This was a fanfiction commission for TurquoiseJade on DeviantArt. Story/plot ideas were created by Turquoise but written by me.
An Alternate ending for the Amazing Spider-Man #2 film. What if Gwen hadn't died during Peter's fight with the Green Goblin? What if Peter tried to save Harry? Full of regret and pain, Peter starts trying to make things right in his dark and dreary world. [PeterxGwen/ HarryxFelicia/ slight HarryxPeter]
His senses were entirely numb. He couldn't feel the broken bone in his hand that had been damaged from his previous battle with the Green Goblin. He couldn't taste the blood that had seeped into his mouth after his lip had been busted open. He couldn't see anything that was front of him even though his eyes were wide open. The only thing he was in tune to was the sound of Gwen's breathing machine as her empty shell of a body was attached to all kinds of medical equipment in a lonely hospital room.
"She has sustained a terrible injury to her head," the doctor told Peter.
Gwen's chest was still heaving up and down as signs of life remained evident; however, there were no traces of any movements other than her steady breathing.
"She's in a deep coma. It's unlikely that she will ever awaken but all we can do is hope," the doctor continued.
Peter couldn't look away from Gwen's unconscious body. His lover, with hair as golden as the sun and eyes as vibrant as a clear blue sky, was now lying as stiff as a board and as empty as an abandoned cicada shell.
He had tried to save her. Oh, he had desperately tried to save her. He saw her slip down from the clock tower as the Green Goblin knocked her off balance, her hair had whipped around all sides of her face and her eyes, so full of fear and terror, had locked onto to Peter as he reached out to grab her. He had shot out his web in a desperate attempt to save her-he had been so sure that he would reach her in the nick of time-but right before his stringy spider web reached her, a heavy piece of concrete had crashed against her skull. His web had snagged her, catching her in its sticky grasp before she hit the floor, but it did little to rescue her from the fallen debris of the destroyed tower.
Right before the heavy brick landed on her head, Gwen's eyes had fluttered closed as she awaited her fate. It was almost as if she knew that Peter couldn't save her and she was silently accepting her fate in the two quick seconds before impact. Peter Parker, although one of the country's greatest superheroes, was still nothing more than a high school student at the end of the day. He had quick reflexes and incredible powers that mirrored those of arachnids, but he was still human. And like all humans, Peter wasn't perfect. He had messed up. He had been so focused on catching her fall that he didn't even think to use his web to knock away the remnants of the crumbling clock tower.
There had been blood. So much blood. Splashes of crimson had soaked Gwen's head, sticking to her thick hair, as Peter rushed down to cradle her unconscious form. "Gwen! GWEN!" the teenage boy cried as he held her limp body. He shook her once. He shook her twice. "Gwen! Gwen! Please be okay!" His panicky voice fell upon deaf ears as he held her close to his chest.
She didn't respond. No matter how much he screamed, no matter how much he begged, she just wouldn't wake up. He had been so certain that she had died, but he still rushed her to the hospital as quickly as he could nonetheless. He wasn't sure what had happened to the Green Goblin or even what the outcome of the battle was. He didn't care about anything else in the world at that moment; the only thing that mattered was Gwen Stacy.
She was alive, albeit barely. Her cranium had been bashed in and the doctors even told him that there was a chance that she would have severe brain damage even if she did somehow miraculously awaken. There was no telling what kind of permanent damage had been done to her fragile mind, but the true horror lied in whether or not she would slip further away from the land of the living to leave this relentless world behind.
Gwen was dying and it was his fault.
Peter continued to watch her as she slept peacefully and the longer he stood there, the darker his heart grew. He should have defeated the Green Goblin; he shouldn't have held back. He should have just let Gwen go to England to study abroad where she would have been safe. He should have been more careful and made her safety his top priority...
There were so many things he should have done. In the end, he had been weak and Gwen had ended up injured. There was nothing he could do to change the past, and as much as it pained him, he had to accept the fact that Gwen was never coming back to him.
Suddenly, his knees could no longer support his trembling body as he collapsed to the ground. Tears stung at the corner of his eyes as his hands involuntarily balled up into his fists. He was trying so hard to be strong-to be the hero that everyone expected him to be-but this was just too much for him to take in all at once. Just a few days ago, Gwen was skipping around like the happy ball of sunshine that she was. They, like every other couple in the world, had had their share of problems but they knew they could overcome any obstacle that was slung into their path as long as they stayed by each other's sides. And now, for the first time in his life since he met Gwen Stacy, he felt completely and entirely alone.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Parker," the doctor said as he watched the brokenhearted male before him. "I don't want to get your hopes up because her situation doesn't look very promising, but I do want you to know that I have seen miracles happen in this hospital. I assure you that we are doing the very best we can. The rest is up to Ms. Stacy."
