Gwendolyn Stacy was 26 years old. Blonde, beautiful…daughter of the Captain of the NYPD. She had graduated first in her class from Midtown Science High School and gone on to study at Oxford, which she had just returned from when she met the absolute love of her life. Gwen had majored in biology and was contemplating a PhD, though for now she was happy with just a masters as she was working happily as a scientist at Oscorp. She had been working with her original mentor, Dr. Curtis Connors, on gene splicing and antidotes for common poisons for a few years now, it was where she was happy and what she was passionate about. She had been in Oscorp working late on a specific assignment when it happened.

Oscorp was located in the heart of New York City near 54th street, about 11 minutes away from Stark Tower on 200 Park Avenue. It had been about 9 o'clock at night and it was particularly unsafe for a small woman to be alone cooking an antidote in Manhattan, it would have been unsafe any day. However, tonight was more dangerous than ever. Dr. Connors had been given an equation by his intern, Peter Parker, who had acquired it from his late father's research. For reasons no one was quite certain of, Parker had injected himself with the experimental solution they had been working on and had transformed himself into a giant mutated lizard. Dr. Connor's was the only person at the time who had been aware of Gwen's deepest secret and there was a reason he had asked her specifically to cook this antidote…but the police force couldn't ward Peter off forever and she was running out of time.

Gwen had been bitten by a genetically altered spider while gathering research from Richard Parker's archives…the affects had been rather….odd. Unfortunately the spider that bit Gwen had died in the process and Oscorp had ridded themselves of the remainder of the specimens before Connors could utilize the breakthrough. Why? Besides the fact that Norman Osborn was a dick, they didn't know. Peter and Gwen had dated, though the distance between them while she had been away in England had driven a wedge between the couple, this had lead Gwen to feel like Peter's transformation had been her fault. He'd been acting so broken and depressed…so strange. She should have known he couldn't emotionally handle it. That was precisely why it was her job to fix it.

The antidote was cooking still, eight minutes to go, when he came. She wasn't prepared…wasn't in her suit. Gwen had wanted to help protect her father so badly all her life, it had been killing her since she was a little girl to know that every time her father stepped out the front door he might never make it back home. That was why when she'd discovered her new powers, gifted by the spider, she had taken to protecting the city and police alike as a sort of masked vigilante, though her father didn't much appreciate the help. The web shooters she had designed herself were not on her, and she wasn't so sure she was ready to reveal her identity as Spider-Woman to her estranged murderous lizard of a boyfriend…so, what else was there to do than hide in the supply closet?

Luckily for Gwen, Peter had only come for the Denali device; a machine to launch the lizard serum as an airborne cloud, and did not harm her when he tore open the closet to retrieve it. But perhaps even luckier, Gwen wasn't the only hero hiding in that room. It shouldn't have come as any surprise that the Avengers would be deployed during a major emergency like this, especially not after Loki's total destruction during the battle of New York a few years ago. Captain America had soon smacked the lizard right between the eyes with his shield, giving Gwen her opportunity to run to her office and retrieve her things.

"Keep him busy!" She had shouted, a curious look crossing Steve Rogers's face as he looked over at her. She was petite, blonde, her green eyes bright with an intensity and a sort of feisty expression…she was incredibly attractive to him and he shot her a lopsided smile.

"What do you think I'm doing, ma'am? Looking pretty?" She couldn't help herself, hollering out a 'yes' before running off and leaving him alone with Peter. It didn't take her long to change once she retrieved her bag and attached her web shooters to her wrist. She pulled out her suit, which was mostly black and white with a mask and hood, splashed with pink on the arms and around the eyes and topped off with a pair of electric blue flats. All she could do was hope Peter didn't make the connection that it was her, as she ran back to help the leader of the Avengers and retrieve the antidote, which should have been done by then.

Rogers had not been inside Oscorp, nor had Parker by the time she made it back into the lab room. She followed them out into the streets quickly where she was not surprised at all to see Black Widow, Hawkeye, Thor, and the Hulk. It was almost like being star-struck for Gwen, who had not been a hero for very long at all. She snapped out of it only when she caught sight of Tony Stark, who she knew could get the job she needed done completed easily.

"Iron Man!"

"I know you're new and all Spidey but this is our territory and I'm kind of busy!"

"I have the freaking cure Stark!" She had barked back, earning his attention as he took it from her and bolted off towards the top of the Oscorp building, which Peter was climbing up the side of as if he were King Kong. Peter might not have put two and two together, but Steve sure had and he walked up beside of her and grinned.

