A/N : Kept you waiting, uh? *shrugs* Hey guys, I apologize for the one month wait, these last stressful months kept me often busy, and this chapter wasn't an easy one to write, one of the worsts, actually. It's not because I'm running out of ideas, that's barely the issue, in fact, I spent a few nights plotting some chapters and subplots with Sebas F, another great writer BTW. It's just that I'm really overloaded with things to do until the year's end.
Anyways, speaking of this chapter, it resolves around it's characters, we get to see some getting developed more, and the lead, Peter, reflecting about his very own porpuse, something that will come at full circle more in the future. He's now the best Spider-Man he could ever be, he reached it's peak, now the consequences are coming through.
The chapter is kinda fluffy than the usual, or it always have been? I guess everyone likes that. I hope so, ha! Also, I know there's barely any side plot being worked with this one, but the next ones will have more importance to the story overall.
Another thing I have to say is that Chapter 50 will get some additions, I was somewhat worried about its reception, but they turned out great, so I decided to include some stuff I scrapped because I thought they're too much, once it's done, I'll inform in the next author's note. It's one of my favorites, I just have to do it.
I recently realized that the oldest brother of Gwen is actually called "Phillip" instead of Howard, you know, the blonde one. I really don't know how this happened, I was certain it's Howard, the movie gave me that impression *sighs* Either way, it remains Howard, no regrets...
Final revision was made by the lovely FireflySurvivor as ever, and I'm not sorry if one of her favorite shows got mentioned here in a not positive way, at least it's his opinion, blamehim! Thank you for the help :)
Enjoy, and please review! Helps a great deal.
December 23th - 2021
"Seriously, it's a dinner and not a fashion or whatever else exposition." Peter teased his half naked wife who only wore her underwear and an open blouse while he helped her to dress their one-year-old daughter. The baby was laid on their bed and played with her tiny shoe given by her parents with the objective to keep her distracted.
Gwen smiled proudly and gently connected the small and delicate necklace across Elizabeth's neck, before making sure she was comfortable with wearing it. She turned on her shoulder and briefly gazed her husband's choice of clothing with appreciative eyes, an expensive black and tie satin shirt and dark blue jeans, the watch on his pulse was his Uncle's. "You knew the terms once you proposed me, my daughter is a diva." She winked. "And you're not too bad on yourself either."
He shrugged, seeing her current attire which was nothing but a simply open blouse and underwear since she went to do two things at the same time, dressing her daughter and herself. "Well, I wouldn't mind if you stay like this." He gestured to her.
Gwen rolled her eyes and smiled briefly as she slowly brushed Elizabeth's hair into perfection, or almost close to that. She was glad their daughter was such a collaborative baby. Once done, she smiles contently at the sight of the baby wearing her fancy vanilla dress and a very small red glitter rose hair clip that accentuated her golden hair. She kissed her forehead, receiving a tiny squeal in return. "Take care of daddy while mommy gets herself ready, right?" She gently pinched her tiny nose.
Peter chuckled lightly and mimicked her words. "Take of care daddy, you shouldn't say to the guy inside that spandex, honey."
Gwen moved her right hand against the back of his head, stroking his hair, and kissed him briefly. "Aww, did I hurt your mainly feelings, daddy?" She said between the kisses, without opening her eyes for a short moment. She pulled back and stood up, realizing she had to hurry things up.
"Right, but the kiss won't make up for my destroyed cup." Peter turned to their bed, lying next to Elizabeth before finding Gwen's phones amidst the many bed covers. He raised an eyebrow at the large quantity of notifications his wife had.
Gwen carefully chosen a set of tiny earrings from the wardrobe and went to place them on her ears. "I didn't break it, I put it in the dishwasher and the dishwasher broke it. Well, cracked it..."
Peter slid his finger over the screen and tapped the password, not noticing Elizabeth who was now busy playing with his tie. "Why did you put it in the dishwasher in the first place?"
"Because it was disgusting." Gwen replied, seeing herself through the mirror as she adjusted the second earring.
"It was my Captain's Binky plastic mug. I got it out of a box of Captain Binky crunchy nut cereal. It was disgusting when I got it. That was part of its charm." Peter said cheekily and faux mock hurt.
Gwen sighed, at both of her earring not wanting to cooperate and at her dork husband. "Shouldn't you be getting ready?" She whispered to herself, "Why do earrings never pit when you want them to...?"
Peter understood what was getting her phone crazy, the many likes in her pictures on Instagram. He knew she didn't use it often, but her popularity made up for that. "I am ready. Do you know how many boxes of crunchy nut cereal I had to eat before I found that mug?" Elizabeth slowly made her way into her father's chest, squealing lightly as she tried to gain his attention. He placed a hand on her back and rubbed it gently, it still wasn't enough for Elizabeth though. He looked up to Gwen, seeing her slowly wearing her snug jeans over her perfect legs and hips. "Six, six boxes..." He paused, gawking his wife. "...say, you really look cute in that..."
Gwen smiled to herself, making sure he couldn't spot her while doing so. He was always such a flirt. "Peter..."
"Now, if they'd have been offering you in one of those boxes, I'd have eaten as...oh, four...maybe five."
Gwen protested, "Hey! Are you saying I'm not as attractive as a stupid mug?"
"To a six-year-old? No." He smirked playfully. "Now, if we're talking here twenty-six...then…"
Gwen closed her blouse and interrupted him, "I'm not having this conversation anymore, we have to go-"
"Gwendy, who's this guy called 'Impala67' and why is he always liking your photos? As in matter of fact, why there's so many dudes following you?" Peter didn't mind his wife taking pictures of them and publishing when she thought it was a good one, but his primal instincts said otherwise when it came to the male crowd. After all, he never really got used to the gawking Gwen usually went through. That's what he thought.
"Oh, I think he briefly worked at Empire's security staff, good person." Gwen replied, retrieving her bag from her wardrobe.
Suddenly, a sobbing sound could be heard coming from Peter's chest. He lowered down the phone and saw the other girl of his life looking at him with sad eyes. "Hey, hey, it's okay." He placed the phone next to him and hold her with both as he sat in the bed. He kissed her cheek and she instantly smiled happily at the affectionate action. "Oi? What an actress you are!"
Gwen chuckled as she approached the bed and leaned down to retrieve Elizabeth from Peter's strong arms. She kissed her daughter's forehead and smiled lightly. "That she is, talent doesn't lack with this girl."
"I wonder where she got that from..."
June 16th - 2028
Daddy...!
Peter shot his eyes open and immediately sat on his bed, waking Gwen along who instantly joined him as well. "Liz..." He gasped and moved his feet down into the ground.
"Peter?" Gwen asked urgently, not understanding what was going on. She left the bed once he hurried through the bedroom's door and towards their daughter's room. "What's going on? You're scaring me."
He stopped at Elizabeth's door and quickly opened it, stepping inside, before turning the lights on, seeing nothing but her empty bed and the covers tossed aside. "Oh no..."
His daughter wasn't anywhere to be seen and his heart was racing fast as he started to panic and his skin to flourish. He eventually looked up to the ceiling and spotted Elizabeth sleeping peacefully against the cold surface, clearly needing a blanket.
Peter moved his right foot against the wall while his hands kept him firmly stuck on the wall. He reached the ceiling and moved his bare arms around Elizabeth, keeping her against his chest as Gwen ordered him to be careful. He calmly landed back to the floor. "Wake up, young Lady."
She lazily regained her consciousness. "Dad...?"
Gwen approached them and asked softly, "What happened?"
