Andi dragged Gwenpool into the sewers, hiding in the only place she could from the police force currently swarming around downtown Manhattan. Hours passed as she tended to Gwen and Mania, waiting for the sedatives to wear off and rouse the hero to bring them back home. Laying Gwen on her side, she positioned her friend's head to rest in her lap, up off the ground and resigned herself to a long wait. She took the time to try to talk to the symbiote, to comfort and bond with her, but Mania was scared, confused and not at all ready for a new host. She shuddered in her hands, ripples cascading across her body.

"What were they doing to you," Andi whispered softly as she petted the injured alien. She'd never seen a symbiote so weak and vulnerable- she hadn't even known the creatures could be pushed so close to death in the first place. Hours slipped away as she caressed her partner, humming a tune her father used to sing to her. Late evening came before Gwen finally stirred, groaning loudly in pain as she woke up.

"Ow… owowowow," she whined, her body on fire as each of her injuries jostled for attention. Scrapes, cuts, bruises- she was pretty sure there was a scale lodged in her shoulder from where the lizard girl had swatted her with her tail.

"Don't get up too fast. That dragon chick kicked the crap out of you," Andi warned, placing a comforting hand on Gwen's shoulder.

"She was so strong," Gwen whined, gingerly stretching her limbs. Minutes passed before she finally managed to gather herself, her mind sluggishly piecing together what'd happened before she was drugged.

"… Andi? How are we out of the Gutter," she asked confusedly, absolutely certain that she'd passed out before even seeing her interdimensional safe-zone.

"Oh… I found Heroes After All," Andi explained as she tried to push the memory of her time in The Gutter out of her mind.

"Andi… are you okay? You didn't melt your brain in there, did you," Gwen asked cautiously, nudging her friend as she tried to get her attention.

"I'm trying not to think about it," Andi admitted with a shrug.

"You didn't… see anything important in there did you? Secret identities or anything," Gwen pressed her. She didn't want Andi to be the start of some crossover event. If she knew too much, she could be in danger.

"No, I just found your stories and followed them here," she said sincerely. "You never told me you played the drums."

"The drums- oh! Oh man, don't tell me you opened those comics," Gwen sighed, holding her face in her hands. She'd been thoroughly avoiding interacting with any version of Gwen Stacy- clones meeting each other normally didn't go well and she'd hate to see what Gwen would think of her- but if Andi had found the Spider-Gwen line… it would only be a matter of time before they became involved with one another.

"Just a couple of them. Should I not have," Andi asked confusedly. Knowing how to play the drums wasn't exactly something she'd expect people to be embarrassed about having others know.

"I… I'll tackle that character arc later. Did you get Mania," Gwen finally asked. She leaned in to tug on Andi's costume, expecting the cloth to have been replaced by the living liquid of the symbiote suit. Andi opened her hands, showing Gwen her old partner currently threading her way between her fingers.

"She's so little," Gwen gasped softly. She couldn't actually remember having worn a symbiote- non-canon issues tended to erase themselves from her memory even if she could look back and read what'd happened to her in The Gutter- but she was positive that Klyntar were bigger than this.

"Yeah… She's gonna need some time…" Andi tucked Mania back into her pocket before turning back to Gwen.

"Wanna go home? I'm starving," Gwen said playfully, wiping dried blood off her arms.

"Can we call your doctor friend first? That lizard girl broke one of my ribs." Andi was afraid of getting back up again, certain that the pain of her rib shifting around again would make her pass out.

"Oh, yeah good point. Hopefully she won't mind the sewer smell," Gwen said hopefully as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Ugh, totemo okotte imasu," Himawari growled, letting out her frustrations on her speedbag. Gwen and Andi watched with concern from their seats on the floor of the gym, far too sore to try working out after their narrow escape.

"My first real job and I blow it! I can't believe how much of an idiot I am," she spat, the rhythm of her knuckles hitting the leather drumming louder as she berated herself.

"Hey, uh… I don't think you ever told us where you work," Gwen said softly, nursing her rolled ankle with an ice pack.

"Gwen, she told us she worked security the first week we met," Andi sighed, playfully smacking her friend on the shoulder.

"Did she," Gwen asked confusedly, looking at both of her roommates confusedly.

"Yeah, she definitely did," Himawari sighed, speeding up her assault until the bag was hardly a blur. Gwen laughed softly, clutching at her side as she did so.

"What's so funny," Himawari asked distractedly.

"You're just so small," Gwen teased. She was still almost positive their roommate was just an extra, and most other extras usually followed an average body plan to ease the inking process. Extras as tiny as their roommate were few and far between.

"Gwen, you're barely two inches taller than me," Andi reminded her.

"You're not wrong, but at least I can reach my bunk without using the ladder," she teased, a mischievous smirk on her face.

