Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Spider Society. A collection of nearly every Spider “Man” from nearly every Dimension gathered in one place for a singular reason: Secure anomalies and send them home. Ever since he helped take down the Anomaly Green Goblin, Gwen had been going on non stop about how Miguel would be impressed with Miles. The great leader of the Society, the one who held everything together. If it wasn’t for him, no one would be here today. Miles couldn't help but think if it wasn't for himself, no one would need to be here today. His Peter would still be alive. The Collider would have been destroyed so much sooner. 

Miles was determined to show Miguel O'Hara that he wasn't a problem. Gwen had been sneaking him on her missions for the past few months. Together, with Hobie Brown, they had a high success rate. Everything was smooth…Until Jess called just as they finished up the mission. Her eyes had squinted at Miles before turning back to Gwen.

And of course she told Miguel. And, of course, they were called back to HQ.

Miles didn't bother hiding his excitement. Being invited to the Society was something he dreamed of. Gwen and Hobie never took him, sometimes outwardly refusing. Gwen always had such a nervous tick on her face, as if she was in trouble for not visiting her Grandmother in a week. The halls of HQ were that of sterile white  catwalks and offshoot rooms made for Spider people to swing and transverse with ease. Though there were some paths that lacked any sort of light. No one seemed to be around those parts. Miles just chalked it up to construction.

“Bit much, innit?” Hobie whispered into his ear, Gwen waved at a crowd of Peters as they passed by. 

“Well, it is 2099.” Miles shrugged. “I think for our standards everything’s a bit much.”

Hobie let out a small laugh, ruffling Miles’s hi-top a bit. “See, there you go. Wakin’ up and smellin’  the corporate greed.”

“Can you two quit fooling around? I need to go find Jess so she can walk us to Miguel’s.” Gwen leaned over the catwalk, trying to spy her mentor from their dizzying height.

Miles blinked. Since when did they need an escort? Gwen practically lived here and Hobie…Was Hobie. He didn’t believe in ‘letting people guide him’, at least that was the vibe he kicked off.

“Is it like some sort of high clearance?” 

“No,no-Nothing like that.”

“Then why do we need to be babysat to talk to him?”

Gwen rubbed the side of her head. Her lips pursed together, she sucked her teeth and sighed. Miles could feel the unwillingness to explain so much, he could have seasoned it with some Chiles. Hobie furrowed his brow, his eyes flicked between the two. 

“Gwendy…You haven’t told him yet?” Hobie’s expression turned into one of pure horrific glee.

“I was getting to it! There’s been a lot going on.” She spat back defensively. “Plus…I’ve been avoiding him myself.”

Something wasn’t sitting right with him. Why did Miles need to be ‘warned’ about Miguel? Now that he put two things together, Gwen never really described Miguel other than a ‘Ninja Vampire Dude who’s kinda strict and grumpy, but sweet’. She made it a point to always talk to him via voice only or hide someplace when Miles was around. He had to admit, the mystery around Miguel O’Hara made him so much more cool. 

“Is there anything I should know?” Miles didn’t like the look on his friends’ faces- one uncertain, the other…Miles didn’t know how to put it other than a shit eating grin.

Apparently, there were rules.

1. Never remove your day-pass
2. The Anomaly Containment Room is off limits to unofficial members without an escort.
3. Never walk alone in the dark areas of HQ.
4. Do not Enter Miguel’s Office Wing without Jess Drew or Peter B. Parker

"Those are some oddly specific rules." Miles said as he followed the older Spiders.

“No Seriously, Miles…You really shouldn’t be going to meet Miguel without Jess or Peter.” Gwen’s voice almost made Miles nervous about this whole thing. Her eyes darted around constantly keeping an eye out for something. Or someone.

"Nah, Gwendy, Let 'im learn the hard way." Hobie looked back towards Miles with a look half way between a smirk and a pitying glance. His body turned a soft cerulean blue. "Mate, I told ya, ya don't need this place. You’re just as smart as anyone of these twats,yeah?"

