A/N:
Hey guys! So, three things:
1) I just finished episode 3! Again! And while it isn't as perfect as I want it to be, it's a lot better than the original, and I'm much happier with this version! I've started episode 4...and by that, I mean that I've started, like, two pages, but it's a start.
2) I'm so tiiiirrreeeddddd. Like holy crap, my personal life has become so busy, that I actually started hysterically laughing at one point this week, I was that stressed out.
3) Thanks again for everyone reading! I see a lot of people from different countries reading this story, and you don't understand how happy that makes me feel!
Anyways, on to the story! And sleep! Holy crap, I want to go to bed!
As it turned out, looking through all those newspapers didn't really give much information.
After doing their homework and ordering dinner, the trio immediately began to search through the papers. Once in awhile, they would comment on something that looked strange, read it out-loud, than look it up online. It didn't lead them to much information.
Peter's dad was never mentioned. Most of the articles were about new tech that Oscorp had come out with, or how Oscorp had replaced SI in the weapons making business. There were a bunch of hints about scandals, but nothing that the paper could verify.
After a couple of hours of this, Liz finally asked if they could maybe talk to Gwen.
"We're not getting anywhere with this," She said, as she threw aside a paper. "Besides, this is so boring. I thought all this investigation stuff would be excited, but we're getting nowhere."
Peter didn't look up from the article he was reading. "Sorry that my life bores you so much."
Liz groaned. "You know that isn't what I meant. Besides, you really need to cut that attitude. Harry and I are trying to help you."
Peter paused from reading. He glanced at the pair.
"Oh…." He said softly. "I'm sorry."
Liz sighed and crossed her arms. "It's okay. Just stop it."
"Right…." The brunette frowned at this particular article.
It was about some man named 'Curtis Conners'. For some reason, that rang a bell…
"Found something?" Harry asked.
Peter shook his head. He made a mental note to look up that dude's name. "Nothing of interest."
Liz groaned again. "Okay, we aren't getting anywhere with this. Can we-like-make a new strategy here?"
Harry eyed the rest of the papers. "There's only four left. It shouldn't take us much longer to finish."
"What are the chances," Liz replied. "Of finally finding some information in the last four papers?"
"You never know," Peter folded the paper. "Those are the oldest ones. Maybe there's something….."
The black haired girl sighed, and reached for another paper.
After a few minutes of sighing and page turning, the doorbell rang.
Harry stood up. "That's the takeout."
Liz and Peter thanked him for paying, and Peter helped him get the food. Once they came back, Liz was staring at Peter with an expression of pity.
"What?" Peter frowned.
Liz stood up, and handed him the paper.
'An obitchuary,' Peter realized. '"Mary and Richard Parker…plane crash...Left behind a five year old son"...Oh. No wonder she's looking at me like that.'
"Are….were they your….?"
Peter put the paper to the side. "Yeah. But...It's no big deal. It was nine years ago."
Liz stared at him for an entire minute. "I'm sorry."
The brown haired boy gulped. God, he hated hearing those words. He heard them way too much throughout his young life.
I'm sorry your parents died.
I'm sorry your uncle died.
I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!
But he forced a smile, and told Liz that it was okay, because he knew that she was just trying to be a good friend, and she probably didn't know how to respond to this new information.
The pause afterwards was overly long and awkward.
Peter decided to fill it by snatching the last paper, and looking through it. Harry and Liz began to eat.
After awhile, Peter said, "He's a supervillain."
Both Harry and Liz paused.
"If he's the bad guy in this situation, why did he only attack me?" He put the paper to the side.
Harry and Liz exchanged looks.
"Fish-Bowl Guy?" Liz asked.
Peter nodded. "He only threatened you when I wouldn't participate. Why? Why would he let a witness get away?"
The trio paused. They exchanged looks.
"He said that he didn't want to hurt innocent civilians…" Liz said slowly.
"If he could help it." Peter added.
"So, what?" Harry frowned. "He just wanted to kill Peter, and that's it? He doesn't care about witnesses?"
Liz frowned.
Peter felt alarmed.
'It's definitely about the sample.' He thought. 'The sample and revenge. That's really just it. Does that mean...would it be okay if I involve Gwen?'
'No. Just because he let Liz go than, doesn't mean that he would now. We're looking into him. Trying to figure out his motives. We've entered pretty dangerous waters, here.'
"Okay, that's enough." Liz crossed her arms.
Peter frowned at her. "Wha-?"
