologue th-” he begins, cutting himself off when Miles turns sharply to look at him. Raising his hands in self-defense, he continues “They usually tell you what they want. Don’t give me that look.”
“What look? I’m not giving you a look, why would you think I’m giving you a look?”
“Because you are giving me a look!”
“No, I’m not. You’re just wrong and-”
“Oh my god,” titling his head back, Ganke begins to laugh, “we are not arguing about this. How is this our life?”
Sighing softly, Miles looks at Ganke’s form. He’s laughing quietly now, head still turned to the ceiling. He’s relaxed, calm. Compared to Miles’s stressed-out figure, taut muscles still prepared for a fight and a quip at the edge of his tongue. Taking a deep breath, he tries to match his roommate’s breathing, urging himself to get rid of the post-fight adrenaline. He’s fine, he’s safe. He’s back in his dorm with his roommate, there’s nothing here to hurt him. And there really isn’t. Ganke is the only person who knows who Miles is, who Spiderman is, he’s the only one who understands here. But he doesn’t, not really, not like Peter does, not like Gwen, or Penni, or- . But it’s enough. It’s enough for now.
“...so, what happened next?” Ganke asks, once his laughter died out, bringing his head back up to stare at Miles.
“Huh?,” Miles feels heat rushing to his cheeks, “Oh, I uhh, I left?”
“Are you asking me or telling me?”
“Telling. I left,” he replies, turning his head back to face the underside of his bed. “What else was I supposed to do? I fought the bad guy and let them deal with the legal side of things.”
“...you could have helped with the clean up? I mean, your whole relationship with the police department is iffy at best, maybe it would show them you really want that partnership to work out.” He retorts, a calculating look on his face as he looks at Miles. “Are-”, letting out a sigh he stops, “never mind.”
“What?”
“Nothing. It-, it was nothing. Don’t worry,” turning his chair back around he asks, “Help me with my essay?”
Giving a short laugh Miles sits back up, “Sure, what’s it about?”
..
Slouching back into his chair, Officer Davis runs a hand over his face. He’s exhausted, there’s a certain pain running through his chest he’s become overly familiar with and a heartache he thinks he won’t survive. He’s running himself thin, from dealing with the loss of his brother, his straining relationship with his son, and now a new Spiderman on the horizon. He’s still not too sure what to think of that guy…kid? Seeing him over Aaron’s body, watching his form hunched over his dead brother…he doesn’t know what to think, especially when just a few days later Spiderman gives them Kingpin wrapped up in a web. He doesn’t want to think Spiderman killed his brother, can’t exactly wrap his head around that idea, but he can’t get the image of him hunched over his body out of his head.
The others don’t know what to think of the guy…the kid? Some dislike him, others admire him. He helps with capturing the villains most officers wouldn’t be able to face even with their protection, but he’s not exactly abiding by the law. He’s a vigilante, a guy hiding behind a mask pretending to be the good guy. That’s where Jefferson’s fears kick in, where he thinks that maybe Spiderman is pulling the long haul. That one day…one day he’ll snap. And no one will be able to stop him.
…but then, he looks at Spiderman. He sees this awkward character who doesn’t know how to fit in, doesn’t quite know where to stand. He sees Miles, his son who is capable of greatness and doesn’t quite know what to do with it yet. And he feels such a surge of protection for Spiderman, who he’s fairly certain is a kid. He has to be. And he…and he lets go of his fears and his anger, he doesn’t know if it's justified. This Spiderman is trying to be Peter Parker’s Spiderman, he’s trying to fill in his shoes without having an understanding of himself.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Officer Davis looks back at the report he’s supposed to be filling in. Maybe Spiderman just needs someone in his corner, maybe Jefferson needs someone in his too.
..
It’s not even a week later when they meet again. Another villain of the week, however, they're more in the realm of normal as opposed to Spiderman’s usual bad guy. It’s faster this time around too. With no super abilities or machines to make them more grand, Spiderman is able to defeat them quicker and cleaner. It’s practically over before it even began.
“Officer Davis,” Spiderman greets, his voice sounding different from the other times they’ve spoken. Like a kid who’s struggling to deepen their voice.
“Spiderman,” Officer Davis says. No longer surprised he’s the first Spiderman greets, nor is he surprised when he’s the first to know anything related to him. That hug after the collider explosion has surely impacted his department's understanding of their relationship, which there isn’t one. “What happened here?”
“Oh, same old same old. Bad guy coming and blaming me for their problems, or well, the state of New York.”
