"So you think she'll be at school tomorrow?" Rogue asked referring to Rogue, in her second consecutive week in bed in the infirmary in the basement of Xavier's Institute. Peter has been making it a habit to visit her every night. They always had these talks about their lives...well, it's more like Peter's life. Every time he wants more information of anything on Rogue's past, she'll quickly change the subject. But he tries again every night.

"I'm not sure," He answered. He had told Rogue about saving Gwen Stacey 20 minutes ago, but this was one of those times where she quickly changed the subject. Peter got annoyed about talking about things like this, but he did enjoy Rogue's company. "I wouldn't be surprised if she takes a day or too off. Girls like that aren't as strong as they appear to be."

"Is that another stereotype?" Rogue asked raising her eyebrow smirking.

"It's just a guess," he said smiling. Stereotyping has kind of became an inside joke between them. Ever since that incident between Rogue and Peter at the mall, they would poke out any and all stereotyping each other did just to make the other one mad. "Besides, from the look on her face, she didn't even seem like the Gwen Stacey everyone knew." He continued as he became more serious on the matter. "She seemed so...petrified. And alone."

Rogue wiped her smirk off her face. It was no secret that she did not at all agree with Peter's nightlife. "Haven't you seen those kind of faces millions of times?" she asked crossing her arms.

"Yeah," Peter answered with a small frown. "But not of the people that I know...or ever talked to."

"So, Spider-Man saves the day again," Rogue chanted sarcastically.

"Nope," said Peter almost proudly. She was always telling him that helping people isn't stupid. But wearing a mask is. "This was all Peter Parker. I didn't spin a single web or cling onto a single wall. Nor did I wear a costume. I did use my strength and agility...but very mildly."

Rogue almost smiled. "I'm impressed."

Peter stood silent for a moment, and then raised his eyebrow and said, "I'm beginning to think you don't like my costume."

"It's not so much the costume." Rogue assured an unconvinced Peter. "Just the mask."

"Oh I get it." Peter said trying not to laugh. "This is all one of those 'be yourself' kind of things."

"Possibly." Admitted the young woman. "Nothing wrong with being yourself, is there?"

"No." Peter answered "But what if Spider-Man is myself?" He asked in retaliation. He's been waiting for a while for Rogue to bring this same conversation up.

"You created Spider-Man." She reassured him. "He exists within another person. That doesn't make him you. It makes him a character. A role."

"I used to think that." Peter looked down and remembers the words of a certain someone. "But someone helped me realize that I didn't just get powers from this spider bite. I didn't create Spider-Man. The radioactive spider did. I'm just the lucky pick. Now that I have two people living in my body, I gotta be able to balance them."

"Where did you hear this bullshit from?" Rogue asked coldly.

"I didn't expect you to understand." Peter seemed kind of hurt. However, it's true that not a lot of people, human and mutant alike, have any idea what he's going threw.

"What!?" Asked Rogue almost shocked. Perhaps...there is one person who could understand. "What the sam-hell did you just say, Sticky!? Do you remember who I am?" She was heated. Simple. "Do you remember what my powers are? Do you remember why the HELL I'm in this bed in the first place??" Peter really wished he didn't say anything. "I know what it's like to have more than one person inside of me....to the point where I wanted to slice open my head and get them out!!!" Too much info. "Be thankful, Spider-kid. You can control your 'alter ego', I couldn't."

There was silence. Rogue always seems know just what to say to shut Peter up. The silence was interrupted by the sound of an opening door. It was the professor. "Oh, I'm sorry," as he made his way into the room. "Did I interrupt something?"

"No," Peter replied as he got up from the chair that was standing next to Rogue's bed. "I was just leaving. Good night, Rogue."

"'Night," she simply answered as Peter fully left the room shutting the door behind him.

"Is everything alright?" the professor asked Rogue. "You two seem to fight more than you and Kurt. As if your brother and sister or something."

This made Rogue smile a little. "Well, he and Kurt are very much alike. They were both in here earlier complaining about Logan's tough training session. Kurt joked that it was so difficult that Logan himself ran from the session and Beast took over. Is that true?"

The professor laughed lightly. "Well, to a certain extent. Logan was called out of duty for some kind of emergency, but it had nothing to do with us." Rogue replied by raising her eyebrows. "Anyway, Rogue. I wanted to talk to you about....reclaiming your place with the X-Men."

llllllllll

"Are you sure you're comfortable with this?" Peter asked the attractive blonde girl sitting in front of him. Once again, Peter Parker was up to his usual tricks, sneaking out of the mansion. But this time was different. No mask. No webs. Peter was sitting in a booth and a coffee house in town in Bayville next to Gwen Stacey.