Peter placed Elizabeth on her feet as they kneeled in front of her. She replied, "There's something under my bed." Gwen walked away from them and reached for her bed, moving her hand underneath it, searching for what got Elizabeth scared.
He took Liz's right hand on his and squeezed it softly. "There's nothing under your bed, honey."
Gwen interjected calmly, "Actually, there is..." She turned around to face them and held the chest part of her husband's not so welcoming black suit, the one that once corrupted him for days, at least it wasn't the real deal.
Peter raised an eyebrow. "How did it get there?"
Gwen shrugged her shoulders and replied calmly, "I thought you said you wouldn't wear it again, not when it's not needed."
"I told you." Elizabeth affirmed. "And why is this one black, dad?"
"It's...a long story, for another day." Peter said softly. "Did the boys get into your room earlier?"
She frowned, thinking. "Yeah, we're playing hide and seek."
He looked up to his wife and nodded to her. She went to turn off the lights while he put their daughter back to her bed. He kissed her forehead and whispered, "You're safe, okay? Nothing bad will ever happen to you, your handsome dad will take care of you."
Elizabeth smiled brightly under the bed sheets.
Minutes later after making sure Elizabeth was indeed sleeping, Peter met Gwen who calmly stood at the room's entrance, observing them with passionate eyes. He placed a single hand on her waist and slowly closed the door.
Peter apologized, "Sorry, I forgot about it."
"It's okay," Gwen said quietly as she barely opened the twin's bedroom door and took a quick peek inside, seeing them sleeping peacefully on their respective beds. Her little monkeys as Howard used to say.
She turned on her back, still holding the spandex, and grabbed her husband's left hand before leading him back to their own room. She closed the door and placed the suit inside the wardrobe while Peter sat on the bad and sighed heavily.
"I won't forget to place it somewhere else this time; just been busy recently." Peter said as Gwen approached him and rested her hands on his shoulders. He kissed her bare belly, closed his eyes, and wrapped his arms around her waistline and hugged her closely.
Gwen stroked his perfect hair. "I know." She exhaled deeply. "I need to tell Elizabeth to be careful with her gifts when not home since she's heading back to school."
He looked up to her huge green eyes. "I will-"
Gwen gently placed a finger over his lips. "Let me carry this task, you know, girl talk, yours is after her show, we'll give you some alone time with her."
Peter raised an eyebrow. "That talk...?"
"Which one? There's lots of girls talks." Gwen smiled.
He gulped. "Um...the first one, I guess?"
Gwen giggled. She released him and laid down onto their bed while Peter did the same and snaked an arm around her, before bringing the bed sheets closer. She settled herself next to him and replied, "Just reinforce the basics; boys, growing up, and among some other stuff; I had a lot of those with mom, dad didn't really know how to properly talk about that, he's all too formal about it, maybe because he was terrified of such topics when I was growing up."
"Yeah - well, I think I might be with him in this area." He replied playfully. "I only had two of those talks with Uncle Ben, thank god boys are much simpler."
"What were them about?" Gwen asked curiously.
"If I recall right, how to treat a lady, and protection...that was awkward; I remember him taking a huge breath after it was over." He grinned.
She laughed softly. "Little would he know that the latter one was very unsuccessful." She teased.
Peter turned to look at her. "But you're no lady, Mrs Parker."
Gwen fixed him a mock - glare. "You're right, I'm a goddess." She giggled.
Peter chuckled lightly and shook his head. "Then you say my jokes are bad." He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers, feeling her warm and relaxing breath on his skin. He leaned an inch closer and kissed her lips passionately, tangling with her tongue as she moaned contently.
As Gwen ran her hand over his chest, feeling some tiny deformations in certain areas with the tip of her finger, she broke the kiss and pulled back, looking down at his toned chest while receiving a confused stare from her husband. She propped herself up on one elbow and traced her fingers along the ragged scar across his chest. "This is new," she said with a concerned smile. Her hair was tousled and there was still a gleam of perspiration on her face. The bed sheet was partially draped over her, clinging to her body, as she lay there next to him.
"Knife." He replied simply and slid his hand which was previously around Gwen inside her shorts and caressed her hips.
She frowned, shaking her head slightly. She still found it maddening when he acted so cavalier about his personal safety. "You need to learn to be more careful with this body," she said, continuing to move her hand over his chest and shoulders. "I own you."
Peter opened his eyes and smiled. "Then in that case, it's a good thing you're here to take possession of your property."
"I'm glad." Gwen said before kissing him again, drawing in a long breath through her nose as her lips pressed against his. "But I'm only partially kidding, Peter. I won't stand by and allow you to continue to be so reckless out there." She continued lowly in the darkness of the bedroom.
"You think you can keep me in line?" He teased.
"Seems like it." She replied concerned. She was very well aware that her husband's body isn't the same like it was during his mid-twenties, his regenerating factor wouldn't keep doing miracles despite his flawless physical form, and he needed to realize that.
Peter brought her closer and moved a lock of her golden hair behind her ear. "You know I can't exactly have born again." He tried to light the situation. "It's nothing, just a scratch."
Gwen repeated his last sentence playfully, "Just a scratch he says..." She smiles amused. "You're quite the specimen, Peter Benjamin Parker."
"Bacon and eggs incoming!" Peter turned off the stove and calmly grabbed the frying pan with his right hand while the other held the spatula. He turned around and precisely raised his arms above to his neck level as Gwen ducked and passed under his arms to reach the fridge. "Hey there, Gwendy."
"Morning." Gwen retrieved a strawberry type of yogurt stored inside a sack and placed it over the large countertop where their children were patiently waiting for their breakfast.
Peter smiled briefly and moved his eyes to the countertop, seeing the twin with spiky hair, Aiden, sitting over it while grabbing bits and pieces of cereal from his pot. "Aiden, chair, you two would make a great combo." He used the frying pan to place the bacon and eggs over each of his kid's plate.
Aiden sighed and retreated back to his chair without even turning around to see what he was doing, leaving his mother holding her breath at the dangerous sight which thankfully didn't turn out into something bad. She still wasn't used with Peter and his kid's, the boys in particular, reckless acts.
Gwen moved around the counter and stood between the chairs of the twins and assisted David first by cutting some small slices of bacon with the plastic fork and knife and later doing the same with the other twin so that neither of them gets jealous. She started to notice they're getting into the not sharing so often phase, but it wasn't anything major as she had noticed with other children, their bond remained pretty much the same, and that made her happy.
She kissed the top of their heads and walked back to her plate which was located next to her husband's position who just came from the stove with Elizabeth's part of the meal that didn't fit into a single frying pan.
Peter extended his hand through the table and served Elizabeth. He grinned, "Do you need any help, my cutie pie?" He teased.
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him playfully, and shook her head along with a smile. "No, daddy, thank you."
Peter shrugged his shoulders and returned back to the sink. "I will see your piece later...all these independent girls these days..." He mumbled, making fun of both the mentioned persons present in the large room.
After placing the frying pan inside the dishwasher, Peter cleaned his hands with a small white towel and turned on his back, seeing Gwen standing where he was previously located, letting him face her flawlessly shaped back while she took a sip of her hot coffee, read the newspaper and occasionally glanced their children.
Then she felt the gentle touch of two hands on her hips and his warm breath on her neck as Peter leaned in and kissed her tenderly just below her right ear. Sighing peacefully, she reached down and took his hands, wrapping them tighter around her waist as she leaned back into him, drinking in the sweet kisses he planted down her neck.
Before Gwen could do something, Peter had quickly and gently taken the cup from her hand and started to drink most of its content. She turned on Peter's grasp and shot him a cold glare as she realized what he wanted with the affectionate action seconds ago. "Hey!" She tried to reach for the cup but Peter raised his hand above his head, and since he was taller, it was impossible, but she didn't forfeit that easily and constantly tried to get his hand back.
