Hi Everyone! Sorry that I'm a little late posting this chapter. Time kinda got away from me the last couple of days. Happy reading!
Disclaimer: I don't own Spiderman or the Avengers. I don't own Lord of the Rings either (it gets mentioned in this chapter).
Gwen wasn't exactly sure what to do when her story had finally come out. She hadn't had anyone to talk to in so long that the words just seemed to spill out of her mouth. They wanted to be heard. As she had waited in the silence that accompanied her story, she had turned her mind to what she normally turned it to, taking care of her little brother.
He had been cold, shivering as she'd held him in her lap. With a frown, she'd felt his forehead, what time had she given him his medicine last? She knew that there was a time restriction on that sort if thing. Four hours? Six hours? She didn't know. She didn't care at the moment. He needed medicine.
She'd eased her brother out of her lap and onto his own chair as she'd hurried back to the room they'd slept in the night before and grabbed the bottle from where she had left it on the night stand. As she passed through the living room, she spied the throw blanket on the back of the sofa. He needed to be kept warm.
"Hope you don't mind," Gwen said as she walked back into the kitchen, blanket thrown over her shoulder and bottle of bright red liquid in hand. Her comment seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back because as Peter handed her back the little cup she heard Dr. Banner shouting.
"He WHAT!" he roared. Gwen could only stare at the man in shock as his skin started to turn green and his biceps started to grow to epic proportions. She barely registered when Natasha suggested that they get out of the room. All that was on her mind was getting Peter and getting him somewhere safe. She flew out of the room, Natasha and the other woman, Pepper, on her heels.
Once in the bedroom, Gwen set her brother gently on the bed and turned around and locked the door behind her. It wouldn't hold if the monster really decided to show himself, but it made her feel better. On the bed, Peter was looking around in bewilderment.
"Why?"
Her simple question startled the other two women in the room. "Why what?" Natasha asked.
"Why did he go off?" Gwen clarified. "We're just two little nobody kids who happen to be in a bad situation. Lots of other kids have had worse done to them. Why would he hulk out over us?"
"Bruce has...personal reasons," Pepper said slowly. "He's been the victim of enough lab experiments in his time to be more than a little pissed when he hears about someone else being forced into it unwillingly."
"None of us are particularly thrilled about what happened to you either," Natasha said with a frown. "Why didn't he experiment on Peter too?"
"He didn't know," Gwen said. "I made darn sure that he never knew about Peter's powers. There's absolutely no way in the universe that I would allow him to go through that."
"Why did you say that to Tony earlier?" Pepper asked.
"Stark corporation funded Oscorp and their experiments," Gwen said bluntly as Pepper stifled a horrified gasp. "He pulled out though. It was his lack of funding that allowed opportunities for me to escape to come up."
"Gwen, I'm so sorry," Pepper said softly. Gwen merely met her eyes with an apathetic look.
"Don't be. We're out now. That's all I care about." She started pacing around the room, shooting glances at Pepper and Natasha from time to time.
"Why does Peter call him the Goblin man?" Natasha asked. Gwen froze in place mid turn and stared at the two women with wide eyes. She unfroze and walked over to the bed where Peter lay watching everything. She gathered her little brother in her arms and hugged him tight.
"Because that's what he is," she whispered before she laid down with Peter still in her arms and, to all appearances, went to sleep.
Tony watched as Clint digested all the information they had just given him.
"Well damn, of all the days for me to sleep in."
"Shut up and help think of a way to earn her trust again," Bruce cursed.
All the men looked up as Pepper and Natasha walked into the rec room. "She's asleep," Natasha announced, taking a seat next to Clint.
"Tony, do you remember Oscorp?" Pepper asked, her eyes watching him carefully.
Tony frowned. "Yes, they asked for funding and initially I gave it to them because I was interested in their glider technology, but when I found out that they were also doing human testing on people who weren't volunteers I pulled out. What's this all about Pep?"
"Norman Osbourne, CEO and Founder of Oscorp," Pepper said slowly. "Adoptee of Gwen and Peter Parker. Gwen was one of those test subjects."
"I'm lost," Clint said. "Why aren't we after the Bastard yet?"
"Because legally, we can't touch him," Pepper broke in before the conversation turned to 'suit up' mode. "And I highly doubt that Fury would appreciate his response team going after a high powered businessman who currently holds a military contract."
"That's not the only way to take him down," Tony said, an odd light in his eyes. Then he was up and bolting down the hallway towards the lift, calling for both Pepper and JARVIS.
With a sigh, Steve heaved himself up off the couch to follow after Pepper. "I'd better go after him. Someone's got to make sure that he doesn't cause an international incident."
