Chapter 32

*TV laugh track noise*

Gwen slowly opened her eyes, squinting at the bright TV screen in front of her. She groggily sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, as she tries to make sense of her surroundings.

*Neck cracking noise*

Gwen stretched her limbs as she lets out a big tired yawn. She stares back at the papers of notes she's written down, and the upturned book, now flat on the floor, that she was reading.

'Right, 'A World Without Weakness',' Gwen thought to herself, as she pulled on her face, and lets out a soft sigh.

She had been spending the night in the living room, trying to read through Dr. Connor's books, hoping it could shed some light on her mother's research on Cross-Species Genetic Modification.

Listening to Norman Osborn & Dr. Connor's explanation on the topic & her mother's and uncle's involvement in the project, Gwen couldn't help but suspect that the research & her sudden development of spider-powers are inter-related.

However, there were too many variables & unknowns that didn't fit into place for her to come to a conclusion. Prime on her list, is the young vigilante, Spider-Man, and how he fits into this whole picture.

Gwen briefly considered the possibility of Spider-Man to be her uncle, Miles Warren, possibly giving himself the powers through Cross-Species Genetic Modification, just as, she suspects, she accidentally did through the spider-bite at his lab. Although, she was slightly unsure of her hypothesis, the reveal that her uncle & her mother was involved in breeding spiders that are, in some way related to Cross-Species Genetic Modification, is too much of a coincidence in her opinion.

However, in her opinion, the difference in their psychological behavior is too massive. As much as she appreciated her uncle, his short-temper & shifty behavior had always rubbed her the wrong way. The way he would stare at her mom, during Gwen's younger days, and the way he stared at her after her mother passed away, had always made Gwen felt extremely uncomfortable.

Spider-Man on the other hand, felt comforting. She felt at-ease with the young hero, almost a sense of familiarity with him. For someone who used to be in a completely different world than she was, and her having been thrust into the super-hero life so suddenly over the past few weeks, he was always a comforting presence, someone she felt she could rely on, and someone, to her own surprise, she felt she could trust almost immediately.

However, with the current information that she has, the only thread that she has going right now is her uncle, and until she finds further information, he was the key for her to unravel the mess she's in right now.

Gwen suddenly noticed her blanket, lying at her feet.

Gwen smiled softly, letting out a small sigh, recognizing it was probably her father that draped it over her when she was asleep, his way of showing his care & affection for her.

Gwen then took note of the piece of paper slipped under the TV remote.

'Leftover Pizza's in the fridge. Re-Heat it before eating. Dispatch. Be back late. Love you'

She frowned to herself, a slight twinge of guilt forming at the pit of her stomach, slightly regretful of her recent actions towards her father.

She lets out a long, regretful sigh, thinking back towards the cold & distant relation she has with her father. Deep inside, she knew, that it wasn't his fault, that he was trying his best, that it was unfair of her to blame him. She knew, he's always trying to try and mend their relationship, that in his own way, he was looking out for her, always protecting her, always caring for her.

So many times, she wanted to apologize to him, to tell him that it wasn't his fault, that she was the one at fault, that she was immature for lashing out, and that he was the best dad she could ever ask for. So many times, she wanted to hug him, and go back to the way it was.

But every time, she sees him, smiling softly at her, his loving, understanding look in his eyes, or the remorseful, accepting look on his face, when she pushed him away, she's constantly reminded of her own failures, of her ego and her misplaced frustration, her guilt and her feeling of worthlessness for lashing out at them in her time of need. And every time, she would lock herself away, pushing them further away, pushing back at all their efforts to mend their relationship.

She felt angry, angry at her father, for apologizing, for comforting her in her grief. Angry at them for accepting this part of her, for not lashing back at her for her outburst. Angry at him, for his kindness, for being there for her when she needed it, for being the same, caring, kind, perfect boy that he always was. For accepting her, for understanding her, for being better than her.

But most of all, she was angry at herself, for lashing out at them, blaming them, hurting them. She was angry, at failing them, failing her mom, failing herself. She was not worth their time. She was not worthy of their love. She was not worthy of them. And every time, Gwen would do what Gwen knows best, hurt the people she holds dear & close to her, and push them further away.

"Your mess, Stacy," she smiled ruefully to herself, before letting out a long-frustrated sigh. "How did you get yourself into this mess…,"

*THUD*

Gwen's heightened senses quickly alerted her to the noise. It came from upstairs, from her room? No, it was from Peter's house.

She quickly glanced towards her phone.

