Chapter 35

"Meet Fred & Wilma, our three-legged mice," Connors explained as he brought the group over towards a pair of mice, kept in a set of clear glass containers.

"Here you go Doctor," Dr. Stegron said, as he placed a sleek-looking metal suitcase onto one of the nearby trays & opened it to reveal a loaded syringe, filled with a bright-green liquid.

"Woah, is that the…?" Harry said, slightly at a loss for words at the prospect of seeing the experiment in-person.

"That's so quick though," Gwen muttered softly, sounding slightly impressed.

"We've already pre-loaded the synthesizer based on the data from the simulation. The algorithm already determined the composition, so most of the process is automated at this point," Dr. Ohnn explained, smiling warmly at the teenager's reactions.

"Gwen, would you mind doing the honors?" Mr. Osborn suddenly placed a hand on Gwen's shoulders, nudging her forward ever so slightly.

"H-huh?" Gwen's eyes widened in surprise, slightly taken aback by the gesture.

Dr. Connors flashed her a reassuring smile, before giving her a soft nod, and gesturing for her to join him by his side.

Gwen hesitated slightly, turning towards her friends for support. The remaining three each beamed & motioned for her to go ahead & join him.

As she made her way towards Dr. Connors, Gwen felt her hands slowly getting sweaty & started shaking slightly with nervousness. She couldn't help but reach out to try and grasp his hand, and for a split second, she felt slightly taken aback, realizing that his hands were not there this time.

She immediately tried to compose herself, taking deep breaths as she took the steps towards Dr. Connors.

"You okay Gwen?" Dr. Connors asked her softly once she arrived by his side.

"Y-yeah," she flashed him what she had hoped to be a reassuring smile. "Just, slightly nervous, that's all, haha," she laughed awkwardly.

Dr. Connors smiled warmly at her. "You've got nothing to worry about," he assured her. "Now then, would you mind taking out Fred for me?" he said, motioning towards one of the mice in front of them.

"O-okay, yeah, sure," Gwen nodded quickly, before reaching out towards one of the mice, her hands still slightly shaking from the nervousness.

"Gwen!" Peter suddenly called out to her, surprising her slightly, and catching her & everyone's attention.

Suddenly, Peter pulled one of his goofy-looking face as he faced her.

For a few moments, the room went silent, as they blinked in confusion at his bizarre antics.

After a few silent moments, Peter quickly stopped, before scratching his head in embarrassment. "Y-you know, I just thought I'd lighten up the mood," he said softly, his goofy, awkward grin still plastered across his bright-red face.

As Liz blinked in disbelief, Gwen couldn't help but feel a laugh bubbling out of her at the absurdness of the situation.

She tried her best to keep herself from laughing out in the room full of scientists, as she lets out short snorts of giggles, a soft smile creeping onto her face as she does so.

Harry quickly smacked Peter's head lightly, as he cringed in embarrassment as his friend's antics.

Dr. Connors, who was standing right next to Gwen this whole time, smiled warmly as he sees the smile on Gwen's face.

"Well Mr. Parker, let's hope your career as a scientist works out in the future," he remarked simply. "At the very least, we know you're not gonna have one as a comedian," he joked.

As Peter stood there, red-faced & scratching the back of his head, Dr. Connors quickly turned towards Gwen. "You're okay now?" he asked softly.

"Y-yeah," Gwen nodded, noticing her hands had stopped shaking as she felt her nerves flushing away.

She took another small breath, mentally thanking Peter for his goofiness, before reaching out towards the mouse & grasping it firmly in the palm of her hands. "Here buddy, I got you," Gwen said softly, as she carefully & firmly held out the mouse towards Dr. Connors.

Dr. Connors took out the syringe & held it towards the mouse. "Okay, careful," He mouthed softly, as he brings the needle closer towards the lab rat. "Don't want to stick you by mistake. Human trials aren't until next week," he said with a straight-face, before letting out a small smile.

Dr. Connor softly injected the serum into the mouse in her hands. "There," he mouthed softly.

For a few moments, the lab remained silent, as they focused on the mouse in Gwen's hands, a mix of nervousness & confidence plastered across their faces. As the seconds ticked by, and Fred seemingly squeaking lively as it does so, the remaining scientist started clapping softly, before slowly building up to a loud cheer, as they witnessed their success & breakthrough.

