Gwen sat in the courtroom between Eddie and May. Judge Harrison, a black man in his late 70s, leaned forward in his chair.

"Miss Stewart." Harrison said. "I understand the prosecution has no witnesses."

Alicia Stewart, a brunette in her late 30s, nodded. "That is correct, your honor."

"Then what do you have to make your case?" Harrison asked.

"Evidence, your honor." Stewart replied. "We have over 150 reports, files, and from the last eight years. Damages, injuries, the works. All of them come from incidents Spider-Man was involved in."

Harrison took off his glasses. "It sounds like we're going to be here a while. You may proceed."

The next day, Gwen swung down the street, searching for any signs of Doc Ock, Scorpion, Electro, or any of the other superpowered criminals. She and Venom had been searching for hours and had found nothing. She still had her "bugs" around the city, but she hadn't gotten any notifications. Swinging around a corner, she saw Venom waiting for her on top of an abandoned apartment building, so she fired a web at a taller building nearby and swung down.

"Anything?" Venom asked asked as she landed near him.

"Nothing." Gwen replied, sitting down on a broken AC unit. "Not even a claw mark. What about you?"

Venom shook his head. "Found some faded electrical burns by the river where we fought them. They were on the other side of the river, but they didn't lead anywhere."

"So all we know is that Electro isn't dead." Gwen said.

Venom sighed. "Sadly, yes." He looked West, where the sun was setting. "We're getting hungry. Call it a night?"

Gwen sighed. "Yeah, I suppose we should."

That night, Gwen woke up panting and covered in sweat. After catching her breath, she climbed out of bed, pulled on a pair of sweatpants, and went downstairs, where Eddie was asleep on the couch.

"Eddie?" She said quietly.

As if he had a sentient voice in his head - which he did - Eddie woke up fairly quickly and sat up, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah?"

Gwen rubbed her arm. "I...can we talk?"

"Sure." Eddie moved over to the left side of the couch. Gwen sat down next to him. "What's up?" He asked.

"Bad dream." She admitted.

"Those suck." Eddie said matter-of-factly. He and Gwen chuckled.

"Yeah." Gwen agreed.

Eddie looked at her. "What happened?"

Gwen took a deep breath. "I was on my way to a funeral, but I didn't know whose. People were talking about it, but nobody mentioned them by name." Gwen's voice quivered, and a tear rolled down her cheek. "We drove for what felt like a year before we finally got to the cemetery, and I saw the name on the tombstone." She broke down, quietly sobbing into her hands.

"Hey, it's okay." Eddie wrapped an arm around Gwen's shoulders. "Take your time."

Gwen nodded and leaned into Eddie's embrace. She sobbed for several moments, then took a deep breath. "It was Peter's name." She said, her voice still shaking. "And…how I feel—no." She paused and took another deep breath. "The fact that I'm in love with him didn't even cross my mind. All I knew was that my best friend was dead and there was nothing I could do about it."

Eddie rubbed Gwen's shoulder lightly. "It's gonna be okay. I know it sucks, which is why I'm not gonna tell you it is okay, but I can tell you it will be okay."

Gwen nodded. "I know." She said quietly.

"I get it though." Eddie said. "I've had dreams like that before. Obviously not exactly like yours, but I know how helpless you feel after you wake up."

Gwen sighed. "Yeah. It was more than helplessness though. I felt…I don't know. For some reason I felt responsible."

"You're not." Eddie said, looking at her. "I know why you feel responsible for Peter being locked up and I have a pretty good idea what you're gonna say. Look at me."

Gwen sat up and looked at him. "Yeah?"

Eddie put a hand on your shoulder. "Peter getting arrested was not your fault. I know you well enough to know that if you could've gotten there faster, you would have. It's. Not. Your. Fault."

Gwen closed her eyes. "I know. I just wish I could make myself believe that."

Eddie blinked. "I don't know what to tell you."

A small smile appeared on Gwen's face. "It's okay." She sighed and opened her eyes. "I just needed to get that out of my system so I don't internalize it."

