Chapter Text
When Matt’s phone begins to call out Miles’s name in the middle of the meeting, he politely excuses himself and goes into his office to answer it.
“Miles?” He says instead of ‘hi’, because it’s weird for Miles to call at this time. He knows of Matt’s day job, he’s been to his office, if he needs help with his night job he waits until at least sunset. It’s still morning .
“Mr. Murdock,” Miles says. “I really need your help.”
----
Miles really, really should have expected this. Like, really.
He knew that Dr. Octavius wasn’t arrested at Fisk Tower. He also knew that Alchemax had fired her in an effort to cover their tracks of being connected to Fisk.
So, really , he should have known.
It doesn’t matter now, anyways. What matters is that a certain billionaire and weapons manufacturer has announced a new project of his that will change the world as we know it, and has the help of well known engineer and biologist Olivia Octavius.
He learns about this when his dad starts talking about it rather excitedly. His dad is very into the whole new technology and scientific developments thing, even if he still doesn’t quite know how to work a computer beyond the absolute basics. His mom finds it endearing. Miles finds it exasperating.
But one Saturday morning when Miles’s dad says, “Hon, look at this. They’re saying Stark and Octavius are working on something big,” Miles chokes on his cereal and has to excuse himself to the bathroom so he can pace around in peace.
He knows that Doc Ock is up to no good. She had gotten away after being hit by the bus, apparently, and Mrs. Parker had implied very briefly that she saw Dr. Octavius’s wounds after the fact. Miles pauses and wonders about that for a split second before shaking his head and deciding to not go near it with a ten foot pole.
After a lot of deliberation, and several knocks on the door by his dad, he decides to poke around, see what he can find out about this project. It’s June, so he’s got a lot of free time to do some Spider-Manning. Spidering? Spider-Man stuff.
When his parents are asleep- which he can tell through the walls now, woah, that’s awesome- he throws on the suit and makes his way to the Stark Industries NYC compound. It’s not as far out as Hudson Valley, but it’s not terribly close. Miles doesn’t think he’s going to be getting much sleep tonight.
He goes in through the vents, like B had before, and makes sure to camouflage himself. He sneaks through, relying on his intstincts to guide him to the CEO’s office. He doesn’t really end up needing his instincts because it turns out it’s on the very top floor.
The room was immaculate. Shiny surfaces, crystal decanters in the corner that are almost empty, a top-of-the-line desktop computer, and windows on the back wall that went from the ceiling to the floor. It’s all metal and marble, very minimalistic, and in Miles’s opinion? Really ugly. But that’s neither here nor there.
The computer doesn’t even have a password, which means it’s Miles’s lucky day because there is definitely no one around to get it off of. It’s, however, an OS he has never used or even heard of. He clicks around a bit and taps on some keys and suddenly the most recent document that was shown is pulled up.
It’s completely obvious as to what it is. Smaller, more stream-lined, maybe, but it is definitely the Collider. That’s not even the scariest part to Miles. The thing is, Wilson Fisk was not an engineer nor a scientist. So he may have had no idea what any of it meant besides opening dimensions, but Tony Stark does.
Tony Stark is more than just a handsome poster boy for a massive corporation, he’s basically a rocket scientist. He’s mainly the one who designs all his weapons and tech. There’s only two major modern scientists they learn about in school, Dr. Octavius and Tony Stark. Both are leaders and influencers of their respective fields.
And Miles isn’t stupid, and he doesn’t have a death wish, so now that they’re working together, Miles isn’t entirely sure that he can stop them on his own. Scratch that, he’s definitely sure he can’t. Peter couldn’t take on Kingpin, which means Miles- who knows that he’s definitely not as strong or experienced- doesn’t even have a chance.
Miles is so deep in his panic he doesn’t notice he’s become visible again. Not until his senses scream at him to MOVE; Which he does, jumping onto the ceiling right as a green tentacle smashes through the monitor right where his face was.
“Hello, Spider-Man.” Doc Ock says with a snarl as she moves through the door without even touching the ground. “It’s been a while.”
Miles dodges another strike, the ceiling tiles cracking and crumbling onto the ground. “Oh hey, Liv! How’s it goin’?”
“I’m going to destroy you!” She vows. “You destroyed my life’s work!”
He dodges another strike, misses a shot of webs in an attempt to restrain her, and finds himself realizing there’s not a whole lot of room to fight in here. That’s problematic.
“I was really hoping to catch up,” He calls as she smashes bookshelves and tables. Miles manages to land a punch and send her stumbling. “After I, y’know, destroyed the collider.”
She screams in rage and slams into him, sending him flying through the drywall and into the hallway. He scrambles away through the rubble and dust and weaves through her arms, sprinting down the hall before she can grab him. She’s right on his tail, though, he has to think fast because this hallway really isn’t that long-
He trips- how the hell did he trip, he’s Spider-Man- and she grabs his ankle and slams into the wall that isn’t drywall this time once- twice- three times, if you include the tile that splinters and cracks under the force. Now his ears are ringing and he can barely gather what’s going on, so he just reaches down- up?- and puts both hands on the tentacle and venom strikes it.
It has little effect. Whatever those things are made of, it isn’t conductive, but the tiny wires get a burst of electricity that’s enough to make it drop him, and he’s running again. He needs to get out in a more open space, he can’t fight her like this, even Peter had a hard time with it.
There’s a window at the end of the hall before the turn. Miles thinks that maybe, maybe he can break it. He knows that most buildings like this have plexiglass, or bulletproof glass, but pushes all his force into it… it’s worth a try.
