Solemn Silence

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters or anything like that. I don't own Spider-Man :(

Author's Note: So this is my first time writing for Spider Man, and I couldn't be more excited! This story is entirely movie based, and I hope you all greatly enjoy it :) Don't forget to review!

Running...running so quickly, she was sure she would pass out from exhaustion before she reached her goal. Screaming...screams coming out so loudly that her throat began to turn raw with pain. Tears...tears streaming down her face, blinding her, blurring her vision...

Never had a nightmare felt so real in all of Gwen Stacy's life.

Gwen shot up in bed panting, a scream building in her throat. She was completely disoriented, the dark of her bedroom shocking her after the bright and vivid terror that had just been the product of her mind. Gwen felt around her on her bed, searching for the warm body of Peter to comfort her. He always knew when she needed him; surely he'd be there?

"P-Peter?" questioned Gwen quietly, her voice cracking with emotion. She felt the tears pouring from her eyes without her permission. "Peter, where are you?"

No answer came, and Gwen accepted that she was alone. Regaining some of her sanity, she reached for her nightstand and grabbed her phone. Her eyesight was adjusting to the darkness, and she was able to ascertain some of where her furniture was.

The brightness of Gwen's phone hurt her eyes, and she squinted so she could get used to the light. The little numbers on her home screen read '4:35 AM'. Gwen sighed - she still had hours before it would be acceptable to awaken on a Saturday morning. She knew there would be no getting back to sleep, at least not without Peter there. Suddenly, Gwen's heart stopped. Peter...he hadn't called her! There was no missed call or voicemail on her phone. Panicking, Gwen dialed his number clumsily and waited as her phone rang.

Hey, it's Peter. Leave me a message. Thanks.

Gwen tried not to let her voice shake as she spoke into the phone. "Peter, i-it's Gwen. I'm probably just being s-s-silly, but I just w-woke up and there was no...no call from you, and I j-just got worried. I h-hope everything's okay. Please, please call me as soon as you wake up, okay? I l-love you."

Gwen sighed and hung up, feeling dejected. She was probably just being paranoid...it had happened before, after all. After a night of crime-fighting, sometimes Peter would be so exhausted that he would forget to call his girlfriend and assure her that he was still alive and in one piece. She had yelled at him on those occasions, but in the end, she would just be glad that he was alright.

The only difference was that he would always show up at her window in the morning before she woke up to let her know he was okay. Never had she had to sit in anxiety, waiting to hear from him. That had never happened before.

Gwen knew she needed to get her mind off of things, so she stood up on jelly like legs and went to her television. She turned on the news, and watched an increasingly boring weather forecast for nearly a quarter of an hour before her eyelids began to droop. That was exactly what she had hoped for - boring herself to sleep.

Suddenly, however, the volume on her television began to increase rapidly. Gwen was immediately wide awake and she stared at the newscaster in utter fear. What was going on? What had happened?

The reporter looked grim as she spoke, and her voice carried a tone of heavy despair. "Welcome to Channel 4 News, I'm Jan Storm, with all the latest in your local news. Breaking news has just come from Albany, where our roving reporter, Jeff Georges, is on the scene. What's going on, Jeff?"

The report cut instantly to a dark, yet busy highway, where a man in a nice suit was standing in front of the camera. He held a microphone to his face, which was unnaturally white. He wasn't wearing a coat or gloves, despite the cold December air, and Gwen realized that this must have been such big news that he hadn't cared for his own well-being.

"Well, Jan," said Jeff with that same tone of disbelief and sadness. "We received a call about forty-five minutes ago from the Albany PD that a man had been found on the side of the highway in critical condition. This man donned a red and blue jumpsuit and mask. We have reason to believe that our own local hero, Spider-Man, is the man we have found here this morning. It is unclear whether it was a car, or something far more deadly, that caused Spider-Man's downfall."

Jeff was just beginning another sentence when the broadcast cut away without warning back to Jan, who looked unprofessionally near tears. "This just in from the General Hospital in lower Albany, the man's identity has been confirmed as the masked hero Spider-Man. His injuries were severe, and there was nothing they could do for him. He died this morning at 4:35 AM, and the cause of death is still unknown. We'll keep you updated, but for now, I'm Jan Storm."

Gwen stared blankly at the television screen in mute horror. She felt her heart drop to her stomach, and she was sure she was going to throw up. Tears pricked her already swollen eyes once more, and her breathing became hitched and ragged. A dream...it must have been a dream...Spider-Man couldn't die! He was a hero, he was so strong, he was so fearless...

But Peter was still a man, made of flesh and bones and blood, and his fearlessness could easily turn to recklessness.

