Hi Everyone! SO guess who finally decided to update? I'm not going to give any excuses. I let this story fall by the wayside and that's really not fair of me. I promised I'd finish the story and I'm going to keep that promise even if it takes me another year (though hopefully it won't come to that).

Don't expect regular updates anymore. I've recently transferred to a 4 year college and have been introduced to a wonderful thing called course overload. My classes are scheduled in such a way that there are times I don't even have a chance to eat much less boot up my computer and write. I'll update but it'll be longer between updates and there won't be any rhyme or reason to the timing. It's gonna be when I can squeeze it in.

I also have a few thank you's to say. First off, thank you to everyone who has reviewed and favorited this story so far. Second, thank you to the person who has PMed me at least twice to check up on me and make sure I was alright. I'm sorry I never managed to reply back but the fact that you took the time to check means a lot to me.

I'm gonna let you go now and get to reading the chapter that you all have been waiting for for so long!

Happy reading,
CaseClosed621

Disclaimer: Do I really need to do this anymore?


Gwen was awake, but she wasn't opening her eyes. She knew exactly where she was and she knew that the moment that she opened her eyes and let her vital signs show she was awake, JARVIS would have Bruce and Dr. Jim in the room faster than a snowball could melt in the desert.

She wasn't doing very well. She wasn't on death's door anymore, but she was far from well. Her bones felt as if they weighed several tons, making it hard for her to even draw a breath. A sharp lance of pain shot through her head every time she had to move it and the pain in her chest hadn't subsided. It was like someone was groping around inside her chest, grabbing anything they could and twisting.

They should have left me there, Gwen thought as another wave of pain tore through her torso. All they've done is prolong the inevitable. She gasped as the pain intensified. She could feel something building in her chest, straining, trying to let itself out.

Breathe in, breathe out, she coached herself, repeating the same words her mother used to say to her. Breathe through the pain. In and out. You need to stay calm.

She could almost swear she heard her mother's voice in her ear, whispering to her that everything would be alright. That she needed to focus on calming herself down or the pain in her chest would get worse. It had been that way for as long as she could remember. If she ever got hurt, or sick, or on the very rare occasion that she had a panic attack, she would get this pain in her chest.

But never before had it been this intense or stayed this long after she started trying to calm herself down. It's not working. Gwen was starting to panic. She faintly registered a beeping noise sounding somewhere beside her. Why isn't it going away?!

Footsteps sounded in the hall and the door to her room was thrown open. "Gwen?" The sound of Bruce's voice calmed her slightly.

"Her heartrate's rising." And the sound of the second voice in the room completely wiped out any calm Bruce's voice gave her.

"Gwen, can you hear me?" Bruce asked.

Gwen was gasping for air. Her ribcage felt as if an entire herd of elephants had decided to sit on it. The fact that breathing was already a struggle coupled with the fact that the pain wasn't going away was keeping her mind in full blown panic mode.

"Her breathing is labored, Jim do you have-"

"Right here," Dr. Jim replied before Bruce could finish his statement.

"Gwen, I don't know if you can hear me but you're having an attack of some kind," Bruce said. "We're going to give you something that is going to calm you down and probably put you to sleep."

No, she wanted to shout at them, I need to get calmed down! I need to get this under control... Whatever they were giving her worked very quickly. Need to... bad things... happen.

She never got to finish her thought as the world started fade away around her and she slipped into unconsciousness once again.


Once he was positive that Gwen had fallen unconscious, Bruce turned to Jim. "What were the circumstances when she was younger that would trigger a panic attack?"

"There were some that happened right out of the blue," Dr. Jim began, "Though later her mother would explain that there had been triggers, but they were taken care of. Most of the time it happened when she was stressed, when her mother had been gone for a relatively long amount of time, and when she was sick or hurt she was more likely that usual to have them."

"What are the chances of this happening again?" Bruce asked as he reviewed Gwen's vitals from during her episode.

"More likely now than if she hadn't had one at all," Dr. Jim replied. "Its like having the first one opens the door for more to come."

"Was there any guaranteed way for her to calm down?"

