Geez guys, I'm so sorry for the delay ! I've been through tough moments these past few weeks, but now I'm in holiday, so everything is good, and I finely found the time to write !

So here's chapter 12 ! Don't hate me please, I'm already hating myself for what I've done...

Meet Spider-man

"Hey, do you happen to know how stem cells' self-renewal works ?"

"Seriously Peter ? I don't care."

"Well, first, there's the obligatory asymmetric replication of course, and then –"

"Shut up Parker, I'm trying to work on my French right now !"

"French ?" I raise my head and cross his surprised, mischievous, goddamn awesome brown gaze. "Who cares about French ?"

"Well, I do." I exclaim, upset.

"Why are you studying French when you can study much more... interesting things ?"

"French is interesting." I retort, a bit annoyingly I must admit it. "Learn a new language is interesting."

"Stem cells are interesting, too."

"Well, do you seriously think there are more people interested in French than in stem cells ? Maybe we could take a poll or something, but I'm sure we –"

"I'm pretty sure there are more people interested in stem cells right here."

"Yeah, right, because we're in the Sciences department, but –"

"Anyway. You go on with your French, and I go on with my stem cells."

"How can I since you are talking to me every goddamn minutes that God makes ? Jesus !"

"I'm not the one who's talking !"

"Yes, you definitively are !"

"Oh really ? I didn't even notice it."

"Well, I do notice it." I mumble. "Seems just as if you need to talk to me so that you can learn."

"Yeah, you must be right." He nods, while turning absentmindedly a page of his biology book. "Well, you're absolutely right in fact, I'd never worked as much as we did today. I should pick you up every time I have an exam or something."

"Why me ?" I falsely lament, and plunge my head in my hands with a fake sob. "What have I done to deserve this ?"

"Good question." He throws his pen at me with a huge, stupid smile. "Maybe because your stupidity alarms me so much that I feel I have to teach you some elementary things."

I look at him daggers and throw back his pen at him, muttering in my beard. "I hate you, Parker."

"Nah, face it Stevens, you love me."

"Ah ! No way !" I exclaim curtly. But I can't help blushing and avoiding his gaze, and I'm sure he notices it because he says nothing to that, staying quiet for almost like, whoa, five minutes, with his stupid smile on his face, before opening his big mouth again.

"Au revoir, stem cells !" He exclaims playfully and I giggle like an idiot because his accent is the worst one I've ever heard before. And, believe me, my brother's one is absolutely catastrophic. "See ? I think I get what you were saying about French."

"Congrats ! And guess what ? I just discovered that I was deeply in love with stem cells."

"What ?" He laughs in surprise and, for an unknown reason, I blush.

"Forget about that, Parker."

"At your service, Stevens."

I shake my head and we stare at each other for a while, smiling like two idiots. Then I close my own book and yawn whilst putting it back in my bag. Peter makes an amused face and I pout, because I'm well aware of the fact that he's going to make fun of me, again, if I don't say anything. And so I take one deep breath before asking about the one thing that has haunted me for the all afternoon, actually. "So, what are we doing now ?"

Part of me wishes he doesn't get what I'm talking about, but sadly he does. I know it even before he opens his mouth. The seriousness that suddenly spreads on his face is enough. He thinks for a second then scratches the back of his neck uneasily. "Well, we have to, to take precautions."

"Yeah, right."

"Nobody must see us together in the street." He says, and he seems so determined that I don't even react to what he's saying – even if this is a sad thought, to me. "In fact, it would be better if we could stay away from one another for a while but... Well I guess I, I guess I can come at your place, if you, if you want me to..."

Somehow I suddenly feel like I'm burning from the inside, but I manage to act as casual as I can while responding. "Yeah, yeah sure, it would be great."

"Cool." He smiles timidly then thinks for another two seconds. "And you should, well, you should avoid calling me. And don't, um, don't try to come at my place. He knows where I live."

The way he says he is so tensed, so fearful that my stomach squeezes in my belly. "Alright. So basically, I have to wait for you."

