A/N: With careful consideration, I have decided to label this chapter with a warning.

Trigger Warning; Mentions of infant loss

Peter didn't bother to check if the call had ended before he slipped his phone back into his pocket and sprinted down the street, desperate to get to the cemetery. By the time he turned the last corner, his breath was coming as though he'd run a marathon and he could barely see straight through the sweat that had dripped into his eyes. Still, he pushed on until he was standing amid the yard… with nothing but headstones around him and, of course, the church. No sign of another living being in the area. Gritting his teeth in rising anger, Peter ripped off his mask.

"Eddie?" He called out into the darkness. "Quit hiding like a coward and show yourself, you ba-"

"Now, now… there's no need for that."

Peter whirled around and staggered back as he came face to face with Eddie. His eyes instantly drifted down to the syringe he held in his hand; the same one he'd had on him the other night. Upon instinct, he reached out to take it. But the latter snatched it away before his fingers could so much as graze it.

"Ah, ah… to win the prize you've gotta play the game."

"No, I am done playing your games!" He growled.

"Fine. If that's what you want… but you'll be forfeiting the antidote."

"I already beat you once, don't make me have to do it again."

"All in good time, Pete-" Eddie paused, and a smirk twitched at his lips. "It's okay if I call you that, right?" Before Peter could respond, he shrugged. "You've still got four more levels before you get to take on the big bad boss."

"I knew it…" Peter muttered. "You released them, didn't you?"

"Maybe."

"But I don't get it…"

"I hate you, you hate me. What more is there to understand?" Eddie questioned, arching a curious eyebrow.

"One minute you're giving us windows to leave, the next you break in when I'm not home to get what you want, then you're showing up and offering the antidote and now you're playing games and making me jump through hoops for it. What's your deal?"

Eddie opened his mouth and closed it, frowned, and then opened it again. The hand holding the antidote began to tremble, and he slipped it inside his pocket. Peter lowered his head, subtly gauging the reaction to his question. For a brief moment, it looked as though he would fall to his knees and start begging for forgiveness or bawling his eyes out, but any traces of how he was feeling vanished with the intake of a breath.

"Don't sell your weakness, exploit his instead."

"My deal, Peter…" Eddie began, smiling wryly as their eyes met. "... Is doing everything I can to waste the time you have."

"That's not gonna happen. I will fight you right here, right now, for that antidote if I have to. I won't stop until I fix what you've done."

"Then I'll just have to drag this out as long as possible, which won't be needed once the sun sets tonight."

Peter clenched his fists at his sides until his hands trembled under the pressure, and he jerked his head to the side, cracking his neck and tensing his shoulders. A smile almost as sinister as Eddie's flashed across his face, and as soon as it faded, he threw the first punch. Eddie's head wobbled on impact, but he made no follow up move. Peter let go of a breath he'd been holding and readied himself to strike again, though lowered his fist as he noticed the statue-like, almost catatonic, state that Eddie had taken on. He stood awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do for another few seconds. Then inched closer, and closer still, until he was close enough to have headbutted him, and reached out. With deliberately slow movement, he slid his hand inside Eddie's pocket and his fingers curled around the antidote. A small smirk twitched at his lips as he eased it out of the pocket, though his victory was short-lived.

As soon as Peter removed his hand from the pocket, Eddie snapped out of his trance and caught his wrist in a cast-iron grip. With a swift flick, the needle flew from Peter's hand and skidded across the pavement.

"Come on, you didn't think it'd be that easy, did you?" Eddie questioned, stopping the needle with his foot. "Oh, you did?" He added, raising an eyebrow as Peter drew in a breath and held it. "How sad… and pathetically desperate."

With that, Eddie applied the slightest pressure until a loud crack sounded beneath his foot. Peter's eyes drifted down to the ground and he swallowed as he saw the liquid seeping out from under Eddie's boot.

"Oops, my bad." Eddie shrugged, and started to laugh.