Hobie didn’t get it. Miles gave him a flat look, “Listen dude, I know you don’t believe in consistency but I do. If this gets me my own watch so I don’t have to bum off you guys all the time, then I don’t mind meeting the Boss. I want to make a genuinely good impression.”

"Oh, you’ll mind-You’ll mind and then you’ll wish you’d listen to Hobie But I get it, capitalism's a ‘ell of a drug.” The older Brit shrugged, stopping before the hallway. “This is where I hop off the train, doves. I’ll tell Humble Reality Peter you’ve walked into the lair, eh?” 

Sometimes, Miles really wished Hobie would stop.

The hall leading to Miguel’s office was dimly lit, a red ambiance making things look weirdly demonic. Broken machines lay scattered about amongst unfinished projects and half started ideas. The deeper they got, the more webs decorated the hall. Gwen kept shoulder to shoulder with Miles, head constantly on a swivel. An uncomfortable feeling stirred in his gut and an itch settled in his skin. 

“So, uh…Is Miguel someone who likes to get on people’s ass?” His voice sounded so small. Why was he whispering?

“Only if you don’t follow his rules…and skip meals. Especially if you skip meals.'' Gwen started to slow as the hall opened up. 

The webs heavily concentrated here, thick and interlaced into platforms crossing the vast distance of the room. There was a platform high in the middle. Glowing, floating screens danced around it, projected from some high tech node Miles just couldn’t see. Everything was disturbingly quiet. 

“Maybe he stepped out?” Miles took a wary step fully into the room.

“Miles,wait! Don’t-”

Almost immediately, his spidey sense went off. He reacted, trying to jump out the way, but he was too late.

Miles was tangled in a web, stronger than anything he’d ever come across- arms pressed to his side.  It wasn’t like anything his shooters could produce. He struggled to break it, his fingers snapping to start a spark in his hands for a Venom Blast. His focus disintegrated as soon as he was yanked up into the air. Hard. The frightened shriek and squeezed shut eyes would have been shameful for the 15 year old if he wasn’t currently freaking the hell out. As abruptly as he was sent flying, Miles was caught by an unusually large, unusually strong hand that grabbed his suit like one would hold a misbehaving kitten. 

“¿Qué tenemos aquí? ¿Quién eres, arañita?” The voice was deep, accented-Well, he was speaking Spanish, a different dialect from his mother’s tongue, but very much Spanish. Miles knew Spanish! He would work with this!

"I...I'm Miles Morales." He squeaked out. Like a man. A manly Man. He wasn't intimidated at all, Nah, no way!

“Miguel! Put him down!” Gwen’s voice was so frighteningly far beneath him and frighteningly NOT getting any closer.

“Oh, hey, wow- if it isn’t Gwendolyn? How are you doing? Y’know its funny- I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be asking that if you had checked in with me 3 months ago. But y’know, whatever. It’s nothing.” The passive aggressive tone was strong with him. So very strong. 

“I did!”

“Not over the communicator, Gwen.”

“Well, I’m sorry if I didn’t want to spend a week cocooned up in a web because you have empty nest syndrome!”

“Caring about your health is NOT empty nest syndro-I am not arguing with a child.”

While the two argued, Miles dared a peak at the man who was holding him hostage. From the waist up, Miguel O’Hara was the absolute peak of a male physique- really he was beyond that. His face had quite sharp features, especially while he was snarling down at Gwen-Dude even had a killer set of fangs. His blood red eyes flicked between himself and his friend, though he lingered on Miles more often than not.

From his massive shoulders to the outstretched arm that held Miles up, Miguel had to have been 7 feet tall if he was a normal person. Miguel O’Hara was far from a normal person, because from the waist down, he was a massive, 8-legged tarantula. The span of his lower body had to be 12…13 feet long, give or take a few inches. The fur over his spidery body was a deep, almost black blue with red stripes tapering down his abdomen. 

What exactly was Miles supposed to do in this situation? Should he scream? He didn’t want to scream in front of the leader of the group he was trying to get inducted into. That would be weird. Also rude. Probably more rude than anything. Maybe if he just quietly asked the giant Man-Spider to put him down, he could get a better grasp on this situation…Yeah, that sounded cool. 

