Chapter Text
The metal bat scrapes the cracked walls. It slowly drags over the debris, the holder making tsk sounds as their footsteps echo through the building. Gwen slouches behind a segment of fallen ceiling, sparkling wires dangle dangerously close to her head. Trying to remain quiet, she grasps her shoulder. She can taste the smog in the air. It fills her nostrils, thickening the air in her lungs. Her whole body aches, not to mention her shoulder that is almost definitely broken. Still, she remains in place. The darkness is only lifted by the small fires that fill the floor. She turns her head to peek around the barricade, squinting her eyes, she can’t make out the shapes in the far corner of the room. Suddenly there’s a loud thud, she whips around to find a beam falling towards her face. She narrowly dodges it, jumping up and landing in a crouch a few feet away. The dust flies and temporarily blinds her. Regaining sight, she wildly scans the room. Behind her she hears the faint echo of footsteps. She launches in the direction, putting her feet together in the air to attack but is left without impact. She lands in a concrete space without cover. Suffocating the area, darkness surrounds her, showing no escape.
“Got ya.”
A series of knives dance towards her. Gwen swings and flips, moving on the perimeter of the building. She lands on a cylinder surrounded by sheetrock. Her spider-sense flares, moving her to turn to the side as a circular shape flies past. It lands embedded in the wood behind her. She looks back at its flashing form and her eyes go wide like saucers.
Crap, Gwen thinks as she hunches her back and a wave of heat encircles her. It moves through her body, setting nerves on fire. It tangles with her core, making her sick. The world turns bright white around her.
Wait. Let's back up, shall we?
When Gwen's watch buzzes, she's sprawled out on her bed trying to figure out 3x + 2x - 6 = 0 for her math homework. She’s chewing on the end of her eraser, frustration coursing her veins. She sighs and glances at her watch, it’s a message from Miles.
We have a problem, call me
She looks from her homework to her watch and decides she needs a distraction. She pushes the call button and Miles picks up on the first ring. He looks to be in mid air dodging punches. She can hear the wind rushing by his watch.
“What’s up Spider-Man?”
Miles doesn't answer but continues passing remarks with the villain. Her screen goes dark and there’s shuffling on his end. Finally— his face pops into view without the mask. Taking the initiative, Gwen babbles on.
“If it’s about the flaming pillar, that's the solution to last week's problem.”
“Very funny—” Miles remarks dryly. ”—but I really could use a hand, I am so late right now.” There's a large commotion and Miles groans before pulling his mask back on.
“On my way,” Gwen informs, hanging up on him. She hops up and is secretly glad for the villain, as it's a good excuse for not having the homework done. She grabs her suit and quickly changes, putting her mask on. Then she moves to the living room because her shoes have mysteriously disappeared from her room. She crouches and looks under the coffee table and couch. The front door opens and slams behind her. Her dad walks over curiously.
“Duety calls?”
“Yeah, have you seen my shoes?” She asks frantically. Her dad shakes his head disapprovingly, she really should take better care of her stuff.
“There in the kitchen.”
Gwen rushes over and ties them in a hurry. She moves to the window and slides it open with one hand.
“I’ll be back later,” she shouts, jumping from the fire escape to web the brick wall and swing to the roof. Opening portals inside is really messy. She punches the coordinates in and falls into Miles' dimension.
As she swings her way through the city she keeps her eyes peeled for trouble. She hears a long yell and crashing sound from her right. Turning, she finds Miles battling the vulture.
This guy again.
At least he is from the right dimension this time. She glides over to where Miles is desperately trying to hang on to the Vulture as he flies up in the sky. She shoots two webs that land on either of his wings, pulling herself to him. She lands against his back in front of Miles.
“Let’s ground him!” She shouts over her shoulder. She attaches another web, leaping off of him, landing on a building roof top below. She braces and strains against his flapping wings. Miles catches on quickly. He propels himself over the Vulture's head and shoots a web, skating under the Vulture and falling to a building. His feet smack the cement roof and he pulls. With the two of them, they are able to fight against the forces of his wings.
Gwen catches Miles' eye and nods her head. Miles understands without having to exchange words. They’ve worked together so many times that they found their own rhythm. They can fight in sync, tuning into each other's spider sense. Miles hauls his web back further, taking steps back as he does. Gwen lets go of her web, jumping forward towards the Vulture once again. She fires rapid webs sticking his wings together. He fights against them but Gwen is faster. She wraps him up and shoots a final web as he falls towards the ground. He jerks upward when the tension makes it down the web.
“There will be repercussions for this!!”
Gwen ignores his chants and lands quietly, feet barely touching the concrete, next to Miles. The Vulture on the other hand, smacks hard against it.
“Your package sir.”
“Thank you so much, I really have to go now.”
