Into the Worm-Verse - 09
Connelly
As useless as a penguin with mittens
- Location
- Salamanca, Spain
Earth-TRN700, the roofs above New York
Night might have fallen already, but there were plenty of people still in the streets of New York. Some even were attentive enough to notice him swinging around, and Miles wasn't going to deny them a bit of showmanship.
Right now, he had just done something that was becoming kind of a signature stunt, a mix of walking on a wall, sliding on some rails, and shooting a webline away into the vehicle traffic, lowering his swing enough to scratch the asfalt in between two cars. He could still hear the cheers and camera shots behind him.
Hell, he enjoyed it, and the public demonstrations let the people know that someone was still looking over them. And they needed it. It had only been barely a week since the previous Spider-Man had died, and the entire city mourned his passing.
Using the swing, he launched himself upwards to land on a roof.
"Look at who's being a showoff."
Miles turned around, watching Gwen land at his side and taking off her mask. There was no bite on her comment, and to be fair, it wasn't completely off the mark. "Hey, what can I say, I was having fun, they were having fun. We're all having fun. Good fun all around, right?"
"You do look much more at ease than before." She said as she sat at the border of the roof.
"Yeah well, those were…" Miles coughed, and took off his own mask as he walked closer to her. "Probably the weirdest days of my life."
"Yet", she added with a raised finger.
Miles grimaced, and sat down at Gwen's side. "I guess I should give it some time, huh?"
"I'm just pulling your leg." She brought one leg closer to herself, smiling at him. "I'm just glad you were able to hit the ground running in the end. I was worried when we left you at your dorm before dealing with Kingpin."
"Yeah, me too." He agreed. "Though it felt more like rolling down the stairs before any running, you know?"
Gwen laughed. "I was trying to be gentle with you, but if that's the way you see it, you do you."
It hasn't been that long since Miles last saw Gwen, but they have been catching up for the best part of half an hour along their way.
Miles told her how, after she jumped back to her home universe, he then succeeded to disable the collider that brought the spider gang to his world from the start, capture the Kingpin, and reach some kind of peace of mind with his father. New York knowing about him. Unmasking to his roomie. The remembrance graffiti Miles and his father did for uncle Aaron.
And Gwen told him about the Web-Warriors, Loomworld, and the Web of Life and Destiny.
Miles' mind went back to when he shut down Kingpin's portal. The many interconnected webs on a vast blackness, some of them looking far enough to be taken for stars, and others close enough that Miles thought that, for one singular second, he could see the entire histories of a world unknown to him.
So that was its name. Very cool.
"So, you're in a team now, with Peni and trenchcoat Peter…"
"We're calling him Noir now", Gwen corrected him.
"Oh, that's a clever one. Ok, then there are these girls Mayday and Octavia, a good Doc Ock."
"A good Doc Ock", she confirmed, sounding just as surprised as himself.
"Right, just wanted to make sure, after all that thing with Liv. Anyway, that makes five of you. Didn't you say you were six? What about the last one?"
Gwen hesitated for a moment. "Well, she's… me."
"I see", Miles said with a dramatic nod of understanding. "Are we talking multiple personalities here?" He leaned in. "Is she called Wanda?"
The soft smack to the back of his head only made his mischievous smile bigger.
"You know that's not what I mean, you doofus." Gwen rolled her eyes. "I mean, me from another, another dimension."
"Got it, like the multiple Peters then." She nodded. "She also goes by Gwen?"
"Yeah, she actually suggested that I'd go by a different name when working together."
"That makes sense. So what will you be going by?"
Gwen took a long breath, and forcefully blew it up on a lock of hair, making it float for a few seconds until she stopped. "She suggested Gwendy." The hair landed on top of her eye.
A beat. "I'm detecting a slight, insignificant, not really noteworthy apprehension to be called that."
"Please don't laugh at it", she begged, moving the traveling lock of hair away from the eye.
He wasn't going to, he kinda liked it. But Miles was struck by a curious thought. In his experience, most people when confronted by an undesired nickname, either got angry or dismissive. But Gwen's delivery sounded a bit protective. Like she felt ridiculed, yes, but she also was feeling attached to it.
It was a very familiar sensation. Miles now mentally found himself at the front of his new school, with untied shoelaces and a silly wheeled suitcase. On one side, a buttload of students and his new schoolmates. And on the other side, his dad in his patrol car, blasting at him with the sirens and asking him through the loudspeaker to tell him 'I love you, dad'.
Miles said it. And he did love his dad, but it was mortifying.
He was pretty sure a teacher had mentioned in passing something that explained the present situation: Proust's madeleine. The smell of a madeleine had made Proust remember his childhood. Here, his friend's awkward shame had made Miles remember his own.
Most importantly, he had a hunch that she liked it. But mainly because of who used it first.
"Sure, no worries", he agreed. "Do I have permission to call you Gwendy then?"
"Sure, might as well", Gwen -no, Gwendy- said with a good natured scoff.
Miles made himself comfortable, laying back down on the floor of the roof. "So, what's the difference?"
"Difference?"
"Yeah. Peter here was young, blonde, with everything going perfectly for him. Our Peter is forty with a dad bod and badly shaven. And Noir is Bogart with a mask. How's this other Gwen like?"
"Oh, well, she's not that different from me. Looks like me, plays drums, cop dad… a dead Peter." She moved her hand to brush her hair back into place. "She's older, like early twenties. Goes by Ghost-Spider."
"Sounds like a name with a story."
"If there is one, she hasn't told me."
"But you plan to get it out of her."
"I admit, I'm curious. But I got this impression she wouldn't want to talk about it. At least not that soon."
"Fair. Anyway, what about Ham and the other Peter?" he asked. "You didn't talk with them about joining? What about me?"
"We talked to them", she admitted. "Ham said he was too busy, and Peter, well, he managed to reconcile with his MJ and wants to take it easy for a while." Gwen smiled. "He looks so happy now, he's like an entirely different man. He says hi, by the way."
"That's good, he deserved a break", Miles said with a nod. Peter might have been a mess, too scared to return to his life. But he had helped Miles find the spark of courage he needed to be himself. Miles was glad to have returned the favor, convincing the schlubby man to not sacrifice himself for nothing, and return back to his own world.
"As for you", Gwen continued, with a small awkward look, "Peni, Noir, and I suggested you'd need some time on your own first. To get used to all this, you know?"
"Yeah, I get it. Can I join though?"
She gave him a surprised look. "You sure?"
"Where better to learn than with a bunch of other spiders?" Miles replied with a shrug, and sat up. "I've been checking my Peter's online videos, and Aunt May lets me go down to his hideout whenever I want, but there's only so much I can learn from him."
She seemed to think it for a second before giving him a smirk. "They might think seven may be too many, but I'll ask Gwen."
"Ask what?"
Both teenagers turned to their side, surprised by a woman wearing the same costume as Gwendy and carrying a backpack. She came up from a different side of the building, rising up until she started to fall, then dropping nicely on her twos beside them.
"Wait, have you been here all this time?" Gwendy asked as she rose up to meet the new arrival.
The newcomer unmasked, and truly enough, she was an older Gwen. There were differences, sure, but the one that caught him off guard was that the mask and hoodie dissolved into goo and spiders that melted back into the rest of the suit.
"No, I just got here. They told me you'd want a lift up back home, so here I am", she explained with a shrug. She then turned to him. "You must be the Miles from this universe, right?"
"Yeah. And you are a Gwen made of spiders?" he asked, propping Gwendy to laugh. "Oh, c'mon", Miles exclaimed, "don't say that doesn't freak you out?!"
"I swear someone has asked the same before", Gwen mumbled. "You don't know what's a symbiote then?"
That was a word Miles recognized. "Oh, that? Sure, everyone who followed Spider-Man's comics knows about it. They had an arc about it that nobody liked, almost tanked the entire series. Wait, you got one of those?" He then leaned to Gwendy with a theatrical whisper. "You kept sensitive information from me. You didn't say she was nuts!"
"See?" Gwen asked to a still chuckling Gwendy. "If I don't love my cute hungry alien goo, who will? Nobody, that's who! So, what were you going to ask me?"
"She told me about the Web-Warriors", Miles answered without waiting for Gwendy to recover. "Can I join the team?"
"You mean, the Warriors and Ghost Team?" Miles nodded, and Gwen crossed her arms. "Volunteering for the Warriors is one thing. Joining the team, even if another one is formed later and you join that one, is a step above. We're not going to make a military out of this, but you gotta be prepared for the unknown. You're fine with that? I thought you were still kinda new to all this."
"He is new, but he's good enough to take care of himself", Gwendy interceded, a hand on Miles' shoulder. "He did great once he put on his game face."