"I think an international incident is the least of our worries if Tony Stark is angered," Thor said. "I don't believe I have ever actually seen him so serious about anything that wasn't his beloved suit before."
"Norman Osbourne has been a thorn in his side for a long time now," Natasha said. "The fact that he's been performing illegal experiments on a girl and threatening to do so on a little kid just means that he's not going to show mercy."
It was a few hours later when someone decided to pop into Gwen and Peter's room to check up on them. Gwen turned her head to watch as Clint Barton, aka Arrow Man, walked over to their bedside.
"Thank you," Gwen whispered softly, trying not to wake her brother. "Peter told me that you were the one who took down those two Lab Rats and saved me."
"Why do you call them Lab Rats?" Clint asked.
"They work for Osbourne. I assume that your teammates have filled you in?" At the man's nod, she continued. "They always wear lab coats, never take them off. They remind me of the rats that labs use to test things on. Hence the name, Lab Rats."
At that moment, Peter shifted in his sleep, wincing and curling into his sister further. Gwen just waited until her brother had settled before bringing a hand up to stroke his bangs away from his forehead. Clint caught sight of a scar right behind the boy's ear.
"Why are you doing all this for us?" Gwen asked. Good things always came with a price, she had learned. Most of the time, the price was entirely too high.
"Because we can," Clint said, "and because we want to. There are some good things in the world that are free, Gwen. We're not going to ask for anything in return from you or your brother."
She blinked up at him. How had he known what she was thinking?
"Dinner's going to be here soon. None of us felt like cooking so we ordered out. You guys like pizza? We didn't know what toppings you two liked so we just got a smorgasbord of everything. Thor will likely eat whatever we don't. The guy's appetite is huge. Everyone's in the rec room getting comfy and I think that Tony is picking out a movie."
Gwen just blinked at him again before she answered. "I never would have pegged you for a chatterbox."
"Most people don't," Clint replied. "Why don't we get you and your brother up and out so we can get some food?"
After waking a sleepy Peter and getting some more medicine in him, Gwen followed Clint Barton into the rec room where the rest of the Avengers were arguing over what movie to watch.
"Steve, for the love of all that is good, we are not watching the Wizard of Oz again," Tony said, exasperated.
Steve whined at Tony as Thor proposed, "Why do we not watch movie of the god who fell from the Mount Olympus?"
"Thor, that's a kids movie," Natasha said. "Why can't we watch Kate and Leopold?"
"Not that again."
Gwen looked up at the man beside her who had just entered into the fray opposite the Black Widow. She felt her brother's hand slip into hers as they stood in the doorway.
"We should watch something classic," Tony was saying.
"Kate and Leopold is a classic," Natasha countered.
"Is not," Clint said. "Do you know how many times I've seen that movie because of you?" He drifted away from Gwen and Peter to bicker with everyone.
They were all so busy arguing that no one noticed Bruce Banner walking in, pizza boxes in hand. He took in the scene and then rolled his eyes, crossing the room to get to Gwen and Peter. The trio watched in silence for a few moments.
"Lord of the Rings," Gwen said softly to Dr. Banner. He raised his eyebrow but nodded in agreement.
"You take the pizzas and sit on the couch," he said, handing the boxes to her. "I'll start the movie."
Gwen gave a slight smile to her partner in crime and got herself and Peter on the couch, swiping a few pieces of pizza for the both of them while Bruce fiddled with the TV for a few moments before the familiar haunting tune of the theme came on.
Everyone stopped arguing when the narrator began to speak. They stared at Gwen and Peter for a moment, then at Bruce who was casually getting a piece of green pepper and mushroom pizza from a box.
"It's a classic," Bruce said. "It's also got romance, adventure, action and magic. That should satisfy every requirement so can you all please stop bickering like children?"
"Shhh." All eyes turned to Peter, who held a tiny, five year old, finger to his lips, looking the epitome of cute. "Movie's starting."
No one could find it in their heart to argue with the boy, so they just got their food and settled in for the movie.
Gwen's choice had been a good one. There wasn't any advanced technology to confuse Steve or Thor. There was romance, which kept Natasha happy and enough action to keep the rest of the guys from complaining when things got mushy.
Around the time Frodo got stabbed, Peter started looking from his sister, to the pizza box, and back. Gwen understood his silent question, but she wasn't sure of the answer. Before she could ask though, the cheese pizza box was passed to her by Steve who looked pointedly at her. She flashed a half smile at him and allowed Peter to get another slice before taking one herself.
The movie was over all too soon and, despite Thor's wanting to begin the second movie right away, it was time for bed. Peter had stayed awake until the end of the movie, to everyone's surprise and Gwen had been the one to fall asleep.
