Outer Verse - Ezekiel's world
"Will ever the time when I have to worry about… I don't know, simply… music? boys? Maybe some movies?" Elizabeth asked, standing near the window of the house found in upstate New York.
Ezekiel gestured for her to follow him, "Elizabeth, we are getting you away from here."
His fifteen-years old niece wasn't having any of it. She scoffed.
"I'm not going anywhere, uncle." Elizabeth challenged, setting her eyes at the tree outside.
"I don't understand why you're acting like this." He fully turned himself back to her and continued, "Are you aware of the danger you are in? We were lucky to get out of the city."
She met him. "Then neither do I about you."
"What do you... want of me, Lizzie?"
"You want me to send away, you've always wanted that, just say it already!"
"We were lucky to get your mom and May out of the country with your brothers. Now that I've found you, Harry will do a better job of keeping you low until you get to them."
"Oh, screw that…!"
Ezekiel was taken back. "He will be a better company than me! I'm staying here for the moment, and you can't."
"Cut the shit…"
Language, girl… He thought to himself.
She continued, "I will be far better with you. There's nothing to be useful with them. What are you so worried about? I can take care of myself!"
"Have you forgotten how many times we barely made it out? The city is under constant watch to get to the people like you, especially you!"
"We did okay until now!"
"Then… you will do better than okay with Harry!" Ezekiel turned around to reach for the door.
Elizabeth stopped him from doing so, "You know I'm not gonna end up like him. I can quickly get out of places."
"What…?"
"I made Flash tell me about dad, about how he… died." Her father passed away when she was much younger, about seven years ago.
Her brothers barely remembered his presence.
It wasn't until later that it got much worse due to the rebellions against the Superhuman Act, with authorities knocking on people's door to get their children, parents or siblings.
They came for her and her brothers, but the difference was that this Venom came along, the man who murdered her father when he fought the newly implemented system, she barely managed to get her family out with her powers, only May, Gwen and her brothers survived.
"Elizabeth…! Don't… cross this… line." The death of his brother, her father, was a sensitive subject he opted to never talk about it.
It made him remember of his biggest failure that was helping each other to stay alive as they handled the battles they constantly did.
That, somehow hurt him the most, instead of the loss of half his family.
He couldn't risk that happening again.
"I too know that what losing someone I love is…"
He contained his anger. "You weren't there… you didn't pick him from the ground, you didn't fight the people off his lifeless body… and you didn't almost die just to be able to bury him…"
She contested, "Every friend I've ever had is gone or left me… my father is gone, Uncle Ben is gone and everyone is far away from here already… everyone minus freaking you…!" She pushed him in the chest. "Don't come with this bulllshit about me being better with anyone that isn't you because the reality is that I would be more terrified…"
Ezekiel remained silent, absorbing her words, whilst holding his immediate anger back. He finally spoke, "I'm your Uncle… not your father, and you're better with him until you get to your mother."
Elizabeth seemed defeated, as her eyes watered in sadness.
Ezekiel sighed, ready to turn back to the door. His phone rang, once he got it, there was a message from Harry saying Venom had entered the building they were in.
"We have to go!"
May 14th - 2031
Present Time - Central Park
"That's basically what became of her, a stubborn girl with some swearing problems." Ezekiel smiled.
Harry was sat besides him, still processing every single spoken fact from his life. "Did she get back to Gwen?"
"Eventually, there was a point where it was too risky for her to stay in the city, even if her powers were useful when she could control them." He explained. "I stood in the city, helping those I could, for a little longer."
"Speaking of powers… you mentioned you fought alongside Peter…?"
"I tried to, he did most of the heavy work… back then I could barely do anything, I had to interrupt my training with Strange once things got messier, I only continued when Elizabeth was out of the country."
"That's… that's horrible, what you all experienced. So much… pain."
Ezekiel nodded to himself. "Yeah… it doesn't get much better, though."
"What's the last you've heard of her before… coming here?"
Ezekiel sighed, briefly. He spoke, "I didn't hear much of her after her brothers passed away, she went against the system… but, she told me that iif she failed, that I should go to this world she briefly got into one night with her gifts, one where her father was alive and well, and to keep him safe."
