The hands of the clock kept moving, but each minute couldn't have felt longer as Peter paced the room, trying to put together the pieces. Everything had escalated so quickly that he hadn't had the chance to think properly. There was something obvious he was missing.

Finally, he stopped pacing, with the thought that if he did, time would also stop, and he'd be able to find that missing piece. With slow, cautious steps, he made his way over to the chair that was set beside the bed and sat down. His eyes found the monitor, and he watched the constant, steady blips that told him that her heart was still going strong. For now.

Peter tore his eyes away from the monitor and focused on Gwen instead. She looked almost completely healthy. Almost. If not for ghostly complexion her skin had taken on, and the fact that this was a hospital room. But no answers could be given. All of the professionals were just as stumped as he was. Everything was apparently normal looking, with nothing obvious being wrong. Something definitely was though. He knew it.

Three days had passed and nothing had improved. He couldn't help but wonder if they were only getting worse without any signs, and he lingered constantly on those few minutes Eddie had spent on his doorstep. None of it added up.

"Come on, universe… I can't fix this if I don't know what's wrong. Give me some sort of answer. Anything." He pleaded quietly into the near‐silent room, and hung his head.

Just when things seemed to be improving, it had all unraveled right in front of him. The second he had opened the bathroom door, chaos followed, and it had led them here.

"Bruises…" He muttered, and his eyes widened.

That was the last thing Eddie had said before he'd stormed away in anger. At the time, it hadn't registered with Peter what he had meant, but as the moment came back to him now, he remembered something else. With that, he leaned over until he got a better angle, then reached his hand out and brushed her hair out of the way. Hesitating briefly, he tilted her head to the side, exposing her neck and revealing bruises. The longer he looked, however, the more he saw. Amid the purplish colour of the bruising was a small mark that could only be the result of a pinprick- or needle.

Instantly, he thought of the syringe that Eddie had tried to hand him… and he'd shoved it back in his face since it couldn't have been anything more than a trick. Or so he'd thought. It was justified, after everything that had happened. Then again, it was also Eddie who had helped them get away that night. That didn't mean he could be trusted, though. Yet it was a side of the man that Peter hadn't expected to see. If he only had more time, he would be able to come to a conclusion, but he didn't and it would be a stupid risk to take.

As he took in the sight of Gwen though, he knew the choice wasn't his to make. His eyes followed the wires that she had been hooked up to and settled on the water drip. Three days ago, he had been told that it was the water that she'd drank earlier in the day that had slowed down whatever Venom had done. It hadn't stopped it though, and that's what concerned him the most. The ice they were skating on was thin and cracking, and if he didn't figure it out soon, it would be too late.

Lost deep in his thoughts, Peter didn't notice that his hand had moved from her neck down to her hand that laid limply by her side until his skin grazed hers. He sat back down for the moment, and closed his fingers around hers.

"This seems stupid, we'll probably both be laughing about it in the future, but I need to go find Eddie so that I can fix this and I don't want to leave with these words in my head." He spoke softly, feeling embarrassed but lighter as each word passed his lips. "I'm sorry… none of this should be happening, and that's on me, but I'm afraid to leave your side. I know that I have to, but if I do and something happens… I can't handle that. Please, I need you to hang in there, okay? Not just for me, but for our son too. I will fix this, and everything will be okay again. Just… promise me that you'll hold on."

With a sigh, he closed his eyes. In a few more minutes, he would have no choice but to leave and go find Eddie, and he dreaded it. The thought of Venom striking while he was gone made him even more anxious to leave.

"It's not your fault."

A small gasp escaped as Peter opened his eyes again. He almost smiled when he felt Gwen's hand brush his own, calming him just a little.

"Y- you're awake." He said, blinking with surprise. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Not much before your apology." She admitted. "How much was I supposed to hear?"

"Ehhh, maybe none of it." He chuckled. "The last part, though."

Gwen flashed a brief smile before it disappeared again. She bit down on her lower lip and then locked her eyes on his. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Well, for the record… I'm scared too." She said, her voice low and hoarse. "The idea of you going off on your own after what happened last time… it's not very comforting."

Peter squeezed her hand gently, and the next few minutes were spent in a comfortable silence. He hung his head briefly, then forced himself to look up at her. Though her eyes seemed brighter, it brought him no reassurance.

"Looks like we're both in the same boat, huh." He hummed. "But my focus isn't curing Connors right now, or dealing with Venom…"

"The two most important things aren't your focus right now?" Gwen quizzed, wide eyed.

"You know what I mean." He sighed. "You are my top priority, and until I fix this the rest can wait."

"But you can't fix something when you don't know what the problem is."

"Actually…" Peter swallowed. "I have a gut feeling what it is."

"Tell me you're not going to go out and do something stupid based on a feeling?"

"Not exactly." He said, his eyes fixed on hers. "Gwen, listen… there's something I gotta tell you."

Gwen's eyes widened, and with great effort, forced herself to sit up a little more. Many different possibilities ran through her mind in the few seconds of silence between them.

"I know what you're thinking; that I've lied to you or kept something from you again, but I swear it isn't like that. At least, I haven't been meaning to keep it from you."

"Not really." She said with a half smile. "You've made mistakes, we both have, but I trust you, Peter."

Peter hummed and nodded his head. He drew in a breath, knowing that despite the evidence, he could still be wrong and it could be yet another set up planned by Venom. His fingers curled around hers, and he pulled his lips into a firm line.

"It's alright, whatever you have to say… I'm listening." Gwen added.

"So, the other night… When Eddie knocked on the door he said some things." He began. "At the time I thought he was messing with me but looking back now, I think… Well, I'm not entirely sure, but I think he was telling the truth."