"Don't be a jerk, Gwen," Himawari whined, chucking her glove at the girl. "You don't have to be tall to be a good security guard, just strong. You've seen me bench four plates," she said proudly.

"Isn't that like, less than half a ton," Gwen asked, still not used to her friend's jargon.

"It's 225! That's like double my body weight!"

"Black Widow can press 500," Gwen said smugly, instantly met with another glove to the face.

"Black Widow spent years being brutally abused and injected with experimental drugs to get the way she is," Himawari pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You guys are great, but I'm gonna head back to the dorm. I gotta check up on some stuff," Andi explained, hoping that Gwen would get the hint. Mania had been growing a little restless in her pocket and needed… something.

"Remember what I said about the chocolate," Gwen said, playfully chucking Himawari's gloves back at her as Andi painfully got to her feet.

"Hey um… stop me if this is too personal, but did you two um… switch? Or something," Himawari asked curiously.

"Yes we did! I'll tell you all about it in graphic detail," Gwen said excitedly, happy to get back at her friend.

"Goodbye!" Andi groaned, leaving the gym as quickly as she could. Stopping at the campus store, she picked up a dozen chocolate bars and a Red Bull before making her way back to her dorm. Gwen had explained that Klyntar metabolized a chemical in chocolate- how she knew this, Andi would've preferred she hadn't asked. Opening the door, their dorm was dark and cool. Hopefully just how Mania would like it. The symbiote was squirming around in her hand, gnawing at the tips of her fingers in frustration. She was vulnerable and weak and still terrified of Andi and her Hell-Mark.

"I thought you'd gotten used to this, girl… It's still me. Why are you so afraid," Andi asked softly, breaking off a square of chocolate and offering it to the Klyntar. They hadn't exactly had the best relationship since the Hell-Mark had transferred from Mania to herself- the rage that came with it had fueled carnage even the symbiote couldn't stomach- but they'd been through so much since then. Fighting the Poisons, helping Coach Thompson… Andi tried to rationalize it, but the longer her friend refused to eat the square of chocolate, the more isolated she felt.

"Why are you so afraid of me," she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Uuuuuuuuuussssssssed uussssssss." Between a cough and a whimper, the Klyntar's voice wavered and broke as it spoke.

"M- Mania I-"

"Uuuuuuuuusssssssssed uuuuuuussssssssss. Huuuuuuuuurt uuuusssssss. Abaaaandooooooned uuuussss. Leeeeffffffft uuusssssss tooooo diiiiiiieeee!" The alien's skin turned to living razor wire. Claws and fangs tore into the skin of Andi's palm, but she refused to drop the writhing creature.

"I- I didn't… Mania you two were bonded to Lee, I-"

"Wooooould haaaaaave… leeeeeefffffft. Prrrrriiiiiiiiccccceeeee baaaaaad hooooooost. Woooooouuuuuld haaaaaave retuuuuuuurned." She spoke as if she'd waited her whole life to say those words. To call Andi out on her negligence, to make her suffer as she'd suffered those long months on the Raft.

"I didn't- I couldn't know! Mania, please," she yelped as she held onto the alien, it's fangs tearing her hand to shreds. She felt terrible- she'd never considered saving Mania for its well-being. It'd only been about herself.

"Dooooooon't… waaaaaant to be ussssssed."

"Mania… I'm so sorry I hurt you. I never meant to leave you behind, I- I messed up. I messed up and I'm so, so fucking sorry." She begged the symbiote to forgive her.

"Doooooon't… trusssssst you." Mania moved to the tips of Andi's fingers, as far away from her as she could get.

"You don't have to trust me. You don't even have to believe me! But you gotta let me help you." Andi offered Mania the chocolate again, taking care not to let it touch the blood that'd been pooling in her palm. The symbiote finally crawled towards the square and took a bite of the candy before devouring it entirely.

"I'm gonna fix this. I promise I'm gonna fix this. I'm gonna make it up to you," she whispered, feeding the symbiote another square of chocolate before wiping the last of her tears from her eyes. About an hour passed as she hand-fed Mania most of the chocolate bar. The symbiote definitely felt… heavier. But she couldn't be too sure if the chocolate was actually working. Mania seemed to relax a little, at least. There was a loud knock on the door followed by a few seconds of dramatic key fumbling before Gwen finally pushed it open. Andi closed her hand around the symbiote and hid her behind her back.

"Tell her what you did," Himawari said sternly, shoving her friend into their dorm. She looked to be on the verge of tears, hands on her hips as she led Gwen into the room. "Andi I'm so sorry, I didn't-"

"Andi, dear. Love of my life. My moon and stars. Mjölnir to my Thor-"

"Gwen, I get it." Andi rolled her eyes, seriously considering ending this whole dating charade.