He speeds up, sprinting as fast as he can as blood rushes to his head. He takes a glance back, Doc Ock is really not losing any steam. He swallows and focuses, keeping his velocity as he jumps-
The glass shatters around him.
And then he’s falling.
The building is 40 stories high, at least. Probably more. Miles doesn’t have a whole lot of time, here. He shoots a web at the closest thing to him, a light post, but it’s too low. The shot misses.
Miles scrambles to find purchase on anything at all, shooting webs in all different directions in the span of seconds. Nothing sticks, he’s freefalling, he can’t control this-
He hits the ground hard, splitting it apart and falling through to the second floor of the parking garage that’s right next door.
It’s blurry for a second, his ears ringing and his vision going in and out. He hears a low, echoing laugh and then he’s on his back, looking up with double vision. There’s someone standing over him and a hand on his mask.
“Don’t tell anyone who you are. No one can know!”
He moves without even thinking, without even hesitating, and grasps the wrist of the hand and pours everything into a venom strike.
In an instant, the figure is gone, his fingers are stinging with leftover electricity, and his mind is screaming at him to get up, get up Spider-Man!
He doesn’t know how but he does. He’s half conscious and barely able to walk but he gets up shakily, breathing painful and labored, but he’s standing. He looks around, gains his bearings as much as he can, and leaves.
----
Miles wakes up slowly, coming to awareness over minutes rather than seconds. His whole body is pulsing with pain, his head throbbing the most. He has a blanket on him and no suit on, instead he has an unknown pair of sweatpants on over his boxers and bandages tight around his ribs, knees, and arms.
No suit. No mask.
This makes him bolt up, involuntarily crying out when he uses his right wrist for support. He clenches and unclenches it, the tendons shifting unnaturally and the joint moving painfully. A sprain, probably. He sets his jaw and stands up, looking around his surroundings.
He doesn’t recognize the room he’s in. It’s someone’s bedroom, but it’s old. The bedsheets still have dinosaurs on them, but the other parts of the room are barren and empty. It smells like dust, rose perfume, and a home. Not his home, but another distinctive yet unidentifiable scent that means home for someone else.
The desk in the corner is what gives it away, it still has carvings and burn marks all over it. He sees the initials PP + MJ written in permanent marker on the edge of it. He must be in Peter’s old room, in Mrs. Parker’s house.
He relaxes immediately with a sigh, and leaves the room immediately. It makes his chest feel hollow to be in there.
“Mrs. Parker?” He calls out as he enters into the hallway, keeping one hand on the wall and another on his ribs. He’s not entirely sure what time it is, but at least the sun is up.
“Downstairs,” She responds.
He takes the stairs one at a time, wincing with every step and leaning heavily against the wall, and finds her having tea in the living room. “Hey,” He smiles, leaning on the wall.
“Hey yourself,” She closes the book she was reading. “How’re you feeling?”
“I’ve definitely been better.” He admits, rolling his shoulders with a wince. “How’d I get here?”
“You don’t remember, huh?” She hums and stands from her couch. It’s new, along with most of her other furniture and walls. “Come on, I’ll fix you something to eat. What do you remember?”
Miles eagerly follows her into the kitchen, starving from having to heal so much. “Uh, I got in a fight with Doc Ock.”
“Liv? Really?” May pulls a box of red beans and rice from the cupboard. “I thought she was busy playing with Stark.”
Miles takes a seat at the table and rubs the back of his head. “Ehhhh, yeah, but… I kinda broke into the Stark Industries site? The one here in New York.” She raises an eyebrow at him. “It was only because I knew she wouldn’t be doing anything good with him! And I was right !”
“Oh? What’s she doing?”
“She’s rebuilding the Collider.” Miles explains, and May freezes. She looks him right in the eyes with a deadly serious expression.
“No,” She says with an air of finality. “You are not going to do it alone, you hear me? Don’t you dare.”
Miles frowns. “I-”
“Over my dead body will you ever take that on alone.”
“Mrs. Parker-”
“You have people willing to help, Miles. Hell, I’m willing to start swinging a bat around for you. Don’t even try to go off by yourself.”
“But I-”
“I will sic Wade on you. I’ll get Matt to go with you. I will hunt down the Punisher my goddamn self and drag her by the ear to help you, don’t think I won’t.”
“May!” Miles finally yells out. May’s lips go thin and white and Miles knows he has mere seconds to tell her- “I’m not going to go alone.”
She narrows her eyes and gives him a once over, checking him for any signs of lying. When she deduces he isn’t, all her anger deflates out of her. “I’m sorry, Miles. I just…”
“I get it,” He says quietly. “It’s okay.”
May takes a deep breath and collects herself. “You need to tell Matt about this.” She tells him while continuing with the rice. “You’re going to need his help.”
“Right,” Miles nods.
----
Matt arrives to May’s home not too long after Miles’s call. He rushes as much as he can, short of bribing the cab driver to ignore traffic laws. It only takes him half an hour to get to Queens, not even bothering to knock when he enters.
He doesn’t even need to call out, Miles is sitting on the sofa wrapped in a blanket. He has a cup of tea in his lap. May is in the kitchen washing a couple of dishes.
“Miles,” Miles lights up when he spots Matt, and Matt sighs in relief. “Are you okay?” He asks immediately upon hearing the creak of fractured ribs and throbbing of bruising.
“Yeah, I’m okay.” He says. “You?”
“Fine,” He answers, a little confused as to why Miles would ask. “What’s going on? Why aren’t you at home?”