"What did he say?" She prompted.

"He said that you're sick, which is glaringly, obviously true, but then he said you wouldn't make it to the end of the week without…" Peter paused, fumbling through his mind for the right words. "Without getting the cure, which I'm pretty sure he was trying to give me on the doorstep when I turned him away."

"But how can you be sure that is what he was trying to do?"

"I can't." Peter admitted. "On the one hand, he's done so much that tells me he's not to be trusted… yet on the other, he was the one who helped us escape Oscorp. Venom I know isn't to be trusted, but I'm beginning to question what I do know of Eddie."

"Yeah… Even after the things he's done, I can't help but wonder." Gwen agreed.

"What do you think I should do? I don't wanna be made a fool of again, but if I don't at least check it out and it turns out he was telling the truth, I don't wanna lose everything because of my own ego."

"Honestly?" She said, raising an eyebrow. "If anything, trust your instincts."

"I hope that's enough." He sighed.

"It will be."

Peter fell silent, mulling over their conversation and over the brief moment with Eddie on the doorstep. As much as he didn't want to trust it blindly, he didn't have the time to explore every other option. If Eddie was right, he had less than forty-eight hours to do what needed to be done, and the clock was already counting down the minutes.

"I need to go and look into it, but I don't wanna leave." He admitted.

"Peter, it'll be okay." Gwen smiled. "Go do what you need to, just… try to make it back to me in one piece this time."

"You don't need to worry about me, I'll be fine." He said, and got to his feet. "Save your concern for yourself."

With that, Peter reluctantly let her hand slip from his and leaned over, brushing her blonde hair out of her eyes. A half-smile graced his face as he leaned in further and planted a swift kiss on her cheek before heading for the door.

"Get some rest, okay?" He added, and then continued out of the room.

As soon as he reached the exit, Peter took off lickety-split down the street, weaving in and out of all the busy bodies and ducking into the first alleyway he came by. He peered back over his shoulder, and once he was sure he was in the clear, shed his usual clothes, leaving only his suit on and then hastily pulled his mask over his face before shooting a web and launching himself up into the air. He hadn't the slightest clue where Eddie would be, but there were a couple of places that would be a good start to the search. If it was the man in the driver's seat, a bar would be the most likely of places, but if the symbiote was driving, Oscorp would be more likely.

Peter paused for a moment on the rooftop of an apartment building. The last time he'd encountered Eddie, he was barely hanging onto what little control he had left and if he had to guess, Venom probably had taken over mere minutes after he'd stormed off. Taking all of it into consideration, with a running start, he jumped from the ledge and made his way towards the Oscorp tower, swinging from building to building until he landed smoothly on the ground at the front entrance. A glance through the double glass doors at the entrance brought his attention to several workers on the first floor, making the chances of getting to ground floor without being pestered by anyone near impossible, and Peter quickly decided against attempting it, and scuttled around to the side of the building.

Around halfway up the building, there were at least three windows visibly open, giving him another idea. Still unsure of his strength after his last ordeal with the Lizard and Venom, he glanced up at the open windows and then looked down at his hands, and quickly made up his mind. Exhaling sharply, he hesitantly placed his hands, evenly spaced, on the glass in front of him. With his sights set on the open window further above him, Peter started to crawl towards it until he was directly beneath it, then peered through. The window gave access to one of the many corridors in the building, and from the angle he was at, he could just about see the shadows of two workers approaching and when they came into view, he ducked down to avoid being seen. A few minutes passed and the sound of their footsteps got lower and lower, indicating that the coast was clear. Once more, he peered through the window, into the now empty corridor and when he decided that it was safe, hauled himself up and through it.

In the same instant, the elevator dinged. Peter looked around, in search of a good hiding spot, but found none. The elevator dinged one last time, and the doors groaned as they started to slide open. Out of options, he hastily shot a web and used it to climb up to the ceiling just as the doors finished opening and a group of four workers stepped out. Moving soundlessly would be impossible and instead of chancing it, he pressed himself flat to the surface to lessen the chances of being spotted, and again waited for all four of them to disappear through one of the many doors before dropping down and slipping into the elevator before it closed. His eyes fell upon a button with a large green capital G displayed on the front, and he jabbed at it with his finger. Moments later the doors opened again, granting him access to the ground floor corridor.

Peter peered left and then right, and with no sign of any more workers, made a break for the room where, only a few nights ago, he'd been dragged. As the door swung closed, he looked around the room, blinking several times in disbelief at what he was seeing. The six tubes that held the six divisions of project Sinister Six were now empty, and upon the metal table was a note. Peter swallowed, a sinking feeling setting in the pit of his stomach, and picked up the note.

Peter,

If you're reading this, you've already realized the mistake you made and now you're here because you think I'm willing to just hand you the solution. You had your chance and you didn't take it, so now I'm going to make you work for it. For level one, head to Time Square after you find this.

Signed,

Your biggest hater.

Peter grit his teeth and his fist clenched, screwing the paper up into a ball. He drew in a breath filled with silent anger and discarded the note on the floor before stalking out of the room and back to the elevator. Oscorp had been a bust, and what he found wasn't at all what he was expecting, but he didn't need a name to know who had written the note. Trusting it, on the other hand, was another thing entirely. If he chased the lead, he would either be wasting time if it turned out to be another dead end, or he would have the cure in his hands. But with no other options, or at least none that were worth checking out, it was all he had to go on. Making the decision, once the elevator stopped, he crawled back through the window he'd entered through, and started swinging his way towards Time

Square, holding on to that small shred of hope he had left.