Peter grinned playfully. "You know you can't reach it."
Gwen tried to contain a chuckle as she struggled to bring his arm down, clearly failing short due to his much, much superior strength.
He teased, "I'll give it to you for a kiss." He quickly glanced their children, Elizabeth smiled at them while the twins devoured their peanut butter and jelly.
Gwen sighed and crossed her arms under her breasts. She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're getting no kisses." She feigned, defeated.
Peter chuckled and quickly leaned forward to steal a kiss which Gwen reciprocated at first, but it didn't take long for Gwen to gently push him away with her hand that was placed against his chest. "Couldn't resist." He lowered his arm and handed her the cup back.
Gwen rolled her eyes and turned on her back and retrieved her sandwich from the plate, before proceeding to read the newspaper again as her husband wrapped his right arm around her waist. Without looking at him, Gwen offered her meal as he gladly took a bite and later leaned his chin over her shoulder, enjoying the moment he was currently spending with his family.
New York - Elizabeth's Elementary School
"Mom, don't walk me into school!" Elizabeth protested calmly as she and Gwen crossed the street that separated them from the school in the other side. She held her mother's hand tightly.
Days ago, the Mayor had finally authorized the reopening of all schools that were able to accommodate its students due to the damage the war caused, most of those were already repaired, but some small scars remained in the city, it wasn't one hundred percent back to its original illustrious form.
Gwen raised an eyebrow and smiled lightly. "Why? Cause no other moms are doing it?" She found the new phase Liz was going through rather amusing, she knew the current moment would arrive sooner or later, when her daughter started to act more independent.
Elizabeth looked up and hesitated for a moment. "Um...yeah."
When in front of the school gates, Gwen kneeled to be on her level and squeezed her daughter's hand softly. She spoke playfully, "And you don't want to stand out? Good, do your mom a favour and remember that. You know me. I only settle for the best." Elizabeth smiled. "As for your dad, he likes to clown around and make people laugh." She continued, "...that's why I need you to don't be us during this week while you're getting back to school and your gifts are now suddenly developing themselves, you need to be more careful, even if you see someone being picked up, don't use your powers, even if it seems the right thing to do."
"But-"
Gwen continued gently as she placed both hands on Elizabeth's shoulders, "No 'buts', honey, not everything looks like they seem, even more for people who are special like you, so for us, no Spidey stuff, okay? Act like everyone else."
Elizabeth saddened her expression, "Are you saying that without my gifts... I'm not special?"
"No, no, no." Gwen shook her head and hugged her daughter closely, giving her a reassuring embrace. "Elizabeth Stacy Parker, with or without them, you're one of the most special people in the world."
Liz pulled back and grinned proudly. "It's the blonde hair, isn't it?"
"Absolutely! And you get that from me." Gwen kissed her forehead and stood up. "I see you later then, during the show?"
Elizabeth briefly looked up to the buildings that surrounded them, and saw a crouched red silhouette standing in the edge of a rooftop, the white lenses were recognizable even thousands of meters away. She could feel him.
Elizabeth smiled and met her mother's green eyes again, before nodding excitedly. "Bring Aiden and David, dad too!" She turned around and quickly headed towards her group of friends who chatted at the school entrance while they waited for her arrival.
A couple of hours later...
Spider-Man whistled a playful rhythm to himself as the sat next to the building's rooftop edge and swung his legs around, texting another superhero friend of his while there wasn't anything that required his intervention for the moment.
I took some guy named Mysterio during the past night, he said he normally deals with you. - Matt Murdock
Peter chuckled lightly. Oh, good, he can be tricky. - PP
I wouldn't say tricky, really. He kept playing dinosaur noises and saying 'You'll never find the real Mysterio!', but he was just standing there so I punched him. - MM
Peter knew he was deadline with the second Mysterio, a rip off. The first one apparently died years ago during his battle with the Sinister Six. He never was found. The new one was an amateur. He thought.
Holy crap, his illusions had no effect on you! Do you want to take him as your villain from now on? - PP
Sure. By the way, I know I'm blind but was he wearing a fishbowl? That has got to be a mistake on my radar, right? - MM
No mistake, dude was wearing a fishbowl. He's a weird dude. Have fun with that. - PP
Peter laughed loudly and laid on his back. He had officially lost a baddie from his own rogue gallery. At least Matt was immune to Mysterio. He never imagined the day when vigilantes would start trading 'their' bad guys with one another.
He sighed peacefully for a moment, allowing the wind to be the only sound he was hearing from. As with any vigilante, the duty ultimately called through Spider-Man's special sense, a quick bolt triggered inside his head, warning him of a threat nearby.
He stood and stretched his arms, before walking very close to the edge's end and gazing the city and its complexity.
Time to go to work.
Spider-Man leaned forward and fell towards the ground as he spun in the air just before firing two bio cables with each hand at the building in the square meters in front of him, gaining extra speed while he reached a constant momentum and swung over the many cars down in the streets.
He eventually held one single web line, flying very close to the many citizens who stopped what they're doing just to caught a brief glimpse of the heroic figure that has been keeping the city safe for more than ten years, someone who never asked for something in return, and always declined what often was offered to him.
To what many considered a favour, Spider-Man considered his eternal duty.
He carefully landed over the rooftop of an in movement car and quickly slid over its front panel just to jump towards the next one fast, constantly doing the same thing repeatedly with different acrobatics, giving them a stylish show as he headed towards the place his abilities warned him about.
Empire State University - Gwen's Office
In the comfortable and cosy private area of Gwen's office which had a L shaped couch in the middle, accompanied by a coffee table while her desk was placed not far away with the view of the city through the windows on it's right side. Gwen herself was currently focused in finishing her report in her laptop.
Gwen was tired, her work was requiring more of her energy since the latest conflict end's, and because of that she started to feel incredibly uncomfortable and homesick most of the time. The daily stress never had weighted so much over her, having three children to raise and one husband to take care of surely consumed her time as well, but such time was when she felt at ease, now, a bunch of emotions suddenly started to come and flourish over herself.
She also noticed Peter was acting a little bit different since the war, probably due to what he saw and fought during that time, one of the many reasons as to why he quit the Avengers after years of taking care of the world as a united group. Currently, he now had to face those who thought Spider-Man overstayed his welcome, and those who blamed him for everything, that could get such a cheerful man like her husband affected in so many ways, mostly mentally, and she tried to be there for him, hide her feelings so that he could confess his for her while not needing to get worried. She had to remain strong, it's her duty, always have been since they kissed for the very first time.
Changing her focus to lighter thoughts, Gwen smiled weakly as she remembered Peter telling her what happened when he was suddenly throw at another dimension. She thought he finally went crazy, even after the effects of Wade's 'ingredient' were long gone by then, but she decided to believe him like she always did.
Gwen instinctively placed her right hand on her stomach and continued to muse over the experience her husband went through.
Apparently, she was an actress in this alternate reality, both of them, and they're still together. She was Emma something, and her hair was red, similar to MJ's. Now, that was something she judged impossible to happen, she cared a lot about her hair's natural tone to ever change it. Besides, her husband didn't seem to be too much fond on the idea of her becoming anything else than blonde.
She teased Peter about the fact that he kissed another woman. She recalled him panicking over the playful tease, she was just pulling his leg, and truth to be told, Gwen didn't mind such fact, it was her in some way.
What Gwen really lamented was that she didn't get to meet Peter's counterpart. That would be something else. She thought.