Peter's stare didn't leave the ground, and he barely noticed when his mask slipped from his hand. He didn't care to pick it up. His chest rose and fell with thick, heavy breaths that he struggled to regulate and suddenly he felt ill. Eddie's laughter and the distant sounds of the busy city became only a white noise, ringing loudly in his ears. His legs trembled under his weight, forcing him to his knees and with his next breath, he hung his head.

"I hope that wasn't too important." Eddie mocked. "Oh wait…"

Peter licked at his lips and glanced at his mask that lay discarded beside him. Whatever small shred of hope he was holding onto had shattered along with the needle, and with the antidote destroyed, there was no reason for him to stick around. With a sigh, he picked up the mask and slipped it on, then got to his feet and turned to walk away.

"Is that it?" Eddie quizzed. "Giving up that easily?"

"I have no reason to fight you now."

"Or maybe you're too much of a coward."

"No, I will fight you… but first I need to find a way to save Gwen."

"You can't." Eddie called. "That was the only cure, and now it's gone. If I were you, I'd be rushing back to that hospital to say goodbye."

"I don't believe that." Peter refused, turning his full attention back to Eddie. "There has to be something, you're just not telling me."

"There isn't." He insisted. "You may as well give up, her fate was sealed the moment she walked through those doors that night."

"Hmm." Peter hummed. "If that's true, then you've finally gotten what you wanted. If she dies, I've nothing. So go on… kill me and finish this."

"Tempting. But not yet. I'd rather you get to witness your failure first."

Peter shook his head, and without another word, he launched a web and sprung himself into the air, wanting to get away from there as fast as possible. There were less than twenty-four hours to find something, and wasting another second going back and forth with Eddie was the last thing that would help.

"Collie, husky, pug, bulldog, labrador, great dane, hound dog, greyhound, whippet, Jack Russell, spaniel, dalmatian, dachshund-"

"Thinking about starting a kennel?"

Almost convinced that she was imagining things, Gwen opened her eyes and lifted her head just as the door swung shut behind Peter. She bit down on her lip to keep from laughing and drew in a breath to recompose herself. Though her smile only brightened as the seconds ticked by.

"No, but naming things is better than slowly going insane." She said, struggling to sit up. "Your back sooner than I thought."

Peter averted his stare down to the floor as he crossed the room, trying to avoid eye contact. Even as he sat down in the empty chair, he couldn't bring himself to look up at her.

"I've missed you." She added when he didn't speak.

"Yeah." He muttered, not really listening.

"Huh…" She hummed, and her smile faded, replaced with sad puppy-dog eyes. "I love you, Peter."

"Mm-Hmm." He nodded.

"You didn't say it back." She whimpered.

"What?" Peter frowned, and looked up at her. "What's wrong?" He quizzed, only now noticing her dismay.

"You didn't say it back." She repeated, this time blinking back tears. "I said I love you, and that I missed you, and you shrugged it off."

"Ohhh." He mouthed as it dawned on him. With a small smile, he reached for her hand. "I'm sorry, Gwen… Please don't cry. I didn't mean it, okay? I do love you, and I've missed you more."

Gwen blinked a couple more times and attempted a smile as she wiped away the few fallen tears. She already knew that her reaction to his lapse in listening was dramatic, but after being stuck staring at the same four walls, her emotions were all over the place.

"I know." She said, steadying her voice. "What's on your mind?"

Peter ran his thumb over the back of her hand, focusing on the movement as he tried to think of where to even begin explaining. It was one thing to tell her about the release of the sinister six, which was enough to stress any healthy person out as it were, but it was another entirely to look her in the eyes and tell her that the only thing that could have saved her had been crushed up under Eddie's foot in a cemetery.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from the inevitable.

"Not too bad. A little tired and sore, but nowhere near as bad as before." She answered quietly. "But are you gonna keep me in the dark or-"

"I failed." He cut in.

"You… failed?"

"I tried to go after Eddie and to get that antidote for you but… I couldn't do it. I got so close, and then he crushed it under his foot." He explained, forcing himself to maintain eye contact. "And I don't know what to do, there's not enough time to search for an alternative, and even if there was… we don't even know what this is and- and I… I can't do this again. I don't want to."

