Happy Valentines day (it's a little after midnight where I'm at)! To keep to season I just have one question. Not expecting much of an answer at this point, but I figure I might as well ask anyway: What do you guys think about the idea of pairing the two main protags together? I've gotten at least one review and a PM to this effect asking if what happened in the latest chapter is meant to be indicative of a permanent relationship.

I mean so far neither of them seem to have much chemistry so character-wise I have my doubts but I'm interested to hear what others have to say given that as the author I've inevitably biased despite any efforts to the contrary. So what do you guys think?


"So...who starts first?"

Gwen looked at each of her friends sitting on the couch. Betty was practically bouncing in her seat like a kid with a sugar high, her smile almost infectious; Glory seemed more annoyed than anything else judging by the way she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose; and MJ...she was just looking at her, her eyes slightly narrowed and nothing else. Honestly it creeped her out more than when she was screaming her head off.

They'd agreed on a system to at least try and minimize the chaos: They'd take turns asking their own questions, one each time to avoid overstaying or making things too uncomfortable. Personally she would have preferred going to sleep for the next week straight and hoping that by the time she woke up they'd all think that...well, this entire fucking day was a dream. Bad enough that her friends found out her identity but now Peter just ki-

Nope. Nada. No me gusta. She was not gonna go there. One crisis at a time.

They looked at one another for a second before Glory spoke up, "Guess I'll go first," she said, waiting for MJ or Betty to complain (they didn't) before continuing, "Look, Gwen, before we start I'll just give you a heads up: Some of these questions might be...uncomfortable." She eyed the other two pointedly, MJ rolling her eyes while Betty ignored her, "If you don't wanna answer just tell us straight up, alright? And try not to jump out the window or something..."

"Like I could. Don't have my work clothes." She gestured to the table between them, her mask and the rest of her costume lying on top like a piece at a museum, "Besides, what would that do? I kinda live here and you guys know where my dad's house is..."

"Point." Glory gave a small smile before picking up a sheet of paper. They'd written their questions down on paper; again to try and avoid turning into gibbering messes, "Right, well, I think this is obvious: How'd you get your powers?"

'Alright, an easy question first,' Gwen let out a small breath of relief before answering, "Okay, uh...you guys remember the field trip four years ago? When we went to the science center?"

MJ was the one to answer first, which she was pretty sure was breaking one of the rules, "How could we forget? You panicked and fainted after being...bitten by a...spider..." she trailed off, eyes narrowing even more, "Oh, no fucking way. Are you seriously gonna say that you got bitten by some spider and it gave you fucking superpowers?"

"Well, if you put it like that it does sound stupid, doesn't it?" Gwen said, rolling her eyes exaggeratedly. Honestly it sounded pretty absurd even to her, but seeing was believing and all that crap, "That spider was irradiated because of that weird experiment they did. It bit me and then it died, so I couldn't tell you the science or proof or whatever. All I know is that I felt like shit for a couple days then I woke up one day sleeping on the ceiling."

"Groovy." Betty whistled.

"Woah, so you mean anyone from our class could have been bitten?" Glory asked, getting a slightly uncomfortable nod from the blonde in return. If she hadn't switched places with Peter...well, maybe there'd be two Spider-Men running around right now, "Shit...close call, huh? Think how much more of a pain in the ass MJ would be if she was the one who got snacked on by the spider fairy. Tragedy averted right there."

"You know I can burn your stuff, right?" MJ asked flatly, her tone slightly annoyed.

"On that note we should probably change. I'll go next!" Betty chimed in, not even looking at her paper before asking her question, "Alright, I gotta know this: Where do those webs come from? I mean do they come out of your wrist or something? Wouldn't that hurt? Also, don't spiders usually have webs coming out of their ass? Why do they come out of your wrists? Not that I'm complaining since it'd be fucking weird seeing you swinging from your butt, but-"

"Woah, slow down, Betts!" She put her hands up and laughed slightly. This was going a tad better than she'd hoped, "Look, they aren't organic or anything. It'd be pretty weird if it was," she muttered a silent apology to Pete- uh, Spider-Man inside her head as she took out her webshooters from her backpack, "I use these webshooters. Dunno all the science behind them, but Ms. van Dyne said they take moisture from the air and-"

"Woah, woah, woah! You mean Janet van Dyne? As in the The Wasp!?" Glory interrupted. Again Gwen was pretty sure this was breaking the rules, "Cause if it is then-"

"Is that your next question?" she asked back jokingly, MJ holding back a snort at the annoyed look Glory was now sporting, "Kidding, kidding! To answer your question, yeah it was Janet van Dyne and she doesn't like being called The Wasp anymore. She retired for a reason." She leaned back and crossed her legs, "As for how we met...can we save that for later? It's not exactly my proudest movement."

"Sure, I guess..." Glory said, obviously bummed. Huh...so much for being the mature one of the group.