"We are trying to help you, Peter." Liz glared at him. "We're trying to help you, and here you are, keeping secrets from us!"
Harry stiffened.
The teenager rubbed her forehead. "Look, I don't want to start a fight. I really really don't want to start a fight. But Peter, we didn't call the police for you. We have been looking through boring newspapers for hours, for you! How are we supposed to help you, if you don't tell us anything?"
The boy blinked at her slowly. He felt the color draining from his face.
"You clearly figured something out." She huffed. "So? Out with it."
Peter stared at his hands. "I can't."
The air around him became stuffy.
Harry shifted. "Dude-"
"Looks-I really-I can't talk about it." Peter ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry-I just-I can't."
Liz crossed her arms.
"Either you tell us," She said slowly. "Or I'm calling the police, and I'm telling them everything."
The color drained from the brunette's face. He clutched his hair, and glanced at the side.
"Peter," Harry added in a softer tone. "We can't do a thing if you don't help us."
Peter pressed his hand against his forehead. "I didn't...I never wanted your help, though. Look, this is dangerous. I can't-If I tell you everything-I can't-I just-"
He shook his head. He began to pace. "I-I know you're trying to help, and I am grateful for it, I really am, but I can't-I can't tell anyone everything I know. No one can know about it."
"Fish-Bowl clearly knows about it." Liz pointed out.
"Yeah, I know that. Which is why, if I tell you guys, you'll be in even more danger than you already are!"
"No offense, man," Harry frowned. "We're already pretty neck-deep. How much worse can it be?"
Peter stared at him in silent horror.
Liz and Harry exchanged looks. Liz nodded slowly, and reached towards the Parkers' house phone-
Peter quickly grabbed it before her.
"Liz, please." Peter begged. "You can't-"
"Well, what do you expect me to do, Peter!" Liz stood up. "You want to keep this a secret, you want us to not be in danger, you say that the shit we're getting into is super dangerous, and yet, you are making us go into this blind! You aren't letting us ask for help, when you clearly need it-I-What are we supposed to do than? Just-just let you do all this by yourself? Just let you get yourself killed?"
Peter glanced at the floor.
Liz huffed. She glared at the floor. "Look, I get that you're trying to-I get that your dad-"
Her eyes darted to Harry. She took a deep breath.
"I get that you are trying to protect him," Peter glanced at her. She was staring at him intensely, and speaking very slowly. "And I understand that you are trying to protect yourself. And I think I'm starting to get why you don't want the police involved, but...you gotta throw us a bone, here."
Peter frowned. "I-"
"Let us talk to Gwen." Harry said. He grabbed his friend's shoulder. "You know she'd be willing to do anything for you, Pete. Just...Let her help us."
The shorter teen sucked in his cheeks. Then, he felt his shoulders sag.
"I'm sorry, guys." He said. "I'm being a terrible le-Er-person in charge-Or whatever."
Liz glanced at the phone. Her eyes darted to the floor. "Yeah, you are pretty terrible at this. Sorry for yelling at you."
"Sorry for being difficult."
"Uh...okay. Maybe we shouldn't make this a group therapy session." Harry interrupted. He turned to Peter. "So, are we going to Gwen's tomorrow, or…."
Peter sighed. "Yeah. We'll meet again after work."
Somehow, despite being reminded of calling Gwen back constantly, Peter completely forgot to. The only time he remembered was when a giant teddy bear was being thrown his way.
"You asshat!" Gwen Stacy shouted. "I have called you four times this week! And what do you do? What do you do? You ignore me! You freakin' asshat!"
"Hey, Gwen." Harry said, ignoring the commotion as he sat himself on Gwen's bed.
The blond immediately smiled at him. "Hey, Har! It's good to see you! You really need to start visiting me more often."
She immediately turned to Peter, and gave him, 'The Look'.
Peter flinched. Liz giggled.
Gwen's grey eyes went from her friend, to Liz Allen. Gwen frowned.
"Uh...hello?" She said. "What are you doing here?"
"Uh...she came as a friend." Peter replied quickly. He flinched again as Gwen glared at him.
"Hey-hey, Gwen." Liz smiled nervously. "You-You look nice."
Gwen's glare melted. She smiled an unsure smile at Liz.
"Thanks for saying that." She replied. "It's okay, though, I know I look like crap. The steroids made me gain a shit ton of weight."
Liz looked like she had no clue how to respond to that. "No-no. I think that you still look pretty."
Gwen laughed. "Okay, you can stay. Pete, you've been replaced. Have a nice day."