Someone knocked Gwen's door and brought her back to reality. She shook her head and rested both arms over the table. "Come in."
Gwen's recently designed assistant, Judy, opened the door and greeted her with a professional smile as she stepped inside. "Mrs Parker, there's something that requires your intervention."
Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"The count ability is putting the plan of reducing the science's team budget forward due to the increased taxes the city has been asking for, you know, due to the war and everything." Judy explained.
"I heard about that." Gwen crossed her arms under her breasts. "What can I do?"
"Well, what should you do, basically." Judy gulped. "They offered two options to us, place countless of researches on hold, or...fire at least half of the team so that more money can be saved and relocated to these projects."
"What...?" Gwen hesitated. "Really?" She couldn't believe that the count ability was actually considering the possibility of firing thousands of people from the department, leaving them without any source of money when such thing was more important than ever for those families, but not doing such thing meant all the projects she had been working over the years would be put into hold, or even cancelled.
"I know, it's not an easy choice, but you're the department's lead, there isn't anyone else that can come up with a decision than you." She said sympathetically.
Gwen sighed heavily. "Damn..." She paused. "Just...tell them to stop funding half of our current work; I won't fire these people."
Judy nodded.
Gwen exhaled deeply, stood up from her chair and grabbed her purse. She smiled kindly, the latest news got her even more exhausted. "If you may excuse me, I'm going to pick my boys, Aiden and Dave, and clear my head out."
"Aiden? That's a very nice name, I don't hear it often." Judy opened the door to Gwen.
"It's my grandpa's." Gwen smiled thankfully as she passed next to her co-worker and stepped inside the calm hallway. "It felt appropriate, they're both illustrious, and very important to me."
New York - Daily Bugle
"Your boyfriend should be arriving." The tall humanoid figure covered by the red substance raised Jameson from the ground by holding his neck with his free claw.
Jameson met the monster's enormous white eyes while it's large tongue kept swirling around in the air. His entire office was a mess, with thousands of papers spread across the ground and the wall behind his desk totally destroyed. Not mentioning the other offices which were also torn apart, people laid on the floor unconscious.
It would've been a carnage if the monster had gone too far.
"Are you this red because you're shy, do you blush?" Spider-Man appeared in the enormous hole that was found in the wall where the monster had come through.
It turned on its back, still holding Jameson tightly. "Finally!"
Spider-Man stroked his chin and asked curiously, "Where did you come from? You're rather familiar..."
Jameson quickly interjected furiously, "Stop talking and help me, Spider-Man-"
"Shut your face!" The monster's goo came from the hand which was holding Jameson and wrapped itself around his mouth. He turned his head back to Spider-Man and replied cockily, "You've met us before, indeed, Kassady, rings a bell? It's Carnage now."
Spider-Man immediately recognized the name. A serial killer he had caught years ago, not really a friendly person. He teased, "No, no, I was interested in the suit; I don't really remember the names of all the bad guys I came across, they're not important, you know?"
"What?!" Carnage's eyes got bigger. "I'll...make you remember us!" He threw Jameson towards Spider-Man as they crashed against each other and were consecutively throw out of the building due to the impact.
Son of kitty!
The hero quickly recomposed himself and projected his body towards Jameson, gaining more speed, before reaching him and wrapping one single around his waist and firing a webline to slow down the fall.
Surprisingly, his special sense didn't warn him of the incoming danger that came from behind him as Carnage suddenly swung closer and kicked his back, making the pair crash through the window and inside the lower levels of the building.
Spider-Man kept Jameson firmly on his arms while they slid against the floor. When they finally stopped, he pushed Jameson off him and slowly stood up amidst his painful groans. His opponent was - if not stronger than him.
He looked up and saw Carnage standing next to the broken window. The monster's right hand suddenly changed itself into a form of an axe, a rather big one. "This will be fun!"
Spider-Man closed both fists at the sigh. For some reason, he felt the need to unleash some of his buried anger over Kassady, an involuntary desire, and he wouldn't hold it back. They both ran at each other's direction while raising their hands for the impact.
Outside the building and down in the streets, the male executive who carried a briefcase on his left hand approached the hot dog cart stationed under the enormous publicity panel stuck against the building's wall, a very common sight at the city.
After grabbing his lunch and slowly bringing it closer to his lips, he suddenly heard some windows crashing in the direction towards the Daily Bugle. He turned on his back and instantly saw Spider-Man land over a taxi, smashing its top. He shrugged his shoulders in response and decided to focus on his food since heroes fighting wasn't an uncommon situation either.
Spider-Man jumped from the car's front which he accidently landed due to Carnage's attacks as the same buried his right arm in form of an axe over the position where his foe was previously located.
The monster turned on it's back and saw Spider-Man standing over a traffic pole, observing him, before firing one biocable at one of the many skyscrapers, placing all his strength on his legs and jumping forward as he swung away.
"You're not going anywhere!" He shouted angrily and what seemed to be his own webline came from the palm of his hand and into the buildings, following the hero closely. "Not anymore!"
Spider-Man briefly gazed the menace over his shoulder, trying to come up with a plan that could stop the beast which was incredibly stronger than him in every way, but that didn't help with Kassady's useless brain.
If the suit he's wearing is another symbiote that came from nowhere, the only thing he could imagine of is an incredible amount of high pitch sounds, and that's it. He didn't have many knowledges over the parasite at all, and he thought there wasn't any left. Apparently.
Where do all these bad guys come from...?
Elementary School - Theatrical Stage
Excited and anxious, Elizabeth checked her bee - like costume for the piece and assured herself everything was ready and on its proper place while her friends did the same with their teacher's help. She would finally practice something she starting enjoying which was acting, not as much as discovering and learning new things, but the new activity was very captivating to her.
Quickly taking a peek outside through the large red curtains of the stage, Elizabeth noticed her parents and brothers didn't arrive yet. She knew her mother was coming with her brothers and it wouldn't take too long, but her father was a whole different case to talk about.
If he wasn't working, he was helping people and she knew that, so she wouldn't blame her father for not managing to appear in time. He's one of the greatest persons in the whole world, he was capable of achieving things no one else could, and those things always were meant to help those in need, she couldn't be any prouder of her affectionate father, but she wanted to make her parents proud with her own achievements, and he was also required.
Elizabeth closed her eyes and sighed heavily, hoping that everything would be alright with her personal hero, saviour and father, while wishing for his more than welcoming appearance at the local.
"Elizabeth, you okay?" Her teacher asked from behind, gaining her attention as the blonde girl turned on her back.
She smiled brightly and nodded. "Yes, Ms Roberts." She paused. "I'm just looking out for my parents and brothers."
The teacher knelled and squeezed her shoulder gently. "I'm sure they'll be here soon, there's thirty minutes left, nothing bad could happen today, trust me."
Fifth Avenue
"You fudging lick me again I'll fudging kill you!" Spider-Man stated furiously as he tried to break free from Carnage's grasp who currently stood over him and kept his both wrists on check. The monster's rather large tongue constantly swirled in the air, much to Peter's disgust.
He eventually managed to press the palm of his right hand and consecutively fired a web line at Carnage's face, briefly stunning him as he instinctively released Spider-Man's left hand from his. Peter grabbed a small rock from the ground which was one of the many debris they had caused throughout the fight in the street and violently pressed against the side of Carnage's head, getting Cletus of him while making the monster scream with its high pitch voice as the small rock became dust at the abrupt contact.
Kassady stood up and clumsily went to remove the webbing which was spread all over his face, making him unable to see and feel anything at all since his senses were temporarily compromised.