"Alright, so as I was saying she gave me two of these. Don't have to worry about them running out as long as there's moisture in the air, or at least that's what she told me..." She moved the pseudo-bracelet slightly and Betty's eyes followed it like a dog to a frisbee, "Uh...you wanna test it out-"

"Yes!" Well, she was actually bouncing in her seat now, an eager smile on her lips while her hands grabbed for the webshooter impatiently. It would have been funnier if she wasn't being kinda-interrogated.

"Right, lets make sure you don't break any of our things." She stood up and went to Betty's side, clamping the webshooter on her shaking right arm while Betty and MJ looked on, "Alright, to avoid misfire whenever I make a fist or I'm carrying something (or someone...) Ms. van Dyne put the trigger really high up. This thing here." She guided Betty's ring and middle finger to the small pressure switch in the middle of her palm, "You gotta press em twice really fast or no web ejects. Alright? Now let me get-"

Her spider-sense was again annoyingly absent when Betty clicked twice in excitement, a line of webbing ejecting and hitting Gwen right in the nose before covering the rest of her face in the sticky biocables, "Shit, Gwen!" Betty pulled back in a panic, dragging the superhero forward before she planted her feet on the ground to keep herself from falling over, "Shit, shit, shit! I didn't mean to do that!" Betty yanked back again, but this time she found herself being pulled forward when Gwen refused to budge, "How do you-"

"Betty, calm down!" she yelled, resisting the urge to yank the web off then and there. The last thing she needed was to break Betty's wrists, "Just tap a third time and it'll eject the web!"

Gwen waited for the telltale click before she pulled the webbing off, "So that's how it feels like on the other end..." she mumbled, rubbing at the now-sticky flesh with a scowl. Betty at least had the decency to look ashamed; Glory was trying (and failing) to hold back her laughter while MJ had a phone up and shamelessly recorded the entire thing, "...You put that up on youweb and you're literally dead, Watson!"

"Calm down, Spider-Gwen. This is just for...posterity." She put the phone back in her pocket, a smirk on her face, "Don't worry, no one who doesn't already know will see it."

She was so tempted to grab the phone and snap it in half - and she definitely could've, it would've been so easy - but she reigned it in. Taking back her webshooter from Betty with a sigh, she gave MJ a flat look before saying, "Alright, Detective Watson, your turn. I'm sure you're just so eager to rub it in that you were right and they were wrong."

"Nah, I'll do that later. Got all the time in the world." MJ shrugged, "Alright, here's my question: All the times you missed band practice and gigs, was it because you were busy doing the Spider-Gwen thing?"

"Alright, first of all? Don't call me that again. Ever. Not all of us want our names plastered on everything." She sat back on the couch, ignoring MJ's light scowl, "And to answer your question, yeah. I mean I guess it's kinda my fault for losing track of time-"

"Kinda?"

"Alright, entirely my fault, oh mighty MJ." Gwen threw up her hands and waited for another interruption for before continuing, "Look, MJ, I love the band and all but when I see a burning building or some dude getting mugged I think I know where my priorities are. Sorry if that's not good enough for you-"

"Calm down, Gwencent. Jeez, maybe you should take a chill pill," MJ said, arms crossed, "Look, I'm not enough of a bitch to think a concert's worth some innocent guy's life. I'd just, you know, prefer a heads up sometimes? Maybe something like 'can't make it, have to stop a Sharktopus rampage'? I mean you miss half of our practices nowadays, you can't be running into sudden problems all the damn time."

"You'd be surprised..." she muttered. Sometimes it almost felt like the universe was trying to fuck her whenever it seemed like she'd be at practice on time for once whether it was a White Rabbit calling her out or Ringer trying to hold up some stores for protection money, "But okay, fine. I'll text when I can and try to be at practice 30 minutes early to avoid last minute problems. That fine with you, mom?" She saw MJ roll her eyes and she smiled cheekily, "Oh, and sudden villain attacks mean I gotta take off early. No exceptions"

"Right, one of your corndog runs...you know, you never actually came back with corndogs even once," Betty said, "Kinda obvious looking back on it."

"My turn, then." Glory took a deep breath and stood up straighter, "Alright, real talk for a minute, Gwen. Who else knows that you're Spider-Woman? I mean you didn't seem like you wanted to tell us anything, so..."

"For the longest time it was just my dad..." She looked down at her lap, her hands pressed together tightly. The question was slightly uncomfortable, but it made sense, "He, uh, had me at gunpoint so I did the only thing I could to try and convince him to let me go. This happened during our concert months ago, the one that Hipp- uh, Rhino crashed when he tried to kill my dad."

"I remember that...hold on, didn't you save him?" Glory asked, Gwen nodding in return. She had a feeling she knew where the question was going, "Wait, so your dad tried to hold you up right after you save him? That's-"

"Could we stop right there? Gonna pull that 'this is really fucking uncomfortable' card, Glory..." She bit her lower lip and waited for Glory's "Yeah, sure" before continuing, "Right, anyone else? Uh, I told the Parkers a couple days ago because of...reasons..." She was not going to tell them about Peter and The Lizard. One identity reveal was bad enough, "That's all of them...wait, hold on."

