Work Text:
Shit, shit, shit. Your one day off and you’re called in. The one day you allowed yourself to relax and sleep in, your boss calls you in telling you that your presence is needed urgently. You didn’t even have time to get properly dressed before rushing out the door. You knew it probably didn’t matter if you showed up in pj pants with your lab coat tossed over it haphazardly. After all, you weren’t head chemist because of your fashion sense. You rushed through the building, bypassing everyone in favor of making it with some semblance of punctuality. Making it to the elevator was one thing, but it seemed as though it didn’t want to move any faster than a snail’s pace as the doors took forever to close. When they did though, you let out a sigh of relief, the tension falling off your shoulders like raindrops rolling down a window pane. That was until someone else shot a web into the elevator and swung in. The action causing you to tense in fear, not for yourself but for them. You’d dealt with your fair share of web slinging but watching someone attempt to swing into an elevator as it closed was risky. Your body relaxed once more when they safely entered the elevator. You turned to see who your elevator companion was and saw Miles doubled over with his hands on his knees breathing rather heavily. His mask was pushed up off his face and he was wearing clothes over his suit. “You good kid?”
“Yeah, yeah, just- yeah.” He took a few more deep breaths before standing up straight and turning to face you. “What’s with the-”
You followed what he was gesturing vaguely to and chuckled nervously, hoping that no one would notice when you ran out of your house but your luck didn’t seem to want to cooperate. “Got called in last minute, you know how it is.”
He laughs awkwardly and it takes you a moment before you realize, he probably doesn’t know what that’s like given his priorities are supposed to be school and being Spider-Man. The rest of the elevator ride was silent, and it turns out the two of you were headed to the same area. You hold open the door for him before following suit. Upon entering, you took immediate notice of the handful of spiders in the room, Miles scampering off to go stand near the one in the white suit. Gwen? You were pretty sure it was Gwen or some variation of that. You stopped having to put too much effort into remembering names when over half the living beings you worked with were named “Peter”. Miles’ friend’s name quickly became the least of your worries when you ventured over to your lab station, slightly confused as to why there were vials of the-
That bastard.
“A thank you would’ve been nice.” As if the mere thought summoned him, which it might as well have. He seemingly had eyes and ears all over the building.
“Thank you for calling me in on my one day off this month, Miguel, whatever would I do without you.” You shoot back sarcastically, feigning a sweet smile and batting your eyelashes for dramatic effect before dropping your expression into a disinterested one. “So what exactly do you want me here for?”
He handed you a clipboard. “New recruits, and I need you to educate them on the dangers of relying on your serums.”
“So basically your version of the D.A.R.E. program?” You rolled your eyes when your comment didn’t elicit a reaction, snatching the clipboard from your hands. “You owe me one, big guy.”
It was his turn to roll his eyes, nodding in agreement. He watched as you walked in front of the group and flipped through the papers on the board to see what exactly was on here. You cleared your throat and greeted the group in front of you, seeing Miles and Gwen wave at you when the rest of them ignored the greeting. Your first talking point was the use of the serums you created and how they benefited the society, their various uses and the like. Quite a few of them seemed to light up at the possibility of their abilities being enhanced beyond what they were naturally capable of. An idea you didn’t like, those that lit up a little too brightly were going to be observed to make sure they didn’t end up building a reliance on them. Which brought you to your second point, the possibility of becoming reliant on the stimulants was as real as becoming reliant on any other form of stimulant like caffeine. Which brought you to your closing point, that none of them were allowed to request any serum in any amount until it was documented that they were able to perform outstandingly without them. “Any questions?”
One spider in a green suit raised their hand, it was a bit juvenile but then again, a lot of the new recruits were relatively young. You nodded at them as confirmation for them to ask their question, “If we’re supposed to be taking advice from you, why don’t you look more professional?”
“Because your dear leader is a jackass who doesn’t understand that when someone has a day off they don’t plan to be interrupted for things like this. Anything else?” You watched as they all murmured amongst themselves, some even looking back to Miguel to gauge his reaction. Becoming increasingly worried at his deadpan expression. When no one else had any other questions for you, you dismissed them. You walked to where Miguel had situated himself, leaning against your lab station, and let out a huff of frustration. “Seriously, I don’t understand why you couldn’t do this yourself. You have a doctorate in genetics.”
