Saving the Day

When his cell phone lit up with Gwen's name, Aaron prepared himself. No doubt this would be good if the last time she called was any indication. Picking it up from where it was next to his mess of research papers and laptop, Aaron hit the talk button and answered, "Hello?"

Instead of a return greeting, he was met with a bunch of yelling and what he thought could be cursing. A moment later, he heard the murmur of a child's voice talking to someone else. Gwen, maybe? Did she babysit kids beside his nephew? Maybe it was rude to assume, but she didn't seem like the type to be the neighborhood babysitter. Gwen had a particular… style and if he didn't know the background Miles and Gwen shared, he'd have thought Gwen had been forced into the job by her father wanting to do a solid for Jeff. A moment later, the child's voice came clearly through the line and Aaron recognized it instantly.

It was Miles.

Shit. Shit.

Aaron strained his ears to hear Miles whisper his location to him over the sound of blood pounding in his ears. When his nephew finished whispering to him, the line went dead. For a brief moment, he just stared at his phone trying to figure out why Gwen and Miles were at a bank. Then he quit being stupid and got to his feet. Who cared why they were at one? It was pretty damn clear some shit was going down there and they needed his help. The yelling and cursing and Miles whispering gave Aaron a pretty good idea what was going on too. That bank was being robbed and his little nephew was in it, probably scared out of his mind.

If that kidnapping and hostage situation at the police outreach program hadn't already fucked him up, this was going to. Especially if help didn't come soon. Going to his bedroom, Aaron went over to the window and closed his blinds before he moved onto his dresser. Reaching behind it, he felt the back of it for the catch. When his fingers found the familiar notch, Aaron released it and stepped back. The top of his dresser popped up and out of it raised two platforms. One with his gloves and the other with his neatly folded suit. Shedding his clothes, Aaron quickly dressed in his suit and put on his gloves before leaving his room.

Exiting his apartment through the living room window, Aaron stepped onto the fire escape where he then took the steps two at a time. As he touched down on the alleyway below, he hit the button on his glove that called forth his motorcycle. Not even a minute later, it appeared, ready for him. Mounting it, Aaron took off in the direction of the bank Miles and Gwen were at.

As he maneuvered his way through New York's streets at a breakneck speed, Aaron realized he should probably call his brother. Reaching into the hidden pocket of his suit, he pulled out his cellphone. Hitting one, he put it to his ear and waited for Jeff to answer. It only took a couple of rings before his brother said, "Hello? Aaron? "

"Hey bro," he answered, a little relieved. Sometimes his brother wasn't easy to reach. Which he got, Aaron wasn't any easier to get a hold of when he was on a job either. But it didn't change that it was frustrating when he didn't pick up. "I'm sure you already figured, but I'm not calling to shoot the shit with you. Your kid and Gwen are in the middle of a bank robbery."

"What?"

Aaron winced behind his Prowler mask at the sharp tone of his brother's exclamation. "Yeah," he said, "I got a call from Miles on Gwen's cell not too long ago."

"Fuck," cussed Jeff. "Where?"

He rattled off the address to his brother and then, after a moment of hesitation, said, "Don't worry too much, aight? It'll probably be over before you even get there."

"What's that supposed to mean?" his brother demanded, tone gruff and annoyed. Aaron rolled his eyes even though Jeff couldn't see him. His brother knew exactly what he meant, Jeff just didn't like it. Like he didn't like most of who Aaron was these days. Quieter, probably not to be overheard by whoever he might be working with right now, he mumbled, "You're not a hero, Aaron."

He snorted, trying to give off an uncaring air to Jeff. Yet it stung. No, the Prowler wasn't, but he'd performed more than his share of heroism this last year and that had to mean something, right? Spider-Woman sure thought so. He'd just thought it cute initially, her (not so) subtle hinting he take up the vigilante path like. Now, he was considering it half-seriously. People were going to start thinking of him one even if he didn't want it at the rate he was going anyway. Maybe it was best he just got himself ahead of it and accept his fate.