She suddenly grew quiet. MJ raised an eyebrow and nudged her with her foot, "Uh...earth to Gwencent. You there?"

Gwen didn't respond, too focused on her sudden realization, 'Murdock and Castle know...' With everything happening it'd almost slipped her mind. Her dad could take care of himself and the Parkers were just distant enough that they could be safe, but her best friends? The people she hung out with every day? 'No, no, no! Calm down! Castle's fine, you helped save his family! That has to mean something! But for Murdock...'

"Uh...I think she shut down," she heard Betty say. The glasses wearing brunette leaned forward and snapped a couple of fingers in front of her face, "Yo, Gwen, you there?"

"Huh?" She blinked and shook her head, "Uh...yeah, yeah. It's just..." She had to word this carefully, "Guys, what we're talking about can never leave this room, understand? Two people I don't exactly trust know my identity and I wouldn't put it past them to try anything. If they think you don't know anything then they might let up, but just...just make sure you don't give even a single fucking hint, okay!?"

"Gwen, you're being kinda vague here. Who knows?" Glory asked.

'Moment of truth...' She took a calming breath and said, "Matt Murdock and Frank Castle. Castle found out months ago but he wasn't sure till recently. As for Murdock...no clue. Maybe he saw me unmasking or something, but-"

"Woah, hold up? Castle? That guy who went all creepy stalker on you when we went to the nightclub?" MJ asked.

"Yeah, he wanted to make sure it was me. Probably should have stayed down..." She pressed a hand to her forehead and sighed. Staying down and playing the victim would have made things much more simple. Hell it'd have been his word - that being a former mercenary and known paranoid workaholic - versus the daughter of the police chief. She was pretty damn sure she could have sold it if she just swallowed her pride and made with a few crocodile tears, "Instead I had to punch him..."

"Well, you did punch him through a window. That was pretty metal," Betty said.

"Yeah, thanks," She gave a strained smile, "As for Murdock...fuck, I don't even know what that guy's deal is sometimes. Just...promise me one thing." She looked at each of them in turn, "You ever see a blind redhead claiming to be a lawyer you plug your ears and ignore anything he tells you. Guy'll say anything to get your attention and if he keeps bothering you then tell me immediately. I'll...do something to make sure he gets the message."

"Woah, Gwencent, mama bear much?" MJ looked at her worriedly, "If this guy knew your identity for months and didn't do anything I think you can relax" Gwen gave her a scowl, "...But, yeah, sure, pinky swear if any redhead blind guys get near me."

Glory and Betty gave their own affirmatives and Gwen sighed in relief. Murdock was a bastard and she wouldn't put anything above him. Maybe she could ask Cap for some advice on dealing with him...ah, it'd have to wait. This wasn't the time for all that, "Right, your turn again, Betts" she said, forcing the grimness out of her voice, "Just, uh, don't ask me for the webshooters again or how I stick to walls. Don't really know any more than you do."

It would've been like asking them to explain how they move move their fingers and toes. It just...came to her.

"Aww, you're no fun." She crossed her arms and pouted for a moment before speaking up again, "Alright, uh...how strong are you? I mean I've seen some of your fights on the youwebs but it's kinda hard to tell. Everyone in the comments keeps arguing and some guys say you're stronger than She-Hulk because of some weird physics thing with height and weight or whatever."

"I...don't actually know," she replied, a hand rubbing the back of her head and a slight blush on her cheeks, "I mean I never really put it to the limit, you know? I spend most of my time trying to tone it down cause I want to avoid punching people's jaws off...trust me, I broke a lot of treasured possessions before I managed to reign it in. Had a hard time trying to explain just why I kept breaking our antique plates..."

"Could you lift us all up?"

She had the distinct feeling that Betty was more interested in seeing her powers up close than asking any actual questions...still, there was no harm in it, right? "Ask and you shall receive," Before Glory and MJ could get off she walked behind the couch and lifted, causing Betty to let out an excited whoop while Glory and MJ screamed in surprise and clung to one another. The three of them were nearly hitting the ceiling, "This good enough for you, Betts? I mean I could try it with one hand if-"

"Do it!" Betty laughed, the response coming in an exhilarated scream.

"Don't you fucking dare, Stacy! I will kill you if you raise us any higher!" MJ screamed louder.

Gwen didn't bother to hide her smirk before she lowered one hand and raised the couch higher, MJ and Glory clinging to each other more tightly and yelling obscenities in lieu of jumping off. She'd apologize to Glory later for dragging her into it, but seeing MJ looking like she was about to piss herself was so worth it after weeks of having to play dumb in front of Detective Watson.