"I just want to learn and hang out with friends", he added. "What does it matter that I join now or later?"
"That's true. All of us are always being thrown the deep end since our first day, friends or not", Gwen said with an approving smile. "If you're sure, we'll get you tomorrow to Loomworld, let Anya or Mayday give you the full talk. Then we figure out a timetable for everyone."
"Are you sure you don't mind more people in the team, though?" Gwendy asked.
Gwen cupped her chin on one hand. "Well, Octavia is our gal on a chair anyway. Noir and Peni are seasoned; Mayday should know better how to make them work, but should be fine on their own whenever she's busy. That leaves you two with me. That should keep things simple enough to work with." She then raised an amused eyebrow. "Assuming I don't need to keep you from getting too handsy with each other?"
Miles blinked, confused. "'Handsy'?"
"Nothing!" Gwendy exclaimed. Miles not only noticed the weight of her hand on his shoulder disappear pretty quickly, but the flustered look in her face as well. "I mean, I'm sure it's nothing. You know, adults and their silly jokes." Gwendy turned sharply at Gwen. "If that's all, shouldn't we leave now? Before dad's shift ends, you know. I already worried him too much with the one week I was missing here."
Gwen chuckled, and motioned Gwendy to follow her. "Let's go get you home. Nice meeting you, Miles, see ya tomorrow."
A portal appeared nearby, and the two girls walked in as Gwendy and Miles waved each other goodbye. Then the portal dissipated, and Miles was left alone.
As he put on his mask again, Miles felt shivers. "A real symbiote? Seriously man, that girl must be insane", he said as he jumped off the roof.
Earth-TRN702, a New York alleyway
"What the hell was all that about?"
"Just a bit of teasing, that's all", Gwen replied with a sweatshirt in hand, as she waited for Gwendy to put on her shirt. They were in another alleyway, this time one in front of Gwendy's block, and Gwen had already changed into a pink hoodie of her own the very moment they came through the portal.
Gwendy huffed, throwing an angry look at Gwen as she finished with the shirt and took the sweatshirt from the offering hand. "I know I said he had a crush on me. And… all right, I kinda like him, but I don't want that kind of relationship. Not now, I think. And saying that was… it just wasn't nice, ok?"
"You are right," Gwen nodded, apologetic. "I'm sorry if it bothered you. I don't want you to think I was having fun at your expense. It's just, as long as we're spending time together, I want you to have fun with me. To be at ease with me."
After putting on the sweatshirt and stuffing the hands on its pockets, Gwendy sighed and looked away, hunched. "I'm fine with some teasing. But I just want to choose the pace I go with my friends. Or whoever I'd like to be more than friends with. And I don't like being put on the spot like that."
"That's fair. I admit, I'm not good with relationship stuff anyway." Gwen raised one hand to her chest, and the other solemnly to head height. "I won't touch the subject anymore. Word of drummer scout."
"Thanks." A beat. "Listen, don't misunderstand me. I liked spending time with you…"
"Whoop", Gwen said flatly. "I'm doing something right for once in my life."
Gwendy looked back at Gwen, and after a moment of (trying to) holding it back, they shared a laugh.
"Why are you so silly all the time?!" Gwendy demanded in between fits.
"I'm not silly for being silly when something is good", Gwen denied with good natured indignation. "And getting you to smile is good."
Once the laughs ran their course, Gwen came closer, and Gwendy felt Gwen's hands on her shoulders. "The multiverse doesn't hold a great opinion about us Gwens. Too many die just to be someone else's tragedy. But that's not what I want for any of us; for me, or you. And I don't want you to be moody all the time, not when you still have good things around. I've gone through that already, and I don't want to let you do the same to yourself."
"I'm not… doing that", Gwen said lamely. "Am I?"
"Just a tiny bit. Look, I just want to help you be the happiest you can, whether I have to be your clown, or fight through hell itself with nothing more than stones and sticks for you."
"Hopefully the latter doesn't happen, but… Ok." Gwendy looked up with a grateful smile. "Just, look, these couple of days spending time with you have been nice. But I'm just not looking for a replacement mom. First one was a bust anyway."
"Helen?" Gwen said as she pulled away, noticing Gwendy's cringe at hearing the name. "Yours died too?"
"Dead? No. No, she… she left us." Gwendy looked aside, and Gwen could practically see the hateful disdain in her eyes. "When I was born", Gwendy muttered.
Gwen put her hand on Gwendy's arm and gave her a comforting rub. "I'm sorry."
"I mean." Gwendy merely shrugged. "I never needed her. Yours died."
"Sure but I don't remember my Helen. Your Helen left you." Gwen then brought her arm around Gwendy's shoulders, walking together to the aleway exit. "So you don't want a new mom. Great, not what I intended anyway. But would you settle with a big sister? I'm already giving you lifts around."
This time, Gwendy gave her biggest smile yet, if a shy one.
"Concert marathons of all the alternate versions of your favourite bands", Gwen added with a playful tightening of her embrace. "Think about it."
"That would be nice", Gwendy said, hesitantly. "The concerts too, sure, but I mean…" Finally, showing some teeth with that smile. "Yeah, I like the idea."
'Victory', Gwen thought with joy as they left the alleway
There they could the door of Gwendy's block just across the street. There were people going about their business, but barely any cars running around. And unlike in Miles's world, it wasn't that late into the night. Just the perfect time for a young superhero to just look like a teenager coming back home for the day.
Gwen took that moment to plant herself on the spot. "Ok, then big sis teasin' is a go. Gotta plan something for tomorrow."
"Oh, get lost!" Gwendy exclaimed as she pushed Gwen away, but there was no vitriol on it.
"Fine, fine, I'll make it up to you later", Gwen laughed off as she waved Gwendy away, to cross the street now that no cars seemed to be coming. "Go already, we don't want to worry your old man."
Gwendy did so, crossing the street, climbed the steps to her door, and cheerfully waved goodbye before going inside as Gwen answered in kind.
Satisfied, Gwen made to turn back into the alleway, but not before she noticed a stranger heavily covered in a coat and hat come closer to her. A heavily covered and heavy man, given his steps caused a bit of a rumble.
"You a friend of George's kid?"
The unexpected interaction caught her a bit off guard. "I am, yeah", she replied with what believed was true. "I offered to help her with her drumming, teach her a bit." Not so true, but that could be easily fixed.
"That so, huh? That's right nice of you." That was when his coat loosened up a bit and he raised his face, and she noticed the man was covered in orange rock from head to toe. Gwen recognized him, and that he was studying her. Threat assessment, if only for a neighbour's safety, she wanted to think. "Can I ask what's yer name, miss?"
"Max. Max Reilly", Gwen lied, offering the first fake name she could come up with. Giving her true name or surname wasn't an option, and using her mother's name would attract some attention.
But she wanted to punch herself when she realized Max was short for Maxine, her middle name. And probably Gwendy's as well. At least Reilly she had taken from aunt May.
Thankfully, her interlocutor didn't seem to pay any mind to it. So Gwen continued talking. "And you're Ben Grimm, right?" she ventured.
"Hah, 'right' she asks'', the man also known as the Thing laughed. "I don't know why I bother dressing like this anymore, folks been recognizin' me for years whether I wear it or not, and I today happen to meet someone who just gotta ask to be sure."
"Didn't mean to offend you", Gwen said nonchalantly. "I learned to not expect anything from celebrities. You know what they say about not meeting your heroes and disappointment."
"Bah, don't worry about it, girlie, I know what you mean", he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Actually, you just made my day. I know the kid has been feeling down for a while, it was hard to see at a distance but it seemed like you have lifted her spirits, and that was good to see. Too many long faces anywhere I go."
"Yeah, it's nice seeing her like that", Gwen agreed. "So do you know her? Talking with her, I got the impression that she only saw heroes through the media."
"No, I don't, that's true", he said with a shrug. "At least, I don't think any of us in the business have ever talked with her. But her pop and I, we meet sometimes on the streets. Professionally, you know? Good man, moral, not many good cops like him around, too. And George talks about her; the man is worried of course, just like every father with their kids, but still really proud of her."
"Yeah", Gwen smiled knowingly. "He really should be. She's a great girl."
"Anyway, I won't keep you here, I'm sure you got better things to do than hear me yammerin' all day, miss Reilly."
"Right." Going back into the alleyway was a no-go, so Gwen decided to just keep rolling with her bluff and walk away the same direction the hero came from, before finding another alleway to open a portal. "Have a good night, mister Thing."