'2.00 A.M.,' she mentally-noted, deciding it was too late for any normal activity. She quickly suspected a break-in was happening, her neighbors, the unfortunate target.

"Not in Ghost-Spider's neighborhood buddy," Gwen mouthed to herself, softly but quickly making her way up the stairs, trying to catch a glimpse of the suspected criminal.

As she slowly entered her room, she quickly slipped on the web-shoots hanging by her door frame. She quickly peeked through her window, and saw the brightly-lit room, and the shadowy outline of someone, taking off their clothes, the sound of squishy, wet fabric, hitting the floor as they hopped and struggled with, what sounded like, the wet, sopping fabric sticking to their skin.

*Door slamming open*

"HYAA!" a loud female voice suddenly rang out. "You-! Peter?" May's voice slowly softened.

"May?!"

The sudden unexpected entry of Aunt May, must've caught Peter by surprise, as the sight of Peter, tripping & hopping, half-naked in his boxers, came into view. His hair plastered flat across his face, seemingly drenched, as beads of water glistened across his wiry, toned abs (huh?).

"Eeek?!" Gwen couldn't help but yelp, at the unexpected sight, her cheeks fully flushed, as she quickly turned away in embarrassment.

"G-Gwen?!" Peter called out, noticing the young blonde, trying her best to cover her eyes with her hands, before realizing the state he's currently in. He quickly & clumsily tried to cover his body with his hands.

Gwen quickly slammed her windows shut, and closed her curtains, as she jumped towards her bed, reaching for her non-existent blanket, before eventually covering her face with her pillow, trying her best to hide her embarrassment and her flushed cheeks in the privacy of her own room.

She remained there, hiding her face for the next few minutes, as her heart raced at what she'd just seen.

The commotion continued for a few moments over at the Parker's, loud yells and doors slamming shut, before eventually dying down. Gwen could see the light in Peter's room, still lit, before, after a few long minutes, eventually turning off.

Gwen slowly sat-up in her bed, her ears still burning up, flushed & embarrassed from what she had just witnessed.

She then took a few, deep breaths, as she massages her cheeks & her chest, almost willing her heart to calm down, to no avail. She then quickly laid back on her bed, and covered her face again with her pillow.

"Tomorrow's gonna be damn awkward, huh?" she sighed to herself.

'Since when did Peter get so ripped?'

Gwen spent the next few minutes, trying her best to sleep away the embarrassment. However, between the rush & the preceding sleep that she had just had, she couldn't fall asleep.

Her heart beating, mind racing, coming up with so many questions, and thoughts.

'Did he see me? Of course, he did, he called out your name, you dolt! Did he see how red I was? Oh my god! How am I gonna play this down? Should I pretend like I didn't know? Should I pretend it didn't happen? But it did happen! How am I gonna play this down?! Wait, why was he up at 2am? Wait, does that mean he was climbing in through his window? Was it the work girl? Is she, his girlfriend? Doesn't sound like it. But they sound close huh? What do you mean she's not his girlfriend? They're hanging out at night till 2am! It could be someone else. No it couldn't, it's definitely her! Oh god, of course she's latched onto him, it's Peter for god's sake! People are gonna see him for what he's worth eventually! He was drenched, wasn't he? Skinny-dipping? What are they up to?! It's none of your business Stacy! I know it isn't, I was just curious! For what?! Shut up! Oh god, is that why he's so ripped? Coz he's trying to impress her? Please, Peter's not like that. Oh come on, he's a guy! But he's different! No he's not, he's a guy, and she's a girl! But with that kind of body, oh my god, what are they up to? Woman, calm down, it's Peter, he's not some horny-ass-. But he's still a guy! So, what if he's a guy?! That means they could've-!'

Eventually, she gave up, deciding instead to use the nervous-energy coursing through her, to good use. She went back down into the living room, turning her attention back towards the book she had hoped to read.

She quickly skimmed through the book; speed-reading having always been one of her innate talents. After a few moments, absorbed as she is in the book, she eventually pushed her feeling of embarrassment towards the back of her mind, focusing instead on the various theories & discussion present throughout the book.

Gwen quickly surmised that, as Dr. Connor's had described previously, the key towards the Cross-Species Genetic Modification, lies in the 0-0 Decay Rate Algorithm. The principles & basis behind it, already explained in the book, Gwen quickly flicked through her notes on the Gompertz's function and the various other points of notes that was brought up earlier in the day.

She wasn't so arrogant, to think that she could possibly solve what other, more established, more successful scientists, couldn't do in the last 4 years, but she was sure that if she could understand the heart of the algorithm better, it could help her understand what it was that her mother had achieved before she passed away. Her scientific legacy, left behind as proof of her brilliance.

