Gwen squinted her eyes to see through the rain that was pelting down, a far cry from the weather of the morning. There had still been no word from Peter, and all the thoughts she had been pushing away were becoming impossible to ignore as the middle of the afternoon approached. Upon spotting the vibrant yellow of a cab through the dull greyness of the city, she pushed herself up off the brick wall she'd been waiting by outside the hospital and started towards it. Without the crutches, it was much easier to move around despite them having been replaced by a moon boot, and she was able to flag the driver down and reach it before they drove off. Before she'd had the chance to open the back door, a hand gripped her shoulder and pulled her back.

Whirling around to see a man, not too much older than herself, carrying an obviously fake briefcase, reaching for the handle of the car door, her mouth dropped open at the audacity and she moved fast, placing her hand on the handle just as his hand connected with it as well. In agitation, the man barged in front, causing her hand to slip from the handle, and when she attempted to reach out again, he shoved her back and quickly opened the car door as she fell back onto the pavement.

"Listen lady, catch the next one. I was supposed to be home from work an hour ago, the wife is gonna murder me if she catches wind of why I'm late."

Gwen glared up in disbelief as he used the opportunity to jump inside the back of the cab and as she got to her feet, she scowled and activated her newly fixed web shooters, catching the door before he could close it.

"I was here first." She snapped.

"Too bad."

With a hefty sigh, she held up her hand, revealing his wallet that had dropped while he'd been busy stealing her ride and smirked.

"Good luck getting anywhere without this."

"This isn't funny. Give it to me."

"Not until you step outside the car."

"Bitch, I'll have you for theft." He threatened.

"Theft? Ha! It's not theft when you dropped it and I'm returning it to you. Anyway, you wouldn't stand a chance. It's pouring out here and you just assaulted me for a freaking cab. You could have caused some serious issues, all because of your own selfishness." She snapped. "Want your wallet, then go get it." She added and then tossed it into a puddle that, due to the heavy downpour, quickly carried it to a drain, where it disappeared below the surface.

"No!" The man yelled, scrambling out of the car and following the flow of the puddle.

"Who's the bitch now? Bitch." She laughed, and hastily took his place inside the cab.

"Where to?" The cab driver asked, looking in the rear view mirror.

Gwen opened her mouth to speak, but before she could get the words out, her phone rang. With her hands still wet from the rain, she fumbled inside her pocket and glanced at the screen, feeling a glimmer of hope as she saw Peter's name in white letters across the screen, and she swiped to answer.

"Peter?... Peter, where are you? Why haven't you-"

"Hello, Gwen…"

"Oh my Ve-" She stopped mid-sentence, glancing in the rear view mirror at the cab driver, and cleared her throat. "Eddie!"

"Someone wants to speak to you."

The sound of crackling static came through the phone, and she removed it from her ear for a second before putting it back up when the awful noise ceased.

"Peter?" She guessed.

"Gwen? Gwen, whatever you do, don't come!"

"Where are you? You're with Eddie? Are you okay?"

"They got me."

"They?"

"Venom and… the Lizard."

"What? Where are you? I'm on my way."

"No Gwen, don't! "Don't come- Hey, what are you-"

"You have an hour to get to the ground floor at Oscorp or he's a dead man." Venom hissed.

"Don't-"

The phone call ended before she could hear the rest of Peter's sentence, but she didn't need to. She already knew what he was going to say, and with Venom's warning, she slid her phone back inside her pocket and looked up at the driver, who was still waiting expectantly for her answer.

"Oscorp headquarters, and take the shorter route."

"What have you… have you done?"

Peter barely managed the words. He'd been drifting in and out since they'd dragged him there, and through his haze it was near impossible to think straight. Bound to the wall by Venom's webs, he had no clue how much time had passed since the confrontation. Only one thought remained.

"It has been a long time coming, Peter." The Lizard said nonchalantly.

"If you wanna kill me then just do it, but you don't need to bring Gwen into this."

"You are the one that brought her into this, Peter. You've no one to blame but yourself." Venom hissed.

