Racing through the building, Peter's head snapped up when a scream tore through the building. Using his senses, he followed the sound and fled down the stairs, dodging all the workers as they attempted to stop him, webbing hands to walls, ducking under their grips and jumping over trolleys being rolled in his path. At long last, he reached the bottom floor and fled along the corridor.
Gwen thrashed around on the metal table, desperately trying to break through the leather that bound her ankles and wrists. She yelped as he thrust the needle into her stomach and pulled once more, trying to break free. With great struggle, one of the leather ties snapped in two, freeing her and before Eddie could empty the syringe, she caught his hand and smacked it away. Moving hastily, she grabbed the needle and threw it across the room.
Eddie's eyes darkened and he looked between her and the syringe that landed on the far side of the room. With one last glance at the needle, he turned back to her and released the other three leather ties.
"Go…" He told her.
Gwen got to her feet and ran for the door, looking back as Eddie yelled before Venom took control. As the symbiote shrieked, she swung the door open and fled the room, with Venom hot on her trail. Her wrists burned, her head was throbbing and her legs were numb, but she pushed herself to keep running.
Behind her, Venom increased his own speed until he was beside her and then gave her a shove. She stumbled against the wall, but pushed herself off and continued running.
"Peter!" She yelled as he skidded around the corner. Before she could stop herself, she collided with him.
"Gwen!" He exclaimed, but she faded fast. With vast reflexes, he caught her before she could hit the ground.
A shriek traveled down the corridor and he looked up to see Venom barrelling towards them. Activating his web shooters, he shot several webs at the symbiote that temporarily blinded him. Thinking fast, eyed the metal pipe that connected from the floor to the ceiling and punched it. Soundwaves traveled and Venom shrieked louder. Peter didn't give him time to recover and instead ran the opposite way as fast as he could with Gwen in his arms. He hurried into the elevator and pressed the button to close the doors just as the shrieking stopped.
The doors closed and the elevator began to move upwards, leaving Venom behind. Peter sighed in relief and turned his attention to Gwen. Her head rested against his shoulder and he could see no sign of injury besides blood in the corner of her lip and marks on her wrists. As the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened, he hurried towards the exit, once again ignoring all attempts to get his attention. He shouldered the main door open and stopped on the street outside the building.
"Peter…"
Gwen's eyes flickered open as she spoke his name. Her mouth was dry and her voice husky, but she remembered the events that led up to this. Peter lifted his head from where it rested on the side of the bed and mustered a small smile.
"Thank God." He sighed. "For a good minute there, I thought… well, never mind." He dismissed the thought. "I'm just glad that you… Gwen, what happened?"
Attempting to sit up, her face twisted in pain and she laid back down again. She bit down on her lip and instantly regretted it as she grazed the cut with her teeth.
"They know." She croaked and forced herself into a sitting position, grabbing the glass of water from the nightstand and drinking it. Cleaning her throat, she continued. "Peter, I'm sorry."
"For what?" He frowned.
"Being so harsh on you when we last spoke."
"Oh." He mouthed. "Yeah… never mind that, walk me through what happened?"
"I… I don't know how, but they know." She began. "After I walked out, I didn't go very far and then Eddie approached me. He tried to fight me, but I didn't wanna risk anything so I turned and ran… but it was icy and I slipped." She paused and tried to recall anything in between the street and the Oscorp lab, giving up when she couldn't. "Everything in between there and the lab is a blur, I don't remember much. Just waking up in the lab strapped to a table and Eddie had a needle… he stuck me with it, but I managed to get free before he could empty the syringe. Then he let me go and… and now here we are."
"They know what?" He asked, not following.
"About the baby… he- he was talking about not wanting to kill it, but I think Venom was manipulating him."
Peter's face fell and his eyebrows pulled together in a frown. His eyes met hers and he was quick to look away again. Guilt was seeping silently into him once again and he forced it back. He'd hurt her one too many times because of his own guilt.
"He didn't-"
"No." She cut in. "I knocked it from his hands and then Eddie set me free before Venom took over…"
"Strange." Peter shrugged. "Even still, as soon as we get home, I'm getting prepared and I'm gonna go find him and take him down."
"Peter, no!"
"This is the last straw… How many more times is he gonna attack if we don't? And with his new objective, each fight we find ourselves in, we risk it all."
"And you go after him, you get hurt badly and then what?"
"Yeah… I can't afford to let that happen either."
"Here's what we do; we go home, we figure out a plan and then we go after him together." She insisted.
"But I don't want you in the fight." He protested.
"I'm already in it."
Peter opened his mouth but before he could speak, the door opened and a nurse walked in carrying a clipboard. She smiled at them both and then looked down at the paper in front of her.
"Ah, good to see you're awake. If all is good, that means you can be home before the afternoon."
