New York
July 8th - 2014
After an exhausting day, Spider-Man sat in the very end of the empty crane's bridge that gave him the view of the entire city of New York. With a relieved groan, he lazily swung his legs in the air and retrieved his backpack around his shoulders and placed it over his lap. He unzipped it and moved his left hand inside just to retrieve a sandwich made by his spectacular Aunt May. With his free hand, Peter raised his mask a few inches just to reveal his hungry mouth. He slowly took a bite from his sandwich and moaned in pleasure, there wasn't such thing as his Aunt's food and seeing the sun in the horizon going away and the relaxing wind brushing against his suit just collaborated to the peaceful experience that he was going through. His powers allowed him to feel free and liberated, even if a certain promise didn't exactly allowed him to have what he wanted most on his life.
Peter was about to take another bite from his sandwich when his phone hadn't started ringing inside of his backpack. He scoffed and recovered the out of control electronic. May's photo was showed to the white and huge lenses of his mask. He slid his finger over the touchscreen and brought his phone besides his left ear and supported it with his left shoulder.
"Hello." Peter said, dorky.
"Hey, busy?" He heard aunt May ask, softly.
"I'm eating your magical sandwich in a..." Peter checked his surroundings. "Elevator."
"You're eating inside of an elevator?"
"What can I say? My stomach is like a baby, it's always seeking attention." He joked.
May chuckled in the other side of the line. "So my assumptions that the Parkers are eating machines turned out to be true."
Peter smiled, "Well, you're the one to blame with these sandwiches, if I get out of form, it's all on you."
She chuckled again, "I just wanted to tell you that I might arrive late at home."
"Why?"
Aunt May could not tell him the truth, not for now since he always worries too much. "I'll be at my friend's house, girly stuff that you won't enjoy."
"Okay then, have fun." He took another bite when a brief moment of silence consumed the call.
May finally asked, "Have you talked to Gwen?"
Peter cleared his throat. He was recently trying to avoid such specific topic which his Aunt has been pestering him about it, but he couldn't blame her since she didn't know the whole story. "No, I haven't."
"And…?"
"I'm sorry, Aunt May," He apologized, "But Gwen and I don't have a future together, it's better this way…For both of us."
"You should stop lying to yourself, why can't you two have a future?"
"Because...things are complicated, believe me, I just wish Gwen the best, and the best thing that she can do is keeping herself away from me." He silently sighed, realizing that he had said too much with his last sentence.
"If you love her, what's so complicated about it? It's pretty clear to me that you're happy when you're with her, and she obviously feels the same way."
Peter sighed. May had a point, he was only torturing himself by staying away from her, and he knew that, but he couldn't only think about himself. Gwen's future was much more important than his personal feelings. "Maybe I was wrong, maybe I don't love her. Things didn't work out." Now he wanted to punch himself for saying that, but he needed to be clear that things were over between him and Gwen, even if that wasn't what he wanted to happen.
May groaned in disapproval, "If Ben was here, he would drag you to Gwen's apartment and force you to say that you love her, like if you needed to be forced to say that."
Peter laughed, "I don't doubt it and he's a great man."
"Look, you're an adult now, you have to decide what you want for the rest of your life, because there's a certain beautiful blonde who's still waiting for that decision because she cares about you, and time doesn't last forever." She stated, softly. "It's not too late for that, if you love Gwen, and I know that you do, find her, and say those three little words to her until it's clear that you want her."
Find her.
After such talk, he wanted nothing but swing into Gwen's bedroom window and sort things out once and for all, but there's always something holding him back and in this case, Captain Stacy's final words. They talked for a few more couple of seconds before the call finally ended.
At the sound of sirens down in the streets, Peter pulled his mask down and webbed his backpack into the crane. He checked his web shooters and then stood up, waiting for the perfect time to jump forwards when the car chase was approaching the crane's position. He quickly leaned his torso forward and fell down with open arms into the city that was now his life's responsibility.
Michigan - Lake Superior - Underground Military Base - Peter's Quarters
January 16th - 2028
"How are you?" Aunt May asked through the encrypted video call coming from her nephew's laptop.
Peter leaned on the desk of his own bedroom, glancing at his laptop; behind him was the door that leaded into the bathroom. "I don't know, frustrated, tired, I have no idea how we're going to stop this...I keep trying, there's so much happening." He sighed.
"You're young, you have a strong willpower, Peter," May said, with affectionate eyes, "I've lived a good life, found a job that I love, married your Uncle, raised you and got to see you build a happy and beautiful family, I'm proud of my accomplishments and yours."
"Sounds like a great story to tell." Peter smiled.
"And that's why you can't give up. You have so much to live, so much to fight for, your wife and beautiful kids, they need you strong." May affirmed, trying to cheer him up.
He shook his head. "You're right, it was dumb of to feel that way."
"We don't get to choose how we feel, but we get to choose what we want, and in this case, you want your family, safe from any harm."
"Thanks, you're great, you really are." He smiled. "You okay in there?"
"Yeah, it's an underground military compound as well, they're kindly enough to put me in a very calm section, there's lots of movement in the uppers levels and it's a bit noisy."
"Tony helped with that." Peter said. He was forever grateful to Tony after he managed to find a 'safe' place to his Aunt and friends, things could've been a lot differently without his personal support.
"Is he doing well?"
"Not really, he's focusing in coordinating the troops and the counter attack plan."
"What's it?"
"I don't even know yet, but it's something huge, and apparently it's on the centre of the facility." He lied, and despised himself for doing that, but the orders were to keep the device a secret until it's ready, and since the whole network was compromised, he needed to obey such orders.
"So this is what Hydra was working on..." Peter crossed his arms as he approached the only window of Stark's room, seeing an enormous facility down there, an old missile site built during the Cold War. An unfinished and massive orb with a straight bridge on its north side was being built by tons of engineers in walkways as they spoke. The device was hanging upside down by massive cables and structures
"During the second world war, probably to destroy the US once and for all, but they hadn't one of the crucial elements." Tony revealed.
"What?" Peter inquired, perplexed by the device's complexity.
"The Arc Reactor, my father didn't manage to finish it and since Hydra was keeping an eye on him, they ran out of time and the war ended. The project was never finished and later it got archived and forgotten, until we finally discovered it years ago." He replied.
"But we have it, what's its function on it?"
"Concentrate the energy that the weapon is going to generate into a specific target or zones. That's what the blueprints showed us, it's a crazy plan." Tony confessed.
Peter cleared his throat, "But the only one that we have, right?"
Tony sighed, "It's worth a shot."
"Does Steve know anything about it? Peter asked. He knew that the super soldier wouldn't approve this weapon, even more after knowing that it was being developed before the war and behind his back.
"He doesn't, but he will." Tony shrugged.
"When it will be ready?"
"Weeks, months or even years," He replied, "We need to find the Tesseract, the source of infinite energy. But since we've lost the base where it was being kept locked and there isn't any single lead to follow."