"Come on mom, show me what to do," Gwen mulled to herself, chewing at her pen as she does so.

After a few moments, Gwen lets out a long, defeated sigh.

"Haha, what did you expect Gwen," she smiled to herself. "You can't just sit here & work this out, just because you're her daughter,"

Gwen covered her face with the book, letting it rest across her face for a few moments, groaning at her lack of success.

"Mom…," Gwen looked over longingly at a photo of her mom she kept in her phone, a loving reminder & a source of comfort to her.

Suddenly, Gwen recalled the memory of seeing her dad, going through the belongings of her mom. The pain of going through a memory of her mom's, a piece of her, was too painful at the time for Gwen, deciding instead to leave that piece of memory locked up in their store.

Gwen mulled over the thought, recalling that her mother had always kept a journal with her, noting down any of her findings & observation for her future reference. A journal where she noted down all her thoughts, both for work & personal reasons. If she was going to find any clues regarding the 0-0 Decay Rate Algorithm, that was her best bet in finding it.

For a moment, Gwen hesitated, not sure if she is ready to open up what she feels is a closed, forgotten wound in her heart, worried at what she may find in her mother's journal. However, considering what is at stake, and her suspicion of her uncle's involvement in the experiment and his possible involvement with the green-hairy monster she faced previously, she decided there was too much at stake for her to put this off.

Gwen wiped away the dust, covering her mother's journal. She smiled softly at the familiar sight of the leather-bound journal that her mother had kept beside her at all times.

As she slowly flicked it open, tears slowly formed in her eyes as she sees the familiar handwriting of her mother.

'Property of Helen Stacy, wife of 'Gorilla' George, and mother to my most-precious Gwendy'

Gwen lets out a soft chuckle as she read the words written by her mother.

She slowly flicked through the journal, reading through what she feels like is her mother's private, innermost personal thoughts, glimpsing into her mother's view. Memories of moments that was precious to her, flashed through her mind as she read through, her bottled emotions threatening to burst out.

Memories of when she was first born, of their first day at the beach together, of her first day transferring to her new school, memories of the fights they had together, of the times they spent together, all written in the haphazard way her mother had when it came to her notes.

Gwen lets out a soft chuckle as she smiles fondly at the entries, tears slowly streamed down her face, dropping down her cheeks and onto the journal.

Dismayed, Gwen quickly wiped her eyes, and her nose, worried at ruining her mother's Journal. She hurriedly tried to wipe off the teardrops on the journal with her sleeve, smudging some of the ink in the process.

Gwen puts the journal away, closing her eyes and allowing the tears to flow as she does so.

'I-I can't. Not yet,' Gwen thought to herself. She slowly opened her eyes, intending to return the journal, into the box where they had kept her mother's belongings.

However, as she does so, her eyes caught onto the sleek, white-and-magenta coloured bracelet strapped across her wrist, a reminder to her of her duty & responsibility as a (wannabe) hero.

Gwen hesitated for a moment, struggling with herself on her next course of action. As much as it hurts her, she understood that the journal may be the key to solving her current predicament. And while there is no indication that the situation is in any way dangerous, she realizes there are too many unknowns, too many uncertainties and too many risks for her to keep ignoring it.

"What would Spidey do?" Gwen mulled to herself. "No brainer, of course he'd do the right thing," she smirked, immediately regretting asking herself the question.

She paused for a few more moments.

"What would Peter do?" Gwen mulled to herself, before again letting a rueful smirk. "Of course, he'd also do the right thing, while probably telling me how I wouldn't need to do it if I didn't want to," she sighed softly. "God, I hate those two," she smiled ruefully, while shaking her head, slightly amused at how often she'd find herself using the two as her moral guide, and yet, the two couldn't be any further apart from each other.

Gwen lets out a soft sigh, before bracing herself and taking another skim through her mother's notes.

'If the breakthrough occurred around 4 years ago, then that means I should be starting from the back,' she reasoned, trying to sort out the information as best as she can.

As she flicked through the final, written pages, she noted her mother's last entry.

'3rd specimen succeeded. Reciprocation of previous results at a much higher success rate. Ms. Moon's blood = key. Meeting with Sims = 16th November.

P.S. : Gwen's BD, surprise w/ George'

Gwen smiled forlornly to herself, noting that she & her dad was the last thing her mother had written down before her accident.

Gwen lets out a long, deflated sigh, before steeling herself, and focusing back on the final entry. She quickly noted down the names, Moon & Sims, making a mental note of their names, as someone who could possibly help her crack the problem.

