Chapter 27

Gwen stared in silence at the countless lights sprawled across the city in front of her. 'From up here, everyone looks like tiny little ants,' she smirked to herself, letting her thoughts wander.

*cold*

"Ouch!" Gwen flinched in surprise as she feels something cold being pressed across her cheeks.

"Hah, sorry," Spider-Man stood behind her, chuckling, as he handed her a can of coffee. "I thought it wouldn't be as bad coz of the mask," he continued, while holding out a can of coffee for her.

Gwen frowned slightly in annoyance. "It's spandex. It's not exactly 'Insulated' is it?"

"Sorry sorry," Spider-Man scratched his head apologetically. "You were so deep in thought, I just couldn't help myself,"

Gwen's frowned slowly turned into a smile as she accepts his apology.

"Fine, but only coz u keep feeding me free coffee," she joked, before grabbing the drink from his hands. "You'd think this 'Spider-Sense' think would've kicked in or something,"

Spider-Man quickly took a seat right next to her. "Well, I think it only warns us when there's actual danger to us. Oh, right. Uhh, do you mind?" he asked politely, as he gestured towards his part of the ledge.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah sure, go ahead," Gwen nodded her head. "Not like there's any other free roof you could sit on," she joked.

Spider-Man hesitated slightly, as he turned towards her in confusion. "Uhh, so-,"

"It's a joke. Just sit," Gwen rolled her eyes from under her mask, smiling softly at his antics.

"Right, joke, I knew that," Spider-Man muttered under his breath as he looked out towards the city.

For a moment, they stared in silence as the people below them went about their way. The silence only occasionally broken up by the sound of Spidey taking a gulp from his can.

As she slipped open the lower part of her mask, Gwen started smiling softly as she couldn't help but be reminded of Peter and his obsession with coffee.

"You look happy," Spider-Man commented, as he sees the smile on her face.

Gwen shook her head softly. "No, it's nothing," she smiled, before taking a gulp from her own can.

"Mmm," Spider-Man nodded softly, as they continued looking over the city in silence. "You know, when we're so high up like this, you can't help but think that all these people look like small, tiny ants huh?" Spider-Man chuckled.

Gwen coughed in surprise as she choked on her drink, hearing Spidey's comments.

"Woah, uh, you okay?" he asked, slightly worried.

"S-sorry," Gwen apologized, as she wiped some of the spilled coffee with her suit. "It's jus-, I was-, That was exactly what I was thinking as well," she chuckled softly.

"Oh, huh, cool," Spider-Man smirked back, before turning back towards the city in silence.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking B1?" he suddenly said out loud with a goofy tone.

Gwen couldn't help but choke on her drink again from the utter randomness of the hero next to her.

"S-sorry, It's a Bananas-in-Pyjamas reference," Spider-Man apologized, rubbing his head awkwardly.

Gwen, again, wiped the spilled coffee with her suit, as she recomposes herself. "Oh no, I got the reference," she chuckled, before flashing a smile towards him. "But god, how old are you grandpa?"

"Hey, you're that got the reference," Spider-Man quipped.

"But I wasn't the one making them," Gwen countered with a chuckle.

"Pfft, wait till u see my 'Beatles' collection. That always gets them," he joked playfully.

Gwen continued to laugh as they joked around with each other.

"You know, you really remind me of an old friend of mine," Gwen smiled ruefully as she turned towards Spider-Man.

"Oh? How so?" Spidey leaned back on his seat, as he turned towards Gwen out of curiosity. "Is it my, dashing good looks?"

"You're both super dorks," Gwen smirked.

"Who me? Nah. I'm super cool," Spider-Man shrugged his shoulders. "Just ask my legions of adoring fans," he said as he gestures towards a Daily Bugle signboard with a 'Spider-Man the Menace' slogan across it.

Gwen smiled, and rolled her eyes at his antics, before turning back towards her drink.

"What happened to him?"

"Hmm?" Gwen turned in mild curiosity.

"Well, you said 'old friend' right?" Spider-Man continued.

"Oh. That," Gwen nodded softly, before turning back towards her drink. "Well. I messed up,"

For a few moments, the both of them stood in silence, continuing to look towards the city.

