Chapter Text
Ever since being bitten by that spider, Pedro’s pain tolerance had increased significantly, but god did this fucking hurt. He had stopped a group of carjackers from stealing what looked like a family SUV. He managed to stop them, but not without taking a beating from a crowbar.
Pedro’s been doing this for six months now, but he’s never experienced injuries like this before. He’s scared. Being Spiderman is already a pretty lonely job, but he’s never felt as alone as he does right now.
One of the wounds is pretty deep, so it's going to need attention. Pedro figures it will have to be him that deals with it, it can’t be his aunt, she still doesn’t know.
He makes the first move to limp home when he realises that here he is, Spiderman, weak and alone on the streets. He knows how many people want him dead. The fear is filling him, he feels like he’s drowning in it. He’s desperate for safety.
He rounds another corner, he’s met with the side of another apartment building. All but one window, on the third floor, is not lit up. He knows that window, he knows who's behind it. It’s the window to Fermín Aldeguer’s bedroom.
-
Pedro and Fermín’s history is difficult. Just shy of two years ago, when Pedro was starting his senior year of high school, a new student transferred in, moving from Spain all by himself. This new guy was the talk of the town, a few people had even asked Pedro if he knew him.
When he finally arrived it only got worse. He was tall, and he was handsome. He has tattoos that no one is really quite sure how he acquired. The girls fawned over the broken English and the thick accent, paired with his beautifully deep voice.
Pedro hated it. He remembers being only eight years old, and not speaking a word of English. He remembers the way he was outcast, called names, and laughed at. It caused tension to rise between the two, with Fermín prizing himself on being the “better” Spaniard and Pedro being “better “adjusted to New York.
The pair didn’t speak often, just a few snide remarks in the hallways, but it was like they were in their own bubble. Their native language separated them from everyone else around them, and for a few seconds, they only existed for each other.
If you ever ask the two of them, they will tell you that’s how they met, but deep in the back of their minds there are memories they can never fully forget. Memories thickly coated in a haze of childhood joy, under the Spanish sun.
-
Pedro is looking at this window. And he’s contemplating everything leading up to this moment. He is in agony, and he’s on the wrong side of town. He knows to get home he has to pass through some rough areas, areas he may not come out the other side of.
He remembers a faint memory, one of those he only remembers when he feels too vulnerable to push it away. He remembers falling and scraping his knee, it made him cry. He remembers his mother cleaning it and putting a bandaid on it. He remembers Fermín giving it a little kiss, and he remembers it feeling better.
Fuck it , Pedro thinks. He makes his way over to and up the wall at a snail-like pace .Pedro gets himself halfway over the window when he stops. He can see Fermín. He can see him lying on the bed in the middle of the room, facing away from the window. He can see the lamp that’s casting the room in warm light. He can see the harsher blue light of a phone screen, creeping round the edges of the younger boy's face.
Pedro realizes at this point, that staring at his compatriot is not going to help.
He taps gently on the window. It alerts Fermín, sure, but the way he doesn’t look around indicates that he's not sure if he actually heard it. Pedro taps again, and it truly startles the other. He turns around, and Pedro can see the fear in his eyes. It develops into more of a shocked reaction when he realises that its Spiderman at his window. Pedro gestures upward vaguely to indicate to Fermín to open the window, and the younger scrambles to do so
Pedro, very ungracefully, crawls through the window and flops onto the floor, letting out a groan of pain. He painfully pulls himself into a seated position watching as the younger freaks out
“oh my fucking god! You're Spiderman! And you're in my room!” Fermín yells. It sends Pedro’s mind into a fit of panic. He lurches forward to try and quiet him, the young Spaniard may live alone but the window is still open and the boy still has neighbours. It causes Pedro to hiss and moan in pain, and now Fermín has finally noticed the injuries. His eyes widen in horror of the state the superhero is in.
“holy shit, you're bleeding. That looks bad, let me help!” Fermín yells, running off before Pedro tries to shush him again. Pedro still isn't sure he has made the right decision. The two are not friends, if Fermín finds out who he is he could sell him out, or blackmail him.
