Part 2 - 'Til Death do us Part

Chapter 31 - Fear of the Past

Gwen was exhausted. Nearly three years had passed since the war with Conall. In that time, she had been suffering from a number of mental health issues following her turning evil and her actions in that time. The one that hit hardest was the slaughter of every living thing on Earth in her home dimension: 7065. Miles constantly reminded her that she wasn't in control, and that it wasn't her fault, but she still blamed herself and struggled with severe depression as a consequence. It was currently nine in the evening. She sat on the edge of the tallest building around, staring down at the dots of people and cars far below. She had a strong urge to jump and not catch herself, instead landing in a broken heap on the concrete. But that wouldn't be fair. Miles would be left to raise their child alone, heartbroken. He was currently at their flat, looking after their son, Peter. They had chosen the name after Peter Parker who Kingpin had killed at the collider, and Peter B Parker who had been a questionable but good mentor to Miles when he was first bitten, along with her old friend Peter who she had accidentally killed when he turned into Green Goblin. Now the spiders took turns looking after their son and New York, juggling it between their jobs.

Gwen's spider sense began to tingle, breaking her train of thought. She looked down to see smoke billowing from the front of a building she knew was a bank. It wasn't the first time she had had to stop it being broken into. She leapt off the skyscraper and spread her arms a little. Thin material stretched between her body and arms turning it into a glide suit. New suits had been a parting gift from her and Miles' friend Edward, the Commander in Chief of a space force in a different dimension who had fought alongside them in the war. They had proven extremely useful in the past three years. As Gwen approached the ground, she brought her arms back to her sides again for a second to fold the glide suit, then fired a web at a wall and swung in for a graceful landing in front of the bank. Police cars had just started to roll up and form a perimeter. She closed her mind. Every time she intervened in a bank robbery it brought back images of a battle with Doc Ock, and her first encounter with an Ethereal Plate. Just the word Ethereal made her shudder. She was almost certain that actually seeing a one again would cause her to have a full on anxiety attack. The robbers emerged, bags slung from their sides. One turned a small, semi-automatic gun at Gwen. She didn't even twitch a muscle as three rounds came her way. They shattered into dust within inches of her body; it was one of the abilities of her suit. Gwen leapt at the robber who fired another wild shot. Her foot struck their head, knocking them to the ground and she used a web to pin them down by the legs before going after the other two who had managed to get into a pickup truck and smashed through the police blockade. Three police cars, which weren't totalled, sped after it. The four remaining officers had the robber in handcuffs within seconds. Gwen swung after the chase, keeping up with ease in the downtown traffic and looking for some way to stop the truck. She hardly needed to: it swerved to avoid a car pulling out at traffic lights, only to lose control and crash through the front of a shop: Stan's Costumes. Miles might be glad the shop was gone since it was the place where he had bought a cheap Spiderman costume just after being bitten. Gwen landed as the two robbers stumbled out, clutching their bags and weapons. The police cars screeched to a halt as she leapt on one, wrapping her legs around their neck and flipping over, slamming them face-first into the floor and webbing them down. The last one began to run desperately, but she dealt with them with a final web shot to the foot. The police officers cuffed the criminals and waved their thanks to Gwen. She swung away without responding. It was all in a day's work, and it was about time for her to go home. If she didn't appear, Miles might get worried and come looking for her, given her mental state.

She landed in the alley next to her and Miles' flat and threw on some normal clothes which she had stashed away before climbing the stairs to the flat and letting herself in. Miles appeared in the small hallway and grinned.

"Hey!"

She gave a small smile back before going into their bedroom without saying anything, collapsing on the bed and closing her eyes. Miles followed her in and sat down, switching on the bedside light.

"Bad night?"

"Bank robbery, a few old people needing help across the road."

"I still think you should call me instead of dealing with the banks yourself."

"Can't leave Peter alone like that."

"I know, but it brings up so many bad feelings."

"I was miserable before it, anyway."

He sighed and brushed some stray strands of hair off her face.

"I wish there was more I could do."

"There isn't. I have to face my past like everyone does. I guess most people just haven't killed seven-and-a-half billion people."

He squeezed her hand.

"You gonna eat dinner?"

Gwen opened her eyes and nodded slowly. Miles kissed her forehead and went to sort it out. Her body felt weak when she stood up again. Miles had put Peter to sleep, so it was just the two of them. She sat down heavily at the kitchen table and ate without saying anything. Miles ate as well, but slower, glancing at her worriedly. He wished for nothing else than a way to make her happy again. She had almost never smiled since the end of the war. The happiest he had seen her was their wedding day, and even then it only lasted that day. The old haircut she had had before his hand got stuck in her hair five years ago had grown back, but she had stopped cutting it back to the way she had kept it for two years after that. The TV was playing in the background, and it brought Miles back to reality with the short tune announcing a news broadcast. That was strange, the news wasn't usually on until ten.

"We interrupt this broadcast with some breaking news. A number of highly dangerous criminals have broken out of prison near New York. One of them includes Kingpin who was jailed for thirty years following the construction and usage of a collider which could have opened a black hole beneath New York. Kingpin was brought to justice by none other than Spiderman five years ago, who police forces are now asking for help in recapturing the ex-billionaire. If you are watching, Spiderman, or Spiderwoman, officers ask that you report to a local police station as soon as possible. Thank you for watching, we will now return to normal service."

The channel logo appeared, then the program from before resumed. Gwen sighed and looked up at Miles.

"I'll go." She said, putting her cutlery down.

"No, you need to relax. I'll handle it."

"It's my night."

"You're depressed enough."

Miles grabbed a small black and red sphere from the bedroom and pressed it to his chest. After a few seconds, it morphed around his body creating his suit. He looked both ways out a window to make sure nobody was watching, before leaping out and swinging away.