"Her mother," Dr. Jim said flatly. "She was the best chance of getting her calmed down, but even then it was never a guarantee."

"Is there any way to prevent them? Or once you see the signs to 'head them off at the pass' as it were?" Bruce asked.

"There's not really a way to prevent them but Gwen knew what to do when she recognized the signs," Dr. Jim said. "She was doing them when we came in. She was trying to regulate her breathing, take long, deep breaths. It helps if there's someone in the room with her reminding her of that. And also if they're reminding her that everything is going to be alright it helps."

"Did that always work?"

"Most of the time it did, especially if Gwen was actively trying to negate the attack."

"Pardon the interruption Doctors," came the calm, clean tones of JARVIS' voice, "But it appears that Sir has found something that will be of note in your quest to heal miss Gwen."

"Thank you JARVIS," Bruce said, looking up at the ceiling as he addressed the AI. "Where is Tony right now?"

"Sir is in his workshop waiting for you," JARVIS replied. "I will inform you to any changes in miss Gwen's vital signs while you are out."

"Thanks. Let's go see what Tony has for us, Jim," Bruce said as they headed out the door.


Peter was restless. The only things that were separating him from his sister were a floor and Uncle Bruce's orders that he couldn't see her quite yet. With a slight growl of frustration, he swiped his hand through the tower of blocks he had been building.

Auntie Pepper looked up from where she was reading on the couch. She had offered to play blocks with him but he told her that he wanted to build on his own. "Something wrong, Peter?" she asked.

"Blocks are being stupid," he said, using a phrase he'd picked up from his sister whenever something she was working with was being difficult.

"That's not a nice word to use, Peter," Auntie Pepper told him, putting her book down and standing up. "How about I make you a snack and you put the blocks away? I think it feels like a hot chocolate day, don't you?"

Peter gave a small smile to his Aunt. Gwen's rules were no sugar before lunch and no sugar after dessert. But Aunt Pepper had discovered his love for hot chocolate and would make it for him whenever she sensed that he needed it. Today was definitely a hot chocolate day.

He started putting the blocks away in their box as Auntie Pepper stretched and made her way to the kitchen to start the hot chocolate. When he was done cleaning, he set the box in the toy chest that stood in the corner of the room next to a bookshelf that was the perfect height for him to get books off of. On top of the bookshelf sat his crayon box and some coloring books and plain paper which Peter grabbed before heading for the kitchen.

"Hot Chocolate will be ready soon," Auntie Pepper told him as she stirred the pot on the stove. Catching sight of the paper in his hands she asked, "Are you going to draw?"

"Yup," Peter replied, settling himself in a chair at the table.

Peter took the blank paper and chose a crayon and began to draw. The only time he looked up from his paper was when he needed a new color crayon. He was startled out of his work when someone set a hot mug down in front of him, being careful not to place it on his drawing.

"Thank you, Aunt Pepper," Peter said with a smile, reaching for the mug. She smiled at him as she sat down with her own mug of hot chocolate.

"You're very welcome Peter," she said just before her cell phone began to ring. She frowned as she reached to answer it. Peter knew that Aunt Pepper had a very important job that she went to in the afternoons after she took care of him in the mornings. He also knew that they wouldn't be calling her during the morning unless something was very wrong.

"Pepper Potts," she said into the phone then listened for a few seconds. "What? When did this happen?... Who was- I'm well aware of that fact... How long... Alright, I'm coming in to the office."

She hit a button on her phone and gave a deep sigh. Then she turned to look at Peter. "I'm sorry Peter but they need me at work. Can you stay here for a few minutes while I get dressed? Then I'll take you down to see who's on the common floor, ok?"

"Ok Auntie Pepper," Peter replied, putting his half full mug down and pulling his paper back over to him. He started back on his drawing as Aunt Pepper headed for her bedroom to change into her work clothes.

A few minutes later, his hot chocolate was gone and the picture he had been working on was finished. It was a symbol that Peter had only seen once before, one of his only memories of his life when he and Gwen still had their parents. He had once asked Gwen about it, when they were on the run and she told him that it was a symbol that their mother held very dear to her heart.

He had decided that he was going to give his picture to Gwen to cheer her up when she woke up. He wanted to take it to her now.

