I think you guys have waited long enough, here's the latest chapter.

Having come back from the dead, Peter reunites with Karen, and the two have their first conversation after their fallout back in Chapter 18.

Chapter 25

Karen's apartment, Brooklyn, New York

"WHAT?" Karen shouts over the phone. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S GONE?"

The blonde Kryptonian had just received news that Peter's body had suddenly disappeared. Right now she is on the phone with Doctor Mid-Nite.

"When we got the security breach, and it came from the lab, all we saw was a shattered window and on the examination table was a dried husk that is the shape of Peter's corpse," The doctor responds.

"Well, he couldn't have just got up walked away, someone must have taken him."

"We checked surveillance, no one has broken into the Brownstone, and security footage inside the lab was a little messy, it was hard to tell what exactly happened in there. We'll find him Karen, don't worry."

Karen calms down a little and just nods, "Okay, thanks Doc."

She ends the call on her phone and plops down on her couch. The blonde heroine lowers her head, touching the phone with her forehead. This these last few days have been nothing but misery for Karen, first her boyfriend gets beaten within an inch of his life, then she eventually finds the man responsible and ends up beating him within an inch of his life, then her boyfriend shows up as a mutant spider creature and eats the man who beat him within an inch of his life…and then he dies. And to top it all off, his corpse is now missing. For the first time in her life, Karen feels absolutely powerless. Who could have taken him, and if someone did, why? The blonde raises her head and the phone is now resting on her lap.

She looks at the ground and narrows her eyes, "Well, if someone did take you, they better pray the JSA finds them before I do."

"What, did someone kidnap the cat?" says a random male voice.

Karen perks up, as she recognizes that voice. She turns around and, wouldn't she know it, it was Peter. He smiles at her, wearing a simple, grey long sleeve shirt, blue jeans and black sneakers. Karen had to do a double take. Is she seeing things? Is this some kind of hallucination? She slowly gets up from the couch and walks over to the seemingly resurrected spider hero. The blonde reaches out with her left hand and touches his face to which Peter leans his head into it.

"You…you can't be real," she says in a soft voice. "…You died, I saw you die."

Peter gives a sad smile and says, "It's really me Karen, I'm back."

Karen retracts her hand and she crosses her arms, giving him a stern look, "Prove it."

The spider hero begins to think for a moment and then speaks, "Whenever you and I watch some late night TV, anytime a "Who's the Boss" rerun comes on, you end up falling asleep. As soon as that catchy theme song hits, BAM, it knocks you right out."

There is some awkward silence for a few seconds until finally, in the blink of an eye, Karen embraces Peter and kisses him passionately. The spider hero returns the kiss fully. The Kryptonian then does something completely unexpected…She picks her boyfriend up, puts him over her shoulder and rushes to their room in super speed.

Hours later…

Peter and Karen are now laying side by side on the bed, the sheets covering their naked bodies. Both of them staring at the ceiling, taking in what had just transpired.

Peter was the first to break the silence, "Wow, if this is your way of saying, "I missed you", then I should die more often."

Karen looks over at Peter and narrows her eyes, "Hey, I've been an emotional wreck since you've been gone alright? I needed this. Besides, this was the only way for me to know that it was really you."

The spider hero looks over at his girlfriend, "And the verdict?"

The blonde chuckles and grins, "Well, you've been able to wear me out much faster than usual, but aside from that…Yeah, it's really you."

"But what if it wasn't me? What if I was like…I don't know…a cyborg or something?"

Karen shrugs, "Eh, I'll just add "Banging a Robot" to the list of weirdest things I've ever done. And trust me honey, I have a LOOONG list."

Peter looks back at the ceiling and chuckles, "Join the club."

After their usual playful banter, everything was silent until Karen spoke again, "So, when Doctor Mid-Nite called me not too long ago, he told me that your body went missing, and in its place was a dry husk. Did your spider powers somehow bring you back to life?"

Peter thought about it for a moment, "Well… all can I remember was the fight I had with Morlun while you were away. I've never fought anyone like him before, he was so fast even my spider reflexes couldn't keep up with him. But there was a moment where I had him on the ropes, and I actually thought I was going to win…only to have the rug pulled right from under me. After that, I there was a bright light. You know, the kind you see when you know that you're dead. Then I woke up in what looked like Queens, and everyone I knew who have died were there, Harry, Ned, Captain Stacy…Gwen…Even that kid I told you about, Timmy."

"The kid with leukemia?"

"That's the one…Oh, and there was this lady in a red trenchcoat…"

Karen perks up at the last thing Peter said, "Wait a lady in a trenchcoat?"

Peter nods.

"Long, strawberry blonde hair? Sunglasses? looks like she's in her 30s?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Peter confirms, but then does a double take. "Wait, you know her?"