"You waste my time...!" Spider-Man suddenly appeared holding a light pole with both hands, taking advantage of his unnatural strength, he swung it towards Carnage's figure, sending him across the street and inside the large and fancy restaurant as he crashed through the doors and slammed against the many occupied tables.
Spider-Man quickly jumped inside and landed in front of Kassady who was now standing on his feet. "Not on my city...!" He punched his stomach, raising him from the ground with a single hand during the moment. Once he again managed to stand up, Spider-Man recovered a piece of plank with a single webline and violently pressed against his stunned opponent's chest as he clumsily crashed inside the kitchen, instantly causing a small yet chaotic explosion from inside.
The fire fastly spread itself over the ceiling as the people who still were located inside the restaurant hurried towards the exit, trying to avoid the destruction that both Spider-Man and his enemy were causing without really noticing the collateral effect.
Spider-Man closed his fists and stood still, gazing the destroyed kitchen's entrance. It didn't take too long to spot Kassady slowly crawling his way off the burning area, he was in pain, weakened, and that made Peter instantly realize another weapon that could be used against such type of symbiote, fire.
The goo that covered Kassady's figure was slowly melting and getting off his body, but most of its proportion remained over him. Peter could already see half of the man's face.
He walked towards Cletus, spun him around with his feet, making him lay on his back, before moving his right hand against Kassady's chest, grabbing the goo and ripping a small part off his body as the symbiote now attached itself in Peter's currently covered in spandex hand.
"No..." He growled. "It's mine...!"
Peter felt anger being pumped into his veins, such ordinary sensation he hadn't felt for years now. He tried to remain calm by briefly closing his eyes and slowing down his breathing while keeping Kassady in check with his feet. He wanted to end the monster who painfully gasped in the ground, one less problem, one more solution.
You're not him! You're not the first one...!
Spider-Man sighed heavily and stood motionless. Once the red symbiote was fully emerged with his right arm, he turned on his back and slowly walked away as the fire started to consume the place.
Kassady coughed briefly and said, "Don't you dare leave me...Peter!"
Spider-Man suddenly stopped on his tracks after his name was mentioned out of the nowhere.
Kassady chuckled. "Oh yes, I know everything about you...like that little pretty girl of yours...so kind, Elizabeth, eh? All of them, name by name, face by face." He provoked, seeing Spider-Man slowly turning on his shoulder. "It told me everything once it found me, you're done."
Spider-Man closed his fist, containing the urge of ending Kassady in a blink of an eye after the mention of his daughter's name. He sighed. "Even if you did...no one will ever believe a madman, consider yourself lucky to still be breathing in front of me."
"So? You won't kill me or...I don't know...kill me?" Kassady said, disappointed. "You heroes...know nothing about the real world, you're always stuck with your perfect morality that causes more harm than good! And then I'm the crazy one!"
Spider-Man cocked his head at him. "Really? What do you know about morality?"
"What would you know? You have a good life, no problems at all...you must swin in money, made no single effort with those natural freaky gifts!" Kassady chuckled. "Oh, sorry, good old Uncle Ben met his death so that you could later go on a personal rampage, that's sad...!"
Spider-Man stood in silence as a piece of the ceiling fell into the ground not very far away from him. "I never had an easy life, Kassady... everything I've ever accomplished was with much effort and sweat, and everything comes with a price, you made your choice, and you chose wrong."
He laughed to himself. "Have you seen how many young kids are getting into jail these days? Orphans? Guess why? The war you created, the monster you and your buddies created! And I'm the bad guy?! Look around you; we only exist because of you; you think know what's best for everyone but the only thing your kind create is chaos...!" He paused. "Your time is getting into an end, your pointless fight will be buried with your legend and death, it's only a matter of time before people get tired of you...you're not needed, never was!"
Spider-Man stood quiet, absorbing what Kassady had to say. "I fight...for freedom, mine...and everyone's, I fight for the right to choose our own fate, and if I die, I'll die knowing I did everything to stop your kind, and I'll die...free..." He turned on his back and started to head towards the exit, hearing the many sirens coming from outside the restaurant.
Kassady gasped. He wanted to end Spider-Man after that arrogant and proud attitude of him, and now he had the perfect opportunity as the hero let him face his back. He found a silver knife at the floor and grabbed it with his right hand, before standing up and quickly reaching his nemesis, bringing the knife closer to his back with a loud roar.
Spider-man instantly noticed the movement behind him and quickly turned around, slightly leaning his stomach backwards as the tip of the knife brushed against the spandex, he moved his right hand to Kassady's and propelled him into the floor, making him land on his back as he grabbed his left wandering arm and twisted it, getting the man incapacitated as he growled in pain.
He looked down to Cletus while he held his broken arm and said emotionless, "Everyone can learn how to use a gun or - in this case, a powerful biologic weapon...what you're going to learn is how to use your head, when you get that, maybe you'll be able to live among us, until then...you're more than welcome to stay away from society."
"I will...kill you...!" Kassady stated harshly.
Spider-Man now stood on his right knee. "That's right...don't blame yourself, blame me...when you're out, find me, try to kill me again, and never stop until you achieve such thing, just keep in mind...next time I won't be this forgiving...I'm done playing nice..." He put Kassady's arm back to it's former place, receiving a painful scream in return, and put him into sleep with a single punch as the firefighters entered the place and found nothing but fire and Kassady lying on the ground, the hero wasn't anywhere to be seen.
Outside the restaurant and next to a building's rooftop edge, Spider-Man stood on his feet and observed the events unfolding back at the streets, seeing his once opponent restrained in a medical stretcher as he was placed inside the ambulance.
Have you seen how many kids are getting into jail these days? Orphans? Guess why? The war you created, the monster you and your buddies created! And I'm the bad guy!
He reflected over such speech, realizing the ugly consequences the war brought since it's resolution, and Cletus had a point. He wondered if he was still needed, and if his actions were actually doing something aside from fighting people who wants his head.
After he woke up hours after the final battle, he didn't even question Gwen about what happened during the meantime, he was tired of everything, hearing the bad stuff would only make it worse, and now, the harsh truth was finally exposed, and he had to accept it.
Peter brought the hand which was covered with the symbiote closer to his face and tilted his head to the side, gazing the substance he now controlled with his own will.
He needed to get rid of it.
"Yes, sweetie, I told you I would arrive in time." Gwen maneuverer the car's wheel with a single hand while the other kept her phone next to her right ear. She quickly glanced digital clock in the panel between the two front seats, fifth minutes left. She moved her eyes to the mirror and saw her two boys sleeping in their seats, the side of their heads were resting against each other.
Gwen sighed at the view. She would have to wake them, and that wasn't an easy task since forever. "They're fully awake, yeah." She paused to pay attention to the traffic, before replying to another of her daughter's questions. "Your father? I was about to call him., Okay, I will, love you." She turned the call down and briefly placed her phone over the seat next to hers.
She moved her free hand through the space between the two front seats and gently held Aiden's small right foot, squeezing it gently with the purpose of waking him up. "Boys?" No response. Still heavy sleepers? Peter's minions confirmed once and for all. Gwen smiled to herself and kept trying to wake Aiden until she finally accomplished such thing.
Aiden slowly opened his eyes and brought his hand from his brother's and brushed his eyes in laziness. "Mommy...?"
"Don't do that, it will hurt your eyes." Gwen said concerned. "Could you please wake your brother? We're almost arriving at Liz's school."
Aiden yawned and nodded. He lazily turned on his right side and placed the tip of his finger against David's small nose who later narrowed his closed eyes as the urge to sneeze started to arrive. "Davey..." He called.