As she walked away, Gwen thought about what the superhero had said. George. Of course, it wasn't that strange that Gwendy's father would share a name with her own. And the Thing mentioned he was worried about Gwendy. Her mind wandered to her conversation with Daniel Hebert hours ago, and to his desperation.
She understood everyone's insistence to deal quickly with Taylor, but she wanted it to be done right. Gwen also made a mental note to check if she should talk with Gwendy's father, and resolved to make a last visit before returning to Anya's home. Well, her home as well now, she guessed.
But before that, she took out her phone. Before getting Gwendy at Miles' world, she made a stop at Loomworld to recover her old but newly refurbished phone. Now, she opened the messaging app Octavia and Pavitr had coded for the Warriors.
The reply didn't take long to arrive before she found another alleway to sneak in.
Ben Grimm stood still as he watched the young woman walk away deeper into the city. Before he had lost her from sight, he turned to the building the Stacy girl had come into, and hummed in thought with a soft rumble.
Seeing that nothing out of the ordinary was happening, it didn't take long for the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing to return to his business. He was greeted by some people here and there along the way, and he returned the gesture each time, all the while thinking about mentioning the conversation to George the next time they met.
Earth-65, the house of George Stacy
Gwen came out of the portal directly onto the backyard of her home. The streets were dark, except for some windows in some houses, so she didn't pay any mind to the possibility of anyone noticing the brief light show that brought her there.
Usually, she'd port in the middle of New York, where at least she could make a quick patrol on her way home.
But as it tends to be, the usual was inherently always a thing of the past.
After walking up the steps to the backdoor, Gwen remained silent to listen for any noise at the door. While she couldn't see any lights on from there, she could hear a conversation. A civil one, meaning her father wasn't either sleep or in danger.
She knocked on the door before opening it. After stepping in, she saw her father George come up from the living hall. The light of a lamp coming from besides him revealed him in his office clothes, tall, grey haired as always.
"Hey dad."
"Gwen", he replied, as she walked up to him and hugged him. He hugged her back. "I wasn't expecting you, I thought you were still in some alternate universe. Did anything happen?"
"No, I just had a long day. I just wanted to check on my fav dad, make sure you're alright." They pulled away from each other. "I was worried it might be a bit late, but I see you already had a visit anyway."
"It's fine. I'm fine", he said, bringing a hand to his chest. He then motioned her to follow him. "You'll want to join us anyway. But you're alright?"
"Oh yeah, just ready to hit the sack." As they moved together, Gwen relished the contact. The last time they saw each other wasn't exactly joyful. "And you'll like to hear I'll be living with a friend in her house. A proper house, with individual bedrooms, a decent kitchen, and more than one toilet, not some communal dorms."
"Well, I wouldn't be against a dorm building as long as it was a good one. Who's this friend, one of your spider friends? Jessica?"
"No, Anya, you hadn't met her."
"Right. Have you talked about…?"
She shook her head. "I can't see them being able to help with that problem."
"Figures, finally a problem your friends can't punch or gizmo away."
Gwen hummed in agreement. "There hasn't been much of a reason to tell anyone, anyway. I'll tell Anya tomorrow, but I don't want to worry the others with it for now."
They came into the main hall, and quickly recognized her father's visitor seated at the coffee table. "Oh, hey Cap."
"Hello Gwen", Samantha Wilson greeted her, a woman better known to the public as Captain America. She was in her famous red and blue uniform, nursing a cup of coffee; she had taken off the skullcap, letting her fluid black hair free and her black skin show. Her shield was resting at her side, leaning against her seat.
"I made some noise until I could ask the Captain to meet with me", her dad explained as they took seats around the table, "in fact to talk about that very problem."
"How are you holding up, trooper?" Samantha asked, offering her hand. When Gwen went to do the same, Samantha grabbed her by the forearm. It was a firm handshake, but comforting.
"Well enough, considering", Gwen said. "I also thought about calling you, but I felt I owed you too much already."
"You shouldn't have worried", Samantha said. "I've been there to help you before when you needed it, haven't I?"
"I remember punching you more than a few times the last time you tried to help me", Gwen admitted, ashamed. Punched, and broke her arm.
Samantha simply smirked. "And I'm sure the one I got in was what you needed to clear your head."
"There's no way anything I say makes me look good, is it?" Gwen chuckled as Samantha shook her head with that smug smile of hers. "Thank you Cap, I really owe you."
"You really don't", the super spy asserted. "I heard you've been really busy since the last time we met."
"I guess. But sometimes it feels like one step forward, ten steps back."
"You think so? Rescuing people from fires, solving hostage situations, protecting your audience after one of your concerts gets bombed, dismantling a gang and taking down their werewolf leader… Whatever debt the public thinks you owe them, you've been paying back handsomely. And she won't admit it, but Director Carter isn't exactly happy you refused to join SHIELD."
"And what do you think of that?" George asked. "Gwen told me how you gave her that offer so she could shave half of her prison time."
"As I told Gwen, they knew I would be the only person she would buy that offer, but also that I was not going to force her. It wasn't her place and I still stand by it. Personal feelings aside, she would have been a great addition to the team the Director wanted her to be part of. To any team." Samantha took a sip of her coffee. "Then again, Gwen was intended as the only one in this particular group on the side of the angels, and half the aspirants already held a grudge against her. It was a disaster waiting to happen."
Gwen stifled a snort. "Then don't tell her I accepted a different offer for a team."
Samantha's eyes went wide in amusement. "Oh, you gotta tell me all about it, girl. Peggy's soooo gonna love to hear it."
"Later. How much has dad told you about the Storms?"
A short time ago, the internet celebrities Susan and Johnny Storm reappeared, years after disappearing without notice during a photo op in an island. When they came back, they did with powers. Susan with invisibility and force fields, Johnny with fire generation and flight. And then they asked Gwen to team up.
It was a trap. Gwen knew the Storms in other universes were some of the greatest and most powerful heroes, both members of the Fantastic Four, but while she had smelt something wrong going on with these particular versions of the siblings, she wasn't expecting foul play. She wasn't expecting them to try and murder her.
While they vastly overpowered her, she managed to hold her ground. But that didn't mean much for their backup plan. It was very simple: they were celebrities, prodigal sons at that, who merely by their mysterious and empowered resurgence were enjoying a rebirth as the favoured kids in the country. Gwen was a convict, and while there were some people in her corner, the media had already turned public opinion against her.
So they threatened Gwen with the lives of her loved ones, unless she gave up heroism and New York to her. And it was their word against her. It wasn't a fight she could win.
"The way I see it, any investigation is going to take a long time", Samantha explained, leaving her cup on the table. "Your father keeping an eye on them for any slip and mistake they make is a start. Of course, that won't work as long as they play their cards right, and from what you've told they know what they are doing."
"Besides, I'm just one captain precinct", Gwen's father added, "and there's a lot of resources I can't justify fielding without reasonable cause."
"A SHIELD investigation could have some success. The problem is, the Storms are American citizens. As long as they only attack criminals, they're outside our jurisdiction. And as long as they do act as the superheroes they say they are, it's time and public opinion that keeps helping them. Besides, you're on Peggy's shitlist. Without tangible proof, don't discount her ignoring the Storms just to spite you."
"So, there's nothing you can do", Gwen summarized.
Samantha leaned forwards. "There's been rumours. You know the country of Latveria. The people there don't like outsiders, yet they love that tyrant Von Doom of theirs. They won't talk to travelers or journalists. But with the correct motivation, you can get them to speak a little. Most of the time it's just propaganda. But the things we've been hearing this last year are strange. A change in management, if you catch my meaning. And I'm starting to think the Storms might have been implicated. I'll need time, but if I can get some analysts on the ground and do some verification, we might have a case for the Storms being involved in something international, something big. That's something Peggy cannot ignore, not even for Latveria or you."
"Assuming the Storms even had anything to do with that", Gwen pointed out. "How long would that take?"
Samantha shrugged. "I'm sorry, I'd like to say we could be done in a month, but considering the circumstances and the lack of tangible proof, I have no clue. You should be prepared to wait for a year, and that's being optimistic."
"Yeah well", Gwen said before a long sigh. "I guess that's why I made plans to be off world."
"As much as it pains me to say, this is going to be the best we can do for now", George agreed, a hand on Gwen's shoulder. "It's best if you leave this business to us old dogs, and you occupy yourself with your studies. Now, what was that you said before about a team? Is this about your spider friends?
"... So, yeah, that's why I came here tonight, looking for advice."
Gwen realized that both captains in the room were looking at her as if she had monkeys hooting and jumping on her face.
George was the first to react, sitting up and leaving the room. "I'll be back."