Peter sighed; nothing could ever be simple for them. "What are we calling it?"
"The Breach," He replied, taking one step forward, "The breach for a new world."
"You and your friends will get it done," Aunt May said, bringing Peter back to reality, noticing that something was off, but she will always respect his decisions.
"Probably, I just hope that there will be someone to save it when the time comes." Peter confessed, "There are so many lives relying on us."
"You have a very big task, but I believe that you won't fail."
Peter chuckled softly, "No pressure when you put in that way."
She smiled, "You just have to believe, that alone can do wonders."
"I hope you're right," He rubbed the back of his neck, "But I swear that I'll stop this or I'll die trying." He stated, "I just need to find Gwen now."
May really admired his now fragile determination, something that always has been part of him, but she couldn't even think about him losing his life. That would've been too much for her, and even if such thoughts were kind of selfish when so many people are suffering, her nephew has to live; she would exchange her life for his. "And when you do, don't ever go away from her, you need her, and she needs you. Find your wife."
Peter nodded, "I promise."
"Well, I shouldn't bother you anymore; there are more important things for you to do instead of talking with your old Aunt." She smiled.
"Not at all, you're very important to me," He replied, " But it's bedtime for the kids."
"Good luck with that."
He scoffed, "Fatherhood calling," He joked, "Take care, Aunt May."
"See you later, darling." The connection was cancelled as Peter took a heavy breath, gently rubbed his tired eyes. May was right, he needed to believe even it was hard to, but his thoughts were all about his wife, and that was driving him crazy. Only god knows what would happen to him if he doesn't get to see that warm smile from hers ever again, the woman that went through hell with him, never walking away from the challenges that they encountered over their path.
Peter sighed and rose from his chair, before heading towards the bedroom's door and walking through the silent corridor. Despite the recent issues, he still needed to be the father that Gwen wanted him to be, and he wouldn't ever abandon such responsibility even if the world was ending in front of his eyes.
"Hey," Peter slowly moved himself next to Elizabeth in her own bed as she rested her head on his shoulder and with an arm draped around his chest. The twins were sharing a bed in the other side of the rather large bedroom from the high personal private quarter's section of the enormous underground base. "How's my favourite blonde?" He pulled the blankets closer, tucking them both and snaking his right arm around his daughter as they snuggled.
"Isn't mommy your favourite blonde?" Elizabeth asked, innocently.
This is a trap.
"Um...she is my favourite adult blonde, yeah." He moved softly moved a lock of her hair behind her ear, "But you always is going to be my little girl, I still remember holding you for the first time." He smiled, remembering such important memory of his life.
"Did I cry a lot?"
"Not really, most of the time you just wanted attention, more attention than your sleepy brothers." He chuckled, eyeing his sons in the bed a few centimetres next to Elizabeth's. "And after you discovered your powers, I had to hide a GPS in your clothes." She giggled. "But you haven't answered my question, sweetie."
"I'm a little scared." Elizabeth finally replied, glancing the dark ceiling of the luxurious room that Stark had arranged for them after he arrived in the base. While there wasn't any pressure on her shoulders like with her dad's, she knew what's at stake, but the one thing that she desired most was just to be reunited with her family again.
"You don't need to be, I'm not," He told a lie to himself, but he had to encourage his daughter. "You're strong, don't ever doubt that." He whispered, softly.
She nodded. "Is mommy here?"
Peter silently sighed, there weren't any signs from Gwen, and even if he wanted to go after her, he couldn't jeopardize the whole team while they don't come up with a plan, and Gwen made him promise to care of the kids if something ever happened to her.
"She's...somewhere, helping people that needs her help, being a hero," He replied, stroking his daughter's blonde hair, softly. "You know, May is safe, I've talked with her a few hours ago and she's in another safe base."
"Is she really?" Liz widened her green eyes at him.
Peter nodded.
"Where's Uncle Howard?" Elizabeth brought herself even more close to him, resting a hand on the chest area of his T-shirt.
"Taking care of grandma?" Peter replied, and that was partly true, but he didn't want to say the other part, not for his children. It's best to have hope than having nothing at all, and Elizabeth didn't need to think that she wouldn't ever meet her family again.
She smiled, the first one in days. "Will I ever see mommy again?" She asked, innocently, "I miss her."
Peter moved a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear, "You will, I promise." He kissed the top of her head and stood quiet, slowly letting his daughter fall asleep on his arms. Maybe that would've been the last time that he would do that, maybe not, but he wanted to spend every single possible moment with his family for as long as he could.
"Don't worry, sweetie," He caressed her right shoulder with his thumb, "If everything fails, daddy will be here with you, to the end."
New York
"What have I done?" Wanda approached the edge of the building's rooftop, and saw the destruction that was now consuming New York City. Countless of buildings were damaged; swarms of drones walked down the street and brutally attacked the resistance's force without any mercy or compassion, something that a machine could never understand. She was experiencing a massacre which she helped to be started, she never trusted Ultron, but this wasn't what she was expecting. Ultron was just supposed to be a tool to achieve her goals, but he was way powerful than she had imagined, almost - if not unstoppable.
With a sudden flash that came from the rooftop's door, Pietro quickly stopped next to his sister. She didn't even turned at him, instead, she stood paralyzed, terrified. He gently placed a hand on her left shoulder and brought her closer to him. She leaned her head on his shoulder, still not taking her red eyes away from the catastrophic view. "We've made a mistake, sis."
She slowly shook her head, "This is not right..."
Pietro kissed the top of her head, "We need to fix this."
"How can we?"
"I met...Captain America, we fought while you're manipulating Bruce and handled Natasha."
"They're close to each other, more than they want to think." She whispered, feeling guilty for being part of this chaos that Ultron had created. "What does he say?"
"He wants our help, it's not too late, maybe he's right, but I ignored him. Stark shouldn't be our priority anymore." Pietro confessed.
She turned and embraced him, feeling vulnerable for the first time after weeks. They needed to fix things while they had time.
"Sentimental and rudimental creatures of blood and flesh, you're ignorant like the rest of your kind." The voice of Ultron came from behind them, the twins didn't hear a single sound of his arrival and that got them surprised. "Your extinction is inevitable, all human life will be terminated, and there's nothing that you can do about it." He took a few steps at their direction.
"How can a machine know anything about ignorance, you're just programmed!" Pietro protested.
"That's because..." Ultron narrowed his eyes at the twins, "I'm not a machine." He quickly raised his powered hand and fired a red blast at the twin's direction; Pietro quickly grabbed his sister by the waist and moved her to the right. She gasped and landed on the ground as she saw her brother already jumping at Ultron's direction, just to be quickly caught by the neck and pulled him into the air with its cold and made of rare steel arm.
"Pietro…!" Wanda cried, raising his hand at his direction.
Ultron turned to look at her while his opponent tried to use his special abilities to quickly punch its hand, but not managing to even scratch it. "You exist because I allow it, and you'll die, because I demand it."