Peter looked around, Aunt Pepper wasn't ready yet and probably wouldn't be ready for a little bit. He could sneak downstairs and put it up in Gwen's room before anyone would miss him. With his mind made up, he grabbed his completed drawing and headed for the elevator.

He hit the button that he knew would take him to the communal floor where Gwen's sick-room was. Once the elevator stopped, Peter stepped out and looked around. Aunt Natasha and Uncle Clint would be downstairs for another hour or so because it was still Auntie Pepper's time to watch him. Uncle Steve was probably in the gym. Uncle Tony was downstairs in his workshop, a place where Peter was forbidden to go unless there was another adult with him and Uncle Tony didn't count. Uncle Thor was still on Asgard. The only two people that would be in his way were Dr. Jim and Uncle Bruce.

Peter snuck down the hall and to Gwen's bedroom. He had on his best pleading face, the one that Gwen called his kicked puppy face. It was the one that no one had been able to resist, except for Gwen. He was counting on the face to be his ticket in to see his sister.

When he got to the door though, he was surprised to find that it was open and neither of the doctors were there. He let himself into the room with his sister. On the left side of the bed was a machine that beeped every so often. On the other side of the bed was a rack where a bag of clear liquid hung. From the bag ran tubes that connected to Gwen. Peter had seen his sister like this only once before. When Goblin Man was doing ex-spearmints on her.

On the bed, Gwen was shaking. Peter recognized the movement from years of sleeping next to his sister. Gwen was having a nightmare. Next she'd be calling out in her sleep. Sometimes it would be for their father, more often than that it would be for her mother.

"Peter," came his sister's broken voice from the bed.

But most of the time, she called out for Peter himself. Usually this happened after something had happened to them. Maybe they'd had a run in with some Labrats, or maybe Peter had gotten hurt or had been in danger at some point during the day. This was always how the nightmares began.

"Peter," she called out again. "I'm sorry, Peter. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. It's all my fault."

Peter moved towards the bed then, the paper in his hand slipping soundlessly to the ground, forgotten in the moment. Gwen was shifting in the bed now. Soon she'd be tossing and turning and thrashing out.

"Gwenny it's me," Peter said, grabbing one of his sisters hands. "It's me Gwenny. I'm safe, I'm not hurt, this isn't your fault."

Sometimes he could calm her down. She told him that sometimes his voice would go into whatever dreams she was having and she would be able to wake up. It didn't always work though. She said that when the dreams were extremely bad she wasn't able to hear his voice. That never stopped Peter from trying though.

"Gwen, please wake up," Peter pleaded, hanging on to his sister's had for all he was worth. "Please, nothing is your fault. You protected me, just like you always said you would. Please wake up, please Gwen."

It didn't work, Gwen continued to twist and turn, but her arms stayed in place mostly. Peter looked down and saw that there were leather bands on her wrists that were tied to the rails on either side of the bed. He frowned. Why did they tie Gwen's wrists to the bed?

It didn't matter, he needed to untie her wrists before she hurt herself. He worked as quickly as he could but it was hard, Gwen kept fighting him. Finally, finally, his fingers released the buckles that held her down.

Immediately Gwen flung herself off the bed, fighting off whatever villain held her captive in her dreams. "Get away from me!" she screeched, flying off the bed and putting as much distance between herself and Peter as possible.

"Gwen?" Peter asked hesitantly, taking a small step towards his sister. "Gwenny, it's me."

Peter might only be five, but he wasn't naive. He knew very well that his sister was dangerous, even to him. Her eyes were wide open, frantically scanning the room, but she wasn't completely aware of her surroundings. Anything right now was a threat, even Peter.

"Gwenny," Peter said, taking a step to the side this time, giving Gwen a bit more space. It was just like she had taught him. Gwen had coached him from the time she realized that this was a very real threat to him. One of the things that could be said about Gwen was that she protected her little brother no matter the cost. Even if the person he needed protected from was her.

"Where am I?" Gwen asked, her eyes darting everywhere around the room, never settling on any one spot for more than a few moments.

