(A/N: I do not own Spiderman. That right belongs to Sony.).
Some time passed in the ESU lab after Harry had been knocked out. At the moment, his unconscious body lay in a corner of the room. His hands and feet had been tied together with metal legs from a lab stool that Gwen had ripped off with her new strength. It seemed she was coming to terms with her newfound powers. Speaking of whom, she was now currently helping a certain cat lady who was in dire need of help.
"Ok…you do know this is going to hurt, right?" Gwen Stacy asked Felicia Hardy as she handled the grip of the sword Harry had used to delve into the cat burglar's shoulder.
"Yeah, it's fine. Just do it" Felicia said, shutting her eyes tight and taking deep breaths, waiting for the band-aid to be ripped off.
"Alright…" Gwen said, nodding. She prepared herself and then as gently but firmly as she could, began to pull the sword out of the older woman's shoulder, who let out a little cry of pain. Gwen stopped immediately.
"Sorry…are you ok?" Gwen asked with an apologetic look on her face. This was not really a specialty of hers…
"I'm good…maybe we should just do this slowly" Felicia said, shakily breathing in and out. Pain she was used to. Being pierced in the shoulder from something of the likes of a sword, not really.
"Agreed. I'll give you a bit to recover" Gwen stated as she stepped back for a bit, letting Felicia rest for a bit.
"So…let me get this straight…the Connors kept some of the spider venom that infected Petey over a year ago in some sort of secret storage?" Liz asked from another lab stool nearby that Gwen had placed her on a few minutes ago as she rested her leg on a lab desk. She had wanted to clarify one more time the explanation that Gwen had told her and Felicia not too long ago.
"Yeah, pretty much. They extracted the venom from a few baby spiders before they grew up for research purposes. However, as more things came along like the symbiote, Electro and…other things that happened in the office…they just kind of forgot to come back to it and just put it in a refrigeration unit to be used later. It was put there in secrecy because of the potential harm it could cause with it being spider venom and all and it's just been sitting there ever since. They were so relieved that Warren never got his hands on it after he forced them to relocate to Florida…the things that creep could've done with it" Gwen said, shuddering at the thought.
"So why didn't they just throw it out?" Liz asked, growing more curious.
"I'm not too sure honestly. It would've made since after Venom's confession, they grew more suspicious of the whole idea that Peter could be Spiderman. I guess with Warren around at the time, they felt it was too conspicuous to get rid of" Gwen said, trying to explain her bosses' actions. Liz seemed to accept it as she lightly nodded and said nothing else.
"Alright…I think I'm ready again" Felicia said, her voice letting out a tiny whimper as she spoke with the sword still halfway into her shoulder.
Gwen walked back to Felicia and again grabbed a hold of the sword's grip. "Ok…you ready?"
Felicia just nodded, letting out a deep breath as she closed her eyes.
"Alright…I'm just going to pull it out at the count of three, ok? One…Two…Three!" Gwen said. At saying three, she decided to get it over with as she tugged at the sword again, this time causing it to come out this time. Felicia let out another pain blistering scream, although this scream wasn't as bad as the one she let out when the sword actually pierced her.
The older woman instantly dropped to her knees and grabbed onto her shoulder as blood began to pour out of her shoulders.
"Sorry, I just thought it'd be easier to get it over and done with this time…are you alright?" Gwen asked, feeling a bit guilty.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm ok. Thankfully it didn't go all the way through, otherwise that'd be a whole other issue. If you don't mind, I have bandages in my front right pocket in case of emergencies. Do you think you could-?" Felicia asked, not even given the chance to finish the question before Gwen dashed right for her pockets and began to fish out the bandages in question.
When she found the object of her search, she began to get to work and started wrapping a large amount onto Felicia's shoulder, determined to cover the wound and stop the flow of blood from exiting her body.