"Peter, breathe… we don't know if that was what we think it was. For all we know, it could have been something completely different."

"I don't wanna lose you." He sighed. "What if it was? Gwen, I- I'm afraid of what comes next."

"It's going to be okay. It always is. Somehow, even when it seems impossible, something always turns in our favour. You just have to hold onto that hope." She assured him, laying back down and closing her eyes.

Peter bit down on his lower lip and nodded. He even managed to force a smile at her optimism. Though it faded almost as quickly as it had graced his face. The next few seconds were spent in a silence that was both anxious and comfortable at the same time, and he almost let himself believe that everything would turn out okay. But it was gone before it was ever really there.

"You always know what to say to make me feel better." He hummed, resting his head beside her hand. "And, I should be the one reassuring you, telling you that it's going to be okay, especially at a time like this. You've been so strong this entire time and I-"

His rambles were cut short when the steady, consistent beeping of the heart monitor suddenly flatlined. Peter lifted his head partially, feeling the colour drain from his face, and when his eyes fell upon the ongoing red line, he jumped to his feet, causing the chair behind him to tip over.

"Gwen?" He half-whispered. "No… No, no, no, no, please…"

Reaching over, he cupped her face in his hands, tapping her cheek gently as if it would somehow wake her. His heart pounded harder against his ribcage with each passing second, and he heaved each breath as he moved a hand down to her chest, desperate to find some sign- any sign- of life. Though he found none.

"No, please, please…" He trembled. "I don't wanna do this again…"

Before he'd even had the chance to process what was happening, the door to the room burst open and several medics filed in, ushering him towards the exit. Among them was a doctor… at least, from first glance and at a distance, they could have been mistaken for one. But as they pushed past him to get to Gwen, his eyes met theirs.

Eddie.

In a sudden burst of panic, mixed with fear and anger, Peter barged back into the room but was quickly restrained by two of the other doctors. It didn't matter how much he struggled and fought against their grip, he couldn't get free.

"No! No, stop!" He yelled, writhing as he watched Eddie get closer. "Don't touch her!"

Eddie glanced briefly in his direction with a smirk stretched across his face, and then pulled a needle from his pocket. Peter screamed and screamed until his throat hurt, watching as Eddie jammed the needle into her neck. But as the last of his screams faded into silence, he was no longer being restrained… and the latter was no longer in the room. Or anyone at all besides himself and Gwen, for that matter.

Peter exhaled a breath, running a hand through his messy brown hair, and it was only when he looked up that he saw it; Gwen was sat up, wide-eyed in shock as she stared at him, and the machines that she was hooked up to were all showing normal vitals.

"W- what?" He whispered. "You- You're not…"

"Not what?" She laughed.

"I don't understand." He muttered. "I saw it."

"What did you see?" She prompted. "Peter?"

"How did we get here?" He asked, a deep frown set upon his face.

"Are you serious right now?"

"Well, I'm clearly not joking." He answered breathlessly.

"Umm… After everything that happened at Oscorp, things got out of hand." She started, unsure of what to say.

"But you were-" Peter's sentence hung awkwardly in the air and eventually fell flat. "How long have I been here?"

"Come on, stop messing around, Peter."

"I'm not messing around, just answer me!" He pushed.

"O- okay." She agreed hesitantly. "About an hour, maybe a little longer."

"And you're okay?"

"Define okay." She shrugged. "I mean, you came running in with the antidote and since then I've felt fine."

"Both of you?" He added, a smile tugging at his lips.

Gwen drew in a breath, and let it go with a sigh. "You don't remember?"

"No, remember what?" He swallowed.

"Please stop, Peter. You've been here this whole time, and I can't deal with whatever prank you're pulling right now."

"I'm not pulling a prank." He insisted. "But what you're telling me doesn't match the last few minutes I've just lived."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"You don't believe me?" He said, and shook his head. "Of course you don't."

"Don't put words in my mouth, you know damn well that's not what I'm saying." She snapped. "You asked me to tell you and I did, but clearly you have some other idea of what happened."