"You still there?" his brother asked, "you heard me, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Aaron replied, more or less answering both of Jeff's questions. After a beat, he added, " But it might just be a matter of time." Aaron would be the first to admit he wasn't the altruistic sort. He loved what was his and that was about it. Yet even Aaron couldn't deny he'd felt good when his nephew had turned star-struck eyes on him after he saved him. Nor could he lie to himself that he wouldn't like to see that look from Miles again (and forever after that too).

"Aaron!"

He jolted. "What?" he snapped as he was shaken from his musings once again.

"You be careful. Miles might think you're not so bad, but everyone else hasn't experienced what he has."

A smirk tugged at his lips, his chest filling with an unexpected warmth that entirely drowned out the quiet throb from his brother's earlier words. Jeff saying what he had… It meant a lot to him. His brother wasn't a fan of vigilantes, yet here he was, endorsing Aaron to act like one. "Yeah, bro. Thanks," he said. "See you soon?"

There was a sigh on the other side of the line. "See you soon, lil'bro."

Aaron ended the call and re-pocketed his cell. Hitting the gas, he took the last couple of streets to the bank at double-speed.

-O-

When Aaron snuck himself into the bank through the men's bathroom window, he hadn't expected that his nephew would be in it. Freezing in a crouch next to the window, he just stared at Miles, who stared back. Finally, the kid smiled and said, "I was hoping you or Spider-Woman would come!" Aaron tensed, looking toward the bathroom door, fearing Miles had given them away. It didn't so much as shake, though. His nephew seemed to realize his previous error from his glance and shuffled forward until he was maybe three of four inches from his face. Bringing his hands up to cup around mouth, he whispered, "There are two robbers, Prowler. One's outside the bathroom with Gwen and the other is in the lobby with everybody else."

Relieved and thankful for the information, he nodded at his nephew. Rising to a stand, Aaron gestured for Miles to follow him over to the door, where he had him stand on one side, behind him. He didn't know how long Miles had been in the bathroom, but he knew it'd only be a matter of time before the robber grew impatient and came in after the kid. With his nephew watching his every move, Aaron debated his options for what to do when the robber opened the door. Killing him was out of the question, he didn't need to further traumatize Miles than he already was. He hoped knocking him out would be enough to buy Miles and Gwen some time to escape— Or at least hide elsewhere while he dealt with the robber in the main part of the bank.

Stealing himself when he heard the robber on the other side of the begin talking to Gwen, Aaron readied his fist and waited with coiled muscles. When the door opened and the robber turned his head in Aaron's direction, he acted. Hitting the man straight in the chin, Aaron watched his head whip back and the whites of his eyes roll forward before his eyes closed altogether and he crumpled into a heap on the ground. Looking up from the robber, he saw Gwen staring at him, wide-eyed. Aaron then felt Miles brush past him as he launched himself at the teenager, yelling, "Gwen! We're gonna be okay! The Prowler's here!"

His chest warmed like it had when Jeff warned him to be careful helping him and the police stop the bank robbery. Jeff was right, Miles didn't think of him like a regular villain, but as something else, something better (like Spider-Woman, even).

Aaron watched Gwen wrap her arms around Miles and press him even closer to her as she pulled them out of his way. As he passed her on his way out of the bathroom, he heard half of what sounded like a complaint:

"—called your dad."

He paused and tilted his head. What had the first half been, he wondered? "I thought you"? "I wanted you to"? Did she think Miles had his number? The more he thought about it as he stalked down the hall toward the lobby, he realized maybe that wasn't so crazy. He'd heard stories of Spider-Woman giving out her number to some people and friend requesting others on Facebook. Why wouldn't he, the Prowler, have given his number to a little kid he seemed to have a soft spot for?

When he reached the lobby, a blotchy-faced woman dressed in business attire began to scream when she caught sight of him looming in the doorway. Others were quick to join her once they realized why she was flipping out. It only took a few seconds of his hostages hollering and carrying on for the robber to look over his shoulder. When he did, he dropped his trash bag of cash, causing a handful of bills to fall out of the bag and flutter to the tiles beneath him.

"Fucking shit!" the man cussed as he reached for the piece he'd tucked in the waistband of his pants. As he fumbled with his gun, Aaron sprung forward and brought out his claws. When the robber turned fully toward him, gun shaking as he pointed it at Aaron he rolled his eyes behind his mask and swiped his foot-long claws at the man, cutting off his hands altogether. The hostages began to shriek as blood spurted into the air and the robber fell to the floor, keening with fear and pain as he waved his new stumps around.

