Ch 9

He looked down at his hand in the dim light, which once had been green and powerful, now was calloused and rough. A few patches of scaled skin remained, but that was all of his dream that lingered. A better world. What had he been thinking? Forcing his plans on the people of New York would have turned out to be nothing but genocide. He was glad he had been stopped. It was for the best. Connors looked up when he heard movement on the other side of his cell.

No. No, not again. He did not want another visitor like the one he had before. He thought vaguely of calling out for a guard, but it was too late. The man was here. Connors was not alone.

Norman Osborn walked out of the shadows, his immaculate suit just a front, Connors knew that this man had taken homeless men and used them as lab rats, promised them better tomorrows, and then drowned their screams in gas chambers. Connors wondered how Osborn always looked so in control, how his perfect suits never became speckled with the blood of those he used.

"Good afternoon, Curt." Osborn said, walking forward, his shined black shoes echoing in the jail cell.

"Get out of here, Norman. I don't want to talk."

"Talking," Osborn said, "Such a trivial thing, isn't it? But Parker sure talked to you a lot."

"I told you before, you leave him alone!"

"Now how can I do a thing like that when he's the one running around my city, using powers he got from one of my spiders?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, it's too late for that, Curt. Don't you think I have security cameras? Don't you think I saw the boy enter the lab? See the spider come down? And after our last little chat, well, you confirmed it for me. I've been tracking him for awhile. Watching him swing out of his bedroom window. See who he's been in contact with. He met a girl, actually. She's someone you know, she worked for you."

Curt felt a cold shiver go up his spine. This was bad. Norman already knew who Peter lived with, but that wasn't enough for him. He wanted to completely and utterly destroy his world. It wasn't right, it wasn't fair...

"Leave him alone, Norman. He's just a kid."

"Come on," Chided Osborn, who seemed to be enjoying this immensely. "I know you know who she is!"

Curt's jaw set tight, thinking. He hated playing Osborn's sick little power games. And then he remembered... her face appeared before him. She had been hiding in the closet with the Ganali Device. She knew he would be after it, and the only way she would have known that was if Peter had told her... and the antidote... she must have created the antidote... "Gwen Stacy." He whispered.

"Exactly, Curt, now you're playing along!"

"She has nothing to do with this. I don't know why you think you have a quarrel with that boy, but you leave him alone, he's trying to do good, Norman!"

"He's a product of OsCorp, and a thief, Curt. A nosy little bastard who got in way over his head. Now he has to pay the price for stealing from me."

"Take it out on me! Your vengeance, use me and spare the boy!" Curt shouted. "I stole from you as well. I made the serum. I used it for my own will." Curt felt nothing but pity and regret now. He and Richard had been so close, and then... and then they had the fight over the serum. One equation. He had been one lousy equation away from achieving greatness. Curt was certain that Richard knew the equation, but he had seen himself above Connors and had hidden it away. Had took off in the middle of the night, never to be heard from again... until Richard's son showed up on Connors' doorstep. That seemed a million years ago now.

Osborn laughed, a long and loud chuckle deep from his gut. "You? You're a has been, Connors. You're going to die in this damn prison, so I think that is my justice for you, plus you provided me with great information on Parker. I don't know why you had a heart to heart after you killed the police captain. But I'm certainly glad you did. In fact, that's the reason for my visit today. To bring you the happy news that the man that killed Parker's uncle, let's say that he's vacationing at Casa OsCorp."

Curt began to break out into a cold sweat. He wanted to lash out at this man, wanted to squeeze him until the breath left his body, this man that was so cold and calculated and evil. His thoughts drifted back to that night the Captain died. Connors had helped Peter with the body. Peter, in his state of upset and terror, had confided in Connors about everything. And Connors in his weakness in his jail cell, repeated it all to Osborn like a good pet parrot. "What are you going to do?" He whispered.

Osborn smiled. "We should get you a t.v in here. You're going to get to watch quite a show."

…...

Gwen was surprised when she turned up at Flash's parents penthouse that he had made lunch. Two grilled cheese's sat on plates. She felt a stupid smile wash across her face. He had cooked for her. She handed him her jacket the two of them sat down to eat.

"You made this?" Gwen asked, pulling apart her sandwich and letting the cheese ooze.

"It's my specialty." Flash said with a smile.

"It's delicious." Gwen said.

Flash laughed, reached over and kissed her full on the mouth, even though she had a mouthful of cheese. She snorted, and she felt some of it come out of her nose. Which made her laugh harder, and then flash chimed in as well.

He waited until she had gotten all of the cheese out of her nose before walking over to her, and picking her up in his arms. Gwen eyed him, but let him continue. He placed her on the couch gently, and then laid on top of her, his lips meeting hers. She had to admit, it was a romantic move.