“So, you’re the Spider following on Gwen and Hobart’s coat tails,hm?” The question made Miles jump, fiercely nodding his head. “The same Spider who originates from the world that started this whole ‘Holes-in-the-Multiverse’ debacle.” Another, less sure nod. “Hm. Nice to meet you, Miles.”

“Y-yeah…you too, T-tio.” It took a very conscious effort for Miles to find his voice and when he did it was raspy and tiny. Shit, he wished he wasn’t showing how intimidated he was. 

Something about calling him Tio made Miguel smile. It was supposed to be something with warmth but the fangs made him look like he was moment away from sucking all the blood out of Miles’s body. “You are…Smaller than I thought you’d be. How old are you?”

“Miles! Do NOT answer that question!” 

Gwen shouted. “Trust me, do not!”

“I wouldn’t say I’m…not fifteen.” Nailed it.

“So you’re fifteen.”

“I’m fifteen.” 

"Goddammit, Miles!"

Miguel’s sharp eyes glared at Gwen. Miles knew that look. It was the same look his Mom gave him when he forgot to turn the beans off for dinner. Gwen immediately  shut up. “I see. Well, that explains the Collider incident.”  

Miguel pulled Miles into a sort of cradle style carry as he began to descend. He had to admit, despite seeing spiders move before, he was completely taken aback that Miguel could walk. Going down everything was so smooth, Miles didn’t even feel it when Miguel landed on the deep gray floor with a thud. 

Gwen stood motionless for a second, her mouth slightly agape and her body poised to move at a moment's notice. “Miguel…Listen…I know what you’re thinking…Miles and I are fine. Really.”

Miguel regarded her for that same moment, silent as a stone. Miles shifted uncomfortably, but  the movement made Miguel squeeze harder on him. Gwen shifted, and faster than Miles even thought was possible, Gwen was tied up just as he was. As she was dragged back toward Miguel, he rolled his eyes at her, muttering something in Spanish that sounded a lot like things his Mami said when she was annoyed with him. 

“Anyway, Welcome to Spider Society, Miles. Have you had anything to eat?”

So Miguel O’Hara, leader and founder of the Spider Society was a Spider Centaur (Spid-taur? Arachno-taur? Centind?). He has been drugged and tried to remove the effects with gene splicing since future drugs bound themselves to your DNA apparently. Why a Spider? Well, Miles didn’t ask. He didnt ask a lot of things because be waa fucking terrified. Their web shooters had been confiscated to prevent escape. They had then been placed in a thickly woven web that was more like an oversized hammock. Miles could still easily jump down but that would involve abandoning Gwen. Gwen had her legs completely bound and by the way she folded her arms and made absolutely no escape or attempt to free herself, Miles connected the dots to know that those webs were unbreakable unless Miguel did it himself.

A container sat in both of their laps, heat soaking through and a delightful smell wafted from within. Miguel, blessedly, had his back to them, only occasionally glancing at them from the corner of his eye to see if they'd touch their food. Miles's mom would have his hide if he refused food given to him, so he decided to just rip the bandage and pop open the lid. A pasta with some sort of cream sauce and slices of salmon and shrimp mixed in sat inside, packed with roasted asparagus and red potatoes on the side. Gwen's was much of the same, save for her pasta had red sauce in it. Miguel hummed approving as Miles ate, now fully focusing on the monitors before him.

"Lyla, do we have a progress report on Earth 9119?" The orange screens immediately flipped to a different dimension, similar to Miles's own but a lil more advanced.

The tiny hologram woman appears over Miguel’s shoulder. "Anomaly contained and there are no dimensional tears. We're good to move on." A few fireworks appeared as a banner flew behind her, screaming congratulations on it.

"Perfect. Tell Ben to drop off his report and meet up with Superior for backup."

Miles has to admit, for being a freaky giant spider, he really was super cool. He waited for the silence to return to the room before he spoke to his…captor?

"Sooo…" Miles began. "You're…Not like the other Spider-Men, huh?"

"No. I'm not." His answer was simple and to the point, This must not have been the first time he'd been asked that. "What gave it away?" Dude had that dry sarcastic wit, the one used when people were too tired to joke around but wanted to engage with others anyway. Miles humored him anyway.