"Do you really think that killing me, killing her… killing an innocent baby… is going to solve your problems? There's always going to be someone out there that poses a threat, but it's not me. I do what I need to protect my family and the people of the city, but you always get in my way."

"We get in your way… or you get in ours?" The Lizard challenged.

"Then kill me. It's that simple."

"You are not the main target anymore." Venom growled.

"That, and we want to see you suffer."

"Yeah, you've made that clear." He laughed humourlessly. "But tell me, Connors… can you do it? Huh? You know Gwen, she used to work here with you. Could you really bring yourself to kill her?" He quizzed. "Before the transformation, you weren't a bad person… you were trying to do something for the better, and you let your own selfish desire get in the way."

"No, Peter. I was weak. Humans are weak. Pathetic. But it doesn't have to be that way."

"And you, Eddie… I know you can hear me underneath that dumb symbiote. You weren't bad either, a jerk maybe, but you had your reasons like everyone else. Do you really think you're that far gone that you can stoop to that level?"

Venom retreated back inside his host, and once again, Eddie was left on the outside. Peter stared at him, not looking away for a second, and he stared back. The former didn't respond, knowing exactly what card was being played. Venom was beneath the surface, just waiting for the confirmation that he was too weak to be his host, and if he spoke now, it would only give the symbiote a reason to kill him.

"D- doesn't matter. She won't live to see another day no matter what I say, neither will you." He stammered at last.

"Peter?!"

His name echoed down the hall just beyond the door and he sighed. He hadn't expected her not to come despite the fact that he'd told her not to, it wasn't something she would do. Though that hadn't stopped him from hoping that she wouldn't. Her voice grew louder, and in the next couple of seconds, the door was shoved open and the moment she laid eyes on him, she was across the room in front of him.

"What are you doing? I told you not to come." He said in a tone little more than a whisper. "You walked right into their trap."

"I don't care." She shook her head. "I don't mean it like that, of course I care but I- I couldn't just leave you here."

"You shouldn't have come."

"Save your scolding for later, how do I break these webs?" She questioned, examining the tangle of symbiote webs.

"Gwen, do you not see the ten foot reptile and the other problem here with us?"

"Yes, I do. Now shush!" She demanded, a deep frown of thought set upon her face. "I can't cut them, that could take hours that we don't have. Fire? But how would I…"

"Get out of here. Don't bother-"

"I am getting you out of here, Peter!" She cut in. "Alright, I have it. Hold still."

With that being said, she backed up a couple of steps and examined the buttons on her web shooters, thankful that she'd taken the time earlier to make the same upgrades she'd made on Peter's.

"Turn around!" He warned, and she did.

She whirled around just in time to move aside as the Lizard swiped one his reptilian hands in an attempt to wound her. Aiming her wrist, she activated the web shooter and a web latched itself onto the Lizard's hand, freezing it up instantly.

"Venom!" Peter yelled.

Turning around again, she backed up as Venom advanced towards her. She had flame webs, but with his speed compared to hers, there was no time to activate them and trying to come up with another attack, she continued to back away until she hit something solid. When her hand grazed scaly skin, she swallowed, realizing that it was the Lizard behind her, trapping her in between the two with no room to dodge any attacks.

"Time to put an end to this." Venom snarled, his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

Sticky black tendrils unfurled from the symbiote and advanced in a slither across the floor and traveled up her leg. Gwen froze, and then began trying to kick it off but to no avail. Across the room, Peter writhed against the webs, attempting fruitlessly to break free. His own webs could hold a human for a couple of hours at the most, but the symbiote's webs were stronger. As much as he struggled, they wouldn't budge and every time he moved, his strength became less. Venom's tendrils had already reached Gwen's waist and her feet were barely on the ground through his grip, and as they continued up towards her neck, he struggled harder. If he could just create a single tear, he could get free, but there wasn't enough time.

"Come on, come on…" He muttered under his breath.