It was almost as if Peter couldn't hear the doctor's words over the sound of his agony. Peter continued to sob for a moment before he forced himself off the floor, eyes red and puffy from crying. He wiped away his tears on the sleeves of his red hoodie as he stared down at the sleeping woman once more. He knew better than to believe in miracles; things like that just didn't happen in this cruel, unforgiving world.
He turned on his heels and left the room, left the sounds of the pumping medical equipment, and left the sight of Gwen's motionless body. He couldn't bear another second of that hospital. No, it wasn't just the hospital. He needed to leave the entire city. Around every corner was a reminder of Gwen, a reminder of his job as Spider-man, and a reminder of his failure. As long as he stayed in that city he would have a responsibility to remain as Spider-man, and that was a life he no longer wanted to be a part of. What good was a superhero who couldn't even rescue his own girlfriend from falling off a clock tower?! He was done with it all.
Peter retreated back to his home momentarily, sneaking into his bedroom without waking his beloved aunt. It was now in the wee hours of the night, and as much as he wanted to tell her aunt good-bye, he knew it would be better to just leave her a note on the kitchen table and take his leave without any tearful farewells. After telling Gwen good-bye, he didn't think he couldn't heart could take any more punishments. After packing a single backpack full of his necessities, Peter cast one last glance at a picture frame on his desk. He and Gwen stood side by side, smiling as if they didn't have any worries or any problems. Those were simpler times back then; times he would never get to experience ever again.
"I'm sorry, Gwen," the brunet muttered to himself before he flipped the photo frame over, unable to bear the sight of Gwen's smiling face. Wrought with guilt, he didn't feel worthy enough to gaze upon her beautiful face ever again. It was because of him that she was trapped in a coma, and he was hell-bent on embedding that harsh fact into his brain until he believed no other truths.
It was time to go. Peter lifted up the window sill of his bedroom and was instantly met with the chilly wind of the night air. He climbed out of the window and landed gracefully on the cement below before he set off down the barren street before him. He had no idea where he was going or what kind of a future laid ahead for him. The only thing he knew was that his days of being Spider-man, and even regular Peter Parker, had finally come to an end.
Four months had passed since Peter had first decided to leave his hometown and abandon his role as Spider-man. He hopped from city to city, never staying in the same place for too long, and did a bunch of part-time jobs here and there to earn enough money to survive. He started going by other names-Joe, Jack, or even William- and sometimes he would even forget which fake alias he was using until he got completely used to no longer being Peter Parker. For someone constantly on the move, he couldn't afford to live in anything too fancy and even an apartment was out of his budget. He mostly stayed in cheap hotel rooms that were chock full of germs and roaches, but he honestly didn't have much of a choice. At least he had a roof over his head, Peter figured, and he couldn't afford to be super picky during those times.
There was no denying that he was homesick. He would have killed to have his aunt's fresh pancakes and eggs for breakfast instead of his unsatisfying stale toast every morning. And, dare he say it, he even incredibly missed going to school. And yet, Peter knew that there was no way he could ever return home. His new life, as undesirable as it was, was better than facing the facts that he was nothing more than a washed up super hero. The farther away he stayed from New York City, the better off he was-even if that meant sleeping with cockroaches and eating one dollar hot dogs from street vendors for most of his meals.
He had let down so many people back home. Each night, as he lay down on his uncomfortable, creaky mattress, he was tortured by the faces of all the people he had disappointed. George Stacy was the first person that always came to mind, the father of Gwen Stacy. Right before George met with a terrible fate, he had made Peter promise to keep Gwen out of harm's way. At the time, it had seemed like such a simple promise. George was one of the only people that knew of Spider-man's true identity, and Peter had been so confident to the point he honestly believed that he would never allow anything to happen to his beloved Gwen. Sadly, that was promise he just couldn't keep...