Amidst the cheers, Gwen quickly placed Fred back into his enclosure, letting out a long sigh of relief that she herself didn't realize she was holding back.

After the clapping & cheers died down after a few moments, the lab slowly calmed down, as the scientists remained, beaming towards each other in excitement.

"Now what?" Harry asked.

"Take the day off, in fact, take the weekend off," Dr. Connors beamed happily as he gestured them back towards their lab. "You four definitely deserved it,"

"Oh, uhm, okay," Harry nodded softly, slightly unsure on how to react. "What about Fred-,"

"We'll keep monitoring him," Dr. Martha smiled warmly. "Based on our estimates, it'll take a while for the foreign DNA to integrate with the host's. And there's still a lot of variables that we need to iron out, but don't worry, if anything happens, we'll be sure to update the four of you," she assured them.

"Oh, okay. Yeah, t-thanks," Gwen nodded.

"But, then, what about our gra- I mean, attendance," Liz chipped in. "I-I mean, we want to learn as much as we can here, so-,"

"We'll mark your attendance as perfect, Ms. Allan. It's the least we could do after what you've helped us to achieve," Dr. Connors shrugged his shoulders. "But, of course, you're more than welcomed to join us during the weekend if you'd like. Monitoring these mice can be quite exciting if I do say so myself," he teased playfully.

"Oh, uhm, yeah, greeaatttt… but, uhm," Liz smiled innocently towards the pair of scientists. "I kinda forgot that I have cheerleading practice this weekend, sooo… Gwenwouldlovetojoinyouovertheweekend! K bye!" she said quickly before quickly exiting the lab.

"W-what? H-hey?!" Gwen managed, as she sees her friend leaving her in front of the scientists. She quickly turned towards Dr. Connors and his wife, smiling awkwardly as she does so.

"Great, that's one volunteer," Dr. Martha smiled mischievously. "And you boys?"

"W-wait, no-,"

"Ohh, I'd loveee to Mrs. Connors, really I would," Harry quickly said, as he frowned disappointedly. "But my dad and I have plans over the weekend, sooo, you know," he sighed (exaggeratedly?). "And you know how Norman Osborn is, he doesn't take no for-,"

"Ah, Harry, there you are," Mr. Norman called out as he suddenly entered their lab from the Transgenics lab, walking side-by-side with Dr. Ratha. "I have to go on a business trip, Washington's expecting some good news on that military contract, and now, I can finally give them some real news with this breakthrough, eh?" he smiled slyly. "I'm already running late," he mumbled, as he takes off his lab coat & hands it over to Dr. Ratha. "I'll be gone over the weekend, so I'll have Bernard pick you up later," he said briskly, fixing his already crisp tie as he does so. "Great job today Connors. Gwen, Peter," he gave them a curt nod & a smile, before ruffling Harry's hair on his way out of the lab.

As they watched Mr. Osborn & Dr. Ratha walk away from the lab, deep in conversation, Harry started smiling awkwardly towards the two scientists.

"You were saying?" Dr. Connors smiled mischievously from behind his glasses.

"I-uh, I've got cheerleading practice?" Harry suggested. "Peter's free this weekend, aren't you?" Harry said quickly, as he pulled Peter in front of him.

"H-huh? W-well, I'm not actually doing anything…," Peter mumbled absent-mindedly.

"Great! There's your second volunteer!" Harry beamed. "Hm? What's that?" Harry suddenly looked around. "I think my dad's calling me, sooo…, ciao!" he quickly said before exiting the lab.

"Wow… great friends you've got there," Dr. Martha chuckled slightly as they watch Harry rush down towards the escalator.

Gwen lets out a soft sigh, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Uhm, yeah, I don't mind coming in over the weekend to accompany Gwen," Peter said, before smiling awkwardly.

Gwen felt her cheeks turning red, as she tries her best to keep her cool.

"Really now?" Dr. Martha smiled mischievously as she eyes the pair in front of her. "So, you're only coming because Gwen's here?"

"W-wha-?" Gwen flustered.

"T-that's not what I meant," Peter said quickly, also looking flustered after Dr. Martha's words. "It's just, since she's here, and, you know-,"

Dr. Martha giggled softly as she turns towards her husband, sharing a warm smile between them. "Relax Peter, I'm joking," Dr. Martha waved him away. "Like I said, take the weekend off, you don't have to come. We've got more than enough people to handle this observation phase,"

"R-right, ahaha," Peter said, before locking eyes with Gwen (Urk!), and each of them turning away from each other almost immediately.