"Yeah, that's it." He bits his lip, and I know he's trying to make sure he hasn't forget anything. "But don't, don't worry I won't stay away for too long, I promise. I'll give you as much news as I... get."

"Thanks." I smile, and he smiles back. "Just... don't worry about me Peter, OK ? Focus on whatever happens, try to, to stop that guy, and if you need me, well, I'm here."

"OK, if I need an annoying blond girl, I'll call you."

"And please be careful Parker."

"I will."

"Great." I stare at him for a moment, and when I start wondering if it's the last time I'll ever see him, I stand up and say : "Now I have to go. My aunt needs me to buy her eggs and it's already late." Why on earth am I saying that ? Good question.

Peter stands up too and takes a step in my direction with a worry, guilty look. "Sorry I can't walk you home."

"Don't worry about that, I'm a big girl."

He takes me in a soft hug and I bury my head in his chest, my throat so tightened that it hurts. I have a really bad feeling about all this. But I choose not to mention it. He probably has this feeling too, anyway. "Don't miss your bus." Peter says after a moment, still holding me against him.

"Yeah right." I separate and take a step back, smiling playfully. "Spandex taxi won't be there for me today."

"Spandex taxi uh ?" He kisses me on the cheek then points out the exit. "Hurry up, Stevens, that's not all I have to do."

"Stupid boy." I mutter, hitting him in the belly before – falsely – furiously leaving. I hear his laugh behind me and I shake my head, but I must admit I feel great right now. Or I would. If only there wasn't that bad presentiment.

I had only take a few steps outside the library when I hear a voice behind me. I have no idea why but my heart goes crazily in my chest and fear invades my blood before I realize it's just my Uncle "fantastic" Miles, with his binoculars and his white blouse. "Hey uncle Miles !"

"Oh Emma, that's you !" He exclaims with his usual happy tone. "I thought you were Gwen, I'm looking for her, do you have any clue of where she could possibly be ?"

"Oh, no, not really, I –"

"Pity ! But hey, now that I'm thinking about it, I can tell you as well !"

"Tell me what ?" Why on earth am I that suspicious ? I don't even know. The only thing I'm sure of is that my body reacts exactly as if I was at stake. Which is a bit stupid, and makes absolutely no sense.

"We registered this morning some fantastic results in our process to clone a frog, this is unbelievable ! Fantastic results ! We're on to a good thing, that's for sure !"

"Whoa, congrat–"

"And so that's why I'm looking for Gwen !" He cuts me keenly. "She has to be present, when we'll put an end to those long years of hard labor !"

"Yeah, right, um–"

"I'm sorry, do you happen to know where Gwen is ?"

"What ? No, I don't, I just–"

"Alright ! I gotta go, nice to have seen you, Em !"

I watch him as he leaves, absolutely stunned. "Who was that guy ?" I mutter to myself, shaking my head. A real air flow. I'm not even sure he noticed the fact that I tried to respond to him. What a curious character. Maybe it's not a good thing to work on a lab, after all. I should reconsider it. Maybe I should work as a nurse or something. I guess I'm getting good, with all the training I've been through these last days. Of maybe I should try to get bite by a radioactive spider. That would be a great job, too. A hard one. And an unpaid one. Again I wonder how in hell Peter manages to work for the university and for the Daily Bugles as a photographer and still finds the time to save people every now and then. That guy isn't human.

So this is basically what's in my mind as I walk outside of the ESU' campus. I don't really pay attention on what's going on around me. Maybe I should have. Therefor I would have been prepared. Prepared by the look of terror on people's face next to me. But I don't. All I know is that suddenly, I'm flying in the air and my back hurts a wall and here he is. Facing me. Tall and dreadful, his gloved hand tight around my throat. I gasp and try to escape him, but his fingers shrinks and pain stops me.

Here he is. He's found me. He knows.

I pray God or whoever is watching this right now to spare Peter. Spare him please. I don't want him to die. Not for me.