“Uh-huh. And any reason why you didn’t let PDNY deal with this? Considering they don’t seem like the usual big-time villains.”
There’s no response, and when Jefferson turns around to look at Spiderman, he sees that little kid again. The one who seemed so small fighting Kingpin, who hugged him after the battle. He fights the urge to hug him, bring him in close. He just reminds me of Miles, that’s it, there’s nothing else to it.
“I wanted to talk to you,” Spiderman answers, hunching his shoulders ever so slightly. Jefferson doesn’t respond, waiting for him to continue. “I want to know how to make this work.”
“Make this work?”
“I have been made…aware…that I have helped in increasing the amount of damage done to the city. I want to help…stop that. I want to work alongside you- the PDNY. As partners. Officially.”
Blowing out a breath, Officer Davis looks Spiderman up and down. “Really?”
“Yeah, I want to help New York, not help in the destruction of it. It’s my city too.”
“Alright, alright. I’d need to have to talk to my superiors, see if the PDNY wants to officially work alongside you, but you have to understand that I don’t agree with your methods.”
“Never asked you to,” Spiderman replies, and Jefferson can just picture a snarky smile underneath that mask.
“I am going to regret this.”
..
Bringing the information to his captain shouldn’t be as nerve-wracking as it is, but it's somehow worse than he ever pictured. Spiderman has been working diligently to help out more and has become overly cautious when he’s fighting. He makes it his job to talk to the officers after the battle, he even swings by at times during their meetings to swipe a donut or two. He’s gotten friendlier, his quips just as sharp but not burning. It’s a nice relationship, and Jefferson isn’t ashamed to admit that he likes Spiderman. There’s still some tension between them both, but they’ve gotten closer.
His meeting with the captain goes well, or as well as it could have gone. Spiderman is now officially working alongside the PDNY, but they still hold certain reservations about which cases he works on and the fact that his identity is still a secret. It’s not publicly acknowledged, a stipulation made by Spiderman himself.
“I don’t follow the law or follow it like you do. I’m not a police officer, and I don’t want to be. I’m a vigilante who does what I think is best even if it means breaking the law or ignoring it completely. I can’t have it be publicly stated we work alongside each other, we’re just partners. I give you information and help with cleaning up, and you stand back in situations where it’s too dangerous for you.”
It works, so far.
..
It comes out of nowhere, well not nowhere but out of the blue. He honestly didn’t mean to say it but it just happened to fall from his mouth before he could stop it.
It starts like this.
Spiderman and the PDNY had just finished fighting against Doc Oc, she escaped again but didn’t end up with the pieces of tech she was planning on stealing. And Spiderman…he just made a simple comment about how in their squabble Doc Oc ended up destroying a mural made by elementary school students.
Officer Rodriguez then drags Spiderman into a debate about art, something or other about Banksy and Jefferson just blurts it out.
“I think you and Miles would be great together.”
Spiderman’s eyes widen, body taut and ready to run and before Jefferson can clarify and apologize or even utter another word, Rodriquez gives out the biggest laugh. Hunched in half, clutching her stomach, literal tears began to gather in her eyes. Spiderman is sputtering in the background, as both he and Jefferson start at one another in pure shock.
Holding onto Spiderman’s shoulder, Rodriguez quiets down. Taking huge breaths, she clarifies to Spiderman, “Miles is Officer Davis’s kid. Smart one too, but uhh…isn’t he only 14?” The last question is directed at Jefferson, wondering why he’d be wanting Spiderman to date a child when he, himself, is an adult. Or what she assumes to be an adult.
“...he’s 15,” Jefferson replies softly, still reeling from what he said. Looking between the shock-stilled Spiderman and the embarrassed Jefferson, Officer Rodriguez takes her leave. Patting Jefferson on the shoulder, she makes her way to the others and retells the moment to them.
“I-, that wasn’t-, it-,” Jefferson begins, struggling to explain away his embarrassment, getting cut off by Spiderman.
“Your son. What- you-...you want me to date your son?” He asks, his breath coming in slightly quicker. His eyes are still wide open and his fingers are fidgeting at their sides. “Or, like hang out with him? You don’t even know how old I am, so that’s- that’s definitely weird because I’m a man. A full- a full grown adult, not a kid .”
“You’re not an adult,” Jefferson replies, “you- you’re too- look. You just remind me of my son. And I thought you would be- that you’d like to hang around each other and maybe if things went well-”
“I am an adult-”
Overlapping one another, the conversation becomes still. Taking a step back, Spiderman offers a quick goodbye and swings away. Leaving behind Officer Davis, who desperately wishes the ground would swallow him whole.