"Uhm, I-uh, I'll take my leave now," Peter smiled awkwardly as he backed away out of the lab.

"Uhm, Gwen?" Peter turned towards Gwen, as he's about to leave.

"Oh, uhm, it's okay Pete, go on first. I've got to pack some stuff up," Gwen gestured towards some of her notes & her bag, before smiling awkwardly towards him.

"O-oh, yeah, r-right," Peter nodded, before nodding politely towards Dr. & Dr. Connors, & making his way out of the lab.

As Gwen started towards her bag, Dr. Connors turned towards her. "Ookaay, so, I'll leave you to it then," he said, looking slightly excited & almost agitating to leave. "Uhh-,"

"It's okay honey, you go on first," Dr. Martha rolled her eyes playfully at her husband's antics. "I'll stay with Gwen and help her,"

"Right," Dr. Connors nodded excitedly, before turning to leave, and hesitating slightly, turning towards his wife again. "Uhh-,"

"It' fineee, just go already," Dr. Martha groaned playfully, before Dr. Connors excitedly walked towards the Transgenics lab.

"Men," Dr. Martha said softly, as she joins Gwen by her side. "You can never keep them away from their little toys," she sighed, before smiling warmly.

Gwen smiled back, a small warm feeling forming inside her as she watches the married couple interact.

"So, any plans for the weekend?" Dr. Martha asked.

"Huh?" Gwen looked back in surprise, slightly taken aback. "Uhh, no, not really,"

"Oh?"

"Er, maybe I'll catch up on some work, see what I've missed," Gwen said off-handedly, before letting out a long yawn.

Dr. Martha lets out a soft chuckle as she sees Gwen yawning & stretching. "What you should be catching up on is some sleep," Dr. Martha joked. "Homework?"

"Hm? Oh, no, not exactly," Gwen grimaced slightly.

"Oh? Are you part-timing as well?" Dr. Martha asked in surprise.

"Err, you could say that, yeah, kinda," Gwen shrugged her shoulders. "I've been trying something out recently," she offered. "Not entirely sure if it's working out, but we'll see,"

"I see," Dr. Martha nodded along, her attention now turned towards her own notes, as she accompanies Gwen. "Oh, I'm sorry, do you mind?" she asked as she gestured towards her own notes.

"Hm? Oh no, it's fine," Gwen waved away her concerns.

"Thanks. It's kinda tough to work out your thoughts when you're neck-deep in team research like that you know," she continued, shrugging towards the general direction of the other scientists.

"Yeah, I guess so," Gwen smiled understandingly. "What are you working on?" she asked absent-mindedly.

"Mm? Nothing much. I'm trying to see if its possible to work out the exponential increase in the proliferation rate due to constant recombination & successful integration-," Dr. Martha paused, catching herself for a moment, before looking back at Gwen and seemingly shaking herself out of her own confusion.

"Sorry, for a while there, I thought, 'wait, a teenager won't understand what you're saying Martha', and then I realized, oh right, it's Gwen," she chuckled softly.

Gwen blushed slightly at the praise. "You mean, what Peter pointed out earlier, yeah?" Gwen asked, frowning slightly at the apparent risk pointed out by Peter. "You think it can happen?"

"Can happen? No. Will happen? Yes," she smiled.

"Huh?" Gwen blinked in confusion. "Wait, then that means the experiment failed,"

Dr. Martha shook her head softly. "Murphy's Law, Gwen. We're scientist, we don't leave things to chance. If there's a chance that something will go wrong, it's our job to understand it, and ensure that it doesn't happen,"

"Right," Gwen nodded, and smiled along. "So, by determining the exponential increase, you're hoping to plot out the expected proliferation rate within the host?"

"Something like that," Dr. Martha nodded absent-mindedly. "I'm thinking if we figure out the expected rate, we can determine a point where we can maybe suppress the proliferation, or at the very least slow it down," she shrugged.