Aaron just stared down at him, unsympathetic. Fucker deserved this for robbing a bank his nephew in it. Aaron looked up when he heard police sirens outside. Looking through the big glass windows and door in front of him he saw there was a small squadron of cars. A door to one opened and he saw a police officer, clearly Jeff, step out with his gun at ready. He glanced at the robber in front of him. He wasn't going anywhere. It would probably be smart to make sure that the other robber was still out could and slip out of here before the police had the whole bank surrounded and made getting out of here a challenge.

Raising his claws, he ignored the cries of those around him re-sheathed them before he stalked back out the way he came in. Reaching the men's bathroom door, he pushed it open to find Miles and Gwen inside, singing the same Ricky Martin songs he'd heard Rio sing a hundred times before with and to Miles. The two of them were sitting on the counter of the bathroom sink and when they saw him enter, Miles jumped right off and ran over to him.

"Prowler!" he yelled, excited. "Did you stop the other robber? Gwen and I heard police sirens outside."

He nodded at his nephew and, after a moment of hesitation, reached down with his non-bloody hand and gave Miles's head pat. The boy grinned up at him, pleased. Miles then pointed over to a corner of the bathroom where he saw the other robber still out cold, but tied up pretty well. There was a belt, Gwen's, he assumed, cinched around his legs and his hood was down, revealing his busted-ass face. Moving closer to inspect the robber, he saw the kids had taken the string from the robber's hoodie and used it to tie his hands up behind him. It was surprisingly smart and resourceful for a couple of scared out of their mind kids.

"I wasn't sure leaving the bathroom would be a good idea," Gwen told him, drawing his gaze to her. Her demeanor was cool without a bit of nerves to be seen. Aaron found himself impressed. She had to be a little scared. Not just of what was happening, but him too. Maybe he'd rescued her a time or two now too, but she was older, she knew a lot more of his crimes than Miles. What all he was capable of and yet… She didn't look the least bit worried to let Miles so near to him. "I doubt the string will hold for long if he wakes up, but I figured it'd buy us the thirty seconds we'd need to get out of here even if you were having a gun fight in the lobby with the other robber."

Aaron stuck his thumb up, which brought a bewildered smile to the teen's face.

"Thanks," she said. "You're going now, right? The police will be in here soon to take him, huh?"

He dipped his head, answering yes to both her questions.

"Aw," Miles whined. "I wanted to look at your claws." Aaron felt alarmed at the idea alone. They were coated in blood and that was not something he wanted his nephew to see. The blood splatters on his hand and suit were regrettable enough. At least he could convince himself the splatters were hardly noticeable against the dark indigo of his suit. Miles eyes became big and pleading as he said, "Spider-Woman let me shoot her web-shooter when she visited me at my school."

"No she didn't!" Gwen argued, frowning over at Miles from where she was still firmly planted on the sink's counter away from him.

Aaron watched his nephew puff out his cheeks and turn a sulky glare on his babysitter. "She woulda if I asked."

Gwen crossed her arms and scoffed. "That's what you think," she grumbled.

Aaron raised an eyebrow that neither saw. That was interesting. There was a certainty to Gwen's words that made him curious. Did she know Spider-Woman too? He wouldn't be surprised if she did. Lots of people seemed to. Spider-Woman had an almost supernatural ability for acquainting herself with the people of New York. You could go into any bar, corner shop, or barber's and hear a story from someone about her. It could be anything from being personally swept out of harm's way from Hobgoblin on his hoverboard or just getting a hand with carrying groceries to their apartment and making small-chat with her about the Knicks on the way.

"Next time I see Spider-Woman I'll ask her!" Miles declared.

Gwen laughed and not too kindly. "You do that, kiddo. She's not going to let your sticky fingers near it."

Aaron watched his nephew huff and kick one of his feet at nothing. "I'll show you," he muttered as Gwen just rolled her eyes. His attention was snapped away from Miles when Gwen called out:

"Hey, Prowler."