Gwen could feel his hands traveling below her waist. She pulled away from him, and he went to sucking on her throat. Oh. So this was why he wanted her to come here. This was why he had made her lunch. She needed to stop this before things got out of control. Truth be told, there was only one person that she wanted to be intimate with, and it wasn't Flash. If that meant that she had to end things with him, then she guessed she was in for one lonely summer.

"Flash,"

He grunted.

"Flash, it's getting late. I better go."

He pulled away from her and studied her face. He was attractive, his features seemed to be molded out of clay. His eyebrows knotted together, and he pushed a stray hand of hair behind her ear. "I thought things were going good between us."

"They were," She assured him. "I just... I'm not ready for this."

"We've been together a month and all we've done is kiss."

"I know."

"Do you like me?" He asked. "Because I like you, Gwen. You're different than other girls. You don't throw yourself at me. You take your time."

She smiled at him, but looked down at her hands. "You're a sweet guy, Flash. But I don't like to be pressured into things. If you can't understand that..."

"Is there someone else?" He asked her bluntly.

Gwen had to think about this one for a moment. What was her relationship with Peter these days? Allies? Was she his nurse? Were they pen pals? They had had sex, but that night had been full of emotions and loneliness. She wasn't even sure if that counted. So why not give Flash a chance? What was she so afraid of? That she might actually want him as her boyfriend? Flash was normal, and she had told herself that she needed some normalcy. "No, there's no one else."

He smiled at her, "So, you still want to keep dating me?"

She grinned herself, and gave him a quick kiss, "Yes. But no sex. Not yet."

He laughed, "You're killing me."

…...

Gwen walked to Peter's place, her thoughts more on her encounter with Norman Osborn than anything else. It had just been so weird. She hadn't told Flash, and she thought she knew why. He'd tell her not to go back, or to call the police, or something ridiculous like that. She did plan on telling Peter, and she knew he'd see the encounter with a more level head. Again, she was comparing the two, and she shouldn't be. Flash was her boyfriend, and Peter was just a friend. She walked up the stairs and knocked on Peter's door.

Peter pulled the door opened, and stood smiling at her for a moment. It seemed like forever that he had seen her last, though in had been less than twenty-four hours. He could stand there all day admiring the way the sunlight glinted in her hair, making some of her blonde strands turn a light brown. She peered up at him with a hopeful, almost bashful look and clasped shoved her hands in her pockets. She smiled back in return.

"Is that Gwen?" Came a voice from inside.

"Yea, Aunt May." Peter called over his shoulder. And then he got to thinking. What if Gwen wasn't standing here on his doorstep? What if she had left to come, but had been followed by thugs and never made it here? This was New York and the crime rate was sky high. What was he thinking? Gwen was his friend and he had let her travel alone without a second thought? He was Spider-man for crying out loud, he could have swung to her place, picked her up and had been back in ten minutes. He turned back to Gwen, "Sorry, I should have came and got you or..."

"Peter," Gwen said, and she shifted uncomfortably, "I uhm... I came from Flash's so... so it's okay."

Peter gave a nod. Good. That was good. He was glad she had that normalcy, that was what he tried to tell himself all along. But then he frowned. He let her walk all the way over here by herself? What the hell was he thinking? But, knowing Gwen, she did not tell Flash where she was going.

She cleared her throat, and her eyes went to the side he got shot on. She lowered her voice, "How're you feeling?"

Peter lifted up his shirt to show her the place he had gotten shot. Gwen couldn't believe her eyes. There was nothing there. Just smooth skin. No stitches. No scar. Nothing. It was like it never happened.

"That's what happens when you have the blood of a radioactive spider running through your veins." He said softly.

Gwen reached out and ran her hand along his side. There wasn't even a bump, nothing to say that the skin had been ruptured. "And you're feeling okay? What about the stitches?"

"The stitches fell out. I feel fine, Gwen."

"I hate to interrupt, but we're ready to eat." Aunt May said, standing behind them.

Gwen realized she still had her hand on Peter and snatched it back. He let his shirt fall.

"Sorry," She said, walking forward and extending her hand, "I'm Gwen."

"Don't be sorry," Aunt May said, pulling her into a hug. "Glad you're here." She turned to Peter. "Take her things and put them in the back bedroom. Gwen, come with me, I will give you a sampling of my homemade peach cobbler."

Gwen laughed, "That sounds delicious."

"It is." Aunt May said, "I make it every week, yet Peter stays so skinny. Join me in the kitchen when you're ready, dear." She said, and walked off.