The second face that always managed to creep his way back into Peter's mind was Harry Osborn. Harry, his former best friend, had bestowed the role of the Green Goblin upon himself to seek revenge on Spider-man for not helping him out with his terminal illness. Peter had betrayed him... Harry had been his best friend, the one person that truly understood him, and Peter had turned his back on him. Even though Harry had attacked Gwen, Peter was so consumed by his own guilt that he couldn't even find it in himself to blame Harry for Gwen's condition. If Peter hadn't have pushed Harry so far, then Harry would have never become the Green Goblin.
It was the same thing every night. Peter would go to sleep depressed and wake up depressed. He had thought his life would grow substantially better if he turned his back on his former life, but the memories still lingered and haunted him with every breath he took. He was constantly tormented by his guilt and every time he turned on the television and learned about new criminals wreaking havoc on New York City, Peter was only further reminded that it was impossible for him run away from his past.
Day after day, news headlines read, "Where is Spider-man?" or "Please Come Back, Spider-Man". No one knew why he left. Hell, no one even knew who the vigilante known as Spider-man really was. Even after the months stretched on, the disappearance of Spider-man was all the newscasters wanted to talk about.
Well, they would also occasionally bring up the future of Oscorp.
Peter had only recently learned that Harry, the former heir to the Oscorp company, was now institutionalized at Ravencroft Asylum. Jolts of pain surged through Peter's chest whenever he thought about his friend locked up in a psychiatric ward. If anyone deserved to be locked up, Peter believed that it was himself. He could only imagine how lonely Harry was behind those bars with nothing but the memories of his former life as an ordinary college student to keep him warm at night.
The brunet's eyes were fixated on the television as Harry Osborn's face flashed across the screen. The media viewed him as a villain, as a heinous person who had nearly brought about the downfall of the Osborn Corporation. But Peter? Peter knew better than to think of Harry as nothing but the Green Goblin. It wasn't fair that Harry was being treated so poorly. Harry deserved a second chance to redeem himself, and Peter was fairly certain that he would definitely turn over a new leaf if given the opportunity. Ravencroft was a madhouse and such a toxic environment would never help Harry's mind to recover. It would only make it worse...
He looked at the clock. It was barely eight o'clock in the morning. If he took a train, he could get back to New York City in just a few hours. He could easily make it to the asylum during the visiting hours and have a proper chat with Harry-
No. He wanted to visit Harry?! What was he thinking?! Peter was probably the very last person in the world that Harry wanted to see. Nothing good would come of his visit and it would undoubtedly only make Harry suffer even more. Their relationship, torn and tattered at the seams, couldn't be mended by just a single, civil conversation. He couldn't make things right with Harry no matter how badly he wanted to, and visiting him at Ravencroft would only make things more complicated.
Peter kept mulling those thoughts over and over in his head, but his body had a plan of its own as it acted of its own accord. In minutes he was in the shower and fully dressed in his favorite t-shirt and jeans.
This is stupid. This is so stupid, Peter thought to himself as he tied the shoelaces of his sneakers. New York City was the last place he should have headed towards; he had been gone for four months and part of him didn't want to see just how corrupt the city had become in Spider-man's absence. He was also scared-no, he was terrified-of even going near the hospital. Was Gwen still there? Was Gwen still alive, hanging on nothing but a thread to keep her vital organs working? Or...did she finally bid this world farewell?
He couldn't run away anymore. He needed to face reality. If Gwen had passed on, Peter wanted to know. And even though Harry would be undeniably pissed at Peter for so boldly daring to visit him during his period of confinement, he felt that deep down this was the right decision to make.
He checked his wallet only to discover that he had enough money to pay for the hotel he had been staying at. Luckily, there was just enough to pay for the hotel and a one-way ticket to New York City. Peter swallowed down a dry lump in throat as he shoved his wallet in the pocket of his jeans before placing his shaky hand on the doorknob of his room. This was it. This was going to be the turning point in his life. He would face Harry, check to see if his girlfriend was even alive, and then figure out the rest later.
With a heavy sigh, he withdrew his hand from the doorknob. He couldn't leave just yet. There was still one more thing he needed to grab before he checked out of his hotel.
In the closet rested his abandoned Spider-man costume. Its stretchy material had been perfect for fighting crime and his mask had precisely concealed his true identity from the rest of the world. It had been a long time since he had touched the fabric of his suit, and with a heavy heart, he shoved the costume in his bag, unable to leave it behind. He wouldn't ever wear it again; he was no longer Spider-man, after all. But he was still going to bring it just in case he needed it for some strange reason.
Just in case.