A devilish idea came to her and her smirk widened, "...You know, I wonder if I could do it with one finger-"

"Gwen, I swear to god I will kick you out of the band if you don't put us down right now!"

Alright...she'd had her fun. As gently as she could she lowered the couch back onto the floor, MJ and Glory immediately jumping off and breathing in a panic, "Jeez, guys, it was just five feet. You act like I was going to throw you off a skyscraper," Was she being too much of a jerk? ...Maybe, but she was answering all their questions. A little harmless fun couldn't hurt, "I mean how am I gonna take you guys webswinging if you can't handle even that?"

"If it's all the same to you, Gwen, I'll pass on the tarzan thing," Glory said, a slight smile on her lips as her breathing grew calmer, "I'm pretty sure Betty's gonna bug you with that enough for all three of us."

"Count on it!" Betty gave her two thumbs up.

"Shame. What about you, MJ? Don't tell me the great Mary Jane Watson's afraid of heights?"

"Yeah? Fuck you, Gwencent. Fuck you in your weird spider ass!" MJ gave her the one finger salute and Gwen laughed. She wouldn't hold a grudge; she was far too lazy to keep it up, "Least I know who to call when I need help moving my stuff. I mean, god, how the fuck do you not get throw up going up buildings like that?"

"Part of my powers...aaaannnnd that was your question for this round." She clapped her hands and ignored the redhead's glare, "Glory, you wanna do the honors again?"

Hours passed with more and more questions. Glory was no-nonsense, asking about how things went since she got her powers and how she felt after four years of having them along with her health (always a mother hen...); Betty was interested in her powers and her gadgets, asking how this and that worked and where she got her outfit from (dating Falcon probably numbed her...) while MJ...well, she asked about her commitments to the band and whether it was really her who'd been playing drums upside down four years ago.

Honestly it was surprising. She had this big idea in her head that her friends would freak out and reject her or at the very least things would be different now that they found out she had powers, but nothing seemed to change. Glory still worried, Betty was still excited and MJ didn't seem to care about pissing her off despite the fact that she could chuck her out the window with one pinky.

It was going great...till they came to the elephant in the room.

They all looked at each other again before Glory nodded, her expression solemn. Gwen suddenly had a bad feeling, "Gwen...last question, but again you don't have to answer if you don't want to, okay?"

"Uh...alright?" She did her best to give a lighthearted shrug. One more question and she was home free. Whatever it was she was ready-

"What happened to Peter that night at prom?"

...Except that.

She couldn't even try to mask to frown that she suddenly sported or the way her hands shook. After everything that happened she'd almost forgotten for a second that to everyone else she was still Peter Parker's murderer. They'd know the truth eventually - especially once she told Cap that the Parkers agreed to release the data - but until then she wasn't in the home stretch just yet.

"I didn't kill him..." She bit her lip to keep from saying any more, 'They'll know eventually,' she told herself, 'Everyone in New York's going to know...' She couldn't shake away the feeling of guilt, even after Uncle Ben, Aunt May, Cap and Spider-Man told her she shouldn't take responsibility, "What happened in prom was...just one giant fucking shitshow..."

"Gwen..."

"Enough, Glory." Surprisingly it was MJ who spoke up, "Look, I dunno what the fuck happened but Gwencent's really doesn't seem to be in the mood for this. With her secret identity it was just kinda 'hahahaha, no' but this is..." She sighed, "Look, she'll tell us when she's ready, alright? And besides," She gave Gwen a knowing look, "You saw how he followed her around, the two were inseparable. She didn't kill Peter. End of story, right?"

"Right..."


The line of questioning ended on that low note and they'd settled into an unlikely sleepover. Glory and Betty shared the bed, MJ had the couch while Gwen...well, sleeping on the wall wasn't a first but she didn't expect to do it with other people in the room, that was for sure. In a sense they were kinda treating her differently, but did it really count when they just used her abilities to get dibs on actual cushions and (according to Betty) using webswinging to save on cab fares?

She didn't get much sleep, and it didn't have anything to do with the fact that she was lying down vertically. By the time she'd opened her eyes again the room was still pitch black and the alarm clock showed a rather annoying '3:11 am' on its screen, "Fuck me..." She detached herself from the wall and landed with a dull thud. She was wide awake now, and she had a good idea on why that was.

'Damn it, Peter...Ben...Spider-Man...fuck!'

She trudged into the kitchen and plopped onto a chair, crashing on the table with a groan. First she had to worry about Harry not showing up again; then Mac being kidnapped by those S.I.L.K fuckers; her identity confidants went from 'just dad' to 'fucking everyone' and now she had to deal with Peter apparently being in love with her-

'God, Gwen, get a grip! It was one kiss, not a declaration!' She groaned again and tried to put it out of her mind...

Nope, not working.