"Well, I know how that feels," Spider-Man said softly, smiling ruefully, before turning & panicking slightly. "I mean, just the messing up bit. Not the messing up with your friend part. That one I wouldn't really know coz I've never actually met your friend, and ever-,"

"I get it," Gwen smiled, reassuringly.

"Right, right," He nodded along, recomposing himself. "Well, for what it's worth, you remind me of one of my friends as well," Spider-Man nodded back at her.

"Hmm? Really?" Gwen smiled & turned towards the hero out of curiosity. "Which part? Is it the 'super-competent hero' part? Or is it the 'choking on my drink' part? Coz one of them is much better than the other," she joked.

"It's the 'Amazing' part," Spidey smiled softly, as he looked ahead into the distance.

Gwen couldn't help but blush slightly at the compliment, before taking a look at Spider-Man half exposed face, and seeing the slightly forlorn look on his young-ish face.

"She must be one hell of a girl then,"

"She is," Spider-Man smiled, his attention seemingly elsewhere.

Gwen nodded in silence. "Guess I've got a lot to live up to then,"

"Hmmm? What?" Spider-Man seemingly snapped out of his thoughts at her replies. "Oh no, nah, you're fine the way you are," he said, reassuringly. "Everyone's different in their own way, so there's no point comparing ourselves, you know?"

Gwen nodded silently, before letting out a soft sigh of her own. "Yeah, I guess so,"

*creak*

Gwen opened the door to her front house as silently as she could. Not like she was expecting anyone to be home in the first place.

"Do you know what time it is?" a voice suddenly boomed out from behind her.

Gwen jumped back slightly in surprise as she turned towards a gaunt looking man, in his uniform, towering above her.

"Dad, uhh, what are you doing here?" Gwen said, her mind slightly sluggish from the fatigue.

"I'm here, because apparently, my 17-year-old daughter has been coming back home at 3 a.m. in the morning," George grumbled, his tone clearly angry. "Mind telling me what are you doing out at 3 a.m.?!"

"It's band practice. I was just with the girls," Gwen lied, her frustration suddenly rising.

"Until 3 a.m.?!"

"Look, I'm sorry dad. Can we not talk about this right now? It's 3 a.m. in the morning," Gwen frowned.

"And whose fault is that?!"

"Well, clearly it's mine, isn't it?" Gwen snapped back at her father. "Coz you're always here on time, all the time, right?" she glared at her father.

George's eyes widened in surprise as he was caught off-guard by Gwen's reply. "That's not fair, Gwen,"

"I'm not fair?! Of course, it's my fault again, isn't it? Coz I'm the one who's never here, and you're the one who's always here for us, aren't you? Just like how you were here for mom-"

"Enough!" George yelled out. "That's enough Gwen," he said slowly, pinching his nose in frustration. "Go to your room. We'll talk about this in the morning,"

Gwen bit back her retort in frustration, as she turned her back towards her father & stomped her way up the staircase, and slammed the door close.

She then tossed her bag onto the floor, and groaned in frustration as she slumped down onto her bed.

She was feeling a mix of fatigue, and frustration, and annoyance, and she feels it bubbling inside of her, not knowing the best way to channel her emotions. Previously drumming had always been her go to method to vent, but even that is now another source of frustration for her.

"Mom…," Gwen muttered softly under her breath, as she crawled into a ball on her bed, feeling slightly overwhelmed by her emotions.

For a few minutes, Gwen stayed curled up, letting her emotions & fatigue wash over her.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she sees Peter's room suddenly light up. Slightly curious, Gwen turned towards the window from inside her curled embrace.

Before she could figure out what he was doing up so late, the silhouette of Peter undressing, quickly made her blush.

*thwip*

Gwen immediately fired a web-line at her window sill, and quickly shut her windows close, covering herself up in a blanket as she massages her cheeks in embarrassment.

*Alarm bell ringing*

"Your assignment by tomorrow, ladies & gentleman," Mr. Ryan announced as the class made their way out.

"Gwen?"

"Hmm? Yeah?" Gwen snapped out of her thoughts, and turned towards her best friend.

