That was a long hiatus, wasn't it? A full three months has passed since the last chapter, and I'm sorry to say that my muse didn't speak to me in that time.

You want to know the reason I posted today, of all days? It's because I remembered that pizza scene with Norman and Harry while I was doing yard work. After I finished I sat my ass down and wrote for as long as I could bear, and so we have this (admittedly) short chapter.

P.S.: Nevermind, wrote this extra big chapter in chunks throughout the week.

Meanwhile, across the city:

Harry Osborn was trying his best to sleep. It was currently 6:00 AM in the morning, the sun not even in the sky yet to peek through his penthouse windows. The silk-based bedding along with his comfortable blue blanket made it easy to lull himself to sleep.

That was, until, he heard his father yell across house. Harry groggily got up and then stealthily sneaked out of his room as he trekked across the house to find his dad pacing back and forth in the kitchen, an old habit of his when he got mad. He hid behind one of the walls as he listened in on the conversation.

"What do you mean that they stole one of the vials?!" his father yelled angrily into his smartphone, his face visibly red in anger. He was wearing an Italian business suit, charcoal black with a royal purple tie. His hair was immaculate and looked a little wet, suggesting that he maybe took a shower earlier. "Do you know how much money I spent acquiring those two measly vials?! Do you?! You don't, you worthless imbecilic invalid!" he insulted profusely. "Why, if I didn't know bad of a PR disaster Oscorps would take if I fired you you'd already be out of a job!" he remarked before listening to the person on the other end of the call. After hearing what they had to say Norman sighed as he nodded his head, "Yes, at least one of the vials was broken on-site, but that still doesn't mean we'd be able to reproduce it easily! The one who created it in the first place was Spider-Man, and we've both seen how he turned out after facing them, so it's unlikely that he's alive to make another antidote."

"What the hell happened to Spidey?" Harry thought to himself before he accidently put too much weight on the wooden floor boards, causing it to groan in protest. "Shit…"

"Let me call you back, my son requires my attention," Norman instructed before ending the call, tucking his smartphone into his right pocket. He sighed as he massaged the crook of his nose, his face seemingly aging by several years as he did before he called out, "Son, I know you're there."

The young Osborn got out of his hiding spot as he got in view in front of his father. Harry looked sheepish and looked underdressed compared to his dad, being in a set of pajamas while his father looked like a powerful businessman (which he was). "Hey, Dad," he tiredly greeted. "That was, uh, some call, huh?"

"It was, Harry. I'm sorry, did my yelling wake you?" Norman asked, concern in his voice and facial features.

"A bit, yes, but I was already awake when I heard it," Harry lied, not wanting to make his dad feel guilty.

Norman, being a father of his son for the past two decades, knew when his son was lying to not upset him. His features softened in slight guilt as he walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out the carton of eggs, some pork roll, and bacon. "Still, I feel bad for getting you out of bed. How does breakfast sound?" he asked as he pulled off the bag of bread on-top of the fridge to make toast.

"Sounds great, Dad," Harry agreed. Instead of going onto his phone, he idly watched his father hum to himself as he moved around the huge kitchen, flipping the eggs and bacon while cutting the pork roll at specific parts to release the air bubbles they made. The sight made Harry remember the deal he made to his dad about a decade ago.

The deal?

Make all three meals of the day every day for a month, and in return Harry had to go golfing with him in his freetime. It was during a time when Harry was still going to high school (but was on spring break) and his dad had a rare vacation. At first it was a trainwreck for the first half of the week until his father buckled down and looked up guides on the internet on how to become a better chef. Over time he became better and better until he peaked, becoming a competent chef that still cooked from time to time.

A plate of buttered toast, crispy bacon, fried egg, and cooked pork roll was placed in-front of him, breaking him out of his rumination. His father gave him his utensils and a glass of pulp-free orange juice and sat across from at the table with a matching plate of food and drink. "Thanks, Dad!" Harry said as he digged in, taking a bite of bacon and toast at the same time, humming in pleasure at the food combo.

"Anytime, Harry," Norman replied as he smiled, deciding to take a bite out of his egg first.

The two of them ate in silence, enjoying each other's company before the two of them went about their respective day. "So, Dad, what happened to Spidey?" Harry suddenly asked.

His father wiped his mouth before setting down his utensils, pulling out his phone and selecting the CCTV video to show to his son (one of the many perks of being mayor of New York City). Harry watched with rapt attention as he saw his favorite superhero fight off Doc Ock and The Lizard, only to watch in dismay that Spidey lost, badly. He winced when he saw The Lizard claw numerously at Spidey's sides and Doc Ock slamming him down into the concrete before leaving him for dead. The only silver lining was that Spider-Man got back up (eventually) and web-swinged away, looking fatally wounded mind you, but the footage ended as soon as the wall-crawler got out of view.

