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Ch 10

Gwen could see why Peter loved to swing through the city. It was a green way to travel, it was quick, and the feeling of flying was like no other. She hung onto him as they sprang from building to building, the wind whipping her hair over her shoulders like a supermodel. His arm strong like a vice around her waist kept her secure, and her arms around his neck brought her close enough to smell the cologne he wore. His scent was intoxicating. He smelled like the beach after the rain. Damn, she was pathetic.

He landed on her fire escape as silent as a cat, brought his leg up to his chest and perched on the slim railing so perfectly, that Gwen had to marvel at him in awe.

"Peter, " she said as he set her on her feet. It was weird feeling solid ground after she had been air borne for twenty minutes. "You're amazing."

"Thanks," He said sheepishly.

"I had fun tonight."

"Me too."

She clasped her hands together, opened her mouth to say something and shut it.

"Are you going to be okay, Gwen?"

"Come inside." She said. Her eyes were hopeful, but she knew that he wouldn't. He was much too responsible to even risk anything like what happened the other night happen again. She needed him, longed for him, wanted him in her bed.

And sudden realization dawned on her. She could have another man in her bed this night, someone she never thought of when Peter was around or on her mind. Flash. But she did not want Flash in her bed, and she got a sinking feeling in her stomach that she never would. She tucked a stray locke of hair behind her ear, going over all of this in her mind. She had to be fair and tell Flash. If she didn't want him, he needed to go be with someone else, and he could get another girl in a matter of moments.

"Gwen," He sighed, he looked down at the fire escape's wrought iron floor. The eyes on his mask almost shined florescent in the moonlight. His shoulders slumped. "I want to. But you know I can't." He knew exactly what would happen if he went into her apartment. They'd give into temptation, and he could not control himself around her. They'd have another steamy night of passion and he would feel guilty in the morning. Having sex with Gwen was not keeping her safe. Either was hanging out on her fire escape. Or swinging her through the city. Everything he did with her seemed to make her an easy target for anyone who could be watching him.

Gwen walked to him then, lifted his head and kissed him through his mask, approximately where she thought his lips were. He need not torture himself. "Good night," She said to him. She walked to her window, yanked it up and climbed inside without a look back.

He sat there, stunned for a moment, still sitting on the railing. He could feel the heat of her mouth, the dampness of his mask where her lips had been. He couldn't think about this anymore. If he did, he would kick in that window. He knew he would. He raised his arm and swung away from her apartment.

…...

Peter sat perched on the roof of St. Joseph's church, watching the passersby below him. New York seemed to be in a good mood tonight, probably the warmth in the air, the promise of longer days and lemonades on the horizon. He had heard her come up behind him, but did not bother acknowledging her, he had enough women troubles as it was.

"Beautiful night for a stroll," Felicia said as she sat beside him. When she got no response, she pouted, "Aww, that's a lovesick face if I ever saw one."

"You can't see my face." He said, and ran a hand over his mask just to make sure he had remembered to put it on. When he thought about Gwen, he was lucky if he remembered what day it was.

"Don't need to. So, what's her name?"

"Do you really think I'd tell you that?"

"What's she like?"

He cocked his head to the side, studying her. Did she think he was stupid?

"You don't have to be pining for a young lady you can't have." She said. "I know more than you think. You can't be with her because you want to keep her safe, right?"

He gave a small nod. That part was pretty obvious. Agreeing to that put him in no more hot water than he already was in.

"Well," She said, "What if you had someone who could take care of herself?"

He knitted his brows under his mask, "Should I get her karate lessons?"

"No," She purred, inching herself closer to him, reaching out her hand and tilting his face toward her, "you leave this silly girl for a sexy woman who knows how to touch you. How to bring you pleasure you've never had before, how to turn you on with the flick of her tail..." She whispered, and lowered her mouth to his through his mask.

…...

"Congratulations, Class of 2012! We did it!" The valedictorian gave one final speech and the graduating class of Midtown Science threw their caps in the air. Gwen sat on the stage, as she had been class president. She looked for Peter in the crowd. He had been late of course, but he winked at her when he received his diploma. She heard Aunt May whistling from the audience. One thing that bothered her terrible was that Flash had not been at the ceremony. His diploma went back into a box that would be given to the students in a few days. Where was he? He hadn't said anything about not coming today, he had actually seemed excited about it yesterday.

Peter found Aunt May and walked over to her. She hugged him tightly. "I'm so proud of you!" She said, and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks, Aunt May. Just wish Uncle Ben was here."

