(A/N: I do not own Spiderman. That right belongs to Sony).

The light that had filled both Peter's and Eddie's visions were soon replaced by the familiar view of the old cathedral belltower where Peter had first separated from the symbiote. Now again, he along with Eddie were free. The black ooze previously engulfing them had slid off of them and onto the wooden floor. However, this was hardly the time to rest.

Back in his badly damaged Spiderman suit, Peter looked up towards Gwen, still dressed in her new costume that somewhat resembled his although the differences were pretty significant. He tried his best not to yell as he began giving out an order.

"Gwen, get one of those buckets lying over there and help me place the ooze inside. We only have a short while before it starts to revitalize itself and tries to nab at us again" Spiderman said to the Spider ... .Woman he guessed he should call her while in costume. Not really sure if she would like that though. They seriously needed to talk about this, where she got the suit, how she managed to get here and if his eyes served him, how she managed to get the exact same powers he had. For now though, this came first.

Gwen came back with a bucket and instantly, both her and Spiderman started shoveling the symbiote inside just like the last time he had separated from the symbiote in the church. Eddie would have helped but considering he didn't have super-healing like Peter did, he needed a few moments to compose himself. Both Peter and Gwen didn't stop until not a trace of the symbiote could even remotely be identifiable was off the wooden floor.

"Ok, great. Thanks so much, Gwen. You really saved our asses back there" Spiderman said to Gwen. She thanked god she was wearing this mask or else Peter would have seen her blush from the compliment she gave him. To further cover her tracks, she just gave a shrug.

"Don't worry about it. Consider it a repayment for all the times you saved my life" Gwen said, trying her best to act as cool as Peter did when he was Spiderman.

"Deal. Anyway, I'd love to talk more about what the hell is going on with you but we need to get that symbiote taken care of now. Take it to the Connors and put it in the old containment globe they held the symbiote in before. DO NOT let it get on you. Keep a close watch on it at all times" Peter said, his panic rising as he explained this. He should be the one to do it, he knew this but…his aunt. He needed to see his aunt 'now'.

"Peter, don't worry. I came prepared. I have heat pads around both of my forearms under my costume. If the ooze tries anything funny, it'll instantly regret it" Gwen explained to her best friend, getting a bit annoyed at his paranoia (Although she did know it was kind of justified).

"Uh….I….well….Ok" Peter finally said after a short debate with himself on whether or not this was even a good idea. Gwen placed a hand on his shoulder, attempting to comfort him.

"Peter…it's alright. Now get you and Eddie out of here! Now! You really need to see your aunt. I'll see you soon" Gwen said to both of them. She then gave Peter a quick kiss on the cheek through her mask. Before Peter could even comprehend what she had done or even say another word, she was starting to jump out of the cathedral with a few quick leaps. It looked like she was already getting used to her spider powers that Peter still had no idea how she got…

Eddie finally stood up and stretched, his mind becoming clear again. It took him a bit to realize that he was him again. Just him. He wasn't attached to the symbiote anymore nor was he infatuated with it anymore. If anything, he was wanting to stay away from it the rest of his life now and if he never saw it ever again, it would have been too soon. It was almost a relief. He actually felt like he could resume his life again. Though then again, after all the lying, deception and maniacal behavior he had displayed over the past year, he wasn't sure if that was a possibility anymore. He didn't even know if the Connors even cared to see him again if he was being honest.

Despite all the weariness about his future that had been going through the 20 year olds head, it seemed that had to wait for another day. At that moment, Peter walked towards him.

"Eddie, we need to get out of here. I need to see my aunt and we can't let the cops see you or else you'll be tied to Venom again" Peter explained to the older man.

Eddie looked at him a bit confused. "But…me…me and the symbiote…we were-"

"It was never proven that you and the symbiote were even bonded. Flash even thought you were crazy for even suggesting it when you were dragged out of the school that day earlier this year. The police will have nothing linking you to Venom" Peter explained to his bro.

Eddie considered this for a while. He did have a point. He did tell everyone he was Venom when he and the symbiote detached for the second time but everyone had thought he was insane for even saying so, otherwise he wouldn't have been dragged off to Ravencroft. As long as he kept a cool head, the police would probably leave him alone. After realizing this, he gave a nod.

"Ok…let's just get the hell out of here. I grew up Catholic but at this point tonight, even I'm getting fed up with cathedrals right now" Eddie said, shivering at the mere thought of how the symbiote briefly took control of his life not even 3 hours ago.

Peter at that moment put his arm around Eddie's waist while the man in question lazily moved his arm around the other's shoulder. Eddie had to cringe at the position he was in. It almost made him feel like he was some damsel in distress which the manly portion of his mind didn't like. However, he knew he fit the role he didn't want to fill in several ways. It was Peter and Gwen that came to his rescue after all (And like Peter, he was also wondering what was going on with Gwen right now and how she got Peter's powers).

