A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you for your feedback on the last chapter. It means a lot to me! I think you all are going to really enjoy this one. Nothing major happens, but there are some classic Finn-Colin shenanigans :D
Chapter Eleven
Gwen woke up alone, the blanket wrapped tightly around her body like a cocoon. She felt warm and safe, and for a moment she almost forgot what had happened. It came back in a rush, and she sat up abruptly, clutching the blanket to her chest.
"Gwen?"
Peter stood in the kitchen, a dishtowel draped over his shoulder. He pulled it off and wiped his hands.
"I forgot for a second," Gwen said, dragging the back of her hand across her forehead. "I woke up, and I forgot."
He walked over and gently took her hand, pulling her up from the couch.
"Come on, I made some coffee."
"How could I forget?" she murmured, sitting at the kitchen table. "My mother is in the hospital because someone was trying to kill me. That's not the sort of thing you forget."
"You just woke up," Peter said, grabbing cereal from the top of the refrigerator and placing it on the table. He pulled two bowls and spoons from the cupboard and then settled across from her.
"It was a nice feeling," Gwen admitted, taking the box of cereal and pouring herself a bowl. "I didn't feel scared or nervous. I felt normal."
"You'll feel that way again," Peter said. "When we solve this-"
"If we do," Gwen said, uncharacteristically negative. "My experiments aren't getting us anywhere, and we're nearly out of samples. We're no closer to solving this, Peter, than we were when we first started."
He went to refute this when there was a knock on the door. They both exchanged a look before Peter stood and said, "I'll get it."
Peter walked to the front door and opened it, surprised to find the security guard from the front desk standing before him.
"A man brought this and asked that I hand deliver it to Ms. Stacy."
Peter felt Gwen approach and she stepped beside him, reaching out and taking the package from the man.
"Thank you Walter," Gwen said, her eyes travelling over her name written in messy handwriting. The hand writing and a hurried slant to it, as if whoever wrote it was trying to get it all down as quick as possible.
Peter closed the door, glancing warily at the package in her hands. Gwen moved past him, walking back into the kitchen. She sat down heavily, dropping the package on the table. Peter reclaimed his seat across from her.
"Are you going to open it?" he asked.
"Yes. No. I don't know." She reached back and pull her hair off her shoulders. She felt as if her entire body was on fire, nervous energy thrumming through her so powerfully that she could feel it in her veins. "It's from them."
"You don't know that."
"Who else would it be from?" she said. "There's no return address. They realized they ki-" she stopped herself, shaking her head before saying, "hurt the wrong person."
"Gwen-"
"I-I can't do it," she said, pushing the package away. "I can't."
He pulled the package toward him, looking to her for permission. She nodded slightly and he slid his finger under the lip of the envelope. Gingerly he pulled out a stack of papers. Gwen watched him closely as he flipped through them, his face unreadable.
"Peter?"
"This is all of it," he murmured, restacking the papers. "It's all of it."
"All of what?"
"George Zimmerman and Sally Mason's research," Peter said, glancing up at her. "It's all here."
"It can't be," Gwen breathed out, reaching forward and taking the papers from his hands. Her hands shook as she leafed through the pages. Peter opened the envelope again and saw that there was a small note that had come loose from the stack of research. He pulled it out, something in his stomach twisting when he read the words.
I cannot be of any more use to you.
Hopefully this will help.
Good luck.
"Gwen," he murmured, passing her the note. She glanced at him for a moment before reading the note.
"Zimmerman," she said softly, her eyes meeting Peter's. "These are from him."
Peter nodded. "I can't imagine who else would have all of it."
"This is phenomenal," Gwen said, returning her attention to the research. "This is more data than I could have collected in a year. With all of this, Peter, we…" she smiled tentatively, "…we might just have a chance."
Peter and Gwen made plans to meet at the library that afternoon to go through the research more closely. They had already gleaned an enormous amount of information from their cursory examinations, and he held high hopes for what their closer attention would bring.
Peter stopped home after they finished breakfast and took a quick shower. Aunt May prepared a light lunch and insisted that he eat it before he left for the library.
"Do you think you should bring Gwen some, too?" Aunt May asked, sitting across from him. "With everything that's going on, it's important that she eats well and keeps her strength up."