"So you knew about her gifts since the beginning, didn't you?" Ezekiel nodded. He continued, "And what happened to her?"
"I'm not sure, I just know she and her group had a big plan, and then she never reached for me again after one night, I only got that message from someone near her, who didn't stay for long after delivering it."
Harry moved both hands to cover his face as he sighed heavily. "Damn… I… I hope she did okay. This stuff is just… unbelievable."
Ezekiel didn't reply. He wanted to believe that, but he knew he shouldn't. Elizabeth could take care of herself, she was probably better than Peter ever was when it came to tackling those who threatened her, but that wasn't enough even then.
She was a strong woman, who wouldn't take anything from anyone, even without her suit.
He had her to look up to, his niece, their relationship could have been stormy sometimes, but she was there for him, and he would be there for her too, even now.
Harry picked his phone. There was a text from Peter. He began, "Peter wants to meet at my apartment, we should go. I have to show him something too." He stood up.
Ezekiel took one last glance at the park, it was a beautiful sight, calm and careless.
He wanted it to remain that way, and not the image he had from his world, despite the consequences of staying much time away from his world.
"I'm coming."
New York - JFK International Airport
Half an hour before the message…
"You two listen to granny's orders, okay?" Gwen fixed David's sleeves, crouched in front of him. She had a tiny bandage spread across her cheek.
Peter remained besides her, showcasing a cut over the bridge of his nose and the many cuts spread all over his face.
It showed how the last days really took a toll on them, they couldn't take anymore risks.
Helen stood close, watching the farewell while holding her tears back. Her brothers were sat in the awaiting seats not further away past the checkpoint.
"Yes, mommy."
Gwen continued delicately, "Don't forget to brush your teeth…"
"We know,"
"And to put the dirty clothes in the laundry like I taught you."
They nodded, not happy about leaving their parents behind.
Gwen's eyes began to form tears. "Don't forget to eat, even if you have to stop playing for a moment, okay?"
They nodded again.
"Okay," Gwen hugged them both together. "Mommy loves you, very, very much. Think of this as vacation, sweethearts." She cupped Aiden's cheek, giving him a peck in the forehead before standing up.
Peter lowered himself to the ground to match their height and brought them both into his arms.
"You guys listen to your mom," He sighed deeply through the hug, it wasn't what he wanted, but it may have been the best option for the moment.
He pinched their noses, "Once you two are back we can finally binge watch the entirety of Johnny-Bravo, eh? What do you think?"
They shared a laugh, the sight of their smiles was a cozy one. He would give his best to remain that way, that was the picture he chose to put close to his heart.
"I love you guys, alright?"
"We love you too, daddy." They replied together, receiving a kiss in the top of their heads.
Peter and Gwen watched the trio head away towards the boarding procedures, until they couldn't be seen anymore. They only hoped that was the right decision.
Gwen inhaled deeply and turned on her feet, walking to the opposite direction and to the nearest exit.
Peter followed her with his eyes, until he decided to catch up with her. "Gwen, wait."
She stopped once she felt a hand against her shoulder. "There's a lot to do, Peter."
"Can we just talk?"
"What's there to talk? We haven't found Liz yet."
"Just…" He cleared his throat, unaware of what he could possibly say to fix things up. "I can't… leave Eddie, if it's really him doing all that stuff, maybe I could help him…"
He had told her just about everything he learned during the days they didn't see each other, from the Stark Tower to his dream and more.
"... I don't think he wants your help, Peter, not after what he did to you, and what he still can... do with you. Let what's left of the Avengers handle this…"
Peter went to say something but he hesitated in the end, sighing in frustration as they looked at each other.
Gwen nodded to herself, holding her emotions back once again. She eventually moved her eyes elsewhere and away from Peter's. "I should be going."
"At least come with me, I can drive you to whatever you want to." He almost sounded like he was pleading.
Gwen silenced. She began lowly, "I… I need some time alone to… digest everything, and do what I can to find our daughter. Just do what you want." She took one last look at her husband before leaving him alone in the middle of the busy hall.
Now outside, Peter closed the door of his car once he got in. He put both hands over the wheel and sighed heavily.