"She prefers Two Towers," Peter explained as he shook her awake. "She doesn't like the ending of this one."
"I'm not one for endings period," Gwen said, yawning as she stood up. "Bed time Pete."
"Would you not be more comfortable in sleeping clothes?" Thor asked. Gwen blushed slightly and ducked her head in embarrassment.
"Umm, we don't have sleeping clothes Thor," Gwen said, suddenly self conscious in her worn and filthy jeans and t-shirt.
"I think I've got some pajamas that will fit you," Natasha spoke up. Gwen looked at her in surprise but the secret agent ignored the look. "And I'm sure we can find something for Peter. Do you guys want to get a shower?"
Peter looked up at his sister eagerly. She could sympathize, she hated the feeling of filth and dirt all over her. A warm shower would be more welcome than any of them could imagine at that moment. 'But nothing comes without a price.'
"There's a shower in the bathroom connected to your bedroom," Tony said, looking down at his phone and sending a text. "Go get clean."
Peter all but dragged her through the hallway to their bedroom. "We're going to get clean, Gwen."
"Yes we are." She couldn't help but smile at the absolute joy that was present on her little brother's face. And then was overwhelmed by the sorrow that bubbled up in her. 'He shouldn't be getting excited over something as simple as a shower. He should be getting this excited over Christmas and his birthday and going trick-or-treating on Halloween.'
She followed Peter, who was all but bouncing, into the bathroom and stopped short when she saw the shower. The thing had to be state of the art, with more buttons than she knew what to do with.
"Gwen," a voice called from the bedroom, "Can I come in?"
"How do you work the shower?" A few seconds later, Natasha appeared with some towels and a set of pj's.
"The boys are working something out for Peter," Natasha said, setting the bundle down by the sink and walking over to the shower stall. She fiddled with the controls for a second and when the water came out, it was the perfect temperature. "Don't worry about using up all the hot water and take as long as you want. Steve said that he'd make Tony get Pepper to take you shopping tomorrow."
With that she was out of the room. Gwen stood frozen for a moment as Peter flew out of his clothes and stepped under the warm water. Then shook herself and turned to making sure her brother got himself clean.
Later, with Peter safely tucked in bed wearing an old, oversized shirt of Clint's, Gwen took her own shower. She felt the familiar pricking of tears behind her eyes. It wasn't the first time they had come but it was the first time since their father had died that she let them fall. Tears mingled with the shower water as she scrubbed her skin within an inch of its life and wondered if this time there might not be a price.
The next morning found Gwen and Peter up before the sun. They had learned quickly that in order to survive, you needed to be up before anyone else was. As a result, they found themselves alone in the huge kitchen at five in the morning.
"Can we get something to eat sis?" Peter asked. It was hard for him, he was surrounded by food after so long of not having enough of it; he didn't know how to control himself.
"I think we should wait for the rest of them to wake up Pete," Gwen said. "I really don't want us to get in trouble with them."
"Excuse me," came a light voice with an English accent.
Gwen jumped badly at the voice that came out of nowhere and everywhere at once and pushed Peter behind her protectively.
"I'm sorry for scaring you Miss Gwen," the voice came again. "My name is JARVIS and I am an artificial intelligence interface that Mr. Stark created. He said that if you woke up before the rest of the Avengers to help yourself to whatever is in the kitchen. He also had me bookmark the children's television channels."
"Sissy, where's the strange voice coming from?" Peter asked, more curious than scared.
"Speakers built into the walls, Mr. Peter," JARVIS answered him.
"Thank you JARVIS," Gwen said, still nervous of the AI.
"You're welcome Miss Gwen." Then the AI was silent.
Peter scrambled up to sit on the counter so he could watch his sister work. It was something left over from when they still had their dad. He was holed up at work or his basement laboratory so much that Gwen had to go down and unplug his computer to get him to eat. Peter was a handful as a baby, especially after his spidy powers had come to light, so Gwen had kept him by her as much as possible. When she was in the kitchen, his normal seat was the counter top right next to the fridge.
Gwen looked through the cabinets and refrigerator for something she could make herself and her brother for breakfast. She found a box of pancake mix and saw Peter's face light up as soon as he laid eyes on it. Pancakes it was.
Tony thought he was still asleep when he stumbled into the kitchen. First off, the clock read six thirty am, secondly, there was music playing that he knew for sure no one else in the tower listened to and thirdly, he smelled food.
Thor was sitting at the table watching Gwen make breakfast, singing along to the music that JARVIS had turned on in the background. Peter was sitting on the counter, wearing one of Clint's shirts and singing along with his sister.
