Chapter Text
Miles Morales as he swung through Manhattan, the wind whipping past his mask. It had been a year since that day when Peter Parker handed him the mantle. Now, at sixteen, the Ultimate Spider-Man was late again. Not just for school, but for everything.
His ribs throbbed beneath his hoodie with every swing. The bruises from last nights fight with Venom stretched across his side. Each breath sent a ache through his chest, though pain had never really bothered him. Pain was simple. You got hit, you got back up, and you kept moving.
What wasnt simple was the giant billboard looming over Fifth Avenue. His eyes caught it almost instantly. Mary Jane Watson stared down at the city from the advertisement, poised beneath bright studio lights with the effortless confidence she seemed to carry everywhere. Her red hair spilled over one shoulder like a river of fire, and a faint smile curved her lips as she modeled some expensive designeroutfit, leaving a fair part of her body for imagination, most would think that was a bummer, bur for Miles it was the best part, it would mean Mary Jane could stay more in his mind, and that intrigue of not knowing exactly how her exposed body looked, that was Miles favorite part. Beneath her image, elegant silver lettering declared: Elegance That Endures.
Miles barely registered the words.
For a moment, the city disappeared. The traffic noise faded into the background, the ache in his ribs became distant, and all he could focus on was her face. It lasted only a few seconds, but a few seconds was more than enough for Spider-Man to make a mistake.
By the time he looked forward again, a building was rushing toward him.
—Oh crap… —muttered Miles as he shot out a webline.
The angle was wrong. He felt it immediately. Instead of arcing cleanly between the buildings, he swung too low and too fast. His shoulder clipped a streetlight, throwing off his momentum completely. A split second later he crashed directly into a hot dog cart.
The impact sent metal rattling across the sidewalk. Hot dogs, napkins, and plastic bottles flew through the air as the cart tipped onto its side. Miles rolled across the pavement before slamming into a lamp post, where he finally came to a stop of embarrassment.
For several seconds, neither he nor the vendor said anything.
The man simply stared at the wreckage of his cart. Then he slowly turned toward Spider Man.
—You serious right now? —the vendor asked, disbelief written all over his face.
Miles pushed himself upright, wincing as his bruised ribs protested.
—In my defense, Ive had a rough week.
—In my defense, thats my lunch on the floor.
Miles glanced at the scattered hot dogs and winced again.
—Yeah, thats fair.
Digging into his pocket, he produced a crumpled bill and handed it over. The vendor snatched it immediately, though the look he gave Miles suggested it wasnt nearly enough compensation. As soon as he launched himself back into the air, Miles groaned and pressed a hand against his forehead. The crash wasnt what bothered him. What bothered him was why it had happened. His thoughts drifted back to the billboard. It made no sense. He had fought supervillains. He had stared down monsters that could tear apart entire buildings. He had nearly died more times than he cared to count.
Miles groaned loudly.
—This is so stupid.
The wind swallowed his words as he swung higher above the city, but it didnt make them any less true. Because Venom had cracked three of his ribs the night before. And somehow Mary Jane Watson was still the one causing him the bigger problem.
Miles let himself swing on instinct, barely paying attention to where his webs were landing. His mind stubbornly refused to focus on anything except the thoughts he had been trying to ignore for months. Every attempt to push them away only seemed to make them return stronger, like they were waiting for the exact moment his guard slipped. The worst part wasnt that he found Mary Jane attractive. The worst part was who she was.
Peters wife.
Just thinking those words made his stomach twist. Peter Parker had trusted him with everything. He had trained him, guided him, picked him up after failures, and treated him like family from the very beginning, Even before he turned into Spider-Man. There were days when Miles felt like he owed half the person he had become to Peter. The idea that he could look at Mary Jane the way he did sometimes felt like a betrayal, even if it was only inside his own head. Every time he caught himself staring too long, guilt followed almost immediately.
—Man, what is wrong with me? —muttered Miles.
The wind swallowed the words as he swung between buildings, but saying them out loud did little to ease the frustration building inside him. He knew how this was supposed to work. He was sixteen years old. He should have been thinking about girls his own age. Girls from school. Instead, his thoughts kept circling back to a woman who was older, more experienced, and completely out of reach in every possible way.
Miles shook his head hard enough that his curls shifted beneath the mask. It sounded ridiculous when he actually thought about it. Mary Jane was successful, confident, intelligent, and beautiful . She carried herself with a certainty that made people naturally gravitate toward her whenever she entered a room. Miles, on the other hand, still felt like he was figuring everything out as he went. Half the time he was balancing homework with stopping supervillains, and the other half he was trying not to embarrass himself in front of people.
The more he compared the two of them, the more absurd the whole thing became. What exactly did he think would happen? That somehow Mary Jane would wake up one morning and decide she was interested in a sixteen year old kid who occasionally crashed into street furniture while distracted? The thought was so ridiculous that it almost made him laugh. Almost. Instead, it left him feeling even worse because deep down he knew there wasnt a single realistic version of reality where something like that could happen.
—Yeah, because shed totally pick me —he said dryly.
Even the sarcasm couldnt hide the insecurity underneath.
Mary Jane probably saw him the same way everyone else in Peters circle did. A kid. Maybe a friend. Maybe family. Someone worth caring about and protecting. But that was it. She wasnt looking at him and seeing a man. Why would she? Some mornings he still struggled to get out of bed on time. He still had exams, homework, and college applications waiting somewhere in his future. He was Spider-Man, sure, but being Spider-Man didnt magically make him older. It didnt close the gap between them. If anything, it only made him more aware of how young he really was.