"I know what you mean." Eddie said. "Bottle shit like that up for too long and it'll tear you apart from the inside. Not literally, obviously."

Gwen let out a small chuckle. "Obviously."

They both laughed.

"Thanks for this." Gwen said after a moment of silence.

Eddie nodded. "Don't mention it. You're like the little sister I never had."

Gwen smiled. "Thanks."

The next day, Gwen, Eddie, and May were back in court.

"Mr. Murdock." Judge Harrison said. "Call your next witness."

Matt stood up. "I call Adrian Toomes to the stand."

An man in his late 60s wearing orange prison garb was brought in and sworn in.

"Mr. Toomes." Matt began. "What is your relationship with the defendant?"

"It's complicated." Toomes replied. "I had two - one with Peter Parker, and one with Spider-Man."

"Start with Peter." Matt said.

Toomes nodded. "I met Peter Parker when me came to pick up my daughter, Liz, for the homecoming dance."

"What was your opinion of him?" Matt asked.

"Nice kid." Toomes replied. "Smart. Seemed a little nervous, but that was understandable."

"And what about Spider-Man?"

Toomes sighed. "I had four run-ins with Spider-Man. They all involved him trying to interfere with my business."

"Your business?" Matt asked.

Toomes blinked. "Sorry, my highly illegal black market arms dealing business. The first three times he tried to interfere, but was never completely successful. One of them led to a ferry getting sliced in half."

"And the fourth time?"

Toomes leaned forward. "That happened after I found out Peter was Spider-Man."

"Then please tell us about that first." Matt said.

Toomes nodded. "I was driving Peter and Liz to the dance. They were talking about a decathlon they had competed in in DC, and Liz mentioned that Peter had been absent during an incident at the Washington Monument where the elevator was compromised and Spider-Man saved them. This was within a day of the incident on the ferry. That was when I made the connection in my head."

"And what did you do?" Matt asked.

"Once we got to the dance I had Liz get out first, then I confronted Peter." Toomes explainer. "I told him I knew his secret and confirmed that he hadn't told Liz. I said I would spare his life because he had saved hers, but if he interfered with my business again I would kill him."

"What happened after that?" Matt inquired.

Toomes sighed. "My crew and I went through with our plan to rob an unmanned cargo plane owned by Tony Stark. Spider-Man interfered, and the fight led to the plane crashing."

"And who caused crash?" Matt asked.

"We both did, inadvertently." Toomes replied. "But Spi—Peter turned the plane's…steering flap thing so it crashed into a beach instead of some buildings. My wingsuit was damaged in the crash, but I had tunnel vision and didn't realize how badly. I was trying to make off with some cargo and he tried to stop me. He told me my suit was going to explode and I ignored him. When I tried to take off, my suit failed and I crashed. Peter pulled me out or the wreckage. He saved my life after I tried to kill him."

Matt turned in the judge's general direction. "No further questions, your honor."

"Very well." Judge Harrison turned to Alicia Stewart. "Miss Stewart, your witness."

She approached Toomes. "Mr. Toomes, isn't it possible that Spider-Man only saved you because he was dating your daughter?"

Toomes thought for a moment. "I'm certain the thought crossed his mind, but no, I'd sooner believe that Judge Harrison is Spider-Man than that Peter only saved me because of Liz." He looked at Judge Harrison. "No offense intended your honor."

"None taken." Harrison replied.

That night, Gwen crouched on a rooftop. As she looked out over the city, her phone vibrated in her bag, and she answered it.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Hey." Eddie's voice said. "Doc Ock's in a bank on 49th street. Looks like he's got a new friend, but I can't tell who or what it is from this distance."

Gwen checked the map on her phone. "I'm three minutes out."

Two and a half minutes later, Gwen landed on a three story apartment building and pulled out her phone. "Eddie? I'm here."

"Good." Eddie said. "Where?"

"Apartment building across the street from the bank and two buildings down."

"Oh yeah, I see you." Eddie replied. "Look down and to your left. I'm five doors down from the bank."

