Chapter Text
Gwen was laying in the softest hammock she'd ever been in. It felt like silk. She was suspended in the air, far from the ground. The sun was on her face. She could stay like this forever. She was drifting off to sleep....
"Hey, loser. Move over," Michelle said, and flopped next to her, disturbing the balance.
"Hey!" Gwen protested. The hammock rocked, and Gwen threatened to tip out. But Michelle grabbed her arm and rearranged them both so they could lay in the hammock side-by-side.
It was unusually warm for a January day. The sun was out, the sky was blue. It was 50 degrees. Everyone and their mother was out in the park, picnicking, playing soccer, throwing a frisbee, or just walking around. Gwen had rushed to borrow the hammock from the Rec Center's "outdoors library", then raced across the street to find a good spot for it in the park.
Miles and Ganke were supposed to bring snacks. Ned would come once he saw their texts after his class.
Gwen loved January so far. She had enrolled in a 4-week class called The Science of Spider-Man along with Miles and Ganke.
Their entire first week had been spent talking about how he swung between buildings: equations upon equations of pendulums. She couldn't wait until tomorrow, when they were starting the materials science side of things: How did he stick to walls? How did he manufacture his webs? And then they'd go back to more physics: how much could he lift? How much force did he exert if he tried to hold a building up?
It was so cool, and Gwen couldn't stop talking about it to everyone she knew.
"That's very nice, sweetie," her mom had said at dinner the other day. "Yuri, what do you think?"
Except Yuri had just stabbed a carrot with her fork. "No comment."
"Hey," Ganke said, coming up to join them with Hailey, Miles' girlfriend. Miles, behind him, was burdened with plastic bags from the bodega.
"Why'd you make him carry all the bags?" Michelle asked. "You're a jerk."
"I'm not! No, uh," Ganke stammered.
"It's not a big deal," Miles said, setting everything down on the grass nearby. "It's mostly air. Here." He tossed a bag of chips to Gwen, who caught it.
"How was class?" Hailey signed. Ganke translated. Gwen, Michelle, and Ned had all signed up for an ASL course in the spring, and Gwen was starting to recognize a few regular signs from watching YouTube tutorials. Not nearly enough to understand, though. She felt bad.
"Good," Gwen said. "Tomorrow we're talking about webs." Miles, with his hands now free, translated for her.
"What about them?" she asked, a small smile on her face that Gwen couldn't quite place.
Miles spoke. "We're going to come up with formulas to try to recreate them. But," he shot a look at Gwen, "the professor said to not get our hopes up. She's ran this class for ten years and nobody's gotten close."
"I'm super excited," Ganke said. He signed as he spoke. "Mostly to be done with swinging. All that pendulum work makes me a little seasick."
"Why?" Michelle said. "You're not the one swinging around."
Ganke turned instantly sheepish. "Yeah. I know. I just...thinking of him, flying around, that must be—so disorientating. I mean, can you imagine seeing what he sees all the time? Eugh. Makes me sick to my stomach."
Gwen grinned. Ganke had said as much ever since they started the class. Even before they had started the class, he'd been texting their group chat.
"When you're done complaining about a guy none of us knows, can you pass me some chips?" Michelle said.
Miles snorted a laugh, then tossed her a bag. She reached, but missed, and they fell on the ground.
"You have terrible aim," she said, even as she reached down for them. The hammock moved as their center of gravity shifted.
They sat around, talking about random things. Michelle (who had watched more ASL videos than Gwen) and Hailey talked about art. Gwen looked at their reading for class tomorrow on her phone.
She sat up and turned to Ganke. "Do you think Spider-Man really makes his webs? Or do you think they're biological?"
Nearby, she caught someone's eye by accident. She looked away.
"Definitely not biological," Miles said. "That sounds gross."
"It wouldn't have to be," Ganke said. "I mean, that way, it wouldn't have equipment as a point of failure."
The guy she'd accidentally looked at was moving closer.
"No, dude. It's gross," Miles insisted.
Gwen thought that biological webs sounded more economical: no need for refilling, especially in mid-air. But she could see Miles' point, too.