Peter curled his hand, trying to reach his shooters despite the restrictions of the symbiote web and his finger barely brushed the button, but he strived to push it down and just about managed to activate a web that latched onto that of Venom's and lit up in angry orange flames. As soon as enough of the web had been burned away, allowing him to move, Peter wriggled free and without time to think, he grabbed a glass cylinder tube from one of the countertops and launched it at Venom.

Mouth open wide, the symbiote paused with his face mere inches from Gwen's, and glanced back at Peter. For a split second, the entire room seemed to freeze as he waited for a reaction. The Lizard looked on, eagerly waiting for the inevitable win, Gwen held in Venom's tight grip as he contemplated his next move, and Peter, afraid to move even an inch and set things in motion again. Then his mind was made up and Venom threw her down, discarding her like a doll and setting his sights on Peter.

"You get rid of her." Venom growled at the Lizard.

Despite the threat looming over him, Peter turned his attention to the Lizard and adjusted his aim, ready to shoot more frosty webs. Following his lead, Gwen focused on Venom, and slammed down the button on her web shooters, bombing the symbiote with webs that burst into flames upon contact.

"These webs aren't gonna hold them off for long." Peter called out through Venom's shrieks, firing a web that froze the Lizard in place temporarily.

"Then we take advantage of the time they do give us." She said, getting back on her feet carefully. "Use their other weaknesses."

"What?"

Gwen shook her head. With no time to explain, she made a hasty move for all of the metal instruments gathered on the counter tops and threw them against the wall furthest from her, producing high pitched sound waves that caused Venom to screech even louder and pull away from Eddie. Catching on, Peter looked around frantically for anything cold that would weaken the Lizard, but could find nothing. In desperation, he launched several more webs at the giant reptile that kept him frozen, buying them more time to think.

"What now?" She questioned. "Peter?"

Her voice barely pierced through the ringing in his ears and the pain of his wounds forced him to his knees. It had been almost an entire day since he'd been shot and clawed, and he'd not had the chance to tend to his wounds.

"No, no, come on… you can't pass out on me now." She panicked, throwing a brief glance at Venom and the Lizard and then hurrying across the room. "Just a little longer, you've gotta stay awake. I can't- I can't fight them on my own."

"Gwen, I- I'm-"

"Please forgive me for this." She sighed, and grit her teeth before giving him a semi-hard smack to the face, bringing him back from the brink of unconsciousness.

"Just go. Get out of here before they get out of the webs." He urged hoarsely.

"No. We're getting out of here together." She insisted. "We can make it."

Flames licked at the symbiote despite his shrieks and attempts to dodge them, leaving Eddie writhing as his body jerked and moved beyond his control, protected from being burnt only by Venom on the surface. Memories were running a mile a minute through his head, everything that had led up to this point, and the anger deep within began to flare until he could stand it no more. Venom tore away from him as the flames grew stronger, and taking his chances, Eddie pulled in the opposite direction, ripping himself away from the symbiote's clutches and out of the line of fire. An angry shriek pierced through all other noise in the room and with nowhere else to go, Venom jumped quickly to the Lizard to avoid being burned.

"Move."

With her hands still on Peter's face, trying to keep him focused, Gwen looked up and saw Eddie standing above them both. Fear flashed briefly through her eyes, but she was quick to recompose herself.

"No." She told him.

"I'm trying to help you, dumbo." He stated, and rolled his eyes.

"I- I don't trust you."

"Fine." He sighed, and before she could say anything else, reached forward, gripping her shoulders and pulling her back.

"Hey! What do you think you're-" Gwen stopped mid-question as she watched Eddie grab Peter's arm and sling it around his shoulder, forcing him onto his feet.

"Door." He demanded.

"This is a trap. Why should I believe that you're trying to help us?"

"Not a trap. Look, if you wanna be Lizard and symbiote chow then be my guest. I'm just trying to give you a fighting chance, so you can either open the door or stay and die. Either way, I'm good."

"But-"

One look at Peter made the decision for her. She didn't trust Eddie, not as far as he could be thrown, but she couldn't see another way out of the situation and instead of standing around arguing, she gave in and pushed the door open. Waiting until Eddie had dragged Peter out into the hall, she followed and watched as he placed him down on the floor and then ripped the fire extinguisher off of the wall opposite, shoving it through the handles of the double doors to prevent them from being opened from the other side.