"I'm sure she ate," Peter said. The package from Zimmerman had done much to improve her spirits, and she had almost seemed like the strong girl he knew when he left that morning.
"You're right," Aunt May said. "Besides, I'm sure she has people checking in on her." She paused for a moment. "It was very nice of you to stay the night with her, Peter."
He shrugged. "She needed me."
Gingerly Aunt May asked, "Is there something going on between you two?"
Peter frowned, gearing himself up for another Aunt-May-inquisition. "No, Aunt May, there isn't."
"She's a nice girl," Aunt May said. "And you could use someone nice like that in your life. I worry about you sometimes, Peter."
"We're just friends," he said. "Believe me, it's better this way."
Aunt May grinned triumphantly. "So, you do think of her that way?"
Peter groaned. "Aunt May-"
"Because anyone with eyes can see that she feels the same way," she interrupted. "And with everything going on right now, it might be nice for her to have someone."
"She does have me," Peter said. "She has me as a friend. Which is the best I can do."
"Why, Peter?" Aunt May asked. "Why are you so determined with keeping yourself from happiness?"
Peter frowned, looking down at his half-eaten sandwich. There were a number of reasons why he did things the way he did. Because if he truly let himself be happy, it would hurt all the more when it was taken from him. Because he couldn't take that risk. Because at the end of the day, his life was one that was meant to be lived alone.
"You deserve to be happy, Peter," Aunt May said, leaning in closer. "Don't run away from that."
He nodded, knowing there was no point in arguing further. His Aunt was right. There was no reason that plain old Peter Parker couldn't be happy. It was when Spiderman was factored in that things got complicated, but he couldn't discuss that with her. He couldn't reveal his secret for the same reasons he couldn't fully admit his feelings to Gwen. It would only put her in danger.
"Well, sweetheart, I know you don't want to bring Gwen lunch but at least bring some of these cookies," Aunt May said, moving over to the stove and putting cookies on a paper plate. "There are too many here for just the two of us."
"Alright," he relented. "I'll bring the cookies."
Gwen sat in one of the more secluded areas of the library. Her hair was wound into a bun at the nape of her neck and she was wearing glasses as she pored over the research. He noticed the cup of coffee next to her hand and thought to himself that at least she had something to go along with the cookies Aunt May had foisted on him. She sensed him before he said anything, her lips pulling into an easy smile as she gave him a small wave. He thought to himself that she looked much better than when he left that morning.
"My aunt sent some cookies," Peter said, setting the plate on the table.
Gwen grinned. "Cookies sound great."
"You look good," he noted. She smirked and he stammered, "I mean…you look calmer than before."
"I got it, Peter," she said, lips pulled into a bemused smile. "I feel better. I went to the hospital before this to see my mom."
"How's she doing?"
"Really well," Gwen said, eyes bright. "The surgery went well and she's in recovery. The doctors said that she'll need some physical therapy, but other than that she should be fine."
"That's fantastic," Peter said.
She grinned and nodded. "Anyway, let's get started on this stuff. I was looking through it before you got here, and there's a lot to cover."
"Well, I'm glad we have the cookies then."
She smiled softly. "Do we want to divide and conquer?"
"That works for me."
She handed him half of the papers and they began to read, a comfortable silence between them. Gwen began to leaf through her half of the research, idly wondering how Mason and Zimmerman had managed to collect all of this. There was everything from police reports to results from experiments.
"Look at this," Gwen said, turning the paper toward Peter. "OsCorp was sued four months ago by one of its employees, Stephen Browner. He worked maintenance and claimed that his working conditions led to a number of health issues."
"It looks like it settled before ever reaching the court," Peter said, reading further. "Wow, for half a million dollars?"
"Looks like they have other ways of silencing people," Gwen muttered.
They continued reading, and the information grew more troubling. The EPA had launched an investigation based off of complaints last month, but it had promptly been dismissed. Further inspection revealed that several key players at the EPA had large stock in OsCorp.
"Are you getting the feeling that we're in over our head?" Gwen asked slowly, glancing up from her papers.
Peter frowned. "Glad to see you're finally joining me."
A/N: I have some big plans for the completion of this story arc - so please leave feedback and let me know you're still reading! I'd love your thoughts on the development of this piece :D
