time to be a fighter,

“I’m doing my best. I don’t know if good is the word I’d use, but I’m trying.”

@ofmilesmorales @ofhopevandyne @ofscottlang @growinginstature

“I would. I have people who know that it wasn’t me who killed him, and I know they’d find a way to prove my innocence -- and find Miles’ real killer. But I’m not allowed to let an innocent person take the blame if I can help it.”

Jenna decided not to mention all the things she had stolen for thrills. It would take too long to write down anyway, if she were being honest. Besides, if Gwen was going to let off the hook for this one, she wasn’t going to push it. The blonde had a point. Jenna wasn’t doing this for the thrill, not anymore.

She smiled gently at her, even as the realization of what she was doing – what she was preparing for – hit her. It kept doing that, coming in waves. Jenna tilted her head at the offer, and then nodded, accepting the tampons. She could always trade them again if she had to. ‘Stacy,’ she wrote down. ‘Like the big cop guy?’ 

Gwen felt the pull, the need to ask Jenna if she had a warm place to stay -- someplace safe, but she didn't want to press to hard. And if Gwen offered help, she wasn't entirely sure that Jenna would accept it. It took her a moment before she finally found the nerve to ask, "You're not in the streets are you?"

After they traded, Gwen opened the bag of candy and grabbed a piece before offering the bag to Jenna so she could grab one. Her blue eyes falling back to the notebook and slowly, Gwen nodded her head. "Yup, Commissioner George Stacy, that's... that's my dad. The commissioner part is new though, but yeah, big cop guy."

He held up his hands in mock-surrender. “I didn’t say it worked for everyone,” he said slowly. “I’m just a guy with a bow. It’s easy for me to show my face. I don’t know what it’s like to have powers,” he said, voice careful. “But you know… all that trash-talk might stop if you’re honest with them. It’s not like it was before, things are different now.” There were still bigots out there, anti-mutant rallies and people ranting on the internet about how the Registration acts hadn’t gone far enough – but there were good people, too. 

“Right,” he said simply. “I have. Trust me, he’s a dick. A dick in a tin can.” It was a cheap shot, not his normal M.O. – but could anyone blame him? “He got me thrown in prison for disagreeing with him, so you wanna be his fan go ahead. I’m not gonna beg for any autographs,” he said, pulling on his earlobe. 

“That is totally uncalled for! Hanzo requires aim, not blind spraying,” he huffed. “And hey, listen – Overwatch is a team game. There’s five other players – if you need your Hanzo to touch the point? You’ve got bigger issues. At least I’m not a Mei player, they’re the actual devil.” 

This guy seemed okay, and Gwen knew he didn't mean any harm it was just hard to imagine not living a double life after everything that had happened. "You're probably right," she said, trying to sound chipper. "Maybe someday, I gotta... clear my name first." She was tired of lying to her friends and her father, but she knew she was a kid and her friends? They were also kids. And none of them had powers, if some super villain went after them -- Gwen didn't know what she'd do. It was better this way. Even if the weight of secrets felt suffocating.

Gwen grimaced under her mask and nodded her head, "Sounds like my dad then," she tried to joke -- but she had hit something here. Even if she didn't mean to, this relationship was clearly complicated. "Sorry," she said finally. Gwen didn't work with a team, she and Miles had talked about teaming up, but in reality? Gwen was a solo player most days.

Jessica paused at that, weighing Gwen’s words. “Smart girl,” she said simply. She knew how hard it could be, to fight against your own parent. Alisa had been half out of her mind and brain damaged – Gwen’s dad didn’t even have that excuse. She had a feeling that only made it harder to stand up to him. 

She couldn’t get the image of Alisa out of her head now. The way she’d looked at Jessica, even before Jessica recognized her. The things she’d said. The only reason Trish was still alive was because of what Gwen was saying. Because she didn’t want to hurt Jessica. “Okay,” she said, holding up a hand. “I believe you. The general public might now, but I’m on your side here.”

