(A/N: I do not own Spiderman. That right belongs to Sony
Also, I do apologize if it feels like I'm putting out just one scene after another without putting some together. However, I'm just trying to build stuff up. I assure everyone though I'll try to make every chapter meaningful.
And to the reviewer who asked a question earlier, I do try to upload once a month. I realize I don't always make my deadline but I always try to upload the new chapter as soon as I can.).
Peter sat down in a hospital lobby chair, his fingers intertwined with each other and his head hanging practically to the ground. After his letter from Venom, he had managed to get some spare clean clothes he always kept in an alley he swung by from time to time. He had put them on over his Spiderman outfit and caught the first taxi he could to the hospital.
The receptionist at the Hospital explained that May's primary physician, Dr. Bromwell was with her but that's all the woman at the desk could say. With that, he was left with twiddling his thumbs until the friendly doctor came back with any form of an update.
The 17 year old brunette gave a deep sigh as he just stayed in place. He was worried…he wasn't sure why though. The doctor was with Aunt May and she was safe now, Gwen and both of the Connors were saved, both Liz and Felicia were alright and Harry was now subdued and was awaiting arrest…so what was biting at him?
Naturally, the answer seemed to be because of Venom. That had to be it, Peter thought. He was still out there so of course that should have been the reason why he was feeling so low. However, this wasn't the first time he was on the loose and still, even he wasn't as worried as he was now…so why was this time different? If Peter had to guess, it was this unnerving feeling that something bad was going to happen. It was part of his 'Parker Luck' as he called it where misfortune eventually had caught up with him one way or another.
As he continued to ponder this, he heard a 'bing' sound. This caused him to turn his head as he saw the sliding doors to the hospital open. Sitting up on his feet, he saw three people enter the hospital. The first was Gwen, wearing a fresh set of her casual clothes she had gotten on her way back to her house, Peter assumed as they looked fresh and clean. The second was Felicia, wearing a leather jacket, a white blouse and jeans. Peter couldn't help but notice her left shoulder was slightly larger than her right under her jacket which looked to be a rather peculiar sight…something he'd have to ask about, probably.
The third person coming in made Peter's eyes widen and his mouth left agape. Liz Allan had come in her usual casual clothes…and with a crutch she was using to keep off her right foot. Peter let out a small 'oh my god' at the sight, shaking his head in shock. He began to walk towards the three of them.
As Peter approached them, Liz noticed the expression on her boyfriend's face at the sight of her and was confused for a second before she remembered the crutch in her hand. She shoved off his concerns with a wave of her hand.
"It's fine, Petey. it's honestly not that bad. Just a few days off my feet will do the trick. It's not the first time I've twisted my ankle, you know" Liz said, rationalizing her situation.
"And what exactly are you going to tell your parents about this?" Peter said, raising an eyebrow with an unsatisfied look on his face.
Liz shrugged. "Just an accident down at the gym. It happens from time to time. They'll buy it"
In response to this, Peter just shook his head and started pacing back and forth on the hospital floor. "This is my fault…this is all my fault. I put all of you in danger. You guys and Aunt May. You tried to warn me about Eddie and Harry and I was just so blinded by wanting to restore my friendship with them and I-"
Peter was cut off by a slap in the face. The slap had been initiated by one Gwen Stacy. His head snapped towards her with a surprised look on his face while she stared at him with a deadpan expression.
"Better?" Gwen simply asked. Peter just blinked in response.
"I don't…exactly see how that was supposed to help" Peter asked, his anxiousness turning into confusion and a slight bit of anger.
"You don't have anything to be sorry about, Pete. We put ourselves in harm's way to save your friend. You didn't force us to do that, we wanted to do that because we know she's special to you and at the end of the day, we didn't get seriously hurt. Lizzie just got a twisted knee and I…got a slight wound in my shoulder that will heal maybe in the next few months" Felicia said, stepping up, placing a hand on Peter's shoulder and squeezing it.
"And they did a great job, Pete. I'm safe, the Connors are safe and Harry's going to be sent over to Ravencroft to be treated for his illness. Everything ended up ok" Gwen said, trying to calm her best friend. However, Peter's attention had been caught by something Felicia had said about her shoulder. His eyes narrowed as he directed them towards the bump on Felicia's shoulder.
"...What kind of injury?" Peter asked suspiciously.
Felicia at first didn't say anything. Then after a few moments, she gave a sigh.
"It's nothing, Pete. You know me, I can take care of myself" Felicia said, shaking her head. This was getting ridiculous
"What kind of injury?" Peter asked again, this time with more force in his voice.
