Gwen woke up and had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. She had slept in her own room for the first time in months. Or at least months for her. She heard something sizzling in the kitchen. Her dad was in shorts and a T-shirt from her school. He was making eggs. He'd cleaned everything while she'd slept. He smiled at her.

"I called the school this morning. Apologized for the delay. They registered you. Helped me set up a payment plan for your tuition."

Gwen shook her head.

"I can pay for it dad."

He put some eggs and bacon on a plate for her and put it on the table.

"You should save your money. Your job…"

Gwen shrugged.

"I'm sure Tony will understand when I explain what happened."

Her father sat down with a coffee and his own plate of food.

"Does he know about you?"

Gwen shook her head.

"Only you, Steve, Captain America, and Adam… I didn't want to tell Adam, but he figured it out after the tunnel."

He nodded and started eating, he finished his plate and poured another coffee.

"So… where were you? I… mean you didn't call."

Gwen glanced upwards.

"Have you ever heard of Asgard?"

He blinked a few times.

"As in the Norse gods?"

Gwen nodded.

"Yea, I don't know what SHIELD told you but when I vanished for two days back in July, I was there and when… after what happened I knew I needed medical treatment I couldn't get here so I asked for help. No cell phone reception there and… I wasn't sure I ever wanted to come back after what happened."

He looked at his coffee and nodded. He looked like he was about to apologize again. Gwen shook her head.

"Don't dad. Just don't. Both of us made mistakes. Let's just accept that, forgive each other and try and move on. Like mom would want. I just watched a family disintegrate because of people refusing to forgive each other."

She looked around the apartment.

"Wait, where is Erica?"

Her father looked uncomfortable suddenly.

"We… uh separated."

"You better call her and apologize right this minute."

He didn't look up at Gwen.

"Things were said. Why do you think it was my fault?"

Gwen raised an eyebrow.

"Because I know you dad."

The land line rang. Her dad got up and answered it. He had a short conversation. He looked a bit surprised as he hung up.

"I uh, they just ended my suspension and apologized. What did you do?"

"Nothing. It must have been SHIELD. I'm betting they don't want Gwen Stacy telling everyone she was in Asgard… I suppose it's the least they could do. I mean I crossed an ocean of lava, probably earned myself a lifetime ban from Asgard as well as a cell right beside Loki and Thor if I ever return, just to warn them the dark elves were coming."

He put the phone down.

"I think… I think maybe we should set some boundaries because I don't think I can handle knowing half the things you do."

Gwen shrugged.

"Up to you dad. Probably best considering how amazingly handsome the light elves and Asgardian men were. You're okay with being a grandfather to a demigod, right?"

His cheeks went bright red.

"I really can't hear this."

Gwen smirked.

"I'll stop as soon as you call Erica and apologize."

He sighed.

"And I thought you were a handful before you went and got superpowers."

He picked up his cell phone and typed in a text message and looked at Gwen.

"She's screening my calls."

Gwen stood up and went to her room. She brought up her phone's holo-display and tapped Erica's contact to make a video call. It rang three times before Erica picked up. Erica's face appeared and she looked pissed.

"George, I told you…"

She trailed off when she saw Gwen's face.

"Heya stepmom."

Erica opened and closed her mouth a few times before narrowing her eyes.

"Where have you been? We've all been worried sick about you! Except your… oh my god. He…"

"It's classified. Sorry. It's not dad's fault. I know he screwed up, but he was really upset about me. It is really complicated but he couldn't say anything to keep me safe. I'm fine. I have been fine, I just… was someplace where there was no internet, phone lines or cell phone network. So, I couldn't say anything. Will you give him another chance?"

Erica frowned.

"It's going to need to be a really good apology."

"I promise I'll make sure it is."

Erica looked Gwen up and down.

"How'd your hair get so long so fast?"

Gwen bit her lower lip.

"It is really classified. Sorry. I wish I could explain more."

Erica raised an eyebrow.

"Does this have something to do with that funky rune thing burned into the cement?"

Gwen made a zipper motion over her lips. Erica grumbled.

"I knew those SHIELD suits were stonewalling me. Don't you ever vanish on us without a trace again. I need to go call your dad."