"It's a dream," Gwen whispered over and over to herself. "It's a dream, it's all a dream, if I go back to sleep I'll wake up and Peter will be fine. He promised to take me to the movies today, Peter wouldn't lie to me, he'll be here to pick me up at 2:00...it'll be okay, just have to go back to sleep..."

In less than ten minutes, Gwen was once again thrust into an uneasy slumber. Though this time, her dreams were nothing but darkness.

Gwen did not wake up again until 10:00. She had a pounding headache, probably from all the pointless crying she had done several hours before. Gwen chuckled at her own stupidity; she had been so foolish to let her dreams affect her so much! What a silly idea that Spider-Man was dead - he was Spider-Man for a reason, after all.

"Gwen, Gwen, Gwen!"

Gwen heard the pounding of footsteps outside of her door, and one of her younger brothers barged into her room in a frantic state.

"Hey, haven't you ever heard of knocking?" complained Gwen half-heartedly. Her brother ignored her.

"Gwen, it's terrible!" he said quickly. "It's the worst thing that's ever happened ever!"

"What's wrong?" asked Gwen, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion. She tried to ignore the breaking of her heart as her brother explained his frenzy.

"You mean you haven't watched the news this morning?" he asked in disbelief. "The bad guys got Spider-Man! He's dead, someone killed Spider-Man!"

Two o'clock rolled around and Peter never came to pick up Gwen. He never called her to tell her why he didn't come. He never texted her to let her know that what they were saying on the news wasn't true. He was just...gone.

Three days passed. Peter didn't come to school. Peter didn't walk Gwen home. Peter didn't call her to say goodnight. Peter didn't show up in her bedroom unannounced with some strange new injury that needed tending to. Peter's phone eventually stopped going to voicemail altogether. The only place Gwen saw Peter anymore was on the news, when they showed his face to declare he had gone missing.

On Tuesday morning, Gwen didn't go to school. She sat in her bedroom staring blankly at the framed picture of her Speech and Debate team. She didn't see the faces of her team members - all she saw was the boy who had stood behind the camera.

She couldn't cry anymore. She had completely run out of tears. Her heart was too shattered to break any further. She didn't want to sleep, and she didn't want to eat. All she kept thinking of was that at the exact moment she had woken up Saturday from her dreaded nightmare, Peter had left the world forever.

And it was at that moment that Gwen realized she had never really woken up from her nightmare. She was still living it, through and through. There was no relief of saying it was all a dream. Everything she had ever feared about dating Spider-Man had come true. There was something he hadn't been able to handle, and it had taken him from her forever.

Three knocks at Gwen's door interrupted her train of thought. She barely acknowledged the sounds.

"Gwen?" it was her mother's voice that called to her from the hallway. "Gwen, sweetie, are you awake?"

"Yes." Gwen grumbled in a raspy voice. She hadn't used her voice since school the day before, and it hurt to try to speak.

"Honey, I know you're worried about Peter, but I'm sure he's okay. You can't give up hope." Gwen softened a bit at her mother's tone of sympathy, but the words she spoke weren't comforting. Gwen knew Petter wasn't okay.

"Okay." was all Gwen managed to reply. She didn't even sound convincing to herself.

"I know you don't feel like talking, but the home phone is in the kitchen for you. Someone's been trying to call you all morning, and they won't stop. I think it's one of your friends from school seeing if you're okay. Do you want me to tell them you'll call them later?"

"Sure." said Gwen without a thought. She didn't even feel like conversing with her own mother, let alone some classmate who didn't understand anything. The simple thought of going back to school was enough to hurt Gwen's head. She didn't want to go anywhere. She just wanted to stay in bed forever and sleep and dream that Peter was alright. That was what she wanted.

Her mother didn't reply, and Gwen once again lost herself in her thoughts.

That night, Gwen sat in her bed wide awake. It was dark outside, but Gwen didn't know the time. The television was off and unplugged - no matter what channel was on, all anyone was talking about was Spider-Man and what might have killed him. No one had ascertained a cause of death - Spider-Man's wounds were not inflicted by a car, nor by a gun or weapon, nor by some wild animal. No one knew what had happened.

Three knocks once again startled Gwen out of her thoughts. Feeling the need to stretch her limbs and see another human being face to face, Gwen removed herself from bed and answered her door herself. She unlocked it, and swung the door open lethargically. However, no one stood there. Confusion penetrated the haze her mind had been stuck in since Saturday, and Gwen looked up and down her hallway for any sign of a family member. No luck; for all Gwen could see, her house was completely deserted.