His eyes eventually landed at the front. He could see his tired expression, and the many tiny bruises that were yet to heal across his face.
"You look great, Peter." He spoke to himself in a sarcastic tone.
Then something in the low side of his head caught his attention. A tiny fiber of gray hair. It was barely noticeable, but it was there.
His eyes remained fixated at the mirror and at the discovery for a quiet moment. He then looked back to his face, and eventually to his own very eyes that showed his recent sleep habits.
Peter tightened his grip over the wheel, looking down to his feet, briefly, in reflection.
He turned the ignition on and headed off the airport.
Present time...
"How's your wounds?" The deep and unnatural voice asked, calmly.
Venom, in his normal form, stood still in the dark room, facing from a distance the large sized window in front of him that had a high view of the city.
There was only a single chair close to the same window, facing it. The person who asked him the question could be found sat there.
He's holding us back.
Venom shook his head briefly. "It healed already." He answered, not putting any emotion into his answer.
"I see… the perks of the symbiote, right?"
Venom remained in silent.
"Yes, you were never much of a talker." He continued, "I suppose it's better this way. Have you gotten what you wanted?"
"Not yet. The trail went cold for now."
His neck… open it.
"You know she doesn't have much time…"
"I'm working on-"
He continued over Venom's words, "... like you also didn't have when I found you... and gave you the symbiote you now wear."
Venom tilted his head to the side. The suit began twitching, wanting to come out.
"Before you have any ideas, don't forget who put you back together. And who's the only one that can help you find what you need."
"I understand."
"Good," He stood up, walking around the chair to stand besides it. "Now, you aren't supposed to fail with the mission they give you, I can't have all of this compromised by your actions."
"Spider-Man got out… someone else got involved and stopped the task force before, it won't happen again."
"It's not that I meant, the time for the man behind Spider-Man will come. I talk about Fisk, you made a mess, he's locked now, and that's problematic. So I had to lend him some favors to make up for it, and you didn't even get the suit after that whole fiasco."
"Fisk got what he deserved… and I wasn't harsh enough. He got off easily."
"I need his influence, his contacts… his power!" The harsh voice demanded, taking the entire room in silence for a moment. His eyes turned green, now in evidence through the darkness.
The symbiote almost came out as his head briefly twitched rapidly, but he contained the change.
He knew he couldn't move on him.
The man recomposed himself, "I trust you will have a better judgement next time." He turned in his back and returned to the seat. "Before you go… are you aware of… this Gwen Stacy?"
"I am."
"Good, then you should know she has a missing daughter. Coincidentally, I happen to know of a Fisk cell that went rogue after he got arrested. Rumors have that they're trafficking metahumans now, and that she's in their hands, I assume she must have special something in her… go make sure of that. I'll have you informed right away."
Venom nodded. He turned on his feet and towards the exit, his teeth and tongue finally came out once he had his back towards the chair and its occupant.
Harry's Apartment
"What are you doing? Go after her." Harry ordered as Peter focused his attention to his desk.
He had a map and many papers laid over it.
"There were sightings of a blonde lost girl in this area, and you need to get away from here, it's not safe." He pointed to the section in the map. "I'm not done here, Harry."
"Maybe you should be." He took a step closer. Ezekiel watched them from behind, leaned against a wall.
"What are you talking about?" Peter turned on his feet to face him.
"There's probably a better way to handle all this stuff."
"Like what?" Peter challenged.
"Like… I go into hiding after we get your daughter, then I arrange a new identity again… after that."
"You were almost killed by Venom you can't hide here in this damn city!"
Harry had enough of his stubbornness "Alright, whatever! You got after your wife and me and Ezekiel search for Elizabeth."
"What? Without me? She's my daughter. And you will both die."
Harry chuckled. "Yeah? Okay. I think I have been dealing with tough shit way before you. You have too much in your head already, let her with us. I think we might be able to handle-"
Peter cut him off, "You want to be useful, Harry? Go keep an eye on Gwen." He sighed, staying still against the desk.
The room was silent. Ezekiel tried to interfere, but he refrained himself from doing so. It wasn't his right.
