Chapter 7: Two Become One

Earth -928 – Spider-Society Tower Quarantine Apartment

It has been two days since the group of Spiders and their allies defeated the Symbiote and freed Miles from its control. And since then, the group that had made contact with it had been placed in quarantine in a large suite in Nueva York. Gwen Stacy, Peter B. Parker, Mary Jane Parker, Spider-Ham, Hobie Brown, Pavitr Prabhakar, Jeff and Rio Morales were the first to go into the luxury suite yesterday morning, followed by Peni Parker after her release from the medical ward later that day, and finally Miles Morales himself was released from the ward and allowed to join them.

The suite itself was one of the nicest available in the city. Eight rooms, four bathrooms, and a central living area with a fully stocked kitchen and entertainment room. As the group would be forced to remain there for at least seven days to observe and make sure no trace of the symbiote had latched on to any of them in a bid to survive, the Spider-Society made sure that that the quarantine felt more like a vacation for those stuck inside the suite.

And for the most part, it did, but that evening, Gwen Stacy sat on the couch in the same loose scrubs as everyone else with her knees pulled up to her chin, and her eyes unfocused on the telenovela playing on tv. She at least hoped she had Rio fooled into thinking she was watching it with her.

Truth was her mind was continuously replaying the image of the rifle firing on Miles and how he reacted to her the night before.

As the door opened that evening, Gwen and his parents rushed to greet him, and Gwen allowed his parents to embrace him first. She smiled lovingly at them as the three gripped one another and cried. As the parents pulled away, Miles glanced around, and she saw him instantly pale as he looked across the living area. She followed his eyes and found him staring at Peni who seemed to be trying to shrink into herself and staring back with the same look of horror on her bruised face.

And then his eyes fell on Gwen herself, and he paled even more. She audibly gasped at the look he gave her. Even when she tracked him down in Earth-42, before he realized she no longer was trying to prevent him from saving his father, he didn't look at her like that. It was a look she never wanted to see on his face ever again.

"Which… which one is my bunk?" He stammered, avoiding even looking at Gwen.

"Mijo? What's wrong?" Rio asked, reaching for him, but he avoided contact.

"Nothing, Mami, just… I need rest… I'm tired…" he said, still avoiding looking at any of them gathered around him.

"It's that room right on the left of the first bathroom…" Rio pointed toward the room assigned to him.

"I love you, Mom, Dad…" he said softly before silently making his way into the room and closing the door behind him.

"He'll be ok, Mija," Rio said comfortingly, placing a hand on Gwen's shoulder, not even realizing she was staring at the closed door. "He just needs some time."

She didn't sleep at all that night, and now, as she sat on the couch and tried to focus on anything to take her mind off Miles.

"Dude, you can't move that piece like that!" Gwen glanced over to where Jeff and Hobie were playing a game of chess.

"An' why not?" Hobie asked, glancing up at the police captain.

"Because it's against the rules, that's why!" Jeff replied, throwing up his hands.

"Oi don' believe in rules," Hobie held up a finger.

"Is that so? Then how about this?!" Jeff exclaimed, moving a piece randomly.

"Who's winning, mi amor?" Rio asked from the couch.

"I am!" Jeff replied.

"No 'ou not," Hobie replied. "Oi don't believe in losing."

Gwen and Rio watched the two randomly move pieces around the board while yelling at each other. After a few moments, Gwen sighed and glanced away, turning her eyes to Pav, who was seated in the corner seat talking to Gayatri's cell phone through his watch.

"No, I love you more!" Pav exclaimed.

"No, I love you more, Pavitr!"

"No, I love you more, sweet Gayatri!"

"No, I love you more, beloved!" "No, I love you more, my wonderful everything!" This continued for several moments, and Gwen sunk down a little farther and mumbled into her knees, "Consigue una habitación…" She blinked and smiled apologetically when Rio slapped her bare foot.