His green mask makes it impossible to read his expression, but it feels as if madness was spreading from all his body. This guy is crazy. I feel it in my heart, my blood, my bones. And I freeze as his voice resounds around us, cavernous, metallic, deep, insane.

"Gwen Stacy."

My heart falls in my chest. "I'm not Gwen Stacy."

He brings his face to mine, closer and closer, and I want so bad to hide from his mad gaze that I almost close mine. I bit my lip so hard that blood starts flowing of it. "Indeed ?"

"No." My voice is a mere breath now. Black points dance before my eyes. I'm suffocating.

When I start thinking I'm seriously going to die, he releases his grip. I fall on my knees, bringing my hands around my painful throat, gasping for air. When I raise my head, he's already gone. Someone kneels beside me. I meet a worry look, I hear a voice asking me if I'm OK. I get on my feet, stumbling, leaning against the wall as the world seems to sway all around me.

"Do you need me to call an ambulance ?"

I shake my head, hoping the guy who's talking to me would leave me alone. But his hand is tightened around my arm, just as if he thought I was going to faint at any time. I manage to escape his grip, shake my head again, mutter that I'm alright. Everything is fuzzy around me. There's only one thing I know for sure. I have to warn Peter. I have to warn Gwen.

"Are you sure ? You could have a trauma or–"

"I'm OK !" The guy gives me an angry look then leaves without a work, and I know I've hurt him. He only wanted to make sure I wasn't wounded. And all I did is sending him packing. Poor guy. But right now, I don't care. The only thing that's important is to warn Gwen.

The Green Goblin is looking for her. He knows she's somehow close to Peter. He wants to use her to hurt him. That makes sense. If I wasn't that frightened, I would comment on how all this is hackneyed. But I don't. My brain seems to have freeze since I got thrown against that wall.

I seek for my phone and call him. He responds immediately, and I hear his half-amused, half-angry tone on the other side of the phone, and I instantly feel better. "I thought I told you to avoid calling me, Stevens ?"

"Peter..." My voice is hoarse, it hurts to speak. But I have to.

"What's wrong ?" He's dropped the amused tone for his concerned, urgent one. I'm on the edge to break down, I feel it. Like a wave of fear and concern and horror invading my heart.

"You have to find Gwen."

"Gwen ?" And so I tell him what happens. As clearly and as quickly as I can. By the end of it, I'm crying like a baby in the middle of the crowded street. Peter stays quiet for a moment, and I can't even say why. I don't know if he's still in the library or not. He just stays silent. Is he shocked ? Is he already changing in his Spider-man's suit and thinking of where Gwen is ? Probably. When he speaks again, his voice is low, careful. "Are you hurt ?"

"No, I'm alright."

"Great. Go home, Emma. Stay there. I'll call as soon as everything is settled." Mechanical. His voice is mechanical. Just as if he was trying to hide his fear, his concern, his anger. Tears are running down my cheeks, I'm shaking all over. I'm not as good as he is to conceal my feelings.

"OK. Be careful, Peter, I –"

"I will." And he ends the call. I stay motionless for a minute then put my phone back in my pocket with slow, deliberate moves. I wipe my tears of my cheeks and take a deep breath. Some people are still looking at me. I feel their eyes on my neck. I have to move. Move to go where ?

Find Gwen.

Half of me wants to do that. Half of me screams that NYC is a huge city and that one person isn't enough to find another one. Half of me is sure at two hundred percent that Peter won't find Gwen before the Goblin does. Half of me wants to look for that girl and save her. Half of me doesn't want to see another person killed by a lunatic. Half of me doesn't want another Lily.

But Peter said to go home. He said he'll settle everything. He said he'll call me. And I'm so afraid right now that I'm crying again. God, I'm so weak. Thankfully I'm not the hero here. I feel that bad premonition in my heart again. But I somehow know I can't do anything about it. I'm useless, right now. The only thing I can do is wait. Wait for Peter to settle everything. Wait for Peter to call me.