"I hope he's alright," Harry spoke as he pushed the phone back to his father.

His dad scoffed, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth for his son's hopeful optimism. "Me too, Harry," he said, before he got an idea: "Harry, which one of your friends was able to contact Spider-Man again?"

"Uh, Pete used to take pictures of Spidey when he used to work for the Daily Bugle. I don't know if he's still in contact with him though. How come, Dad?" the young Osborn asked as he nibbled on a slice of bacon.

"You'll hear this on the news later, but Octavius and Connors stole two vials from Oscorps early this morning, or late last night, however it works. Technically it was one vial they stole, but we're splitting hairs at this point. One vial was an uncorrupted sample of The Lizard's blood, the other vial was the cure to his affliction, the latter of which was destroyed purposefully. Spider-Man made the cure for The Lizard, and since the The Lizard is back and with the cure destroyed…" he trailed off.

"You need Spider-Man to make another cure," his son pieced together, pulling out his phone promptly. "Don't worry, Dad. I'll text Pete to see if he can contact Spider-Man so he can cure The Lizard again. I'll be honest, I'm pretty sure he's already working on it," Harry guessed as he sent the message.

"How can you be so sure?" Norman asked before taking a swig of his orange juice.

"If Spidey isn't dead, which I'm sure he's not, besides resting it just seems like something he would already do, curing Doctor Connors again. I mean, what else would he be doing?"

The three of them were sitting at Peter's oak-wood dinner table, all of them nursing a coffee mug of hot chocolate (which Jane unequivocally loved) and a plate of tater tots in-front of them. The television was playing in the background as the reporters talked about the morning news, it currently being on the NY1 News channel. Jane sat directly next to her Peter, practically hugging his arm and rubbing her head against him, while Gwen sat across from the two, ready to bust out her questions when it was appropriate to.

"I imagine you have a lot of questions," Peter began, knowing it was a futile endeavor to try to pry off Jane from his side, so he ignored it for now. What he couldn't ignore was how soft she was, and how nice it felt to be wanted/needed by an individual (even if it was obsessive).

"Yeah, I have lots. First and foremost, does she know?" Gwen asked before taking a sip of her mug.

"That I'm Spider-Man? Yeah, Jane knows," he answered.

"And her full name is 'Jane Doe?'" the blonde asked skeptically.

"I know, I know. We don't know her real name so Doctor Connors assigned her as a Jane Doe. The name stuck and, well…" he shrugged, or at least attempted to as one of his arms were forced down by Jane.

"What's the story with her?" Gwen asked.

"I found her crying and alone on a rooftop earlier this month. After a couple of hoops I brought her home and then she just…stayed here. Wanna add anything, Jane?" he asked.

Jane temporary stopped hugging her Peter's arm as she spoke, "I clean Peter's apartment and make him dinner most nights, but the latter success rate is an ongoing issue," she added. "We're also pretty sure I'm an escaped experiment of some kind, seeing as how I'm not like other humans and can turn into a black goo."

"Speaking of that, just to make sure I'm correct, were you that living black wetsuit that surrounded Peter earlier?" Gwen asked, the scientist in her hoping it was yes.

"That was me, yes. I was only saving his life," Jane responded before thinking, "And also getting comfy into his body and mind."

"How were you saving his life?" the other woman asked, an eyebrow raised.

"When I'm completely in my slime/goo form I can envelop an organism and interface with their body, giving me control over every bodily process, allowing me to, say, accelerate the healing factor of Peter, or close his wounds entirely," Jane simply explained, getting a wide-eyed look from Gwen.

"That—that sounds amazing!" the blonde gushed. "Can you do a demonstration, please?" she asked hopefully. The lovesick woman looked to her Peter, who gave a confirming nod as he chewed on a tot. She shrugged mentally as she commanded her right hand to liquify and turn into the black mass of purplish-black goo. Everyone, sans Jane, watched with awe as the process happened. The goo was spread out on the table, but carefully spread out in such a way that it didn't knock anything out of the way. "Can—can I touch it?" Gwen requested, her right hand above the mass of slimish purplish-black goo.