"That could work," Gwen nodded, her notes now left forgotten on the table as her attention is now dragged towards the recent discussion. "Actually, I've been wondering if it's possible to maybe enhance the host DNA's ability proliferate, maybe introduce a catalyst of sorts,"

"Oh? That could work," Dr. Martha nodded in agreement. "But catalyzing the host DNA would decrease the nutrients for the foreign DNA, no?"

"R-right, that's also true," Gwen fidgeted slightly.

"Oh no, Gwen, it's a great idea, don't get me wrong," Dr. Martha assured her. "If anything, it shows that there are multiple ways we can approach this,"

"R-right," Gwen smirked slightly, appreciating the reassuring tone Dr. Martha used towards her.

For a few moments, Gwen debated whether to ask the question that had been burning at the back of her mind for the past few days. After deliberation with herself, she decided, there was no harm in doing so, and if there's anyone she could trust, it was Dr. Martha.

"A-actually, you know, we've always looked into the integration of foreign DNA & the possibility of integrating this foreign DNA with the host's, possibly giving us the characteristics of said sample, yeah?" Gwen asked.

"Yes, and?"

Gwen hesitated slightly. "W-what if there was a possibility, that the foreign DNA & the host DNA splices together?"

Dr. Martha looked towards her in silence, before a small frown started forming on her face. "You mean, changing your DNA? But that would mean a completely different creature," her frown deepened. "Well, I say different, but it'll probably look more like mutated DNA if anything, since the chromosomal number would likely remain the same, just the building blocks,"

Gwen looked over towards the now mumbling scientist, whilst trying her best to mask her own worries.

"Interesting, that is certainly a possibility," Dr. Martha nodded, before jotting down on her notes. "You never cease to amaze Gwendolyn," she smiled warmly towards Gwen.

Gwen felt her cheeks burning up slightly from the praise. "I mean, it's just a thought," she shrugged her shoulders, trying to downplay her suggestion.

"True, and we've seen nothing from the simulated results to suggest such a thing would happen," Dr. Martha continued. "But theoretically, it definitely could happen,"

"R-right," Gwen nodded. "Something to think about,"

"Right! That's it, enough science talk," Dr. Martha suddenly puts her notes down in an exaggerated fashion. "God, I wish I could just, pick your brain and just talk science with you for the whole day. But no, that's enough science talk. Go and be a normal teenager or something," she joked playfully.

Gwen chuckled slightly. "I don't mind Dr. Connors, it's actually refreshing having someone I can talk to about these things," she reasoned.

As Gwen turned towards the female scientist, Dr. Martha suddenly remained silent for a few moments, deciding instead to just stare for a moment towards Gwen, her face radiating a soft motherly warmth as she does so.

"You're right, you can come & talk to me if you need someone to talk to," Dr. Martha walked next to her and clasped her hands. "Science, school, friends, anything,"

"O-okay," Gwen smiled awkwardly, feeling slightly taken aback by the Doctor's sudden behavior.

"Right, where did we left off?" Dr. Martha said with renewed enthusiasm, herself now helping Gwen arrange her notes & packing things up.

"Uhm, I think on mutated DNA-,"

"No, no, I meant your weekend plans," Dr. Martha chuckled softly as she clarifies herself.

"O-oh, uhh, I don't know," Gwen flustered slightly.

"I think you were saying something about a part-time job?" Dr. Martha continued.

"Huh? Ohh, that thing," Gwen instinctively looked at her wrist as she recalled what they had discussed. "Like I said, it's not really a part-time job per se. And, I'm not entirely sure-, well, I'm still trying things out,"

Dr. Martha nodded along softly. "Is it a guy-related problem?"

"Hm? Oh no, no, not that kind problem," Gwen smiled awkwardly. "I guess it's more of a, work-life balance problem,"

"I-I see," Dr. Martha smiled, slightly awkward at having misunderstood the issue. "Sorry, I thought when you said 'trying things out', you meant…, you know, like dating-,"

"Yeah, noo, nothing to do with that, at all," Gwen smiled awkwardly. "Just time management. But I'll figure something out, probably,"

"Right," Dr. Martha smiled. "Sooo, are you and Peter a thing?"

"W-wh-wha-? H-huh-hm? Wh-what do you mean?" Gwen flustered.

Dr. Martha smiled warmly as she shrugs her shoulders playfully. "He seems like a wonderful kid," she reasoned.

"Y-yeah, no, we're just friends," Gwen said, trying to calm her emotions.