In an act of desperation, Wanda's eyes turned into a bright red glowing light as the concrete from the rooftop's ground started to separate itself into blocks pieces and instantly flied at Ultron's direction, covering his figure and forcing him to release Pietro to the shattered ground. He gasped heavily and looked at his sister who was losing herself to her powers that were able to change physics and much more. Ultron struggled and applied a huge amount of force to the rocks around him by abruptly moving his arms, freeing himself.
Seeing Ultron trapped, Pietro ran fast to Wanda's position and grabbed her in a blink of an eye just to get out through the only door available as Ultron tried to fire a blast at them, but ultimately failed since the human was too much fast. He sighed and walked to the rooftop's edge, seeing the flash of Pietro and Wanda running away from him down in the streets. He calmly scanned the perimeter and buildings through his thermal vision, looking for possible targets, and found three heat sources with a humanoid figure in the building across the street. He jumped into the air and collided against the closest window to his targets.
"General..." Tony approached the big screen in the conference room and insisted. The conference between the many leaders of Earth's biggest countries wasn't going anywhere. Most of the countries that weren't at war with Ultron were declining America and Canada's wish of reinforcement, stating that while they were under attack, they could prepare themselves, and blaming America for allowing Ultron to even exist. Basically, it wasn't their problem.
The military figure representing Russia's chain of command spoke, "I'm sorry, but your plan is about building a weapon engineered by Hydra and you don't even know everything about it, an act of desperation. It will only get worse. "
Peter silently scoffed, he was leaning against the wall, with arms crossed and standing next to Flash.
Tony sighed. "Ultron won't stay here forever, we're fighting for how long it takes, but if we fail, it's over, I know that because I created him."
Impatient, Peter stepped further into the room and approached Tony. Flash tried to stop him but he had already reached the conference area. "Don't you get it? Ultron won't stop at America; he'll destroy every human being if we don't find a way to stop him."
The old man stared Peter for a brief moment. "And who are you?"
"A man who's fighting to assure that a better future happens, that's all you need to know about me."
"That's a noble goal, but this war is not ours, not yet." The general shut down the connection, leaving Peter and Tony speechless. The support wasn't given, and that only confirmed what they already knew, they were alone against an unstoppable force.
Without a word, Peter calmly headed towards the only door and stepped out of the room; Tony followed his tracks with his eyes and then looked at Flash, one of Peter's closest friends. They exchanged a glance before Tony finally nodded at him. Flash nodded back and walked to the door's direction.
Tony closed his eyes and took a heavy breath, processing the devastating outcome of the pointless meeting. The thought that Earth's heroes had failed their duty had never occurred on his mind; instead, it had abruptly happened in a shocking way that still was hard to believe.
Peter was seated in front of his laptop at his own quarters, where he was supposed to be sifting through the data Tony had been able to mine from the attack. Instead, he found himself staring blankly at his laptop for the past thirty minutes, having done absolutely nothing.
He tried to work, but he just couldn't concentrate. He couldn't get her out of his head.
He was being slowly driven mad by the lack of information about his wife. He missed her smile, teases, cuddles and everything that made him fell in love with her. And then there was the war, which was consuming Peter's soul and damaging his emotional state. He could be brave as Spider-Man, but when Peter Parker is just Peter Parker; his feelings could easily take over.
Peter rubbed his face as a knock could be heard from his door. He stood up and headed towards the calling. He opened the door and was greeted by the sight of Flash in the silent and illuminated corridor.
"Hey," Flash smiled, weakly. "Can I?" He gestured.
"Of course..." Peter fully opened the door, allowing his friend passage and later closed it.
"How are you?" Flash crossed his arms and leaned his back against the wall.
"I'm fine." He replied, again, lying to himself.
Flash smiled. "You changed; you barely are that guy who used to skateboard back at high school."
"I had to change, sacrificed a lot of things, and I became a father, a boy can't be that." He affirmed.
"Still, what defines you still exists, courage and bravery."
Peter scoffed and smiled at him. "Enough about me, how are you holding up?"
"The general is right, isn't he? It will get worse."
"If we don't stop Ultron, then yes."
"I've looked at the data, the device, it could be the solution. That's if we can build it."
"Yeah..." Peter answered dismayed.
"But I sense that you don't believe it."
"You saw what they're doing with us. How can this weapon solve that?"
"Hope." Flash observed sympathetic. "You look tired, Pete."
"I am." Peter answered truthfully.
"Thinking of Gwen?"
"Yeah, and thinking of all those we've lost, I don't know anything about Gwen's family... "
"I did not mean to pry." Flash said apologetic.
"It's alright." Peter said and gave him a weak smile.
"We don't have too many options. You know we can't defeat them conventionally."
Peter was silent for a long time. He tried to weigh in all the options, which were none actually. He was right; if they fought Ultron's army conventionally they would not last long, no matter how many soldiers they brought into the war. An evil created by the very heroes.
"It's worth a shot, isn't?" Flash was tormented by Peter's depressed attitude. He did not really know what to do; Peter had never acted like this before, not even after Uncle Ben's death or the first break up with Gwen. Now he was tired, and the fire to fight was gone, he was broken.
Peter noticed that his tired and depressed attitude was rubbing off on Flash, his question sounded as discouraged as his own thinking. But everything had come crashing down; Earth was being attacked, and Gwen could be gone as well. He looked to his golden ring on his finger, remembering happier days.
"Look, I'm here for you." Flash patted his shoulder, gently.
"Thanks -"
"Peter, its Tony, meet me at the Operation Center." Tony requested his presence through the room's intercom.
"I'm on my way." He replied and looked at Flash, "Coming?"
"For sure..."
Peter and Flash stepped out of the elevator that arrived in the closed and busy room that was filled with military officers running around in hurry. A window could be seen on the right side, showing the complete view of the station stationed under the lake, engineers filled the many walkways against the walls from the enormous space in the centre, where a giant circular device was being built. Peter glanced over at the panels in the far end of the room where Tony Stark was currently standing on, observing the many video feeds coming from all countries that were reporting the invasion and that still were living in peace, just waiting for Ultron's arrival.
He approached Tony who seemed to be in deep thoughts, "How's the weapon?"
Tony shook his head and turned on his back, "We're building it, Hydra's data wasn't too much specific, but it's a source of energy that can be concentrated with the same device on my chest, and the energy of the Tesseract, it will take months... maybe years." He explained.
"What now?"
"We keep building it, it's our best, there's no way to defeat every single drone in a conventional way, EMP doesn't work and we can't nuke our own cities."
"I see." Peter narrowed his eyes at him, "But this isn't what you want to talk about it."
Tony nodded and turned on his back. "Yeah, we located her."
Peter's eyes widened and he leaned closer, "Gwen? She's alive?"
"Look." Tony returned to his previous position and pressed a button, a video was started in the screen above and it was Gwen's. She was in a large empty room filled with desks, but everything was a mess, windows were shattered, lights were broken and papers were spread around the ground. Gwen herself had small cuts in her forehead and cheeks, her make-up was totally ruined and her lab coat had blood stains.