Jane was conflicted. On one hand, she didn't want this Gwen girl to touch her in any capacity, but she didn't want to voice her discomfort in case her Peter thought less of her. That'd be a fate worse than death, in her opinion at least. On the other hand, she could try to stealthily read the Gwen girl's memory and copy some a lot of them, to become a better woman for her Peter. With options like those two it was easy to come to a decision:

"Sure, but I might enwrap you, just warning you," the lovesick woman informed, an easy-going expression on her face, hiding her revulsion at being touched by practically a stranger. Gwen's hand touched the goo and instantly the slime did what Jane warned, enveloping Gwen's arm up to her elbow. This gave a slight feeling of euphoria to Jane, causing her to blush slightly as she felt a hunger inside of her being abated at the action. It was similar to when she did it with her Peter, but way less intense. Shaking her head Jane began to scan the surface memories of the woman before she was jostled out of her focus.

"Jane, you okay? You kind of spaced out," her Peter asked, worriment in his features, making Jane blush harder at his concern.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Want me to do anything to you, Gwen?" Jane casually asked, which made the woman in question think as she sipped at her hot chocolate with her free hand/arm.

"How about you lower my internal body temperature for a bit?" the blonde suggested, not knowing that her memories were being laid bare to Jane in all its glory.

"Like this?" Jane asked as she mentally controlled Gwen's body to drop ten degrees, causing the other woman to shiver and chatter her teeth; while she did this Jane routed through the blond's memories with anything pertaining to her Peter, and got some results that when implemented by her would surely make her Peter fall in love with her (eventually).

"I—I'm d—definitely feeling c—c—colder," Gwen stuttered out. Having enough she tried to retract her hand, though the goo on her arm wouldn't let go. "Uh, Jane?"

The one woman in question snapped out of her copying of Gwen's memories as she let go of her arm, her small blush disappearing soon after. "Sorry about that. Felt too good to let go," she offhandedly remarked.

"What do you mean?" her Peter asked, remembering when Jane did it to him and how…weird she got (to put it mildly).

"I, um, it feels good to be connected to humans. It feels distinctly right," she admitted. "It makes me feel full too."

A chime went off in the room, causing Peter to pull out his smartphone to check his messages. His best friend had texted him:

Harry:

Hey pete you got a second?

Peter:

Yeah what's up?

Harry:

My dad and me want to know if you can still contact spidey like when you worked for the bugle. Can you.

Peter:

Yeah I still can. Why tho?

Harry:

The lizard destroyed his cure and dad wants him back to normal before he causes more panic. if you can pass this along to spidey i'd be really happy pete.

Peter:

Of course Harry. I'll tell Spidey to get right on it.

Harry:

Thanks buddy.

Want to hang out later today.

Peter:

Maybe? I don't know if I can.

Harry:

Why, something keeping you.

Peter:

More like someone.

Sorry, got to go.

Peter looked up from his phone to see that the two women were watching the television. NY1 News had transitioned to a news segment called "The Eddie Brock Report," which showed a collage of videos showcasing the person in question interviewing many famous people before the title of the report came on-screen.

"It's me again, everyone. Edna 'Eddie' Brock, back for another report on the recent happenings of NYC," Eddie introduced herself, wearing a black leather jacket that hid her curves as well as a pair of well-used blue jeans. She was holding her news journal book with left hand and in the other was a black pen. Eddie was sitting across from another person, a caucasian man with blond hair and an easy-going grin on his face, wearing a dark green shirt along with a dark navy-blue jacket. The two of them were seated at a table in a building and you could see a window behind them showcasing the time of day. "I'm with the famous head of research and development of Roxxon Corporation: Simon Krieger. Mr. Krieger, how are you doing today?" she asked him before the camera panned over to him.

"I'm doing great, but please just call me Simon, Eddie," he responded.

"Alright, Simon. So let me get this straight," she paused as she flipped through her book a couple of pages before finding what she need, "you attended the University of Oxford at the young age of 14, came back to the states when you got your master's, and then patented not only a way to recycle batteries, but also found a way to make solar panels 20% more efficient. What do you have to say for yourself?" Eddie asked.

"Actually it's 25% now, but to answer your question, Eddie, I feel as if I haven't accomplished much," Simon revealed.

"Oh? Why do you feel that way, Simon? I mean, those two accomplishments alone would set your name in history," she countered before the man laughed suddenly. "What's so funny? Come on, tell it to the class," she said before gesturing to the camera.

"It's nothing, it's just that I don't care if my name goes down in history. What I really care for is improving the lives of every human on Earth by improving the efficiency of things."

"Like with NuForm?" Eddie suddenly asked, causing the man to tense up ever so slightly. "I have a good informant that saw you entering the penthouse of Mayor Osborn a month ago," she said before making a hand gesture to the camera. The screen then overlayed pictures of a man that looked like Simon entering Norman Osborn's penthouse. "Why would the head of research and development of Roxxon be meeting with Norman Osborn? And I also heard about this new word floating about called 'NuForm.' What is it exactly, Simon? A new weapon of sorts? A new energy source, perhaps?" Eddie egged on.

