HEART TO HEART

The feeling around Nick Fury's safehouse was complete shock. For Nick and the others did not only just see the defeat of Iron Fist, one of the most incredible martial artists on the planet, but they also witnessed to the raw power of Surge, power that could very well rival that of Thor, and it was a wide-eyed Sharon who was the first to speak up. "Well, nothing like seeing another one of our guys go down to boost confidence."

Nick soon interjected. "Don't lose hope yet, Carter," said the S.H.I.E.L.D. veteran. "Remember, we still got more Avengers in this tournament, meaning Osborn hasn't won this yet." As he continued, he noticed Misty still visibly shaken after seeing Fist lose, and thus walked up to her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "And Misty, Vision told us that all of the Avengers that lost are being held prisoner, not dead! We can still save them, including Fist!"

Misty gave Nick a sad nod in response, then gently backed away from him to be by herself.

As for Wasp, she did agree with Nick on that she and the remaining Avengers were still in this fight. However, this also reminded her of one other teammate that was hurt thanks to one of the Iron Patriot's trickery, and thus walked away to check on Peter. Once she made her way and moved the curtain, she saw that Peter, still shirtless and wearing his web-shooters, but now having a bandage over his brow and raising his arms to allow Beast to wrap an ace bandage around his entire upper body to help supper the patch that was over his now stitched up claw marks.

Finally, Beast came to a stopping point underneath Peter's right armpit and thus placed a metal clip to keep the bandage in place. "There you are, all done." said the furry X-Man in a gentle tone, allowing Peter himself to drop his arms and reach for his shirt. It was here that Beast's expression turned into a more serious one. "Normally, I would advise that you sit this one out," he told Peter, causing the young man to look up at him and he could see the determination in his eyes. "But even though that hologram of you that Iron Man is projecting can only fool people for so long, I can tell that you're not going to listen to me...much to my dismay. So, I suppose all I can say is be very careful with those stitches. The wire I used to close the wounds is 'nearly' indestructible, not completely."

"Well, given that I'm in a fighting tournament, I only promise to try," Peter replied truthfully, knowing that whenever he's fighting someone like Norman Osborn, staying safe would be difficult if not impossible.

Beast expected this response and thus let out a disappointed sigh. "Of course, you will," said the X-Man, who despite anticipating that answer was still not too keen on sending Peter back into the tournament and thus further injuring himself. "Well, let's go ahead and get you dressed up." Moments later, Beast turned his attention to Gwen, still worried about Peter's welfare and was just as uneasy about sending him back out to fight than he was. "My dear, would you kindly assist me in helping Mr. Parker here get dressed?"

Gwen was naturally surprised when Beast asked her this, but grateful for the chance to help the wounded Peter. "Oh, yes! Absolutely!" she replied, trying to sound blunt but still blushing heavily. Nevertheless, she stepped in, grabbed hold of Peter's shirt, holding on to the right sleeve as she gave best the left. Once Peter gently raised his arms and placed them throw the sleeves, both Gwen and Beast slowly pulled it down until Peter's head popped out of the collar and the shirt itself was now covering his bandaged upper body.

Wasp continued to watch from the curtain, and at the same time, noticed that Gwen was a great deal more concerned for Peter's well-being. Or at least, more worried than a girl who viewed Peter as just a 'friend.' Despite this theory, Wasp was just about to walk in and see if she can offer in helping Peter get dressed.

However, with his shirt back on, Peter looked through the corner of his eye to see the still worried Gwen and knew that it was time for him to give her an explanation as to how he came to be a web-swing superhero. As such, he turned his attention to Beast. "Um, Dr. McCoy, could you give us a couple of minutes?" Peter asked in a polite tone as he used his left index finger to point to both Gwen and himself.

At first, Beast seemed to be taken aback from this, but upon seeing Gwen and remembering on how she was not the least bit happy on finding out Peter was Spider-Man, he figured that the young man was going to explain himself to her, and thus gave him a nod. "Of course."