"Not like that..." Gwen deadpanned, seeing her son's not gently way of waking up his identical brother. She retrieved her phone, tapped her husband's phone and initiated a video call. She handed the device to her boys and focused back into handling the car. "Warn your dad that he needs to hurry up."
David leaned his head against the side of Aiden's as they both disputed space to see their father's image in the phone as the call was finally answered. "Hey, guys." Peter smiled. He appeared to be inside of an elevator, alone.
"Hi, daddy!" The twins greeted at the same time.
"What are you guys doing?"
Aiden spoke calmly, "Nothing."
David continued, "Mommy said that you need to hurry up, she didn't seem happy." He said innocently.
Gwen rolled her eyes at the driver's seat. It was true, the male Parker's were meant to mock her whenever she was close.
Peter chuckled lightly. "Did she, eh? Sounds like your mother."
Gwen finally protested, "Hey, that's not true!"
"Well, you must admit that you can get grumpy here and there." He teased.
She scoffed. "Whatever, just don't forget that your daughter is waiting for us, her father included."
Even if he was unable to see his wife, Peter caught the playfulness hint on her tone. "Aye, mom." He joked. "Just got into some trouble earlier, on my way."
Gwen teased back, "You better, or else you're getting in the chair of regret tonight if you misbehave."
Pay Get Clean Laundry - Manhattan
After gladly giving the symbiote to one of the small list of people he trusted on his life, Tony Stark, Peter swung towards the laundry and later made sure the whole place was indeed empty of people. Now wearing his civilian's clothes, Peter approached one of the many washers and took off his current attire which were over his now dirty Spider-Man suit and released them at the recently cleaned floor. He opened the machine's top and threw his mask inside of it, before proceeding to take off his super tight chest set, it was always a chore to achieve such difficult task.
He was still somewhat affected by the earlier events, his mind was racing with thousands of thoughts, and they're now directed to the moments that followed his conversation with Ultron, a robot that shared the same point of view with Cletus, about heroes causing an inevitable circular cycle of destruction, and that more would rise regardless of their 'peaceful' goals.
Are they right? He wondered. Is the fight over? Am I...outdated?
Noticing his self-doubts about what he did through his entire life, Peter slowly came to the notion of how much different he became since that particular moment with Ultron inside the Breach. He never really inquired Gwen about what happened shortly after the weapon was fired while he remained unconscious, apparently he was declared dead for a short amount time after the weapon crashed into the ground following the EMP blast, but that didn't change the fact he came as a different person after such event.
Was that good or bad? Only time will tell.
Later when the suit slipped out over his torso and face, Peter rested both hands on the sides of the machine and looked down to the ground, still holding the suit with one single hand as he breathed calmly, his hands were shaking lightly due to the anxiety caused by the countless thoughts he found himself diving through.
I know how it ends for me...Kassady, I know.
He finally calmed himself, gasped in relief and looked up, noticing a tall dark haired man standing in the other side of the establishment, stealthy gawking him over his shoulder, surprised by Peter's well defined build.
Peter gulped, still holding his suit with both hands, paralyzed. "Um...it's for...Halloween...I mean - it's not that far away..."
The man raised an eyebrow. "What...?" He wasn't paying attention to the suit at all.
Peter realized what was going, and that made him remain incredibly uncomfortable towards the awkward situation. "I... I'm a... family man..." He cleared his throat once again. "Just...erm, yeah."
"Oh..."
Peter nodded to himself. "Yeah...not against anything, but...like - I'm not wired that way, you know?" Where was Gwen to help him with situations like the current one? He wondered.
He deadpanned. "Okay..." He turned around and focused back to his own rented washer.
Peter exhaled sharply, relieved. He quickly placed the rest of his suit inside the machine, standing only on his boxers and not really minding that at all since he had more pressing issues like getting into his daughter's presentation in time. He found a penny at his jeans' pockets and finally activated the washer, before picking his daily clothes like his jacket, jeans and shirt and wearing them, heading quickly outside to find a cab once all of that was done.
Elementary School
Peter quickly hurried inside the school as he did his tie and searched for any sign that indicated where was the stage. The hallways were basically empty. That could only mean people were already inside, and that was a bad thing. He thought.
Cursing himself during the whole search, Peter eventually found the right door and stealthily opened, being greeted by a dark ambient where all the seats were already occupied by the student's familiars. He searched for any young blonde woman accompanied by two boys. His eyes settled themselves in the very first line in front of the stage.
Gwen had David sat on her lap, playing with her phone while the piece didn't start. His twin brother Aiden kept his father's seat warm, he gazed the spotlights with eyes that surely meant curiosity, and desire. He was pretty much holding himself from crawling there and do his stuff with the poor electronics.
Peter fastly descend the stairwell and finally headed towards them.
Noticing some footsteps amidst the chattering, Gwen turned on her shoulder and saw her husband clumsily walking in the slim pace between the lines, being careful to not step over someone's toes, but that didn't seem to work as she constantly heard someone grunting in pain while he quickly apologized.
Once close enough, Peter smiled cheekily and gently took Aiden on his arms, before sitting down with the twin lying his back against his chest. "Hey," He quickly gave Gwen a tiny peck on the lips. "Man, I hate this thing." He loosened his tie quite a bit, not really comfortable with accessory.
"What took you so long?" Gwen whispered.
Peter exhaled sharply and adjusted himself in the seat. "Honey, the traffic was intense."
Gwen deadpanned. "You didn't take the car."
He stood quiet. Should he really bother her with what he fought minutes ago? He wondered. "It's nothing, I explain it later." He took her hand on his and squeezed it gently. "You look fantastic; you know?"
Gwen decided to let the subject go away since he was trying to change it. She smiled kindly and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Thank you." She sighed happily. "Now we wait for our little girl to shine."
One hour later...
As the Parkers minus Elizabeth walked outside the school and entered the garden-like park nearby the parking lot, Peter sat in bench and next to Gwen. He wrapped an arm around her waist while the twins hurried inside and experienced the many attractions. Elizabeth was still inside so they had to make the most of their time.
Gwen crossed her legs and sighed contently at her husband's arms, she wanted to be embraced by him once again. She rested her head against his shoulder and gazed their children. "I missed you today."
Peter kissed her temple and took in her scent. "Long day..." He paused. "Sorry for taking up too long, had to deal with Kassady."
Gwen placed a hand on his thigh and asked lowly, "Again...?"
"Yeah, but I managed it." He slipped his hand inside her blouse and stroked her belly. "I promised I wouldn't miss this, some of them I can keep it."
Gwen smiled to herself at the simple act of affection he was giving her.
He caught a glimpse of the sudden smile and raised an eyebrow. "Gwen...?"
She looked up to him innocently. "What?"
Peter tilted his head to the side. "I know that look of yours."
Gwen smirked and teased, "Peter...wait till we get to our bedroom, okay? Be patient."
Peter deadpanned. She was trying to change the subject, and knowing his wife very well, he knew something was up. "That's not what I meant...do you want to tell me something?"
Gwen stood in silence for a brief moment, gazing into his brown orbs. She didn't want to get him excited when she wasn't totally sure if it's indeed happening. They didn't talk about such possibility for months now. She cupped his cheek and said softly, "I... I'm not sure, okay? Give me a few days."
Peter didn't know what to do at first, so he just nodded in agreement.
It didn't long to Aiden quickly approach his parents while he kept both his hands together as if he was holding something. "I found something on the ground, it's red and tiny!" He revealed. "Guess what it is, and fast, I need to help David to pick a flower for Liz!"
"Erm..." Gwen retracted a little more into her husband's strong arms, expecting the worst.