Not much was said or thought about afterwards. They both stayed quiet as Peter used his webbing to lift the both of them out of the cathedral and proceeded to swing towards an alleyway near the hospital where his Aunt May was currently being held. He could hear several murmurs of Police officers surrounding the church as they both left. If he attempted to look, he would've seen Captain Stacy looking up at him with a stoic look.

"Captain, where's Spiderman going? Who does he have with him? Who exactly was the other Spider…person we saw come out of the cathedral a few moments ago? The one with the black and white costume and what looked to be a hoodie" Officer DeWolff rapidly asked her boss. However, George couldn't really say as he just continued looking up towards the direction Spiderman and the unknown passenger were heading in.

"What does it matter? It looks like Venom's gone now so Spidey saved the day again" Sergeant Carter said, ready to close the book on this and head home. It was getting really late and he was ready for bed.

"We need to investigate this further! Where's Venom, exactly? He couldn't have possibly just disappeared? We need to bring in Spiderman for questioning" DeWolff said, sounding practically demanding at this point.

"Oh can it, DeWolff. I bet if we sent some guys up there right now, all they'll see is a beaten up belltower. There's nothing to investigate" Carter said, rolling his eyes.

"Then we need to get answers from Spiderman as to what exactly happened? What if he killed Venom the same way he killed the Green Goblin, the first one that is? This is becoming a bit of a nasty trend and we can't allow some vigilante to keep taking the law into his own hands like this" DeWolff said, continuing to lecture her superior officer.

Carter just rolled his eyes. It was always the rookies who had the holier than thou attitudes about police work, wasn't it?

"That's enough. DeWolff, while I don't agree with his phrasing, I do agree with Carter in that I think we're done here. Spiderman wouldn't have left the cathedral if Venom hadn't been taken care of and I doubt Venom would stick around if Spiderman left without…being dealt with" Stacy said, shivering at the thought before continuing. "However, I also agree that we need more information on what exactly happened. I'll question Spiderman about this later but for now, I think the situation has been handled. I'm going to make a call to the Mayor and let her know" Stacy said to his two fellow officers.

"But Captain-" DeWolff tried to say but Stacy silenced her.

"No, DeWolff. Spiderman did this city a favor tonight and has earned a bit of rest. Let's pack it up and head back to the station. I need to make my report" Stacy ordered.

DeWolff didn't look the least bit pleased at this but accepted it nonetheless. Her Captain was a smart man and one that she admired greatly but she just wished he had her views when it came to vigilantes. While Spiderman and his little crew seemed stable now, one of these days they were going to take it a step too far and soon after, they'd pretty much become judge, jury and executioner with no respect for the law. They already saw this once when they saw Spiderman nearly impaled Dr. Octavius with his own tentacle. However, it seemed that may have to be another conversation for another day. Both her and Carter had their orders. Now it was time to follow them.

Finally, after a long night, it seemed there was now an element of relative peace around New York City. The people only hoped that it would last a little bit longer this time around.

*20 minutes later, Hospital*

Peter had to stop himself from busting down the automatic door but he soon made it inside. He was dressed in civilian clothes again, his blue shirt, white undershirt and cargo pants. He had some bruises on his face but nothing severe. Those were underneath all his clothes, thankfully otherwise Dr. Bromwell or a nurse might start asking him loads of questions. Both Liz and Felicia looked up and saw that their boyfriend had finally returned after they saw that he had left the cathedral on the news and the police had ended their search. They both gave wide grins as they hurried over as fast as they could to him though Liz was still wobbling on one foot on account of her still twisted ankle.

Felicia almost knocked him over when she practically pounced at him, jumping into his arms and wrapping her legs around his waist as she kept kissing his face.

Peter held onto her legs as she attacked his face with her lips. This was a welcome surprise, he wasn't going to lie but it was kind of surreal to see her like this if he was being honest. She hadn't done anything like this before as he, Liz and Felicia had all agreed to take it slow in their relationship. She must have really been worried about him…

This continued until Liz made her way over to them and had to practically peel the older woman off of Peter, all the while she rolled her eyes. Afterwards, the Latina girl shoved the platinum blonde aside and gave Peter a kiss of her own. A few people in the hospital waiting room looked at them with some strange looks but decided that they had more pressing issues to focus on.

After Liz separated from Peter, she gave Felicia an annoyed look.

"You know, you're still a teaching assistant, Felicia. People are going to eventually recognize you and put two and two together that you're making out with one of your students" Liz said, looking at Felicia unimpressed.

"Oh, that gig? I'm probably going to quit it soon anyway. Teaching's alright but it's seriously not for me. Besides, all those creepy teenage boys undressing me with their eyes. It's not as flattering as one might think" Felicia said, shivering, remembering how that Seymour kid kept looking at her with lust in his eyes.