"Yeah, she showed up one time to tell me that the creep who pummeled you…What did you say his name was? Morlun? He went after Miles shortly after. If I ever see her again, I definitely need to thank her. If she didn't inform me of what was happening, the kid would have been dead for sure."

This new piece of information shocks the wall crawler. He sits up, "HE ATTACKED MILES? IS HE OKAY?"

The blonde heroine also sits up, using her left hand to bring the bedsheet up to cover her breasts, "Whoa, down boy, yes he's okay. I was able to get there before Morlun could do any real damage."

"And what happened to him?"

"...He's gone, when the two of us fought, you showed up all mutant spider-like and…well…you killed him."

Peter then sits back on the headboard of the bed, "Well…it's a good thing I don't remember any of that. Last thing I need is another death on my conscience."

"Yeah…" Karen says as she lowers her head.

Peter looks over at his girlfriend. He recognizes that tone of voice coming from her. Whenever Karen trails off like that, that means something is on her mind.

"What is it honey?"

Karen is now silent. Peter puts out his hand and gently grabs his girlfriend's free one. He begins to caress the top of her hand with his thumb.

"It's okay, you can tell me."

Karen now closes her eyes, "I…I nearly killed him."

The spider hero gives a questioning look, "Who, Morlun?"

The Kryptonian finally nods, "When he told me that he was the one who put you in the hospital…when he told me that he…ate…a part of you…I lost it. When I was beating the crap out of him, all I could see was red. If Miles didn't call Kal when he did…I never thought I could get that angry. Looking back on it now, it scares me. I thought I could keep my emotions under control, but apparently I can't. If I'm able to be pushed to the edge like that, then maybe I should hang up my cape before I really do kill someone."

"Don't say that," Peter interjects. "Believe me when I say this, but you're not the only one who has been down that road. Remember when I told you about the time when I lost Gwen? I was in the exact same situation you were in. I hated Norman for what he had done, and I wanted to make him suffer because of it."

"But you were able to stop yourself. I was mere seconds from frying Morlun with my heat vision."

Peter just shakes his head, "Even if Clark didn't show up, I still think you would have stopped yourself. You are way stronger than you give yourself credit for Karen. You have a bad temper sure, but you also have a good heart. Your morality outweighs any dark tendencies you may have. That anger you felt towards Morlun, it's perfectly normal. That just shows how human you really are."

With that, Karen smiles, "I guess you're right. Still, I don't ever want to experience something like that ever again. Like I said, just the thought of it scares me."

Peter puts an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders, "I understand."

After some comfortable silence Karen says, "I got your video recording. I'm still questioning why you gave Stinky the USB drive."

"I didn't, the little hell-spawn stole it."

"Come on, he's not that bad."

Peter gives his girlfriend a deadpanned look.

Karen rolls her eyes in defeat, "Okay, he is that bad. But he still let me see the drive after you died. He was probably holding on to it for you."

"I guess so. I meant what I said in that video by the way. You have every right to be mad at me for breaking my pinky swear. I know I hurt you badly, and I'm sorry."

The blonde was silent for a moment until, "Well…it's gonna take some time for me to officially forgive you, but the make-up sex we just had is a good start."

"I'm glad, and I don't blame you if you don't forgive me right away. I'm willing to wait a while myself, especially after everything I put you through."

Karen was now confused, "Wait for what?"

Suddenly, Peter reaches between the mattresses of his side of the bed to pull out a small lead box. He faces his girlfriend again and opens the box. What Karen saw made her heart stop. Inside the box was a gold ring, complete with a small white diamond.

The blonde was utterly speechless, so Peter decided to explain, "That's right, when I was still sick. I promised myself that if I were to ever get better, I was going to pop the question. After everything you and I have went through, I figured we waited long enough. But, and this is a BIG but, there was something Aunt May once told me. She told me that a man has to put his wife before himself. After breaking my promise and constantly lying to you, I now realize in hindsight that proposing to you now probably isn't the right move. Marriage is something that needs to be earned, and it's clear as day that I'm not ready to take that step. So I decided, that when the time is right, when I feel like I have earned your trust again, that's when I will ask to marry you. Until then, this will be on the backburner."

Karen's heart soared at this, the fact that Peter was actually preparing to propose after three years of the two of them being together. But he's right, if he were to pop the question now, she would probably say no, so it was probably a wise decision to wait before he tries again. Still…

"Can…can I see the ring?" the blonde heroine asks.

The spider hero takes the ring out of the box and hands it over to his girlfriend. Karen takes the ring and puts it on left ring finger. She then puts her hand out and takes a good look.

Then she begins to smile, "It's beautiful."