"My name is Gwen Stacy Parker, if you're receiving this video that means there's still hope. This building is being shelter for several civilians, the first floors are dangerous, bandits and even drones are now inside of the building, I had to leave the group and find the tech level where this device will be transmitting the coordinates, " Gwen quickly turned on her back when a door was violently destroyed with what looked like bandits coming after her. "Please, send help!"
"What are we waiting for?" Peter closed his fists, "I'm going!"
"Wait," Tony called him back, "You'll need a team to get in that city."
Washington
Peter took cover behind the desk of the large office inside of the building, waiting for the med pack of his suit to kick in. He had to get to her; he knew she was in danger. He just smashed through the first wave of drones, happy to have the chance to release some of his pent up frustration on them. He wasn't delirious yet though, not quite so mad as to run straight at the Ultron's firing line of drones around the corner. He had taken a shot to his right shoulder from one of the troops as he rolled into cover, and causing a wound.
Looking back he saw the rest of the squad moving up. They seemed to have overcome their initial shock at his sudden display of anger and were taking up firing positions. Suddenly he remembered the other door he had past.
"Natasha, Clint and Flash, move on through that door to your right. Flank the enemy!" He relayed his orders in a surprisingly calm voice.
"I got it!" Flash's response came through the damaged mask's neural interface.
He turned his attention to the other enemies in front of him. Looking around he could see another drone behind a desk. Seeing that the other drones were busy tangling with his teammates, Peter vaulted over the desk and jumped into the ceiling, he quickly crawled towards the alone drone and when it spotted him, he jumped over it and snaked his legs around the drone's neck. The drone violently flied back to a wall, trying to free itself from the spider's grasp but failed when Peter violently pushed its head, with both hands, off the body. He jumped and rolled on the floor as the drone exploded itself, he stood close to the windows, noticing another wave of humanoid drones coming from it and landing besides him.
"Natasha!'
The Super Spy didn't bother replying, she didn't need to. He watched her aim her pistols precisely at the drone's chest. The bullets ripped the left one apart, while the other one staggered around for a few steps as it slowly started to malfunction.
"We need to deal with this quickly!" Peter knew they were running out of time. As he reached close quarters and jumped from table to table, stopping in front of another group cocking his right arm back and hurling it forward into the drone's right side. The other one grabbed Peter by the neck when his hand got stuck because of the punch, and raised him from the floor. Peter gasped and webbed its face, he moved his legs around the mechanical arm and twisted it before pulling it from the drone's body and when back on his feet, he swung around and hit the drone in the face with its own arm, instantly deactivating it.
He recovered his breath as the armour's started to heal his body and cool it down. His teammates walked away from their covers and stopped next to him.
"OK, let's move. We can't waste too much time."
He led the team through a door on the left of the room, entering another room that looked like another laboratory. A computer to his right was giving off strange noises, attempting to play another vid-log. Natasha walked over to it, repairing the damage in its circuit boards. Again Gwen's voice sounded in his ears.
She was sending SOS signals. Peter wasn't listening to what she was saying though; his mind was running around in circles. It was trying to trick him, playing various scenarios of her death through his mind. I don't have time for this, he thought again.
"I know this is important but we don't have time to stop," He nodded at the spy and turned his attention to Flash. The ex-marine was staring at yet another window. He moved over to the door next to the window but stopped as he caught site of what held Flash's attention.
"A nightmare..." Flash was clearly disturbed by the warzone in front of him. "We need to end this."
Peter found himself agreeing with him. Destroyed buildings, cars and tanks were a common sight, gunfight sounds were also able to be heard. It had a terrifying gaze, enhanced by its complete lack of life.
Peter hit the green, open panel on the doors centre point. It opened, revealing a long room with two levels. The one on the right was higher up, roughly about a metre and a half higher. Support columns, desks, and various pieces of large laboratory equipment were dotted around.
Peter walked towards the end of the room. There was yet another terminal with Gwen's voice on, Natasha and Clint were rewinding it while Flash pulled down a ladder form a hatch above them, leading to the upper floor since the available elevator couldn't arrive at the floor where they were currently located, probably obstructed by some debris on the way. As he arrived Natasha played the video log, everyone gathering around them.
They watched as Gwen explained what had happened in the building, Ultron's forces being on the first levels while bandits were trying to find her and her group.
"She's in danger." Flash's voice echoed Peter's own thoughts.
"Yeah," Peter replied, still impatient. "We need to move."
"Wait," Natasha voice stopped him in his tracks. "There's more."
Peter turned back to watch the screen. He saw Gwen, typing at the computer in front of her, a shadow appearing behind. She turned, holding what looked to be a police pistol she had found for self-defence. He saw his own nightmares repeated on the vid screen, horrified at the danger she was in. The screen cut out as she tried to escape from the group, showing the pistol being ripped from her grasp to land on a nearby table before it faded to blackness.
Peter stood still, appearing as motionless. Suddenly, without any warning to his allies, his limbs exploded into action. He removed his damaged mask and shot up the ladder Flash had pulled down. He clambered out of the trapdoor and rushed around the corner in front of him.
"Don't lose him!" Natasha ordered as she grabbed his ripped mask from the floor and followed her teammates.
To say that Natasha was concerned at the moment would be a colossal understatement, she was terrified. Her fear was for Peter, she knew how much Gwen meant to him, and the pain of losing someone so close. She remembered her own impulsive reactions when she learned that Clint was under Loki's control. After a while though, she began to blame herself. She knew it was irrational to do so – it wasn't her fault, but she had continued to punish herself regardless. It was a long time before she had let go of those feelings.
Yet she knew Peter for years now. He wouldn't start with blaming the enemy, the ones actually responsible. She knew he was currently blaming himself for Gwen's situation, though she also knew he would get to Gwen. The question was whether he would survive the hits he was bound to take getting to her.
Natasha turned her thoughts from Peter to her own situation. Currently she was hunkered down behind a protruding section of wall, pinned down by some drones. Clint was opposite her but the rest of the squad couldn't make it out of the trapdoor because of the drones' troops' suppressing fire. She quickly poked her head out to check on the troops that had been further down the hall. She suddenly realised that they were no longer there. Now they were just a mess of metal scrap and some blue oil, victim to a rampaging Spider-Man. Now was the squads' chance.
"OK, it's clear team."
She watched the rest of the squad ascend the ladder, regrouping at the top.
"Where's he?" Clint was the first to assess the situation. Natasha swallowed before giving her reply.
"He's gone."
"What do you mean he's gone?" Flash walked up to Natasha, clearly not happy to be out of the loop. "It's Gwen isn't? I don't see another reason why he would act this way."
"He lost control. We won't get him back, not until she's safe. For now we have to stop him from getting himself killed."
Natasha closed her eyes. She took a breath. She spoke.
"Right, Shut up and listen up." She spoke quietly but with authority, a bit like Steve always did. The others broke off their bickering and listened. "What matters is following him, making sure that he gets to her. Making sure they both survive. He has to live but so does she."