"Really?"

"Yep, just friends from school, ahaha," Gwen said quickly.

"Well, for what it's worth, the boy's got a good head on his shoulder, almost as good as yours," she chuckled softly. "Not to mention, he's cute too. He might not be you young girl's cup of tea now, but…," Dr. Martha left her statement hanging, smiling cheekily towards Gwen.

"Oh, trust me, he's got no trouble on the tea front," Gwen mumbled softly as she continues packing her stuff.

"Well, then you better tell him before he's snatched off then," Dr. Martha frowned & looked over at Gwen in confusion.

"Took you long enough," Liz quipped as Gwen exited the front door, a look of annoyance plastered across her face.

Gwen looked around to see if Peter & Harry was anywhere nearby.

"Pete & Harry went off with Dr. Ohnn to buy some soda from the cafeteria," Liz said, seemingly reading her best friend's mind.

Gwen quickly turned towards Liz and narrowed her eyes towards her. "What did you say to Dr. Martha?" she said accusingly.

"W-what?" Liz looked back in confusion for a few moments, before a small sly smile crept onto her face. "Oh my god, is that what happened?" she continued, laughing out and clutching her stomach as she does so.

"I knew it, you told her didn't you!" Gwen frowned in frustration as she feels her anger bubbling up.

"Okay, numero uno, I should be offended by how little you trust me," Liz said, in between her fits of laughter. "But, it's just too funny for me to be angry right now," she managed. "I didn't tell her anything. If anything, you're the one that went to her house in the morning. I didn't even talk to her out of the lab," she reasoned.

Gwen felt her frustration slowly ebbing away. "But then, how did she-,"

"Uhh, I don't know, maybe coz she's not blind!" Liz reasoned. "Girl, my grandma could see what's going on between the two of you, and she can't even recognize her own children,"

"For the last time, there's nothing going on," Gwen groaned. As she turned towards Liz, she felt increasingly frustrated as Liz suddenly pulled a weird face, and seemingly kept gesturing for her to shut up. "Nothing is happening, nothing can happen, nothing will happen!"

"What won't happen?" Peter's voice came out from behind.

Gwen turned back in embarrassment, as she sees Peter & Harry each holding two can of sodas in their hands.

"You girls okay?" Harry said, while handing one of his cans of sodas towards Liz ('Thanks'). "We could see you girls arguing from inside the building," he said, pointing towards one of the glass panels at the building entrance.

"We weren't arguing, were we Gwen?" Liz smirked playfully as she turned towards Gwen.

Gwen closed her eyes as she struggles internally to stop herself from bonking her best friend in the head.

"No, no we weren't," Gwen forced a smile, as she turned towards Liz. "Everything's just great, just GREAT,"

"Oh okay," Peter nodded in understanding. "Here, I uhh, I got you a soda," Peter said as he handed one of his cans towards her. "'Monster', right?"

"T-thanks," Gwen smiled softly.

"Y-you're welcome,"

"So, what took you so long?" Harry asked her. "Did they ask you to clean up the whole lab or something?"

"Oh no, Gwen actually got interviewed about her lov-,"

Gwen immediately jumped in front of Liz & covered her mouth. "It's nothing, just ignore her please," Gwen said, forcing a smile towards the confused-looking boys.

"By the way Pete, you're coming over tomorrow? I've been practicing with Omni-Man in MK," Harry said as he was entering the limo.

"Ehh, we'll see," Peter smiled as he waves his friend goodbye.

Bernard quickly gave Peter a quick curt nod, before entering into the limo & driving off.

"That would never not be impressive," Liz said as she whistled in appreciation at the sight of the limo driving off.

"You know, if you wanted, I'm pretty sure Harry wouldn't mind giving you a ride in the limo, maybe even drop you off at your house," Peter suggested.

"Nah, I wouldn't want to trouble him," Liz shrugged. "And besides, can you imagine the amount of gossip that would bring if anyone saw him dropping me off at my house? A 'Queen Bee' like me have to take care of her reputation,"

"I don't think hanging out with us is gonna do you much good for your reputation," Peter joked.

"And yet, here I am," Liz shrugs her shoulders playfully.

"I thought a Queen Bee was supposed to be surrounded by her brain-dead drones?" Gwen chipped in.