"Yo," the guy said, a few feet away from their group now. "You're Gwen, right? I was in your calculus class last semester."
He paused. Gwen didn't know what to say. All those lessons she'd gotten as a kid to not give her name out to strangers echoed in her head. "...Okay," she settled on, waiting for more. Hopefully that wasn't admitting too much.
He grinned. "Are you related to the mayor?"
"No," Michelle snapped. "Fuck off."
Miles stood up.
"You sure?" the guy said. "You look just like him."
Michelle sat up, swung her legs to the ground. "Not all blonde people are related to him, dipshit. Get out of here."
The guy wouldn't stop grinning, wouldn't take his eyes off her. "I'm just asking. I checked on Canvas. Isn't Stacy your last name?"
"No, it's not." Miles said decisively. He moved to stand between her and the guy. Blocked him as he tried to look around. "And stop asking. Go away."
"Is something wrong?"
Ned had come. He'd finally gotten out of class.
The guy waved Ned away. "Nah, man, I'm just talking to the mayor's kid." He turned to Gwen. "How's it feel, being famous?"
"I'm not famous," she ground out.
"Yeah, man," Ned said to the guy, his voice changing. Ned was a teddy bear, everyone knew that. But he had the build to look intimidating if he wanted to.
Ned sauntered closer and poked a finger into the guy's chest. "You know, I think you should leave."
—Gwen had a flash of memory. The old apartment. That was how it had started, that night—
—A jab of a finger into a sternum—
—Gwen, hide!—
—You and Gwen are mine—
She took a shaky breath. She had to stay here, stay present. She couldn't lose herself in bad memories.
The guy scoffed. "Shit. Be that way. I was just asking a question." His eyes lingered on Gwen for a long moment. She wanted to shove him, hide. run away.
"Later, Gwen," he said. Then he turned and walked away.
Gwen sunk into the hammock, her heart pounding. She wished stupid memories would go away. She wished people would forget her last name. She wished she could disappear.
"What's wrong?" Hailey asked. Gwen heard a rushing through her ears.
Someone gently touched her shoulder. She flinched, hard. Her eyes opened automatically.
Miles was holding up a finger, to Hailey, maybe? Was watching intently in the direction the guy had gone. He looked like one of those pointing dogs. On guard.
"You okay?" Michelle said in a low voice above her.
Gwen started crying.
"Hey." She saw Michelle hold out a hand, and she took it. Michelle squeezed. "It's okay. It's gonna be okay."
Eventually, Miles's shoulders slumped. He turned around. He looked normal again. "It's okay," he signed and spoke. He made eye contact with Gwen, then Ned, who was standing near the hammock. "Good instincts. Thanks."
"Anytime," Ned said uncomfortably.
Gwen shoved the memories aside. She wasn't there now, she was here. She wiped her tears away with her free hand, then covered her eyes.
Michelle squeezed her hand again.
"Should we go?" Ganke asked. "Do you think he'll come back?"
"I think it's okay," Miles said.
Several seconds passed. Gwen let her hand fall from her face. She wiped her eyes again, with her sleeve this time. She stared up at the leaves. She saw Michelle give a small smile.
"Hey," a familiar voice said, and Gwen's heart started pounding again. "Everything okay? You guys look....I don't know."
"Hey, Pete," Miles answered.
There were footsteps. Mr. Parker walked through the group to stand in her eye-line.
Ganke spoke. "Someone thought Gwen was related to the mayor. Michelle cursed them out. Ned and Miles got him to leave."
Mr. Parker looked down at her. "You okay?"
She took a long moment to answer. "...Yeah," she said, still not feeling okay.
Mr. Parker looked at her, assessing, then Michelle, then over to where she thought Miles must be standing.
"He saw her name on Canvas," Ganke said. "Do you think we can do anything about that?"
"Of course. Maybe we set up a pseudonym. I'll talk to your mom." He looked back at her. "See what she thinks."
Gwen sat up. Her head pounded.
"Take your time," Mr. Parker said gently.
"It's...it's so stupid," Gwen said unsteadily.