“Matthew,” May greets when she walks out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her jeans. “I’m glad you’re here.” She gives him a hug, which he returns, but his frown only deepens.
“May, what’s wrong?” He asks. “I came as fast as I could. Did something happen?”
Miles and May both turn their heads towards each other before looking back at Matt.
“I’ll make you some tea,” May says before turning back.
Matt just moves his face towards Miles, who sighs. “Have you heard about Tony Stark’s latest project?”
“No.” Matt crosses his arms. Anything to do with Stark has to be bad, he’s sure of it.
“He’s working with Dr. Octavius.” Miles says.
Matt’s eyebrows go up. “Dr. Octavius as in…”
“Doc Ock, yeah.”
Matt whistles low. “That can’t be good.”
“It’s not . I know what the ‘project’ is; They’re rebuilding the machine- the one that Fisk made. The one that opened up different dimensions.”
Matt tenses, his hands tightening around his folded cane. “The one that almost opened a black hole under Brooklyn. The one that got Peter killed.”
Miles nods. Matt grits his teeth. He runs a hand through his hair and puts another on his hip, walking towards the kitchen before turning around. “I’m going with you.”
“That’s why I called you, dude. Why does everything think I’m about to take Stark and Doc Ock on by myself?” Miles asks, frustration evident in his voice. “I’m not dumb .”
“We know you are, Miles. It’s not because we think you are,” Matt explains, tightening his fists so much his knuckles creak. “It’s because Peter did. Peter would.”
“Oh,” Miles says quietly.
Matt doesn’t say anything. He’s too focused on a plan, his mind is running with several ideas. Who else could they ask?
Wade wasn’t here- he was overseas. Had a job, he said. The Punisher might help, but that’s completely dependent on if she’s in a good mood or not. Probably not. When was she ever?
Jessica and Luke were retired, now, they weren’t doing the hero stuff anymore. Which- yeah, okay, they had a daughter to look after now. He was on good terms with neither of the Hawkeyes. He kind of hates Danny, and he’s pretty sure it’s mutual.
Elektra is completely impossible to contact these days; the only way he’s getting her is if she saunters back into New York. Which won’t happen any time soon.
He’s starting to think it’s just him and Miles in this.
May comes out and places a cup of tea into his hands and he drinks it without thinking. He ends up burning his tongue and grimacing at the taste before putting it down on the coffee table.
“Miles,” He says as he continues pacing. “Do you know if it’s the same design as the previous one?”
“Yeah,” He sounds oddly worried. “Yeah, it was smaller but it was the same one.”
“And you know how to destroy it, right?”
“Mhmm.”
“Walk me through it.”
“Oh. Okay, uh, we need an override key from one of Stark’s computers, and we need to stick that key into an exact part on the ceiling of the machine, and then press the green button.”
Matt winces. “Shit. I can be the muscle of the team this time, I guess. Not gonna be much use for two out of three of those steps.”
“Why?” Miles asks. There’s a pause. “Oh! Right.”
Matt doesn’t answer. He puts a hand to his chin and thinks. “We need a solid plan, now. We can’t just bust into Stark’s building in full costume.”
Miles hums. They both go silent for a moment, before Miles snaps. “I’ve got a plan!”
----
“This is such a terrible plan.”
“Shh! You’re gonna blow our cover!” Miles hisses next to him.
“Are you even invisible right now? It doesn’t sound like it.”
“I am! Now shut up and act the part!”
Matt sighs as he enters the front door of Stark Industries, sans walking cane or glasses.
Miles’s plan is to go as such.
Pretend to be a possible investor and ask for a tour.
Once in a room with restricted staff only computers, have someone cause a distraction. Someone will make sure this distraction is ongoing.
When everyone is distracted, Miles will get into the computer using a hacking software that Miles, Ganke and May have created together and get the override key.
Miles will then signal Matt, who will cease stalling and tell the helpful tour guide, “Thank you for this delightful tour, I will continue to consider an investment in this company, have a good day.”
Then they will run like hell before anyone finds out what happened.
Matt thinks this is a horrible plan but, honestly, it’s the only one they’ve got .
Miles is pressed close to him, in civilian clothes in case Matt needs back up. They’d had a bit of an argument on this part. Miles wanted to be in his suit, but Matt had argued that if Spider-Man showed up in the building, it would most likely go into lockdown and they’d get killed by Octavius in a heartbeat, who was most likely working in the basement.
Miles had pursed his lips and agreed to just wear his own clothes. He had to come up with an excuse to his parents why he wasn't home that morning and to tell them he'd be staying at Ganke's for the next day or so, anyways.
Now they were maneuvering through the crowd up to the desk, where a woman is calmly and politely informing a young man that if he did not have an appointment that no, he could not meet with Mr. Stark, and in fact, Mr. Stark is currently preoccupied.
Matt huffs in amusement. Preoccupied with killing innocents and civilians in Middle Eastern countries, sure.
Miles tugs on his suit sleeve when he’s next to speak with the woman.
“Hi, welcome to Stark Industries, how can I help you today?” She smells like frustration and pesto.
“Hello, I’m interested in perhaps investing in this company, but I was wanting to get a tour before making any big decisions. Just to make sure I’m making the right choice in supporting this company."
The woman made a tiny sigh. “I’m sorry, I cannot allow you to enter the building without-”
“I’m so sorry, I’ve forgotten to introduce myself.” Matt throws on his most charming smile. “My name is Daniel Rand.” He hopes Danny doesn’t hate him too much for this. He wouldn’t want to throw off their carefully balanced relationship.