Liz smiled slyly before giving Gwen a quick pinch on her cheeks. "Cute little drone," she teased playfully.

Gwen rolled her eyes in playful annoyance as she swatted away Liz's hands. "I walked right into that one," she sighed.

"That you did my young padawan, that you did," Liz pats her softly on her head, before continuing their journey.

"So, you guys heading straight back after this?" Liz asked.

"Uhh, yeah, I'm probably heading straight back," Gwen shrugs her shoulders, before letting out a big yawn. "Probably catch some sleep for a bit,"

Liz nodded, before turning towards Peter. "What about you Pete? You heading home? Or do you have somewhere to go, like you always do?" Liz said, sounding slightly annoyed.

For a moment, Peter seems to be mulling the thought, his response taking a lot longer than the usual, snappy, 'I need to go somewhere today' response that he usually gave.

"Uhm, no, I'll probably go straight back as well today," he said, his face a mix of conflict & disappointment. "I uhh, I don't think today's a good day for, you know," he continued, leaving his words hanging.

"No,"

"Not really," both girls said in unison.

"H-huh?" Peter looked slightly taken aback when he realized that both of the girls were looking at him seriously. "I mean, it's just a bad day to be walking around, doing stuff,"

"Riiighhhttttt," Liz eyed him suspiciously, before suddenly clapping her hands together loudly. "Great! That means you two can take the subway, together!"

Gwen felt her cheeks turning red, as she shrugs nonchalantly and tries to maintain an air of aloofness.

"Y-yeah, I guess we should, huh?" Peter smiled awkwardly as he turned towards Gwen with his soft puppy eyes.

As they rode together towards Queens in the subway, the first few minutes was spent in silence as they kept looking and smiling awkwardly at each other.

Gwen kept trying to figure out a topic for them to talk about, but every time they locked eyes, she felt doubtful that Peter actually wanted to talk in the first place. After all, if he did, he would've said something by now. But there was no way for her to know. On the other hand, the silence and the awkwardness is killing her, and she felt it was better to bite the bullet and just talk to him. And yet, what if he didn't want to talk?

Suddenly just when they were about to reach the next stop, a particular big bump on the track caused the train to lurch slightly, tripping Gwen off balance. Just as she was about to fall, a big firm hand from Peter held her in place as she grabbed her arms to stop her from falling.

"T-thanks," Gwen said, smiling awkwardly, as she grabbed one of the nearby poles for support, signaling with her eyes at Peter's lingering arm.

"O-oh, sorry," Peter smiled apologetically, as he quickly lets go of his arm when he notices Gwen 's regained her balance.

"N-no, it's okay," she smiled softly.

As the passengers jostled their way out of the car, and the pair of teenagers were pushed together uncomfortably (S-sorry, sorry), one of the seats in front if them inevitably freed up.

Gwen stared at the seat, her drowsiness tempting her to just take the seat & sleep. But she didn't want to be selfish, so she turned towards Peter and signaled for him to take the seat, with her eyes.

Peter, locking eyes with her, stared blankly at her, as a look of confusion crept onto his face. After a few moments, his face suddenly lit up, as he moved closer towards the seat.

"Go on Gwen, have a seat. I'll stand in front of you," Peter beamed.

Gwen looked over towards him in confusion. "N-no, it's okay, you take it," Gwen clarified.

"No, it's fine, take it, I don't want it," Peter said simply.

Gwen, at this point, felt too hard-headed to accept the offer, shook her head. "No, I insist, you take it,"

Just as they were arguing about the seat, a small young kid, suddenly walked in between them, and sat in the empty seat.

"Bozos," the kid rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Gwen & Peter looked at each other & couldn't help but laugh as they find the humor in the situation.

"I'm sorry Pete, that was my fault," Gwen said once her laughter died down. "I should've just taken the seat,"

"No, no, it's mine," Peter smiled warmly. "I should've been firmer," he shrugged. "By the way, you look like you're about to drop dead any moment from now," he joked, a slight tone of concern laced in his voice. "You sure you're okay?"

Gwen quickly tried to take a look at her reflection at one of the car windows. "Yeah, I didn't really sleep last night. I bet I look horrible right now huh?" she chuckled softly.

"Nah, you still look great," Peter said off-handedly. "I don't think you'd ever look anything but great," he joked playfully.