He looked at her. "Thanks for the help," she said. "I gotta say, this hero thing you're doing, it looks good on you." Gwen's gaze flickered to Miles, lips curling into a brief smile. "Miles thinks so too."

"Yeah! You're as cool as Spider-Woman!" his nephew enthused.

Aaron tried not to feel too pleased by the kids' praise. This hero thing, maybe it would be for him, but maybe it wouldn't. The vigilante business wasn't half as lucrative as the villain business. He was really going to have to start being more sneaky when he decided to do this kind of thing if he didn't want his connections in the crime world to start getting nervous. It was one thing, rescuing the kids from some of Hammerhead's henchmen at an abandoned building. It was another showing up at that police outreach program and here at the bank. This was getting way too public. Even if he did kind of like the hero worship in Miles's eyes.

He'd meant when he told Jeff it was probably only a matter of time before he was forced to make a career change with how things were going, but it didn't mean he was going to just go willingly. That would put too large of a target on his back. He was going to have to start figuring out the safest way to extract himself without ending up dead before he'd redeemed himself in the public's eyes and secured himself as a hero in Miles's eyes no matter what happened to him.

His attention was again drawn elsewhere when he heard the sound of people outside the men's bathroom. Looking back to Gwen, he saw her eyes were wide as she mouthed, "Go!" at him.

Without so much as a wave at either, he launched himself at the window and squeezed his way out. Once in the alley behind the bank, he looked toward its opening and saw a police car was parked in front of it, an officer inside already reaching for his radio. Well, shit. This wasn't going to be the clean escape he'd been hoping for.

Hitting the button on his wrist for his bike, he watched it appear from where he'd hidden it behind a dumpster and got on. Revving the engine, he prepared himself for going airborne over the cop car and the ensuing chase that was no doubt going to be next.

-o-O-o-

"Kids!" Miles's dad yelled, relieved, when he burst through the bathroom door with a couple of other officers to see them.

Gwen hopped off the sink as Miles hurtled himself at his father, skinny arms wrapping around his neck as the man bent down to catch him. "Sorry, Officer Davis," she said as she quickly made her way over to the man. "I just wanted to stop in her to get some cash and well…"

With Miles now sitting on his hip, the man's eyes softened as he met her gaze. "You couldn't have known this would happen."

She bit her lip. "No, but—"

He put a hand on her shoulder, abruptly quieting Gwen. "It's okay," he reassured her. "Thank you for watching over Miles."

Tentatively, she smiled at the man. She hadn't really expected him to be angry with her, but she still felt bad about everything and wouldn't blame him for being unhappy with her for putting Miles in this situation by taking him some place that him and Rio hadn't approved.

"Dad, Dad," Miles chanted, tugging on Jeff's collar. "Did you see Prowler? He saved us!"

"Yeah, I did, actually," the man answered sounding surprisingly neutral about that fact and Miles telling him they were saved by the villain. "But he was gone before we got inside." He frowned slightly. "When did you last see him?"

"Just a minute ago," Gwen answered. "He went out that window when he heard you officers on the other side, sir."

A look of displeasure crossed the man's face, but with a sigh and a shake of his head, he said, "I guess we should have expected that." Looking to his fellow officers, who'd finished checking all of the stalls and were now checking out the broken bathroom Jeff asked, "We good? Can I take the kids out?"

"Yeah," answered the older of the two officers, a tall, tan man with something of a beer belly. "Might wanna take them out back," he commented, "dunno if they're finished with the mess in the lobby."

"Right," Miles's dad answered before gesturing for Gwen to follow and taking them out of the bathroom. As they walked down the hall, even further away from the lobby than before, Jeff looked over Miles's head that now rested on his shoulder, and said to Gwen, "Do you want to call your dad to let him know you're okay or do you want me to?"

She sighed. Oh boy, was this going to be a fun call. Her Dad was going to go threw the roof when he heard she'd been caught up in another crime. She wondered if he'd let her go anywhere so public again after this. Maybe she should text MJ and let her know band practices were going to be at her place for a while… Putting her hand out beneath Miles's nose, Gwen said, "I can. Miles, can you give me my phone?"

How did you enjoy Aaron/Prowler's pov?

Thank you for reading!