Felicia just stared at the face of the blonde girl as she did this. She couldn't really think of any other word to say at the moment other than "Thanks"
"Don't mention it…besides I kind of got you guys into this…it's the least I can do anyways" Gwen stated, not breaking her stride in applying the white bandage to the former cat burglar's shoulder.
"So…if you don't mind me asking, where exactly are you going from here?" Felicia asked with a raised eyebrow, suddenly getting curious.
"Well I was thinking I could probably just catch a cab home and just take shelter there for the rest of the night" Gwen explained. However, it didn't satisfy Felicia as she shook her head.
"You're misunderstanding me. Where do you go from here with your new…spider powers?" Felicia asked, clarifying her original question.
Gwen tied the bandage into a final knot and helped Felicia to her feet before looking at the older woman's face with a confused look on her face.
"What do you mean?" Gwen asked, stepping back. She allowed Felicia to steady herself and finally move along with stretching out her shoulders, slightly groaning at the sting from her wound.
"Well…don't you think you could do something…more with these new 'abilities' of yours?" Felicia asked the blonde girl with as much subtleness as she could muster.
At first, the nerdy girl looked confused at her suggestion. However, the gears started to turn in her brain and then she immediately shook her head as rapidly as she could.
"Oh! No! Absolutely not! This is just a one time deal. Believe me guys, I appreciate the suggestion but I'm no superhero. I can hardly keep up with my schoolwork as it is and I can't land a punch to save my life. Besides, if my dad ever were to find out, he'd have a hernia" Gwen said, sharply turning down the mere thought of the idea.
Liz just shrugged. "I mean I don't know, Gwen…I kind of thought the same as you when I first realized I had the same mutations as my brother. First, I just wanted them gone but after a while, I figured out I could do more with them, maybe in a sense use them to atone for his mistakes. So I trained, learned to control them and…started to actually not do too bad at this 'superhero' thing. I mean…sure tonight's not really a good indication of my skills but I've done pretty well in the short time I've been playing the part"
Felicia nodded, agreeing. "Yeah…at the end of the day, it's your choice but it wouldn't really be too bad having two spiders out there looking out for the city…and hell, maybe having them looking out for us would be nice too. You did a pretty good job of that tonight from what I can see of the sleeping psychopath over there"
"Oh no, that was just luck. Besides, I used to date him. I kind of knew he's not too terribly focused when he's emotional. Also, would you really want me to be out there with you guys every night? I mean I kind of know we're ok now but I also kind of get the feeling sometimes that the both of you…don't have the best feelings for me" Gwen said, giving a sheepish smile.
Liz just chuckled. "It's not a problem, Gwen. I'm not the same bratty Liz you knew from last year. I have changed for the better. I get you and Petey have known each other for a lot longer than I have and the both of you are best friends. That makes you alright in my book"
"I'm not really the jealous type either" Felicia simply said, shrugging. Gwen scoffed and chuckled in response.
"Well yeah, you could easily be the highest paid model in the country. Of course you're not the jealous type because you never have anything to be jealous over" Gwen said in response.
"Don't be so sure. I always knew the Spider had another special someone in his life. Not a whole lot of guys would resist my past attempts on him like he has. Hell, I even had to settle with sharing him with Lizzie over there just so I could have a shot at him" Felicia said, shrugging, wincing at her shoulder wound stinging again. That was going to take some getting used to.
"Thanks, pal. To think I just took you for some high priced hooker when I first saw you" Liz said in a sickly-sweet manner, wincing her eyes at her 'partner'.
"Ah, don't get your panties in a twist. You know what I meant. Anyway, the point is if you want to join us, feel free. If not, whatever, you know? It's not the end of the world either which way" Felicia said, waving her hand, effectively putting an end to this discussion.
While the talking ceased, the thoughts raced in Gwen's head. This wasn't something she'd really consider…was it? I mean putting aside the fact that she had no fighting skills like Felicia had or at the very least aerobics skills like Liz does, what would her dad think if he found out what she was doing? How would she handle herself in a fight? What kind of costume would she even wear? Would she even want to be 'Spiderwoman'? It sounded like a cheap knockoff. This was hurting her brain as she pondered this.