"Well, you got a spider for a butt for one."

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

"Do you shoot webs out of your butt?"

"I had a nightmare about that once. I got over it."

"...that doesn't answer my question."

"Do you really want to know?"

Miles, in fact, didn't want to know. Changing topics. "Were you always a spider centaur?"

Miguel shook his head. His shoulders sagged in a way that reminded Miles of his father after a hard day at work, after something horrible happened. He looks back toward Miles and Gwen, giving a small smile that held the lie of being ok. “Finish eating. We’ve got a lot to talk about and none of it is about me. 

Chapter Text

Gwen couldn't believe it. She actually could not believe this shit. Months avoiding the 'Mama Spider Monster' only for it all to be ruined by Miles. She wasn't angry at him of course, he couldn't have known. However, Gwen couldn't ignore the annoyance growing in her chest. Especially since SHE was the one bound. Miguel had learned from the previous runaway: No web shooters, no mask, and suspended about 60 feet in the air.

At least Miles had the decency to be apologetic about her being stuck without the use of her legs. But Miguel was quickly winning Miles over. He’d shown him all the inner workings of how the Watches worked, the system they used to warn them of oncoming Anomalies, they even began talking about Physics in such a way that it was making Gwen’s head hurt (She loved science, but there were some Spiders she couldn’t hold a candle to). All the while Miguel was beaming, she knew him well enough to know that this was just the first step. She had to save Miles from ending up like herself and Pavitr! Anything! Think, Gwen, think! How were they going to avoid being stuck here for who knows how long? A thought suddenly came into Gwen’s head. Oh…this was going to be good.

“So, Miguel. How long are you gonna be keeping us?” She drolled on, trying to not sound as suspicious as she felt. “A month? Three? Maybe half a year this time?”

Miles jumped, honey brown eyes now wide with confusion and mild fear. “Hold up. Half a year? I can’t spend half a year here!” He was on his feet in moments, the web staying annoyingly undisturbed from the movements. Gwen wished she could bottle a distilled version of the look Miguel was giving her. She probably was going to be in so much trouble for this. While she cared for Miguel, the man was too damn clingy. Not even her birth-dad coddled her like he did. Maybe it was the spider side of him that wanted to keep them all so close, but Gwen wasn’t too much interested in being babied against her will. Neither was Miles either.

“Dude, that’s so uncool!” Miles tried to shore himself up to the Drider, but even relaxed, Miguel loomed over him. He looked back to Gwen. “Is this why you didn’t want me in here without Peter?”

Miguel quickly cut her off before she could say a word. “No, she’s just upset because I grounded her after she broke her leg.” He must have seen an expression he wanted from Gwen, because he smirked back at her. Damn, she hated karma sometimes.

“Look, can we talk about this? I haven't even seen all of HQ yet.” Miles made a move to jump off the nest, only to be grabbed by the arm by Miguel. His eyes weren’t that dangerous shade of red yet, but there was a firmness in them that told Gwen her plan royally backfired. Whoops.

“It’s not safe for you to wander an unfamiliar place. You’ll stay right here until I get finished cataloging the new anomalies. You aren't allowed to leave my sight.” Miguel chuffed, trying to set Miles back down next to Gwen.

“What the heck is even dangerous here?! It’s a building fulla superheroes, man!”

Gwen watched with growing panic as the pair struggled against each other. Despite being stronger than him, Miguel was trying his best to just gently corral Miles back but the teen wasn’t having it. Miles was pushing him. Gwen could see it in the way Miguel slightly flashed his fangs, the way the sides of his mouth twitched. Oh, no.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Gwen sucked in a breath as both Miles and Miguel’s gaze settled on her. “What if I took Miles around? I know this place better than anyone. I practically live here.”

“You do live here.” Miguel countered, scoffing. Gwen bristled at him.

“Doesn’t matter!” Miles met her eyes for a moment, and suddenly she saw an idea form in his head. While her plan failed. It didn’t mean escape was outside of their reach. A smile crossed his lips.