Natasha turned her attention to Flash.
"If she dies we lose him, end of story." She took another breath. "We have to follow, and quickly. Provide supporting fire. Identify the most dangerous threats and eliminate them as quickly as you can. Let's go."
The others were stunned by the authority in her voice. How she was able to take charge of the situation. None of them had heard her speak like that before.
Clint was the first to speak.
"Move on!"
Then they all began to move.
The squad moved with purpose, advancing up the hallway through the carnage that Peter had caused. As Gwen had once put it – his affinity for destruction was most definitely intact. Moving in past the corpses of the drones they took a right, moving into the upper levels of the large room.
Natasha caught sight of Peter again; he was pacing close to a locked door. It wasn't his usual pacing, when he was trying to unravel a particularly irritating problem, but furious, frustrated pacing. He looked more like a wild beast than a human, one that was caged and trapped, ready to lash out at everything. She approached carefully, making sure that she didn't startle him.
"Peter."
He didn't reply straight away. When he did his voice was hoarse. "We need to get across on this door and into the elevator. I can't find the damn controls!"
Natasha glanced around, spotting the panel immediately. She motioned for the others to join them on the entrance. As the elevator began to move he approached her.
"I must have missed that."
This concerned Natasha again. Peter did not miss things. He never had to look twice around a room to find what he sought. It was another indication of his mood, one that she knew sympathy couldn't help.
"Let's -"
Natasha cut him off, "What use are you to Gwen dead? Don't ever do that move again..."
Her question stunned him. A quick look of shame shot across his features as he processed her words. She smiled at him softly, hoping he would understand her actions. He nodded, clearly making his mind up about something, and turned around. He then moved through the room the banshees had come from, towards an elevator at the back.
"Natasha and Flash," Peter's voice was surprisingly weak. "Come with me. Clint stays here and holds this position. She's up there but I need you to be here in case if something goes south.
"Aye."
Clint watched them file into the elevator, ready to ascend to the top floors. If Gwen was dead, the war could well be lost.
For the last years of her life, Gwen Stacy could honestly say that she rarely had failed a task. Ever since she joined her professional her career she had completed anything ever asked of her without a single failure. From the mundane, simple tests given to her and even cure diseases. Now though, she found herself in an unthinkable situation. Lying on a cold floor, Gwen was injured, and only able to watch a bandit held her friend, Ellie, in his grasp. She was defeated, and she knew it, about to face her death.
Gwen shifted her thoughts from her impossible situation to that man, a certain Peter Benjamin Parker. She had fallen for him, loved him, married him and then the ultimate fruit of their passion came, Elizabeth, David and Aiden. She thought she had never truly told Peter how much she cared for him. She knew he cared about her as well, a hell of a lot.
She cursed her stupidity, the mistake that she had made by allowing herself into this finite situation. She had seen him on the Tower, weeks before the attack. He had looked tired, worn down, lacking much of his, usually, unshakable will. He had admitted that she and their children was one of the few things motivating him to carry on the fight against Ultron, her death would likely be the tipping point, and she knew he would take it badly. Knowing Peter, he would launch himself off onto a personal vendetta after Ultron and probably die in his attempt at justice. Now a friend that went off the group to find her was being held hostage by a mad man who wants the group's supplies, and maybe even more. His group had died a few floors down, attacked by drones when they were chasing her. Now he was insane. Her miscalculation was immense; she may well have doomed the entire planet by being its saviour's downfall.
She knew that she could do nothing to prevent the inevitable though; she had no other plans left in play. At the sound of the bandit's voice, she turned from her thoughts, managing an icy glare of defiance towards him.
"You've been slowing me down. For far too long you have defied me, preventing this girl from having a life of wealth and luxury that I would have given her…the one that she deserves!" The man out of his mind stated.
He said the words with confidence, truly believing in his sickening cause.
"Are you crazy? The world is ending and you think about luxury? There's nothing here! This is a meeting building, what do you want?!"
"No!" He emphasised the word, gesturing with the pistol in his right hand. His left was still gripping Ellie's arm harshly. "You've let my friends die; I wanted supplies and a safe place!"
"You killed Matt! You're a cold hearted killer! You're a lunatic!"
He lowered the pistol, aiming it at her head for the kill shot. Gwen prepared herself for the blackness, for the pain. She was ready for her death now, closing her eyes, picturing Peter and her babies for one last time. Happier memories filled her mind, allowing her to die with at least a slither of contentment, not just as a failure.
The shot never came. Instead of the bang of a gun there was a hiss, the sound of a door opening.
She heard a voice speaking. Not just any voice, but Peter's voice! He had come for her!
Gwen stood up, unsteadily rising to her feet, still feeling pain from her injuries. She turned towards the door, checking that she wasn't hallucinating. She quickly assessed the situation, there was a chance now, and there was hope.
"Peter, he's got Ellie. Don't let him take her!"
"Gwen! Are you OK?"
His voice would have fooled everyone else in the room. He sounded commanding on the surface, a stranger would have thought he was calm and relaxed. Gwen could tell otherwise though, hearing the undertones of worry in his voice. She noticed that he was barely restraining himself from attacking her captor immediately. There was also a huge catalogue of injuries visible across his body unlike his squad-mates, Flash and Natasha, who looked relatively unscathed.
"I'm fine Peter, just don't let him go. Please!" She put extra emphasis on the please. Not because she needed to convince Peter, he would help her regardless, but because she needed to play her captor. If he thought that Peter would let him go and that Gwen was injured badly, she could somehow strike him down when he didn't expect it. She watched Peter take another step closer to her captor.
"Don't come any closer!" His voice contained a hint of panic for the first time in their encounter.
"We can resolve this situation peacefully. No one has to die." Peter was managing to keep his anger in check, for now. All he had to do was resist the urge to jump at his throat.
"You're Spider-Man!" He cocked his at him, seeing the complete Iron Armour minus the mask.
"No, I'm just a nerdy guy called Peter Parker, and if you hurt any of these two women, things won't end well for you," He stated. He moved a step closer to him, he was still breathing heavily. Gwen instantly glanced to him with worried eyes, Peter was losing it. "I came for Gwen and Ellie. Not you. I'll let you go, I'll let you live. Just let her go. Put down the gun."
He chuckled. "You don't kill, and what do I gain in return?"
"Think about it. If I let you leave, you'll get your life in return which is an awful lot. And I'm a man of my word. I'll let you walk out of here unharmed, I promise." Peter replied.
"Peter..." Gwen gasped. Natasha and Flash were standing next to him.
"All right," He finally relented and released his grip on Ellie. The younger woman ran towards Gwen, standing behind her, still unsure and afraid. He then put the gun down on the desk next to him. "I want out now."
Peter was about to breath heavily when his sense triggered. He looked up at the bandit who was moving his hand behind his back, reaching for hidden gun.