"Well, Gwen", Samantha started, "you know I spent years myself traveling the multiverse, and the idea of these Web-Warriors have some merit. But that aside, I'm not sure what I find more outlandish. That someone else offered you the job, or that you took it."
"See?" George yelled from the kitchen. "I was thinking the same."
"C'mon, seriously?" Gwen called out at her father.
"You already brought your friends to this house, we already had that discussion, and I have no reason to doubt any of that weirdness. But you have to admit. You, leading a team…?"
Gwen rubbed the bridge of her nose and groaned. "I guess I'm not known for my leadership skills."
"It's not a skill one cultivates reading books or in a few days, to be fair", Samantha agreed. "But you said your friend had intended the team for you to train yourself and your new members. That gives you some leeway. I doubt that'll help you with the younger kids, and from what you said most of you are already experienced loners, but I can give you some pointers. And I'm sure your old man will do the same."
"That would be great." Gwen let her hand drop, letting her exhausted face show. "Most of them seem to be fine letting me take the lead, and I think I'm getting this one younger version of me to like me, but I'm winging all of it and I get anxious thinking that -" She stopped talking when she saw her father return with some glasses and a bottle that she could only manage to identify as alcohol. "What's this?"
"You're saying one of those kids is you, powers and all, just younger?" George asked as he served a portion in one glass.
"... Yeah? She's sixteen."
George seemed to think about it, then doubled the liquid in the first glass. And after a beat, another, tripling the contents of the glass. He then served a normal portion in the second glass. "Should I?" he asked Samantha, pointing the bottle to the third glass.
"I'm not on the clock right now." Samantha seemed amused by the entire act.
George added another single portion to the third glass, leaving the bottle almost empty. He left the bottle on the center of the table; then hovered a hand over the first glass for a moment, and moved it in front of Gwen.
"Dad, what's all this?" she asked with worry. "You know I don't drink."
"Correction: you've never shown interest in it, and I never pushed you to. But you are an adult, and tonight you drink", he simply stated as he gave Samantha her glass. "Your mother's father had me drink this whisky twice. The first one was when I married your mother. The second when I became captain." He took his glass and raised, and Samantha followed his example. "So its bitter taste would prepare me for the unpleasantries of being a father and the chain of command. And never forget them."
"And why did you give me the triple you two are taking?"
"Because you, Gwendoline Maxine Stacy, will be in charge of another you. And if that's not the best reason to do that, I can't be damned to imagine what other reason could it be. I think you and your goo can take it."
Gwen turned at Samantha when she gave out a snort. "I'm happy you're finding this so fun."
"As I said, you don't owe me anything." The black woman motioned Gwen to take her glass. "I think you're supposed to go first."
Throwing some suspicious looks at the both of them, Gwen took up the glass tentatively. Well, the sooner the better, she thought. And she could count on her symbiote to get it done faster. She thought.
She raised the glass near her mouth, and started drinking.
The other two adults in the room followed her example, except they did it slower, and didn't bat a single eye when Gwen started to cough furiously.
"Holy… fuck!" she screamed, before coughing two more times. "Grandad got this from hell or something?!"
"Hmm." George lowered his glass calmly, and started patting his daughter on the back. "No luck with your venom thing?"
Gwen continued with her fit of coughing for a few seconds more. "Bastard… it thought was funny to let me have it all."
"Well, you are the one supposed to drink it, not your symbiote", Samantha pointed out. "Seems to me it just abided by the tradition."
"Ok, I think that will be enough", George said as Gwen looked down at her glass with a heavy breathing. "You don't need to…"
He didn't have time to finish before Gwen raised her glass again, downed the contents in one go, and left the glass on the table.
"I think you raised your kid to accept a challenge a bit too well, captain", Samantha said.
"Oh, that's going to bite me in the ass, ain't it?" Gwen bemoaned. "Symbiote 's worried now."
"It'll be better if you leave and get into bed soon." George sat up and moved again for the kitchen. "I'll get you something for the migraine."
"It's… fine, I think", Gwen said, her eyes fixated on the floor. "Symbiote thinks it can deal with the toxins but… this is the first time that we do this I think. Yeah, something to help would be nice."
"Sometimes you got too many guts for your own good, Gwen." She then felt Samantha's hands helping her to get up. "Come on. Let's get you outside. Your symbiote may work miracles, but the air will do you some good anyway before you leave."
"I can walk", Gwen said once she was up, refusing to be helped by Samantha on the way out. "I'm just not used to how hard that hit. And I've been hit by some real hard crap."
She was about to walk past the armchair Samantha was sitting on a minute ago, when Gwen felt a compulsion to look down.
"Hmm, Cap", she said, pointing at the shield leaning on the side of the armchair. "Mind if I try something?"
Samantha raised an eyebrow. "Should I be worried, now that you're potentially on the way to being blind drunk like a rat in an Irish pub?"
"I won't do anything to it, but the symbiote is curious…" Gwen crouched, touching the shield with one hand. She moved away, and raised an arm. Her clothes started swirling around her forearm, and an imperfect black copy of the shield started to take form.
"Cute", Samantha drawled. "I shouldn't be worried about image copyright, I hope."
"It wanted to try and mimic the vibranium." The newly formed shield kept some irregularities around the edge, but the color changed, with white and black bands circling the construct, and the pink stylized image of a spider on its center. Gwen gave it a firm blow with her free hand. "But seems to think that's a lost cause. Should have started with iron or steel I guess."
"Well, at least you got a shield now."
"I guess it makes my punches bigger."
"I'm serious." Samantha's hand found her way to Gwen's shoulder once again. "This isn't a bad idea your pet alien just had. Sometimes, a shield is more useful than a fist, Gwen."
Gwen gave it some thought. "You are right. My anger gets the best of me sometimes, and I can't even say that's my symbiote's fault. But I swear, Cap. I want to protect those with me. I wanted to help in more ways than fighting, but sometimes…"
The constructed shield dissolved, back to being part of her.
"Sometimes being a shield is what's needed of you."
Earth Bet, the next day
Taylor had woken up an hour ago, a bit sooner than what she felt comfortable for leaving her room and meeting Brian, or looking for breakfast. And she had spent a good part of that time wondering about what Lisa had told her the past night.
She was now looking at Gwen's number in her phone. She had been staring at it for at least five minutes now.
'Things aren't that bad now, I think. Right?'
Taylor gave a sigh as she laid back on the bed. In her frustration, one hand went up to her hair, massaging her head.
Time ago, she would have been really receptive, but now, those two girls were just another complication that she didn't need in her life.
Taylor liked making friends. But that was years ago. And now after Emma's betrayal… No, it was on her to take control of her life. She couldn't afford to let just anybody get so close to her anymore. There was no such thing as a free dinner in this life.
Lisa, Brian, Rachel, and Alec… That was different. Taylor had her own reason to join them, at first. A selfish one. But they helped her. They weren't good people, maybe, but they didn't judge her. Brian had treated her far more maturely than any other person their age had done in a long while. Rachel took work to get to know her, but it was easy to see what she wanted from life once you looked past the gruff demeanor. And Alec… Who knew what went through Alec's mind? But he was harmless enough.
And Lisa had a mean streak to her when pushed against a wall, but Taylor probably owed to her every inch of not feeling like crap that she gained these last days with her.
She brought her hand in front of her face, bring a lock of hair to her sigh, and watched the spiders and ants on it mill about, tidying and untying those strands of hair at her direction just as the many others still in her mane did with the rest of her hair.
Maybe this wasn't the way she imagined her life to be years ago. But nonetheless, it was the way it was, and she had enough things to think about.
Still, if her dad had asked Gwen to check with her and make sure she was alright… Taylor guessed that was a reasonable petition. At the very least, it was a step down from her dad freaking out and calling the police to find her.
That's when she heard her phone suddenly come to life. Her other phone.
Taylor took it as she sat up and accepted the call, knowing that it would only be Lisa. In truth, right now she had the same contacts in both of her two phones. But this one was for work.
"Yes?"
"Skitter, go get Grue now and call back. We're going to have trouble today. Big trouble."
Somewhere dark
Again, he woke up.
He fought against sleep. Each time he gained a small bit more of time that he didn't surrender to the slumber.
Eventually, the drugs wouldn't stop him. But time asleep was time he couldn't think. Time he couldn't use to study his surroundings. Time he couldn't use to plan. Time he couldn't use to free himself. Strength alone wouldn't help for that.
For a change, he needed to be patient, and think.
Until now, he had ideas to solve his current situation, but not the opportunity or the time required. Still, the chance was near. The next time he'd wake up, he'd remain awake for enough time to take advantage of the window of opportunity he had inferred from listening to his jailers. Then he'd free himself at last, even if he'd need to lay low and weight his options once he was out.