"He's here in spirit." She said quietly.

Gwen walked over to them. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he pulled her close. How different she felt in his arms. He had never held Felicia, in fact, he had pushed her away and swung off after she kissed him. Felicia made him nervous. She was too tempting, and she knew that. She knew that she was the obvious choice for him, but she was not who he wanted. Who he wanted was right here in his arms. She may not have all of the physical attributes that Felicia had, but Gwen brought out the best in him, and he was so in love with her from the top of his head to the tip of his toes and that energy spread from him and deep into the ground.

Aunt May seemed out of place as the two held onto each other. She looked around. "Oh, there's Agnes! Excuse me..." She said, "Oh congratulations, dear." She said to Gwen and walked off.

Gwen smiled at her in return and said to Peter, "Have you seen Flash?"

Peter shook his head, "No. He didn't come?"

"No. I was going to call... oh!" Her eyes darted through the crowd and she let out a small squeal of surprise when she saw him. He stood by the bleachers on the other side of the field, staring intently at them. He was wearing the same sweats from the day before. He looked sickly, his skin a swarmy gray in color. Beads of sweat were on his brow. Peter felt a bad feeling shiver up his spine.

"What's he doing?" Gwen asked.

She started to walk to him and Peter instinctively grabbed her arm. She turned, looked at his hand on hers and eyed him oddly.

Something was wrong here. It was almost... almost as if that wasn't Flash at all, nothing more than a hollow shell of the boy they knew.

"Peter, what are you doing?"

"I don't know." He said. "I just... be careful."

"Oh, I can handle him." Gwen said dismissively.

Peter shook his head, "I'm serious."

"Okay," Gwen said softly, "I'll be careful."

Peter reluctantly let her arm go and he watched as she walked over to him. He felt his fingers itching, ready to pull off his graduation robe and dress shirt and hurtle over there at the first sign of danger. He would not let Gwen get hurt. He may have failed her father, but he would not fail her.

"Mr. Parker," A man in a dark suit, kind face and receding hairline filled his view. "My name is Agent Coulson, and I'm here on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D."

…...

Gwen hurried across the football field, Flash's eyes never leaving her face. As she got closer to him, she could see how sick he looked. His skin was indeed a clammy gray, his lips and deep purple, and he shivered in the May warmth. She stopped before him, and instinctively reached out to put a hand to his forehead.

His arm reached out quickly and knocked her hand aside. "Don't." He said hoarsely.

"Flash, I... are you sick? Are you okay? Why did you miss graduation?" She asked.

"Do me a favor," He said, "If there is any kindness in your body. Do me a favor and stay away."

She shook her head, "What are you talking about?"

He turned on his heel then, and jogged off toward the street, leaving Gwen with more questions than answers. She glanced back at Peter and saw that he was engaged in conversation with someone. She didn't have time to waste. She needed to find out what was going with Flash. He seemed sick, maybe he had ammonia or something. He had been sweating out here in the heat. She kicked off her heels, stowed them under the bleachers, and sprinted in the direction Flash had gone.

…...

"Where are you from?" Peter asked.

"We're a government agency used in special cases such as yours. Such as this."

Peter raised his eyebrows. "I'm sorry?"

"Fond of spandex, are you, Mr. Parker?" Coulson asked with the trace of a smile on his face.

Peter's eyes dilated and he looked around to make sure no one was in earshot. "How... how do you..."

"We know everything about you. The accident in the lab. Your abilities, everything."

Peter felt like he was suffocating. He back away from Coulson, and took a defensive stance. "What do you want?"

"We want to offer you a job."

"A job?" Peter asked incredulously. "Where, in the circus?"

"Do you think you're the only one who can do extraordinary things? We have a whole team..."

"I work alone. It's better that way."

Coulson gave a short nod, "Very well. That's commendable, however, certain events must be taken into consideration..."

"What events?"

"While we speak, Norman Osborn is preparing to inject Eugene Thompson with a symbiote that will make your life a hell of a lot more interesting. He knows about you. Eugene knows about you, and pretty soon he will be your equal and he will come calling."

"Why are you telling me this?" Peter demanded. "Why are you telling me that in a few hours, Flash is going to try and kill me? That Osborn wants me dead?"

"Because we're here to help you, Peter. And you need our help."