“Doesn’t mean I studied chemistry on the same scale you did.” Before you could retort, a spider came up to the two of you. You watched as they shrunk under Miguel’s gaze, no doubt scared of his constant resting bitch face. When they spoke, you couldn’t help but notice their shifting gaze, flickering between you, Miguel, and the floor rapidly. Their attention lingering on you longer than anything else, you assumed they were probably just nervous. Their question consisted mainly of worries about not being able to do the most basic Spider-Man tasks like flinging yourself around at insane hights seemingly for fun. It was at that moment that Miguel’s tone changed from one of a stern leader to something more of a caring mentor, letting them know that they’d be fine and not to stress too much over it, informing them that there’s plenty of training opportunities no matter the skill set. The shift in tone seemed to catch the attention of both Gwen and Miles, both of them whipping their heads around at the reassurance.
“That doesn’t mean that you don’t know how the serums work, or the side effects of them, or the interactions they have, or-” You picked your thought back up but before you could continue, Miguel nudged you and nodded his head subtly in the direction of the two youngest spiders in the room who were focused on the two of you and whispering to each other. “What the hell are they doing?”
“Not sure.”
“Mmh, anyways, if it’s all the same with you, I’m gonna head back home and go back to bed.” You stated matter of factly. You pat Miguel on the back before exiting the lab. On your way back to the elevator, you were stopped by Gwen who was being trailed by Miles, the two of them looking incredibly concerned. “You two alright? You look like someone just kicked a puppy in front of you.”
“We’re fine, we wanted to check on you actually. You didn’t get fired right?” Gwen asked, her eyes darting across your facial features.
“Why would I get fired?”
“For calling Miguel a jackass, and then you two were talking and he seemed pissed.” Miles interjected.
“He’ll get over it, I’m sure.” You dismissed your previous comment about their boss being a jackass. He was the least of your concerns at the moment. At that moment you were preoccupied with the desire to go home as soon as possible. “Besides, if it’s still bothering him in a few hours, I’ll apologize. For you two.”
Your empty promise didn’t ease any of their concerns as you turned on your heel and continued your path to the elevator. Though it did raise a few questions, why were they so concerned about you getting fired? Sure they looked up to you but that didn’t explain why they thought you would get fired for calling Miguel a jackass. Unless…
At that moment, everything fell into place. The room full of new recruits shocked by your statement regarding their superior as they were blissfully unaware of your relationship to him. You thought about explaining it to the pair of teens who were the most worried until you realized it would be a hell of a lot funnier to push the envelope and watch them try to figure out why he hadn’t beat your ass.
When the elevator reached the first floor, you decided you didn’t need to go home and instead opted to head in to one of the many common rooms, seeking out Peter B. Knowing that if they got curious they would likely go ask him. If you knew one thing about him, he had a tendency to not really be able to keep secrets. Which is why you adapted your lifestyle since meeting him. You found him at a table sharing a cup of coffee with Jessica, perfect. You walked over as quickly as you could without breaking into a full sprint. “Peter, if Miles and Gwen ask you any questions, don’t tell them.”
“Don’t tell them what?” He asked as he slowly put down his coffee cup, conscientious of the small child sleeping soundly on his chest, he turned to look at you, his brows knitted in confusion until he saw the wide grin on your face. “What did you do?”
“I called Miguel a jackass in front of a group of new recruits.”
“You do know they’re gonna find out eventually, right?” Jessica chimed in, you turned to her with a gentler smile than the mischievous grin you gave Peter.
“You two are the only ones here who actually know, everyone else is just running off of speculations. I wager they’ll be stringing up pictures with red thread on a corkboard in two days tops.”
“Does Miguel know about your little plan?” Peter leaned back and soothed the child who was writing in her sleep, rubbing her back until she stilled again. “And I thought you liked Miles, why not just tell him? Stop any unnecessary anxiety?”
“Not yet, he’ll catch on eventually. And I do like Miles,” You began, “but it’s been so long since I’ve been able to pull some shit like this I want to milk it.” Before you could be asked any questions, you turned on your heel to head back to your lab. You were in no hurry, meandering along and stopping to greet nearly every spider on your way back. You were excited to see just how far you could take things without giving anything away outright. Under any other circumstance you would have simply told them that you and Miguel had history, or that you’d known each other long enough that the two of you could swap petty insults and know they meant nothing. Miles and Gwen didn’t need to know that though, they were smart kids and if they knew where to look they’d figure it out.
The lab, without the presence of anyone else, was almost cold and clinical. Save for a few pictures that had been set on workstations and a couple of cheesy motivational posters that you hung up for irony’s sake. You noticed that everything had been tidied up, more so than when you left last night. Not that you minded really, it was nice to have everything cleaned up and the gesture was sweet. It didn’t last long though, in a matter of moments you had several vials and various components laid out as you dropped liquids into bottles and recorded their immediate reactions, getting a headstart on what you would have started the next day had you not been called in. You weren’t developing anything new, just working on stabilizing an older formulation that had since been retired given the nasty side effects.