Unfortunately, feelings didnt seem to care much about logic.
For months he had told himself it would pass. Every crush eventually faded, right? Eventually hed meet someone else, someone his age, and this whole thing would become an embarrassing memory. Yet every time he thought he was finally moving on, something as simple as seeing her smile or hearing her laugh dragged him right back to the beginning. It was exhausting.
Miles finally landed on the edge of a rooftop and crouched there silently, staring out across Manhattan, trying as hard as he could to stop thinking about that woman. The wind tugged at his hoodie while the New York traffic roared beneath him. For a few moments he simply sat there, letting his mind and body breathe around him while his thoughts slowly settled, but no matter how hard he tried, his heart would not stop beating for her.
In a more literal sense, he started to feel his blood flowing down, flowing to his pants, Miles tried to think about mathematical equations and chemistry problems. All that effort for nothing, Miles had an erection, one dedicated to Mary Jane Watson. Now Miles had to get rid of it before getting to school.
Miles thought of the obvious solution, but he couldnt just start to jerk off in a random rooftop, even more so while he still had the Spider-Man costume on. Miles decided he would just swing anyway, with a hard on, and hope that, with the constant movement, the adrenaline and other factors it would eventually fade off, just like his feelings for MJ.
The problem was that he had been telling himself that for months already.And so far, it hadnt worked once.
Miles swung through New York with a rhythm that felt easier than earlier in the day. The wind hit his mask in a steady flow instead of feeling sharp and chaotic like it had after the crash. His body moved with less tension, and for once he was not overthinking every turn or every landing. He let the motion carry him from building to building, trusting his instincts instead of forcing every decision.
He was glad he was right, his erection was gone and he felt how not only his body and bloodflow, but his mind was much more relaxed and much less tense. He adjusted his swing and let himself glide higher between two skyscrapers, taking a moment to breathe and actually enjoy the height instead of worrying about what could go wrong.
His phone vibrated inside his suit and he answered mid swing.
— Yo, Spider-Man here — said Miles, voice slightly distorted through the mask as he twisted through the air.
Peter answered almost immediately, sounding calm in that way he always did when he was trying to sound casual but clearly had something important to say.
— You sound like you are moving fast again — said Peter, noticing it right away.
— I am fine, just heading to school — said Miles, adjusting his grip on a webline as he curved around a building corner.
There was a short pause on the other end before Peter continued.
— I wanted to tell you something before you hear it from someone else — said Peter, tone a bit more serious now.
Miles slowed his swing slightly as he listened, focusing more on the call than the city for a moment.
— Okay, what is it — said Miles, curiosity rising in his voice.
— I got invited to a gala hosted by the X Men — said Peter.
Miles almost lost his grip for a second.
— Wait, THE Hellfire Gala? — said Miles, surprised.
Peter gave a small laugh.
— Yes, that Hellfie Gala — said Peter.
Miles let out a short breath that was half disbelief and half excitement.
— That is actually kind of insane — said Miles.
— It is just a formal social event, nothing dangerous — said Peter, still calm but slightly amused.
Miles nodded even though Peter could not see him.
— Yeah sure, nothing dangerous coming from the X Men sounds very believable — said Miles.
Peter ignored the sarcasm and continued.
— I will be gone for a couple hours that night, I just wanted you to know in case you needed anything — said Peter.
Miles swung lower now, approaching his school building in the distance. The streets below were becoming more familiar, the traffic thicker, the usual chaos of morning routine taking over the city around him.
Peter stayed on the line for a moment longer, like he was checking something off in his head before speaking again.
— I should also mention the Fantastic Four and the Avengers are going too, and Mary Jane as well — said Peter.
Miles felt his grip tighten for half a second before he caught himself. The name alone was enough to pull his thoughts off balance again. His mind flashed for a brief moment to her in one of those dresses, showing just enough to tease everyone on the room, with a confidence only she could have, her perfect white freckled skin, standing in a room full of people who actually belonged in places like that. It made his chest feel tight in a way he did not like.
— MJ is going too — said Miles, trying to keep his voice normal.
— Yeah, she is helping with the event coverage — said Peter.
Miles nodded even though Peter could not see him, forcing himself to focus on the movement of his body instead of the thought that had just tried to form, how he wished he could go to said gala, just to catch a glance at Mary Janes full beauty. He adjusted his swing slightly, aiming more directly toward the school entrance now, grounding himself in the simple rhythm of landing, walking, class, repeat.
— That sounds like a lot of important people in one room — said Miles.
— It is mostly just a fundraiser type gala, nothing you need to worry about — said Peter.
Miles let out a short breath, forcing his attention back to the street ahead. The school building was now right in front of him, solid and real and normal, exactly the kind of thing he needed right now.
He shook his head slightly inside the mask, pushing the thought of Mary Jane out before it could settle properly.
— Yeah, I got class anyway, so I will not be thinking about it — said Miles.
Even as he said it, he sped up his landing, dropping toward the entrance with more focus, trying to lock his mind onto anything else. The doors, the hallway, the bell about to ring, anything that was not a gala, not superheroes, and definitely not Mary Jane Watson.
— I will be fine, I have class anyway — said Miles.
Peter paused for a moment before responding.
— Right, school. Try not to be late again — said Peter.
Miles looked up at the building ahead of him and sighed.
— No promises — said Miles.
He released one last webline and landed smoothly near the entrance of his school, catching his balance as the door came into view. The bell was already close to ringing, and students were moving inside in clusters.
Miles straightened his hoodie and adjusted his backpack strap as he walked toward the entrance, blending back into normal life as Spider Man faded into the background for now.