Wasp saw Beast sit up and walk away from the two teens, and thus decided to shrink down to microscopic size and briefly flew to the side to allow the furry X-Man to pass through the curtain. Afterward, she passed through the opening of the curtain and flew behind Beast's bag to watch Peter and Gwen's conversation. Though Wasp knew that doing this was childish, she couldn't resist watching a live-action romance and thus decided to watch this one play out.

As Peter stood up, he faced Gwen and appeared to be very sheepish. While he knew in the back of his mind that this moment was coming, he was still at a loss for words. "Well, Gwen, I guess..."

Suddenly, before Peter could get a single word in, Gwen spontaneously rushed in and hugged him hard and close, hating to see him hurt but glad that he was okay. This was still painful to Peter though, as it caused him to let out a yell as he felt Gwen squeezed him hard. Upon hearing Peter scream of agony, Gwen quickly released him and backed away. "Sorry," she said worried, but upon looking at the spider symbol his shirt, she is reminded that Peter had been lying to her and everyone else, and thus her worry turned to fury. "Wait, no! No, I'm not sorry!" she said with anger building in her voice. "You've been Spider-Man this whole time and you never even told me?!"

"I know, Gwen, and I'm sorry. I really, I am!" Peter replied, holding up his hands. "Believe me; I wanted to tell you. It's just...well..." Peter couldn't find the worlds that would help him break this news gently and thus sighed in utter sadness as he can only give this true but weak answer. "...It's complicated." While hanging his head in shame, Peter briefly looked away, and on the right, he saw the still slumbering Aunt May and walked over to her. After gently moving one of her bangs away from her eyes, Peter once again cursed himself on he let his life as Spider-Man put her in danger.

Gwen followed Peter to May's bed and watched him worry over his still sleeping aunt. While she did share in his concern for the woman who raised him, as well as sympathize with the pain and sadness he must be going through, she still sternly asked him this. "At the very least, does Aunt May know?"

A saddened Peter did not say anything but replied by shaking his head no.

This response only made an already angry Gwen roll her eyes and turn away from him. After taking a deep breath to try and regain her composure, she turned back to Peter, angry expression still present. "Okay, Parker, how and why?"

Peter felt those questions were good enough ways to help him start his story, and thus took a moment to sigh as he finally began his 'heart to heart' with Gwen. "Okay, you remember that field trip we took to ESU...?"

Meanwhile, back in the Garden, Victoria Hand was begging to wake up in the sports box, and once she regained full consciousness, she saw the life model decoy of Gwen sitting next to her.

The Gwen decoy looked to be a bit concerned as she saw Victoria coming to. "Ms. Hand, are you all right?"

Upon hearing the decoy's voice, Victoria turned to look at her and appeared to be surprised as to how she allowed herself to fall asleep. "Yeah, I'm fine, I'm sorry, Gwen, I...I don't know what came over me."

The Gwen decoy replied with a sweet smile. "Well, as long as you're all right. I wouldn't want to enjoy this next match all by myself."

Hearing this answer caused Victoria to look at Gwen in confusion, for throughout the whole day, Gwen seemed to be distant and hesitant, and now she's chipper and upbeat. But before she could question it, Victoria saw through the corner of her eye that the announcer was back on stage and about to start the next match-up. "Yeah well, you won't have to worry about me falling asleep for this fight," she told the decoy with a small smile. "Especially since I'm now fully rested after my nap." With that light-hearted quip, Victoria went back to watching the tournament, all the while still wondering about Gwen's sudden mood change.

Back in Nick Fury's safehouse, Gwen stood there in a shocked silence after hearing Peter tell her about his Uncle Ben's murder, not to mention his confrontation with the killer and finding out that he was the man that he was the same man that Peter let escape after getting cheated out of his wrestling match. "Oh my god...!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought when I saw his face," Peter replied, then briefly turned away to tried to fight back the tears on remembering that painful memory. "But what hurts the most was the fact that if I hadn't been so damn full of myself and stopped the guy when I had the chance...I might've saved Uncle Ben."

The story was still way too big for Gwen to take in, but she could tell that Peter was being truthful with her, as well as sense his pain and sadness from remembering how he lost his Uncle. "Wait, no. Peter! That wasn't your fault!" she told him, this time trying to comfort him.