Pedro doesn’t get to expand the list of things the younger might do to him as he returns, with a damp washcloth in one hand and a first aid kit in the other. He drops to his knees in front of Pedro, and gently starts to press the washcloth to the wound. Pedro tries his hardest to not make any noise, but he still hisses anyway. He watches as Fermín begins to shake a little, before looking up at him with tearful eyes
“I'm so sorry, I'm not really sure what I'm doing. But you're fucking Spiderman , I can't just let you bleed out and die in my room.” Fermín whispers anxiously.
Pedro knows what he has to do. He’s come into the others room, through the goddamn window, in the late hours of the night seeking medical attention. This could ruin his whole life, and he knows it, but if it will calm the younger down in what is probably the most terrifying moment in his life, Pedro is willing to risk it.
He slowly reaches upwards, towards the mask. He watches as Fermín realizes what’s about to happen, that Spiderman is about to take his mask off, just for him . Pedro pulls it off.
The two stare at each other for a minute, Pedro watches as the fear dissolves from Fermín eyes, leaving concern and confusion.
“Pedro?” Fermín whispers. He hasn’t called him that since they were boys back in Murcia. Since the pair reunited in New York, Fermín had always called him Acosta.
“Yeah. It's me. It's okay, I know what to do. Will you pass me the first aid kid?” Asks Pedro.
“Are you sure?” Asks Fermín in response. “You came to me for help.”
“Don’t worry, not my first rodeo.” Replies Pedro.
Fermín pulls himself and the cloth away to pass over the kit. He can only sit and stare while Pedro cleans and dresses the wound himself.
“Why did you come to me?” Fermín asks once Pedro is finally done.
Pedro hesitates.
“I had no one else to turn to.” He admits as he gazes up into the green eyes of the younger. They continue to stare at one another in silence, as neither knows what to say
“Thank you, Fermín. I don’t know what would have happened if you weren't here. I'm sorry for bothering you at this time of night, I'll head out now.” Pedro says quietly. He gets up and heads back towards the window before Fermín catches his wrist.
“Please stay, Pedro. Don’t go back out there.” Fermín pleads,
“What? You want me to stay?” Pedro replies softly. the younger gives him an exasperated look.
“Oh my god, Pedro. You’ve shown up to my apartment, as Spiderman, injured and bleeding, and you expect me to just let you go back out there like nothing happened?!” the younger exclaims. He points at Pedro.
“You are staying. I'm not letting you leave,” decides Fermín. He turns around to sort the other some clothes to borrow. All Pedro can do is watch.
“here.” Says the younger, holding out a pile of clothes. “The bathroom is through there.” He points in the direction he had disappeared to earlier, as somewhere for Pedro to change.
As Pedro changes. He gets a good view of the injuries. He's definitely looked better. He also gets to see how Fermín's clothes hang off him a little. Even the additional muscle mass from the spider bite can't help him here.
In the other room, Fermín closes and locks the window. Somehow it feels monumental, like it signifies how Fermin's life has changed in a single night.
Once Pedro is back. Fermín is back in the position he was before everything unfolded.
“Where do you want me to sleep?” asks Pedro.
“We can just share,” replies Fermín.
Pedro stares for a moment, not quite believing what he has just heard.
“It's not like it's new, it's just like old times.” Adds Fermín. A weight has been lifted off Pedro's shoulders. He isn't the only one that can't let go of the memories from Murcia. He's too tired to press anything further. He gets in beside Fermín, and all but passes out. This night had taken a lot out of him.
Fermín stays up a little longer to process what just happened. He eventually decides to call it a night after he comes to the conclusion that what just happened was crazy and he’ll probably never get over it.
He switches off the lights and gets under the covers, wiggling over so that he is closer to Pedro.
He places a feather light kiss on the other cheek.
“I've missed you so much.” He whispers, before rolling over and falling asleep himself.
Pedro usually hates it when his Spidey Senses wake him up for no good reason, but this time, he thinks he can live with it.