"Keep him busy, huh?" Gwen smirked at him, though he couldn't see it through her mask and she laughed.

"Didn't do the best job did you?" She teased, shooting a web to the side of Oscorp and beginning to climb up to help distract Peter so that Tony could replace the lizard serum with the antidote before the Denali Device fired.

A lot happened on the top of that tower. Gwen tried to save Peter Parker's life…but in the end she had cut it short, and she knew that in his final moments he must have felt so betrayed. Tony had successfully switched the serums and as he had done so, he had shot a repulsor beam at Peter who had grabbed hold of his leg in an attempt at stopping him. The device fired, the antidote spread…Peter changed as he fell. It wasn't the lizard falling to his death, it was a living breathing human and Gwen shot a web to break his fall like any hero would have done. Only problem was…the fall wasn't the only thing that was broken and the whiplash had snapped Parker's neck as the web sprang back upward. The worst part of his whole death was knowing that he knew…he'd ripped her mask off during battle. Peter died knowing the one person who was supposed to love him had fought him and failed him. She would never forget that.

That night had changed everything. Gwen would go on to become an Avenger, and despite his hand in Peter's death (which he felt just as guilty about as Gwen) she and Tony grew to be pretty decent friends. Thus, our story truly begins with Tony Stark in a darkened room with Gwen Stacy, two years later. It was the morning of Gwen and Steve's wedding and there was more than a little nervous tension radiating off of the bride to be. Tony was her best friend, and so she had chosen him to be her "man of honor" and it was his place that she'd slept over at in order to avoid seeing Steve in her dress before the ceremony.

"Gwendy, come on. Open the door." It was too early in the morning for this. Tony's bedhead (although still sexy) was going wild and his eyes were tried, yawning hard as he knocked once more on the door.

"Don't make me ask JARVIS to invade your privacy. You can't keep doors in the tower locked if I don't want them to be, I'm Tony Stark." Gwen was sitting on the edge of her bed, ignoring him. She hadn't been awake long and her hair was as messy as his was, her arms wrapped around her knees as she sat and thought deeply. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and she wanted nothing more than to stay in that room alone for the rest of her life. You would think a girl would be a little cheerier on her wedding day…especially a girl marrying an amazing man like Steve. He'd been a soldier in World War 2…he was from the 40's…and that was exactly her issue. He was going to hate her. Steve was the kind of guy that wanted to wait until marriage, he had been born and raised with that generation. Marriage and children were something sacred, something that only happened once a couple had been bound together by holy matrimony. Yet here she was about to marry Captain freaking America…and she was six weeks pregnant with his child.

She hadn't felt well for a while, and being so close to her wedding she didn't want to have to cancel or postpone the event, so she'd asked JARVIS that morning after a fit of sickness to scan her and see if it was anything serious. The thought of it being morning sickness had never once crossed her mind…she and Steve had only done it once and they'd been so careful! She knew that it took two to tango, but she had been the one to initiate the sex and because he was so helplessly in love with her he'd let it happen…but she was terrified that a child conceived out of wedlock was just going to kill him. She had no idea where she had gotten this notion…they'd never so much as talked about it before. However it was a fear she just couldn't shake, she felt like he was suddenly not going to want her anymore, and she couldn't handle that.

"Screw it, hope you're not naked." Stark quipped before forcing the door open and coming to sit down beside her. He took one look at her and was immediately concerned, though being Tony he coated it in a fit of sarcasm. He flung an arm around her and smirked.

"Hey, I know you're about to submit yourself to life with an ancient capsicle but look on the bright side…sex with something that rigid has gotta be great." Gwen was prone to thinking Tony's jabs were hilarious, which was part of why they were such good friends, though she didn't so much as crack a smile at him. Her wide eyes were full of tears and she didn't dance around any bullshit when she turned to face him. She just came right out and said it.

"Tony, I'm pregnant." Tony blinked at her for a moment, expression blank and perplexed while he was attempting to wrap his mind around what she'd just confessed. He couldn't visualize in his head that Cap would bed a woman before their wedding night, the same misconception rooted in his brain that was rooted in hers. He instantly jumped to the conclusion that it must have belonged to someone else. Tony was sympathetic to this, as he was a player himself and was in no place to judge her for sleeping with another man. Tony had never been unfaithful per se, but he was a promiscuous one alright and if Steve wasn't touching her he could understand why she might stray.

"You should have told me you wanted to see other men. I could have helped you break it to Steve…he's a good man. This is going to crush him. I mean, I'll still help…I'm just saying is all." He finally said after thinking about it for a moment. He'd decided he couldn't judge her, but he'd also decided that Steve was a good friend of his and he was slightly miffed about the situation. Gwen was taken back if not slightly hurt.