Gwen felt her cheeks burning up immediately at his off-handed remarks. "I see,"

Peter quickly pinched his nose, seemingly regretting what he let slip. "I-I meant, you look great. J-just great," he offered awkwardly.

"T-thanks," Gwen nodded softly.

"S-so, did you stay up all night, cracking that 0-0 decay rate algorithm?" Peter said cheerfully. "That was amazing by the way,"

"Thanks," Gwen smiled, a smug feeling of happiness & pride welled up inside her after his compliment. "It means a lot. Also, thanks for helping me out in the lab," Gwen blushed slightly, but she felt she owed him this much at least, after what he'd done for her. "I get nervous really easily," she smiled, looking down on her clammy hands.

"Oh, uhh, yeah. Don't mention it," he grinned goofily. "S-so, you said you solved the algorithm by reading your mother's journal, right?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Gwen smiled ruefully as she recalls her mother's journal. "I didn't really do much, the solution was pretty much there to begin with," she shrugged. "It's just, you know, breaking down Gompertz's function, applying what we discussed earlier regarding some of the finite cellular population and the limiting functions, and what not. It's not that special," she continued, trying to downplay her contributions.

Peter nodded in silence for a few moments. "I think it sounds incredible," Peter said firmly.

Gwen looked up to see a sincere looking Peter, causing her to blush ever so slightly. "T-thanks," she mumbled. "To be fair, I'm sure you would've found the solution even faster than me,"

"I don't think so," Peter chuckled softly. "Come on Ms. 'Leaders of tomorrow', I'm not the one who was featured in Tony Stark's expo,"

"Shut up," Gwen nudged him playfully.

"You know, all in all, I'm really glad I was given this opportunity," Gwen said softly, as she looked over towards the view of New York from behind the glass window. "I… I wanted to know what it was that my mom left behind, understand her, you know? And in many ways, I feel like I still am…, learning to understand her legacy that is," she continued, her mind turning towards her costumed identity and her mother's involvement with all of this.

Peter nodded softly, pausing for a moment to try & give Gwen the space he felt she needed.

"If this works, I'm sure you'll be one of the first names accredited with the breakthrough," he assured her. "That's one way to honor her, isn't it? Completing her life's work? And all within one night of overnight cramming too," he joked.

Gwen smirked slightly. "I don't know, but I have this feeling that her work was already completed," she said vaguely. "And also, not all of us is about that wild life, sneaking back into their house after a late-night date," she teased, trying her best to hide her discomfort.

Peter smiled ruefully, as he looked down at his shoes, looking slightly hurt. "Y-yeah, I guess you're right," Peter said solemnly. "Although, to be fair, cracking something like that algorithm, straight away after coming back from a date, is pretty damn amazing if I'm honest," he smiled bitterly.

Gwen hesitated slightly, slightly confused at what Peter's trying to say. "Y-yeah, I guess so," Gwen nodded solemnly. "I guess if you did take a crack at the algorithm last night, you probably would've been able to solve it too, yeah," Gwen nodded hesitantly.

Peter started to nod slowly, before frowning and looking slightly confused towards her. "N-noo, I don't think I would've been able to solve it," he said slowly.

"Huh? But you said if you'd have been able to crack the algorithm after coming back last night, it would've been, and I quote, 'pretty damn amazing if I'm honest'," Gwen said, mimicking Peter in an exaggerated fashion.

"Yeah, for you," Peter clarifies as his frown deepened.

"Why would you cracking the algorithm be 'damn amazing' for me?" Gwen asked incredulously.

"B-because I didn't crack the algorithm?" Peter offered, each looking confusedly at the other. "You did, right?" Peter said, slightly unsure.

"Of course, I did! But I'm not the one who went back from a date!" Gwen frowned.

"H-huh? Then who went on a date?" Peter said, looking confused.

"You did,"

"Me? No, I didn't," Peter protested his innocence. "I thought you did?"

"Me? Why would I have been on a date?" Gwen raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"I-I don't know! You're you," Peter gestured wildly at Gwen.

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"I-I don't know! Besides, why would I go on a date!?" Peter asked incredulously.

"I-I don't know! I thought you were going out with your colleague from work!" Gwen started.

"H-huh? Who are you talking about?" Peter raised his eyebrows in confusion.

Gwen balled her fist in frustration, before taking out her phone and waving it in front of Peter's face. "This! The second phone?! Remember?!"