Before he could answer, Peter had two small tears run down his cheeks, and thus took a moment to wipe them off his face before turning to Gwen. "That's what I keep telling myself...hardly works. The only thing that helps a little is that Uncle Ben's killer realized what he did was wrong and he's now atoning for it by staying in prison."

"What?" asked Gwen, totally confused about what she just heard.

Realizing that he had gone off track, Peter shook his head to regain focus. "That's a different story," he told Gwen, then looked at her with a gentler expression. "But Gwen, I know you think that this is crazy, and I don't blame you. But the thing is, this is something that I feel that I have to do do. Because that day, I learned that with great power...comes great responsibility. And this is one responsibility that I can never shy away from again."

Gwen stood there astonished when she saw Peter explain this, seeing his sadness transform into strength upon watching his responsible side come out. "Pete..."

Peter looked into Gwen's blue eyes, and while he saw her worry, she could also see a bit of admiration, something that made him smile somewhat shyly. However, as he looked down in his bashfully, he once again saw his sleeping aunt, thus causing him to let out a sad sigh as he continued. "Which brings me to why I didn't tell you, Aunt May, or anyone else. Along the way, I learned that the mask I wear doesn't just protect my identity, but also the people that I care about," said Peter as he gently placed his hand over his aunt's. "Something I obviously failed miserably at, seeing is how Osborn got to both Aunt May...and you."

At this point, Gwen soon stepped in to correct Peter on this matter. "Okay, that also qualifies as not your fault!" she told him in a serious tone. "Besides, Aunt May received the treatment she needed, and you got me out of..." At that moment, the memory of being rescued from Victoria Hand suddenly reminded Gwen of when she saw Peter in the crowd while 'Spider-Man' was fighting in the tournament. "Wait a minute, if you were fighting with the Avengers, then who was that taking pictures in the crowd?"

"Oh, uh, about that," Peter replied, somewhat sheepishly. "That was a S.H.I.E.L.D. life model decoy, kinda like the one that looks like you, you know, the one that we switched you out with to get out of the Garden? It's something Nick Fury got his hands on before leaving S.H.I.E.L.D., and thus avoid Osborn's brainwashing. I guess you can say that having secret agent friends is one of the perks of being a superhero."

Though Gwen was both confused and a bit disturbed by the explanation about her 'robot-twin,' she nonetheless took both of Peter's hands. "Yeah, well, don't forget, you still have me," she told him and could see that Peter was about to interject, thus causing her to gently place her right hand over his mouth so she can continue. "Peter, I know you feel that this is your responsibility to bare and yours alone, but you don't have to! Yes, you've got the Avengers, but you still have friends and family to rely on!" Gwen once again used both of her hands to take Peter's, and holds them and squeezes them tightly as she looked up at his hazel eyes with a pleading expression."Especially me! Please, Peter, let me bare it with you! Let me be there for you just like I always have been just as I've always wanted to. Since seventh grade, to right here," as she continued, Gwen's words started to get softer as she moved closer, with her eyes half-closed and her heart pounding. "Right now..."

Usually, Peter would argue, but he too found himself leaning in closer to Gwen, as well as close his eyes halfway. "I know, but..." Peter began to trail off as his face was so close to Gwen's their lips were just inches away from touching.

Behind the curtain, a microscopic, as well as excited Wasp clutched the curtain-like it was a pillow. For the small Avenger feeling like a giddy teenager watching her favorite on-screen couple of a soap opera about to kiss for the first time. However, before things could proceed any further, Nick walked in and saw the two teens, and to make sure they don't engage in any 'funny business,' he lets out a loud cough, causing both Peter and Gwen to quickly back away from each other, with their faces bright red.

Something in which the shrunk Wasp groan in aggravation for stopping such a cute moment. "Jeez, Fury!" thought Wasp. "Things were just getting good!"

Nick himself watched as the teens regained their composure with his stonefaced expression still present. "Sorry to interrupt," he said to the teens, sounding half sincere. "But the next match is about to start," as he went on, Nick turned to Peter specifically. "And it has Burton taking on your friend wearing that suit that mimics your powers."

At that moment, both Peter and Gwen's grew wide with shock as they said the real name of whom Nick was referring to in unison. "Harry?!"