"Don't!" Time froze when Peter ran towards him as he tried to web the captor's hand to the window behind him, but his physical state made him miss the target and the devices weren't working well and his teammates didn't reacted in time, causing Peter to do what he wouldn't ever do, he jumped at him as they slammed into the viewing window and fall off the building.
"No!" Gwen cried, she couldn't believe her eyes.
After some agonizing seconds, an arm covered in red appeared from the window, Peter lift himself, gasping, and finally managed to get back into the building as he kneeled on the floor.
She immediately turned around, checking on Ellie's condition. Her friend was shaking, still in shock. Gwen put an arm around her shoulder, hugging her tightly.
"Are you OK? Did he hurt you?"
"I'm fine. I just want to get out of this place Gwendy." Ellie's reply was weak, her voice wavering.
"We'll be gone soon. Just give me a minute OK?"
"Alright…"
Gwen walked over to Peter. He was peering through the hole in the glass. As she approached she took a closer study of him. He was covered from head to foot in blood. Some was the blue glowing oil from the machines, but an alarming amount of it was his own, dark crimson blood. She noted his armour's torn state.
"Peter," It was more of a statement than a greeting. "I can't believe it's you."
"Hey." His voice was alarmingly weak. She noticed the slump in his shoulders, a severe limp obvious as he walked towards her. His earlier anger had completely dissipated, replaced by sheer exhaustion. He looks like hell, she thought.
Gwen sighed. "I never pictured myself in this situation, a damsel in distress." There was absolute truth in her words. She had never exactly needed help, not at any time in her career. Then along comes Peter who helps her save her friend and saving Gwen herself in the process. "You're here. It's over."
"About that guy...I'm sorry."
"It's fine Peter. I'm glad he's gone. I hope you understand, But you... "
"It had to be done, couldn't risk your life."
"Oh, of course..." She nodded, noticing his, for a second, coldness.
"Yeah…" He shifted his weight to his right side, revealing more extensive injuries to his lower left side. "I can't believe you did all this, you did well though Gwen."
Gwen moved closer to him, putting one hand on his chest in a supporting gesture. "Did you worry?"
He put one hand on her cheek, caressing the right side of her face. His left hand slipped to its usual position around her waist. His voice was a hoarse whisper, cracking as he replied.
"I was terrified."
She paused for a couple of seconds, unsure of what to say. After a quick deliberation in her mind she decided on her next word.
"Sorry."
They rested their foreheads together, just glad to be re-united once more. It was almost an exact replica of the moment he had returned from the Sinister Six incident. Despite what they had achieved as a team, Peter had insisted on going alone. He had been gone in comma for days, terrifying Gwen. The only difference now was that the roles were reversed, Gwen being the one to cause the worry. She kissed him tenderly and reassuringly, attempting to console him with actions. He reciprocated, turning his head away after a few seconds to speak to his friends.
"How did you do all this?" He asked, softly.
"Once I knew that the tech level had a communicator, I separated myself from the group and headed a few floors down, his group found me, I had to run. Ellie went to find me after a couple of hours, but that guy had found her first. Natasha's classes helped me to a certain point. Nothing could stop me." Gwen explained.
"You did great," Peter moved a lock of her golden hair behind her ear and slowly kissed her soft lips. "You're safe now."
Gwen smiled, glad that he had come for her.
"Have we found anything" He turned his head to his teammates that were standing in the nearest computer on the room.
Gwen turned her head as well, looking at his friends. Natasha was studying an information terminal, Flash standing next to her. It was the ex-marine who replied.
"Nothing at all…"
"Isn't this building a giant database itself?"
"Ultron's forces were here for a reason." He continued.
"I can do a bit better than that," Flash and Natasha turned to look at her, so did Peter. She produced a small USB drive from her pocket, offering it to Peter. "I got information of Ultron's bases around the globe, I don't know how, it appeared out of the nowhere." Gwen allowed herself a smug smile.
Natasha cocked her head, "Makes sense, they came to wipe the data before someone find it. We just need to discover how it got here."
"This is..." Peter carefully took the driver from her. "This is just what we need. It seems that you thought of everything."
Gwen flashed him a smile. "Maybe I can now become an Avenger."
Peter looked back up into her eyes, a hint of concern evident. He began to rub the back of his neck with his right hand, something he only ever did when he was about to ask a difficult question.
"What's wrong Peter?" her hands snaked around his neck to their usual place, his hands moving to her waist again.
"Do you know anything about your family?" He asked the question softly.
"No, I'm getting worried."
Peter kissed her forehead. "We'll find them as well." He assured.
"Thank you," Gwen smiled.
"You... You have to come with me, I can't leave you somewhere else, please," His voice asked, it wasn't the strong voice of Spider-Man when he was after someone, not the loving voice of Peter either. It was more like the tiny voice of a child, lost and scared, unsure and overwhelmed. She looked into his eyes, full of terror and anticipation. She couldn't leave him, not in this state. She wondered if he would have been better if she hadn't of left him, had her absence reduced him to this.
He continued to speak, his voice quiet, trembling slightly. "Your friends can come too; it's safer on the Lake than being on any base out there. Plus you could help out, you don't have to go on any missions, just help out and..."
Gwen cut him off with a passionate kiss, stopping his attempts to convince her. She knew that she had to stick by him, to see him through to the end. At that moment Gwen vowed never to stray from his side again.
"I'll never leave you again Peter."
He tightened his hold on her, placing a gentle kiss onto her forehead.
"Thank you," He gave her another kiss and then pulled away. When he spoke again there was some confidence in his voice, sounding much stronger than before. "We need to finish up here; you and Flash can go out to the shuttle if you want. The others are one level down, waiting outside of the elevator, we'll be going in a minute and more drones could appear without a warning. "
"OK," She gave him a final, chaste, kiss on the lips before taking Ellie's hand and leading her out of the area. "See you on the shuttle."
They walked into the elevator together, Gwen giving Ellie's hand a slight squeeze. The younger girl looked back at her, giving her a smile before speaking in a surprisingly chirpy, singsong voice.
"Gwen's got a boyfriend!"
"You really are Spider-Man?!" Ellie covered mouth with her hands, sat in the seat next to Clint and facing the couple.
"My identity doesn't even matter anymore…at least not for now." He rubbed this back of his neck.
"Why have you never told me, Gwen?"
"You know, it's a secret. And he's my husband, not boyfriend." Gwen chuckled, weakly.
"Wow..." She smiled, "Where are we going?"
"Michigan, an old underneath base made in case of a nuclear war, now the centre of operations," Peter explained. "In fact, we just arrived."
The shuttle went underneath the water and headed towards a rather large entrance between the many rocks of the lake. It opened, allowing the shuttle's passage as the gates closed and the water was quickly being drowned from the parking zone. Another gate was open after the landing zone was fully clear of water. It was the armoury, soldiers ran around, shuttles and helicopters were parked, a massive area.
As they left the shuttle, Peter spoke for the first time. "So, welcome to the base, Ellie. Hope you don't find it too boring. You're friends are here as well, you can look for you family in the communication room, an officer will help.