"Your aunt is so cute." Gwen said.

Peter laughed, "Yeah, she's something. The cobbler is really good, too."

"Oh, let me give you this..." Gwen said, and handed him her jacket and handbag. Their hands lingered on each other's a little longer than they should have. Peter's gaze drifted down to her lips, and Gwen looked up at him. The chemistry that they always had sizzled through the air. It was quiet, so impossibly quiet that all he could hear was the sound of her breathing. She stepped a foot closer to him, and he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her even tighter. There was no more distance between their bodies. They were pressed tightly against each other. All they had to do was give into their desires. Peter bent down and she tilted her face up...

And then her cell phone began to ring.

She cursed loudly, backed away from him and reached into her pocket for her phone. "Flash," She said, "Hi, yeah, I got here okay." She gave Peter a sympathetic look, and stepped out onto the front porch.

Peter instantly felt a wave of regret. He shouldn't have asked her here when he knew for a fact that he could not control himself around her. There was too much temptation and with their history, and what happened the other night... he sighed and jogged up the stairs to place her belongings in the spare room. When he came back to the foyer, he found it empty, and heard Gwen and Aunt May's voices from the kitchen, laughing. He smiled in spite of himself and walked into the kitchen. Gwen and Aunt May had mouths full of peach cobbler and apparently Aunt May had told Gwen something funny.

"Everything okay?" Peter asked.

Gwen and Aunt May turned to him and both started cracking up.

"I'm telling you, Gwen, the toilet paper trailed out of his pants, down the stairs, and all the way until about the point he's standing now."

Peter laughed in spite of himself. He remembered that. He had been about ten, and he was having his friend from down the street sleep over. He had just came out of the bathroom and was heading to the kitchen for s'mores when Aunt May had noticed that a trail of toilet paper came out of his pants that wrapped all the way around the house. He had been scarred for years to follow after that.

"Great, thanks for telling her that one, Aunt May." Peter said.

"Oh, don't be so sensitive." Aunt May chuckled. She handed him a casserole dish. " Bring that to the table, and we'll eat."

The rest of the evening passed fairly quickly. The dinner was delicious, Aunt May and Gwen bonded over more embarrassing stories of Peter's youth, and he ate in companionable silence for the most part. It was so good to hear his aunt laughing again, and to think that Gwen brought it out of her made it that much more special. Gwen was a special part of his life. He wasn't sure exactly where she'd end up permanently, but more than once their eyes met across the table and she gave him a reassuring smile. After dinner, Aunt May retired to the living room and was dozing softly on the couch. Gwen was in the kitchen, cleaning up when Peter walked in.

"Oh, you don't have to." He said, walking over to the sink where she was elbow deep in soap suds.

"I don't mind." Gwen said.

"Alright, well, you wash and I'll dry." Peter said, picking up a dish towel. They were silent a moment, and he wondered if her thoughts were going where his were. That even something as simple as washing dishes, they clicked at. It was as if he could see into the future, where they'd be cleaning up a dinner party at the house they shared, after tucking their kids into bed. It was a nice daydream. The reality was that any offspring of his would be more than likely genetically marked with spider DNA, and how would Gwen handle a pregnancy like that? Would it kill her? Would her body become adaptable? He wouldn't do something that foolish again like what had happened the other night. He could kick himself over how stupid he had been. He watched her for a moment, trying to imagine himself living in a world in which he was responsible for her death. He couldn't even fathom it.

"So, how's Flash?" He asked casually after awhile.

"Good," She said, raising an eyebrow. "Why the sudden interest?"

Peter shrugged, "Just curious."

"Is this about what happened before?"

"No. Maybe. Kinda." He said sheepishly.

"Well, I'm not apologizing for that and neither should you. I don't know why those things keep happening between us, Peter."

"So, you and Flash aren't serious, then?"

"Not as serious as he'd like to be."

"Do you like him?"

Gwen avoided his eyes, and said softly, "Yes. He can be a nice guy."

Peter nodded. This was good. He wished to hell he'd stop telling himself that. Maybe there would come a day when he didn't think about this girl. Not bloody likely, but maybe. For now he would try and focus on not being too jealous.

She shook her head, "I'm sorry, it's just been a weird day. I ran into Norman Osborn in the lab."

Peter chuckled, "No way, really? I thought the guy was a recluse."

"More like bat shit crazy." She said.

"Why, what did he say to you?"

"Well, he kind of made a pass at me."

Peter laughed, "Gross!"

Gwen liked this. She was glad that Peter had reacted this way. It made her feel less creeped out about returning to OsCorp. She knew if she had told Flash, he'd want to go in there guns blazing. She wiped her hands on a dish towel and ran her hand up Peter's arm. "This is what he was doing to me. He said he was there for me, too. I met him one other time for approximately four seconds."