Peter also smiles, "That's the ring Uncle Ben gave Aunt May when he proposed to her. Aunt May said I could have it so I can give it to you."

Karen looks over at her boyfriend, "So she knew about this?"

"I'm surprised she didn't tell you after I croaked, but I guess she knew I would somehow find my way back. She's confident like that."

Karen eventually takes off the ring and gives it back to Peter, to which he puts it back in the box.

Once the wall crawler puts the box back between the mattresses, the Kryptonian says, "Maybe someday you can give that to me properly, but until then, you and I have a lot of ground to cover…Starting now." She then begins to pull the sheets over herself and Peter and the two begin another round of their love-making.

JSA Brownstone

Wearing nothing but the bottom half of his costume, Peter slowly lifts the huge weight above his head. Once word got out about his resurrection, Doctor Mid-Nite insisted he runs some tests on the spider hero, to see if there are any noticeable changes. Judging by the intrigued look on his face when he looks at the monitor that is clocking in Peter's strength, there are definitely some noticeable changes.

"Incredible," says the good doctor. "You're strength level seems to have increased dramatically. Usually the maximum amount you could lift would be 10 tons, now it's four times that amount."

"Pfft, big deal," Power Girl says with a cocky smirk. "I'd still beat him in arm wrestling."

Peter glares at his girlfriend for a moment and then looks over at Doctor Mid-Nite, "I'm not surprised actually, when I first woke up, I felt…supercharged in a way. Ooh, and check this out."

He then fires a web line, yanks the clipboard Doctor Mid-Nite was holding out of his hands and is now holding it himself.

The doctor was stunned by the sudden action, "Your webs, they're now organic."

"I know, awesome right?" Peter says with excitement as he hands the clipboard back to Doctor Mid-Nite. "Now I don't have to worry about running out of web fluid."

"That may be, but I still think we should keep the web shooters," says Power Girl.

Peter now looks confused, "Why?"

The blonde shrugs, "Well, I kinda enjoy all those times together when we brainstorm ideas on what kind of web fluid we could create to help you in certain situations. Maybe if we could modify the web shooters in some way that it would support your new powers, then we could still have some use for them…If that's possible I mean."

Peter thinks about it for a moment, "Actually, it is possible. Maybe your peeps at Starrware could give us a hand."

"They have been pretty reliable so far." Power Girl says with a smile.

"So Peter," Doctor Mid-Nite cuts in. "You want to run more tests to see if there are any more changes?"

As the wall crawler puts on the top half of his costume, he says, "Actually Doc, I might need to take a rain check on that. I need to see if I still have a teaching job."

"Not to mention you need to call Aunt May," Power Girl interjects.

"That too," Peter says as he walks over to his girlfriend and offers her his arm, "Shall we?"

The Kryptonian rolls her eyes in amusement, chuckles and then proceeds to link arms with her boyfriend, "We shall."

In a house somewhere in Brooklyn…

Julia Carpenter is seen washing dishes in the kitchen. Despite her casual wear, which consists of a simple red T-shirt, some jeans and white tennis shoes, she is still wearing her sunglasses, and is staring straight ahead rather than looking down at what she is currently doing. Outside of the kitchen, a little, strawberry blonde girl, who looks no older than ten, is trying to sneak past her mother and head towards the front door when suddenly…

"And just where do you think you're going young lady?"

Julia catches her without even looking over her shoulder.

The little girl groans, having been caught in the act, "How did you…You know what, never mind. I…was going to head to the library."

"No you weren't, you were about to go to the mall and meet up with your friend, Sally. I also know you haven't done your homework yet."

The girl doesn't say anything.

"Go back upstairs and finish your homework Rachel. You have a test this Friday that you will fail because you didn't study, I REALLY want to prevent that from happening."

Rachel huffs, "Fine."

But as she is about to head back to her room, she hears the sound of a plate shattering. She turns around and sees her mother holding her head in pain.

"MOM," Rachel shouts as she rushes towards Julia. "Mom, what's wrong?"

Once she recovers, Julia, with a shocked look on her face says, "There's a disturbance in the Great Web."

Spidey and Peej have finally patched things up, but now it looks like someone, or something, is looking to start some trouble, find out who, or what, it is next chapter.

I know this was a rather short chapter, but I decided to have it be focused more on Peter and Karen. After all, it's been a while since they ever had a moment alone like this, and I'm sure some of you were probably missing those moments due to all the craziness that keeps happening.

Be sure to leave a comment with your thoughts on the story so far. Oh, and for those of you who are unaware, there's a brand new Spidey fic out now called Spider-Man: The Young Avenger. It features our favorite web head on his home turf in the Marvel Universe. The first two chapters are already out, so feel free to check it out if your curious, though I'm sure most of you have already. Until next time...