Why the hell did he do that? He hated her...no, wait, he hated Spider-Woman who was her but he didn't know that, 'Damn it...' Still, even if he didn't know what the hell could have convinced him kissing her like it was a damn rom com was a good idea? They got along, sure, but she'd only seen his face while she was unmasked a couple of days ago. How the hell did he go from that to 'Oh, I'll kiss her and then run away without fucking explaining! I'm sure that won't cause any problems!'

God, why was she even thinking about this? It was probably just an accident- alright, no, even she couldn't lie to herself that well; it was intentional, no doubt about it. So now the question was, what the hell was she gonna do about it?

The door to the kitchen opened followed by the sound of slippers slapping against the linoleum. Gwen peeked her head up and found MJ, who gave her a lazy wave and made her way to the coffee machine, "Can't sleep either, Gwencent?"

"Yeah...lot on my mind."

The redhead gave a hum and waited for the coffee to mix, the sound of the soft whirring almost comforting before she poured two cups, "I'm not the only one who thinks this is pretty weird, right?" She grabbed both cups and offered one to her before sitting in the chair across, "I mean, it wasn't too long ago that we thought you were just spazzing out and going on benders in New Jersey. Didn't think you were a superhero, you know?"

"Yeah..." Gwen took a slight sip of the bitter drink and sighed in relief, "Uh...how'd you know, anyway? Was it just because my dad stood up for me or..."

"Kinda. That little bit when your dad held you up at the concert when Rhino crashed it? I was there." Gwen's eyes widened and MJ shrugged, spooning a bit of sugar into her coffee, "I didn't see your face or anything, if that's what you're wondering about; too far away and he was kinda blocking the view. All I saw was that Captain Stacy - the guy who made headlines for arresting the freaking Kingpin - put his gun down after you took your mask off. Suspicious."

"You...You saw all that? God, why didn't you say anything?"

"Say what? I was suspicious but I didn't know it was you. What was I gonna say? 'Hey guys I saw Spider-Woman unmask but I didn't actually see her face'? Yeah, I'm sure that won't make me look like an idiot." She rolled her eyes, "After that things just added up, you know? Missing phone calls at the same time Spider-Woman was fighting Shocker or Vulture? Hell you came back smelling like eucalyptus after Koalla Kommander got his ass kicked on the news."

"Could've just been a coincidence, Detective Watson..." She internally winced. In hindsight maybe she should have been a bit more careful.

"Maybe, but hey it explained all your sudden disappearances. You're a lot of things, Gwencent, but you're not the kind of person who'd leave her friends behind; I mean both the concert with Rhino then the one with Felicia and those ninjas? Two for two. It's part of the reason Peter and Osborn followed you around like lovesick puppies."

"Don't call them that..." She looked down at the black drink and sighed. For a second there she'd almost forgotten about her problems on the roof, "...Why were you so insistent on finding out, anyway?"

"Guess I just wanted to know." She shrugged, leaning back in her seat, "I mean ask anyone if they wanna know if one of their friends is a superhero and they'd probably say hell yeah. Glory doesn't care because she's a total buzzkill but hell, curiosity killed the cat and all that." She paused for a moment before continuing, "And I guess I wanted to know if you were really the same 'costumed superstar' who debuted on the Tonight Show and played drums upside down."

"Yeah, that was a thing..." She laughed softly. Things seemed much more simple back then; just enjoying her powers while doing a little community service here and there, "Mj...be honest, are you...jealous that I can do...you know?"

"...Kinda." She took a particularly large sip of her coffee. Gwen wondered if she was just trying to buy time, "Lets face it, who wouldn't? I like getting attention, I've never been ashamed to admit that, and really when I first saw you on TV I thought 'How could I compete with that?'. Doesn't matter how well I sing, I'm not the one dressed in a cool as hell costume playing drums while upside down in front of a television screen."

"I'm sensing a 'but' in there, MJ."

"Yeah, try the last two years." She smiled wryly, "After that night at prom...shit, Jameson's been on the air 24/7 trying to smear you and up his ratings. I mean people are starting to like you now but two years of people saying you're a murderer who belongs in prison?" She clicked her tongue, "Why'd you even keep going? If that happened to me I'd have tossed the costume in the river and never looked back."

"It's the right thing to do," Gwen said, MJ giving a raised eyebrow in response, "It's long and complicated but that's what it really boils down to, so let's just leave it at that, okay?"

"If you say so..." She tapped the side of the mug and let out a soft breath, "So...are we just going to pretend what happened on the roof isn't what's bothering you? Cause it's what's bugging the fuck out of you right now, right?"

For a moment she thought about denying it, maybe say that it was everything else going on in her life, though eventually she put that thought aside. She couldn't exactly go to Cap for this, "Yeah...how'd you know?" Another sip and a slight cough came and went. Usually she preferred it with more sugar but the taste helped her keep focus, "And I was kinda hoping you'd forget about that..."

"You kinda have that look on your face, you know? Trust me I've seen it enough times in high school to know when a kiss is bothering someone." She tapped a finger on the wooden table, "So spill, what's the prob?"