Peter began looking again at the map. He then saw Harry, in the corner of his eye, placing a picture over the far end of the desk.
"Whatever you want, Peter." He said lowly, walking away from him and towards the exit, closing the door once outside.
Peter took the picture, it was a recent image of Elizabeth walking in the street amongst a crowd in Hell's Kitchen.
She was alive, afraid, but alive.
Harry probably hacked into the city's server and got footage from many cameras.
He was helping him, indeed.
"Peter…" Ezekiel approached, placing a hand over his shoulder to comfort him. "Take it easy, we'll find her."
"We're heading off, there's two trails now, I pick one and you the other."
"Peter…" Ezekiel returned his hand to himself.
"Get your things ready. I want do this right away."
"Okay," Ezekiel nodded in defeat. He turned on his feet but before heading off, he spoke, "... just keep your head clear, your daughter will fully need you… just like the rest of us."
Peter moved his chin to the side without looking at Ezekiel, taking in his words, until he was alone again to his thoughts.
Keep… focused...
Elizabeth stared the dirty ceiling of her cell, ignoring the light pole in the middle of it. She was laid on her back and over the cold ground.
If her powers could just work whenever she wanted them to. She was now stuck in a cell for days.
She looked to the bar besides her, moving her hand to grab it. She figured her cell was inside some storage room, where she could possibly be is something she didn't know, though.
She tightened her grip over the single bar, noticing how the metal slowly became dented. Her eyes widened, for a moment she felt much stronger.
It wasn't like her father since he could lift cars, but she never felt as much powerful as she did now, even if just a bit, she thought that side of his gift didn't get into her.
Someone stepped inside, causing Elizabeth to take her hand back to herself.
"You should eat, girl." The man moved a plate with food through the gates and besides her.
Elizabeth didn't move.
"Just eat already, or do you rather die here?"
"What do you want of me? Why can't you let me go you crazy old man?" She looked up to the man, a grizzled one, he had a sinister aura on him.
"I told you to call me Miles Warren already." He continued, "It's nothing personal, you will be gone from here soon, I think."
"To where?"
He chuckled. "To wherever my client wants you to be. Oh, I wish I could get my hands on you… to know what makes you so special, and how, but I haven't touched a corpse since working with Gustav Fiers…"
She stood up, making eye contact with him. "What do you mean…?"
"Well, exactly that. Genetics and all that stuff… that is until Spider-Man got to him and everything got shutdown. A pity."
Gustav Fiers… dad…
Warren continued, "Tell me, who are you parents? I'm assuming at least one of them must have given you that thing you can do, right?"
She stood quiet.
"See, it would be wise to answer my questions… my crew isn't too happy with the trouble you gave them before catching you."
"They could have done nothing, and nothing would have happened." Elizabeth replied, her eyes expressing the anger she contained inside of her.
He laughed again. "Yeah… I guess, but we have to survive somehow, like I said, it's nothing personal. This whole superhuman stuff just makes it easier, lots of people interested in what you and many others can do."
Warren could feel her death stare into his. He smiled, "But… if you… help me catch others like you, we can cut something out." He moved his open hand inside the cell and towards her, waiting for an agreement. "What do you say?"
Elizabeth watched his hand, he wanted her to shook it. She could be out of there, but at the same time, that's not what their parents would have wanted.
In a moment of revenge, Elizabeth grabbed his hand with her right one and began crushing it, slowly. He immediately crouched in the ground, crying in pain.
But then her strength began getting back to normal, and eventually, she wasn't inflicting much pain upon him.
She remained still, clueless and afraid.
Warren rose from the ground, gasping harshly. He grabbed her arm and started to repeatedly push her against the bars, until she was knocked out in the ground.
Elizabeth fell in her side, her cheeks filled with red stains, and cuts spread all over her skin. She blacked out.
Hell's Kitchen - Killer's Wheel Bar
Who are you, Peter? What is… happening to the guy I fell in love with? Am I losing that person?
Peter recalled, lost to his thoughts and sat next to the bartender's table.
He tried to pay attention to every bit of information he could gather from the busy surroundings around him, but his memories made such task very difficult.