The drugs started to take effect once again, and he welcomed the darkness.
Night might have fallen already, but there were plenty of people still in the streets of New York. Some even were attentive enough to notice him swinging around, and Miles wasn't going to deny them a bit of showmanship.
Right now, he had just done something that was becoming kind of a signature stunt, a mix of walking on a wall, sliding on some rails, and shooting a webline away into the vehicle traffic, lowering his swing enough to scratch the asfalt in between two cars. He could still hear the cheers and camera shots behind him.
Hell, he enjoyed it, and the public demonstrations let the people know that someone was still looking over them. And they needed it. It had only been barely a week since the previous Spider-Man had died, and the entire city mourned his passing.
Using the swing, he launched himself upwards to land on a roof.
"Look at who's being a showoff."
Miles turned around, watching Gwen land at his side and taking off her mask. There was no bite on her comment, and to be fair, it wasn't completely off the mark. "Hey, what can I say, I was having fun, they were having fun. We're all having fun. Good fun all around, right?"
"You do look much more at ease than before." She said as she sat at the border of the roof.
"Yeah well, those were…" Miles coughed, and took off his own mask as he walked closer to her. "Probably the weirdest days of my life."
"Yet", she added with a raised finger.
Miles grimaced, and sat down at Gwen's side. "I guess I should give it some time, huh?"
"I'm just pulling your leg." She brought one leg closer to herself, smiling at him. "I'm just glad you were able to hit the ground running in the end. I was worried when we left you at your dorm before dealing with Kingpin."
"Yeah, me too." He agreed. "Though it felt more like rolling down the stairs before any running, you know?"
Gwen laughed. "I was trying to be gentle with you, but if that's the way you see it, you do you."
It hasn't been that long since Miles last saw Gwen, but they have been catching up for the best part of half an hour along their way.
Miles told her how, after she jumped back to her home universe, he then succeeded to disable the collider that brought the spider gang to his world from the start, capture the Kingpin, and reach some kind of peace of mind with his father. New York knowing about him. Unmasking to his roomie. The remembrance graffiti Miles and his father did for uncle Aaron.
And Gwen told him about the Web-Warriors, Loomworld, and the Web of Life and Destiny.
Miles' mind went back to when he shut down Kingpin's portal. The many interconnected webs on a vast blackness, some of them looking far enough to be taken for stars, and others close enough that Miles thought that, for one singular second, he could see the entire histories of a world unknown to him.
So that was its name. Very cool.
"So, you're in a team now, with Peni and trenchcoat Peter…"
"We're calling him Noir now", Gwen corrected him.
"Oh, that's a clever one. Ok, then there are these girls Mayday and Octavia, a good Doc Ock."
"A good Doc Ock", she confirmed, sounding just as surprised as himself.
"Right, just wanted to make sure, after all that thing with Liv. Anyway, that makes five of you. Didn't you say you were six? What about the last one?"
Gwen hesitated for a moment. "Well, she's… me."
"I see", Miles said with a dramatic nod of understanding. "Are we talking multiple personalities here?" He leaned in. "Is she called Wanda?"
The soft smack to the back of his head only made his mischievous smile bigger.
"You know that's not what I mean, you doofus." Gwen rolled her eyes. "I mean, me from another, another dimension."
"Got it, like the multiple Peters then." She nodded. "She also goes by Gwen?"
"Yeah, she actually suggested that I'd go by a different name when working together."
"That makes sense. So what will you be going by?"
Gwen took a long breath, and forcefully blew it up on a lock of hair, making it float for a few seconds until she stopped. "She suggested Gwendy." The hair landed on top of her eye.
A beat. "I'm detecting a slight, insignificant, not really noteworthy apprehension to be called that."
"Please don't laugh at it", she begged, moving the traveling lock of hair away from the eye.
He wasn't going to, he kinda liked it. But Miles was struck by a curious thought. In his experience, most people when confronted by an undesired nickname, either got angry or dismissive. But Gwen's delivery sounded a bit protective. Like she felt ridiculed, yes, but she also was feeling attached to it.
It was a very familiar sensation. Miles now mentally found himself at the front of his new school, with untied shoelaces and a silly wheeled suitcase. On one side, a buttload of students and his new schoolmates. And on the other side, his dad in his patrol car, blasting at him with the sirens and asking him through the loudspeaker to tell him 'I love you, dad'.
Miles said it. And he did love his dad, but it was mortifying.
He was pretty sure a teacher had mentioned in passing something that explained the present situation: Proust's madeleine. The smell of a madeleine had made Proust remember his childhood. Here, his friend's awkward shame had made Miles remember his own.
Most importantly, he had a hunch that she liked it. But mainly because of who used it first.
"Sure, no worries", he agreed. "Do I have permission to call you Gwendy then?"
"Sure, might as well", Gwen -no, Gwendy- said with a good natured scoff.
Miles made himself comfortable, laying back down on the floor of the roof. "So, what's the difference?"
"Difference?"
"Yeah. Peter here was young, blonde, with everything going perfectly for him. Our Peter is forty with a dad bod and badly shaven. And Noir is Bogart with a mask. How's this other Gwen like?"
"Oh, well, she's not that different from me. Looks like me, plays drums, cop dad… a dead Peter." She moved her hand to brush her hair back into place. "She's older, like early twenties. Goes by Ghost-Spider."
"Sounds like a name with a story."
"If there is one, she hasn't told me."
"But you plan to get it out of her."
"I admit, I'm curious. But I got this impression she wouldn't want to talk about it. At least not that soon."
"Fair. Anyway, what about Ham and the other Peter?" he asked. "You didn't talk with them about joining? What about me?"
"We talked to them", she admitted. "Ham said he was too busy, and Peter, well, he managed to reconcile with his MJ and wants to take it easy for a while." Gwen smiled. "He looks so happy now, he's like an entirely different man. He says hi, by the way."
"That's good, he deserved a break", Miles said with a nod. Peter might have been a mess, too scared to return to his life. But he had helped Miles find the spark of courage he needed to be himself. Miles was glad to have returned the favor, convincing the schlubby man to not sacrifice himself for nothing, and return back to his own world.
"As for you", Gwen continued, with a small awkward look, "Peni, Noir, and I suggested you'd need some time on your own first. To get used to all this, you know?"
"Yeah, I get it. Can I join though?"
She gave him a surprised look. "You sure?"
"Where better to learn than with a bunch of other spiders?" Miles replied with a shrug, and sat up. "I've been checking my Peter's online videos, and Aunt May lets me go down to his hideout whenever I want, but there's only so much I can learn from him."
She seemed to think it for a second before giving him a smirk. "They might think seven may be too many, but I'll ask Gwen."
"Ask what?"
Both teenagers turned to their side, surprised by a woman wearing the same costume as Gwendy and carrying a backpack. She came up from a different side of the building, rising up until she started to fall, then dropping nicely on her twos beside them.
"Wait, have you been here all this time?" Gwendy asked as she rose up to meet the new arrival.
The newcomer unmasked, and truly enough, she was an older Gwen. There were differences, sure, but the one that caught him off guard was that the mask and hoodie dissolved into goo and spiders that melted back into the rest of the suit.
"No, I just got here. They told me you'd want a lift up back home, so here I am", she explained with a shrug. She then turned to him. "You must be the Miles from this universe, right?"
"Yeah. And you are a Gwen made of spiders?" he asked, propping Gwendy to laugh. "Oh, c'mon", Miles exclaimed, "don't say that doesn't freak you out?!"
"I swear someone has asked the same before", Gwen mumbled. "You don't know what's a symbiote then?"
That was a word Miles recognized. "Oh, that? Sure, everyone who followed Spider-Man's comics knows about it. They had an arc about it that nobody liked, almost tanked the entire series. Wait, you got one of those?" He then leaned to Gwendy with a theatrical whisper. "You kept sensitive information from me. You didn't say she was nuts!"
"See?" Gwen asked to a still chuckling Gwendy. "If I don't love my cute hungry alien goo, who will? Nobody, that's who! So, what were you going to ask me?"
"She told me about the Web-Warriors", Miles answered without waiting for Gwendy to recover. "Can I join the team?"
"You mean, the Warriors and Ghost Team?" Miles nodded, and Gwen crossed her arms. "Volunteering for the Warriors is one thing. Joining the team, even if another one is formed later and you join that one, is a step above. We're not going to make a military out of this, but you gotta be prepared for the unknown. You're fine with that? I thought you were still kinda new to all this."
"He is new, but he's good enough to take care of himself", Gwendy interceded, a hand on Miles' shoulder. "He did great once he put on his game face."
"I just want to learn and hang out with friends", he added. "What does it matter that I join now or later?"