When Gwen pulled up the pictures, Jessica leaned forward. Her brow furrowed. “This kid,” she said. “Miles? This is the kid Ghost Spider supposedly murdered?” she asked. “Because I’ve got news for the cops. That kid is not dead. I talked to him yesterday. Morales, right? That’s his name. Miles Morales.”

Gwen inhaled when Jessica finally said okay -- she wasnt sure if she actually believed her, but for now, at least maybe she'd listen and give her a chance. "Thank you," she said quietly. Even if this was a shot in the dark, even if Jessica was only giving her a chance to placate her, it was more than her father had done. Any mention of an alternative to the Ghost Spider theory and he'd become unhinged and start in on every hero in the city.

The flicker of recognition on Jessica's face made Gwen's stomach roll, and then the words confirmed it. She had met Miles already, she had only recently found out that an alternative universe Miles had landed in her world -- but she hadn't stopped to think that his presence could potentially call off the entire investigation. Because if he was alive... then there was no crime. "Yeah... his name is Miles Morales."

She was quiet for a long time, pulling the phone back towards her and stuffing it in her pocket. "I've seen him too, but that's not -- he's not the same," Gwen sounded crazy and she knew that, all of this was crazy. "I'm sorry -- I shouldn't have said anything. Thanks anyway," Gwen said quickly before taking a few steps back.

Daisy could see most of the scenario from her vantage point behind the corner of the wall. Their target was at the end of the alley with her so-called partner closing in on her. There was someone webbed up to a wall, and it was pretty obvious who had done it. She might’ve thought that Ghost Spider was attacking civilians, but based on the purse that was on the ground not more than a foot from him, Daisy could gather that Ghost Spider was just trying to help. Her partner, on the other hand, took the purse as a different meaning. “You’re working with muggers to steal money!” He accused her. Daisy rolled her eyes.

The girl’s voice came clear down the alley, and Daisy could tell that she was young. Still, Daisy didn’t like the way the agent was raising a gun at her as if she’d done something wrong here. The fact that she was joking around and quoting memes was what really caught Daisy attention, so she stepped out into the open and sauntered over to them, “Grandma’s making stew?” she asked, before shouting, “Fuck yeah!” She clicked her tongue and made finger guns at the girl, winking at her once before her so-called partner just glared at her and said, “I told you to wait in the car, Quake.” Daisy rolled her eyes before focusing on Ghost Spider. “Sorry about this. You know how these things are, but we gotta do what we gotta do.” She sent a blasting quake at Ghost Spider, one that tended to knock most people out in seconds.

The officer wasn’t listening to her and while she was sure she could get out of his line of fire fast enough -- she would much rather him just put it away. But then he accused her of teaming up with the guy she had just taken out and Gwen pointed at the man webbed to the wall defensively, “Really? You think I’m working with him?” She had webbed the man to the wall -- it didn’t get more obvious than that, right? Unless they thought she was double-crossing the man to take his portion of the money and -- the more she thought about it, it kinda could make sense. But she still didn’t like being grouped up with a common criminal. Then again, being a mugger was at least a step back from being accused of murder. 

Another woman appeared in the alley and picked up on the joke, and Gwen motioned to her before awkwardly returning the finger guns. She was pretty -- not that Gwen was paying attention to that. “See? She gets it!” Gwen waved and was about to introduce herself but as Quake said her name, her whole body screamed danger. The woman brought up her hand and Gwen barely made it out of the line of fire in time. The vibrations in the air still reached her -- making her a bit queasy, but she had avoided the brunt of the blast. Gwen looked down at Quake and then at her partner. Extending her arm, she shot a small spray of webs around Quake’s partner’s hand -- the one holding the gun. “I have a feeling you guys aren’t with the police.”