That gets her attention. She swallows. “Um, let me ask my supervisor.”
“Thank you.”
She makes a short call, and Matt can hear the supervisor’s answer. “Danny Rand? You’re joking. This guy can’t be for real. Ask him for ID.”
“Of course,” She says before turning back to Matt. “Sir, may I see your ID? It’s for security reasons.”
“Yes,” Matt pulls out his wallet and the fake ID he had Turk make for him. Well, more like threatened Turk for it. It still smelled like chemicals more than leather. “Here you go, ma’am.”
Blood rushes from her face when she reads it, but she maintains composure and hands it back with a “Thank you,” before informing her boss. Her boss asks why the hell she’s still asking, send him up immediately.
And she does. Miles whispers a soft “Yes,” and fist pumps when she hands him a guest card and sends him on his way. She tells them to go to the eleventh floor.
When they get there, there’s a man waiting for him. He’s balding, reeks of cigars, and has a titanium knee implant.
“Mr. Rand!” He exclaims, shaking Matt’s hand with a grin. “What a surprise and an absolute pleasure!”
“Hello,” Matt says politely, letting the man abuse his poor hand.
“I’m Obadiah,” He introduces himself. “Obadiah Stane, but I’m sure you’ve heard of me.”
“Of course. COO of Stark Industries, Nobel Peace Prize winner for your work on the arc reactor, how could I not?”
“And you, I’ve definitely heard of you. Daniel Rand, heir to Rand Enterprises. $2.5 billion net worth. Very impressive stuff, Mr. Rand.”
“I try my best.” He grins. “So, about this tour…?”
“Right, yes. Yes. I hope you aren’t too surprised to know that I’ll be conducting this tour myself.” He preens a little, expecting praise.
“That’s great to hear. I do hope you show me that your company is a worthy investment.”
“Of course! Come on, I’ll show you around.”
The tour is long and boring. They go floor to floor, starting at 11 and going up because according to Stane, “It’s all cubicles and offices and fax machines- this is where the real action is.”
Except there was no action, it was just fancier offices and labs full of people doing equations and so many server rooms. It wasn’t until they got to the penthouse were they given any opportunity to get what they need.
“Here’s my office. Excuse the mess, we recently had a bit of a situation with some interns and a prank gone wrong.” He laughs, and Matt pretends to scan the room with his eyes. He can tell that there’s a wall with a tarp over it, a broken chair, broken bookshelves and scattered books.
“This is where I fought Doc Ock,” Miles says so quietly that no one but Matt would hear. “She threw me through the wall.”
Matt clenches his jaw but forces himself to relax and keep smiling pleasantly. “I imagine it would be far nicer without the chaos.”
“Definitely is.” He says. “Now that we’ve gone through everything, how about we talk investments?”
Stane goes to sit at his desk, with it’s new, still plastic-smelling computer monitor. Matt cries out suddenly, trying to prevent him from sitting. “Wait!”
“Yes?” Stane questions, hand on his desk. “What’s wrong?”
“I was hoping we- we could have this meeting over lunch?” Matt asks him. “I’m starved, and I always make the best decisions on a full stomach.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Stane says. “I know this incredible restaurant a block from here. They have the best sandwiches.”
----
Matt follows Stane out of the door, and nods towards Miles minutely. He nods back and once the door is closed, he gets to work.
The computer has a password, this time around. Before it hadn’t, which Miles thought was a massive oversight, but now that he’s broken in it’s obvious Dr. Octavius took some extra security measures.
He doesn’t bother trying to guess the password, just plugs in the USB given to him and lets to program run itself. It takes only a few minutes to get in, which wow, that’s a shitty password, Stane. Really? “Passw0rd”? Whatever. It’s good news to him.
He does some searching for a good long while before getting the override key. It’s a very long and complicated process, but he does everything exactly like Ganke and May explained, and gets the key into the USB.
By the time he’s safely removed it and stashed it in his pocket, his Spidey sense goes off. He quickly makes sure he’s still invisible before moving away from the desk and against the wall. Matt and Stane reenter.
“Those sandwiches were wonderful.” Matt says. “Thank you so much for this tour. This is an amazing corporation and I will make sure to invest the amount we talked about in your shares.”
“Thank you so much for your time, Mr. Rand.” Stane shakes his hand again. “We look forward to it.”
Matt nods, more to Miles than Stane, and goes to leave. Miles silently follows him out, USB clenched in his fist, as Matt walks briskly to the elevators.
“I didn’t have time to close the file,” Miles hisses to him, and Matt quickens his pace. He hears Stane click his mouse and then swear. The elevator doors are closing by the time Stane comes out of his office.
They make it out and disappear into the crowd in the lobby before Stane can get to them. Matt quickly pulls his glasses and cane from his interior suit pocket and becomes himself again, melding into the flow of people as Miles keeps a grip on his wrist to prevent being washed away.
Once they’re out of the building, they cut through an alley, where Miles lets his camouflage melt away.
“Crap, crap, crap,” Miles says as they walk down the street. “Are you sure he didn’t recognize you?”
“Positive. He won’t know it’s me, he didn’t even pick up on the fact that I was probably looking at his ear and not his eyes.”
Miles takes a moment to breathe, his hand still almost crushing Matt’s wrist. “Okay. Okay. We have the override key.”
Matt smirks. “We have the override key. We’re one third of the way there, kid. Let’s go suit up.”
----
They leave together at sunset. May has made sure they’ve both eaten, that their gadgets are working properly, that Miles has enough web fluid and is healed enough, that Matt has his hands wrapped and shoulder and knee pads tight enough.
