Chapter Text
Spider couldn’t remember when he got his first skateboard. He remembered a lot of the scrapes and scars he’d gotten as a kid from learning tricks, but it felt like he’d always been on the board. He was on his tenth or so now, more than a few lost to tricks gone wrong and fights gone wild. The time in-between was awful, when he mowed lawns and cleaned pools to save up enough for a new deck. Especially watching his neighbor, Lo’ak, skate without him. His older brother, Neteyam, used to join them, but in recent years he’d become too preoccupied with his studies. He was going to attend Westpoint in a few years, if all went well.
Spider had lived across the street from the Sully family for as long as he remembered. They lived in a neighborhood at the border of the city of Pandora, with concrete to the west and a dense forest to the right. As kids, Spider was practically always with the Sully boys and their sister, Kiri. The neighborhood didn’t have a lot of other kids and the houses were spaced out on the street. Not too many people with kids wanted to live twenty minutes from the school. Spider’s foster parents, the McGregors were busy scientists who worked for the lab nearby. They were gone most of the days and as Spider got older, they were around less and less. Business trips, late nights working, spontaneous dates in the city.
It kind of sucked when the milk went bad or he went to bed hungry, but he carpooled with the Sully kids to and from school and could skate into the city’s edge if he had enough energy after school. As a pre-teen, it was enough.
At sixteen, though, things weren’t really working out. Neteyam was always busy, Lo’ak had a girlfriend, and Kiri started volunteering at the hospital where her mother worked as a doctor. The youngest Sully, Tuktirey, was eight and awesome, but not the best person to vent to. And it wasn’t like he’d bother Mr. Sully, the ex-marine, with something as stupid as loneliness .
So, he skated around. He went on solo hikes and had picnics in the woods. Dog walked, babysat, ran errands for his neighbors. Kept himself occupied in any way that he could. He was two years from adulthood, old enough to take care of himself. Old enough to be alone. He settled into it, made himself believe that it was okay.
Especially when the social worker visited.
The man who knocked on his door wasn’t his usual social worker and he really was not supposed to talk to strange people claiming to know him. That was something make perfectly clear after he almost got kidnapped when he was in junior high. Mr. Sully had coming running with a baseball bat as the weirdo claimed he had a puppy in the car. The rest of the night, all four children had been stuck in the living room as Mr. and Mrs. Sully lectured them on the importance of stranger danger . It was embarrassing enough to stick.
He called both of his foster parents, but was unsurprised when he only got a voicemail. The knocking persisted and Spider really did not do well with social interaction when it came to adults, especially strangers. Like he always did when the pizza man came, he crouched behind the staircase, peering over to stare at the man through the fogged glass of the door.
He fumbled with his phone, calling the only other person he could thing of. It rang twice before Neteyam picked up.
“Spider, I’m studying, what’s “
“There’s some weirdo knocking at my door and he says he’s my social worker, but I’m pretty sure he’s not.” He interrupted in a hurried whisper. “And Mr. McGregor didn’t pick up the phone, so I don’t know what to do.”
“ Don’t open the door. I’ll be there in two seconds.”
Spider had been with the McGregors since he was two. They were his godparents or something and the only family that could be tracked down after his mother’s death. His father was imprisoned, but Spider didn’t really know much else. He had nobody else to call. There were only the Sullys, people who probably tolerated him more than anything. It was pathetic. But, he was still relieved that Neteyam was coming. Despite Spider being two months older, the other boy had always been a protective force in his life. He was a natural born leader, someone he could trust and follow easily. It’d always been like that. And if he was on his way, then it would be alright.
Except, thirty seconds passed and it was not Neteyam’s voice he heard. Mr. Sully’s voice was loud and deep and it could be scary when he wanted it to be. He’d once stopped a burglary in process, so loud that it woke Spider up across the street. And in that moment, he sounded pissed .
Spider slipped on socked feet as he barrelled towards the door, opening it just as Mr. Sully reached the front steps. He had his gun holstered on his belt, meaning he’d probably just come from work or grabbed it before leaving the house. The man worked in private security and he looked pretty scary from where Spider stood. His gaze stayed on the stranger, even as he moved so he stood in front of Spider.
“I think this is all a big misunderstanding— “
“You’re damn straight it is. His social worker is Martha Simmons, not you .”
Spider didn’t even have it in him to question how Mr. Sully knew his social worker by name. He peered around the large man, glancing at the weirdo. Though, he didn’t really look all that weird. His suit was kind of mismatched and his hair was messy, but he didn’t have any rope or weapons that were visible. His car was a clunker, parked on the street.
“Ms. Simmons has retired abruptly. Her husband had a stroke.” The man pushed his glasses up his face. “My name is Douglas Fitz, I’m her replacement. And you are?”
“Jake Sully, I live across the street. I’m in his file, emergency contact number three at the school.”
Yet another thing Spider was unaware of. He felt kind of stupid hiding behind the ex-marine, but he couldn’t make himself move.
“Right, well, I need to talk with Miles in private, if you wouldn’t mind.”
Mr. Sully’s voice never lost it’s stern tone. “I do mind, actually. Spider’s parents aren’t home. Surely this can wait?”
“It can’t.”
Mr. Sully sighed. “Fine, I’ll join you then.”
“That’s okay, sir.” Spider excused, embarrassed now. “I— I can just— “
The look sent his way made him shut up quickly. It was the same look he gave Lo’ak and Neteyam when they were fighting a losing battle. Spider shrugged, stepping back into the house and leading the men into the living room. He settled awkwardly on one end of the couch, Mr. Sully next to him and the social worker forced to sit across from them in one of the armchairs.
As the stranger pulled out a file folder and sorted through papers, Spider wondered just how much shit he was in. He’d been with the McGregor’s most of his life and had the same social worker for as long as he could remember. She was kind of chatty and forgetful, but she always gave him a hard candy after each visit. This man, squirly and weird, was making his anxiety slowly rise, palms getting sweaty.
“What, exactly, is going on, sir?” He finally asked as Mr.Whatshisname shuffled papers for a third time.
“Right. Well, there’s not an easy way to put this, Miles.” Spider dug his nails into his palms as the man finally looked up at him. “Your father has been out of prison for a year and has petitioned for custody.”
Spider was going to
puke
.