(✉️ ➡️ spiderpig, spiderpig ): how did you get in my house? (✉️ ➡️ spiderpig, spiderpig ): nevermind, doesn’t matter (✉️ ➡️ spiderpig, spiderpig ): stay there and don’t drink more (✉️ ➡️ spiderpig, spiderpig ): i’m coming home

(✉️ ➡️ spiderpig, spiderpig ): is2g if you’re drunk gwen (✉️ ➡️ spiderpig, spiderpig ): where are you? (✉️ ➡️ spiderpig, spiderpig ): and i didn’t know that. in that case, don’t drink more

(✉️ ➡️ the unstoppable gwen): okay, but now i really want to build a snowman? (✉️ ➡️ the unstoppable gwen): you okay there buddy??

Cassie kept a soft smile on her face while she listened to Gwen talk about her mom’s death and how much Hope had stepped in as family. Cassie’s family was a mess, but she hadn’t lost them before. Even with her parents’ divorce, they were intent on her having time with both of them – Cassie wasn’t going to lose a family over it. “Well, isn’t it called liquid courage or something?” she joked with a bob of her head as the smile spread, thankful that Gwen felt comfortable enough to share something like this with her. “You really don’t have to pretend like my dad is cool. Really. It goes to his head.” Her face was dead serious, even as she joked and a moment later she let out a loud laugh that shattered the quiet night. “You pretend like he doesn’t always smell like feet.”

“Liquid courage, yeah that sounds about right.” She knew Hope had meant what she said, they had this mother/daughter relationship going for a while now, but neither of them had really addressed it until that text message. When her mother had died, a chasm between her and her father had opened, and becoming Ghost Spider had only increased it. Having people like Scott, Hope, and now Cassie -- it felt good. “Sucks for you then, because he is cool. Mildly at least.” Her grin faded at Cassie’s next words and her nose wrinkled. “Someone should tell him, maybe he can change his brand of deodorant.” 

Jenna slipped into the alleyway, opening up her bag to take a look at her stash. It was a good haul, and she didn’t even have to run with it, which was nice. She dumped the stuff in her pockets and sleeves into the bag, setting aside the family-sized bag of chocolates. Then the other girl came to join her, just as Jenna hoped she would.

She was surprised by the apology, arching a brow. She just shook her head and pulled out her notebook. ‘It’s ok. U weren’t exactly wrong about me,’ she said, gesturing to her bag of loot. She hesitated a moment at this new information – but if the girl wanted to turn her in, she would have already, right? ‘I’m Jenna,’ she wrote. ‘And I got this for u.’ She held out the page and the family-sized bag of candy. She’d seen the girl eyeing them and it seemed like a good way to say thanks.

Gwen straightened up when the girl brought out her notepad. It took her a moment to read it but when she finished, she glanced at the groceries the girl had grabbed and shook her head. “There are worse things to steal. No one steals canned food for the thrills.” At least no thief that she had ever tied up had stolen canned foods. People who were homeless or that were surviving paycheck to paycheck and found themselves in the red -- they were the kind that stole canned food. 

Jenna wrote down her name and Gwen offered her a smile before looking at the bag of chocolate that had ended up in her bag of stolen groceries. “Gwen Stacy.” There wasn’t any point in hiding her last name -- if Jenna watched the news, she’d likely find Gwen up there with her dad during one of the press conferences. “And thanks,” she said before reaching out and grabbing the bag, “I’ve got a bag full of tampons if you want to make a trade.” Gwen motioned to her own bag with a small smile. 

Sometimes, Miles wondered if anyone really knew what they were doing in the superhero world. The Peter Parker of his world had seemed to have it all figured out, had been well-loved and successful and generally good at what he did, and he’d died anyways. If he couldn’t make it, what chance did Miles have? He’d been in over his head before he fell through a hole in the world, and now? Now he had even less of an idea what he was meant to be doing. He was a ghost here, an echo of someone who’d died tragically and way too soon. Standing in front of Gwen now, seeing the heartbreak written all over her face, he felt almost guilty for it. It wasn’t his fault that the other Miles was gone, it wasn’t his fault that he’d fallen into this universe, but it was still hurting her. And he knew he’d feel the same. There was a reason he’d been so worried about running into his mother or his uncle here, a reason he avoided the neighborhood where they’d lived. Nobody wanted to run into a ghost.