“Of course! I will deliver him right outside the police station.”
Miles grins gratefully at her through his mask. The dinner party started twenty minutes ago and he would never hear the end of it. Running over the edge of the building, he swings in the direction of home.
Gwen watches him go, she’ll go catch up with him after she takes care of this guy. Speaking of which.
“Untie me!”
“Yeah right,” She rolls her eyes and lifts him again. She leaps off the side, dragging him upside down along with her. She makes the quick swing to the station leaving the Vulture tied upside down next to it, just like she’s done with many criminals before.
Afterwards she heads back to her dimension to change. She knows from an earlier conversation that Miles has a dinner thing tonight. She figures she would stop by later. She lands on the fire escape, making it rattle. She moves through the window and strips out of her suit. Digging through her closet, she finds a cute pair of denim shorts and a t-shirt with her favorite band on it. It’s big in the shoulders and on the longer side but she loves it. She packs her spider suit into a red back pack, just in case. Making sure her dad didn't see her, she again slips out the window and onto the roof. She loves that he’s supportive, but that doesn't mean she wants him freaking out about her seeing Miles all the time.
She steps into Miles' dimension, taking the time to smell the wonderful street food cooking. She slips out of an ally close to his house and blends with the crowd. Eventually she makes it to his apartment building. Entering, she takes the elevator up to his floor. She pauses at the door. She knew Miles would be cool with her stopping by, she's done it before, but something felt…. off.
She shrugs the feeling away, it was just a small dinner party between his relatives. How bad could it be?
She knocks on the door, hearing lively chatter inside and waits. Rio swings the door open with a huge smile on her face. When she finds Gwen standing there the smile dims some, but it stays polite.
“Gwand– sorry Gwen, what are you doing here?”
“Hello Mrs.Morales, Miles invited me,” Just a small lie.
Rio looks skeptically at her, but stands aside to let her in and says, “Miles te invitó y ni siquiera está aquí todavía.”
Gwen, knowing not a thing of spanish, just keeps smiling kindly at Rio. The atmosphere in the room around her is warm and friendly. She hears belly laughs from all corners of the room and smells the sweet aroma of churros. Her mouth water just at the thought. She turns back to Rio.
“Where is Miles?”
Rio glances at her and seems to recognize the need to explain.
“He’s not here yet. That boy, always late. You’re welcome to any food,” Rio finishes with a smile before being engulfed in a hug from an older woman. They exchange words in spanish rapidly. Gwen glances around the room again. Strange . Gwen could’ve swore Miles would be here by now. Not only had he taken off immediately but she also stopped by her own dimension, allowing him plenty of time.
Instead of staying like Rio suggested Gwen quietly slips out the door, something she is an expert at. She saw a window at the end of the hallway and went towards it. It had a fire escape! She moved to open it but saw, just in time, it had an alarm on it.
Instead she jogged to the stairs and ran down them. When she reached the bottom she found a closet and changed back into her spider suit. So much for ‘just in case.’
She proceeded to exit the building and swing to the roof. She lands soundlessly, her heart beat pounding in her ears.
She scans the roof, not sure what she’s looking for. After unsuccessfully finding anything she walks to the edge and sits down. Her mind runs circles around her, buzzing with activity. Before a complete thought can form it’s whisked away by another unfinished one, resulting in white noise.
She shakes her head. This is ridiculous, he probably just got distracted. She punches in his watch number waiting as it rings…. and rings. She pushes the air out of her lungs, forcing herself to not jump to conclusions.
Her head perks up. She hears the ringing but it’s far off. She mutes her own watch and calls Miles again. There it is again. She stands and slowly steps onto the air, using her web to gently swing. She moves her head in the direction of the sound. She keeps swinging and it gets louder. A large flat top art gallery building comes into view. She flips up and onto the roof, crouching and listening. Standing, she moves towards the opposite side of the roof. She creeps closer, swiveling her head. The ringing has gotten loud, notifying Gwen that Miles is close. There are two large tanks lined up, Gwen moves in between them. She glances down and notices blood. It’s splattered all around the tank leading under it. Gwen slowly bends her knees, her whole body on alert. There’s a buzz next to her, under the tank.
No, no, no, no.
She sucks in a final breath and looks underneath to find……. Miles watch. Its wrist band is snapped and the screen dented. Under it is a note, she tentatively looks around before reaching for it. Opening it up it is addressed to Gwen Stacy.
What?! How? Her eyes scan it,
Gwen Stacy,
See your friend again? Go home.
How would anyone know her identity? Let alone where she lives, in another– wait. Her dad. She gasps grabbing Miles' watch and sprints to the end of the building, leaping into the golden hour sky.
She doesn't know what's happening or where Miles is gone but she does know she has to get home. She will find him and soon, that blood wasn’t just there, it was a message.