"Before you go, my love," Gayatri spoke up, "I have noticed something very interesting since you've been in quarantine for these past two days for the illness exposure. I thought you might find it very interesting as well, Pavitr."

"If it is of interest of you, my love, then I know beyond a doubt I will be most interested indeed," Pav smiled as if she could see him through the audio message.

"It is most peculiar, my love," Gayatri said oddly, "For the past two days, Spider-Man has been nowhere to be found. Not even a single strand of webbing has been seen in Mumbattan, not at all for the past two days. Don't you find that very interesting, Pavitr?"

"Yes, that is quite an interesting coincidence that myself and Spider-Man would be away at the exact same time for obviously not the same reasons at all because we of course are two separate people and not one and the same," Pavitr said quickly.

"Ahah…" Gayatri clicked her tongue. "I am sure of course Spider-Man will not return around the same time as you are released from your quarantine. That would just be such a coincidence!"

"I am sure that if that were to happen, it would be just a random occurrence and shouldn't make you suspect anything out of the ordinary, of course." Pav was starting to sweat.

"Oh, of course, why would I ever doubt you, my love," Gayatri voice oozed with sarcasm. "After all, you would never lie to me. Papa would be quite displeased if he were to find out if you had…"

"I would never, for my love for you is as bright as the rays of the morning sun!" Pav said quickly, "Oh, and I better go, it is getting late here… Goodnight, my sweet Gayatri! I love you!" He said and quickly ended the call. With a loud sigh, he slumped in his chair. He noticed Gwen's cold stare, "Yes?"

"Mierda de pollo…" Gwen said coldly.

"Gwen Stacy! What is wrong with you, Mija?!" Rio stood up and stared angrily at the blonde. "We didn't teach you Spanish to speak to others in such a way!" She scolded.

"Sorry…" Gwen hugged her knees, "Just… it makes me mad…"

"I apologize if I said anything to offend you, Gwen," Pavitr said honestly.

"Not me you should be apologizing to, Pav..." Gwen said, sending a cold glare to him.

"What?" Pavitr looked confused as motion in the room came to a stop.

"I get it, Pav, I do," Gwen said sarcastically. "It's all for her own good, right? After all, she doesn't get it. How could she? She doesn't even know you, right? How could she possibly since you don't let her know who you are? No matter what face you let her see, no matter what you do, you can't open up. Gotta be Pavitr or Spider-Man, right? Both are stupid masks because you can't let her see who you actually are!"

"Gwen, I… I…" Pavitr murmured as Rio and Hobie approached the red-faced Gwen cautiously.

"You, you, that's right. That's all it is. It's all about you!" Gwen snapped, "Everything is about you, every last detail. You can't let her have a choice. You have to make sure she only sees what you WANT her to see. Can't let her see the sick freak that the masks hide. Can't let her see how disgusting you are! Can't possibly let her see what a horribly pathetic waste of humanity you are underneath it all. Even after she died how many times because of you! YOU EVEN PULLED THE TRIGGER!"

"Are… we still talking about me?" Pavitr asked in confusion before Rio grabbed Gwen by the shoulders and pulled her into her room, glancing out to see Hobie starting to follow.

She gave him a look and he nodded. "Take care o' our drummer," he said as he closed the door for her and turned to stand guard.

"Talk," Rio said as she sat Gwen down on her bed. "Tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing much," Gwen shrugged, "Just blasted your son with a laser gun, trying to kill him, and now he finally hates me. Oh, and the Mets lost out on the World Series again. That sucks, too."

"Miles does not hate you," Rio sat down next to her.

"He should…" Gwen looked down at her lap.

"Give me one good reason," Rio crossed her arms, giving the younger girl a side eye.