Of course, there weren’t any actual ghosts here. It was all science, all multiversal theory and parallel universes, but it didn’t feel like that. Miles could tell from the faint smile on Gwen’s face when he slipped up talking about the other Gwen that she felt the same. It was confusing and painful and weird. “We’d probably be the most complicated, bad luck spider-team around,” he offered. They’d made an agreement before, decided to stick together, but Miles wasn’t sure if it still applied. After all, he hadn’t been entirely honest with her on that rooftop, had let her talk about her best friend without telling her about his connection to him. He knew he wouldn’t be able to blame her if she decided she didn’t want to team up with him after all. Still, part of him liked the idea of them being on the same team. Maybe their friendship was beyond complicated, but they’d still bonded on that roof. She was the first superhero, the first person he’d really bonded with in this world. He didn’t want her to hate him.

Her heart wasn’t in the joke, and his wasn’t really in the laugh that followed. Everything felt more strained now, and Miles knew that was on him. He should have told her who he was, shouldn’t have let his fear outweigh his responsibility. That kind of went against the whole point of Spider-Man. “I’ve met lizard people,” he offered. “I definitely wouldn’t want to fall into a whole universe of them.” The hug was something he hadn’t known he needed. When was the last time he’d actually had human contact that wasn’t a villain punching him? Not in a while, maybe not since he’d fallen through that hole in the world. He offered Gwen a small smile as she pulled away, pulling his arms back and letting them fall back to his sides. “Your mom’s a scientist?” Was that the same in his universe? He’d never heard the other Gwen speak about her mother at all. “I can help. I mean, I’m not a genius or anything, but…” He shrugged, shaking his head uncertainly. “I saw the portal and stuff. That should be good for something, right? And we don’t… I don’t think we have to hurry.” He didn’t really have a lot waiting for him back home. Her concern was familiar, reminding him of the other Gwen, and he nodded quickly. “Oh, yeah. I mean, no, I’m not on the streets. I’m — I have a place.” For now, at least. New York rent wasn’t exactly reasonable, but he’d found a room to rent for the time being.

Team. He said that word again -- like partners. But could they be that? When had that mask on, before she knew it was him underneath, he had proven to be a good partner -- a good hero. But now? Now all she could see was that dim color of lifelessness in his eyes that she had seen when she had held his body. Gwen could imagine losing him again, and it being her fault. There was another thought on the outskirts of her mind: this Miles? This Miles wasn’t hers to lose. If he died here, in this universe, it would be his family back in his universe that would feel that loss. And that would be on her. But she smiled. It was forced, and probably obviously so, but she was trying. “Two negatives are supposed to make a positive right? Maybe our luck will counteract each other.” It was a long shot that the world would actually work like that rather than doubling down on their bad luck. 

But he had believed in her on that rooftop, and she told him that she felt the same about him. He deserved to have someone in his corner, and his identity shouldn’t change that. Gwen looked him over, trying to find it in herself what she had wanted from her own father -- understanding. It wasn’t going to get easier, was it? Wondering how awkward their relationship would get with their conflicting memories of each other. Gwen ran her hand over her arm and took in a deep breath, glancing away from him again. Looking at the garbage that she had thrown at him. Even if this wasn’t an alternate universe Miles, she would have probably still thrown garbage at him.  Maybe this didn’t have to be as complicated as she thought. 

“Yeah, there’s only so long you can bang your head against a brick wall,” Jessica said, watching Gwen carefully for her reaction. She didn’t tell Jessica to stop, didn’t try to defend her father – but there was that moment of shock, hesitation. The kid was definitely caught in a rough spot where family was involved. 

And where this super vigilante was involved too. “No, obviously not,” she said, running a hand through her hair. “But having powers doesn’t make her a hero either. It just makes her a person with powers,” she murmured. She had no stake in this. She didn’t need to get involved in any more goddamn legal messes than she already was. But Gwen standing there… she looked just like Hope Shlottman for a minute. Just like a young Trish. Like someone who still believed superheroes could solve every problem, even though she knew it wasn’t true. “You’d be surprised what you can do to the people you care about,” she said softly, biting her lip.