"Wait, what?"
"Oh, well we had to run some tests. Mr Parker here says you've been through quite the ordeal; falling down the stairs. It's standard procedure."
Gwen gave the nurse a fake smile and turned to Peter, who shrugged. The nurse walked further into the room and lowered the clipboard so that she could see their faces.
"Don't worry, all is clear. We had to stitch up the head wound, and your hands look pretty grazed, but other than the scrapes, you seem fine."
"But what about-"
"We also carried out a scan, and baby seems perfectly healthy." The nurse smiled. "And now that you're awake, I can complete the discharge papers and you're free to go." She added.
With nothing more to say, she exited the room, leaving the two alone once again. As soon as the door clicked shut, Gwen hung her head and wiped at both eyes.
"I guess he's a tough one like his mom." Peter chuckled. "Hey, come on… it all worked out."
"It's not that… it's the fact that I was so hard on you for taking those extra caution measures yet after this whole thing there- there's nothing I can appreciate more."
"Gwen, it's okay. I'm sure I was pretty annoying with-"
"But I would take that any day over… when I ran into you in that hall, I- I don't recall ever being so relieved." She admitted.
"Well, I'm not gonna stop being careful with you, and not just because of the current circumstances but I've already gotten a glimpse of what it would be like to lose you and I'm not doing that." He assured her.
She put on a small smile and then leaned forward and pulled him into a hug. He closed his eyes and let his head rest on her shoulder for a second until she pulled back.
"And you know, it might not even be a boy." She grinned.
"It's a boy." He insisted.
"Could be a girl…"
"Nope. Boy."
"What makes you so sure?" She questioned.
He smirked. "Just am."
"And what if it is a girl?"
"I'll sit on tiny chairs drinking invisible tea, let her get me on the floor and make me her pony, and if she's a good girl, I'll even let her give me a makeover." He joked.
Gwen's face lit up and she laughed at his answer until her cheeks took on a brighter shade of pink. She recomposed herself quickly but a wry smile remained.
"Is that right?"
"Mm-hm." He nodded.
"And what if you're right and it's a boy?"
"Then he and I will be teaming up to drive you crazy." He grinned.
"Oh… is that so?"
"You can count on it."
The creaking of the door opening caught their attention and both their heads turned as the nurse walked in with a smile on her face.
"All done. You're free to go." She informed them.
"Thank you." Gwen said politely and the nurse nodded before leaving the room. "So, can we go home now?"
Peter shut the front door behind them and followed Gwen into the kitchen. He glanced briefly into the front room on his way, and saw Simon stretched out on the couch in a deep sleep. It was for the best that he was not dragged into the fight with Venom anymore than he already had been.
He came to a stop when he was standing right behind her and she turned to face him, her expression was grim and she seemed almost absent from the room.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, for the most part…" She answered slowly. "I guess I'm just still trying to process everything."
Peter nodded. "Me too, but we'll get there. I do think that there's a lot we need to discuss."
"We do… but I don't think I can handle anymore right now." She swallowed. "I just want to put the past day behind us for now."
"Ah, now that can be done." He said and grinned. "Take my hand…"
Gwen raised an eyebrow, but took his offered out hand and remained quiet as she let him lead her out of the kitchen and up the stairs. He paused before they reached the bedroom and finally spoke.
"Uhh… why did you bring me up here? If you think that I-"
"Sshh." He pressed a finger to her lips. "That's not why we came up here." He assured her. "But before I reveal why, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you recently."
"Peter, it's not-"
"Specifically, I mean all of the restrictions and other silly things I've been doing. I know that it has annoyed you, I guess I'm just very anxious… I have been for a long time now and not just because you're pregnant, but since that night with Harry. It's been hard to relax because I don't want to take any risks."
"Okay, it's annoying when you take knives from me, tell me to go sit down and block my path to the oven, but please… don't stop. I don't want you to. As annoying as those things are, it's- it's nice to not have to feel afraid of the things that fly into our webs."
"See? I told you that you secretly love it." He teased her.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want…" She rolled her eyes. "But if the past day has given anything positive, it's made me realize just how much I love you for these little things."
Peter couldn't keep the sweet smile off his face. He took a step forward and lowered his head, gripped her waist and leaned in to kiss her. She threaded her fingers through his hair, ruffling the mess of brown locks atop his head. Reaching behind him, he opened the bedroom door and pushed it open with his foot.
"Dare I ask what this is about?"
"So, I have a confession to make…"
Gwen's face fell as she thought back to the last time he had confessed something, and everything that had followed. Her hands dropped to her waist and she froze, waiting anxiously for him to speak again. A few seconds passed in silence, and she resisted the temptation to run away from whatever conversation was about to follow.