"Not stupid," Michelle said. "Really not stupid."
"I agree with Michelle," Mr. Parker said. "Very not stupid."
The group waited, quietly. Gwen thought they must all be dying to talk, about anything else, wanting to leave her behind and go talk about something interesting.
But they waited.
Miles checked his phone. Hailey looked around at the trees and pulled out her sketchbook. Ganke sat doing nothing. Ned, Michelle, and Mr. Parker did nothing.
The wind rustled the leaves. It was a bit chilly. They'd get snow again next week. Maybe a big storm. The cold would return.
Michelle's warm hand was her anchor.
Kids playing frisbee nearby shrieked in excitement.
Mr. Parker's suit flapped gently in the wind. It was the same suit he'd worn at Christmas, though it was a bit more rumpled now. Like he'd been running. He'd had a haircut recently. The sides of his head were cleaner, shaved closer, but he'd left the top long, so that was a bit messy, too.
He smiled at her when he caught her looking. He looked up and ran a hand over it. She looked away, quickly.
Her friends waited.
Gwen nodded, after what felt like hours. She took a deep breath. "I'm okay." It felt more like the truth this time.
Mr. Parker nodded calmly. "Good to hear."
The group came back to life, albeit muted.
Miles spoke first. "Why'd you come? Do you need me for something?"
Mr. Parker turned, slowly. His movements were measured, as if carefully choreographed. He spoke in much the same way. "No. Not yet, anyway. Maybe in twenty minutes? I've got something for Ganke." Mr. Parker made eye contact with Gwen, and deliberately swung his backpack around, opened it, and handed Ganke a laptop. Ganke took it eagerly. "Hoping you can help me with a work thing."
Gwen was glad he moved slowly. It was like he was trying not to make her freak out again. She'd had panic attacks before. Something about people moving, or shouting, would always make it worse. It was like he was trying not to make her freak out again.
Mr. Parker was so weird. It was nice.
"Is it for EMF?" Gwen asked.
"No. It's for my other job."
"Teaching?" Hailey guessed.
Mr. Parker grimaced. "Well, no. My other, other job."
Ganke frowned at the screen. "Wait, I don't understand. What do you need me to do?" Mr. Parker squatted next to him, and spoke in a lower voice, but still audible to the group. "Okay, so I've got all these records here."
"Right."
"I want to save all this information, and then hide it, but make it not obvious that I've hidden it."
"Hide it, like, encrypt it?"
"No. Delete it. Completely. But make sure I have a copy."
Ganke nodded. "I can do that."
"What's this about?" Miles asked, squatting behind Ganke and craning his neck to look at the screen.
"I'm meeting with a guy that I really don't trust. I'm going to reassign him to another department, and I want to make sure he can't take sensitive information with him."
Miles' face went pale. "Oh." He stood up, and cleared his throat.
"Ganke, you got it?"
"Yep. I'll use the past month's data, and just duplicate it historically, change the dates. How do you want me to store it?"
Mr. Parker produced a flash drive. Gwen saw Miles follow it with his eyes.
Ganke plugged it in and started typing.
Mr. Parker looked around at the group. He looked up at the sky. "Nice day, isn't it?"
"Why do you hang out with us?" Michelle asked pointedly. "You're a grown man. With three jobs."
"Four, actually," he said cheerily.
"What's the fourth?" Hailey said.
He paled. "Uh...I do a lot of...consulting gigs? For tech security?"
"Why're you saying that like it's a question?" Michelle swung her legs back out of the hammock. She still held Gwen's hand.
"Uh..." his face dropped. He looked around at the group. "You were right. It's three, actually."
"So why are you always here? If you're so busy."
Mr. Parker looked over at Miles and Ganke. Then around to the rest of them. "You guys are cool."
"We're college students," Ned said. "We're not cool."
Peter looked affronted. "I beg to differ. No, wait. I differ." He looked down, checked on Ganke's progress, then looked back up at Ned. "You guys are the coolest people I know."
"So what job is this one for?" Michelle said, not letting go.
"OSCORP."
"I'm done," Ganke said.