"What do you mean?" She asked as she took a sip of her hot chocolate. Peter had gotten there minutes ago and ordered his coffee. He can't say he wasn't shocked that Gwen asked him to meet her here, but he was clearly uncomfortable. He never had coffee with a girl he rescued.

"I mean...you know. Leaving you're house?" In truth, Peter had no clue how to handle this. He saw a few documentaries and cop-dramas about abuse/rape situations, but he wasn't prepared for this.

"No, I'll be fine. I just really needed someone to talk to." There was another silence. They were both clearly nervous. Gwen tried to avoid Peter's gaze by staring into her cup of chocolate. "Are you sure you won't get in trouble for staying out so late?"

"Well, if I don't get caught, it should be fine." Peter said trying to lighten up the mood. It worked, Gwen laughed. "But don't worry about that. I do this all the time."

"Well, well, well." Said Gwen with a devious smirk. "Peter Parker is not as good as he seems?"

"It's just say I have...a night life." Peter took a sip of his coffee. It was clear that both teens were avoiding the real subject at hand. Peter was the first to bring it up. "So. How are you? Are you okay?"

Gwen almost wished that Peter wouldn't have brought the subject up. But it was bound to happen. "Yeah, I'm fine." She says once again looking into her cup. "It just seems so..surreal, y'know?"

"Does anyone else know about this?" "Have you told...I don't know. Your parents? Kyle? Felicia? Jessica?"

"No," replied Gwen almost reluctantly. "I don't see how it's any of there business."

"Do they know about him?" Peter was surprised to find himself full of questions.

"I don't know. I doubt it." Her voice mad it clear that she was now uncomfortable.

"What about your parents?" Before he even asked the question, Peter knew that this would be a sad topic, but he had to ask.

"Well, my family..." Gwen hesitated. Peter expected it. "We're not exactly....close." Peter didn't think so. "My dad's a detective, and he's on the job a lot. And my mother...." Small stall. Peter had an idea what was coming. "She left a month ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry," was the only thing Peter could have thought of. There was another awkward silence. "So," Peter slowly began again. "This may be a stupid question, but what are you going to do now? Tell you're dad?"

"No," Gwen answered immediately. "I won't. I neither will you."

"But-"

"He doesn't have to know, alright!?" Gwen was beginning to get very defensive, but there was nothing Peter could do about it. "Listen, I have to go. It's getting late."

"Yeah," agreed Peter. "Me too." They both got up and went to the front desk to pay their bills silently. "Are you going to be at school tomorrow?"

"Of course," replied Gwen. "I mean, nothing happened today or anything, right?" Peter remained silent. Gwen was obviously hinting to Peter not to tell anyone about the event that took place earlier tonight...even though he told half of the X-Men. "Right?" She asked again nervously.

"Right," replied Peter unwillingly. Gwen was looking through her purse to find money for her check, but Peter stopped her. "I'll take care of it," he said reaching for a couple of extra bucks in his pocket. She was about to protest, but he didn't let her. "Don't worry about it. Just get a good night sleep."

She smiled very sweetly. Not the normal Gwen Stacey seductive smile that captured the eyes of almost every boy in high school, but the true, genuine smile that Peter was trying to get out of her this whole time. "Thank you," she said softly.

"Do you need me to walk you home?" asked Peter just after paying the restaurant host and leaving the restaurant.

"No, thanks," she replied. "I'll be fine. I just need some time to myself to think." She smile, and put her hand on Peter's face. She felt his body temperature raise through the skin, and her smile grew. "Your really are sweet." she said softly. He smiled at her comment, but words couldn't find a way out of his mouth. She slowly took her hand away. "Thanks, again," she said as she turned around and began to head home.

Peter just stood there and watched the blonde walk away until she was almost out of site. He took a look around to see if there was anyone around, but see as though it was past midnight, he wasn't surprised that he was all alone in the coldest of night. He reached into his brown jacket's pocket and pulled something out. It was his red mask. "You'll be fine?" He spoke to himself softly. He looked ahead to see that Gwen was almost invisible. "Somehow, I don't think so."

llllllllll

Peter's assumption was correct. Gwen had a long walk home. But she didn't seem to mind. She never did. Walking home, whether it was from school, a date, or anything, always seemed to calm Gwen down somehow. She would think about everything. School, friends, her parents, anything and everything. Everything was quiet, which was the way she liked it. But just like all good things, it had to come to an end somehow.