Felicia stared at Peter for a few more moments before rolling her eyes. She then proceeded to pull at the left side of her jacket and blouse. She continued until he could see a large bandage that had previously been smeared with blood. Peter watched in horror as she presented her wound she had gotten from Harry.
"Jesus Christ" Peter said, his mouth wide open as he tried to gather his thoughts as well as his breath. Felicia just rolled her eyes as she placed her blouse and jacket back into place.
"The kid had a sword on him. Didn't really know how to use it but he got lucky and got the better of me and managed to give me a little souvenir" Felicia said, dismissing it completely. Her boyfriend was acting ridiculous. Not that it was surprising but it was annoying. He was blowing this completely out of proportion.
Peter was flabbergasted at this point. He looked incredulously at his girlfriend as he opened his mouth.
"Are you out of your mind?! We need to get this looked at!" Peter practically shouted. Felicia shushed him before anyone working in the hospital could look at them. Thank god no one else was in the hospital waiting room. They no doubt would have had their eyes on them and probably begun to ask questions.
"Why? It's fine. The bandages are thick and the wound wasn't even too deep. This is hardly my first big injury too. I've been in this kind of game for a while now. A blow every now and then is not the end of the world" Felicia assured, trying desperately (And failing) to calm the teenaged brunette who just shook his head in disbelief.
"I can't hear this" Peter said as he just turned around and began to walk back towards the chair he was previously sitting in, not bearing to listen anymore to this.
"Oh for the love of-" Felicia said, throwing her hands in the air. She had to stop herself as the motion from her injured shoulder made her wince.
"Maybe we should all just sit down as well. He's in an emotional state right now. It's probably best to let him calm down" Gwen suggested to both of the other girls.
Both of the girls in question looked at each other and nodded. She was probably right anyway. People always talked about 'emotional girlfriends' when as it turned out, boyfriends could be the same way. Felicia and Liz took their seats on both sides of Peter while Gwen sat in a chair across from all three of them.
For a while, they all sat in silence as now probably wasn't a good time to talk while Peter was in this state. While he was being a bit annoying, it was understandable why he was like this. He had just been betrayed by both of his supposed best friends, one that had been like a brother to him growing up. This was while his Aunt was in the hospital as well being treated for a stroke and now he had to be treated to the news that both of his girlfriends had suffered injuries. It was hardly an ideal situation for anyone to deal with right now, let alone a hormonal teenage boy.
Once enough time had passed for Peter to mentally calm down (Or at least that had been assumed), Gwen decided to speak up and break the silence.
"Did they tell you anything about what was happening?" Gwen asked her best friend. The boy in response just shook his head.
"I haven't heard anything ever since I got here. All I was told was she was taken to the emergency room where she's being treated for a stroke and that Dr. Bromwell was looking after her. That was about an hour ago" Peter told the blonde girl who just nodded in response.
"Well you know Dr. Bromwell, Peter. He knows Aunt May better than any other doctor in this hospital. You know she's in good hands" Gwen said. She almost wanted to reach out and grab his hand to comfort him but felt it probably wasn't the best thing to do while he was sandwiched between both of the girls he was with.
Peter gave a sigh in response. "I know…it's just hard. Seeing her so helpless…it was like the night that…"
Peter wasn't even able to finish that statement, not currently having the strength to as bad memories flooded into his brain. He simply focused his eyes towards the floor as he felt another hand in his and his shoulder squeezed by both women on both sides of him, trying their best to comfort him.
The silence between them had returned, feeling that it was probably best to keep quiet as Peter went through this emotional roller coaster he was on and only give silent support as they made sure he knew all three were there for him.
The silence had continued until a loud blaring ring that had come from the receptionists' desk went across the room. Peter's head shot up, his hypnotic state to the floor broken as his eyes went directly towards the receptionist who had picked up the phone.
"Front desk…yes…yes, he's here…alright, I'll let him know" The woman had said before hanging up the phone. Afterwards, she got up from her seat and exited the booth and walked towards the guest area where Peter and the ladies were sitting.
"Mr. Parker, that was Dr. Bromwell. He wanted to speak with you before taking you in to see your aunt. He'll be here in a few minutes" The receptionist politely said, knowing he was in a delicate state right now.
Peter quickly nodded and began to have a hopeful expression on his face. "Yes, of course. Does…does he have good news?"
"I…I wish I could say. He just said he needed to speak with you. I'm…guessing it's a private matter" The receptionist said, regrettably, wishing she had more information to share.
Peter was disappointed but he understood. He thanked her for the information before she went back into her booth to continue her job. The news caused Peter to be on edge. He suddenly began to lean back and forth. All three women in the room swore he was about to have a panic attack.