Gwen looked and saw Eddie looking up at her. "I see you. What's the plan?"

"I'm thinking you sneak in through the top and I go in through the front."

Gwen shrugged. "I can't think of anything better. Let's do it."

"Your move." Eddie said.

Gwen put her phone away and approached the edge. She took a deep breath, fired a web at a skyway between a pair of five story buildings that were on either side of the bank, and stepped of the roof. She swung down, turned around 180 degrees, and swung back the other way. At the bottom of her arc, she let go and and dropped, rolling when she hit the roof below. She slipped inside, where she heard voices below her.

"Dammit!" Doc Ock's voice said. "They've upgraded their vault doors."

"What are we going to do about it?" Another voice said, this one sounding not quite human.

"Hell if I know." Doc Ock replied.

Gwen crawled down the ceiling above the stairs and looked out into the room, where she saw nothing. Looking around, she fired five webs at the wall in front of her, one straight ahead and two on either side of it.

Gwen's Spider-Sense alerted her to danger, and she dropped to the floor as a scaly hand snatched at the air above her. She fired web projectiles at Lizard, but a tentacle from Doc Ock snaked around the corner, grabbed her by the ankle, and slammed her against the wall. Gwen recovered and leapt to her feet, and at that moment Venom crashed through a rear window and tackled Lizard to the ground. Gwen jumped over slashes from two of Doc Ock's tentacle spikes, then webbed Lizard's tail and slammed Lizard into Doc Ock, sending them tumbling across the floor. Venom, who was right behind them, placed his right hand on Lizard's right shoulder, grabbed his right wrist with his left, and ripped the arm off. Lizard shrieked in pain and kicked Venom back, then scrambled to his feet and ran, breaking through a window on his way out. Doc Ock followed his reptilian ally outside and fled in the opposite direction. When Gwen and Venom got outside seconds later, Lizard was gone, and Doc Ock was disappearing around the corner. They ran after him, but lost him after a few blocks.

Three days later, they were back in court. The jury had finished deliberating, and were ready to announce their decision. The bailiff took a tablet from the lead juror and delivered it to Judge Harrison.

"On the charge of manslaughter," Harrison read, "This court finds the defendant not guilty."

Gwen released the breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

"On the 173 charges of destruction of public property," Harrison continued, "The court finds the defendant not guilty of 172, guilty as charged of one."

Gwen heard May curse under her breath.

"On the 68 charges of interfering with police investigations," Harrison said, "The court finds the defendant not guilty. I have taken all that the defendant has done for this city and others into account, and I sentence you a $300 fine." He pounded his gavel. "This court is adjourned."

Tears of joy streaked down Gwen's cheeks as she and May hugged.

The three of them picked up Peter a couple hours later. They were on their way back to May's house when Gwen's Spider-Sense warned her of danger, but whatever was coming was moving too fast. It landed on top of the car, denting the roof. May screamed and tried to shake it off, but a red arm broke through the window and pulled Gwen out. Gwen cried out and tried to free herself, but whatever it was threw her down an alleyway. She hit a brick wall three stories up and fell to the ground, breaking her right leg. She screamed in pain as the red blur approached her. She shook her head, clearing her vision, and saw a creature that resembled Venom but it was red and bigger.

"What do you want?" Gwen asked weakly, wincing in pain as she tried to sit up.

"Not much." The red beast growled. "Just a moment of your time." Looking around the alley, he picked up a metal pipe and drove it into Gwen's chest, stabbing her through the heart.

"Gwen!" Peter and Eddie's voices shouted. Peter got to Gwen and picked her up while Eddie shouted "Get her out of here! Go!" Eddie then changed into Venom and tackled the red beast. That was the last thing Gwen saw before the world went dark.

Cast:

Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman

Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man

Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom

Jon Hamm as Dr. Otto Octavius/Doc Ock

Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil

Marisa Tomei as Aunt May

Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors/Lizard

Morgan Freeman as Judge Elliot Harrison

Alison Brie as Alicia Stewart

Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes

Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady/Carnage