She just hoped it wouldn't have ended this way.

"Yo!" Gwen heard someone yell which greatly startled her. She turned around to see two guys...two very muscular guys with their arms crossed and wife beaters...which is what scared her the most. There were two girls behind them. They had a confused look on their faces, but they were also smiling easily. Gwen quickly looked around to see that she was surrounded by nothing but small shops that were closed for the night. Although Manhattan never sleeps, Bayville does.

"Ain't you the chick that told off Ryan?" Gwen swallowed hard. This is definitely not good. She met these guys before, and truth be told, she did not like them.

"Yeah," agreed the other guy. "What's wrong girlie? All alone? No one to save you?" Now she's completely afraid. She took a few steps back getting ready to run away.

"Ryan mentioned some ass hole that jumped him. You know anything?" Gwen now decided to run away, but the two men caught up to her almost instantly. Although they looked the same, the first one who spoke grabbed her arm tightly. "Oh, c'mon, baby!" he said tauntingly. "Where you goin'?"

"You don't have to go anywhere," continued the second thug. "WE can have some fun right here."

"Ho-ly Shit," yelled another voice. It weren't the thug and it wasn't Gwen. It definitely weren't the other two girls. Just then, a figured landed right in front of Gwen and the two thugs, crouched on all fours. The only thing visible about the figure was the big insect-like white eyes. "Are you guys even human??"

The thugs let go of Gwen's wrist and took a few steps back. "Oh, my God," said one of them almost trembling.

"I prefer Spider-Man," said Spider-Man as he got up on his two feet and crossed his arm. "Do you two have any hearts at all in there?" The two didn't respond, and the two girls didn't even seem like they knew what was going on. "This young girl went through enough stuff tonight." The thugs could hear the anger in Spider-Man's voice. "I may have let the other kid get away," Spider-Man continued as he spun a web onto the chests of the thugs. "But you ain't goin' anywhere."

Spider-Man pulled the web back sending the two guys straight to him. He then planted a punch on both of their stomachs which caused both of them to gag. He then kicked one of them hard enough to send him flying, and grabbed the other one's neck and lifted him up. He heard the thug gasping for air, but Spider-Man continued to tighten his grip on his throat. "Let me ask you a question," asked Spider-Man unusually casually. "To you take pleasure in hurting others?" Obviously, the thug didn't answer. Just then, the other thug pulled out a pair of knives and put one in each hand. Spider-Man didn't notice. "No? What about you, girls?" Spider-Man turned to the girls who seemed to be anything but sober. "Eh, what do you know? You're probably cracked out as it is."

Spider-Sense.

Spider-Man quickly dropped the first thug and dodged the attack from the knives. He grabbed the second thug's arm, forcing him to drop a knife, but he was unable to dodge the attack form the other knife. A sharp pain went though Spider-Man's arm as the thug stuck the knife right through it. He let out a moan of pain, but he was still able to knock the thug back with a kick.

Spider-Man quickly took the knife out of his arm and began to nurse it. Gwen was still there. She saw the whole thing. The thugs were both on the ground, so Gwen slowly walked over to Spider-Man to see if he was okay. Spider-Man looked up to see Gwen just a step away from him which was starling. "You're hurt," she said softly.

"It'll be fine," he said quickly. "Go home! I'll make sure these guys never bother you again."

"How did you know?" Gwen asked all of a sudden.

"Know what?" asked Spider-Man, although he didn't really want to discuss anything right now. He just wanted her to get out of harms way.

"How did you know...about Ryan?" Spider-Man felt like his face was on fire. His heart might have even skipped a beat. What was he supposed to tell her? Why did he open his mouth about what happened earlier tonight?

"I..." He was speechless. "I...I..." The more he spoke, the more Gwen's eyes widened. It seemed like she was beginning to understand. From the look in her eyes, it seemed like she was finding out the truth. Spider-Man had to interrupt her thoughts. "Just get out of here!!" He yelled at the top of his lungs which startled her. But it worked. She quickly ran for home.

Spider-Man eventually got up, shoulder still in pain, and looked toward the two men. "As for you guys," he said grimly. "We're not done yet."


Aren't you tired of being weak? Such rage that you could scream all the stars right out of the sky? You'll destroy the prettiest starry night. With an emphasis on function rather than design, you're isolation keeps me deprived of hope. You're hiding something. You're hiding yourself. It's you're life. You're choice. But you can't hide forever.

(A/N: I know. Short chapter. REVIEW! MORE COMMIN!)