"You sure you're okay?" Liz asked, sounding slightly worried. "You've been spacing out again,"

"Yeah, yeah," Gwen shrugged her shoulders slightly. "I, just, I've got a lot on my plate right now," she sighed softly. "But I'll figure something out,"

"Right," Liz nodded, "You know, you're starting to sound a lot like Peter nowadays," she chuckled slightly.

"Oh, haha," Gwen laughed sarcastically, rolling her eyers at her friend.

"Well, I'm half-serious though. U really are starting to sound a lot like him with his constant busyness," Liz continued.

Gwen blushed slightly, before shrugging her shoulders. "Coz every busy person in this world sounds like Peter," she replied sarcastically.

"Come on, that's not what I meant," Liz rolled her eyes at the sarcastic reply from Gwen.

Liz then opened her mouth, before closing it again, occasionally stealing glances at Gwen and stopping herself now & again.

"Right, out with it then," Gwen sighed again. "I know that face Liz. That's your 'I've got an idea I want to talk about' face,"

Liz smiled widely, before straightening her posture and turning her body towards Gwen.

"Right, ehem," Liz clears her throat. "So, do you remember the field trip we took a few months ago?"

Gwen raised her eyebrow curiously. "You mean the one to Oscorp?"

"Yeah, that one," Liz beamed excitedly. "So the thing is, Oscorp is currently offering out internships for promising young high schoolers,"

"Oh, I see," Gwen nodded slowly.

"Shush, I'm not done," Liz continued excitedly. "And apparently, one of the openings is for Dr. Connors' department! Remember? I mean, we didn't get to see him, but still,"

"Y-yeah, the cross-genetics research," Gwen mouthed softly to herself, nodding along, whilst memories of her mother slowly coming into her mind.

"Imagine what we could learn from them! That's pretty much science fiction Gwen!"

'Cross-Genetics…, I wonder if they have anything to do with my powers,' she mulled to herself.

"Hello? Earth to Gwen?"

"Hmm? Yeah," Gwen shook her head out of her thoughts. "Right, uhh, sorry Liz, I don't think I can join you for this one, I've got so many things to do as it is,"

"Shhhh, let me finish," Liz placed her finger on Gwen's lips. "I've already talked about this over with Mr. Modell, and he's agreed to consider this as part of our curriculum,"

"Oookaaay… so?"

"That means, for the duration of the internship, we won't need to attend classes! We'll still have perfect attendance, plus the opportunity to work with actual leading scientists," Liz continued excitedly.

"But we're gonna have to do some extra studies to catch up on whatever we missed out in classes of course," Liz continued. "And I'm gonna have to come over on weekends for extra cheerleading practices & Decathlon sessions," she winced slightly at the thought. "But, no pain no gain right?!"

"I-I don't kno-,"

"Come on, do it for me Gwen, please?" Liz pleaded, grasping her arms firmly between her hands. "You're seriously gonna leave me all alone with some random guys in that lab?"

Gwen hesitated for a few moments. "But you know, I've got band-,"

"The work ends at 5pm, and you can straight away go to MJs house from Oscorp. You'd actually finish earlier than if you went to school,"

"But-"

"It won't affect any of your other after-school activities, so you really don't have anything to lose. And on weekends, I'll join you for extra classes and we can both catch up on whatever we missed in class," Liz continued. "See, it's win-win!"

Gwen paused for a few moments. "You're pushing this way too hard," she narrowed her eyer towards her friends. "You wouldn't normally be pushing this hard unless…," Gwen mulled for a few moments before realizing the situation.

"Did you actually already pre-registered us beforehand?" Gwen lets out a soft sigh, the awkward smile plastered across Liz's face already giving her the answer that she needed.

"Soooo, we start tomorrow,"

"Woah…, you know, no matter how many times I've been here, I'll never not be amazed by this building," Liz whispered softly

"Y-yeah," Gwen nodded, feeling slightly awkward, having dressed in a very preppy fashion for the internship. Her normally messy hair, having been combed & tied firmly into place by Liz.

"Imagine, one day, Harry's gonna own this whole building, and all these people in it," Liz whistled softly under her breath. "Better start buttering up our future boss, eh?" she smirked slyly.