“A’ight. I’ll stay.”

What the hell?! Miguel rumbled in approval as he watched Miles sit down beside her. Gwen did her best not to glower a hole in the side of his head, but she was psychically trying to tell him what a horrible plan this was! Miles smiled at her and in that smile was a promise. She couldn’t resist it, no matter how hard she tried. She rolled her eyes and nodded, expecting that cock-sure smile to grow wider…except there was no smile. There wasn’t anything at all.

Okay, so maybe Miles was a genius and maybe she loved that big beautiful brain of his. Gwen felt him move behind her,struggling to rip apart the webs Miguel bound her with. All she had to do was keep him occupied. Easy enough, the dozen of displays kept his attention just fine. But, just to be safe…

“Y’know we aren’t going to combust or disappear into thin air if you don’t watch us right?” Gwen grumbled. “We’re teenagers,we can take care of ourselves, Miguel.”

His nimble fingers paused for a moment. From her seat, Gwen saw his talons slip out for a moment. He sighed, his free hand combing through his fingers. “I know. I… just want you to be safe.”

“The Headquarters’ the safest place to be. You made it that way. Peter’s always going on and on about how he can’t even step out of the Infirmary without being checked over 3 times. Don’t you think that’s a bit much?”

Miguel shook his head. His legs tensed up in such a way that it made the web shake slightly. “No. It’s not. It’s never enough…Just…Let me do this for you.”

There was a finality in his voice that didn’t beg room for argument. It was enough to make Miles pause his rescue attempt. He had gotten Gwen over half way out. Plenty of room for Gwen to wiggle her way to freedom. Yet…She still had a nagging feeling in her chest. Miguel was hiding something. She supposed he was always hiding something, but this was a little different. There wasn’t a grouchy, ‘I-know-best-because-I’m-the-leader’ type of hiding something. This was…sad. Gwen wondered if Miles felt it too. He always was the more empathetic of them all.

“Miguel?” She spoke to him not as her boss or as the annoying nanny in her mind, but as someone who was trying to hold up way too much. “Do you…” Her words failed her. What could she say? He wasn’t going to want to talk about this. He rarely talked about himself at all, let alone his feelings. Silence sat between them, invisible, heavy and cold.

Riiiiiiiiiip.

Goddammit, Miles.

Miguel turned, confusion turning into straight panic as he saw a distinct lack of Miles. Even more so when he saw one of Gwen’s legs outside the carefully crafted cocoon he made. He blinked once. Twice. Then his eyes narrowed dangerously, as if it never knew the meaning of the word ‘fear’, only extreme annoyance. The eyes underneath his ‘main’ ones opened, small slits of pure raged induced red and Gwen felt that slight tickle of Danger, Danger, Danger whisper in the back of her mind. She had to swallow the bit of bile that rose from his throat. Ok, yup. He was upset.

“Where is Miles?” Gwen did the only thing she could do in that moment: Play dumb. She gave a noncommittal shrug and mumble, hoping that Miles would have gotten the hint and left.

Instead, a few things happen at once: Miles suddenly appeared between the two of them, completely catching Miguel off guard and causing him to back up, shifting the web from his weight. Miles then grabs Gwen and suddenly they’re freefalling down, down down to the floor. Blue electricity blasts the rest of the webbing off of Gwen and the pair tuck and roll as they hit the floor. Two pairs of eyes look up, to find 4 pairs glaring down at them. Gwen yanks Miles to his feet, because she knows that look. She likes her freedom and the ability to feed herself, thank you.

Without so much of a word, the teens sprint like their lives depend on it. Behind them, moving with all the force of a freight train, Miguel makes a guttural roar that sounds more like it's caught between a hiss and a scream.

“So he’s cool, minus the whole captive thing.”

“Yeah, really nice besides that. A great cook too.”

“Is he gonna suck out our brains or blood or something?”

“No, but if we don’t get to a well lit place yesterday, we won’t be coming out of that lab.” 