Someone puts their hand on my shoulder and I jump. MJ smiles gently to me and I close my eyes for a moment, maybe to compose myself, maybe to escape the reality and what I'll have to say in a few seconds. I have to warn MJ as well. She's one of the closest friend of Gwen. Maybe she knows where she is. Maybe I can still be useful to Peter.

"Hey." I mutter, with that goddamn hoarse voice of mine. "Do you know where Gwen is ?"

MJ bits her lip and shakes her head. "No, I haven't seen her since yesterday. Why, what happened ?"

"The..." I press one hand on my face, fighting against tears of despair. "That guy, the Green Goblin, he's looking for her, I –" Come on Stevens, you have to warn her. She's Gwen's best friend, just avoid the Spider-man's subject.

"Hey, easy, it's alright." She takes me in a hug and I stay still, dazed. Then I start weeping like an idiot – again. "There, there. You just got through a huge shock, it's OK." I don't even wonder how in hell she's aware of it. But maybe it makes sense to her. Since Gwen and I look a lot alike. "Come on, we'll get you some food, you'll feel better after that."

Oh yeah, right. Gwen said she majored in Psychology. That makes sense to me. She leads me into a cafe and forces me to drink a whole cup of hot chocolate and to eat half of my muffin before allowing me to speak again. When I'm finally done, it's dark outside. Time flies, today. My phone is laid on the table, prominently, but desperately quiet. Just as MJ is. She's staring at me closely, her hands clasped in front of her, her chin resting on them. I let my gaze wandering around, until it reaches the TV screen. Nothing in here. Just some unimportant news about economic crisis and all that stuff.

"Are you OK ?"

I lay my eyes on MJ again and force a smile. "Yeah, thanks."

"Your neck is getting worst, isn't it ?"

"No, that's OK, it doesn't hurt anymore." That's a lie, of course. But I don't want her to worry about me. I'm not worse it. If there's someone she should worry for, it's Gwen, right now. "Any news from Gwen ?"

"No." We both bit our lip and I look away, staring at people wandering in the street. It's not that dark at this hour, usually. But it seems as if a storm was coming, today. Wind has brought tons of clouds. It's getting cold. People are walking fast, out there. "She'll be alright." MJ's voice is uncertain, feeble, and I know she's as concerned as I am. And so when she presses her fingers around mine, I do the same for her. And it feels reassuring. Because we're together. That's much more comforting than if we were alone, that's for sure. Waiting for news from Gwen, waiting for a call from Peter. To be sure everything is alright. Settled.

And so we wait together. Time flies. When a breaking news hits the TV, we straighten in and watch everything, clinging to one another. How it appears that there are two people standing at the top of one of the Brooklin Bridge's pillar. How the journalist identifies one of them as the Green Goblin, the instigator of the recent events in the Oscorp Tower and the bank robbery. How the helicopter draws near the scene, how the second person is depicted as a blond woman, how we're informed it might be Gwen Stacy, the daughter of the captain killed last year in the lizard events. My heart is pounding crazily in my chest, MJ's nails dig into my hand's skin.

And then Peter arrives. Or I'd say, Spider-man. He gets a small talk with the Goblin. And then the green guy knocks Gwen off the pillar. My heart falls in my chest at the same amount of speed Gwen falls of the bridge. When Peter's web catches her foot, I let out a sigh of relief.

Then I freeze. The camera focuses on the girl's motionless body as Spider-man pulls her up. And I know. Even before Peter kneels at her side and gently shakes her shoulders. He's still ignoring. He's still hoping. Hoping to see her smile of recognition, hoping to feel her arms around him, hoping to hear her voice telling him thank you. Telling him I love you. He doesn't understand. But I do.

Gwen doesn't make a move. She doesn't open her eyes. She won't open her eyes again. I know it. I feel it in my heart.

She won't, because she's dead.

I cried so much when writing that... Hope you don't hate me as much as I hate myself, and hope you liked that chapter, anyway xD

Reviews are lovely ! Please, don't let me in that dreadful, afflicted, depressed condition I'm in right now xD