Gwen started ticking off things by finger as she answered, "Ignored him for over a year, agreed with the Spider Society that he was a mistake and a danger, betrayed him with Hobie while knowing how both of us felt, finally came and saw him but lied to him repeatedly, helped chase him across a city, ignored my gut again and let him go and die, made a deal with the devil to bring him back, let you almost die in the process, screwed up and got us both killed, let him stay behind when I should have stayed and helped him get back after Electro, ignored the fact he wasn't acting right with the black crap on him, oh, and did I mention I shot him because I honestly thought I couldn't help him again? As he was actually winning against the crap? Why wouldn't he hate me at this point? Also, why don't you?"

"How much of that have you apologized for, and how much has he said he forgave?" Rio asked.

Gwen remained silent. "Mija, you both have been through a lot the last few days. We don't know what was going through his mind when he joined us." Rio placed an arm around Gwen's shoulders. "As for what you did most recently, you did what you had to do. He was under the control of that thing. We all know he wouldn't have wanted to live like that. I know he cannot be angry at you over that. And you do as well. I am just thankful he is with us… thankful you both are."

"Mija… Gwen…" Rio said softly, squeezing the girl gently, "I want you to answer me honestly, ok?" Gwen nodded slowly. "How much of you have you shown to us? To Miles?" Gwen's eyes widened at the question. "You fooled my Mijo and his rose-colored glasses, but I've noticed for the longest time your smiles don't always reach your eyes. I know you love my son, Mija. I've seen it. You've been there for him through so much. Why do you not let him love you? It is not fair to Miles to hide so much of yourself from him. It's not fair to you either."

"Every time I even think about it… he gets hurt…" Gwen sniffled. "I… It was so much like what happened to Peter at the bank…" Gwen laid her head on Rio's shoulder. "I… I can't do it. I can't handle losing him like I lost Peter. It's what Miguel and Jess showed me was going to happen… I just knew… I knew whoever found him… he'd be broken… dead… I knew it… I was going to lose him just like Peter."

"He got up," Rio said simply, holding the girl tightly. "He got up, Mija. He got back up. He beat this stupid canon… again. He beat it for us. For you. You said it yourself yesterday when we finally were able to talk: he told you he promised. And my Mijo always keeps his promises." Rio placed a gentle kiss on Gwen's crown. "So why are you not going to finally let him see you?"

"I've never really let anyone in… not even Peter…" Gwen whispered softly.

"There's a first time for everything, right?" Rio asked softly, "Seriously, how many more insane situations is it going to take for you to realize you both would move mountains for each other? You've been so lucky up til now, but we're not promised forever. Stop worrying about what ifs and start enjoying what is."

"Mija, our Miles is hurting right now, and we aren't sure exactly what part of this situation, if not all of it, is the cause," Rio pulled away from her. "If he doesn't come out of that room by morning, I plan to speak to him, but…" she gave her a look, "perhaps you could have better luck getting through to him tonight."

"Ok… OK… I think… I can at least try…" Gwen nodded, "But first, I have to apologize to Pav…"

Miles Morales sat against the wall with his knees pulled to his chest in his dimly lit bedroom. His eyes glanced up to the door as it slowly creeped open, and Gwen gingerly stepped inside. "Miles?" She asked softly, letting her eyes adjust to the lower light.

"Hey…" Miles said softly as her blue eyes fell on his form.

"Hey…" Gwen replied closing the door behind her, "Mind if I come in?"

He shrugged, and her bare feet padded across the soft carpet til she was by his side. Carefully, she sat down and leaned against the wall beside him. If she leaned toward him just a fraction of an inch, their shoulders would touch.

"Are you ok?" They both asked at the same time, "Sorry, you first… no you…"

They both paused, and Miles sighed. "Did you apologize to Pav?"

"You… you heard that?" Gwen asked, a flush crossing her nose.

"These walls are kinda thin…" Miles smiled awkwardly.

They sat there in silence for a few more moments before Miles spoke up again. "You know I'm not mad at you, right?" He glanced to her again, "even for shooting me with that gun. It wasn't on you, Gwen. Wasn't on anyone. If I hadn't have been able to help fight off the suit, then… I might have hurt all of you and got away and hurt even more people."