_______

So, Spider Society was pretty cool. It had nice high ceilings, tons of friendly people, oh and a boss who was literally half spider. Yeah, dude was currently tearing his way after Miles and Gwen. If it wasn't for the fact he geeked out with this man for 45 minutes about quantum physics, he would have swore Miguel was trying to kill him. It sure as hell seemed like it- with all the heavy scuttling and the few times he nearly tackled Miles to the ground.

In the small glimpses of Miguel that wasn't completely eclipsed in shadow, Miles was able to see much more than he would have liked, such as the fact his jaws split open at the sides and those lines along his jawline were actual pedipalps you'd find on actual spiders. Y’know, on any other day, Miles would have been really interested in how that worked. Not today though.

Miles flipped up toward the ceiling, barely able to avoid snagging his suit on Miguel's talons. Gwen combat slid underneath a table. It was a precarious game, yet Miles was learning quite a bit about the Spider. Miguel had a lot of raw power, easily at least triple that of someone like the Rhino of his dimension. He was also doing his best to be very, very careful with them, despite chasing them down. There were times were Miles nearly tripped over the multitude of gizmos and goobers lying about. Miguel prioritized stabilizing Miles instead of actually catching him. That was nice of him. Now, if only he'd stop fucking chasing them! He told Miguel as much.

"Then stop running!" came a sharp,growling reply.

He must not have gotten the fact that being chased by a giant literal spider man was terrifying. Blessed light suddenly cut through the darkness, straight into Miguel’s face. 8 blood colored eyes widened as the spider made a loud gurgly hiss before covering his face. "Shock!" he roared.

Peter casually strode in. While he looked ridiculous, Miles had never been so happy to see his mentor (second dad? Maybe?). He replaced the trenchcoat with a fluffy, pink bathroom and a papoose…that had a little red maned baby in it, giggly and unafraid of the giant beast before her, even going as far as to reach for him! The thing that caused Miguel’s rampage to end was his phone's flashlight. "

Hey, Kids! Miles! How are you? You're looking amazing…why are you bleeding from the armpits?" Peter offered a hand to Miles to help him up, which he graciously took. "I see you met Miguel. Don't worry about him, all bark and no bite. Just a lil overprotective."

Somewhere above him, Miles heard Gwen snort. Yeah, she was right.

"Peter, pendejo pinche, get that light out of my shocking face!" Miguel had retreated backwards to try and stave off the light, unfortunately for him, Peter kept it trained on him.

"Settle down, Miggy. You’re gonna get punished until you calm down and stop being so broody." Peter chuckled. "I know Mama Spider is missing his babies since Gwen disappeared on you, but you can't go scaring Miles like that, Bud. He's new to this. What would M.J. think? C’mon."

Miles scuttled behind Peter, pretending not to hear the soft whine that came out of Miguel when he was outside of arm’s reach. Peter immediately lowered his phone before scooping Miles up in the largest hug possible, complete with the silly fuzzy robe. There was something soothing about being embraced by Peter after so long. He faintly smelled of aftershave, somehow similar to what his dad used. It made him subconsciously squeeze him harder. “

I’ve missed you.” Miles whispered into his shoulder. Peter didn’t say anything. The shaky breathing was all he needed to know that he was missed too.

The baby between them babble softly, patting Miles in the chest, apparently demanding affection too. Miles wasn’t good with small kids, but even he couldn’t say no.

“You have a baby!”

“I have a baby! This is Mayday. You’re gonna love her! She reminds me of you when you took your first swing. I have pictures if you want to-”

A deep growl came from behind them. Moment ruined. Peter patted Miles before walking over to the giant man-spider who was…was he freaking pouting? Seriously? He had his arms folded and everything, looking anywhere but Peter and Mayday.

“Miguel.” Peter sounded like a chiding parent, trying to coax their kid into sharing with a hated cousin. “C’mon man. Don’t be like that.”

“Go away, Parker. Take your brat with you.” Miguel bore his teeth at him. The thick, cerulean and blood tinted legs twitched and moved backwards. Oh, yeah. Dude was definitely pouting.