Gwen shut her door once more, and locked it. She quickly went to her clock to check the time - 2:00 AM. Who would be knocking at her door at two o'clock in the morning? Suddenly, three knocks resounded through Gwen's room once more, and this time, she stomped to the door with a little more passion. She unlocked the door more quickly this time, so whoever was knocking wouldn't have a chance to get away, and peeked out. Again, Gwen was met with the sight of no one.

"Hello?" she called out semi-loudly. "Who keeps knocking? Answer me!"

"Gwen!" a far away voice answered. "Unlock!"

"What?" Gwen asked loudly. She shouted down the hallway, wondering if perhaps it was the front door someone was knocking at. "Who's there? Who wants in?"

"Turn around!" the voice called back.

"What?"

"Turn around!" the voice grew louder, and Gwen heard the command in its tone. Choosing to obey and figuring she had nothing else to lose, Gwen closed her door a second time and locked it. She turned around as the voice had asked, and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw a dark silhouette outside her window. The person had obviously climbed up the fire escape, and was pounding on the glass. "Open up!" they screamed again. "It's cold!"

"Go away!" commanded Gwen, scared out of her mind. It was probably a robber! Or some sort of criminal! "My father was a police captain," threatened Gwen venomously. "And I still know many of his officers! If you do anything to me, they'll find you!"

"Baby, come on, please stop threatening me and open the window! Why's it locked anyway?" the voice said a little softer. The man who was speaking sounded almost...sincere.

"It's locked to keep people like you out!" shouted Gwen. "Now go away before I call the police!"

"Gwen Stacy, open up now! It's me! It's Peter!" the voice pleaded. Gwen's blood turned to ice. She found herself frozen to the spot on which she was standing and she couldn't move. Everything but Peter's voice vanished.

"Gwen, I promise I'll pay for a new window." said Peter in a tone that sounded full of regret. Gwen didn't even realize what was happening until glass shattered and she was suddenly being engulfed in a hug by a very cold body.

"Hey." said Peter in a husky voice. At that one word, Gwen broke down, and didn't care if having Peter once more was a dream or not. She sobbed and sobbed and sobbed in his arms, and let him comfort her. He hushed her, and told her over and over that everything would be okay.

"I know you probably saw the news," said Peter nervously, leading Gwen to the bed. She was completely inconsolable, and Peter had absolutely no idea what to do other than explain. He rubbed her shoulders in what he assumed was a comforting way, and held her tightly. She clung to him like she thought he would disappear if she let him go. "It's alright Gwen, it wasn't me they found, I swear it wasn't me. I'm fine, see? A little beat up, but you've seen worse on me." Peter chuckled, even though the situation was far from funny.

"You're dead." Gwen choked out desperately. "I saw it on the news! They said Spider-Man was dead!"

"Then they would have said Peter Parker was dead, too!" said Peter quickly, pushing his rehearsed speech out before Gwen could interrupt him again. "Wouldn't they have seen who I was when they unmasked me? They unmasked Spider-Man, didn't they? But they never matched him up with Peter Parker."

"No." said Gwen thickly, not looking up at Peter. She feared that if she saw his face, and it was all a dream, she wouldn't be able to handle it. "There w-was nothing they could do, so out of respect for New York's greatest hero, they left his mask on. If it wasn't you, then who died?"

"No clue." shrugged Peter. "Spider-Man has lots of impersonators - someone was probably just pretending to be me and did something stupid and payed the price."

"Where have you been then?" asked Gwen sadly, heartbreak entering her tone of voice. "Why didn't you call me to tell me you were okay?"

"I did," said Peter defensively. "I called you all morning when I got to a payphone. I was in Ohio, and I...er...sort of lost my cell. I didn't want to say it was 'Peter Parker' over the phone to your mom, because you know she would have thought I was some jerk pranking you. I swear I didn't mean to be gone so long, but I got beat up pretty bad by some huge green thing, and someone found me and took me into their house to recover. I just woke up last night. I promise you that nothing like this will ever happen again, Gwen. I thought I'd be there and back in a few hours, I never thought...I'm just sorry."

Gwen looked up then, and the sight of her Peter watching her with wide, childlike eyes was more than she could handle. She began to cry once more as she studied his face. She memorized every detail, every freckle, every thing she had overlooked before. She realized that she couldn't live without Peter - there was no way she could handle losing him again. He was everything she needed, and as long as he was alright, she was too.

Her relief washed over her like a wave, and she almost drowned in it. All she could manage was, "I love you." And Peter returned the favor. Those were the words she'd needed to hear ever since her nightmare had begun.

Well, that's it everyone! I don't really know why I felt the need to write this, but I did. I love trying to get into Gwen's thoughts, and I've always wondered how she'd deal if what happened to her father happened to Peter. However, there was NO way I was going to kill Peter. So this is what happened :) I hope you guys liked, and don't forget to review!