"Then why have you been avoiding us? Avoiding me?" Gwen asked, avoiding his gaze.

"Your neck…" Miles reached over and touched the hand-shaped bruises on her neck. "I… I did that…"

"What, this? This wasn't you. You didn't do anything. I probably got this from anything," Gwen said, placing a hand over the bruises and stammered out any lie she could come up with.

"Gwen, it was me…" Miles silenced her rambles. "I… I was there. It was me…"

"Miles?" Gwen whimpered, her eyes going wide.

"I was there like… I could see everything, smell, feel, even taste the air…" Miles closed his eyes as if he didn't want to remember. "I remember how your neck felt in my hand…" He held up his hand and flexed it into a fist. "I remember feeling your hands clawing at my arm, the way you were trembling and getting weaker… I remember how the metal of SP/DR gave into my hands as I ripped open Peni's cockpit… and how her skin gave in to my punches… I remember the smell of her blood in the air… I remember how it all felt to me… the emotions… the thing made me feel what it felt… and…" he closed his eyes tight, "it felt good."

"That wasn't you, it was controlling you." Gwen put an arm around his shoulder and held him tightly. "You have to know that. It wasn't you…"

"I know that in my head, but I still… I shouldn't have let it get that far. I should have stopped it sooner," Miles trembled in her arms. "It started out… better than anything Mary Jane could have done in our sessions…" Miles reached up and took her hand. "it was like a painkiller. It took the edge off of… everything. And… and it even made being Spider-Man better… I responded to my spider-senses so much faster. It was like it was helping me, could even kind of hear it comforting me and saying it was going to help me. But then… I took on Doc Ock…"

"Liv is back?" Gwen narrowed her eyes.

"Not anymore…" Miles whispered darkly. He glanced at Gwen and saw her look of confusion. "I… I think we killed her."

"Oh, Miles…" Gwen gasped. "It… it wasn't quick either… I tortured her… I rip… I did horrible things," Miles closed his eyes, "and the absolute worst part of that… I can't tell who was in control then… it or me… or both… it's just… Gwen, I was a monster."

"Miles Morales, you are not a monster." Gwen held him tighter. "Peter… Peter told us some of the things it made him do…"

"Probably not the worst of it… I… I have his memories now, too…" He closed his eyes as unwanted memories that didn't belong to him rushed into his mind. "Not just from when he had the suit… Gwen… I saw… I saw you fall…"

"What?" Gwen stilled as her blood ran cold.

"Peter saw… I saw Green Goblin take you… and I rushed to try to save you… I saw him throw you… you without powers… I saw you falling… from the clock tower… our clock tower… I caught you with my web… I heard your neck snap…" He gave a humorless laugh, "No wonder you pushed away back when we met up again…"

"I've been… trying to deal with that…" Miles whispered, "that and how do I apologize to you and Peni… 'Sorry I tried to kill you. We good?' like for real…"

Gwen just sat there with her arms around him for a few moments. "Does it ever just… let up?"

"Does what?" Gwen asked softly.

"This… this life…" Miles sighed, "Do you ever wish… it's stupid, forget about it…"

"No, go on," Gwen rubbed his shoulder, "talk to me."

"Sometimes I wish that I could kind of… buffet things, ya know? Still have you in my life, but the spiders never bit us, no masks, no multiverse, no Spider-Man or Spider-Woman, no repeated deaths and near deaths, just… Gwen and Miles… just two normal teenagers who just worry about each other and getting through school."

"And learning proper Spanish, and having time to just watch my boyfriend spray paint walls, and him watch me dance or play in the band… and see him squirm under my dad or me and his mom ganging up on him… yeah… I get you there." Gwen replied with a soft smile.

"Not quite there, but while we're stuck in here… it's just Miles and Gwen, no costumes, no masks, and spider-powers are pretty useless in this apartment," Gwen noted. "Just me and your ugly toes," she smiled, looking down at his feet.

"My toes ain't ugly," Miles said defensively, wiggling the digits on his feet.

