Notorious outlaw of Earth 65 x Friendly neighborhood crimefighter of Earth 1610

At the party

"So," Miles asked, "Is it everything you ever dreamed of?"

"Everything, and so much more" Gwen took another sip as they watched the party below, leaning on the steel gridwork that supported the water tank above them. The rooftop was more sparsely populated now than in the afternoon, but the beats and beer were still flowing, the mood of the partygoers still cheerful.

She pulled his sweater around her, wrapped herself tight against the evening chill. It was soft and warm and smelled of his room. Could she take it back? She'd read that our sense of smell had a direct connection to memories.

"I mean," she continued, "I knew there would be a Starbucks, 'cause they're one of the few constants of the multiverse, but I wanted to check."

Her expression turned to a mix of disgust and disbelief, "They even have an outlet in the Spider-society, Earth 928, year 2099. Can you believe it?"

"But pumpkin spice? In a coffee?" She looked at the take-out cup in amazement, "Who knew?"

"There you go," Miles exclaimed, "Happy meal and a Pumpkin Spice Latte. It was fate that brought you here."

His smile made the multiverse fade away, and for a moment it was just the two of them, suspended in time, caught in a bubble that sealed them alone, and she forgot herself and laughed with him. No mission, no Miguel, or Jess, no Dad or Earth 65 to pierce the delicate skin that held the world at bay.

And then it hit her, and her heart lurched. Fate. The canon. The destiny of Gwen Stacy.

Her first days in Nueva York, 2099 had been spent in a daze, numbed by the loss of her past life, tormented by the images burnt into her mind's eye: the look on her father's face when he'd read her rights, the look as she'd turned away to leave him and her entire world behind. But Jess had helped her through, given her a new sense of purpose and duty as a member of the team.

She remembered the skip her heart took when she realized; the watch could take her anywhere, to any Earth. To Miles' Earth.

She remembered that exhilaration and how it fueled the plans and schemes for clandestine visits that followed, and how that feeling died, smothered beneath a growing dread. The first time she struck up a conversation with a spider guy, their reaction to her name - shock followed by sadness and a mumbled excuse to be elsewhere - was odd. By the third and fourth time, it was scary. After that it had become a desperate search, for someone, anyone that could tell her at the very least that their Gwen had survived, even if their love had not.

But there were only so many wounded looks and shakes of the head she could take, only so many heartfelt tales of what could have been, before the realization was crushing in its completeness. The multiverse had decided her destiny: to fall for Spiderman was to seal her fate. To become too close, too entwined in his story, was to bring an end to hers. Miguel had the numbers to prove it.

And here she was, helpless to resist, drawn into a soft web of events that tightened with every move, pulling her closer to her doom. She could feel the winds now that would carry her so high there would be no surviving the fall.

The clock was ticking, the evening running out. And her life with it?

She found herself looking up into Miles' concerned, lopsided smile.

"There's a first time for everything," she whispered.

"Like I said, so you know it's true," he tried to keep his voice quiet and reassuring, but his eyes revealed his unease.

"For Happy Meals and Pumpkin Spice Lattes, and who knows what else," she raised her chin. Damned if canon was going to kill what little time she had left here.