Foggy shows up with Matt’s suit around dinner time. He smells like worry and fear and Matt kisses him to try to make him feel better.
“I’ll watch out for both of us, okay?” He tells him quietly, with his arms wrapped around him, when they have a private moment together. Foggy just sighs and melts into his shoulder. “Fogs,”
“I’m not going to not worry. If- if it had been anything else, I wouldn’t be as terrified.” He laughs nervously. “You need to be careful. You need to look out for Miles.”
“Of course I will.” Matt tells him with complete seriousness. “But, if anything, Miles is going to be the one looking out for me. He’s done this before.”
Foggy doesn’t laugh, so Matt just presses a kiss to his forehead and holds him tighter. “I love you, Fogs.”
“I love you too, buddy.”
Matt allows himself to revel in the sound of his heartbeat for a few moments more.
Miles is fully suited up when he comes down the stairs, sans mask. Matt secures his billy clubs in his thigh holster and slides his mask over his head. Foggy and May are standing next to each other, Foggy pressing his hand to his mouth and May with her arms crossed.
“Be careful, Miles.” May says, putting both hands on his shoulders. “Watch each other’s backs.”
Miles nods and in one swift motion, pulls on his mask. He looks to Matt, who kisses Foggy one last time and presses their foreheads together. Foggy nods, minutely, unnoticeable to anyone but Matt, who is constantly tuned into Foggy.
It’s permission, but not really. It’s more like acceptance.
Matt pulls away and looks to Miles. “Let’s go.”
The Collider is in the same building they had been at earlier in the day. Matt keeps up with Miles easily, grappling and swinging through the city with his lines and hooks.
They get in through the ventilation system, as Miles had before. Matt leads them in the dark, moving further and further down until he can hear Stane and Octavius, talking.
He holds up a hand to Miles, who stops and looks at him. He focuses on the two people that are four floors below.
“-out! We need to postpone the testing, Octavius.”
“Relax, Stane. I know what I’m doing. There won't even be any earthquakes tonight, it’ll just be a bit of a power blackout. They don’t even know where it is, let alone when we’re testing. The only way for that override to work is if the machine is on.”
Stane seems to hesitate. “Fine. But only if you’re sure. I’ve funneled billions into this already, I don’t want it to go to waste. Not even Tony knows about it.”
“It won’t. We’re fine.”
They say no more. Matt continues on downwards. He can hear a handful of people operating computers and servers, talking in science jargon he can’t quite understand. They find a vent directly above the main room with the machine.
“Oh.” Miles murmurs from behind him, and Matt tilts his head.
“What is it?”
“Nothing, just- I thought it would be smaller. It’s not as big as before but it’s still... pretty big.”
Matt picks up on his nervousness. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to destroy it, and we’re going to put Octavius and Stane in jail, but you have to focus.”
“Right. Focusing.”
“Okay. What’s our plan here?”
“I go out in camo mode and find the insert point and the button. You crash into the control room and cause some chaos so they’re distracted.”
“Good. But we need it to be on first.”
“What? Why?”
“I just heard Octavius mention it. Apparently she doesn’t think we’re coming.”
“We have the drop on her?” Miles sounds hopeful.
“Seems so. Let’s make it worthwhile.” Matt says. “But for now, we have to wait.”
The wait for them to turn on the machine wasn’t very long at all. It was about twenty minutes before Matt heard the lights buzz on and the machine begin to hum.
“Go now.” Matt whispers. “I’m right behind you.”
Miles squeezes past him and carefully lifts the vent grate, not making a sound, and slips through it. He crawls along the ceiling, keeping it low and slow. Matt waits until he’s in position before crawling farther along to find the vent leading directly to the control room.
He waits until Miles mutter, “Ready.” under his breath, before he crashes down from the ceiling with his batons at the ready.
A couple of scientists scream, a couple others throw themselves at him. He makes quick work, because these aren’t like Fisk’s men. These are just scientists that have no training.
The two that came after him are out cold now, but there’s more approaching. There’s security guards with batons and tasers, which he has a harder time with. They have more armor than he did.
His nose is bleeding and his side stinging by the time he’s done with the both of them, and he realizes that he doesn’t know where Octavius is. He can’t pinpoint her, not with all the insulated steel, buzzing from all the wires and loud humming of the Collider itself.
More security bust through the doors. Matt smiles at the feeling of breaking their wrists when they try to taze him.
Miles suddenly makes a choking noise and struggles against something, his legs flailing in the air. Matt snaps his head up and runs to the pane of glass. It muffles his sense but he can make out a second figure in the main room with him, one with eight limbs and an odd mechanical hum to her.
Doc Ock.
“Did you think I couldn’t possibly know you were coming here tonight?” She laughs as she tightens her grip around Miles’s throat. He struggles harder. “Please. You are nothing if not predictable, Spider-Man.”
“I think I’m pretty cool.” He wheezes.
Matt takes a few steps back before he gets a running start directly at the glass. He throws a baton first, cracking it to weaken it, and then he jumps through. He uses his grappling hook to wrap his line around the catwalk right above and flings himself onto.
“You didn’t tell me you brought your friend over to play,” She croons, but Matt doesn’t give her time to come at him. He throws a club, one that misses, but it distracts her enough to be able to slam his fist into her face.
She drops Miles when she stumbles, and he manages to latch onto the railing he was hanging over. Matt offers a hand, which he grasps and uses to pull himself up. They stand side by side as Octavius snarls and gasps as blood gushes down her face.