"You're just jealous of mine," Gwen released him and stretched out her legs to flex her toes. She smiled at the black and red-painted nails. "Mine are cute."

"They are, but I also like that sleeve …" Miles noted the tattoo on her arm, noticing the mostly web background and mix of different spiders, drumsticks and drums, and similar pieces of his own graffiti works.

Gwen's eyes went to her arm, "Thanks, this one took a while to get done, but I'm proud of it."

"I dunno if I want to keep doing this…" Miles said softly. Gwen's heart plummeted as she snapped her gaze back to him. "No, not us… I mean… Spider-Man. I dunno if I want to quit or not… maybe a break, ya know? Take a breather? I just…"

Gwen's heart sped up when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him fully, resting his head on her shoulder, "I saw how Pete lost his Gwen… how he lost Uncle Ben… and that along with how I lost Uncle Aaron and almost lost Dad… Gwen… I… I… I just… I'm not strong enough to lose anyone else. I just want you… and my parents… and our friends… I just want to keep everything safe and together forever. Is that too much to ask?"

Gwen gently returned his hug and whispered softly into his ear. "None of us can promise forever..." she said, swallowing hard as he lightly kissed the bruises on her neck, "but… Miles… we have tonight…" Both stiffened and held on to each other for a moment before he pulled slightly back.

"Gwen…are you sure? I can try, but I can't promise I'll… and…" He started to stammer, but she silenced him with a loving kiss.

"I've never been surer of anything in my life," she whispered as she broke the kiss and rested her forehead against his. "Let's go to bed, My Armor…"

Earth 42 – OSCORP Lab

Harry Osborn frowned as he looked at the unmoving ooze in the container marked TASM-300. "Run the simulation again on if TASM-300 can be used to recover EOTSV-2 to health," he said as he watched the computer run the scenario. A moment later, a digital voice spoke up.

"Results: 69.999% chance of EOTSV-2 being returned to health and consciousness upon interaction with TASM-300. WARNING: 95% chance of interaction causing severe mental and physical alterations to EOTSV-2. WARNING: 98% chance of amalgamation of EOTSV-2 and TASM-300 being beyond the capabilities of this laboratory to contain. Suggest abort until further information can be produced."

"Run simulation again on if TASM-300 can be a viable biological weapon and comparison of listed replacement subjects under Osborn and Stark standards," Harry said, turning to a large tank filled with green fluid and a human body.

"Results: 99.9% chance of being a viable released biological weapon… 89% chance of being a viable replacement for IM-225. 55% of being a viable replacement of A-54. 42% chance of being a viable replacement for CAC-1. 19% chance of being a replacement for JIM-83."

"Simulation for comparison of listed replacement subject encoded. Password: TASM14GGN0," Harry pressed.

"Result: 100% chance of being a viable replacement for TIS-39," the computer replied, and Harry smiled.

"Computer, begin amalgamation process of EOTSV-2 and TASM-300," Harry said, looking up at the body in the tank.

"ACCESS DENIED," the computer chimed, "Threat Level above local threshold. Authorization by Anthony Stark needed."

"Override code IM-25-650-TS-HO-GG," Harry replied without hesitation.

"Access granted. Beginning amalgamation," the computer replied, and a mechanical arm moved down to pick up the vial with the portion of the symbiote.

he vial plugged into the tank, and the black goo poured into the liquid and at first simply flowed through the fluid. A moment later, it recognized the body and began to attach itself to it.

"Alert: EOTSV-2's vitals are rising rapidly. Warning: heart rate and blood pressure are approaching unsafe levels," the computer warned as the body began to convulse. "Warning: unknown readings from TASM-300. Danger. Suggest abandon and seal laboratory."

"Abort procedure!" Harry said, pressing his palms to the deck. "We can't… I can't lose him!"

"WARNING: aborting procedure now will lead to loss of Subjects EOTSV-2 and TASM-300. Do you wish to abort?"