"The tower," Peter replied immediately. That was another thing she had taught him. If she asked questions, she needed answers. "Uncle Bruce and Dr. Jim have been taking care of you."

"How long?" Gwen asked, her eyes coming to rest on Peter for a few moments.

"They rescued you three days ago," Peter told her.

Gwen's eyes finally stopped their search of the room and rested on Peter. Her gaze narrowed dangerously. "Who are you?"

"It's me, Peter," he told her. "I'm your little brother, Gwen. Peter Parker."

"Stop lying to me," Gwen screamed. "Who are you?!"


Gwen couldn't believe her eyes. She had trusted them and they took that trust and did this. She had awoken from one of the most terrifying nightmares she'd had in a very long time to the feeling of someone nearby. Her arms were being held down. She couldn't move them.

Then her arms were free and she bolted across the room, away from the possible threat. Everything around her was seen and labeled as a potential threat or not. When that was done she turned her attention to the... thing in front of her. She glared at it.

"Who are you?" she growled.

"It's me, Peter," the Thing told her. "I'm your little brother, Gwen. Peter Parker."

"Stop lying to me," Gwen screamed in anger. "Who are you?"

How dare they? How dare they? Did they think her mind was so fragile that she wouldn't be able to handle the notion of her brother's death? Did they really think her so Stupid that she wouldn't see right through their little tricks?

At that moment, two people rushed into the room only to stop dead in their tracks at the sight of what was taking place. Gwen glared at the two.

"Gwen," Dr. Jim said, stepping forward to try and take control of the situation. "Gwen, it's Dr. Jim, do you remember me?"

Gwen nodded sharply, unable to take her eyes off of the potential threat in the room.

"Good Gwen," Dr. Jim continued, his voice calm, "Now, do you know where you are?"

"Avengers Tower," Gwen replied.

"Very good, Gwen. Now do you think you can let down your shield?"

Gwen blinked at that, then she refocused her gaze to check the truth to his statement. Sure enough, she was able to see the mostly translucent lavender shield that she had surrounded herself with. She didn't think she had done it before she woke up, so that must mean that she had finally managed to produce a shield while she was actually conscious. She couldn't stop to think about the ramifications now though.

Instead of answering Dr. Jim's question, Gwen decided to ask one of her own. "Who is this and what is he doing here?" she demanded, jerking her chin in the direction of it.

She watched out of the corner of her eye as the two men shared a look. "Gwen, do you remember that you have a brother?" Dr. Jim asked.

"Of course I remember I have a brother but That, is not him," Gwen replied.

"What makes you think that this isn't your brother, Gwen?" Bruce asked, his voice calm and patient.

"Because it is impossible for my brother to be here," Gwen replied.

"And would you please explain that statement?"

"Because my brother is dead," Gwen spat. "There is no way he can be standing there right now."

"I'm not dead Gwenny," it cried.

"Peter is right," Bruce spoke up. "He didn't die that day when Goblin Man took you."

"Liar!" Gwen shouted. "I saw him fall. There was no way Peter could have survived that."

"But I did Gwen," it said. "I fell but I survived. Steve-"

"I saw the web break," Gwen cried, tears beginning to fall in rivers down her cheeks. "I saw the fire eat away at his lifeline and then I saw him fall."

"I lived, Gwenny," the thing tried to convince her.

"Gwen, calm down," Bruce said, his voice soft and steady. "You're letting off so much power I can feel it."

The reminder helped Gwen remember herself a little bit. Her senses extended immediately to verify the statement and was surprised to find that her magic was so out of control. She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing. Slowly, she felt her magic coming back under her tenuous control.

Reality slammed into her as her power slowly came back to her. She felt as if she had been taken through a forge and was still trying to let off the excess heat. A blacksmith had come in and decided that her bones didn't weigh enough already had added what felt like another ton to them. The adrenaline rush from waking up was slowly wearing off, every step felt like she was slogging through a swamp after running a marathon.

Her calming down seemed to be a signal of some sort for Dr. Banner because he started to move toward her.

"Stay away from me," she snarled with as much ferocity as she could muster. But even to her ears, she sounded about as ferocious as a kitten.