Normally if someone had intruded on you while you were working, you would ignore them until they got the hint that they weren’t wanted there. Of course, that was any other day, today however was a bit different. You caught a glimpse of someone entering the lab in the reflection of the glass in front of you. Not clear enough to distinguish who it was, you didn’t draw attention to them. You simply pretended to work until they got close enough and asked for your undivided attention. What you hadn’t initially expected was a hand on the small of your back, causing you to jump at the sensation. You turned and saw Miguel watching whatever you were pretending to do before turning his attention to you, “Good job putting that water in that beaker, I don’t know where we would be without your expertise.”
“Shut it, you’ll never be able to understand the inner machinations of my mind. I’m a genius, you just don’t get it.”
“Keep telling yourself that, muñeca.” His hand rubbed up and down your back gently, absentmindedly. “You’re thinking about something, tell me.”
“Just, scheming.”
“Oh no.”
“Miles and Gwen don’t know. They thought you were gonna, I don’t know, get on all fours and rip my throat out like an animal. I wanna push the envelope.” Miguel grimaced at the thought. Not at the thought of you causing a little chaos, he was more than used to that by now. He leaned on the table, propping himself up with one arm, waiting to hear your thought process. You took a second to collect your thoughts and explain your plan to Miguel, who seemed to be interested enough to assist you in your tomfoolery.
Your plan was simple enough, tease Miguel relentlessly in front of the two young spiders and watch as they scramble to figure out why he hadn’t booted your ass. You also decided it was a good idea to be just a touch more physically affectionate in public with each other. Not that that was part of the plan but because you felt it was needed in day to day life. It started out small with the occasional mention of his stubbornness and a few expletives, it evolved into you occasionally ignoring him outright and apologizing for it deeply when the two were gone. Each action earning you an increasingly worried stare from both of them, At one point, Miles ushered you out of a room while Gwen attempted to do “damage control” on Miguel who didn’t really need it.
You’d known you had sufficiently caused enough chaos when Miles and Gwen marched up to the two of you as you were seated on one of the many sectionals in one of the common rooms, your back leaned against Miguel’s shoulder as you typed away on your laptop that rested on your thighs. Initially they rushed over to stop the two of you from going at each other’s throats, until they realized you were a touch too relaxed. “Okay, what’s going on?”
“Oh! Gwen! Miles! So nice to see you two here.” You replied with a polite smile, you saw Miguel stop what he was doing on his various holographic screens that were projected from his watch for a moment to regard the two before immediately continuing. “What do you need?”
“Answers.” Gwen said sharply. “You nearly get yourself killed for the past week and now you’re cuddled up with-”
“My husband?” You cut her off, tilting your head innocently. “Am I not allowed to bask in the embrace of the man I love?”
Your smiled widened as you watched their faces morph from frustration at your antics to confusion at your response to shock. All in a matter of seconds. As if on cue, Miguel lifted his arm to wrap over your shoulder and pull you closer to his side. Just barely containing a smirk as he did so.
“You’re married?!” Miles exclaimed, seemingly more shocked that you were married at all rather than who you were married to.
“But I’ve never seen you wear a ring.” Gwen gestured to your hand before folding her arms over her chest.
“Don’t want to risk losing the rings so I don’t wear them to work.”
“And how come no one else said anything?” Gwen grew impatient, and more frustrated learning more about the goose chase you sent her on.
“Because I asked them not to, and majority of the spiders here don’t know.”
“More importantly, how come Miguel never said anything? Lemme guess, you don’t wear a ring either?” Miles spoke again, a little irritated that he went out of his way to make sure you were safe when he didn’t need to.
“Don’t need to.”
It was Gwen’s turn to interrogate Miguel, “You really didn’t get a ring to match with your wife?”
“I said I don’t need to,” Miguel raised his hand and you watched as the glove receded down to the wrist, showing the tattoo he had gotten on his ring finger of the date you got married, “not that I don’t have one.”
“Never took you for the tattoo type.” That comment earned Miles a deadpan glare, he had a point though, most people would assume a straight edge man like MIguel wouldn’t have any tattoos but the minute he realized that the ring could potentially cause problems, he got a tattoo instead. “Why didn’t you say anything though? We were worried sick about you!”
“Because it was funny.” You shrugged. “I knew from that meeting that you two would lose your minds if I pulled something like this, so obviously I had to.”
“We’ll get you back for this, that’s a promise.” Gwen pointed before turning on her heel and walking away, Miles following shortly behind.
“What do you think they’ll do? T.P. the lab? Hide a syringe?”
“Can’t imagine it’ll be any worse than what you pulled.” You looked over at him, a fake pout pulling on your lips.
“You love me though.” Your pout didn’t last long before stretching into a smile and kissing your loving husband on the cheek.