"Negative… proceed… order an evacuation, seal the lab," Harry ordered as the symbiote began to cover the body.

"Come on…" Harry pleaded, "come back to us…"

A moment later, Harry heard the computer start to voice another warning, but the next thing he knew, he was waking up on the floor of the lab.

"What… what happened?" Harry shook his head, sitting up finding himself covered in the fluid from the tank. "Computer, status report? Computer? Computer!" He looked to see everything in the lab, including the computer, completely destroyed. His eyes turned quickly to the now-empty tank, ripped open from the inside. "Oh, no…"

He turned quickly to see if the seals were still in place but found that they had also been destroyed. This… wasn't part of the plan.

Earth -928 – Spider-Society Tower Quarantine Apartment

The smell of breakfast drifted under the door to Miles' nose, bringing him slowly to consciousness. His eyes blinked open as the morning fog of memory began to lift, and he remembered the night before… ALL of the night before. He glanced down to see the blonde sleeping soundly on his chest with a large smile on her face and flushed slightly as he noticed all the skin-to-skin contact he was feeling along his side. "Good morning…" she whispered.

"I didn't wake you, did I?" Miles asked.

"Nah, been up listening to your breath and your heartbeat for a little while," Gwen replied before raising up to kiss him softly on the lips. She then rolled on her side of the bed and stretched her legs. "Safe to say I've found my new favorite way to do cardio."

"I think… I'm ready to face the others…" Miles said, glancing to the door.

"Wow… after just one night with me? You know how to inflate a girl's ego, Miles," Gwen smiled widely, putting the little gap between her teeth on full display.

"Really?" Miles rolled his eyes.

"So, how are we going to do this? Try to sneak out one at a time so no one knows we shared a room? Let alone everything else?" Gwen asked.

"That could work. I dunno if I'm ready for everyone else to know about us yet," Miles said, rolling over to pull her into a hug. "I don't want to share you."

"You CAN be adorable when you want to be." Gwen kissed his cheek before pulling away and kicking herself to a seated position. "Let's get moving. Breakfast smells good."

Miles couldn't help but watch as Gwen looked for her discarded scrubs and panties. He shouldn't have been surprised she was a thong girl. "You're staring," Gwen mock-chastised.

"Not like I didn't see everything last night, mi amor," Miles laughed, reaching for his pants.

"You go first, seeing you will distract them so I can act like I came out of my room," Gwen said, pulling on her top.

Miles carefully opened the door and suddenly found every single eye on him. He blinked awkwardly as he stepped forward into the common living area. Everyone just… stared. And they looked very tired. His bed was comfortable, but maybe theirs weren't? His eyes fell on his dad, who was almost glaring with disapproval.

The thought suddenly hit. 'Does Dad know?' he thought, staring back at him. His eyes went to his mother, who gave him a warm but warning smile. 'Did she know?' he asked himself.

Everyone was just … staring, some blank, some annoyed. Pav looked almost like his one of his shipping pairs had been… "Ohhhh, no." Miles suddenly remembered part of his conversation with Gwen. They both paused, and Miles sighed. "Did you apologize to Pav?"

"You… you heard that?" Gwen asked, a flush crossing her nose.

"These walls are kinda thin…" Miles smiled awkwardly.

'If I could hear them… then they could hear… oh, God… OH, GOD!' Miles eyes widened as realization struck.

"Everyone knows…"

"Then you're left in the dust, unless I stuck by ya, you're a Sunflower," Gwen sang as she walked behind, trying to make it look like she came from her room with a bounce in her step, "I think your love would be too much, unless I stuck by ya, you're a Sunflower, you're a Sunflower…"

She skipped past Miles and moved to the fruit basket on the kitchenette counter and grabbed an apple, "Every time I'm leavin' on you, you don't make it easy, no. Wish I could be there for you, give me a reason to, oh, oh…" She then turned on her heel and smiled warmly at Miles, "Good morning, Miles; how did you sleep?"