..
“This is not funny Ganke.”
“...it’s a little funny,” Ganke answers between his laughter. “Your dad is trying to set you up with Spiderman! This is hilarious.”
“It’s not. It’s really, really not,” Miles groans, burying his face into his pillow. “It’s embarrassing! And he definitely knows that Spiderman isn’t an adult, and he’s trying to set me up with- with a stranger!”
“Okay, to be fair I could have told you that no one is fooled by your voice. I told you that we should have implemented a voice modulator-”
“-into the mask so I wouldn’t have to deepen my voice. I know, I know. But that’s not the point right now. My dad is trying to set me up on a date! With Spiderman. ”
Hearing Miles say it again, Ganke breaks into another round of laughter. Bright and loud, with no shame to it. Miles cracks a smile even as this is killing him in embarrassment.
“Just,” he begins, stopping shorting to catch his breath, “just tell him you’re dating someone.”
..
The next time they meet it’s awkward. Jefferson has been mulling this day over, it’s bad enough the entire precinct knows about this…situation, and another thing to have his wife bring it up all the time. He’s lucky Rio hasn’t told Miles about it, he fears the day his son finds out about him trying to “set him up” with Spiderman.
However, it’s not like he thinks his idea was a bad one. He’s confident that Spiderman and Miles would be great with each other. They both seem to have similar passions and hobbies and while Spiderman is a vigilante, he’s doing it because he wants to protect his home. They’d be perfect for each other!
Standing awkwardly next to Officer Davis, Miles clears his throat. He has to put an end to his dad trying to set him up with…with himself.
“So…about that date…” he begins, cringing inwardly, “I should mention to you that-”
“Look, before this happens. I just need to-”
“-I’m in a relationship. With Ganke.” Turning his head slightly to the side, Miles knows he messed up. He not only confirmed he’s a kid, but now he has confirmed that Spiderman should theoretically know about Miles.
“...Ganke? My son’s roommate…Ganke?” Officer Davis asks, placing a scrutinizing gaze on Spiderman.
“...yes.”
..
Throwing himself to his dorm’s window, Miles scrambles to get inside. He’s breathing hard, chest rising and falling in quick succession. Ganke turns to look at him, confusion and concern written all over his face.
“I need you to date me,” Miles says, staring at Ganke through the mask.
“...this is the weirdest way I’ve ever been asked out.”
“...is that a yes?”
“No.”
“What?” Miles squawks out, “Why not?”
“What do you mean why not? One, we’re roommates. Two, you are still in your Spiderman suit and this,” he says, moving to point between them, “is not the way to ask someone out. Thirdly, we don’t even like each other like…that.”
“Us being roommates is the first point to why we can’t date?”
“Well if we break up then it’s gonna be weird having to share a room with you-”
“I don’t think it’d be that weird-”
“It would be so weird, and it’s already weird that you’re Spiderman but I’m such an accommodating roommate that I let it slide and-”
“You are not accommodating, you just like messing around with the Spiderman tech-”
“Besides the point-”
“No, not besides the point. That is the entire point! You once made webs that didn’t dissolve-”
“I was testing things out! Sometimes you might need webs that last longer and-”
“We are getting off-topic. I need you to date me.” Miles says, finally removing his mask. “Ganke, I wouldn’t ask you this if it wasn’t serious.”
“...what do you mean ‘if it wasn’t serious’, what did you do?”
“I-,” Miles begins, “mighthavetoldmydadasSpidermanthatIwasdatingyouand-”
“What?” Ganke asks, his jaw slightly open, “Why would you say that? What- why do, what?”
“You told me to tell him I was dating someone!”
“Not me!?!”
“Who else was I supposed to say? You’re the only one who knows I’m Spiderman.”
“...and what does he want from me?”
“He’s- because you’re my roommate, and Spiderman is dating you, he thinks that…he wants to know what I am getting into.”
“So, he is basically scoping me out to ensure you won’t be harmed because of ‘ my’ connection to Spiderman?”
“Basically. And! Also because you’re my roommate, so we’re killing two snakes with one rock!”
“This is going to blow up in our faces, I hope you know that.”
“So, is that a yes?”
“I demand five I.O.U.s.”
“Two.”
“Four.”
“Three.”
Looking at Miles up and down, he answers, “Deal.”
“Thank you,” Miles moves to wrap Ganke in a hug. Dragging him out of his seat and squeezing him tight.
“Yeah, yeah. Just know I am going to use those three I.O.U.s and you cannot complain at all.”