Peter smiled and leaned closer to his son while Gwen carefully moved herself behind his shoulder. "I doubt that would be a vegetable, right?" He teased, well aware of Aiden's tastes which didn't include any vegetable at all.
He shook his head, disgusted. "No...but it's alive." He grinned.
Gwen exhaled deeply. "Oh boy..."
Aiden opened both hands and revealed very small ladybug, it stood still on his hands, not really seeming to mind the human imprisonment. "It's awesome, isn't it?"
He just said 'awesome', I'm done. Peter chuckled lightly, before moving his right hand next to Aiden's so that the tiny insect could reach for his hand, which turned out to be a slow process. "A lady bug."
Gwen sighed, relieved, at least it wasn't an ugly looking insect. She resumed her position next to Peter and placed an arm around her beautiful son as he went to happily hug her in return. "Insects, ew." She kissed his temple.
Peter continued, "Good thing we're arachnids, right, Aiden?" He teased. "Or else your mother wouldn't like us one tiny bit." He moved his hand that was holding the ladybug down into the ground and allowed the insect it's more than deserved freedom.
Aiden turned his head to his father's side and nodded with a convinced grin while he hugged Gwen back. She sent him a cute glare, as if throwing sharp daggers at him through her deep green eyes.
"I think I'm probably tending to like my little boys better than my biggest one." Gwen teased back.
Peter was about to protest with another of his, most of the time, cheesy jokes, but changed his mind when he heard a very familiar and young feminine voice called them from behind. He turned on his shoulder as he stood up and saw Elizabeth running towards him. He quickly kneeled and opened his arms as Elizabeth instantly wrapped her own arms around him in a strong hug while he later stood up and brought her along. "Hey!"
Elizabeth leaned her head back so that she could see her father eye to eye. "How much awesome you think I was?!"
"Linkin Park levels of awesomeness." Peter smiled happily as Elizabeth giggled in return, if there was one single trait everyone was sure they both shared, it was the musical taste, much to Gwen's disapproval, she preferred more relaxing type of songs, but then again, their daughter needed to inherit at least something from her father since she was considered by the whole family to be a Mini-Gwen. "You're fantastic today, honey, don't forget to tell your uncles when they're back from their trip."
"I will!" Elizabeth smiled back.
Gwen walked next to the pair and kissed Elizabeth's cheek. She moved a trace of her daughter's golden hair and said softly, "We're proud of you, sweetie."
Peter smiled contently at the sight. He felt disarmed, free, and lighter. He was just Peter Parker for moment, he didn't need to think about himself, about the different man he slowly found himself becoming into over the course of the time. He was in peace with himself, he wanted nothing but to spend all the time he could with the ones he loved the most.
Nothing more, and nothing else.
David gently grabbed Elizabeth's right foot so that he could gain her attention. She looked down and saw her young brothers standing next to each other and gave them a kind smile. Aiden was holding a white flower with his right hand. "We got this for you!"
New York - Central Park
"I've told you I'd come in time." Peter sat in the bench, being accompanied by his very own daughter who laid her head against his chest. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and sighed contently.
"I'm glad you did, dad." Elizabeth placed her right hand over his abdomen, hearing her father's very low moan as if that specific area was causing some pain to him, and he apparently he didn't want to tell her, but she wasn't naive. "Does it hurt...badly?" She looked up.
Peter cleared his throat. "What do you mean?"
"Your injury, I noticed it." She replied innocently.
Like mother, like daughter.
"Um...don't worry about it." He said, reassuringly. "I've been through worse, believe me."
Elizabeth asked concerned, "But shouldn't you treat it?" Peter chuckled lightly. She cocked her head at him in suspicion. "Why are you laughing?"
Peter moved a golden lock of hair behind her ear with the tip of his finger. "You just remind me of your mother a lot, not just visually, but also mentally." He affirmed. "Always looking out for us boys."
"Well, mom is awesome." Elizabeth grinned.
He nodded in agreement. "Ditto." They now stood in silence, wrapped in each other's arms, while watching the two colourful birds building their small house in a tall tree not far away from them.
Peter enjoyed moments like the current one, where there isn't anything else besides him and his family, no immediate threats, big responsibilities and the world's weigh on his shoulders, just them, and only them. "Hey, Liz?"
"Yeah?" She focused her green eyes towards him.
"Recently, your mother and I came to the conclusion that you should know our entire truth, and I volunteered myself to talk to you alone." He stroked her smooth cheek gently.
"I love histories." She smiled kindly.
He nodded, before exhaling deeply. "Well, when I had your age, your other grandparents, Richard and Mary, as you know, left me with May and Ben, before they unfortunately passed away due to a plane accident."
"Then Ben and May raised you as their son, right?"
"That's right, and it stayed like that for many years to come." He said calmly. "Ben taught me what May couldn't, and vice versa, but the biggest lesson I learned with them is that I don't get to choose what I should do, but what I need to do for those who need my help if can."
"With great power comes great responsibility, mom tells me that often."
Peter smiled brightly. "Yeah, basically, and she's right, listen to your mom." He chuckled lightly, before proceeding, "Well, days later after I discovered my powers, after I thought I was invincible, Ben also passed away when trying to do something honourable which wasn't his job, but he felt the need to anyways." He gulped. "I was devastated; May was super worried about me, and your mom was always there for me, you know? Before we even started dating..." He cleared his throat, these two topics never were an easy for him, no matter how many years passed. "I was on a dark path..."
"It's okay," She interviewed her fingers with his. "Tell me more."
He squeezed her hand. "I wanted revenge, satisfy my hunger for 'justice', that's what I thought, but thanks to grandpa George, it didn't take me long to realize I was wrong, and thanks to him, I became Spider-Man, the proper one, the man Ben wanted me to be." He explained, rather heartbroken. "George Stacy saved the city, the Stacy's did during that night with Connors, and we lost one too, before that, he told me to stay away from your Mother, to protect his daughter, and now I understand deeply his reason...but as you know, I couldn't, and that almost cost her life once, then I swore that I'd give everything...to keep your mother safe."
"I'm glad you did so." She kissed his cheek, Peter smiled lightly. She inquired, "Who was Harry?" She recalled Peter briefly mentioning him some time ago. It got her curious.
Peter hesitated at first, but the words eventually came. "Harry was the only friend I had in years, he was the first one to be more precise...we're so alike and our bond was something else, we're like - brothers... he's a man that deserved so much, but didn't have enough time to trail his path, make his choices; in the end, he gave his life for me, and that's the memory I use to remember him, despite our differences which are in the past now."
"So, you loved him too?" Elizabeth asked, not aware of the complications and meanings such word can have.
He exhaled deeply. "I think so, he was a very important person to me, we're supposed to take care of each other..." He sighed, before changing subjects and focusing in the story of their family over Spider-Man's, "Anyways, years later your mother and I returned from England, after she was done with her college, we eventually married, the tine felt right."
"How was it?" She questioned, curious.
Peter replied, "Quite the experience, and very touching, that's for sure."
"I wish I could've been there, I kind of love weddings, they're beautiful." Elizabeth confessed.
"Well, you weren't among us in that day." He said softly. "But when you were, after your mom and I decided to start a family... when I held you for the first time and you gazed into my eyes, or when I saw you peacefully lying next to your mother hours later after you're born..." He smiled weakly. "I realized what is my objective here, and it's not save this city or the whole world, but to simply give you and the boys the love you deserve, and that's it, be a father...villains and problems be damned, there's nothing on this world... I wouldn't do for you." He licked his lips, distracting his eyes that were getting wet. "And now, honestly... I don't know if I'm up to that, this emptiness inside of me...I'm afraid to not be here for you, to not see you grown into a even more beautiful and intelligent woman who I know you'll become..." He confessed. After all the experiences he went through, during his life, he couldn't help but agree with the man he fought hours ago.