"What do you mean 'see other men'? Tony I haven't seen anyone but Steve since Peter died." Tony was quiet for a little while, eventually bursting out laughing.

"That son of a bitch, can't believe he really did it. He fondued. Before marriage. I'm so proud!" Tony was clearly much more excited about this than she was, a bright playfulness seeming to radiate off of him.

"Clearly he didn't practice safe fondue though, I must remember to scold him later." Gwen had about had enough, glaring at her friend as he continued to have a laugh while she was clearly distraught.

"Are you done?" The tone of her voice was more than enough to quiet the billionaire, whose dark eyes were suddenly remorseful…sort of. He sighed and grabbed her hand, trying really hard to think of something thoughtful to say.

"Look, you're clearly freaking out so I assume this means that he doesn't know…and you're worried that he's gonna…what exactly?" She shrugged her shoulders.

"Leave." Tony knew that was ridiculous the moment the word fell from her lips. He'd never met a more gentle, loving person as long as he had been alive. Steve wasn't the man to leave the love of his life at the altar…especially not the love of his life who was pregnant with his child. Steve never shut up about Gwen, and as much as Tony loved her himself it was kind of annoying. There was no way in hell he would leave her for the world…but it wasn't Tony she needed to hear that from and he knew it.

"Nonsense. JARVIS, dial Steve's number please." A surge of pure terror and panic shot through the heroine and she grabbed Stark's arm hard.

"Don't you dare!" Tony smiled apologetically and got up to walk toward the door.

"Too late. He needs to know, Gwen. Before he marries you he has the right to know. I'll be in the living room if you need me." Tony shut the door behind him and left her with the ringing phone, the anxiousness nearly eating her alive with each new ring. It wasn't fair…news like this today of all days. She was thoroughly convinced that the moment he picked up everything was going to be ruined.

"Tony? Is everything okay?" Steve said tentatively into the receiver, a sob breaking loose in Gwen's chest as she attempted to shakily respond.

"H-Hi, Stevie." She could literally feel his instantaneous worry flood through the phone and it formed an ache in her heart. This was a man she couldn't stand to lose.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt? I can be there in five minutes, sweetheart, just say the word―" She cut him off.

"Everything is fine I just…I got some news this morning and I'm…I'm really scared, Steve. I don't want you to think ill of me or to leave…or likely both." Steve took a deep breath, a million terrible things running through his mind all at once. Was she sick? Dying? Death in the family? It was about to drive him to madness, not being able to kiss her, comfort her…it was torture.

"Baby you're scaring me…tell me what's the matter right now or I'm breaking Stark's door down." Gwen felt very sick all of a sudden, as if she couldn't breathe.

"I'm pregnant." It came out a whisper, but Steve heard her loud and clear. A deafening silence fell on his end of the phone and she shattered.

"I'm so sorry….I t-thought we were careful…" The fact that she was clearly terrified of his reaction absolutely broke Steve's heart.

"Why would you think I'd be angry? Gwen this is wonderful news…a-absolutely wonderful." Now it was his turn for his voice to crack as happy tears threatened to spill. This was the best news he'd ever received his entire life, and here his fiancée was worrying herself sick.

"I just thought…you being from another time and all…you'd be ashamed that it happened before we were married." Her reasoning was what shocked Steve the most…he might have been from the 40's but damn, he wasn't that old fashioned.

"Gwendolyn I was a soldier, first of all. You need to understand that not all of us, especially those of us in the military were as uptight about those ideals. We were a country at war, men in my day were happy to be with as many woman as possible before and after deployment. Now I saved myself, yes, but not for marriage. If I'd saved myself for that I wouldn't have made love to you in the first place. I was simply waiting for the right partner…and darling, you're it. You always will be it for me." Gwen's heart lurched within her chest, her breath catching in the back of her throat.

"So…you're happy about the baby?" Steve chuckled.

"I'm ecstatic. It's going to be real hard for me to refrain from kissing you before the ceremony starts…." It was Gwen's turn to laugh and she bit her lip playfully.

"You don't think this counts as seeing the bride before the wedding do you?" Steve laughed once more and checked his watch.

"Why don't you get on over here and find out? I miss you." He teased sweetly, a relieved and overjoyed expression crossing Gwen's face.

"I'll tell Tony to fetch me my dress then. And…Stevie?" She asked in a small voice, though she was gaining back her confidence now that she could rest assured he wasn't mad.

"Yes?"

"I love you." He smiled.

"I love you too."