“I am not going to let you ruin this for me again.” She hisses and charges.
The machine is bursting underneath them, but hardly any shaking is happening. Matt can’t really tell what’s happening beneath him but it feels wrong on all levels. Like reality is just turning to mush. They need to take her down quickly and shut this down before anything bad can happen.
Miles fights with confidence and ease, dodging and punching at the right moments. His stance is less uncoordinated and more careful. He’s constantly moving, never stopping or ceasing or breaking. Matt goes right with him, following his lead on this. The kid has more than earned the right to lead.
Miles takes a hit to the head and stumbles, taking a knee. Octavius laughs out loud and moves to strike them both at the same time. Matt blocks her with a kick and uses his remaining baton to slam into her head, as repentance for her crimes. She actually falls to the ground and stuggles to pick herself up, letting Matt offer Miles a hand up. He takes it with a groan and stands with him, looking at the doctor’s rubber tentacles writhing in pain.
“Go, I’ll keep her-” Matt stops in his words midway. He turns his face towards the glass window and quickly tugs Miles behind him, hearing the gun cock-
Stane fires.
He stumbles without really feeling anything at first, his hand automatically going to his shoulder, and Stane fires again.
It feels like slow motion as he tumbles over the edge of the railing. He can’t do anything to stop it, and he can feel Miles reaching for him too late, crying out too late, sending his web to catch him too late, and then he’s falling .
It takes him half a second to realize it, but he needs to grab onto something. He knows there’s a billy in his left hand, he knows he can grapple with it, so he throws it out. The wire goes up as he goes down and the pain is his shoulder and arm is becoming apparent now.
The wire wraps around the catwalk railing and dislocates the same shoulder that just got shot as it stops his fall. The air leaves his lungs as he suddenly stops mid air, and then it’s chaos in his head.
Sounds and smells and feelings and tastes all different and melding together in his head. Nothing is real, everything is melting around him, and he can hear screaming that sounds like his own mixed with someone else’s. The world is tearing itself apart and stitching itself back together and Matt’s skin is burning.
The taste on his tongue is apples, then blood, then lavender and milk, then mud, then salt water, and it changes with each second. He can smell everything he’s ever smelt at the same time and also something he’s never smelled in his entire life before. There’s voices and people, he can hear Foggy and Peter and Miles and Karen and himself and it’s making his head burn and his stomach twist.
He can feel his own body breaking down and rebuilding itself and breaking down and rebuilding and breaking and building and breaking
And breaking
And breaking
And breaking
Then, everything just turns off.
----
Miles screams as Matt falls.
He should’ve know, he should’ve stopped him, and now he’s hanging right in the stream that’s bursting with red and black and orange and he can hear Matt’s screams under his own.
He’d shot a web at both Matt and Stane when he’d fallen, but he’d missed Matt. Stane was now stuck to the floor of the control room, struggling under his webbing.
Miles doesn’t hesitate in diving right off the side of the catwalk, leaving Doc Ock to her own devices. He knows what happens next, he knows that it’s going to explode, he needs to get Matt out of her and safe and oh, god, he can’t let him die .
He grabs Matt by the waist and swings as fast as he can as he hears a loud, high pitched noise continue to rise.
“NO!” Doc Ock screams, and then everything goes white.
Miles is moving before he can even think, keeping his arm around Matt. He hears the world settle around him, listens to beams fall and rocks tumble and crack and Matt groan.
“Oh, fuck, you’re alive,” Miles cries, kneeling next to him. He can see dark red dripping from a hole in his left shoulder and bicep. “Oh fuck, you got shot,”
This? This situation right now? This is fucking bad.
Miles doesn’t even know what to do. He knows, he knows that he needs a hospital, that May is nowhere near equipped for this. She doesn’t know how to help someone with no healing factor when they’ve been shot. She’s said this herself to him when he’d asked before, and said hospitals are his best bet.
But Matt- Matt can’t go to a hospital. Stan and Octavius- they’d be at his throat within the day. His identity would be leaked. He can’t go to a hospital. He can’t.
Who can he go to?
A person pops in his head. One single person. And then Miles is lifting up Matt and rushing out of the building as fast as he can, because that person is his only choice, no matter how much he doesn’t want to go to them.
He doesn’t bother with the vents, he just takes the elevator up and out of the building, swinging up and away from onlookers and those curious what that small earthquake was.
Miles webslings as fast as he possibly can, distinctly aware of Matt awkwardly pressed to his chest with one arm as he throws himself down streets and across bridges.
He can feel Matt’s blood slick and warm against his spandex, soaking in and spreading through the fabric, making it stick to his skin in the most uncomfortable way.
“We’re going to be okay,” Miles says, to himself and to Matt. “I’m gonna- I’m gonna get you safe and fixed up and then we’re going to be okay.”
Matt doesn’t respond to this. Miles goes even faster.
It takes entirely too long to get where he needs to. Normally it would take an hour, but this time it’s thirty minutes, and Matt is still fucking bleeding, why can’t you go faster-
He lands on his knees on the front steps, shucks off his mask, and slams his fist on the door.
“Please,” He prays. “Please, please, please.”
The door opens a crack. “Hello?”
Miles chokes and holds onto Matt tighter. “Mami.” He sobs. “Mama, please, he needs help. Please.”
The door falls open completely, and Miles looks his mother in the eyes while covered in blood, in his spider suit, and holding an unconscious Daredevil.
“Miles?” She sounds scared.