Until he was interrupted.
"Hey, aren't you familiar?"
Peter felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over it, "We've never met, pal." He turned back to his glass of water, he had to keep his head straight.
He was inside a gang's nest, a motorcycle based one. He couldn't be too careful.
"No, I've seen your face somewhere." The bald and bearded man turned back to his crewmates that were throwing a party behind them. "Hey, guys! Do any of you recognize this fine fella?"
Here we go…
Peter was pushed off the chair by the man and then shoved into the circle of angry looking men that formed around him.
The music was cut off.
He smiled, awkwardly. "Hello friends…"
"You're that Peter Parker guy." Someone within the circle pointed out.
There goes my disguise.
"For you can I can be anyone… but first someone has to tell me if a blonde haired girl was seen somewhere here." Peter checked his pulses, he had a single web-shooter in his right pulse, the first model he made.
Yet I can't use them now, not without risking everything.
A voice inquired, "Who…?"
Another raised the question, "Doesn't he take pictures of Spider-Man? What if he's feeding him information about us?"
He raised both hands. "Now, now… you're thinking of someone else." He chuckled, nervously. His decision-making skill was about to be put up to test.
"Take him to the boss, he will know what do."
Peter took a step, "Let's… not get ahead of ourselves." He was forced to punch the man coming in his front with a baseball bat but he couldn't struggle much as he felt a kick to the back of his leg and suddenly he was on his knee.
He tried to resist but a punch landed against his cheek and kept him stunned, briefly.
They grabbed Peter by both arms and dragged him up the stairwell, opening the double doors in the end that revealed the private lounge that had old motorcycles hanging against the walls and a pool table in the middle of the room.
There were many couches that formed a circle around the table with smoking tables separating each other.
Only one of them was occupied.
To make the room even more distinct, classic guns were hanging against the walls, including the infamous Tommy Gun, revolvers, and even a grenade launcher from the Vietnam War.
Peter was harshly lifted and dropped into the table. He groaned in slight pain. They left him there. Peter brought a hand to brush his face as he slowly sat in the table.
"This is Peter Parker, boss. He takes picture of Spider-Man… we found him here."
"It's not what you guys think." Peter sassed, groaning slightly. He looked up to his side and recognized the strong figure sat in one of the seats, smoking a cigarette. "Oh… Hammerhead, didn't know you were out already… I guess you didn't leave the 20s, though."
Hammerhead took one careful glance at the man laid over his table. He wore a dark grey striped suit alongside a tie.
"You do know that insect, don't you?"
"I'm the one asking questions here," Peter sat in the edge of the table as the thugs went to grab him again but Hammerhead gestured them to leave him be. "A blonde haired little girl, she was seen around here."
"And what is she to you?"
So you've seen her. Peter said to himself.
He dropped into the ground, facing the mobster directly. "She's my daughter, that's what she is. Answer me before I get you a new skull again, Joseph."
Hammerhead put his cigarette down. "Right… well, she did get here. But I moved her to a partner of mine, business… is that the answer you're looking for?" He stood up, raising his sleeves.
"Where did you send her!?" The rage filled Peter's eyes.
Hammerhead eyed the two closest thugs to Peter. They immediately went to grab his arms, but he acted faster and held the cue from the table and swooped it across their faces, causing the object to snap in half when smashing it against the last one.
He then threw the rest of the cue towards Hammerhead, hitting him besides the eye. He failed to cause a single scratch.
Dammit, I forgot about that.
Peter cursed himself. Hammerhead grabbed the seat from behind him and harshly threw at Peter.
He performed a backflip as the seat moved under him and over the table. He landed on his feet, but he missed the just as quick movement of his opponent who had already his infamous forehead charged at him and inches from his chest.
Peter flew backwards once it made contact, he crashed against the table and moved it to the opposite direction. He fell into the ground and groaned. The sensation he was going through would best described as a horse that had knocked him out and left him without a single air in his lungs.
He wasn't fully recovered, that was a fight where he didn't have the upper hand.
Hammerhead adjusted his tie. "And that begs the question, if you're her father, then she must have gotten her powers from you… or your partner." He began walking forward.