As Felicia explained her desire to quit her job at the school, the automatic doors opened once again. Inside came Eddie Brock, wearing once again his traditional black jacket and white t-shirt underneath. He looked a bit uncomfortable if he was being honest and the reception he was about to get was the reason why.

Both Felicia and Liz looked up towards the college freshman who looked sheepishly at them and gave a dark glare. Eddie was thankful looks couldn't kill.

"What's he doing here?" Liz said with a huff, folding her arms over her chest.

"Uh…listen guys, I seriously am not trying to cause any more trouble-" Eddie began before being cut off.

"And why should we believe anything you have to say after everything you put us through tonight?" Felicia asked, choosing her words carefully and trying not to cause too big a scene considering the number of witnesses around them. Eddie flinched at this, deciding to choose his next words very carefully.

"Look, I…I fucked up. Royally fucked up. I get that. I let my anger and my emotions get the better of me and it clouded my judgment…but I'm good now. Seriously. The symbiote is gone and I am never going to rebond with it ever again. I promise you that. I only just want this chance to start over with my life and be Peter's big brother again" Eddie explained as best and sincerely as he could. Although his words were true, they did little to satisfy the concerns of Peter's two girlfriends.

They both just scoffed at him and walked back to where they were sitting before Peter walked in. Eddie was honestly glad there were so many people in here right now. He knew that if they were in a more private setting, he would be feeling the wrath of two very upset women right now.

Peter looked sympathetically up at Eddie. "I'm sorry, Eddie. They'll come around eventually"

"Ah, don't worry about it. Besides, it's not like it's undeserved after all the chaos I caused tonight" Eddie said, somberly. He wasn't sure if he was going to win anyone's trust back after tonight. He could only convince people he had changed so many times before people accused him of crying wolf.

The blonde man simply accepted the fact that he wasn't 100% welcome right now and took a seat in the hospital waiting area, a good distance away from both Liz and Felicia for good measure. He wasn't in the mood to get chewed out again…or worse.

As everyone took whatever seat they could manage, Peter all but ran up to the waiting room receptionist. The receptionist, recognizing him instantly, stood straight up with a scowl on her face.

"Mr. Parker, where have you been?! Dr. Bromwell has been waiting patiently for you for some time. He needs to speak to you urgently about your aunt" The receptionist said, fired up. This didn't usually happen for her, relatives of patients leaving abruptly right after they had just asked to see them.

"I'm really sorry, something came up that I just couldn't ignore. How's my aunt? Is she ok? Please tell me I can see her" Peter asked quickly, his worry for his aunt quickly returning.

"I'll notify Dr. Bromwell and he can tell you himself" The receptionist said, skeptically, not knowing if he was going to take off again or not. She tapped a button on the desk phone and held the receiver to her ear.

After a few moments, the receptionist said "Yes, Dr. Bromwell? Yes, he's here now…no I don't think he's going anywhere this time. Ok…Ok I'll let him know" before she hung up the phone and looked back up at Peter.

"Mr. Parker, have a seat in the waiting room and please stay there this time. Dr. Bromwell will be out shortly to let you see your aunt soon" The receptionist said with a frown. Peter didn't think he won any points with her, leaving the way he did while his aunt was in god knows what position. The teenaged boy turned around and looked for a place to sit.

Peter looked between one of his best friends growing up and his girlfriends. This was not really a position he wanted to be in as he tried to decide who he would sit with. Liz and Felicia seemed like the obvious choices but Eddie seemed to need some company after being alone with no one to talk to but a black ooze alien for so long.

When it finally seemed like he was on the verge of making his decision, the hospital doors slid open. He turned around and saw Gwen practically charging in. She was out of the costume she previously had on with the hoodie. Seeing Peter, she instantly went towards him and flung her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a big hug. Liz and Felicia looked towards the both of them and shot a small glare at the blonde girl. Eddie continued to just sit where he was, not making a sound and always keeping a blank expression on his face.

"Gwen! Hi! It's…good to see you so soon! I thought you were on your way to-" Peter asked, confused.

"I double timed over there and got the symbiote in the containment vessel the Connors had like I said I would. I got there just as the police were taking Harry away, probably to Ravencroft for the time being until his mom goes and gets him. The Connors were busy talking to the police so they didn't notice me. I'm going to have to call them up soon and tell them the symbiote's back at their lab. Thankfully, it looks like they were about to lock up so there's not much chance of the symbiote getting out of there even if it somehow got out of the vessel. It actually didn't really try to cause too much trouble on the way there. It seemed like it had given up because all it did was just sit there in the bucket, not moving" Gwen said, honestly a little shocked she had managed to get it out of harm's way so easily.

"Probably coping from the fact that its second host dumped it, I guess," Peter said. One would probably take it as a joke but that's likely how the symbiote actually took it.