"Petey, calm down. I'm sure your aunt is just fine. She's one of the toughest women I've ever met" Liz said, placing a hand on his shoulder and holding him back so he would sit still.
Peter didn't respond to his girlfriend's assurance. While he was stuck in place, he was still jittery as he was still full of fear and worry. He tried his best to calm down as he began to breathe in and out.
However, it seemed there was very little time for him to stay calm as a voice suddenly rang out in his ear from the earpiece Captain Stacy gave him earlier.
"Spiderman, can you hear me?" The Police captain's voice rang out through Peter's ear. This made Peter's eyebrow raise. He honestly hadn't been expecting a call from him this soon.
Hearing the voice of the friendly officer, Peter placed a hand over his ear for a clear transmission. "Uh…yes, Captain. I can hear you. What's going on?"
All three women went silent, surprised at the sudden call Peter was getting. Gwen was a bit confused as well. Peter was talking to her dad? She guessed it was inevitable they would have their own form of communication but it was still odd to see Peter in civilian clothing talking to her dad as if he was still in hero gear, almost out of place for how she usually saw her best friend. It was quite the step up from the scrawny boy who could hardly defend himself in sophomore year.
"I suggest you turn on the news right now. There's…something on there you probably want to see" George had said over their earpiece. He didn't sound happy on his end so that didn't scream good news.
Peter put on a deadpan face, instantly knowing what this was about. He saw a small, mounted TV in the corner of the ceiling. He got up from his seat, walked over to grab the remote that had been lying on a small table and turned on the TV. It had already been set on the local news channel. What he saw made his entire body stiff, causing the remote to slip out of his hand as his eyes were captivated to the screen.
The news had been covering the old belltower at the cathedral, where Peter had first managed to break free from the symbiote's iron grip on him. On the side of the building was a giant web-like formation and in the middle of the 'web' was a message. A message that simply read 'Guess Who?'
Fear and anguish that had previously been filling Peter before had quickly turned to anger. After what he did to his aunt, Eddie and the symbiote had the nerve to tease him like this? It was a good thing the remote had already slipped from his hand otherwise there would have been glass shards and electric sparks flying everywhere.
"You see it yet?" Captain Stacy asked in a monotone voice.
"...Yeah…I see it. I'll…be down to help as soon as I can" Peter said, becoming increasingly aware of the situation he was finding himself in. He was yet again put between his loved ones and his duties as Spiderman.
"Thanks. He hasn't really been showing himself much though we assume he's still here. We're…guessing he's waiting for you" Captain Stacy explained.
"I kind of guessed that…thanks, Captain" Peter said before ending the line and buried his face in his hands.
He had been like that for a good while before turning around where all 3 women in the room with him had now been standing in front of him. It seemed they snuck behind him while he had been using his hands as a headrest.
"What are you going to do?" Felicia asked, curiously.
"...I'm thinking I need to go" Peter replied after a few moments of silence, coming to the conclusion that he had to go.
As to be expected, no one seemed to be enthusiastic about his decision. Liz decided to step up as she began to question him about him going.
"But Petey…your aunt…do you really think you can-?" Liz began to ask before Peter interrupted her.
"What choice do I have? If I don't go, there's a good chance Venom will put people's lives in danger…no one else is getting hurt tonight because of me" Peter said, rationalizing his answer. As he went bravado, the other women started to protest.
"Okay, let's think about this from a logical standpoint. Let's say you do go. How exactly are you going to stop him? From what you've told us, the first 2 times you've encountered him, you've beaten him by either tricking him or because that Flash kid was there to distract him. Something tells me those advantages won't be there if you go at him a 3rd time" Felicia began to reason, possibly getting him to think otherwise.
"I would help, give him a little burn here and there to weaken him but…Harry made sure that couldn't happen" Liz solemnly said, gesturing to her crutch.
"What about vibrations? Didn't you say earlier that the way you detached from the symbiote to begin with was to use vibrations from the tower's bells?" Gwen asked, chiming in and trying to come up with a solution.
"I doubt he would call me over there if there was any chance I could do that again. Besides, they only weakened it, they didn't detach me from it. I did that by well…it's…tough to explain" Peter said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"Well...we're not going anywhere anytime soon" Felicia said, wanting her boyfriend to just cut to the chase.
"Well…as silly as it may sound…I managed to detach from the symbiote by thinking about all my friends and loved ones" Peter explained as best he could though he knew he sounded ridiculous as he said it. He just didn't know any other way to phrase it.
There was a silence as Felicia and Liz exchanged odd looks with each other. However, if one was looking at Gwen's face, they could see gears turning in her head.