"Huh?" Peter blinked back in confusion for a few moments, before the dots finally connect for him. "Ohhh, you meant Gh-, okay I don't actually know her name," Peter scratched his head in defeat. "But wait, why does she have anything to do with this?"

"You tell me, you're the one that went out with her till 3am last night," Gwen huffed. "N-not that it has anything to do with me," she covered quickly, trying her best to keep her cool.

"H-huh? What? No, I didn't even see her last night," Peter protested. "I, kinda worked, alone I guess," Peter frowned, thinking back towards the events of last night.

"Guys, you know that you're arguing in a public subway, right?" the kid sat next to them chimed in, looking unimpressed, and rolling his eyes in disbelief.

Gwen felt her whole head burning up in embarrassment as she realizes the other passengers were now staring at them.

As she quickly pulled up her hoodie to try & hide her face out of embarrassment, she turned towards the boy in front of her for support.

As embarrassed as she was, she couldn't help but feel inexplicably relieved after hearing Peter's explanation. That, combined with the awkward, apologetic, goofy smile on Peter's face, Gwen couldn't help but laugh.

As she kept grinning & snorting and eventually pulling Peter into laughing with her as well, she couldn't help but feel as if a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

"Crazy people," the kid muttered in his seat.

Gwen lets out a big yawn as they remained seated down next to each other, the train now empty but for a few remaining people for the last few stations.

"What about the 'Mary Janes'?" Peter asked.

"Hm? What about them?" Gwen said, eyes half shut, as she struggles to stay awake in her seat.

"You guys have anything planned for the weekend?" Peter asked.

Gwen lets out another big yawn, which infected Peter, causing him to yawn as well. "Not really, no. MJ gave us the weekend off, said she had something planned over the weekend," Gwen shrugged.

Peter nodded softly. "Maybe it's coz of her new part-time job?" Peter offered.

"Hm?"

"I met her last night, at Queens," Peter continued.

"Hm? What was MJ doing over at Queens?" Gwen asked, half-heartedly.

"I-I don't know," Peter said softly. "M-maybe, she probably went there to meet you, maybe?" he muttered softly under his breath.

"Hm?" Gwen raised her eyebrows in confusion, Peter's words not registering inside her brain.

"Never mind," Peter smiled warmly, seeing Gwen's tired eyes, little more than slits at this point. "You wanna go over & meet her over the weekend? We could ring our friends up & go over there for breakfast. Harry would love it," Peter suggested.

Gwen hesitated slightly, in the back of her mind, she was worried about the recent fight she had with MJ. "Yeah, sure," Gwen smiled softly, before letting out another big yawn.

Peter lets out a small chuckle as he sees Gwen's antics. "You know, you could've just gone to sleep. I'll wake you up when we arrive," Peter offered.

"No, no, it's fine," Gwen waved away his concern. "I can stay up for a few mor-…,"

…wen…Gwenn…Gwen…

"Gwen,"

*BANG*

"Arghh!"

"Ouch!" Gwen woke up with a start, as she clutched her throbbing head.

She quickly blinked away the sleep from her eyes, as Peter came into focus in front of her.

"Peter?"

"Y-yeah, we've arrived," Peter smirked, still holding his jaw.

After a few moments, Gwen connected the dots and started blushing slightly, realizing she had accidentally headbutted Peter during her sleep.

As the realization of what could have happened, hits her, she quickly turned towards Peter's shoulders, only to see a damp, wet patch, square on his shoulders.

Horrified, Gwen reflexively turned away & wiped the drool away from her face. As her face turned a bright beet red, Gwen quickly took deep breaths to try & play it cool before turning back towards Peter.

She looked over awkwardly at him, and grinned hesitantly, her gaze almost magnetically drawn towards the damp patch of cloth on his shoulders.

Following her gaze, Peter realized what she had been staring at. "Err, no biggie, it happens," he said as he tried to brush away the issue.

"You know, you never did tell me why you were sneaking back home at 3am last night," Gwen said, stretching her arms out as they approached their houses. "Or why you were drenched," she continued. "Or since when did you get so jacked," she mumbled the last sentence under her breath.

Peter hesitated slightly, before flashing her his trademark goofy smile. "Would you believe me if I said, I was chasing a really big cat?"