A trail of blood slid down Peter's mouth as he slowly raised his chest from the ground.
Joseph continued, "So… the second question is… what are you? You didn't do that move out of the nowhere, am I correct?" He stood besides Peter.
Peter, through a moment of fury, quickly rose from the ground and performed an uppercut against Joseph's jaw with his better hand. He gasped afterwards, breathless.
Joseph slowly lowered his chin, and head-butted Peter in retaliation, dropping him down once again deeper into the floor.
He noticed a drop of blood lying over his lower lip, he wiped it with his hand. He grabbed Peter by the neck and pulled him up.
"For a moment I thought you could be Spider-Man, too many coincidences, but now I'm not so sure." Hammerhead paused. "Let's see if you survive the next minutes."
He shoved Peter against the wall that didn't resist the impact and was put down as he flew through the hole and out of the building. He crashed against the rooftop of a much lower apartment in Hell's Kitchen.
Peter harshly landed on his back and inside an apartment through its rooftop, only stopping in the floor of someone's dark living room. The dust concentrated in his clothes and skin, debris still reached his sides.
There weren't anyone home.
He moaned in pain. "My back…"
Hammerhead stood still in the center of the hole, eyeing the crashing. He chuckled, "... the bastard is still alive… get me peace-maker."
One of the thugs retrieved the desired item from the wall and handed it to Hammerhead.
Peter's eyes widened at the sight.
A freaking… grenade launcher?
Hammerhead aimed the weapon at the rooftop and fired the capsule at it.
"Son of a…" Peter quickly stood up and tried to initially limp his way towards the nearest window as he gathered his strength to run forward.
Once the capsule made contact with top of the building, the blaze of fire consumed the air above him.
Hammerhead watched the destruction from above.
"What should we do, boss?"
He replied, "Make sure he's dead, close the block for the moment."
"Should we go after any relative for persuasion in case he gets out?"
Hammerhead shook his head. "There's no need for that. If that's the Parker I heard about earlier, there's already someone taking care of that. Let's not cause a power struggle here." His eyes didn't leave the flames. "Focus in moving everyone out of here before the cops arrive."
They left the hole and back inside.
As for Peter, he laid down under the many pieces of concrete and steel in the alley he entered after throwing himself out of the window.
The side of his face met the ground, while the other slowly got filled by the many tiny puddles of water that were coming from the dark and clouded sky.
His eyes remained closed. A bigger puddle began to form under his face, his hair got wet.
Footsteps were heard close to him, but he remained still, unaware of anything.
December 17th - 2018
Peter examined the device that was once set in the side of Max Dillon's head. He occasionally took a trip to the attic, there he could mess with the many boxes he and Gwen collected to storage their stuff.
Boxes that also contained old stuff.
"Shame you had to go the way you did, Max." He sighed, putting the device back to the box.
He found Gwen's old diary. She used to write down the things she had to, planned and some of her thoughts, not much anymore, though.
That's too personal.
He continued to move his hand inside, touching everything he could in hope to recognize anything.
Peter smirked. "Oh, hell yes." He retrieved his hand, looking at the old web-shooter he had found once again.
He wrapped it across his hand and then shot a web-line at the ceiling. He imagined in his head that he was standing near the edge of a rooftop, holding the cable tightly in his hand.
It felt great.
He then shot many biocables to a various collection of frames, souvenirs and miniatures, webbing them against any space he could find.
In the end, the room was so filled with webbing there was barely any space to move.
He smiled, proudly.
"Hey Pete! Are you coming down to eat?"
Peter shook his head. "Yeah! Of course, I'll be right there with you."
He looked over his work.
Well, at least the webbing will dissolve… eventually. Not time to work on that now.
Peter climbed down the stairs that led to the attic and walked through the corridor, going past their bedroom and bathroom until he reached the stairwell.
It wasn't the biggest apartment, those were rare at Oxford, and they couldn't afford them regardless, but the current one served them just alright.
He entered the living room, seeing Gwen sat in the couch with a laptop over her lap. She wore his shirt over her small frame.
"Hey beautiful." Peter greeted, heading straight to the fridge.