"Wait…I get it. The symbiote…it feeds on hateful emotions, right? Like you said? Anger, hate and fear? Well…your friends and your loved ones, like your Aunt May, me, Felicia, Liz, the Connors, even Flash and the in crowd. Knowing that they're there for you is what caused you to become detached from the symbiote. Your emotions changed from anger to a sort of contentment from just thinking of all the people in your lives" Gwen said, putting all the pieces together.
Peter just stood there, dumbfounded before nodding. "Well…yeah. Exactly that. That's how it happened…but what's your point?"
One couldn't even tell the dire situation they were all in with the smile on Gwen's face. "It's so simple, Peter! All you have to do is remind Eddie of all the people that love him and the symbiote will become detached from him and Venom will be gone forever!"
Peter seemed a bit unconvinced. "Well…that sounds a good idea in theory, Gwen but the symbiote is too attached to Eddie for me to even get through to him. Besides, he hates me. Assuming I can even use the belltower's bell's vibrations against him, it won't be enough to…"
The brunette stopped mid sentence as his mind went racing. He couldn't believe it…but he was actually getting an idea. He blinked a good number of times before one of the girls noticed and began to speak up.
"Uh…Pete? You ok there?" Felicia asked, her eyebrow raised.
"I…I think I have the answer…to everything…it's crazy but…I think it'll work" Peter said, his mind going numb from plotting it all out.
"Ok…you're sure? This is Venom we're talking about. Besides Norman Osborn, he's the toughest guy you've ever had to face and he's probably tougher than he's ever been. If you go through with this and it doesn't work…well…you know…" Felicia said, her voice growing worried, a rare occurrence that had been happening quite a bit tonight.
Peter's eyes fell back to the floor as he contemplated this. She was right, this was exceedingly dangerous and incredibly stupid…but he knew it was the right thing to do. The hard things in life usually were. He simply nodded.
"I know…but I owe it to Eddie. He was a simple college student who had a job on campus with his whole life ahead of him and I ruined it all for him with my greed and selfishness…he was the only one I could ever even consider a brother growing up. He was always there for me whenever I needed him…it's about time I start doing the same for him" Peter said, explaining his actions, his eyes moving back up towards the three ladies.
"...You know, the little hero speeches are my least favorite thing about this 'hero' stuff" Liz said, giving a sigh, shaking her head.
Peter let out a little grunt of a chuckle. "Sorry. It's a force of habit…I'll come back to see my aunt right after I get back. Tell her I'll be here soon and that I love her if you get the chance to see her"
With that, he gave long hugs to both Felicia and Liz, each lasting for about 30 seconds and both ending with a kiss on their cheeks. Peter gave Gwen a hug as well, albeit a more friendly one.
"Good luck, Peter" Gwen said, giving a little sniff. While she didn't even want to consider the possibility, she very well knew this may be the last time she ever saw Peter. The spider-based superhero just nodded on her shoulder and pulled back, smiling at her. He could see small tear drops going down her face.
"I'll be ok, Gwen. I promise" Peter simply said to his best friend, not really knowing what else to say. With that, he turned and ran towards the doors of the hospital. They automatically opened as he rushed out, leaving the three ladies behind.
Gwen wheezed a bit as she was hardly able to breathe at this point. She looked towards Felicia and Liz who just stood in their place, looking completely restrained in their emotions. This caused the blonde girl to become confused.
"Why aren't you two getting worked up?" She asked, curiously.
"...I guess we're used to it…besides we kind of already did this earlier today" Liz said, explaining her lack of crying as her boyfriend rushed off to danger. Felicia nodded.
"Yeah…it's kind of something you have to deal with when you're with him…you'll get used to it" Felicia said to the blonde. This caused her to raise an eyebrow.
"Wait…hold on…but I'm not with-" Gwen stated before she was interrupted.
"Just agree and move on, Gwen" Felicia simply said, wanting to move on from this conversation. Needless to say, this caused the nerdy schoolgirl to keep quiet.
At that moment, the door leading to the hospital corridor opened and out came Dr. Nicholas Bromwell, May's personal physician. He looked out at the waiting room and became confused as the one person he expected to be here wasn't.
"Where did Peter go?" Dr. Bromwell asked the three women as they all turned their attention to the middle aged doctor. They all looked at each other as they desperately tried to come up with an excuse.
"He…had to go do something real quick. It was…pretty important. He'll be here soon" Gwen lamely said, knowing it would hardly satisfy the doctor.
"How's Mrs. Parker doing, doctor?" Liz asked, praying that she was alright.
Dr. Bromwell looked at the three girls for a long while before opening his mouth. He desperately wished Peter would get back here soon.
"I…wish I had better news"