Erica disconnected the call. Gwen looked at her phone. She didn't have many friends, so she only had a few calls to make. Adam, the band, Miles and his mother. Of course, there was her Aunt May. What about Steve? Did he even know she had vanished? Would she still have a job with Stark Industries? She sighed and pulled on some clothes and her Chucks. She peaked out of her room. Her dad was sitting on the couch talking on the phone. He looked at her and she blew him a kiss then popped into her room. He rushed in to see her hopping out of her window.

Gwen decided to go see Aunt May first. Instead of walking in like she usually would she knocked on the door. She glanced up at the new roof and smiled. At least that got done. May opened the side door and her hand went to her mouth. She opened the screen door and hugged Gwen.

"Gwen! We were so worried about you. We thought you… what happened?"

Gwen hugged May.

"I'm sorry Auntie May I'm not allowed to say. I was safe and well taken care of, I was just somewhere I couldn't get a message out."

"Come in, come in. You're so skinny did they feed you?"

Gwen laughed softly.

"Yes, Auntie they did. I'm sorry I wasn't there for your surgery."

May started buzzing around the kitchen. She yelled upstairs.

"Peter! Peter! Gwen is here!"

Gwen sighed.

"That's probably not a good idea… we aren't really doing great."

Peter came down the stairs in a rush. He engulfed her in a hug.

"I was so worried about you. We thought you were dead."

Gwen closed her eyes and hugged him back. She'd missed him. She had a few tears forming. She broke the embrace and wiped them away.

"Sorry. I was… somewhere else."

Peter gave her a nod and a knowing look. That confused her quite a bit, but she sat down and ate the cookies May put out. They caught her up on the neighborhood news. Eventually Peter said something that caught Gwen off guard.

"Aunt May, I need some fresh air. Gwen, want to go for a walk?"

Gwen blinked a few times but nodded. The pair pulled on their shoes. Once they were talking Peter looked at her.

"I know the truth. Your dad shot and killed Spider-Woman and those SHIELD people, and the NYPD locked you up to keep you quiet. It's okay you can tell me."

Gwen looked at him. She realized that was why he was in such a good mood. If Spider-Woman was dead… she wasn't helping her anymore.

"No that's not what happened. I don't know what happened to her."

"How… your hair is so long? What happened to the pink?"

Gwen hadn't really considered how six months of hair growth would look considering how short she'd kept it recently… well on Earth recently. She frowned. She could lie here or she could go with mostly the truth. She chose the truth, hoping that it might get things moving in the right direction with him.

"Look Peter, I can tell you but if you tell anyone… It would be really bad. You know Thor?"

Peter was invested now of course he was.

"Yes. The only one that did not speak out about how great Spider-Woman was. What did your disappearance have to do with him?"

"I got caught up in a… there is this bridge… a wormhole Thor uses to get back and forth to Midgard… Earth. They grabbed Spider-Woman, I was right beside her. Dad did shoot someone, but he missed them and hit me. In the heart. The only way she could save me was to pull me to Asgard. I've been there recovering since. Good news is I'm healthy, the bad news is it took me six months, but thankfully, time passes faster there than here. So that's why my hair is so long."

Peter nodded.

"This is what I keep telling people but no one will listen! She is dangerous. People around her get hurt. She's a killer."

Gwen sighed.

"Okay true."

He looked at her and grabbed her arms.

"Is she back?"

Gwen shrugged.

"I don't know. She Thor and Loki were going to deal with the dark elves… they attacked Asgard, killed the Queen... lots of people died and they could be coming here. I was sent to warn SHIELD about them. It was so frightening. I had to cross this lava ocean, sneak through troll and dwarf settlements… It was like one of those D&D games we used to play. I just want to go back to my normal life. No bullets in the heart. No gods, no monsters and no ghost guardians that torment me with visions of my dead mother."

Peter hugged Gwen tightly.

"I'm here for you. I'm sorry I was such a jerk…"

Gwen hugged him back.

"What is MJ going to think of us being friendly again?"

Peter shrugged.

"She'll understand. She knows her place in our relationship."

Gwen blinked a few times before releasing the embrace. She didn't feel like getting into it right now but she was definitely not cool with his words or his tone of voice.

"Look Peter. I have to go. I hurt a lot of people by just vanishing into thin air."

He nodded. They parted ways.