Peter feigned a gasp, before pulling Mayday out of her holder. “How COULD you say that to the most magical baby in the entire multiverse?! Miguel, I am shocked, appalled, and many other words of the like.” He held up the tiny giggly bundle right in front of his face, and Miguel was doing his best to ignore the tiny hands trying to pull him closer. “And you’re her favorite person, Miguel. Look how much she loves you! She wants you to be nice to her Big Bro Miles and Big Sis Gwen and not keep them cooped up in your dark web forever…only part of forever.”

“Peter!” Gwen finally hopped down, gapping at him like he grew a second head.

“We gotta compromise somewhere, Gwen. Now, quiet and let the magic baby do her work.” Peter winked before turning back towards Miguel. He was breaking. That angry, uninterested facade was starting to crack as Mayday made more huffy sounds to try and get the big guy to pay attention to her. Miles was worried for a moment that he might snap and hurt Peter’s kid…instead he lowered himself to the ground and opened his arm in defeat.

Mayday cooed ecstatically. “Mi!” And that was all it took. Peter turned, taking a dramatic bow and expecting applause for his brilliant rendition of ‘Beauty and the Beast’. He got a hairy spider leg in the back for compensation. That earned a laugh from the teens.

Peter had, through the power of Mayday baby magic, had calmed Miguel down just enough to talk about what Miles came here for: Becoming a part of Spider Society. With him and Gwen vouching, Miles had to be accepted! References were good, right? As Miles listed off his assets and what he could offer to the team, Miguel’s stony frown found its way back to his face and a rumbling growl signaled his disapproval further. How can someone look so pissy while cradling and bouncing a baby?!

Miles was stumbling over himself, trying not to stare too hard at some of the more terrifying features, like the eight total eyes on his face. "Sooo…What do you think?" Miles shifted to a more lax position, but not too lax. He wanted to give this air of confidence and not the anxiety he was feeling.

"No."

"What? Did you hear all the good I've been doing?"

"Miles, this isn't a club. We're trying to keep the Arachno-Humanoid-Poly-Multiverse in check. A lot of these missions are dangerous and you have absolutely no training. And don't think that I haven't known about you sneaking on missions to help without any type of protection from cellular decay.” He pointedly glared at Gwen, who suddenly became interested in her sleeve.

Miles felt his chance slipping. If Miguel didn't let him join…Then what was it all for nothing. "Well, then what am I supposed to do? What do I need to say to join?"

Miguel's eyes scrutinized him for a moment. "Why do you want to join so badly?"

There were so many answers he could give. So many excuses. The truth didn't seem like it would make Miguel waver. Miles had to be smart. He was sure he needed to tell Miguel what he wanted to hear. "Justice." He finally settled.

Miguel quirked a brow. Fuck. "Not a good enough answer. Miles, these anomalies can hurt you. Kill you. And if you die, 1610 is without its Spider-Man. The fact that it had to adjust to its original's death is…" Miguel paused and an uncomfortable silence stretched between them. He sighed. "It can't happen again. You aren't ready. Not yet. After this, I'm sending you home. We can work from there as long as none of you try to sneak on missions you're not supposed to."

It wasn't a 'no' anymore. Honestly, Miles could work with that.

Before he said more, Miguel raised a hand to quiet him. Figures… "If you're honestly serious about this, You're going to have to listen to and follow all the rules. I'll teach you one on one myself, if I have to. Any lip, any amount of blasé, you're going home. I am not going to have anyone risk billions of lives here. Am I clear?" Miguel’s eight eyes stared at him, intense to the point it was nearly glowering.

Miles nodded carefully. He couldn't mess this chance up. "Crystal. I won't let you down, Mr. O’Hara. I swear."

All of the seriousness melted from Miguel’s face, replaced with an uncomfortable grimace. Shit, did Miles fuck up already? Miles quickly casted a gaze at Peter for help. He was laughing. Why was he laughing? "Please…don't call me Mr.O’Hara." Miguel’s voice brought Miles’s attention back. "I'm not my father."

"Besides, Mr. O’Hara-Parker is far more accurate." Peter chuckled and nudged Miguel in the side.

"Peter, I told you. Not at shocking work!" Miguel snapped, fangs flashing but he didn't make a move.

"What? I can’t tease my husband at work?"

…Wait, what?