"Can you take it from here? Those doors won't hold for long, if I stay I can hold them off after they get through it."

"Why are you helping us? I don't understand."

"Forget the why. It's not important." He shrugged. "Have you got it from here?"

"Yeah, I think so." She nodded, getting Peter back to his feet and supporting his weight on top of her own. "But they're-"

"Enough chit chat. Just go." He cut in. "Take my truck, I won't be needing it." He added, and tossed her the keys.

Gwen didn't hesitate any longer and started off down the hall with Peter staggering along, almost draped over her. Eddie watched the struggle as they disappeared around the corner, and then his attention was pulled back away as the Lizard began to hammer on the other side of the door.

"It won't be so bad. Either the Lizard kills me or Venom bonds again." He muttered, and drawing in a breath, he removed the fire extinguisher.

Almost the exact same second he did, the giant reptile burst through the doors, sending him flying and before he could move out of the way, Venom leapt back onto him. He tried, to no avail, to rip himself free once again, but without the fire around them, the symbiote was stronger.

"You won't be trying that again." Venom hissed, audible only to him.

They were barely outside the building when Peter stopped staggering, putting almost his entire weight on Gwen. Unable to shoulder it all, she stopped only a few steps down the path and his dead weight caused them both to stumble forward before dropping to their knees. Rain continued to pelt down non-stop, soaking them both through almost instantly.

"I can't…" She said breathlessly. "I can't hold us both. I need you to keep moving with me."

"I'm trying." He whispered hoarsely.

"We have to get away from here, it's not safe." She added. "If we can make it to Eddie's truck, we'll be okay."

"You're gonna get sick out here in the rain. We both are."

Biting down on her lower lip, Gwen couldn't help but laugh. Here they were, outside getting soaked, Peter having been badly wounded, and all he could worry about was them catching a cold instead of making it away from Oscorp safely.

"Oh, Peter. I think that's the least of our worries right now." She shook her head. "I see the truck, it's not too far."

"On three?" He quizzed, arching an eyebrow.

"Uhh, how about now?"

"Better." He agreed.

With determination, he helped her help him back up and they started towards the parked truck. Despite the stumbling and staggering, they managed to get to the vehicle without having to stop again, and after fumbling with the handle, Gwen got the door open and Peter inside before she hurried around to the driver's side. Once they were both safely in the truck, she put the key into the ignition and started the engine.

"OW!"

"I told you to hold still."

"I can't help it, that tickles… and pinches."

Gwen rolled her eyes at Peter's dramatics and continued to maneuver the tweezers into the wound in his shoulder until they struck something metal and then she eased them out, and the bullet with them.

"Ahh, that feels so much better." He sighed in relief. "Stings like a bitch though."

"See? That wasn't so bad." She laughed, and scrunched her face up as she placed the bloodied bullet down on the bathroom countertop. "Ugh, gross. I feel sick just looking at it."

"It's my own fault, I never should have tried to get the police to listen to me."

"You know, I can't believe that they shot you. It's not your fault that they're blind." She scoffed. "Anyway, let's get your shoulder stitched up before you bleed out."

"This is gonna hurt too, isn't it?"

"Just a bit." She admitted, pulling the thread through the needle and then grabbing a towel. "Here, put this between your teeth."

Peter did as she said without questioning it. From previous experiences, he already knew just how much this could hurt and his teeth clenched together from the moment the needle came into contact with his skin. His eyes remained on Gwen, watching with both fascination and adoration as a deep frown pulled onto her face while she focused on patching him up and getting it done properly. She paused briefly whenever he flinched, and then got back to work after looking up at him for reassurance, and in only a few minutes, the bullet wound had been stitched up ready to heal nicely. Only then did Peter remove the towel from his mouth.

"You would make a great nurse, if I do say so." He quipped.

Gwen smiled at his obvious humour, but didn't quite manage a laugh and cast her eyes down at the tiled countertop as she set the needle down.

"Are you okay?"