Gwen raised her eyebrow towards Liz. "Seriously?"

As they made their way across the lobby, the pair spotted a gathering of teenagers, grouped nearby a counter, a pair of security guards seemingly handing them each a pass.

"That must be us," Liz said excitedly, before grabbing Gwen by the arms and pulling her towards the group.

As they arrived, Gwen took a quick look at the other interns and realized how different she looks from all of them, with her highlights and earrings, and just the overall air and how they carry themselves. She couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated, to feel different, like a fish out of water.

"And you are?" the receptionist asked as she looked at them from the corner of her eyes.

"Elizabeth Allan and Gwendolyne Maxine Stacy. From midtown," Liz beamed excitedly.

"To your left. Please take the passes & join the others, we will begin shortly," The receptionist responded with her usual nonchalant tone.

"Thanks!" Liz replied, unfazed by the receptionist's attitude.

They then both went & grab their passes and made the way towards the group.

"Urgh, I see some of the jerks from Horizon High are also here," Liz rolled her eyes as she whispered towards Gwen.

"Uh, y-yeah," Gwen nodded along, feeling slightly shy & embarrassed.

Liz raised her eyebrow inquisitively as she turned towards Gwen. "Gwen? What's wrong?"

"I-I don't know Liz. I don't think I should be here," Gwen bit her lips.

Liz lets out a low snort at Gwen's remark. "Please, I can easily say, you're probably the smartest amongst all of the high schoolers here, present company included," Liz shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, it's almost criminally unfair. You've got the looks, the brains, the boy, the cool. It really isn't…," she continued softly, a rueful smile momentarily slipping out from her face.

Before Gwen could say anything, some of the other interns started to approach them, their eyes looking up & down towards the two of them.

"Well, if it isn't Midtown's best & brightest," one of them said, whilst snickering. "A cheerleader wannabe and… what are you supposed to be? Goth girl turned good?"

"Wow, Jen, that's some big talk for some 2nd rate losers," Liz smirked slyly, dismissing & ignoring them with a roll of her eyes. "Imagine having the guts to actually go to Oscorp, when you couldn't even beat a 'Cheerleader Wannabe' in a quiz. Maybe stick to modelling honey, oh wait, we got you beat there as well, huh?"

Gwen's eyes darted back & forth between the two parties, feeling slightly surprised by the attitude & sass Liz was showing.

The Horizon High girls turned slightly red as they exchanged barbs with Liz. "Well, we'll just have to see in this year's Decathlon wouldn't we?" one of them sneered. "Don't go around thinking you're better than us just because of one lucky fluke,"

"Is that what you call it? I could've sworn it was actually called a 'washout'," Liz mulled over dramatically.

Just before the exchanges got out of hand, a pair of lab-coat wearing individuals approached the group.

"You all are here for the 'Oscorp High-School Internship Program' correct? Follow us," they flashed the group a succinct smile, before walking away briskly and up towards the personnel section of the building.

"Now then, welcome to Oscorp. The name's Jonathan. I'm one of the researcher's that work here. Specifically in Quantum Mechanics. And for this year's session, me & my partner, Max, will be responsible for showing you the ropes & guiding you for the duration of this internship,"

Gwen took note of the hundreds of lab-coats that are all over the buildings, seemingly working on different holograms or machines

"…born from the mind of our founder Norman Osborn, the Oscorp tower houses 108 floors of innovation. Our scientific minds are pushing the boundaries of defense, bio-medical & chemical technologies. The future lies within…"

"Over there, we have the defense department. That's where the crackheads are working on those government contracts with the ministry" Johnathan pointed down towards one of the other floors below them. "Very top secret, very dangerous. But don't worry, you interns will not be working over there," he smiled warmly at the group.

"Next we have the Quantum Mechanics department, and this here is where we experiment with experimental physics, sounds exciting I know," Johnathan continued excitedly. "Some of you will probably be helping me & my team, as we work towards Quantum Transportation-,"

"You mean like teleportation?" one of the interns asked out loud, which earned a few snickers from the others.

"Well, no, Quantum Transportation is a study complex time-critical procedures, in which we look at the behavior of electrons at low temperatures and in low dimensions. Are you familiar with the Boltzmann's Equation, Mr…?"