She then began flicking back the journal, from latest to earlier, in hopes of finding any notes on the 0-0 Decay Rate Algorithm, ignoring any other notes of interest, to prevent herself from getting distracted.

After a few minutes, Gwen suddenly stopped flicking back the Journal, as her eyes remained fixed on the page before her.

"T-That's it!"

*doorbell ringing*

Gwen stood at the doorway patiently, feeling slightly nervous for ringing the married couple's house so early in the morning.

For a moment, she wondered if they were even up, this early in the morning. However, as much as she understands the inappropriateness of her visit, she had to come to them immediately, her restlessness getting the better of her.

After a few moments, the door suddenly opened, and the sight of warm-smiled, kind, middle-aged lady greeted her.

"Gwen?" Martha called out as she sees Gwen, stood outside in the morning cold, rubbing her hands together for warmth as she cupped them to her bright red nose & cheeks.

"M-may I come in?"

"Have a seat honey," Martha gestured towards one of the kitchen stools, as she turns back towards the kitchen.

"Now then, would you finally tell me, what in the world were you doing, outside, in the cold, this early in the morning?" she frowned, whilst picking up some mugs from the kitchen counter.

Gwen smiled awkwardly, slightly unsure on how to explain herself. "W-well, I was, uh, going out for a morning walk?" she offered hesitantly.

"From Queens?" Martha raised her eyebrow in disbelief. "Your walk, sounds like a cross-country marathon, more like," she smiled softly, while shaking her head in disapproval. "Here, have a drink," she continued, before handing Gwen a cup of freshly brewed coffee. "You look terrible honey. Have you even slept?" she frowned, looking at the dark circles under Gwen's eyes.

"Uhh, y-yeah, of course I did," Gwen nodded softly, taking a sip of the freshly brewed coffee as she does so.

As she does so, Dr. Curt Connors, slowly made his way down their staircase, and into the kitchen.

"Martha, have you woken Billy up yet? You know how cranky he gets when he misses breakfast," he said absent-mindedly as he enters the kitchen. "I wanted to head to the lab-," he started, before pausing when he noticed Gwen sitting across the counter.

"Uhh, h-hello?" he said, slightly uncertain.

Martha smiled warmly at her husband's antics. "We have a surprise visitor this morning," Martha quickly commented, before getting up to get a cup of coffee for her husband. "Says she dropped by here while she was in the middle of her walk," she smiled slyly, before placing the cup of coffee in front of her husband.

"I see," Dr. Curt nodded softly, before frowning. "Wait, I thought the Stacy's was over at Queens?" he asked, slightly confused.

"They do," Martha smiled towards Gwen. "Which makes it a very, very long walk indeed,"

Gwen winced slightly, wishing she had made up a better excuse for her sudden visit.

"Huh, color me impressed," Curt smirked, nodding absent-mindedly as he reached for his mug.

As he does so, he accidentally pushed the mug off the table.

*tingle*

Without thinking, Gwen immediately grabbed the mug by the handle, managing to not drop a single drop of coffee as she caught the mug mid-flight.

Martha & Curt looked at her in awe as she blinked back at them in surprise.

*excited clapping noise*

A young boy suddenly walked into the room, his jaw hanging out in awe as he clapped excitedly at the sight.

"Wow! That's amazing!" he yelled out excitedly.

Gwen felt her cheeks flushing slightly, slightly embarrassed at the compliment.

"Those are some nice reflexes," Curt said in awe, as she handed him back his cup of coffee. "Thanks,"

"N-no biggie," Gwen rubbed her head in embarrassment, as she looked down towards her own cup, trying to hide her face under her bangs.

Suddenly, Martha came over to her side, and placed the young boy right next to her.

"Gwen, this here is Billy," she introduced the boy, while giving his hair a light ruffle. "Come on Billy, say hi,"

"Hiya, big sis! You're super cool," Billy smiled excitedly as he waved at Gwen.

Gwen smiled warmly back at the young, excited boy. "Hi Billy," Gwen waved back, before giving him a quick high-five. "Your parent's told me so much about you,"

"Heehee," Billy's smile widened as he continued to look at Gwen. "Big Sis has pretty hair! I like pink, even though my friends say its for girls. But I think it's pretty, like you!" he said excitedly.

Gwen opened her mouth, before closing it back, slightly taken aback by Billy's remark. "Why, thank you," she managed, giving Billy a light affectionate pat on the head.