A couple of hours later, Miles landed in front of the prison. He had visited the nearest police station where an Officer Bezos had said he would show him the way to the scene. Bezos had pulled up a moment before in his police car.

"You know, Spiderman, sometimes I think if I had followed my gut all those years ago and done that course in business not police training, I'd be the richest man alive."

Miles glanced at the officer.

"Err...OK? Any chance we could focus? I've got a date with my bed."

"Sorry. We've been searching for evidence of the escape but there's nothing. They just vanished."

"I know about Kingpin, but who else escaped?"

"Nobody else we can't deal with. It's just the big guy."

Miles was shown to Kingpin's old cell. He walked inside and looked in every corner.

"I see what you mean by no evidence. There's not even a scrape on the wall."

Suddenly, he noticed something that most people wouldn't, or would just ignore as another groove in the floor. He knelt down in the middle of the cell. There was a small dent in the concrete. Bezos looked down at it.

"That's a very smooth carve. It couldn't have been them. No tool could make a scrape that perfect."

"No...no tool. But a badly aligned teleporter, perhaps."

Bezos gave Miles a funny look.

"Teleportation hasn't been invented yet!"

"Not in this dimension."

"You're telling me there's a multiverse?"

"Did you investigate Kingpin at all? He was trying to get his family back by stealing them from another dimension."

"So that's what it was all for..."

"You could have asked."

"Nobody knows where to find you."

"That's almost true, and I'll happily keep it that way."

"Almost? Let me guess...another dimension?"

"A few."

Suddenly, Miles' spidey sense lit up.

"Oh yes...Spiderman likes to make himself quite well known throughout the multiverse." Said a voice outside the cell.

Bezos and Miles turned around quickly, half expecting a fight, but the spider relaxed when he saw who it was.

"Admiral Melbourne. Long time no see."

"Yes. And suddenly there's no time at all. You need to get Spiderwoman and come with me."

"We need to talk about that; preferably not with an audience." Miles replied sternly, narrowing his eyes.

"Agreed." Edward tapped his com badge. "Valour, two for transfer."

Miles' vision began to go dark as beams of energy surrounded him.

A few seconds later, his vision returned and he found himself aboard the SGC Valour, the flagship of Sol Galactic Command. He double tapped the side his head causing his mask to morph away, knowing that just about everyone in SGC knew his identity and almost certainly wouldn't tell. He stepped off the transfer pad and looked at Edward with a solid stare.

"Why?" Was all he said.

"Because there's another war needing fought."

"Gwen will never agree to help. She still suffers from depression, trauma from the last temporal escapade."

"Unfortunately there isn't going to be much left if she doesn't leave now. I recall you telling me you two were married when we last had a conversation of sorts. Do you have any kids?"

"A son."

"Then for your son's sake she has to leave. Leave him behind with someone you can trust."

"Edward, what's going on?"

"I'll give you both the full briefing when we get to the taskforce."

Whether he liked it or not, Miles found himself arguing with Gwen a few minutes later. Edward watched sternly. Finally, he had had enough. He slammed his hand down on the counter top.

"Gwen, you have to come. If you don't there will be more blood on your hands than there already is. This is an opportunity to redeem yourself." He snapped, irritation clear in his voice.

"Maybe my problem isn't with fighting another war! Maybe my problem is leaving my son behind!" She shouted back.

"You won't have a son unless you leave!" Edward roared.

The volume of his voice shocked Miles. Clearly he had had plenty of experience with shouting, most likely from marching. He sighed as Peter began to wail from the room next door. Gwen clenched her hands into fists.

"Now look what you've done."

"Sorry, I'm just in a bit of a hurry."

Miles left to go and calm Peter.

"You haven't explained any of it to us. Why should we trust you?"

"Gwen, I'm not your enemy. If I was I'd have had you transferred into space where you would suffocate and die. That or an orbital bombardment would do the trick."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"

Miles returned, cradling Peter in his arms.

"Can we all just relax? Edward, I'm with Gwen here. I don't want to leave Peter. Even if I was fine with it, there's nobody we could take him to at this time of night. But, if there is a war that needs fought, I'll fight since it sounds like everything I love is at stake, and because that's what spider people do. But not tonight."

The admiral looked between Miles and Gwen, then at their son. He had no idea what it was like being a parent, having only been in a relationship once, shortly after the war had ended. It had fallen apart quickly and he had never tried again. He took a deep breath and decided that Miles was right. Eleven o'clock was not the right time to be dealing with this.

"First thing in the morning. I'll return at 0900. And yes, I'll knock. At that time I need you both to be ready to take Peter to wherever you can, then ready to leave."

Miles nodded his agreement. Gwen continued to give Edward a cold look, one bordering hatred. He tapped his com badge.

"Valour, one for transfer."

He disappeared in a beam of energy. Gwen sank to the floor against the cupboards.

"Not again. I swear if those damn Plates appear again I'll..."

"We'll deal with whatever it is when we have to. Right now we need sleep."

"And to think of somewhere to send Peter."

"Remember Ganke? My old roommate? He said that if we ever needed anything to give him a call. I'll text him tonight."

"I hardly think Ganke is qualified."

"Then who?"

"You win."

Miles nodded and returned Peter to his cot, sound asleep again. Gwen climbed into bed and lay awake. Miles had a quick conversation with Ganke over the phone before falling asleep. She snuggled up close to him, struggling to hold back the tsunami of dark thoughts the return to temporal warfare threatened to drown her in.

Crossovers in this Chapter

None, just some good old spidering and a throwback to part one...

Note

Welcome back to Labours of Their Love, now part two. From what I've written so far, I can tell you this part get's a lot darker than the first. I won't spoil anything, but just a warning. Happy reading!