The man schooled his features as he coughed lightly into his fist as he smiled, "You don't pull any punches, do you?"

"I do not," she replied with a cocky grin. "Now tell the dear audience at home what I just asked about."

"Okay okay. A month ago I did enter Mayor Osborn's penthouse to discuss plans with him involving NuForm. It was a lovely dinner, by the way. We came to an agreement where Oscorps funds our research in NuForm in exchange for exclusive access to the technology and any associates they deem to share it with. And before you ask, NuForm is the world's newest cleanest energy resource. Think of it as Roxxon's/Oscorp's own version of an arc reactor, but it rivals the potency of nuclear power."

Eddie whistled at that, scratching her head with her pen as she casually said, "That sounds amazing, Simon. Sounds like it could do a lot of good, if only it didn't afflict life-threatening health conditions to the research team."

Simon froze, his smile disappearing as he looked shocked and surprised. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. What do you have to say to the friends and family of the twelve men and women who died while working on NuForm? Each and every one of them got a whole litany of health complications that occurred only after they started work on it. Especially the head of research Rick Mason—"

Red-faced Simon suddenly stood up from his chair before blocking the lens of the camera with his hand, but he didn't do a very good job of it as you could still see Eddie sitting down. "This meeting is over, Brock. Mention any of this again on live T.V. and I'll have my lawyers coming after you faster than you could leave New York to San Francisco!" he huffed out before walking angrily away, the camera watching him leave before panning back to Eddie, who looked all smug and cocky over flustering the man.

"Well, there you have it folks, Simon Krieger is working on an energy resource with Oscorps called NuForm, and it has disastrous side effects from the look of it. I'm Edna 'Eddie' Brock and this has been the Brock report," she farewelled before the news station transitioned back to the regular news.

Peter sighed fondly as he said, "She's still a piece of work."

"Do you know her?" Jane asked innocently, not liking how his expression shifted to amusement when he thought of that Eddie girl.

Peter rubbed the back of his head nervously as he answered, "Yeah, we both worked at the Daily Bugle back in the day. She and I had…a thing together and I ended it with her when she got too controlling. We both quit the Bugle around the same time, and she got picked up by NY1 News soon after."

"What about you? Where do you work?" she asked.

"Peter's a teacher at the Midtown School of Science and Technology, even though he would've made a lot more money if he took up Harry's offer," Gwen critiqued.

"I told you, Gwen, it just doesn't feel right to accept it," Peter explained weakly. "Besides, I need to go there right now."

"Huh, why?" the blonde asked as she watched her crush get up and put on some socks and shoes. She got the hint and downed the rest of her hot chocolate, which had cooled down significantly, ready to leave with Peter and then go their separate ways.

"I got a text from Harry saying that Doctor Connors—I mean, The Lizard—destroyed his cure, so I have to make another one," he explained as he finished tying his shoelaces. He stood up and then grabbed his keys, ready to leave.

"Can I come, Peter?" Jane suddenly piped up. "I've barely left this apartment since you rescued me, and I'm kinda curious on how you're going to change this lizard man back to a regular human," she admitted.

After a second of deliberation Peter sighed as he said, "I have an old pair of shoes in the closet. Put them on and you can come with."

"Yay!" she shouted in delight as she did as he asked.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Gwen whispered, watching Jane intently.

"It's not, but she shouldn't be cooped up in here all day every day. Besides, she'll probably stick to me like glue, like always, so she shouldn't cause much trouble," he whispered back.

Unknown to them Jane heard everything but decided to not react to it as she got her shoes on. Now ready to depart, the two childhood friends hugged each other for goodbye when they made it outside, each of them going their separate ways.

Peter got into the driver's side as Jane got in the passenger's seat, the both of them clicking on their seatbelt (Jane was just mirroring what her Peter was doing). He started his old beat-up Subaru and they were on their way to save a friend.

Author's Note: Gotta say I love writing Norman's and Harry's interactions, always a delight to do.

Weird question but who here has had pork roll? It's a New Jersey staple breakfast item and it's very tasty. All of y'all should try it if you ever get the chance.

P.S.: I made up the accomplishments of Simon since we don't really know his backstory.

P.S.S.: Rewrote the NuForm interrogation to better match Simon's character and "openness."

P.S.S.S.: Writing the texting scene hurt me, as texting casually means to ignore grammar rules and stuff.

P.S.S.S.S.: Gavee Peter a beat-up Subaru because I like the show Re: Zero, all of y'all should watch/read it.