 “But I know the feeling of what she’s going through. And it sucks, big time,” she sighed. “Any chance you can show me those pictures?” she asked. “Let me look into this. If I can track her down, maybe I’ll get some answers. Maybe she didn’t kill him, but maybe she knows who did. Easiest way to clear her name is to find the actual killer.” 

“I’ve learned to save my breath for the battles that I have a chance at winning,” she murmured. Convincing her father that powered people weren’t monsters? That they weren’t going to suddenly replace the police -- replace him? That they didn’t think they were above the law (though some clearly did, but not all of them). 

Gwen tried to stay quiet when Jessica spoke, it was hard not to get defensive, to not tell her she had it all wrong -- but maybe that was how the public really felt about people like her -- maybe she wasn’t really a hero, just a kid with powers trying to be a hero. There was a fire in her soul, one that raged brighter when she had her mask on, this was her calling, she just needed to convince the public and the police she wasn’t the monster they made her out to be. Her stomach rolled at those words, “I’m -- I’m aware, but, you don’t murder the people you care about. And you don’t spend all this time trying to save people and then just turn around and kill someone,” Gwen argued.

Peter swung between buildings, and from rooftop to rooftop. The familiar sound of the ‘fwip fwip’ coming from his web-shooters always calmed him, along with the bright lights of New York. He finally stopped on top of an apartment building and pulled out his phone. It was time to check in with Gwen, he hadn’t seen her since arriving back home. 

(✉️ ➡️  Gwen 👻 ): come and notice your senpai! bring a pizza menu 

(✉️ ➡️  Gwen 👻 ):  i’m on your roof 

(✉️ ➡️  Gwen 👻 ):  if you’re not home, pls send miles with a pizza menu or pizza instead 

He pulled off his mask and sat down while he waited for her, using the few moments he had to himself to look through Spider-Man’s Twitter and Instagram accounts. Some of the messages people sent him were sweet, and others were just dang creepy. Was it too early to hit ‘sitonmyfacespidey’ with a restraining order? They only made the account last week.

Peter heard footsteps and looked up. “I have been noticed! Hey, Ghosty.”

Gwen’s house was in a state of disarray since the break-in, she had managed to clean up all the broken glass and they had the china cabinet taken to the dump since it had splintered -- but otherwise? The place was starting to look like a home again. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, Gwen rolled her eyes, was Peter really calling himself senpai? Then the next message came in and Gwen grabbed the menu from the fridge and headed out the window, using the fire escape to access the roof.

Clint nodded. “Yeah, I mean – seems complicated. Pretending to be someone else all the time,” he said, shrugging. And maybe, a small part of him wanted Clint Barton to be remembered as much as Hawkeye. So that he could leave something behind when he inevitably screwed up and got himself dead. So far, if she was any indication, it wasn’t going well. 

He frowned, screwing his face up. “You ever actually me the guy?” he asked flatly. “Because he is considerably less great in person.” Stark had treated his friends like terrorists, thrown them in the Raft. However close they might’ve been before, some wounds ran deep. “It’s also the name of the greatest marksman in the world!” he insisted. “Don’t take that from me – and Hanzo is totally viable in this meta, okay! Storm arrows–” He held up a fist. “For the win.” 

Complicated -- yeah that sounded about right. She was lying to her dad, her friends, to everyone in her life aside from what? Five people? The people who knew her life completely could be counted on one hand. And she knew that her Ghost Spider life would bleed into her Gwen Stacy life, in fact, it already had in many cases. Her relationship with her father was beyond complicated, some maniac with a passion for chaos knew her name and where she lived and she couldn’t enlist any help. “Yeah, well, not everyone is very accepting of people with abilities. But you know, it does get awkward when people talk trash about me to my face,” she tried to joke, but that pain was real -- and deep.