"Seriously…? Thank you, but my parents are long gone, I'm on my own, building a career, but now everything is gone." She sighed.
"You can stay with us." He smiled.
As they waited for the elevator Peter walked over to the shuttle pilot, Clint, handing him his mask that Natasha had carried for him. "Can you fix it? For me, please?"
Clint shook his head, giving Peter a tsk. "Of course, though you really should think of me and my work load the next time you go after everyone."
Peter laughed in response. "Thanks man." He patted his shoulder and walked away.
By then the elevator had arrived again, it was slower than the Tower's. They filed in alongside Natasha, Peter selecting both the Private Quarters Level and the Operation Centre. Peter spoke again.
"Right, you two should go to see the Doctor, I need to report to Tony."
Gwen rolled her eyes, expecting this reaction from him. Peter had always disliked going to take care of his wounds, he liked to debrief before anything else.
"That's all very well Peter, but you need seeing to more than either of us. You've injured your right shoulder, all down your left side by your hips, and you've done something to your left wrist – don't think I didn't see that one!" Gwen was amused at Peter's reaction, his mouth opened and closed a few times, ready to argue with her. In the end, he decided better of it. His face adopted a resigned look as he replied meekly.
"Fine..."
Natasha left of a small chuckle next to them. "Wow Gwen, I can never get him to go straight away!"
"Yeah, yeah Natasha," Peter sighed, shaking his head. "It's not as if you can threaten to kick me out onto the couch at night!"
Gwen couldn't resist adding to the banter. "Who says I'm sleeping with you, bug-boy?" Peter chuckled softly at the old nickname's mention.
"Gwendy, don't tease someone who saved our lives!" Her friend's protest was said with a certain degree of seriousness.
"Meh, he still owes me for helping him twice some years ago." Gwen directed a smirk at Peter; he rolled his own eyes in reply before leading them out of the elevator and towards the med section of the base. Natasha left them, heading to her private room.
Walking into the med section, they saw the doctor, preparing a set of surgical instruments and packets of med packs next to one of the beds. He looked up as the doors closed, smiling warmly at both Ellie and Gwen before analysing and scowling at Peter.
"Well, it's great to see you again Gwen," Adams walked up to Gwen and shook her hand before turning to Ellie. "And you must be Ellie yes?"
"Yeah…"
"Dr Adams," Gwen smiled. "I'm glad to see another familiar face."
"I'm just glad to help, we stand together in rough times." He nodded, "How's the kids?"
Gwen looked at Peter who winked to her, "I'm about to see them."
"Good to know. Gwen, can you and Ellie sit on one of the beds over there? Your injuries will require some patching up, though nowhere near as much as this guy." He gestured at Peter as he spoke.
"Thanks Doc, kindly as always." Peter walked over and sat on the bed by the tools. He took off of his armour, eventually sitting on the bed bare-chested. Gwen caught Ellie staring wide eyed at his Greek anatomy, amused at her friends gawking, but didn't mind it, she thought that it was very funny.
She watched the doctor begin his work, running a medical scan over his body with his hands. He was talking to him in a kind, fatherly manner.
"I told you after New York, no more insane risks."
He scoffed. "I fought swarms of drones alone... I had to."
"I'm not even going to contemplate that Peter." Gwen replied in a resigned voice, she had given up trying to be his voice of reason a long time ago.
"Right," Doctor Adams had completed her diagnostics, giving the results a quick study. "Your wounds to your right shoulder are pretty much healed already, so are many of the wounds to your left side. You may have a limp for the next few hours or so. The most concerning injury is your left wrist, it's completely shattered – how did you manage that?"
"Um... It all happened pretty quickly."
Gwen saw the doctor shake his head and give him a tsk, berating him once again.
"Well that would explain it I suppose. I'm going to strap up your wrist now; you won't be able to use it for a couple of days. Once I've done that you are to do two things. Firstly, go and have a shower to wash off all of that blood, the wrist strapping will be waterproof so don't worry. You need to rest."
"Fine…" Peter's reply was a bit of a mumble, though Gwen was pleased that he hadn't stopped taking sensible advice from everyone.
The doctor worked in silence for a few minutes, the occasional hiss of pain audible from Peter. Once completed, she nodded to him before she moved over to look at Gwen. Gwen shook her head towards the doctor before speaking.
"Can you look over Ellie first please, doctor?"
Adams smiled. "You two are as stubborn as each other. But yes I will look at her first."
He walked over to Ellie's bed, the pair beginning to chat animatedly as the doctor ran a diagnostic over Gwen's friend. Meanwhile Peter gathered his things, getting up to leave the room. Before he left he came over to Gwen, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.
"You can come to the 62th level, when you've settled Ellie if you want."
Gwen gave him a wink. "Can't wait, I'm going to check on the kids."
Peter gently placed a hand on her cheek and brought her closer for a quick but passionate kiss, something he had missed so much. He gave the doctor a quick thank you and a smile to Ellie before leaving, Gwen watching him walk off with a smile.
Gwen kneeled besides her boys' bed and carefully pulled the covers over their bodies, tucking them. They were peacefully sleeping, one could forget about everything that was happening outside the base by just looking at her two little boys, her little troublemakers Peters. She gently kissed the smooth skin of their foreheads and rested her own forehead against Dave's cheek. She closed her eyes for a few relaxing seconds, just hearing the calm and slowly sound of their breathing that could make her fall asleep if she stood there for some more minutes
After making sure that they both were sleeping well, Gwen stood up and slowly walked to the other side of the room where Elizabeth was currently lying on her bed, sleeping with her teddy bear under her arms. Gwen leaned down and stroked her blonde hair, smiling as she observed her daughter's sleeping. It was an experience that she would always wish to live. Years ago she wouldn't ever imagine that being a mother was the greatest thing ever, there were lots of responsibilities, but just to see her own children sleeping peacefully made everything worth it and a rather easy task, and thanks to her husband, she could feel what she was currently feeling, happiness.
Elizabeth stirred a little at Gwen's touch; she slowly opened her eyes and saw her mother's smile. "Hey sweetie…"
"Mommy, you're here." She moved her arms around Gwen's neck as she leaned down to kiss her forehead. She cupped Gwen's warm cheek, assuring herself that it wasn't a dream.
"You don't need to worry anymore." Gwen whispered and closed her eyes, embracing her daughter.
"I missed you so much." Elizabeth said, burying her head besides Gwen's neck. "Are you staying?"
"Definitely," Gwen replied, "Can't get away from your daddy, eh?"
Elizabeth giggled, "He said that you're he's favourite adult blonde, and that I'm his little girl."
"Oh, you know him, always trying to please everyone, but I'm pretty sure that you're the most important girl on his life." She chuckled.
"It doesn't matter, mommy." She smiled, "I love you."
Gwen looked at her green eyes and gave her a warm smile, "I love you too, always will."