Gwen looked up to him briefly, "Hey, you were up there for a long time." She affirmed, softly.
He opened the fridge, picking a bottle of soda. "I was researching something."
She smiled. "Right, that's what we are calling it, apparently.
He chuckled, closing the fridge. "I was."
Gwen continued, "Could you take the food for us? I'm just finishing writing… this."
"Sure, Gwendy." He opened the bottle with his hand and took a sip, grabbing the two plates of hot meal with each hand from the sink after leaving the soda in their place.
"Thanks, bugboy."
He sat besides her, holding both plates while waiting for his girlfriend to grab hers.
Gwen closed the laptop and placed it over the coffee table in front of them. She quickly stretched her arms, moaning slightly, and took the plate from his hand.
"You're the best."
Peter asked, "Finished it?"
"Well, yeah. I still have to check the typos and all that stuff I probably missed."
"Writing for the uni, right?" Peter poked the food in his plate with his fork. It was smelling good, her work this time.
"Yup. I'm starving." She began to eat.
"It looks good." So did Peter.
"Hmmmm…" Gwen closed her eyes for a brief moment, enjoying the food she was having. "... hww ws yr dy?" She asked, still eating.
Peter chuckled, finding her adorable as she repeatedly ate more. "What, honey? I got basically nothing of what you just said."
She giggled. "My bad, my bad." She corrected herself, "How was your day? Anything exciting?"
"Oh, it was fine. Usual day in the rainy paradise that is England."
"Correct." She smiled, facing him.
He continued, "I got to take some pictures, of course, then I had to write algorithms for their site's database and the computer fried itself not long after."
"Hmmm!" Gwen chewed the food, surprised at the twist.
"Yeah," He agreed.
"At least you got to take a walk through the neighborhood."
He added,"And I took this grandma's cat from a tree."
"Oh dear lord." Gwen giggled.
"Exactly, boring day." Peter poked his plate once again. "What about you day? Tell me something about it. How's the academic article?"
Gwen scratched her ear briefly with her free hand. "It started out about the dangers of climate change, but it became this detailed analysis of how our governments are allowing it for their own benefit, and how that impacts society and whatnot.
"Wow, you have your hands full then."
"Yes, I'm not sure my teachers are gonna like this angle, though. It can feel like it's becoming very political… so, I decided to focus in the…"
Peter moved his eyes back and forth between her and his plate as he ate, listening to what she had to say, until they spotted a picture hanging far back in the wall behind her.
A picture he had taken of New York from the top of the Empire State Building, capturing the hundreds of buildings, the traffic and even the clouds.
His eyes remained fixated at it, the memories were coming back to him.
The picture called him, at least that's what he felt. He wasn't aware that Gwen kept talking about the subject of her article, he just gazed the frame while chewing.
He felt a little pressure against his arm. It was a fork.
"Ah-!" He looked over to Gwen once again. "What?"
"Earth to Peter. Where were you?" Gwen seemed amused. She resumed her original task of feeding her stomach.
"Here, being stabbed with a fork, apparently." He joked.
She chuckled. "Is that so?"
He defended himself, "What do you mean? Keep going, I was hearing you."
She bit a piece of cooked meat. "I see. What did my article turn into again?"
"Um? This one?" He gestured to the laptop. Gwen nodded.
"Well, you know… how… planes are polluting the air?" He moved the fork inside his mouth. "Wait, not planes… trucks. Yeah, that's it… trucks, right."
Gwen chewed the broccoli. "Wow…"
He apologized, "Okay, my bad…"
She was impressed at his effort, but not mad. "No, it was good, really…"
He smiled, "I went nuts, I know."
Gwen took a moment to analyze what could possibly be going on with her boyfriend. She assumed, "Jameson asked you to come back again and help him with the Bugle."
She knew the Bugle wasn't doing so well recently, printed paper wasn't a hot thing anymore. Peter was probably offered a good role there, and he could resume his studies.
"He always does,"
Gwen paused. She placed her plate down in the coffee table. "Peter, look… maybe you should take it. It can be important to your future, I would do fine…"
Peter looked down at the ground, gathering the words. "You know what, I'm here, I'm not interested in that… really, I don't want it. What can he even do? I told him to go full digital before."