"It's just..." She lowered the mug and closed her eyes, "I don't know how to say it. I mean, I met Pe- Spider-Man a few weeks ago. I thought he was just some guy who got the same powers, you know? I got mine from a radioactive spider so I thought he got his from random chance like I did. I didn't think much of it at the time and another superhero was always good, right? God knows this city needs it."

"What's the deal with you two, anyway? We kinda got overboard asking questions just about you that we totally forgot about Dark Spider."

"Well, first things first his name's Spider-Man. Try calling him Dark Spider and you're just going to piss him off," Gwen said, "Second, that's...complicated. Long story short we ended up working together. Wasn't the most stable, but we made it work." Or, to be more accurate, she made it work. Sometimes it looked like Spider-Man wanted to jump off a building when they got into arguments.

"Yeah, so...how's that lead to you two sucking face?"

"We weren't...sucking face!" She grit her teeth and looked away, her face warm. She wasn't sure if MJ could see the blush on her cheeks in the dim lighting but she wasn't taking chances, "That was just...look, I don't even know what that was! We keep arguing while we're in costume but he doesn't know I'm Spider-Woman so-"

"Whoa, back up a second there, Spider-Gwen." Gwen's eye twitched at the nickname, "He doesn't know that you're Spider-Woman? I thought that was why he was hanging out here! I mean shit how could he not tell? You're not exactly that good at keeping the double identity thing."

"Thanks, MJ. Real nice." She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Look, I found him collapsed on the roof a few weeks ago, I didn't lie about that. I'd changed out of my costume so by the time I found him he didn't know it was me. I patched him up and then..."

Then a lot of really complicated shit happened. Stuff that MJ didn't really need to hear.

"Well, we dealt with this gangster called Hammerhead and I fought a guy who had a gorilla body. It'd take days to try and explain it." She shook her head, "Anyway, we went our separate ways but then I found him on our roof again so I offered him pizza and we just...talked. Told him to come back if he needed someone to talk to so he came here every couple of days when he wasn't busy."

"...Sounds like the start of a bad romantic comedy."

Gwen rolled her eyes. Of course she wouldn't take it seriously, "Yes, I totally planned for it to end that way." She tapped the table in irritation, " Look, long story short he's got no clue who I am and I have no idea why he did that up on the roof." A soft breath escaped her, "I mean one second we were talking about music and whatever crap we could think of and the next..."

"Sucking face?"

"Would you stop calling it that? You make it sound like he's some kind of fucking alien..." She put her head on her hand and grimaced, "Now I don't know what the hell I should do."

"Honestly I don't see the big deal." MJ shrugged, "Look, do you like this guy?"

"That's...difficult to answer." She bit her lower lip, "He's...look, I'll say it straight out: He can be a real asshole sometimes, probably cause of where he came from. I don't hate him, but-"

"Oh god, we're gonna have one of these?" MJ sighed melodramatically, "Look, you like the guy or you don't. Not everything has to be like a headbook relationship status: You like the guy then ask him if he likes you or he's just fucking around. You don't like the guy then tell him to keep his lips to himself. He gets pushy and he's gonna get his ass kicked: You're Spider-Woman! You could probably kick his ass with one hand tied behind your back! I've seen the videos of you two fighting Rhino, you could do it no prob."

"Look, it's not just whether I like him or not," she said, desperately trying to change the subject, "It's also because-"

"Because he looks just like Peter?"

Gwen opened her mouth, but no words came. Actually she was going to say it was because he had a weird like(definitely not love)-hate relationship with her and her alter ego, but that...that was a pretty good point, too.

"How'd you-"

"Oh please, I lived across the Parkers since I was a kid. My mom's old friends with May," she replied, "They tried to set me and Peter up when we were kids, but it never worked out. We weren't into the same things, you know..." She twisted a finger in the air, "I still talk to Ben and May sometimes, mostly cause my mom invites em over for the bonding dinners or whatever. So yeah...I think I know what Peter looks like even if Betty and Glory probably already forgot."

"But-"

"Also, you called him Peter before he left. Care to explain that one without saying it's just a coincidence?"

"It's just a..." She bit her tongue and tried to ignore MJ's smirk. She really wanted to wipe it off her face, "I...look, even I don't know the answer to that one." She looked down at the table, "When I first unmasked him I thought he was Peter come back from the dead. I mean, the resemblance was just so..." She sighed, "Then he has some of Peter's memories and honestly it seems petty damning, but then Cap said he might be Peter from an alternate dimension and-"

"Woah, hold up? Cap? As in Captain America?" MJ interrupted, "I saw the pic on tweeter but I didn't know you kept in contact."

"Yeah, that story's another long one. Save it for another day." Of course she'd focus on that..., "Look, I don't know whether he's Peter or not but he says he isn't and really who am I to say otherwise? I can't just decide whether he is or isn't." She'd made that mistake in the past already...