"That's true. All of us are always being thrown the deep end since our first day, friends or not", Gwen said with an approving smile. "If you're sure, we'll get you tomorrow to Loomworld, let Anya or Mayday give you the full talk. Then we figure out a timetable for everyone."
"Are you sure you don't mind more people in the team, though?" Gwendy asked.
Gwen cupped her chin on one hand. "Well, Octavia is our gal on a chair anyway. Noir and Peni are seasoned; Mayday should know better how to make them work, but should be fine on their own whenever she's busy. That leaves you two with me. That should keep things simple enough to work with." She then raised an amused eyebrow. "Assuming I don't need to keep you from getting too handsy with each other?"
Miles blinked, confused. "'Handsy'?"
"Nothing!" Gwendy exclaimed. Miles not only noticed the weight of her hand on his shoulder disappear pretty quickly, but the flustered look in her face as well. "I mean, I'm sure it's nothing. You know, adults and their silly jokes." Gwendy turned sharply at Gwen. "If that's all, shouldn't we leave now? Before dad's shift ends, you know. I already worried him too much with the one week I was missing here."
Gwen chuckled, and motioned Gwendy to follow her. "Let's go get you home. Nice meeting you, Miles, see ya tomorrow."
A portal appeared nearby, and the two girls walked in as Gwendy and Miles waved each other goodbye. Then the portal dissipated, and Miles was left alone.
As he put on his mask again, Miles felt shivers. "A real symbiote? Seriously man, that girl must be insane", he said as he jumped off the roof.
Earth-TRN702, a New York alleyway
"What the hell was all that about?"
"Just a bit of teasing, that's all", Gwen replied with a sweatshirt in hand, as she waited for Gwendy to put on her shirt. They were in another alleyway, this time one in front of Gwendy's block, and Gwen had already changed into a pink hoodie of her own the very moment they came through the portal.
Gwendy huffed, throwing an angry look at Gwen as she finished with the shirt and took the sweatshirt from the offering hand. "I know I said he had a crush on me. And… all right, I kinda like him, but I don't want that kind of relationship. Not now, I think. And saying that was… it just wasn't nice, ok?"
"You are right," Gwen nodded, apologetic. "I'm sorry if it bothered you. I don't want you to think I was having fun at your expense. It's just, as long as we're spending time together, I want you to have fun with me. To be at ease with me."
After putting on the sweatshirt and stuffing the hands on its pockets, Gwendy sighed and looked away, hunched. "I'm fine with some teasing. But I just want to choose the pace I go with my friends. Or whoever I'd like to be more than friends with. And I don't like being put on the spot like that."
"That's fair. I admit, I'm not good with relationship stuff anyway." Gwen raised one hand to her chest, and the other solemnly to head height. "I won't touch the subject anymore. Word of drummer scout."
"Thanks." A beat. "Listen, don't misunderstand me. I liked spending time with you…"
"Whoop", Gwen said flatly. "I'm doing something right for once in my life."
Gwendy looked back at Gwen, and after a moment of (trying to) holding it back, they shared a laugh.
"Why are you so silly all the time?!" Gwendy demanded in between fits.
"I'm not silly for being silly when something is good", Gwen denied with good natured indignation. "And getting you to smile is good."
Once the laughs ran their course, Gwen came closer, and Gwendy felt Gwen's hands on her shoulders. "The multiverse doesn't hold a great opinion about us Gwens. Too many die just to be someone else's tragedy. But that's not what I want for any of us; for me, or you. And I don't want you to be moody all the time, not when you still have good things around. I've gone through that already, and I don't want to let you do the same to yourself."
"I'm not… doing that", Gwen said lamely. "Am I?"
"Just a tiny bit. Look, I just want to help you be the happiest you can, whether I have to be your clown, or fight through hell itself with nothing more than stones and sticks for you."
"Hopefully the latter doesn't happen, but… Ok." Gwendy looked up with a grateful smile. "Just, look, these couple of days spending time with you have been nice. But I'm just not looking for a replacement mom. First one was a bust anyway."
"Helen?" Gwen said as she pulled away, noticing Gwendy's cringe at hearing the name. "Yours died too?"
"Dead? No. No, she… she left us." Gwendy looked aside, and Gwen could practically see the hateful disdain in her eyes. "When I was born", Gwendy muttered.
Gwen put her hand on Gwendy's arm and gave her a comforting rub. "I'm sorry."
"I mean." Gwendy merely shrugged. "I never needed her. Yours died."
"Sure but I don't remember my Helen. Your Helen left you." Gwen then brought her arm around Gwendy's shoulders, walking together to the aleway exit. "So you don't want a new mom. Great, not what I intended anyway. But would you settle with a big sister? I'm already giving you lifts around."
This time, Gwendy gave her biggest smile yet, if a shy one.
"Concert marathons of all the alternate versions of your favourite bands", Gwen added with a playful tightening of her embrace. "Think about it."
"That would be nice", Gwendy said, hesitantly. "The concerts too, sure, but I mean…" Finally, showing some teeth with that smile. "Yeah, I like the idea."
'Victory', Gwen thought with joy as they left the alleway
There they could the door of Gwendy's block just across the street. There were people going about their business, but barely any cars running around. And unlike in Miles's world, it wasn't that late into the night. Just the perfect time for a young superhero to just look like a teenager coming back home for the day.
Gwen took that moment to plant herself on the spot. "Ok, then big sis teasin' is a go. Gotta plan something for tomorrow."
"Oh, get lost!" Gwendy exclaimed as she pushed Gwen away, but there was no vitriol on it.
"Fine, fine, I'll make it up to you later", Gwen laughed off as she waved Gwendy away, to cross the street now that no cars seemed to be coming. "Go already, we don't want to worry your old man."
Gwendy did so, crossing the street, climbed the steps to her door, and cheerfully waved goodbye before going inside as Gwen answered in kind.
Satisfied, Gwen made to turn back into the alleway, but not before she noticed a stranger heavily covered in a coat and hat come closer to her. A heavily covered and heavy man, given his steps caused a bit of a rumble.
"You a friend of George's kid?"
The unexpected interaction caught her a bit off guard. "I am, yeah", she replied with what believed was true. "I offered to help her with her drumming, teach her a bit." Not so true, but that could be easily fixed.
"That so, huh? That's right nice of you." That was when his coat loosened up a bit and he raised his face, and she noticed the man was covered in orange rock from head to toe. Gwen recognized him, and that he was studying her. Threat assessment, if only for a neighbour's safety, she wanted to think. "Can I ask what's yer name, miss?"
"Max. Max Reilly", Gwen lied, offering the first fake name she could come up with. Giving her true name or surname wasn't an option, and using her mother's name would attract some attention.
But she wanted to punch herself when she realized Max was short for Maxine, her middle name. And probably Gwendy's as well. At least Reilly she had taken from aunt May.
Thankfully, her interlocutor didn't seem to pay any mind to it. So Gwen continued talking. "And you're Ben Grimm, right?" she ventured.
"Hah, 'right' she asks'', the man also known as the Thing laughed. "I don't know why I bother dressing like this anymore, folks been recognizin' me for years whether I wear it or not, and I today happen to meet someone who just gotta ask to be sure."
"Didn't mean to offend you", Gwen said nonchalantly. "I learned to not expect anything from celebrities. You know what they say about not meeting your heroes and disappointment."
"Bah, don't worry about it, girlie, I know what you mean", he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Actually, you just made my day. I know the kid has been feeling down for a while, it was hard to see at a distance but it seemed like you have lifted her spirits, and that was good to see. Too many long faces anywhere I go."
"Yeah, it's nice seeing her like that", Gwen agreed. "So do you know her? Talking with her, I got the impression that she only saw heroes through the media."
"No, I don't, that's true", he said with a shrug. "At least, I don't think any of us in the business have ever talked with her. But her pop and I, we meet sometimes on the streets. Professionally, you know? Good man, moral, not many good cops like him around, too. And George talks about her; the man is worried of course, just like every father with their kids, but still really proud of her."
"Yeah", Gwen smiled knowingly. "He really should be. She's a great girl."
"Anyway, I won't keep you here, I'm sure you got better things to do than hear me yammerin' all day, miss Reilly."
"Right." Going back into the alleyway was a no-go, so Gwen decided to just keep rolling with her bluff and walk away the same direction the hero came from, before finding another alleway to open a portal. "Have a good night, mister Thing."
As she walked away, Gwen thought about what the superhero had said. George. Of course, it wasn't that strange that Gwendy's father would share a name with her own. And the Thing mentioned he was worried about Gwendy. Her mind wandered to her conversation with Daniel Hebert hours ago, and to his desperation.