"Like you don't know," Peter groaned as he stretched out on the couch with a pillow over his face.

"Gwen, the walls are thin…" Miles placed his hand over his face.

"What does that have to do with…" she started as realization struck and her eyes widened. "Oh."

"'Oh' is right, young lady," Gwen felt a slight tingle of her spider-sense as she turned to face Miles' father, who seemed a lot more intimidating for some reason.

"Je… Captain… it's a very nice morning, isn't it?" Gwen giggled awkwardly.

"It is, nice one for a chat. Privately. Maybe in your room?" Jeff asked, pointing toward the door, "It would work, seeing as you didn't sleep there last night."

Miles squeezed her hand and nodded and she followed Jeff into the bedroom.

"We didn't plan this; it just happened, and things got out of hand and…" she rambled defensively.

"Relax, Emo," Jeff said, holding up his hands. "His mother talked me down from the worst of it. She made some good points… was about to march in and put a stop to it. Rio just reminded me how many times you kept your promise to bring our boy home, how many times you two risked yourselves to protect one another. I'm still having a hard time letting him go after everything that's happened, but he could have picked worse…" he said, patting her shoulder. "Just… don't hurt him."

"I never want to hurt him again," Gwen nodded. "I've done that enough for a lifetime."

"Alright then," Jeff sighed softly before pulling Gwen into a hug, "take care of my boy for us when we can't."

"I can do that," Gwen nodded.

Outside, Miles shifted nervously after seeing Jeff close the door.

"M-Miles?" a soft voice spoke, and Miles turned to see Peni looking at him nervously.

"Peni…" Miles bit his lip nervously, facing her again for the first time since he hurt her.

"Is it really you?" Peni asked softly. "Are you really back? You came back?"

"I… I came back, Peni, it's me," Miles smiled and nodded.

"You did it… you did it again…" her lower lip trembled. "You beat the Canon again…"

"I… I guess I did?" He questioned before the air was knocked from his lungs from the force of the young Japanese girl's hug.

"You did it…" Peni whimpered, hugging him tightly, "you came back…"

"Peni…" Miles said soothingly as he hugged her back.

"I couldn't handle losing anyone else," She sniffled. "I am also happy you and Gwen found one another, that you're happy…"

"Me, too," Miles nodded.

"Just be a little quieter…" Peni requested, "others are trying to sleep."

"Oh, you two worked things out, too!" Gwen gushed as she stood beside the two.

"It seems good things can happen…" Peni replied, pulling away from Gwen's boyfriend. "It's… it's nice to finally start to believe that again."

"Now that the whole symbiote thing is done, perhaps things will finally start looking up for all of us!" Pav smiled as Gwen hugged Miles' arm.

"Bout time, ya know?" Miles joined the group in a laugh.

Everyone was laughing except Gwen. Her eyes seemed to lose focus as her spider-sense suddenly went off.

She hadn't felt that particular type of ping since Miles was lost in Earth 42. Something was wrong, but for the moment, all she could do was hold him. 'What could it be…' -

Earth 42 – Parker Residence – Queens

May Parker flinched when she heard movement in the house. "Ben…" May whispered, clenching the blanket of her bed as she woke her husband beside her. "Ben, wake up…"

"May, what's wrong?" Ben asked.

"Someone's in the house…" May said, and Ben sat up to listen.

"Sounds like whoever it is… they're in Peter's room…" Ben climbed out of bed slowly and picked up the baseball bat he kept by the bedside.

Carefully, the older couple crept out and toward their late nephew's bedroom. May and Ben stood by the door and counted to three before they threw open the door, and Ben moved to attack.

Both froze instantly when they found a very familiar person seated on the bed, holding a photo of their nephew and his best friend Gwen Stacy.

"Oh, my God…" May's hand flew to her mouth as Ben dropped the bat.

"Aunt May… Uncle Ben…" Peter Parker glanced toward him, "we're home."

To Be Continued…