"Ooh." Mr. Parker took back the computer and looked at it. "Nice touch. Thanks." He tossed the flash drive to Miles. Miles caught it. "Hang on to that for me?"
"Sure thing." Miles looked queasy.
"You're giving him secret company information?" Michelle pressed.
Mr. Parker looked unbothered. "Uh-huh. What're you gonna do about it? Sell it to Roxxon?"
Miles, Ganke, and Hailey laughed out loud.
"Good one, Mr. Parker," Ganke said.
Gwen wondered if it had to do with the wrecked building at the end of the street. Maybe they all hated Roxxon for letting that rubble sit there too long.
"I don't get it," Ned said.
"I'll explain later," Miles said. He stuck the flash drive gingerly in his pocket.
Mr. Parker took the laptop back from Ganke and put it in his backpack. "I've got to get going. Miles, want to walk with me?"
"Can I—I'll stay for a bit. I'll meet you there."
Mr. Parker nodded. "Sounds good." He looked over at Gwen. "Hang in there. I'll see what we can do."
He walked away.
"He's so weird," Michelle said as he left.
"He's awesome," Miles protested. He pulled the flash drive out, played with it in his hands.
"He works for OSCORP."
"He runs OSCORP," Ganke clarified.
"You say that like it's better. What if he's a supervillain in training, or something?"
Hailey laughed. "He's not. Miles wouldn't hang out with him so much if he was."
"Hey!"
"Yeah, he doesn't seem like a supervillain," Ned remarked. "He seems nice. Anyway. I think supervillains would have better time management." The group laughed. "What? You're telling me Doc Ock didn't have everything planned out? Dude was, like, a criminal mastermind. He probably had spreadsheets of stuff. Mr. Parker seems like he just figures it out as he goes."
"He worked for Doc Ock, didn't he?" Gwen said.
"Yeah," Miles replied. "But Octavius, like, tried to kill him." He flipped the switch to open the drive, then closed it again.
"He could have corrupted him?" Michelle guessed.
Miles shook his head. "You can't corrupt Pete. Or, if you do, you gotta work really hard at it. Like, really, really hard."
"You sound like you're defending Mr. I-Have-Four-Jobs," Michelle said.
"I am. 'cus Pete's cool." Miles flicked the flash drive switch again.
"He's really nice," Gwen agreed. "He's kind. That's not like a supervillain."
Michelle looked at Gwen, then nodded. "I'll accept that."
There was a lull.
"Hey, when do you think the Speed Nonagon update will come out?" Ned asked. The rest of the group groaned.
"What? I'm excited. Sue me."
"It's just a game," Hailey said.
"It's the pinnacle of entertainment. I take offense at that."
"It is a really good game," Gwen said. "Though, pinnacle? Really?"
"Betrayal!" Ned pointed at her. "Lando!"
"I should go," Miles said, standing up suddenly. "Help Pete. Ganke, you'll make sure everyone gets back okay?"
"Sure. Are you gonna be okay?"
"Yeah. I'll be fine." Miles stuck the flash drive in his pocket again and picked up his backpack. "I'll see you guys later."
"...Okay." Ganke looked unsure. "Call if you need me."
Miles left, sprinting towards the park exit.
"Is he okay?" Hailey said.
Gwen wasn't sure.
"Are you okay?" Michelle said softly.
Gwen shrugged. She felt achy. She'd probably go lie down after this.
"Oh hey, Cindy texted!" Ned said.
Gwen was grateful for the distraction. She pulled out her phone.
Group Chat: ACADEC NATIONAL CHAMPS 2021
Cindy Moon: We talked about a reunion before we went on break, do we still want that to happen?
Ned Leeds: Yes!!! We're sorry it didn't happen!
Michelle Jones: Let's do it
Abe Brown: Captain Michelle we are bereft without you
CM: Hey, I'm doing my best
CM: But it's not the same without you guys.
Liz Toomes: Don't undersell yourself, Captain. Cindy is fantastic.
LT: We miss you guys though!!
CM: How's Saturday? Noon? Or is that too short notice?