"Can you please let our roommate know that I can kiss and be kissed by whoever I want," Gwen said playfully, throwing an arm around Himawari's shoulders, raised eyebrow and cocky grin painting a picture that Andi couldn't help but laugh at.

"I'm so sorry Andi, she leaned in and I wasn't paying attention, I promise I'll never-"

"Himawari, you're way too good for her. She doesn't deserve you," Andi warned, playfully rolling her eyes at the pair.

"Jealous," Gwen asked teasingly, tossing one of Himawari's gloves at her. Andi reached up, snatching the glove out of the air before it hit her before realizing what she'd been holding on to. But instead of the small pool of tar, Mania had formed a fingerless glove around her hand, the familiar itch making her skin tingle as the symbiote healed the cuts she'd made in her palm.

"Thanks…"

"You can't just break into top security prisons whenever you want, Andi," Flash said firmly. He'd heard what'd happened and immediately knew who was at fault. He'd rushed back to Philadelphia as fast as he could, intent on chewing her out. The thought of her having been caught on the Raft made him shudder- he'd heard more than his fair share of stories of what went on in that prison. The prisoners that ended up there were the type of scum that usually deserved it, but someone like Andi- someone good… she wouldn't deserve what they'd do if they found out she was Hell-Marked.

"Coach-"

"Andi, that was a new level of stupid. What if you'd got caught? What if you'd let someone out!" The possibilities had run through his mind for hours on his trip to KSU. He was going to put his foot down.

"Coach, I know. I know, I get it. But just look at her." Andi shoved her hand in his face, the black fingerless glove melting into a puddle of tar with a face on her palm. Flash eyed the symbiote, a look of concern on his face.

"... that's Mania," he asked, his voice softening just a touch.

"Yes! She was even smaller than this when we saved her," Andi explained, squeezing her hand as a signal for Mania to resume her disguise.

"… they did that to her?" Flash had spent a long time as Agent Venom, and for all of the close calls and beatings he'd been through, he'd never seen a symbiote so injured.

"They were starving her for months. Then their dragon warden tried to incinerate her. She would've died!" Andi stood her ground. She wasn't going to allow Coach Thompson to tell her what she did was wrong. She'd saved Mania- even if she hadn't realized it- and she was glad she'd done it.

"I saved her Coach… and I'd do it again." She crossed her arms, easily sliding into Rebellious Teen™ Mode. Flash looked from Andi to the small, injured symbiote in her hand. He'd come with an expectation to chew her out the way his own superiors had when he'd messed up. But time and again, Andi proved that she didn't need the kind of direction he'd needed himself at her age. Where he'd stubborn, cocky and bullheaded, she was compassionate and resourceful. Maybe every bit as stubborn, but what teenager wasn't? He sighed, placing a comforting hand on Andi's shoulder.

"Don't… just be careful, okay? Don't let that new partner of yours get you into trouble," he warned her. He'd searched up Gwen Poole in his spare time and hadn't come up with much. Suspiciously zero activity before only a few months ago before some involvement with a triple homicide of a few would-be bank robbers. A BOLO in her name regarding some weird and unsanctioned alien activity with the NYPD… Nothing good. "Where is she anyway," he asked, half expecting the girl to appear on cue again.

"Oh. I tied her up and locked her in the closet so she wouldn't bother us," Andi said with a small smirk. Flash laughed, playfully ruffling her hair.

"Alright, Andi. Seriously, though… try to be more careful next time. Please?"

"I promise. Thanks for… thanks for understanding. I've… missed her so much… I was afraid to tell you…" She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight. She'd been dreading telling him what'd happened and afraid of what he'd do when he found out, but this went better than she could've hoped. Coach was a nice guy. "I thought you'd think I was addicted or something like Brock, or something," she admitted.

"Andi. If there's anyone on the planet who'd understand what you're feeling it's me. You did the right thing, I just… I just want you to be safe." Flash hugged her back and they stood like that for a few moments. Andi was the best thing to have come from his time in Philadelphia, and he couldn't be more proud of her.

"Th- thanks… thanks, coach." Andi's voice wavered, but didn't crack this time. She finally pulled away from him before sitting on her bed.

"If you need something don't be afraid to call," Flash reminded her.

"Sure thing." Andi waited until she was sure he'd left the residence hall before opening her closet. Gwen had been blindfolded, gagged, and cuffed to her desk chair, and had nothing to do but sit in silence while the heroes talked outside. Humming to herself she quickly undid the restraints before helping Gwen to her feet.

"You are… the worst teammate… ever," Gwen hissed, spitting the sock and had used to gag her out of her mouth as she glared daggers into her friend.

"That's fair."