"Problem solved right there, then," she said, Gwen giving her a questioning look in response, "You just said you can't say whether he's Peter or not and he doesn't think of himself as Peter, so by that train of thought he's not Peter, right? Just...think of him as a stranger with a resemblance or a long lost identical cousin. I mean I've seen him on the news. Hard to imagine the same guy who got shoved into lockers killing like a dozen ninjas with a freaky claw hand or shooting Electro in the face-"

"Her name was Maxine..."

"Uh...right," MJ blinked in confusion before continuing, "Look, point is if he's not Peter then it's just the resemblance, right? If that's too freaky for you then say so. He's a superhero, right? Doubt he's going to be a creeper about it, and if he is you can just throw him off a bridge or something. That'll solve the problem real quick."

"...You're a terrible person, you know that, right?" She crossed her arms atop the table and pressed her face against it. Honestly what was she even doing? She had too much on her plate as it is to worry about getting into a whatever this was with Spider-Man. Once she solved Mac's disappearance and got a message back from Harry then maybe she could worry about dealing with Spider-Man and his little kiss-and-go.

'Right, good plan.' She sat up again and took another sip of her coffee. Just take things one step at a time-

"And hey, if things with Spider-Man don't work out you could always go out with Gayle. Girl's obsessed with you."

She didn't know whether MJ intended for her to spit her coffee out the way she did, but the snort-laugh the redhead gave her made it clear that if it was unintentional then she wasn't exactly broken up about it, "Gayle...you mean your little sister Gayle?" she choked out, frantically wiping at her mouth with the sleeves of her shirt, "Uh...I misheard you, right? I think I'd notice if your little sister's in love with me."

"You didn't notice Osborn or Peter, so I have my doubts..." She shrugged, "Also, I should clarify: She's in love with Spider-Woman...well, a lot of people are, but trust me she's one of the more devoted ones. Last time I went to her room the wall was plastered with posters of you and she made me read her fanfics when I visited home a couple of weeks ago. Yeah..." She shuddered, "You know I thought it was awkward enough reading her little fanfic self getting together with you but now that I know for sure you're the one behind the mask it's kind of worse."

"If you think it's so damn awkward why the hell would you suggest I go out with her?" she hissed. She liked Gayle well enough, she was certainly a lot easier to get along with than her older sister, but she didn't think about dating her at any point; especially not in costume, "I mean, how old is she now? 16? I'd really rather not explain to Anna why I'm dating her underage daughter, thank you very much!

"Hey, it was just a suggestion." MJ shrugged again, "Gayle's prom is coming up, and giving her even one date with Spider-Woman is something I can hold over her for the rest of her life. So...would you?"

"Yeah...that idea can go fuck itself right up the ass, thanks." She waved away MJ's "Oh, come on" and finished the last of her coffee. Honestly, MJ trying to set her up with her little sister? Now she'd seen everything, "You know what, I gotta get outta here. Maybe talk to my dad or something..."

"Now?" MJ looked at the clock, "Dude, it's not even 4 in the morning."

"Yeah, and he leaves for cases with Jessica every time I go there past 7. Honestly I'm not even sure if he sleeps. Hold down the fort, I'll be back soon enough."


The early morning train back to Queens was mostly empty, a consequence of going at such an early hour. Gwen held back a yawn and watched the buildings pass by, rubbing the webshooters attached to her wrists to try and focus herself. She would've preferred swinging over there but her dad warned her against it; it made sense for her to do it in the big city, but to go to Forest Hills? Someone would catch on, he knew it.

So here she was again, walking through the all-too familiar streets with nothing but the streetlights to guide her. The place still looked the same from when she came here a week ago...it looked the same ever since she'd moved here, really. There was something comforting in it, the fact that she could always come back here when everything was said and done.

There was a lightness to her step when she walked through the snow. When she came here before there was always a heavy blanket over her whenever she saw the Parker house, the guilt she felt when she lied to them almost choking her whenever Uncle Ben talked about the good times they all shared in the past.

Now when she saw the Parker house she felt light...not completely guilt-free, but like a burden was taken off her shoulders, 'Maybe I can go see Uncle Ben and Aunt May later...' She smiled to herself slightly as she made her way up the steps of her house. Looking around her for a second, she bent over and took the spare key hidden in the bush and unlocked the door. Surprising her dad would cheer her up.

The house was dark, as she expected. Her dad was either asleep or he was working on his case notes - probably the latter knowing him - which meant he was in his room. Stepping lightly up the stairs, she followed the familiar bath back to his room and opened the door without a care in the world. If he was still asleep then she'd show him some new Dad Cop episodes she managed to yank online. That would...would...

...

Why was Jessica half naked in her dad's room?

Gwen blinked, trying to see if she was suffering from wild hallucinations, but no, it was still there: Her dad sleeping on the bed, the rise and fall of his bare chest nothing out of the ordinary after a late night of work...and then there was Jessica, standing between the two of them with her bra barely on and her jeans disheveled. She saw the older woman's head snap up, her eyes wide and the grip on the shirt in her hands shaky.