She understood everyone's insistence to deal quickly with Taylor, but she wanted it to be done right. Gwen also made a mental note to check if she should talk with Gwendy's father, and resolved to make a last visit before returning to Anya's home. Well, her home as well now, she guessed.
But before that, she took out her phone. Before getting Gwendy at Miles' world, she made a stop at Loomworld to recover her old but newly refurbished phone. Now, she opened the messaging app Octavia and Pavitr had coded for the Warriors.
The reply didn't take long to arrive before she found another alleway to sneak in.
Gwenlor Swift said:
Ben Grimm stood still as he watched the young woman walk away deeper into the city. Before he had lost her from sight, he turned to the building the Stacy girl had come into, and hummed in thought with a soft rumble.
Seeing that nothing out of the ordinary was happening, it didn't take long for the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing to return to his business. He was greeted by some people here and there along the way, and he returned the gesture each time, all the while thinking about mentioning the conversation to George the next time they met.
Earth-65, the house of George Stacy
Gwen came out of the portal directly onto the backyard of her home. The streets were dark, except for some windows in some houses, so she didn't pay any mind to the possibility of anyone noticing the brief light show that brought her there.
Usually, she'd port in the middle of New York, where at least she could make a quick patrol on her way home.
But as it tends to be, the usual was inherently always a thing of the past.
After walking up the steps to the backdoor, Gwen remained silent to listen for any noise at the door. While she couldn't see any lights on from there, she could hear a conversation. A civil one, meaning her father wasn't either sleep or in danger.
She knocked on the door before opening it. After stepping in, she saw her father George come up from the living hall. The light of a lamp coming from besides him revealed him in his office clothes, tall, grey haired as always.
"Hey dad."
"Gwen", he replied, as she walked up to him and hugged him. He hugged her back. "I wasn't expecting you, I thought you were still in some alternate universe. Did anything happen?"
"No, I just had a long day. I just wanted to check on my fav dad, make sure you're alright." They pulled away from each other. "I was worried it might be a bit late, but I see you already had a visit anyway."
"It's fine. I'm fine", he said, bringing a hand to his chest. He then motioned her to follow him. "You'll want to join us anyway. But you're alright?"
"Oh yeah, just ready to hit the sack." As they moved together, Gwen relished the contact. The last time they saw each other wasn't exactly joyful. "And you'll like to hear I'll be living with a friend in her house. A proper house, with individual bedrooms, a decent kitchen, and more than one toilet, not some communal dorms."
"Well, I wouldn't be against a dorm building as long as it was a good one. Who's this friend, one of your spider friends? Jessica?"
"No, Anya, you hadn't met her."
"Right. Have you talked about…?"
She shook her head. "I can't see them being able to help with that problem."
"Figures, finally a problem your friends can't punch or gizmo away."
Gwen hummed in agreement. "There hasn't been much of a reason to tell anyone, anyway. I'll tell Anya tomorrow, but I don't want to worry the others with it for now."
They came into the main hall, and quickly recognized her father's visitor seated at the coffee table. "Oh, hey Cap."
"Hello Gwen", Samantha Wilson greeted her, a woman better known to the public as Captain America. She was in her famous red and blue uniform, nursing a cup of coffee; she had taken off the skullcap, letting her fluid black hair free and her black skin show. Her shield was resting at her side, leaning against her seat.
"I made some noise until I could ask the Captain to meet with me", her dad explained as they took seats around the table, "in fact to talk about that very problem."
"How are you holding up, trooper?" Samantha asked, offering her hand. When Gwen went to do the same, Samantha grabbed her by the forearm. It was a firm handshake, but comforting.
"Well enough, considering", Gwen said. "I also thought about calling you, but I felt I owed you too much already."
"You shouldn't have worried", Samantha said. "I've been there to help you before when you needed it, haven't I?"
"I remember punching you more than a few times the last time you tried to help me", Gwen admitted, ashamed. Punched, and broke her arm.
Samantha simply smirked. "And I'm sure the one I got in was what you needed to clear your head."
"There's no way anything I say makes me look good, is it?" Gwen chuckled as Samantha shook her head with that smug smile of hers. "Thank you Cap, I really owe you."
"You really don't", the super spy asserted. "I heard you've been really busy since the last time we met."
"I guess. But sometimes it feels like one step forward, ten steps back."
"You think so? Rescuing people from fires, solving hostage situations, protecting your audience after one of your concerts gets bombed, dismantling a gang and taking down their werewolf leader… Whatever debt the public thinks you owe them, you've been paying back handsomely. And she won't admit it, but Director Carter isn't exactly happy you refused to join SHIELD."
"And what do you think of that?" George asked. "Gwen told me how you gave her that offer so she could shave half of her prison time."
"As I told Gwen, they knew I would be the only person she would buy that offer, but also that I was not going to force her. It wasn't her place and I still stand by it. Personal feelings aside, she would have been a great addition to the team the Director wanted her to be part of. To any team." Samantha took a sip of her coffee. "Then again, Gwen was intended as the only one in this particular group on the side of the angels, and half the aspirants already held a grudge against her. It was a disaster waiting to happen."
Gwen stifled a snort. "Then don't tell her I accepted a different offer for a team."
Samantha's eyes went wide in amusement. "Oh, you gotta tell me all about it, girl. Peggy's soooo gonna love to hear it."
"Later. How much has dad told you about the Storms?"
A short time ago, the internet celebrities Susan and Johnny Storm reappeared, years after disappearing without notice during a photo op in an island. When they came back, they did with powers. Susan with invisibility and force fields, Johnny with fire generation and flight. And then they asked Gwen to team up.
It was a trap. Gwen knew the Storms in other universes were some of the greatest and most powerful heroes, both members of the Fantastic Four, but while she had smelt something wrong going on with these particular versions of the siblings, she wasn't expecting foul play. She wasn't expecting them to try and murder her.
While they vastly overpowered her, she managed to hold her ground. But that didn't mean much for their backup plan. It was very simple: they were celebrities, prodigal sons at that, who merely by their mysterious and empowered resurgence were enjoying a rebirth as the favoured kids in the country. Gwen was a convict, and while there were some people in her corner, the media had already turned public opinion against her.
So they threatened Gwen with the lives of her loved ones, unless she gave up heroism and New York to her. And it was their word against her. It wasn't a fight she could win.
"The way I see it, any investigation is going to take a long time", Samantha explained, leaving her cup on the table. "Your father keeping an eye on them for any slip and mistake they make is a start. Of course, that won't work as long as they play their cards right, and from what you've told they know what they are doing."
"Besides, I'm just one captain precinct", Gwen's father added, "and there's a lot of resources I can't justify fielding without reasonable cause."
"A SHIELD investigation could have some success. The problem is, the Storms are American citizens. As long as they only attack criminals, they're outside our jurisdiction. And as long as they do act as the superheroes they say they are, it's time and public opinion that keeps helping them. Besides, you're on Peggy's shitlist. Without tangible proof, don't discount her ignoring the Storms just to spite you."
"So, there's nothing you can do", Gwen summarized.
Samantha leaned forwards. "There's been rumours. You know the country of Latveria. The people there don't like outsiders, yet they love that tyrant Von Doom of theirs. They won't talk to travelers or journalists. But with the correct motivation, you can get them to speak a little. Most of the time it's just propaganda. But the things we've been hearing this last year are strange. A change in management, if you catch my meaning. And I'm starting to think the Storms might have been implicated. I'll need time, but if I can get some analysts on the ground and do some verification, we might have a case for the Storms being involved in something international, something big. That's something Peggy cannot ignore, not even for Latveria or you."
"Assuming the Storms even had anything to do with that", Gwen pointed out. "How long would that take?"
Samantha shrugged. "I'm sorry, I'd like to say we could be done in a month, but considering the circumstances and the lack of tangible proof, I have no clue. You should be prepared to wait for a year, and that's being optimistic."
"Yeah well", Gwen said before a long sigh. "I guess that's why I made plans to be off world."
"As much as it pains me to say, this is going to be the best we can do for now", George agreed, a hand on Gwen's shoulder. "It's best if you leave this business to us old dogs, and you occupy yourself with your studies. Now, what was that you said before about a team? Is this about your spider friends?
"... So, yeah, that's why I came here tonight, looking for advice."
Gwen realized that both captains in the room were looking at her as if she had monkeys hooting and jumping on her face.
George was the first to react, sitting up and leaving the room. "I'll be back."
"Well, Gwen", Samantha started, "you know I spent years myself traveling the multiverse, and the idea of these Web-Warriors have some merit. But that aside, I'm not sure what I find more outlandish. That someone else offered you the job, or that you took it."