A few moments later, the song ended and then Thor's rich baritone was filling the kitchen in a language that Tony didn't know. He went over to the counter and turned on the coffee maker, he wasn't getting back to sleep any time soon. When he turned around, Gwen was staring at the Norse god of thunder and lightning in shock and the pancake in the pan was burning.
"That sounds like your song sis," Peter commented from his perch on the counter. At her brother's voice, Gwen snapped out of whatever stupor his song had put her in and turned back to her cooking.
"What song would that be?" Thor asked.
"Peter, wash your hands and sit at the table please," Gwen said to her brother. "It's an old song that my mother used to sing to put me to sleep."
"Can you sing it Gwen, please?" The puppy dog eyes that Peter gave her as he sat down at the table made her cave.
"Go ahead Gwen," Tony said. "Don't stop on my account."
"Or mine," Thor said. "I am curious to hear this song. Especially when you have such a wonderful singing voice."
Gwen blushed and turned back to the stove. Half a second of silence and then there was a gorgeous, haunting melody that began. Both Tony and Gwen jumped a little when Thor's voice joined hers. His voice took over the melody as Gwen's voice rose in a soprano harmony.
Silence reigned in the room for minutes after the song was over. Gwen set a stack of pancakes that was easily a foot and a half tall in the middle of the table along with some syrup she had probably found in the back of the fridge and sat down next to her brother.
"That song is a well known one in Asgard," Thor said finally. "How did your mother come to know it?"
"She never told me," Gwen replied, picking at her food. "I thought that it was in an old form of Gaelic."
"You did the song justice, I have never heard it so well sung before," Thor said.
"Is it the apocalypse or something?" came Steve's voice from the door of the kitchen. "Because I could almost swear I'm seeing Tony awake before ten."
"Good morning to you too, Spangles," Tony said, getting up to pour himself another cup of coffee.
"Who made food?" Clint wandered into the kitchen, following his nose and still looking half asleep.
"Lady Gwen decided to make the breaking of the fast this morning," Thor informed him. "These 'pan cakes' are delicious."
"Glad you like them," Gwen said in a muted voice.
Tony watched as she pushed the syrup soaked pieces of pancake around her plate and then offered it to her brother, who took it happily. He was about to say something when Thor beat him to it.
"You should eat more Lady Gwendolyn," the god told the girl.
"Thank you for your concern, but I'm not very hungry at the moment," Gwen replied, abruptly standing up and walking to the sink. The room was tense for a moment before Pepper walked in.
The red-head did a double take when she saw Tony Stark sitting at the table, but wisely decided not to comment on it. "I'm going to take you and Peter shopping today," Pepper announced. "Tasha said she would loan you some of her clothes so you wouldn't have to put your old ones back on."
Gwen looked at the woman, her expression unreadable, before she walked out of the room, pushing past Hawkeye, who was still standing in the doorway.
"What's wrong with her?" Tony asked.
"She's scared of us." Clint walked over to the table, sliding a few cakes onto a plate and began drenching them in syrup as he continued. "She's been used by the person who her father held in high esteem and took her in. Now here we are, doing the same thing, she's wondering what the catch is and if she should get herself and her brother out before it's too late."
"Someone should go talk to her," Steve said, beginning to get up.
"Natasha's already on it," Clint replied.
Gwen was sitting on the bed, knees tucked up to her chest, when Natasha knocked on the door.
"I found some stuff that should fit you," the woman said. Gwen didn't even blink to acknowledge her presence. Setting the clothes on the dresser in the room, Natasha gingerly sat on the edge of the bed.
"What do you want?" There were tears in Gwen's eyes as she spoke. "Do you want your doctor to be able to run tests on me? For me to join your team? To pick up where Osborn's research left off?"
Natasha took a second to arrange her thoughts. This needed to be handled even more delicately than any spy mission. "When I was six, my parents were killed. I would have died too, except someone saved me. They took me to a place called the Red Room Academy and began to train me. I killed for them, did things that I regret for them. Then I found out that they were the people who engineered my parent's deaths. I know what it's like to be used, to not want to trust anyone, to look at anything good handed to you for the invisible strings."
Gwen had gone stiff as she spoke. Watching her with unreadable eyes.
"I know what it's like and I won't put another person in the situation I was in. We were all freaks before we were brought together and we each see ourselves in you two. This is our chance to keep you two from living the lives that we did."
"Will you come?" Natasha looked into Gwen's eyes and saw all the words that the girl couldn't bring herself to say. She was scared, she was confused, and at the moment, Natasha was the only person in the tower she truly trusted.
"A girl's day out? I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. If you all would just take a moment to review and tell me what you think? I also want to thank those of you who reviewed last time. Thank you all for being so supportive of this story.
Until next chapter,
CaseClosed621