Gwen opened her mouth and did the most calm, sensible thing any grown woman in her position would do.

"What the fuck!?"

Screaming like a banshee because a kinda-friend was half naked in her dad's room and what the fuck was going on!?

Her dad sat up with a start, looking at the source of the scream before suddenly pulling the blanket tighter over himself...please don't tell her she was naked under that thing, please don't tell her she was naked under that thing-

Oh, who was she kidding!? She knew what she'd just walked into!

"G-Gwen...?" Her dad asked, his voice shaky, "Wh-What are you doing here?"

"I...wanted to talk to...what the fuck is going on!?" She looked at Jessica, who was hastily putting on her shirt and in the process of grabbing her jacket, "Dad, are you two fu-"

"I-I gotta, George," Jessica interrupted, an uncharacteristic stutter to her tone, "I'll-"

"I...I have to go, sorry!"

Oh, she was not going to deal with that bullshit again! She was going to get an explanation, "Hey, wait!" She grabbed Jessica's arm, "Look, we need to-"

She didn't get to finish before the older woman - Just how old was she, again? Cause she really wanted to know right at this fucking moment! - shook her hand off and fast-walked to the stairs.

Eye twitching in irritation, she ignored the sensible voice at the back of her head and clicked the webshooter twice, snagging a line of webbing at her retreating back, "Alright, I said we were talking and I meant it! No one's leaving this house till I get a fucking explanation from both of you!"

Jessica looked back at her, her eyes switching between her and the web coming from her wrists, "Wait a minute, You're-"

"Yes, I'm Spider-Woman! Everyone already knows!" She ejected another line of webbing to her arm before she could break the biocable at her back, "But you know what? I'll deal with that later! Right now I wanna know why the hell you're sleeping with my dad!?"

"Gwen, it's..." Her dad coughed, "It's complicated."

"Yeah? Well join the line, dad! Cause I ain't leaving till I get an explanation! So put on some pants and get down to the living room! We're gonna talk about this like rational fucking adults now!"


Looks like Gwen's not the only Stacy with love problems...oh well, the old Stacy luck hits home; she's doing 616 proud :P

Anyway, no questions besides the one above, though I do want to clarify a misunderstanding: When I suggested the POV's last chapter I meant which one you guys wanted to see first, not that one precludes the other. I'll try to clarify that for the future. Next chapter will be Noir dealing with Windows OS and trying to get blind drunk even though Anansi's a killjoy and won't let him.

Answers:

Zapper3000380 - Well, hope the end of this chapter didn't give you an aneurysm...though given that both Jessica and George are both side characters I doubt most people even care.

Redentor - Well, I'll have to throw the question back: You tell me. I mean as the author I look at their interactions and lack of chemistry and think 'Not really' but since I'm new to comic fandom I'll listen to you guys and your thoughts on the matter :)

Jajo Camello - Hmm, nice idea with Kletus Kasady, will take note of it for later :) As for Noir, next chapter since Gwen's votes beat out Noir 5-1.

Mingyu - To clarify, what makes it hard to believe that Noir is 18? The way he acts might be cynical but there are pretty cynical teens nowadays and he grew up during the 30's and Depression, so he's bound to be a prick all things considered. He also mentions saving up for college at one point in the fic, something that most mid 20's adults generally don't do.

Hell Gwen's not much better given she's a 19 year old dealing with being accused of her best friend's murder, her other best friend being a terrorist and now giving up one of her motives to keep doing go. And yet I don't seem to have a hard time with people thinking she's not a teenager.

Mynameisthedoctor - Gwen does give hints of that already in this chapter by using her strength to play a mean-spirited joke on Glory and MJ, though she's going to try to avoid abusing as to not be a bully. As for romance? Who knows, maybe the 616/Spider-Gwen fic will end with a romance. Anything can happen. I was going to pair Gwen with MJ or Harry for the fic, but sometimes things write itself as the saying goes.

As for the identity and liar thing? Debatable. I mean it's made clear in one chapter that Noir only hangs out with Gwen when no one else is around; the second Glory showed up in one segment he immediately left despite promising to spend more time with her. Given this he probably hasn't even heard of the accusations and her awkwardness could be anything. Remember his spider-sense doesn't work on her, so he can't get a double read like he usually does like with Castle or Felicia.

For lying it's hit or miss. If someone lied to you for personal gain and you found it out wouldn't you feel pissed? Lying for the greater good aka a white lie is usually seen better, but how do you define what Gwen is doing? While she might have good intentions and she didn't mean to start it at first she's taking advantage of his lack of knowledge to get him to open up to her: In real life lying to someone so they would tell you things they normally wouldn't would piss off a lot of people on the other end. Noir would be justifiably angry if he found out under most circumstances since she's not doing it for some greater purpose.

With regards for the villains...I'll pm that to you. It's a bit long.