"See?" George yelled from the kitchen. "I was thinking the same."
"C'mon, seriously?" Gwen called out at her father.
"You already brought your friends to this house, we already had that discussion, and I have no reason to doubt any of that weirdness. But you have to admit. You, leading a team…?"
Gwen rubbed the bridge of her nose and groaned. "I guess I'm not known for my leadership skills."
"It's not a skill one cultivates reading books or in a few days, to be fair", Samantha agreed. "But you said your friend had intended the team for you to train yourself and your new members. That gives you some leeway. I doubt that'll help you with the younger kids, and from what you said most of you are already experienced loners, but I can give you some pointers. And I'm sure your old man will do the same."
"That would be great." Gwen let her hand drop, letting her exhausted face show. "Most of them seem to be fine letting me take the lead, and I think I'm getting this one younger version of me to like me, but I'm winging all of it and I get anxious thinking that -" She stopped talking when she saw her father return with some glasses and a bottle that she could only manage to identify as alcohol. "What's this?"
"You're saying one of those kids is you, powers and all, just younger?" George asked as he served a portion in one glass.
"... Yeah? She's sixteen."
George seemed to think about it, then doubled the liquid in the first glass. And after a beat, another, tripling the contents of the glass. He then served a normal portion in the second glass. "Should I?" he asked Samantha, pointing the bottle to the third glass.
"I'm not on the clock right now." Samantha seemed amused by the entire act.
George added another single portion to the third glass, leaving the bottle almost empty. He left the bottle on the center of the table; then hovered a hand over the first glass for a moment, and moved it in front of Gwen.
"Dad, what's all this?" she asked with worry. "You know I don't drink."
"Correction: you've never shown interest in it, and I never pushed you to. But you are an adult, and tonight you drink", he simply stated as he gave Samantha her glass. "Your mother's father had me drink this whisky twice. The first one was when I married your mother. The second when I became captain." He took his glass and raised, and Samantha followed his example. "So its bitter taste would prepare me for the unpleasantries of being a father and the chain of command. And never forget them."
"And why did you give me the triple you two are taking?"
"Because you, Gwendoline Maxine Stacy, will be in charge of another you. And if that's not the best reason to do that, I can't be damned to imagine what other reason could it be. I think you and your goo can take it."
Gwen turned at Samantha when she gave out a snort. "I'm happy you're finding this so fun."
"As I said, you don't owe me anything." The black woman motioned Gwen to take her glass. "I think you're supposed to go first."
Throwing some suspicious looks at the both of them, Gwen took up the glass tentatively. Well, the sooner the better, she thought. And she could count on her symbiote to get it done faster. She thought.
She raised the glass near her mouth, and started drinking.
The other two adults in the room followed her example, except they did it slower, and didn't bat a single eye when Gwen started to cough furiously.
"Holy… fuck!" she screamed, before coughing two more times. "Grandad got this from hell or something?!"
"Hmm." George lowered his glass calmly, and started patting his daughter on the back. "No luck with your venom thing?"
Gwen continued with her fit of coughing for a few seconds more. "Bastard… it thought was funny to let me have it all."
"Well, you are the one supposed to drink it, not your symbiote", Samantha pointed out. "Seems to me it just abided by the tradition."
"Ok, I think that will be enough", George said as Gwen looked down at her glass with a heavy breathing. "You don't need to…"
He didn't have time to finish before Gwen raised her glass again, downed the contents in one go, and left the glass on the table.
"I think you raised your kid to accept a challenge a bit too well, captain", Samantha said.
"Oh, that's going to bite me in the ass, ain't it?" Gwen bemoaned. "Symbiote 's worried now."
"It'll be better if you leave and get into bed soon." George sat up and moved again for the kitchen. "I'll get you something for the migraine."
"It's… fine, I think", Gwen said, her eyes fixated on the floor. "Symbiote thinks it can deal with the toxins but… this is the first time that we do this I think. Yeah, something to help would be nice."
"Sometimes you got too many guts for your own good, Gwen." She then felt Samantha's hands helping her to get up. "Come on. Let's get you outside. Your symbiote may work miracles, but the air will do you some good anyway before you leave."
"I can walk", Gwen said once she was up, refusing to be helped by Samantha on the way out. "I'm just not used to how hard that hit. And I've been hit by some real hard crap."
She was about to walk past the armchair Samantha was sitting on a minute ago, when Gwen felt a compulsion to look down.
"Hmm, Cap", she said, pointing at the shield leaning on the side of the armchair. "Mind if I try something?"
Samantha raised an eyebrow. "Should I be worried, now that you're potentially on the way to being blind drunk like a rat in an Irish pub?"
"I won't do anything to it, but the symbiote is curious…" Gwen crouched, touching the shield with one hand. She moved away, and raised an arm. Her clothes started swirling around her forearm, and an imperfect black copy of the shield started to take form.
"Cute", Samantha drawled. "I shouldn't be worried about image copyright, I hope."
"It wanted to try and mimic the vibranium." The newly formed shield kept some irregularities around the edge, but the color changed, with white and black bands circling the construct, and the pink stylized image of a spider on its center. Gwen gave it a firm blow with her free hand. "But seems to think that's a lost cause. Should have started with iron or steel I guess."
"Well, at least you got a shield now."
"I guess it makes my punches bigger."
"I'm serious." Samantha's hand found her way to Gwen's shoulder once again. "This isn't a bad idea your pet alien just had. Sometimes, a shield is more useful than a fist, Gwen."
Gwen gave it some thought. "You are right. My anger gets the best of me sometimes, and I can't even say that's my symbiote's fault. But I swear, Cap. I want to protect those with me. I wanted to help in more ways than fighting, but sometimes…"
The constructed shield dissolved, back to being part of her.
"Sometimes being a shield is what's needed of you."
Earth Bet, the next day
Taylor had woken up an hour ago, a bit sooner than what she felt comfortable for leaving her room and meeting Brian, or looking for breakfast. And she had spent a good part of that time wondering about what Lisa had told her the past night.
She was now looking at Gwen's number in her phone. She had been staring at it for at least five minutes now.
'Things aren't that bad now, I think. Right?'
Taylor gave a sigh as she laid back on the bed. In her frustration, one hand went up to her hair, massaging her head.
Time ago, she would have been really receptive, but now, those two girls were just another complication that she didn't need in her life.
Taylor liked making friends. But that was years ago. And now after Emma's betrayal… No, it was on her to take control of her life. She couldn't afford to let just anybody get so close to her anymore. There was no such thing as a free dinner in this life.
Lisa, Brian, Rachel, and Alec… That was different. Taylor had her own reason to join them, at first. A selfish one. But they helped her. They weren't good people, maybe, but they didn't judge her. Brian had treated her far more maturely than any other person their age had done in a long while. Rachel took work to get to know her, but it was easy to see what she wanted from life once you looked past the gruff demeanor. And Alec… Who knew what went through Alec's mind? But he was harmless enough.
And Lisa had a mean streak to her when pushed against a wall, but Taylor probably owed to her every inch of not feeling like crap that she gained these last days with her.
She brought her hand in front of her face, bring a lock of hair to her sigh, and watched the spiders and ants on it mill about, tidying and untying those strands of hair at her direction just as the many others still in her mane did with the rest of her hair.
Maybe this wasn't the way she imagined her life to be years ago. But nonetheless, it was the way it was, and she had enough things to think about.
Still, if her dad had asked Gwen to check with her and make sure she was alright… Taylor guessed that was a reasonable petition. At the very least, it was a step down from her dad freaking out and calling the police to find her.
That's when she heard her phone suddenly come to life. Her other phone.
Taylor took it as she sat up and accepted the call, knowing that it would only be Lisa. In truth, right now she had the same contacts in both of her two phones. But this one was for work.
"Yes?"
"Skitter, go get Grue now and call back. We're going to have trouble today. Big trouble."
Somewhere dark
Again, he woke up.
He fought against sleep. Each time he gained a small bit more of time that he didn't surrender to the slumber.
Eventually, the drugs wouldn't stop him. But time asleep was time he couldn't think. Time he couldn't use to study his surroundings. Time he couldn't use to plan. Time he couldn't use to free himself. Strength alone wouldn't help for that.
For a change, he needed to be patient, and think.
Until now, he had ideas to solve his current situation, but not the opportunity or the time required. Still, the chance was near. The next time he'd wake up, he'd remain awake for enough time to take advantage of the window of opportunity he had inferred from listening to his jailers. Then he'd free himself at last, even if he'd need to lay low and weight his options once he was out.
The drugs started to take effect once again, and he welcomed the darkness.
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