"Big Sis here is mommy & daddy's student," Curt suddenly said, as he bowed down to Billy's level. "Just like Billy is to Ms. Stephie, remember? So, Billy has to go & get ready for school now, or Ms. Stephie's going to be angry," he continued softly.

"Aww, but I hate going to school. They're all idiots anyway," Billy said, pouting (cutely) as he does so.

Martha smiled, a look of defeat on her face.

Gwen quickly turned back towards Billy. "Well then, Billy has to teach them so they can be as smart as Billy," Gwen said. "That's what the cool kids do. They help other people out," she offered.

"Really?" Billy asked, his eyes wide in awe at her words. Billy then quickly jumped down from his stool. "Mommy! I've gotta go to school right now so I can be cool!"

Gwen clears her throat, trying her best to calm herself down before she continues with her intended topic.

Now that Martha had gone upstairs with Billy, Gwen was left alone with Curt in the kitchen. Gwen took a few deep breaths to steady herself before she continued.

"I-I read your book," Gwen said softly.

"Oh?" Dr. Connors looked up at her from behind his cup of coffee, slightly surprised by the sudden topic.

"Yeah, haha," Gwen smiled awkwardly. "It's…, well, it's something, you know," she laughed awkwardly as she continued. "So, you really think it's possible, Cross-Species Genetics?" Gwen tried softly.

"Yes, of course," Curt said confidently, putting down his glass of coffee as he does so. "As I've said yesterday at the labs, Gwen, we have been fully committing all our time & research towards this, for the last 4 years," he explained. "Why wouldn't it be possible? We have a successful specimen right in our labs," he reasoned. "Even Norman has made it one of the company's main research in the past few years,"

"I-I see," Gwen nodded softly, admiring the confidence the scientist had in his work. "Say… say it worked. Say y-you got it to work. Like, how much would the foreign species take over? What could the side effects be?" Gwen offered, slightly hesitant. "Hypothetically of course,"

Dr. Connors sat in silence for a few moments as he pondered the question, Billy's footsteps as he excitedly showered, clearly heard in the distance.

"It's hard to say, considering no subjects survived," he lamented. "The problem was always-,"

"The decay rate algorithm?" Gwen offered.

"Right," Dr. Connors nodded.

"Right," Gwen stood up, slightly nervous, before making her way towards the kitchen, searching for a place where she could write on.

"Can I, uh…," she gestured towards a stack of notes that the family had kept near the counter.

"Of course," Dr. Connors gestured his approval, slightly intrigued by what this young lady is trying to show him.

Gwen quickly scribbled down the 0-0 Decay Rate Algorithm, and the proceeding steps in breaking down & solving the equation. After a few moments, she slowly placed her pen down, a look of uncertainty plastered across her face.

"H-here," she said hesitantly, before handing the piece of paper to the curious looking professor.

Dr. Connors raised his eyebrow, slightly skeptically at first as he glances through the young lady's workings, but slowly his frown deepened as his face goes through a spectrum of emotion, from confusion, to acknowledgement, until eventually it turned into a look of awe as he comprehends the figures laid out before him.

"A-Amazing," he mouthed. "So it was-,"

"Y-yeah, if we consider K as a constant related to the proliferative ability of the cell, we can use Gompertz differential equation, to show that the dynamics of X(t)," Gwen pointed out.

"I went through some of my mother's notes, and she noted on the rate of proliferation of the dominant species' cells, and how it's related to the integration with the host's genetic makeup. From there, I considered F(X) as the instantaneous proliferation rate of the cellular population. The decreasing nature is due to the competition for the nutrients due to the increase of the cellular population, similarly to the logistic growth rate," Gwen explained.

"However, in the logistic case, the proliferation rate for small cellular population is finite," Dr. Connors countered, but still nodding along with Gwen's explanations.

"Yes, whereas in the Gompertz case the proliferation rate is unbounded," Gwen nodded in understanding.

"The proliferation rate of the cellular population is ultimately bounded by the cell division time," Dr. Connor mouthed to himself slowly. "Extraordinary," he continued softly.

"Gwen, how did you come up with this?" he said, looking over at Gwen in awe.

Gwen fidgeted slightly, tapping her head with her pen, letting out a deep breath as she does so. "Like I said, I read through some of my mom's notes, and the rest just, uhh, clicked," she laughed awkwardly, slightly amazed herself at what she managed to do, half-expecting Dr. Connors to immediately point out a mistake of hers and how her equation is nothing but a fluke.

That moment, however, did not come, and as Dr. Connor's continued to go through her workings, he became more and more convinced that she had done it. She had cracked what they had been unable to do, in the last 4 years.