However, her thoughts were interrupted as the doors to the lab slightly opened. All 3 women turned their heads to see Martha Connors sticking her head in. Gwen raised an eyebrow at this.
"Dr. Connors?" Gwen asked, confusedly. What was she doing in here?
At first, the red headed doctor didn't answer. She just opened the door further and started to move into the lab. She looked around and saw Harry Osborn's unconscious body in the corner with his arms restrained. At that moment, the biologist realized that Gwen had done it.
"Oh, Gwen. Thank god you're alright" Martha said, running up to her and giving her a big hug, wrapping her arms tightly around the younger girl.
This was new to Gwen. Martha had always been the more paternal member of the Connors family (Came with being an actual mom, Gwen guessed) but she had never done this before. Hesitantly, Gwen returned the hug. She was careful to do it lightly though as to not hurt her with her newfound strength.
"Uh…yeah. I'm ok. Everyone's fine. The spider serum worked just like you and Dr. Connors said" Gwen said, awkwardly as Martha still had her arms wrapped around her.
After a little while, the red headed scientist pulled back and looked down at Gwen's face. If Gwen looked carefully, she could notice a hint of a tear in her eyes.
"I'm so glad. Now come on, let's get you a gene cleanser" Martha said, gesturing for Gwen to follow her as she started to walk towards a corner of the room where a rack of gene cleanser vials had miraculously survived the battle.
There was a hint of hesitation within Gwen as she did this. However, she forced herself to follow her boss. After all, like she had said, this was a one time thing. This would be something that would never be spoken of again by her. She walked closely behind Dr. Connors as they continued to walk towards the gene cleanser.
Both Felicia and Liz looked at each other with a vague expression on both of their faces. They were neither happy nor sad about what was about to occur. It was Gwen's decision after all, they both understood that.
The scientist and intern both arrived at the rack of vials. Martha grabbed one and pulled it out then unscrewed the cap on top. She then presented it to Gwen who just stared at it for a bit, the hesitance within her rising again. This didn't go unnoticed by Martha, who gave a confused look towards the younger girl
"Uh…Gwen? Are you alright? What are you waiting for?" Martha asked, the confusion in her voice matching her face.
"...Right. Right. Sorry" Gwen said then began to reach for the vial that had been presented to her by the doctor. However, just as she was about to grab it, she felt a buzzing go off in her pocket. Her cell phone!
Quickly, forgetting immediately about the vial that she had just been handed, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. Her eyes widened as she looked at the caller ID.
"It's Peter!" Gwen exclaimed to the other women in the room. Everyone's eyes widened, both for surprise and a slight worry. The blonde girl answered the phone as quickly as she could.
"Hello? Peter? Yes, I'm fine…yes, everyone's fine. Felicia and Liz saved me along with the Connors…yeah, I know it's a big relief. Where are you?" Gwen said as she had a phone conversation with her best friend.
Liz looked curiously at Felicia with a questioning look on her face.
"Why wouldn't he just call one of us?" Liz asked with a small trace of jealousy in her voice.
"He may think we're still dealing with Osborn…or god forbid he actually thinks we…well…" Felicia said with a heavy implication on her other suggestion, which caused Liz to shiver. There was one other possibility she had in mind but she felt it probably wasn't a good time to even suggest it.
The phone conversation between Gwen and Peter continued.
"Ok…yeah, we'll be there soon. See you then" Gwen said, hanging up the phone finally. She turned to the two costumed superheroines in the room before opening her mouth again. "Peter's at the hospital with his aunt. Venom went to his house and terrified her. She had a stroke"
"Yeah, he had a feeling he might head down to kidnap his aunt. Is she alright?" Felicia asked, her voice suddenly getting worried, growing worried for her boyfriend's legal guardian.