Peter rubbed his hands through his hair. This was too much. He needed time to think. He had just gotten through his ordeal with the Lizard, and now this man comes up, spewing this crap. His eyes roamed the crowd and found Aunt May. He then turned to where Gwen and Flash had been talking. The spot was now deserted. He felt his heartbeat quicken and his palms get moist. "Where's Gwen?" He asked.

…...

Gwen didn't know how Peter did this, hiding in shadows. It was increasingly troublesome, and she had to remember to tell her legs to slow down as she followed Flash. She was fairly certain where he was headed. OsCorp loomed just ahead, its bright lettering on the building glowing like a grotesque beacon. Under other circumstances, seeing the building towering before her brought her a thrill. But not today, not when her friend was in trouble. Flash certainly wasn't a science buff, she could easily tell that from their tutoring. So why visit OsCorp the day of graduation? It didn't make sense, and with the way he had acted, it left Gwen with a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach . Flash had his head down and his hood up, and he walked with long deliberate steps. She ducked behind a wall as he paused for a second, lifting his head as if he had heard her.

Her cell phone in her coat pocket rang noisily. Gwen cursed, and dug it out, and held it to her ear before checking the caller ID. "Hello?" She whispered just as she peeked her eye out and watched Flash walk into OsCorp. He jogged up the steps, and vanished behind the rotating doors.

"Gwen, where are you?"

It was Peter. He sounded worried, and she thought he would. She had left the graduation without so much as a look back. Not the brightest of moves, maybe. But she was sure if she told Peter where she was going, he'd talk her out of it, and Gwen was sure Flash wouldn't turn to Peter with his problems.

"I'm at OsCorp. I followed Flash here. He seemed weird. I don't know what he's doing, but I'm going to find out."

"No."

She was momentarily stunned. His voice was raw and emotional, and he shouted the word at her. She was so surprised that she removed the phone from her ear and double checked the caller ID to make sure it was Peter on the other end. She had heard him use this tone with her only once before, when she was in OsCorp cooking the antidote.

"Gwen, listen to me, okay? Flash is becoming Osborn's lab rat. He knows about me, he knows everything. He's dangerous, and you get back here right now!"

Gwen bit her bottom lip, Peter's words falling deep into her mind. Flash was in trouble. He was so messed up that he was turning to Osborn of all people for comfort. Osborn, who invited people in and used them to his advantage. Osborn, the wealthiest man in the city. Osborn, who had his hands crawling all over her, who seemed to know her life story. Osborn. This is who Flash decided to trust. If what Peter told her was true, then maybe she could save Flash before it was too late. Maybe she could talk to him before Osborn injected Flash with whatever it was that would change him. Maybe... "Are you sure?" She asked.

"Positive."

Gwen felt her eyes well with tears. This could be all of her fault. She should have paid more attention to Flash, she should have... Stop it, Gwen. She looked back at OsCorp. There was still time. She wouldn't give in. She had to at least try. "Peter, I have to talk him. I have to help him."

"No!" He shouted. "Gwen, you don't. You don't have to do that."

She sank down to the ground, and brought her knees up to her chest. She held the phone to her ear tightly. She knew this could be dangerous. Osborn had already made it clear that he knew more about her than she'd like him to. If she went in there after Flash, and interrupted Osborn's plans, she could die. There were stories all over OsCorp about the people Norman made disappear. It was an unspoken truth. That rocked her to her core. She couldn't see Flash as someone really deadly, but she didn't know what Osborn would inject into his body. Maybe she wouldn't be too late. Maybe she could talk to Flash and get him to go to Penn State and be a Pro. Maybe she'd go in there and he'd rip her to pieces. Either way, if she died today trying to help a friend, well there wasn't more you could ask out of that. She heard the wind whooshing in the background and knew Peter was on his way to her. She thought of him then. The way he held her. The way he kissed her. The sound of his voice. It gave her the courage to get back to her feet. He would do this for her without the blink of an eye. At least she could have the courage to try. "Peter," She whispered.

"Yea?" He answered. "Gwen, get back to your apartment."

She closed her eyes against the tears. She knew now that if she did go to her apartment, he'd meet her there and take her in his arms and he wouldn't object to coming inside. He'd do whatever it took to keep her safe this night. How she wished she could turn around back into the security of Peter's arms. But Flash was inside, and he could be dying. "I can't." She said. "Because this could all be my fault."

"Don't say that." Peter said, "You know it isn't!"

"I love you." She said, and ended the call before he could say another word. If that was the last thing she would say to him, then he should know how she felt. How she always had felt about him. She bowed her head against the rain, and hurried into the OsCorp building.