"Okay, but… if it works you can start a whole career there. Maybe you could even suit up again to help him out. It would be good to you."
"No way."
She insisted, "The pictures would sell a lot, it doesn't sound too risky."
Peter sighed. "Gwen, can we please drop this?" He pleaded, tired.
Gwen continued, "Alright, thing is I don't want you to not take it because of me, I love that you came with me, but if a good opportunity appears…"
He fully turned to her direction, "It's not like that. I'm not taking it because of me, I am happy with you, here, now. Okay?" He dropped the plate besides hers.
They stood in silence.
Peter began gently, "I appreciate the intention, it's just…"
Gwen waited for the rest of his answer. Once she noticed there wouldn't be any, she dropped the subject, sighed and raised off the couch to clean both the plates.
"I'm gonna do the dishes."
He grabbed her arm gently once she walked past him. "Hold on, I can do that."
"It's fine, Pete."
"You cooked, let me help you." He moved her delicately back to the couch. She released the plates at the table once again.
Gwen moved her left arm around his shoulders. "You're impossible, aren't you?"
He teased, "I think it's the opposite, I can do almost anything."
"You couldn't get through the last year of high school with only A+s."
"Really? You're starting this now, eh?"
"I tried to give you my help but you chose your night escapades."
"Wow… go on, keep talking," Gwen smiled cheekly, "...keep talking."
She grinned. "Or what?"
"I'm telling you."
She provoked, "Or what?"
"Without your web-shooters what can you-" She began poking his arm.
"I'm warning you!" He moved his weight to her side and dropped himself over her as he laid her in the couch, tingling her wait and causing Gwen to burst into fits of giggles.
He eventually stopped, never taking the smile off his lips. Gwen calmed herself and moved her hand against his cheek. They looked at each other's eyes.
She asked softly, "Are you happy, Pete?"
"Of course. You?"
Gwen bit her lips and looked to the side. "Um…"
Peter was surprised. "Um? Come again?" She laughed. "Really?"
"Come here you." Gwen brought him closer and kissed his lips. Peter reciprocated the gesture.
She whispered between the kisses, "I'm the happiest at your side, always, no matter where. I'll be there…"
A/N : So, I've managed to put this one quite quickly. Lots going on, Peter and Gwen's marriage is at stake, Ezekiel's past as he tries to keep what is left of his somewhat family safe again, Venom pursuing his own goals and a new old character is back in town. Eddie Brock last appeared a long time ago, but there's a reason for that, everything will be explained soon enough. I wanted to focus in the relationship of Peter and Gwen for the moment, and the final flashback has reason to exist, it's also one of the earliest moment in the story, before chapter one, so that was pretty exciting to tackle.
I just wanted to make clear that this isn't the Peter from TASM2 anymore, many years went by since then, and he has changed a lot, he's a man who went through a lot just like everyone else did, but I still wanted to retain what makes these characters so engaging while writing an authentic version of the future they could have had in this universe, at least I try to. You're the judge of that.
Also, yes - Civil War, the movie, is the background of this storyline, with my version of Peter from the Webb movies, but at this point the movie has ended already, we're past the moment Steve frees his crew, with the help of Peter after he leaked the location to him. There's many connection to the film's original plot. We won't meet many of these characters again, though, the MCU gets somewhat left alone from this point, I'm not rewriting a movie like I did with Age of Ultron to fit the story, Civil War happened, and now we get to see Peter's own story unfolding.
The chapter is split in two parts because most of the time a single chapter has a conclusion/climax to what it offers initially, most of the time, this one didn't, so next chapter will be the continuation and ending to what the first scenes here in this one started for some characters.
There was a little bit more stuff here supposed to be written, but I thought this worked alright as it is, didn't want to take longer. I might start keeping a log of where I am regarding the next chapter in my page, so you can be aware when to expect the next one. That should help, right?
I hope that was a good read, the A/N turned out quite long, and to the one guest that asked me for some more smut, I hear you, I'm always thinking of uncharted territories (not that I haven't done this before), but it has to fit the tone of the story.
Who knows :)