"Well, if you need me, I'm here." He said.

Gwen smiled, "Thanks." It was that simple sentence from him that eased her mind. She knew that Peter had her back, but he wouldn't push her. He'd wait for her to ask for his help. Flash would have been cracking his knuckles. "Well, it appears as if we're done here."

Peter looked around the spotless kitchen. Aunt May would be very proud.

"I better get going." Gwen said, "I want to get back to the lab before graduation tomorrow."

"Okay, follow me and I'll grab your stuff."

Gwen followed Peter up the small stair case and into the room where here handbag and jacket lay sprawled on the guest bed. The walls were bare and boxes were in corners.

"This room is used pretty much for storage, since it's just my aunt and me. Well, in a few days, it'll just be my aunt." Peter said. "The beauty about off campus housing is that you can pretty much move in whenever you want."

"Do you think it'll be hard?" Gwen asked him, "You know, leaving?"

"I don't like leaving her alone, no." Peter said, and looked down at his wrists where he shot his webbing from. "But it'll be safer for her if I'm not here. The bigger distance I keep from those I love the better."

Gwen nodded, trailing his gaze. She reached out and put a hand on his wrist. Her touch startled him at first, and then he looked down at her. "I do hate this life you lead."She said softly, "But... if someone had to be bitten, I'm glad it was you. You're a good man, Peter. You're frustratingly good."

He knew what she meant, and in a way he was complimented. In another way, he was depressed. "I'm just your friendly neighborhood Spider-man." He said.

She laughed, "That should be your catch phrase." She said as she picked up her jacket and and slung her handbag over her arm. She walked to the doorway, and found him still standing in the middle of the room. He was eerily still. His eyes kept darting out the window. He was sure he saw a shadow running down the street. The darkness of the night dawned on him. He would not let her leave alone.

"Everything okay?" She asked.

"What time is it?"

"A little after nine."

"I don't want you walking alone."

She rolled her eyes. "Peter, half of New York is still awake.

"That's what worries me." He said. He pulled off his shirt, revealing his suit underneath. He turned to her with a smile, "When's the last time you went flying?"

…...

Flash watched as Spiderman wrapped his arms around Gwen and the two of them went swining into the night. He sat in his car across the street from Parker's place. He had followed Gwen here. He wasn't exactly sure why he had listened to Osborn, but now he was glad that he did. He had had been right on all accounts. Parker, inconceivably, was Spider-man. He let that marinate in his brain for a few minutes. He had seen him answer the door for Gwen. He had watched their almost kiss. The awkward short conversation she had had with he, Flash, her boyfriend. He had gazed at them through dinner. And now he watched as he swung her from a bedroom window.

An anger deep inside of him started brewing in his chest. How dare she treat him like a chump. He had never been treated this way in his entire life, and sure as hell wasn't about to lose to Peter freakin Parker, even if he was Spider-man. Flash pulled out Osborn's card and stared at it, memorizing the number. How could Gwen do this to him? What gave her the right? He had been good to her, more than good, and this was how she repaid him.

There was a tap on his driver's side window that broke him from his inner monologue. A man in a suit with a balding head, and kind face stared at him. Flash rolled his eyes. Who the hell was this? Was it a crime to be angry now? He rolled down his window.

"Eugene Thompson, my name is Agent Phil Coulson from S.H.I.E.L.D."

"From where?"

"Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-enforcement Divison. I'm from the government."

"The government?" Flash questioned.

Agent Coulson sighed, "Listen, son, I know you're hurting right now. I'm here to tell you to just walk away. Go graduate tomorrow. Do not give Norman Osborn a call."

"How did you know... are you following me?"

"We know a lot of things about you, Eugene. You have a bright future. Do not throw it away on Norman Osborn."

"Is Osborn some type of criminal?"

"He's full of empty promises. He doesn't care about you, Eugene, no matter what he says."

"You don't know anything about me." Flash said, "I don't even know where you came from, and you can quite frankly piss off. You can't tell me what to do." Flash said, and rolled his window up.

"Just walk away, please." Coulson said through the closed window.

"Screw you," Flash commented, put his car into gear, and took off down the street.

Phil Coulson sighed. This was going to get messy. He put a hand to his ear. "Thompson didn't buy my speech. He's going to call Osborn. I know it."

"It was a long shot, Agent Coulson. Come on back to headquarters. We'll regroup."

Coulson made sure the street was empty before returning to his car.

…...

Yes, I know you're all going to tell me that Phil died. But guess what? This is my story and HE LIVES! :) Review!