Gwen Stacy: I've got a volunteer shift that ends at noon. Could we start at 1pm?
GS: Sorry if that's TMI
CM: Yeah no problem!
CM: Mr. Harrington will be there and can let us in.
NL: [GIF of a cat with sparkling eyes]
Danika Hart: Hello everyone, and happy new year! I hope all of you had a restful holiday season. Let's talk news. First up: the new mayor is doing shockingly well. With all this nice weather we've been having, he's got teams filling potholes across the city, even in *my* neighborhood, which I'm really impressed with. I don't drive anymore, but my friends who do are really happy with the work. He's also zoned several new buildings for low-income and rent-stable housing, which, I think all of us are in favor of. He's given money to shelters across the city. He's working with state government to get his free lunch program off the ground.
All in all, several early wins. Things that I think will actually make the city a better place. Now, you guys all know I'm not a fan of him personally, but I do have to admit. I'm impressed.
In other news, Spider-Man's been less busy recently. Both of them. Though the younger Spider-Man's been seen even less than the older one. But you know what I say? Good for them. They've had a rough go of it. Let's give them a break. We never think of how rough it must be for them to be on call all the time. I mean, they're people too, right?
I'm gonna go watch some kids skateboard on those newly-paved streets. Don't forget: always wear a helmet!
J. Jonah Jameson: Hello. I'm reporting from Washington DC. Today, Norman Osborn got himself assigned to committees. Now, believe me. I am aware of the comment section. People think my reporting is boring, or that I'm over-reacting. Listeners, I am not. I ran for Congress because I saw a threat in Norman Osborn. And today, they begin to take shape. He got himself assigned, as a *freshman*, to the House Committees of Armed Services and Homeland Security.
These are big. For those of you unaware, I'll "break it down", as the kids say. [2 second pause] Jared is telling me that's not what the kids say. Shut up, Jared.
The Armed Services Committee is where Congress oversees the military. Not parades or uniforms, but war. It supervises military operations abroad, approves defense policy, reviews weapons systems, yes. But it also decides when, where, and how military force gets used.
I've lost some of you already. Let's do it in plain English. Let's say that when the military attacks something, that's America punching something. Now, we've all seen a school bully. This committee is the one directing the bully. They point the finger, and our brave men and women in uniform throw the punch.
Now, what about Homeland Security? That's for domestic threats. Everything from terrorism to infrastructure. They coordinate with disaster response, especially to all those world-ending events that somehow keep happening in the fine city of New York. But there's also surveillance. Monitoring of all those the state deems suspicious.
It also so happens that both these committees exercise oversight over the Avengers. And over SHIELD, the organization that helps direct them.
Don't get me wrong. In terms of qualifications, Norman Osborn makes perfect sense to be there. His company has a long history of government contracts, both through the military and for domestic infrastructure in cities across the nation. He's got the experience. He might not have the back up of his company, though. His successor has been...changing things significantly in the past few weeks. I'll let the dust settle on that before I report. But rest assured, I *will* report.
Because getting himself on these committees was undoubtedly the first step of his quest to unmask Spider-Man. A quest, which, as many of you may know, I have recently become opposed to. Not for any nefarious reason. I still strongly believe he should be accountable for his actions, and repay any damage he causes, which remains significant. But...he saved someone I know. Someone who would have died if he didn't have the freedom and flexibility, no pun intended, to make bold decisions that save people's lives.
Let's think about Osborn for a moment. A hypothetical, if you will. Norman wants to unmask Spider-Man. He's on these committees now, so he gets the Avengers to look for him. They're the only ones who can. And they will be legally obligated to comply. Before you know it, Spider-Man will be quartered in the brig of Avenger's Tower, and the people who need him will be S-O-L, as the kids say.
[A pause.]
Jared's giving me a thumbs up with that one.
Listeners, I know this is ominous. But I would like to remind you to not panic. Because I've spent the better part of last year running against him. I know Osborn. I know how he thinks. Even though he acts like he's on top of the world, please remember. For my sake. This man, for yes, he is just a man, is a freshman congressman. He has no real power. Not yet.
At least, that's what I keep telling myself.