This is okay. Miles can deal with scared. He can definitely deal with scared. He can’t deal with anger.
“Please, he’s been shot. He’s- he’s bleeding out, Mama.”
“Oh dios mio.” Rio doesn’t waste another second she ushers Miles inside quickly. “Rápido, entra.”
“Gracias,” He cries, rushing forward. “Gracias.”
“No me lo agradezcas, baby, solo llévalo al suelo de la cocina.” She shuts and locks the door behind him, running down the hall to grab her big hospital bag, for big emergencies. Miles does as she says and lays him on the white kitchen tile. He hesitates, before taking initiative and just ripping his suit off his shoulder.
“Move.” Rio snaps, her brow furrowed and eyes intense. Miles obeys her as she kneels next to him, immediately snapping on some gloves and getting to work.
Miles watches carefully from a distance, pressing a hand to his mouth. She says nothing as she does it, just going along carefully and fast. The shot hadn’t been clean, the bullet was still inside. She disinfects as much as she can before digging into his shoulder and bicep with these medical-grade tweezers that Miles doesn’t know the name of.
“Fuck,” She swears as she twists her wrist and pulls it out, just dropping it on the floor. The wound almost gushes with blood and she quickly presses gauze to it, using her entire upper body strength to hold it down. “Miles, come help.”
He scrambles and takes over with keeping pressure on it, while she gets to work on getting her sutures ready.
She has it clamped tightly in another medical tool with a pair of scissors close by, and once she deems it safe she has Miles move again so she can stitch the wound closed. It takes her no time at all, and she does it with ease and confidence. It’s one thing to know, distantly, that your mom is a nurse and knows how to do sutures and save lives, but it’s another to witness it.
She repeats the process on his other gunshot wound. She mutters how lucky he was it didn’t hit an artery or bone, and all Miles can think is he almost bled out in your arms because of you .
“Is- is he going to be okay?” Miles asks desperately.
Rio sighs. “I don’t know. It’s- a gunshot wound is a tricky thing to fix, Miles, and without a hospital…” She finishes the last suture, tying it off. “Without medicine, or a blood transplant, or any IV fluids… I don’t know if he’ll make it through the night.”
“I- I can get them. I can go get what you need, I’ll be back super fast.” Miles offers.
Rio shakes her head. “I can’t let you steal from a hospital. It’s too risky- you’d be thrown in jail, mijo.” She looks back down at Matt, carefully checking his pulse.
“I can- I can ask someone else,” He falls to his knees, scrambling to grab Matt’s burner phone from his suit pocket. “I know someone else who can get it.”
Rio looks apprehensively at him. She’s particularly eyeing his bloodsoaked suit and biting her lip, her eyes wide and afraid for him. “Okay.” She says eventually. “Okay, go ahead. Preferiría que Daredevil no muera en mi casa esta noche.”
Miles nods and scrolls through Matt’s contacts. It’s only important contacts, like Foggy and Miles, and vigilante friends, like Jessica Jones and...
The Punisher.
Miles has never met the Punisher before. He’s a little afraid of her, honestly. She’s basically a glorified serial killer. And yeah, he gets that her family was killed by gangs, but like… why do you have to kill them? Isn’t just seeing them rot in jail enough? They have families too.
But The Punisher doesn’t kill innocents. He knows this. Matt knows this. Half of New York knows this. The other half wants her head on a pike.
She might help. She has a well known soft spot for kids- if he puts on his best voice he might sway her.
He looks at Matt’s pale face and labored breathing.
He calls the number.
It rings for a while before she picks up. “Red? The hell are you calling me for?”
“Um- Uh, hey, it’s- it’s Spider-Man.” He purposefully ups the stutter. “He’s- Double D got shot and I got him patched up but-”
“Woah, kid, slow it down.” She sounds receptive. “What are you asking for?”
“I can’t leave him, he needs me to keep him stable, but he needs--” He looks to his mom as she mouths the words. “Saline, and an IV, and antibiotics but I can’t leave to get them and--”
“Shit, kid.” He hears muffled movement on the other end. “If Red’s got you bustin’ my damn chops at this time of night, it’s gotta be bad.” She sighs. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll get it. Goddamnit. Send me the address.” And with that, the line went dead.
Rio looks at him expectantly. Miles nods with a relieved smile. “She’s gonna get what we need.”
His mom sighs. “Gracias a Dios. All we need to do now is keep him stable. Come on, I need your help setting his shoulder.”
----
Miles watches the water run red down the drain as he stands under the shower current. The hot water feels amazing right now, washing away the sticky, coagulated blood on his arms and chest. His mom insisted on it once Matt was set on the couch, especially now that all they needed was to wait on the Punisher.
He scrubs at his chest, getting the flakes of dried blood off as he soaps himself up. He rinses off quickly and gets out even faster, dressing in some casual clothes before stepping out of the bathroom. The washer is running, his suit inside, and he can hear his mom using the microwave in the kitchen.
“Mom?” He says once he’s in the kitchen, sparing a glance to the still unconscious Matt, dressed in half his DD suit with gauze taped to his chest. He looks down at the kitchen floor, the white tile stained with red. There’s a towel in the trash can.
His mom looks up from the table and meets his eyes. She goes over his figure and deflates upon seeing him clean of blood.
“Come here, mijo.” She beckons him, and Miles pulls up a chair next to her. She wraps her arms around him, holding him tight to her chest and starts swaying with him.
“I’m sorry I scared you,” He whispers to her, returning the hug immediately.
“It’s not okay.” She says, and Miles clenches his fists in her shirt. “I know you had nowhere else to take him, but this isn’t an okay situation, Miles.”