"What? Oh… yeah. Fine." She answered quickly.

Peter attempted a small smile, getting the feeling that her answer meant otherwise. He drew in a breath to restore his patience and then threw his shirt over his head, shrugging it onto his body.

"You realize that what you did tonight was incredibly stupid, right? And before you take that as me calling you stupid, I'm not."

"So, what? I was just supposed to let them kill you?" She challenged him. "Please, I don't wanna argue with you about this. Any other day, maybe. But not after the past twenty-four hours plus."

"I'm not trying to argue either, it may have been stupid and risky but… I'm just glad to be standing here with you right now because I honestly didn't think I'd survive that, and the only reason I did is because of you."

"Huh…" She hummed. "Didn't see it from that perspective. Sorry."

"More than anything, I'm grateful that I'm still here, getting to be together, to be given the chance to meet our little one, and to try and be the father that uncle Ben was to me."

Unable to help herself, Gwen's smile returned even brighter than before. "I'll tell you one thing, he's going to be one lucky kid to have you."

Peter released his breath and shook his head, hiding a shy but beaming smile of his own. It was quickly replaced by a small frown as he caught on to her words. "Wait… He?"

"You missed a lot today." She said, her cheeks flushed pink. "I would have rescheduled the appointment, but I couldn't sit around and think the worst."

"Does that mean-"

Gwen nodded before he could finish his sentence. "I was hoping that it would be something we learned together but… it's a boy, Peter."

Rendered speechless, Peter lifted his head, no longer bothered about hiding the goofy smile plastered across his face. A comfortable silence fell between them, and as he started to laugh a little, she couldn't help but join in, and when he wrapped her in a hug, she returned it.

"Called it from the start." He cheered, lowering his head to reach her lips and containing his grin as he planted a kiss there.

"Yeah, yeah. No need to get cocky." She teased, though her smile faded again as the silence resumed between them. "Are you tired? I'm tired, I feel like I could sleep for a year." She added quickly and made a swift exit from the bathroom.

"What?" He muttered. Although confused, he followed her to the bedroom. "What's with you?"

"Nothing. Just tired." She shrugged.

"No… no. That's not it." He refused.

"Can we save this for tomorrow?"

"I don't know, why are you being so weird?"

"Weird? No one's being weird. That fight must have thrown you off more than I thought." She answered vaguely, going about her usual nighttime routine as though he wasn't asking such questions.

"Yes, you are." He sighed. "Will you please stop for a second, sit down and talk to me?"

"I'm trying to-"

"Please." He repeated, trying to catch her eyes.

Despite trying to avoid it, Gwen couldn't help but steal a glance at him, and when she did, she instantly regretted it. Her stubbornness slipped away the moment she caught his expression, and without putting it off any longer, she sat down on the bed, resting her hands in her lap. Peter didn't waste any time, sitting himself down next to her.

"You know, I want to be mad at you." She began.

"Me? Why? I don't know what I'm supposed to have done, but I take it back. I apologize and surrender myself to your mercy." He teased in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"That's just it. You didn't do anything. I want to be mad at you for leaving that video and the other things, I want to be mad at you for not being careful and for telling me not to come after you were caught. I want to be so mad that I serve you a cold supper and make you sleep on the couch… but I can't."

All at once, it finally clicked where the conversation was going and Peter felt both relief and anxiety in equal measures. Knowing what the issue was made it easier when it came to his approach, but after everything they'd been through, it was still another load added to the weight.

"After not eating for the entire day, a cold supper still sounds appealing." He joked.

"Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do but your comedic timing is terrible."

"Come on, my jokes are hilarious."

Gwen's eyes fell upon her hands in her lap and stayed there as she gathered the courage to speak up again. "You asked me if I was okay and I said yeah but, honestly? The answer is no. I'm not okay. Not today, not even a little bit."

"Yeah, I know." He answered. "I knew before I even asked."

"How?"

"That's a dumb question." He chuckled humourlessly. "Alright, let's hear it. What's up?"

"Everything."

"Wanna expand on that?"

"It's complicated." She shrugged.