Gwen just forced a nod, not really understanding all the mechanics of the symbiote yet and not really wanting to find out tonight. For a later day, maybe. In the meantime, she guided both her and Peter to the waiting area to where Liz and Felicia were sitting. They saved him a seat right between them as Gwen took an empty spot across from them.

For a time, a silence overtook the room. Everyone and everything was so quiet that the only thing you could hear was the wall clock ticking. Other people who were there to visit their relatives looked at the bunch curiously. They certainly seemed a strange bunch, even for those in a hospital waiting room.

Finally getting tired of the silence, Liz decided to speak up.

"Well now that everything and everyone is accounted for, I think Petey needs an explanation as to what exactly happened tonight" The wounded cheerleader/superhero said, narrowing her eyes towards Gwen, who instantly remembered that Peter was in the dark about her little 'experiment'.

She then proceeded to explain everything to Peter about what happened with her and Harry and the small storage of the spider-venom that gave Peter his powers the Connors had. Peter just listened. While he did find it fascinating, he was honestly surprised to not be more shocked about it. Though with everything that's happened over the past few months with Liz getting superpowers, the symbiote suddenly coming back and Harry becoming the new Green Goblin, he kind of guessed he was numb to being shocked anymore. However, he did take a minute to himself to digest all of this. There was still one other question he wanted answering though.

"And…the suit you were wearing…what…how exactly-" Peter tried to ask but couldn't find the right words to phrase it. Sensing this, Gwen jumped in.

"Yeah, this is actually one that's a bit embarrassing to admit if I'm being honest" Gwen said, chuckling to herself and rubbing the back of her neck. "You see…ever since Spiderman came into the public eye, I…admit I had a small crush on him. That is before I knew Spiderman was…you know: you"

Gwen explained this with cheeks that were turning more and more pink. It was true. She was a bit of a secret fangirl for Spiderman even before he saved her life god knows how many times. She even kept a picture of him she had scraped from an issue of the Daily Bugle in her writing journal (That she refused to call a diary). Peter was still the one she loved at the time but she couldn't help it if her mind wandered. She continued on with her explanation.

"So…yeah, whenever I would see him on the front page of the Bugle or whenever a newscaster managed to get some shots of him fighting off supervillains, I always wondered what it would be like if I were ever able to fight beside you…as superhero partners or something like that. Sort of like a silly fanfiction I wrote up in my head. It was stupid, I know. So I sketched a design of the costume I could see myself in, bought the materials I needed for it and jumped in front of the sewing machine. A few weeks later…voila. I even wanted to wear it for Halloween but figured I would just get laughed at even when Flash and the entire football team were dressed as cheerleaders" Gwen said, weakly finishing her explanation. Even when it was in her head, she still thought it sounded pathetic. She lightly cringed.

Of course, this caused some amused grins among their group. Even Eddie, who was eavesdropping, lightly chuckled.

"So…did you ever have a name to give to this superhero you conjured up in your head for yourself?" Felicia asked, her grin refusing to leave her face.

Gwen just sighed. There was no point keeping it a secret.

"...Ghost Spider" She whispered.

At that moment, Felicia and Liz couldn't help themselves as they started bursting out laughing. Gwen just sat there, embarrassed. This was why it was so hard for her to come out of her shell.

Peter, sensing Gwen's embarrassment, went to her aid. "Come on, guys. Don't be mean. It's not like you guys are any better. I've seen the costumes you guys designed and sewed up for yourselves"

The laughter died down as both girls sitting on each side of Peter gave him a glare. However, instead of shutting up, he just continued talking to Gwen. "In all seriousness, Gwen. I…can't really think of what else to say other than thank you. You…you really saved me and Eddie. If you hadn't shown up, Venom, he…he would have eaten me alive. I'm forever grateful to you"

"Same here. Thanks, Gwen. You're a real lifesaver" Eddie said, tilting his head back, giving a sincere smile towards the younger girl he considered a little sister.

Gwen just sat there and her face turned red. It wasn't everyday she was told she had saved someone's life. She honestly couldn't find the right words to say. What could be said after that? However, she managed to eventually squeak out a 'You're welcome' from her mouth. The two girls that had Peter sandwiched rolled their eyes at this.

Just as things were finally starting to look up, Dr. Bromwell came out from the doors to the Hospital wing into the waiting area. He looked around and saw Peter.

"Peter!" Dr. Bromwell called out. Peter looked up and saw May's primary physician. He got up from his seat and walked towards him as fast as he could. He stopped and saw a look of confusion on his face.

"Dr. Bromwell, thank god. I'm so sorry I left. I…I had to do something. I…I couldn't get out of it. I swear it wasn't for the Bugle but…but it was important" Peter tried to rationalize though even in his head it sounded extremely lame. The good doctor ignored him as he put his hand on Peter's shoulder.

"Peter….I need to tell you something"