"Oh...okay." Peter turned around to leave.
Liz grabbed his arm. "Oh, no you don't!"
"We actually need your help, Gwen." Harry replied. "Liz, can you get that door, please? I'm nervous that Pete's gonna bolt."
"Yeah, that ain't happening." Liz replied, as she glared at him.
Peter gulped and nodded. He turned to Gwen, noting her glaring expression, and immediately feeling guilty.
"Look, Gwen, I'm so sorry. I should have called you-"
"Yeah, you should have."
Peter stared at the floor. After a minute, Gwen sighed.
"Okay, stop beating yourself up." She stood up. "I am still upset at you, but it's okay. Don't-like-have an anxiety attack, please."
"I'm not." Peter glanced at her. "And that is literally the worst thing to say to someone who's having an anxiety attack, Gwen."
Gwen gave him a half smile, before giving him a hug. "You better have washed your hands before coming here, I swear to god."
"Your mom wouldn't let us until we did." Peter replied.
After giving Harry similar treatment, Gwen sat back on her computer desk, and crossed her arms.
"Alright," She said. "What's up? Why are you all so serious looking?"
The trio exchanged looks. One look from Harry told Peter that he should be the one to be doing the explaining.
Peter sighed as he closed the door and sat on a beanbag.
"This...this is going to take awhile." He admitted.
Gwen shrugged, frowning deeply. "I have time."
"Right…" Peter sighed again. Finally, he explained almost everything.
Fish-Bowl attacking him and Liz. Fish-Bowl's monologue and unsuccessful murder attempt.
Once he finished, Peter was too busy staring at the floor before ending with, "It's my dad. He had a vendetta against my dad. Something he did before he died, I guess."
There was a pause.
After a moment, Peter heard the squeaking of a chair, and a pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders.
Peter sighed, before pressing his face into Gwen's shoulder. After a moment, she pulled back, eyebrows furrowed.
"I...Does anyone else knows about this?" She glanced at Liz and Harry. "An adult? The police?"
"We can't tell the police." Liz glanced at the floor. Her expression looked very mixed.
Harry frowned, eyes darting from Peter to Liz.
"Why not?" Gwen sank down on the beanbag next to Peter.
Liz shrugged. She studied Peter for a moment, before replying, "Fish-Bowl is clearly after something, or wants whatever it is to be gone. If that thing that he wants is so bad and important, who are the last people who should be getting their paws on it? SHIELD, obviously."
Peter immediately turned to her. His eyes widened.
Liz shrugged again. "That's why you wanted to keep this under wraps, right? Your dad was a scientist, either he discovered or made something that was super dangerous, and you kind of know what it is, right?"
Peter bit his nail.
"Okay…" Gwen said slowly. "So, what do you want me to do, exactly?"
"Figure out what it is." Liz replied. "We need you to hack into Oscorp's systems, and find out what exactly Peter's dad was doing. And finding out who Fish-Bowl is would be pretty helpful."
Gwen chewed her lip. "Will this be dangerous?"
"Very." Liz said.
"Absolutely." Harry added.
"Super dangerous." Peter removed his finger from his mouth.
"Okay," Gwen shrugged. "Not like I have anything better to do, anyways."
Liz raised an eyebrow at Gwen's readiness to jump into danger. Peter and Harry were not as shocked.
"Right," Gwen replied, as she grabbed Peter's arm, and stood up. "You're going to have to help me, Pete. Hacking into a major corporation like Oscorp will take time, especially since we need to carefully. One wrong move, and their sensors will detect us."
"So, basically, it'll take time?" Harry asked.
"Yup." Gwen replied. "It took me an entire month to hack into their systems, last year. But with Pete's help, it should only take a week or two."
"Wait, wait, wait!" Liz held out a hand. "You really hacked into Oscorp before? By yourself?"
Gwen smiled. "I'm an egghead, Liz. I'll probably be taking Pete's spot in top of the class in Midtown, if I get in."
Peter grinned. "You will. And we'll see about that."
Gwen rolled her eyes. "In your dreams, Einstein. We'll have to make a schedule, though, for when you can come over."
"Sounds good." Peter replied.
"Oh, and you owe me new gear."
The brunette sighed. "Yeah, I know."
Liz frowned. "New what now?"
"We're gaming nerds." Gwen replied.
"Oh." Liz replied.
"So, are we doing this?" Harry interrupted. "Like...actually hacking into Oscorp's systems?"
Gwen winked. "Oh, we are definitely doing this."