"Dr. Bromwell is with her now. He hasn't gotten a word back yet" Gwen said, shaking her head, eyes to the floor.
"Well we need to get down there fast" Liz said, suddenly dedicated to being with her boyfriend right now. She had tried to get off of the stool but her ankle was still in deep pain. As she tried to move her leg, she let out a little gasp of pain. Felicia had to come and stop her from moving any further as she placed her leg back on the lab desk.
"Hold your horses there, cowgirl. We still need to work out a few things. What about Venom?" Felicia asked, asking about the elephant in the room.
"We can't really deal with him now. We have no clue where he is and if Petey's still at the hospital, he doesn't know either. He can wait" Liz refuted the white haired woman's argument. However, Felicia didn't seem satisfied as she then gestured to Mr. Osborn who was still knocked out in the corner.
"Ok but what about him? He's still on that goblin steroid serum and he could wake up at any time. I'm not really confident that it'll hold him. Also, we need to get him to Ravencroft and neither you or me are in any condition to take him there and I don't want to bring the cops down here on the chance they may get nosy about our identities with us in this state. It was bad enough we had actually had to go crying to them for help. We were lucky they didn't rip our masks off right then and there" Felicia said, listing further issues in their current situation.
That certainly put them all in a bit of a conundrum. They knew what they needed to do but there were several obstacles in their way. Gwen would have suggested she go there herself to look over Peter but there was something clicking inside her saying that the superheroines might not be in love with that idea.
Martha looked over the three of them, seeming to be in deep thought. Her maternal instincts kicking in, she felt she needed to do something. She thought about this for a few moments until a metaphorical lightbulb appeared over her head.
"You girls can go to the hospital. I'll watch over Harry" Martha suggested. She screwed the cap back onto the vial of gene cleanser and placed it back onto the test tube rack. Relieving Gwen of the spider serum in her veins could wait.
All three of them turned to the doctor with questioning looks on their faces.
"But…what if he wakes up? No disrespect doctor but…you're not really in a position to handle him yourself, especially if he gets out of those bonds I put him in" Gwen retorted, a hint of worry in her voice. However, Martha waved off her concerns.
"It's alright…I have a few sedatives in the lab just in case something like this ever happened…although I didn't really expect it to happen like this. Though I guess given everything I've seen in this city thus far, I should've half expected it. I'll also call the police. I'll tell them he was going on a rampage here while you three go off to see Peter" Martha countered.
Gwen thought about it and turned towards the other two girls in the room. They just shrugged.
"Sounds good to me. Though we can't really go to the hospital like this" Felicia said, gesturing to their damaged costumes and injured forms.
"Agreed. We need to change and heal for a bit before going anywhere" Liz said, nodding alongside the older woman.
"Yeah, sure. That's fair…so do you guys just want me to meet you guys there? I may have to call my dad anyway to let him know I'm ok" Gwen suggested to the both of them.
They all exchanged mutual agreements with nods and they all started making their way toward the door. Felicia picked Liz up from behind from the stool she sat on by her legs and instructed her to cross her arms around her neck to hold onto.
"This is so embarrassing" Liz groaned, rolling her eyes.
"You'll get over it, you big baby. Be lucky you just have a twisted ankle, I had a shoulder piercing" Felicia said, slightly scolding her. Liz just muttered something and grunted.
"Hey, Gwen, can you bring Curt in here and take him into the office? We may be here for a while" Martha lightly asked her intern.
"Uh, yeah, sure. I can do that. I've got some time before I have to get to the hospital anyway" Gwen said as she saw Felicia carry Liz out of the lab. She could faintly hear some clasping noise and a gust of wind as the former thief no doubt whisked them away into the night sky.
The blonde went outside as her suspicions were confirmed as she saw no one and nothing but an open car where she could see Curt laying in the backseat. She just gave a sigh. Even though Harry had just been subdued, it seemed like this night was far from over.