Maybe his other career would eventually backfire, and since he can't stop, not until he's incapacitated from doing so, his time could eventually arrive, and he was afraid of leaving the he loves most, giving them the pain he felt during all these years since he was six.
"Daddy..."
He continued sober, now looking at the stars in the sky, "I almost lost your day...and I eventually could lose all of them..."
Elizabeth suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him closely as her father wrapped his own arms around her and buried his head on her shoulder. She whispered softly, "I'm never...letting you go, daddy, you'll be here with us, forever." She stroked his hair. "I love you."
"I love you too." Peter hugged her back, keeping her close with both arms snaked around her back.
They eventually lost count of the time as they stood quiet, just embracing each other amidst the silence of the park. What the pair noticed was that small puddles of water were very slowly colliding against their clothes.
Elizabeth looked up to the sky, "Look, dad, it's raining." She stepped back into the ground and smiled happily as the puddles of water start to form in the ground.
"I think we should go then." Peter suggested and also stood up, bringing his jacket along and before checking his surroundings and seeing people running towards a safe area while opening their umbrellas.
"Why?!" Elizabeth opened her arms, enjoying the sensation.
"Well...um..because-" Peter was interrupted after Elizabeth quickly kicked a puddle and sent traces of water at him. She smiled in anticipation.
Peter instinctively tried to walk backwards but she was faster than him. He smiled at her. She quickly leaned down and used her right hand to splash more water at him.
Deciding that he shouldn't miss anything with his kind despite how different these situations could have been, Peter placed his jacket down into the floor while Elizabeth constantly jumped over the close puddles, kicked them towards him as she got closer, giggling all the way.
Peter chuckled lightly and took a small jump before stepping over another puddle and later taking large steps towards her, getting Elizabeth more soaked as she retreated back. She again bent down just to use her hands to splash more water towards his direction, and later jumping very close to her father, sending waves of water all around them as they laughed together.
With Aiden resting his head against Gwen's camisole and her shoulder, while having both arms snaked around her neck, she turned off the living room's lights and headed upstairs, carrying her asleep son on her arms. She slipped a hand underneath his shirt and massaged his back, being careful to not wake the rest of her beautiful family.
Noticing the door of her bedroom was half open with a low weak light coming from the available open space between the door and the wall, Gwen slowly opened it and saw her husband and daughter lying on their bed and underneath the many covers. She smiled softly at the sight.
Elizabeth herself had an arm draped across her father's back while Peter kept her close to his chest by having his right arm wrapped her slim frame. Gwen couldn't help but realize how much time has passed since her first came to light, her little baby, and now her blonde daughter was getting bigger and bigger with each every day, until the day she finally becomes a fully grown up woman.
Even when such day comes, Gwen knew Peter would still be the father every child could wish for. He considered himself heavily flawed, but Gwen always personally thought he was perfect, with everything that happened on their lives, he remained the same cute, lovingly and dork boy she fell in love with almost fifteen years ago, and that would never change, because persons like Peter are rare, but men like him are even more rare.
Once she placed Aiden into bed, Gwen walked through the corridor illuminated by a dim tonality, she stopped right next to her bedroom's door, now seeing only Elizabeth tucked underneath the covers. Peter wasn't anywhere to be seen, as for his suit, it remained in the same spot, fortunately.
Deciding to investigate further, Gwen calmly headed downstairs, taking one slow step after the another with her bare feet throughout the spiral stairwell. She immediately spotted Peter standing next to the kitchen's long sink, he opened a small orange plastic capsule and placed it's tip against his lips, taking most of them.
As for Ren, the now heavy weight puppy snored lightly in the couch, clearly enjoying it's comfort.
"Peter, what are you doing...?" Gwen crossed her arms, trying to stop the heat from getting off her body and into the air.
Peter groaned as the pills started to take effect on his muscles. "Painkillers." He replied huskily. He turned around and snapped his neck, before pulling his shirt over his torso and handing it to his wife who tried to make any sense of the situation.
She quickly eyed the the empty capsule in the sink. "All of them...?" She asked in disbelief. "You do realize those can kill you if you're not careful?"
Peter shrugged his shoulders. "Kraven once kept me in a coffin and drugged me for weeks, this won't kill me, besides...I'm not an ordinary human, right?" He winked and leaned his torso forward, falling into the floor with both hands as he started doing push ups next to Gwen.
He was being dismissing, hiding something. Gwen thought. She placed his shirt over the counter top and focused on the toned muscles of his back, especially his both trapezius which were constantly flexing and joining each other over and over again. "Yeah, well, during that time it's not like you had a choice either, and we all thought you're dead, you even said goodbye to me before that." She sighed, hard times were during the second breakup. "But that's not the point, what is causing such pain on you that raised the need to empty that capsule?"
His breathing became rigid. "Got a pretty heavy blow on the chest and back earlier...the pain didn't fade away yet, it's getting annoying." He paused briefly. "Adams mentioned something like it would eventually happen, now I'm just exercising myself, feels rather...good."
"Hm... you're at your physical peak nowadays..." She lost her gaze on his back. "...I mean - you're not getting any younger, me and you both."
"You remain beautiful as ever, don't fret about it."
Gwen smiled lightly. She scoffed. "Could you please stand up? As perfect as your back is, it doesn't talk back."
Peter chuckled. He took one long breath and finally stood up, before stretching his shoulders, his defined muscles were now more rigid to Gwen's appreciation. "I thought you enjoyed the show."
"I did." Gwen took one step closer and placed her hand against his chest, touching the affected area. "You probably pulled a muscle, this can become more serious if you don't treat it well."
Peter placed both hands on her waist and gently rubbed the delicate skin. "How do you know?"
Gwen tilted her head to the side and kept her gaze fixed on his chest. "Well, let's say I may have gotten a basic medicine degree last year." She finally looked up, her eyes darkening once she met her husband's.
"Aren't you a little genius?" He teased.
"Not really," Gwen shook her head with a smile. "Can't that friendly girl - Sam, I think, heal you? You said some bruises suddenly disappeared during that reality thing of yours."
"Sam isn't God, you know." Gwen fixed him a cold glare. He clarified, "It's beyond her skills, and I can't really remember how that happened, just bits and pieces." He sighed, frustrated. "It's killing me."
"Fine." She cupped his right cheek, comforting him.
"I actually feel better now, your fingers are magical or something?" He asked, surprisingly serious. The pain had vanished for good.
Gwen rolled her eyes. "Cheeky..."
"I'm not joking, but take that as you want." He teased.
She smiled and ran a hand in the back of his neck. "I guess you're staying home tonight, right?"
"Well, I..."
Gwen wrapped her arms around him. "Please?" She begged. "Stay with me."
Peter eventually nodded. "Okay...I will." He hugged her closely, closed his eyes and let her warm comfort him through the peaceful and silent atmosphere of their apartment. He smiled to himself and later broke the passionate silence, "So... love time?" He questioned on his own dorky way.
Gwen giggled and looked up to him with a huge grin. She shook her head playfully. "No, you're not getting any love time tonight."
"Too bad." He shrugged and gave her a tiny peck on the lips.
Gwen licked her lips and suggested, "We could cuddle and watch some TV show, though."
He moved a hand underneath her camisole and trailed soft circles in the naked skin of her back. "As long as it isn't Glee, fine by me."
Gwen smiled cheekily. Persuasion then it is. "Well..."