"I can't touch you Gwen," Bruce told her gently, "You still have your shield up, remember? I need you to keep breathing. In and out. You need to calm down before you have a panic attack."

Gwen did as she was told. There was sense in it. She needed to calm down or else her magic would run wild. It had never happened before, but her mother had always warned her of the consequences of losing control. She wasn't eager to have the experience. A few deep breaths later and Gwen was feeling a little more in control.

"Feeling a little bit better?" Bruce asked her.

Gwen nodded, her eyes roaming around the room, taking note of the positions of the other two people in the room. Her head snapped around to the door at the sound of footsteps in the hallway.

In seconds the rest of the Avengers had piled into the room. All of them stopped dead at the sight that met them.

"Well, shit." Tony ever so eloquently summed up the situation in two words.

"Gwen," Steve said hesitantly, moving towards her. "Are you alright?"

As he moved closer, Gwen found she couldn't help but shrink back. Her hold on her magic was better, but having so many people in the room was making her nervous. Her greatest fear had always been loosing control over her powers and hurting those around her.

"Stay back," she said, her voice shaking slightly.

"Gwen," Steve said again. He was close enough now to reach out and touch the shield. Which is exactly what he did.

"Don't!" Gwen said at exactly the same time as Bruce said, "Steve, I don't-"

Gwen's control slipped as she felt Steve's hand touch the shield. "No!" she cried as she heard the man's shout of surprise as he was thrown back across the room.

Just like that any control the Gwen had on the wild magic vanished. She screamed as her magic surged around her. Her shield turned particulate and rushed to join the rest of the wave of power that was surrounding Gwen in a lavender cocoon.

She could hear the shouts of her family around her but couldn't make out what they were saying over the roaring in her ears. This could not be happening, there was no way on earth this could be happening. Suddenly the shouts of alarm turned to screams of panic.

Gwen forced her eyes open and immediately wished she hadn't. Her head was pounding and she couldn't focus her vision. Fighting past the pain in her head, she was finally able to see what was going on. Her rampant powers were causing havoc. Anything that wasn't bolted down to the floor was up in the air flying around the room. Tendrils of wild magic were causing as much terror as they could, like the tentacles of a Kraken hell bent on destruction.

Gwen's vision went lavender and black spots danced in front of her eyes. Her panic, already high from the situation, rose to another level entirely. "No matter what," her mother's voice rang in her head, "If you feel yourself losing control, do not allow yourself to fall unconscious. If your magic is wild and then you fall unconscious your magic will continue to run rampant. But it will not be able to tell friend from foe."

Her limbs shaking from exhaustion and the effort of controlling her magic, Gwen attempted to stand. She shot out a hand to the wall to keep her legs from buckling under her. "You need to get out of here," she said, her voice shaking and cracking. "I'm losing control. You need to get out of here, I'll kill you."

Her breath was coming in short gasps as her vision started cutting out. She shook her head forcefully to clear the spots. She couldn't afford to lose consciousness now. There was a commotion out in the hallway. Out of the corner of her eye, Gwen saw someone standing in the doorway. A woman that she didn't know.

"I was right to come here," Gwen heard the newcomer say. "It appears that you need my help in more ways than even you thought."

The woman stepped further into the room, making her way directly towards Gwen.

"Stay away from me," Gwen pleaded, her voice a wispy croak. "I'm out of control, my magic could kill you." Gwen wasn't going to be able to stay awake. She was trying everything in her power but there was no stopping the inevitable. She was settling for trying to get everyone out of the possible line of fire.

"Your worries are admirable, young one," the woman said. "But you have no need of them." With that the stranger reached through the chaotic mass of power that surrounded Gwen and placed a hand on the teenager's shoulder. "Rest now child. Your powers will not harm those you love while you sleep."

It was as if the woman's words were the trigger that her body was waiting for. Gwen collapsed instantly, her legs deciding that they couldn't hold her up any longer. A pair of arms caught her and the last thing that she knew before she lost consciousness was that her magic was calm.


And that's chapter 13! Hope you all enjoyed it and it'll make my day if you take a second to review and tell me what you think!

Until next time,
CaseClosed621