"Guevara sir," the intern replied. "And no sir, I'm not familiar with it,"

"I see, wel-,"

"I've read about it before sir. I believe it describes the statistical behavior of a thermodynamic system, not in a state of equilibrium. In other words, its used to determine the distribution of atoms among various energy levels as a function of energy and temperature," Liz quipped in.

Her explanation left the whole group stunned for a few moments, before Johnathan nodded slowly. "Very good, bravo. That is the basics of it, but yes, well done," he continued, smiling very proudly. "And you are?"

"Elizabeth Allan sir, from Midtown,"

"I see, very well Ms. Allan. How would you like to assist my team in-,"

"Oh, apologies sir, me & my bestie here already set our sight on something else, which hopefully, we'll be able to be assigned there," Liz beamed happily, hugging Gwen by the arms as she does so.

"Ahh, pity," Johnathan nodded, looking slightly disappointed, before collecting himself. "Just as well then, let's move on towards the next department. Come around this way then,"

As they made their way towards another wing, Gwen took note of how varied each lab & wing seemingly is. Once they arrived at their destination, Gwen looked around in awe, as what could only be described as a repository of various animals are laid across them.

Suddenly, a tall, lanky man approached the group, a warm smile plastered across his face. His gait slightly unbalanced, due to one of his missing upper limbs.

"Good afternoon Ohnn, Dillon,"

"Dr. Connors," Johnathan & Max both greeted the aging man.

Gwen's eyes widened at the familiar face standing in front of her, as she recognized her mother's old colleague from when she was younger.

Dr. Connors addressed the group by giving them a succinct nod. "Welcome, my name is Dr. Curtis Connors. And yes, in case you're wondering, I am a southpaw," he joked, addressing the glaringly obvious missing right limb, to which the other interns lets out a small laugh.

"I'm not a cripple, I'm a scientist, and I'm the world's foremost authority on herpetology. That's reptiles, for those of you who don't know," he continues. "But like the Parkinson's patient who watches on in horror, as her body slowly betrays her, or the man with macular degeneration whose eyes grow dimmer each day, I long to fix myself. I want to create a world without weakness,"

"Anyone care to venture a guess just how?" his eyes glinting with a mischievous light.

One of the other intern's hands shot up almost immediately

"Yes?" Dr. Connors gesture towards the young man.

"Stem Cells?"

Dr. Connors shakes his head, smiling as he does so. "Promising, but the solution I'm thinking of is more radical,"

"Anyone else? No one?" he offered, looking around the room.

"Cross Species Genetics," Gwen said in unison with Peter.

Gwen was immediately surprised by the sudden appearance of Peter's voice, as they looked at each other, eyes wide in surprise, with a dejected looking Harry, standing right next to him.

"Dude, I told you to keep a low profile," Harry whispered towards Peter in annoyance.

"Mr. Osborn, how nice of you to drop in," Dr. Connors smiled warmly as he addresses Harry, which elicited a murmur amongst the other interns.

Harry smacked his hand against his forehead in frustration, as he walks away from the group. "I'm leaving, you're on your own buddy," he gestured towards Peter.

Gwen immediately turned towards Liz, who was smiling awkwardly after the exchange.

"Anyway, you two, please, do elaborate," Dr. Connors returned his attention towards Gwen & Peter.

Gwen locked eyes with Peter, as they wordlessly communicate with each other.

"Uhm, well uhh, for example, a person gets Parkinson's when the brain cells that produce dopamine start to disappear," Gwen started.

"But a Zebrafish has the ability to regenerate cells on command," Peter then chipped in. "I-If you can somehow give this ability to the woman you're talking about…,"

"Then, that's it. She's... she's curing herself," Gwen finished.

"Yeah, you just have to look past the gills on her neck," Jen from Horizon High said mockingly, which got a few of the other interns laughing

Dr. Connors then immediately gestured for the other interns to be quiet, seemingly focused ont he two. "Heh. A-and you are?"

"P-peter Parker sir, from Midtown High,"

"And uhm, I'm Gwendolyne. Gwendolyne Stacy sir, also from Midtown,"