"Isn't it always?" He pressed, and reached out, taking her hand in his own. "We've got time though."

"All I know is that I've never been more afraid than I was today." She began, turning her head and blinking to clear her vision. "Not knowing where you were, if you were okay while you were gone way beyond the time you said, I don't ever want to have to feel the things I felt today again. It wasn't just having to tell myself not to overthink once, it was having to repeat the rational thoughts over and over again, having to be constantly doing something, erh- be on the move. Then I got that call, after half the day spent telling myself to keep cool and that you were fine, and I felt like I couldn't think straight, I couldn't breathe… and just the thought of what would have happened if I hadn't got there. It's worse being too aware of the fact that it could still happen, and I can't get it out of my head. This whole thing with Venom should have been over already, but it's scary how fast things went wrong."

Peter let out his next breath deliberately slowly as he attempted to process everything she had said and find a place to start unpacking it all. From the moment he first put on the mask, he knew that this would always be a thing. Every time he became Spider-man, he put his life on the line and for a city that was mostly ungrateful, and made enemies that would forever do anything in their power to see him fall. The difference now was balancing the life he was trying to build with the life of the wall crawler. It hadn't been easy through high-school, and was no walk in the park these days either. Venom needed to be dealt with, the Lizard too.

"It's never been easy." He agreed, swallowing as he recalled memories that he'd rather forget. "And you are not alone, feeling that way. Every single day I wake up and no matter how good things are going, I can't help but think what if today is the day I lose everything that matters to me. It's something that I had to learn to just accept and not let it consume me."

"But this is different, I don't know how but it is." She said, "Heh, so much for a better night. I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Gwen, if anyone should be sorry, it's me." He insisted. "I've not been the best towards you throughout this entire thing, I've let you down, I've hurt you and I hate it."

"Peter-"

"I'm not done." He cut in hastily. "There aren't any excuses for some of the things I've said and done since being back here in New York. I've lied to you, left you by yourself when I should have been here and allowed you to deal with all of the aftermath alone, and I'm sorry. Okay? I wish I had something better to say, but that's it and even then, I've said those words way too many times-"

"It's okay-"

"It's not. I need to do better by you and from now on, that's what I'm going to take into account with every decision I make. I've been so selfish and unfair to you, and that stops from this point onwards."

"But I wasn't putting the blame on you, or anyone. I knew from the start that this wouldn't be easy, but no matter how difficult some days can get, I don't regret my choices and while you've made some pretty big blunders, each time you've always had good intentions. That's enough for me to get past."

"Let's take these things one day at a time. We still have to deal with the biggest problem, but a good start is breaking it down rather than looking at the bigger picture."

"Shut up." She laughed.

"Excuse me?"

"I don't wanna talk about symbiotes, giant reptiles or misguided delinquents anymore. It's exhausting and we've done all we can for tonight."

Peter's face cracked into a cheeky smile as he caught on to what she was saying. "Ha, you almost had me, but I've had enough of them for one night as well and-"

His sentence was left hanging as she shuffled forward and wrapped her arms around him as tight as she could manage without making it hurt. He let his eyes close for the first time since being home, and brought his own arm to rest around her shoulders, twirling strands of blonde hair around his fingers until he grazed the skin of her neck and she winced.

"Sorry, did I catch you?" He frowned.

"No, just a little sore from Venom's tight grip I think."

"Let me see."

"Don't worry, it's fine. It'll probably wear off by morning." She dismissed.

"Oh, come on… please?"

Despite her initial protest, Gwen lifted her head and allowed him to sweep her blonde hair to the side, exposing the bare skin of her neck and get a closer look.

"I don't know… looks pretty red and bruised to me." He said as his hand grazed the wound.

"Just a bruise? See, that's all."

"But-"

"Bruises heal, Peter. You worry too much." She laughed, and flipped her hair back into place.

"Yeah, you're probably right." He agreed.

"Can we go to sleep now?"

"Okay." He gave in. "Bet you can't fall asleep before I do." He added with a grin.

"Ooh, alright mister Competitive. You're on."