"Please don't tell me that you're about to admit another lie, I don't think my heart can take-"
"No, no! Not that. Nothing like it." He shook his head. "I do hope that the day will come when you won't have to worry every time I say that we need to talk."
"It will." She insisted. "It just takes time."
"Maybe I worded it wrong…" He pondered.
"Peter, you're making me nervous. Please spit it out, whatever it is."
"Sorry, I know I'm stalling, but I promise that it's something good."
"Yeah?" She raised an eyebrow.
"I just figured that we've had so much going on lately, and a lot of it has been negative. We've fought with Eddie, with Venom and, most regrettably, with each other. Since we got back to New York, everything has spiraled out of control, and I know that I have been handling it in the worst way, even hurting you in the process, and I'm sorry for that." He drew in a breath, feeling vulnerable as he expressed himself. "Starting now, I want to do better, and I figured that a good place to begin would be to bring some positivity to all of this."
"Peter, I-"
"Don't interrupt, please." He cut in. "I don't know if you've noticed, these past few nights, how I've been getting up and going off in the middle of the night."
"Of course, it's kinda impossible not to notice." She shrugged. "Where exactly are you going with this?"
"You'll see." He smirked. "I'm sure you're wondering exactly where I've been going and what I've been doing, right?"
"It has crossed my mind, yes."
"Well, it's kinda hard to explain and it'll be easier if you just turn around."
Rather than asking any further questions, she turned around slowly so that she was facing away from him and her eyes widened as she took in the sight before her.
"Go ahead… take a proper look." He prompted.
Gwen took a few steps forward until she was standing in the room that once was an empty spare. The first thing to catch her attention was the change in the colour of the walls. Instead of the blinding white, they were now a duck egg green, and at the bottom several jungle animals were painted on, ranging from lions to giraffes and all animals that were usually associated with a jungle. Leafy green curtains, patterned with trees and monkeys, hid the windows. Her eyes drifted down to the floor, with a zebra-striped rug in the center of the wooden boards. On the left hand side, a white crib stood strong, in between two painted animals on the wall. On the right side, there was a changing station and above it, shelves that were ready to provide extra space.
"I don't understand… how did you do all of this without waking me?" She questioned.
"Come on, when you fall asleep a bomb could go off, sirens could wail, a thousand dogs could bark and vikings could throw a birthday party and you still wouldn't stirr." He chuckled.
"That's not true!" She denied.
"Is it not?" He raised an eyebrow. "Which one of us have been waking up at noon in recent weeks?"
"No fair, I get tired. Is that a crime?"
"Nope. Just stating facts." He grinned.
"Fine." She gave in with a huff. "But this is…"
"You don't like it." He assumed, his smile falling. "It's too much, isn't it?"
"No, I was going to say that it's incredible and I can't believe you did all of this." She corrected him. "And I think it's absolutely perfect."
Peter's smile returned and he let out a relieved sigh. He felt a lot better knowing that he'd been able to bring something positive to their lives for a change. More than that, he no longer felt burdened by the guilt of his past mistakes.
"I just figured that it'd be easier to do it now rather than later and have to rush."
Gwen remained quiet as her eyes drifted around the room, taking it all in. She drew in a breath and licked at her lips before turning around to face him. After a brief hesitation, she reached out and placed her hand against his cheek in a display of affection. Peter brought his own hand to her face, pushing back a loose strand of blonde hair.
"You didn't have to do all of this by yourself, I could have helped you." She said with a soft laugh. "Did you even sleep?"
"Two hours a night, but it's no big deal." He shrugged.
"Two hours!" She repeated with wide eyes. "Just… promise me you'll sleep tonight."
"I promise." He chuckled. "Though I'll admit, it was great practice for the sleepless nights."
"Yeah, I suppose." She agreed. "Speaking of, I was kinda hoping for an early night. I don't mean to cut this short, but I can barely see straight."
"Oh." He mouthed. "No, that's okay. It has been a long day."
"You let her get away!" Venom hissed.
"I- I- I couldn't do it." Eddie whimpered. "Killing her is one thing, but I can't kill an innocent baby."
"Huh…" Venom grunted. "Disappointing."
"Then find another host, because I won't do it!"
"I'm sorry, I don't recall giving you a choice."
"Did I say I can't? Oops, I mean I won't." Eddie corrected himself.
"Need I remind you what happens when you refuse me?"
Eddie heaved a heavy breath and considered his options. There were two paths ahead of him, but he considered neither to be a winner. If he listened to Venom and did what he wanted, he wouldn't feel any better than he did now, and it certainly wouldn't make him a hero. If he chose to go against the symbiote, he would lose his free will and then it wouldn't make a difference how much he protested.
"Fine!" He huffed. "So, what do we do next?"