“I know,” He murmurs, his voice cracking. “I’m sorry.”
“You should have told me.”
“I know.”
“You can’t just bring me half-dead vigilantes, Miles. You can’t do this.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why didn’t you tell me, baby? Why didn’t tell me you were-” She trips on the last word. Miles understands.
“I couldn’t. Peter- Peter said… he said that protecting your identity was the most important part. That no one could know.” Miles squeezes her. “I needed to protect you and Dad.”
Rio pulls away and gives him a look, which he carefully averts his eyes from. “If I remember correctly, Mr. Parker’s aunt and wife both knew his identity for most of his time as Spider-Man.”
Miles doesn’t have anything to say to that. He slumps back into her arms and she sighs softly. “We’re going to have to tell your Papa.”
“I know.” He mumbles into her collarbone.
“I love you, Miles. I love you so much that the idea of you putting yourself in danger- of you dying like Mr. Parker did-” She buries her face in his shoulder. “It terrifies me. It terrifies me more than you could ever know.”
Miles sobs into her once before the dams break. His shoulders are shaking as he hiccups and cries and sniffles, his mom running her hand through his hair and letting him cling to her.
“It’s so important, Mama.” He says through his tears. “It’s- it’s the most important thing I’ve ever done. I can’t stop. Please, I can’t , I-”
Rio shushes him and plants a kiss to his forehead. “I know, baby. I know. You’re stubborn. It’s one of your best traits, Miles, one of the best ones you got from your dad. You never give up. You never back down from responsibility.”
“It’s- it’s more than that. I love being Spider-Man.”
She sighs heavily. “That’s the part I was afraid of.” She goes silent and just rocks Miles as his sobbing tapers off into sniffles and soft gasps.
“Ever since you were little, I knew you would do amazing things one day. I knew from the beginning you were destined to help others.” Miles can hear the smile in his mom’s voice. “Do you remember what I’d call you all the time?”
“Pequeño ayudante.” Miles recalls.
“ Pequeño ayudante .” She repeats. “You did everything you could to help everyone. Even strangers. Do you also remember, when you were in sixth grade, you found out someone in your class was being bullied, and you decided to confront the bully instead of getting an adult?”
Miles laughs a little. “I remember. I came home with a black eye and Dad was ready to get an arrest warrant for whatever kid did it.”
Rio hums in amusement. “I was, too. I was concerned about your safety, but I was also proud.”
“I don’t remember that part,” Miles says. “I just remember being grounded for a month and getting several bullying talks at school.”
“Well, we had to set a good example. It was a complicated situation, Miles. We decided you needed to learn to rely on adults for help more than you needed to be praised to standing up for your classmates.” Rio explains. “This situation, right now? It’s entirely more complicated than that, but I know exactly which choice to make right now.”
Miles shrinks a little, guilt gnawing at his heart. Rio pulls away again and cups his face in her hands. “Miles, look at me.” She orders, and he clenches his eyes shut before looking up. Her warm brown eyes were watery and puffy, her cheeks lined with tear tracks. His stomach drops as he looks at her, guilty for causing her this pain.
“Miles,” She says quietly. “I am so, so proud of you. You’re a brave, beautiful young man and I’ve never been prouder that you’re my son. You do amazing things, you’ve saved millions of people, and you’re absolutely brilliant. You protect the ones you love and even the ones you don’t, and I am so proud of you, mijo.”
Miles feels a swell of warmth ignite in his chest and spread under his skin. His eyes well up and tears track down his own cheeks again. He sniffles and hiccups as Rio smiles and wipes away his tears with her thumbs. “No llores, baby, está bien. Estamos bien.”
It takes another minute for Miles to get his crying under control again, rubbing at his eyes. “I love you, Mama.” He says, taking stuttering breaths. “Nunca dejaría que te pasara nada malo. Lo prometo. Siempre te protegeré.”
She sighs and shakes his head. “Ese es mi trabajo. Yo soy el que siempre te protegerá. No necesitas ser fuerte para mí.”
Miles opens his mouth to argue when his spidey sense goes off, shocks going down his back. He stands quickly, his mom flinching away as he suddenly moves towards the kitchen entryway. He peeks his head around the corner and sees a figure in black coming in through the widow.
It’s only when they turn from closing the window and he sees the large, white skull on their front does he relax. Slightly. The sight makes his stomach turn.
“Um, Ms. Punisher, ma’am?” He calls out to her, which makes her flinch and put a hand on her side. Presumably where a gun is.
"It's Maria." She clarifies automatically. Her dark eyes narrow at him, giving him a onceover, before she relaxes. “Jesus, kid. Maybe not scare the hell outta me.” She has a drawstring bag on one shoulder. “You Spider-Man?”
“Uh, yeah. My suit’s in the washer, though. Oh, and my mom’s in the kitchen, please don’t shoot her.” She regards him for another second before shrugging the bag off and handing it to him. He takes it carefully from her and examines the contents. It’s everything they needed plus a few extra things he didn’t think of. He grins and looks back up at her, but his expression falls when he notices how she’s staring at Matt.
“Hey, kid,” She says quietly. “On the way here, I wasn’t sure if you were the real deal or not, y’know, but seeing Red… it makes me wonder,” She looks him directly in the eyes. “Why did I get intercepted by Daredevil on my way over when he’s laying here, half dead?”
Miles frowns and furrows his brows. He opens his mouth, ready to ask what do you mean when it clicks instantly.
“Oh fuck.”