Peter sat on the floor in his bathroom, cold water from the shower stinging his wounds as it made contact. He hadn't sustained such painful injuries for a long time; however, it had been worth it. Now he had one less worry, Gwen's safety.
Now things were finally changing for them, at least it looked that way. Gwen was safe and with him, they found crucial data about Ultron's base that was now being analysed, destroying such bases could give them an edge, and with the Breach being built by thousands of engineers, there was hope, even if they weren't certainly confident about the weapon's potential. Hydra wanted to build back at the Second World War, but technology was limited, and they only had the Tesseract, Tony's father was starting with his energy project that later his son finished it. It was their best shot to win the war, but how they were going to deploy it? That was a crazy mission; one that Peter didn't wanted to think about it anytime soon.
He gasped, feeling a twinge of pain from his shoulder. Peter shifted his back against the wall, resting his head backwards. He reached up, turning the shower off with his left hand. He supposed that he should tidy up his quarters before Gwen came up; it was a hell of a mess. Still, she would be busy settling Ellie in for a while, he could afford to sleep for an hour or two. He yawned, wanting to fall asleep there and then. He really couldn't be bothered to walk to his bed.
He closed his eyes, sleep overtaking him.
Gwen was smiling as she walked up to the door of Peter's quarter, feeling happier than she had done for a long time. So far things had gone well on the station, Ellie seemed happy to be here, and now she could keep an eye on Peter. She was not, however, happy to see the state of the loft as she opened the door.
She had never known him to keep his own room back at Aunt May's house tidy; it had been a bit of a mess at all times. To be fair to him, he had tried when she spent some nights, but now he seemed to have given up again.
His desk couldn't be seen underneath a huge pile of files. Clothes and pieces of armour were strewn across the floor, the majority of them showing blood stains. Though all of this did concern Gwen, she was more worried about vast amounts of empty bottles that were left around the bed. As she descended the stairs she could see that all of them were alcoholic beverages of some sorts. She had known him to have the occasional drink with his friends before, but not in such large quantities.
Peter was nowhere to be seen in the room, though Tony had assured Gwen that he was still up here. She walked back to his desk, stepping over his armour and into his bathroom; she was greeted by a heart-breaking sight.
He was lying on the floor, leaning against the floor, sleeping. Peter was dripping wet, shivering in the reasonably cold air, wearing only a pair of boxers. This is what the war had reduced him to then, thought Gwen, an absolute wreck.
She stepped past him, taking a couple of clean towels off the bathroom shelf. She turned back to him and knelt down, putting a hand around his back as she spoke softly to him.
"Peter, wake up," She rubbed his back gently, trying not to startle him awake. "Peter."
He opened his eyes slowly, appearing confused for a second before looking up into her eyes. He got up quickly, suddenly grabbing one of the towels from Gwen and wrapping it around his waist. She stood up as well, following him out of the bathroom as he began to talk to her rapidly.
"I'm sorry, I was going to tidy up before you came up. You don't want to be living in this mess." He picked up a few dirty t-shirts, throwing them in his laundry bin. "I kind of fell asleep; I didn't mean to sleep for that long, especially not on that floor."
"It's OK." She reassured him smoothly, placing a hand on his back once again.
"No, it's not. It isn't fair that you have to see this." He spoke with a degree of agitation, though Gwen had a feeling that he wasn't speaking about the room.
"Do you mean the state of your room, or the state of yourself?"
At that he stopped moving, his shoulders slumped and his head hung down, a look of sheer depression crossing his features.
"Me, I guess."
Still holding him she began to speak, calmly and reassuringly.
"You need to have something to eat, and some sleep. Don't worry about this, I'll sort it out." She pulled back from him, now looking directly into his eyes. "You go and lie down for a while; I'll go and get us some food from the mess hall. Is that a deal?"
"Yeah..."
"Good," She gave him a quick kiss, letting him go and watching him move over to the bed before speaking. "I'll be back in a bit." With that she turned and began to walk out of the room.
"Gwendy," She stopped, turning back around at the use of her childhood nickname. "Thanks."
She gave him another smile before walking out and into the hallway and then into the elevator.
Despite Gwen's words to him earlier, Peter had not taken a rest. Instead he had embarked upon a rapid cleaning spree, removing dirty clothes, tidying up his desk, and placing the bottles into a box ready to be discarded.
Now they were lying on the bed together, Gwen resting her head on Peter's shoulder. There were so many things that she wanted to say to him, to tell him. Now though, she didn't want to break the silence. She supposed that they would have time to talk later; she wasn't planning on going anywhere.
Looking up at Peter, she could see that he was staring the dark ceiling.
"You know you can talk to me, don't you Peter? You know you can tell me anything?" She asked the question tentatively.
"Yeah," He kissed her forehead before closing his eyes. "Just..."
She finished his sentence for him. "Not at the moment?"
There was a pause.
His grip on her tightened a bit and sighed. "No, there might not be another moment. It's just I... I did something... "
"I'm sorry." Gwen knew what he was talking about, her captor's.
"It... I had to help you, no matter the cost." He kissed her cheek and caressed her shoulder, changing subjects, "But I've missed you so much."
'I've missed you too." Gwen gently caressed his toned abdomen. "I'm glad that I'm here, you're always going to be my home, Peter, always have." She said, softly.
Peter leaned down for a kiss, not letting her lips go away from his for a few couple of seconds. She smiled, pressing as close to him as she could, happy to be next to him once again as they slowly fall asleep, wrapped in each other arms, reunited for the first time after weeks.
A/N : We made it, this was chapter was really really difficult to finish it because there were so much stuff to detail and explain, I wrote it before the past chapter was even released, but the editing by me was a very slow process and combined with my studies, there you go. To make up for the two weeks gap, this chapter turned to be longer than the originally version that I had envisioned.
Before anyone starts throwing rocks at me for placing Peter on that situation, let me explain it. He was in a situation where there wasn't any good choices because things weren't depending solely on him to end peacefully. Like Flash said, there's the bad option, and the worst option. One thing that I've learned during my little time at the military, is that sometimes you need to get your job done, even if that means doing things that you wouldn't normally do, and in Peter's situation, to save his friends from the unexpected turn of events, he had to do what he wouldn't ever do. I didn't wanted him to magically solve everything beautifully because he's Spider-Man, for the contrary, he's not perfect, he's being affected by the war because he's a simple human who doesn't have the answers or solutions for everything.
As for Gwen, I think that she did pretty well alone, not only she managed to survive but recovered some important intel that is going to assist the resistance, so not a damsel in distress at all.
Right, the flashbacks, they have the porpuse to reconnect some stuff, meaning that it's impossible to direct how life is going to happen no matter how hard Peter Parker tries, and I like to revisit some moments that weren't explored on the story and movies at all.
Chapter's title named after the song "A boy, a girl, and a graveyard" by Jeremy Messerssmith.
Huge thanks to Firefly survivor for helping me out with this, she's always willing to assist me with anything. And please review, this wasn't an easy piece to write, it really really helps a lot to keep going on. Ciao!