"I didn't get that antidote, Gwen! Eddie crushed it under his foot." He argued. "I saw it with my own eyes and when I got here you… it was too late."

Gwen closed her eyes and put her hands to her temples. Peter threw his head back, exasperated by the circles their conversation was going in, and then got up.

"Where are you going?" She prompted.

"I don't know." He shrugged.

"But wait, I need to talk to-"

"I'm going outside. I need a minute, is that a crime? Whatever you have to say, it can wait." He cut in, and made a swift exit.

"You." She finished quietly, biting down on her lip and letting her eyes wander the room for something else to focus on. "Yeah, just like everything else I need to say… it can wait."

"Idiot!" Peter cursed himself. "This isn't real. It can't be real, how can it be? I know what I saw-"

"At war with yourself a bit?"

Upon the sound of a voice other than his, Peter whirled around to find that he had a one man audience to his muttering.

"I'm sorry, who?"

"Where are my manners? Forgive me, Peter. I forgot to introduce myself. The name's Quentin Beck."

Peter glanced down as the latter offered out their hand. He started to reach out, but drew back in hesitation as their introduction registered in his mind.

"How do you know my name?"

"You said it when you were muttering to yourself."

"No." He denied. "I didn't."

"Well, then I must have overheard it somewhere."

"Yeah." Peter agreed. "I hate to cut this short, but I should probably head back inside now."

"Visiting someone important?"

"Something like that." He nodded, and before anymore could be said, hurried back through the main entrance.

"I just had the weirdest… experience- wait, what's up?"

Peter licked at his lips, feeling the weight of the room the moment he'd crossed the threshold. Though his question went unanswered.

"Am I supposed to read your mind now? Because of all the powers I have, that's not one of them."

Gwen turned her head and arched an eyebrow at him. She drew in a quiet breath and let it go as she looked away again, biting the inside of her cheek to maintain the silence.

"I can't do anything if I don't know what the problem is." He added, striding casually over to the bedside. "And you're not this immature, so if your tongue is still intact, I'd like you to use it to talk to me."

"Like I've not already tried that." She muttered.

"What's your problem?"

"I don't have one."

"Look, if this is about me ducking out earlier, I'm sorry."

With a sigh, Gwen shook her head and finally met his eyes. "It's not just about that, Peter."

"Then explain it to me." He prompted.

"It's not about you coming in and out more than a revolving door, I can handle that because you've been doing it longer than we've been together." She began. "I have no problem with you needing a minute to yourself, but the way you shut me down earlier… I'm not sure I have the words to tell you how that made me feel."

"Well, I'm here now. Isn't that what counts?"

"You still don't understand." She said, dropping her stare to her hands. "It's okay, I don't expect you to."

"That's not fair. How am I supposed to understand when you're not giving me the full story?"

"Forget it, I don't wanna argue. Not here, not now."

"We're not arguing. At least, I'm not. You're the one who has a problem but won't tell me." He pointed out, throwing himself down in the chair.

"You want me to tell you but when I try to talk to you, you never have the time to hear it."

"Now is as good a time as any."

"Lately I just… I don't know, I feel like I'm alone in all this." She admitted. "And I'm not saying that it's your fault, I know you've been struggling too. But I think the worst I've felt in a long time was when you walked out without letting me finish. I really needed to tell you and you swept it under the rug like it was nothing."

"You're right." He agreed. "I'm sorry, Gwen and I know you're not blaming me, but it is my fault. Even though it hasn't been my intention, I've not been there as much as I should and yeah, I could blame that on Spider-man responsibilities, but I'd be a coward if I didn't admit that it's a Peter mistake."

"I think there's a lot of crossed wires here, and this is the last time I'm going to ask so can we please, please talk?"

Peter glanced back over his shoulder as if to confirm that the only company they were in was their own, and then nodded. "You have my full, undivided attention."

"Thank you… but first I wanna hear your side of things."

"I can try to explain, though I'm not sure it'll make any sense. You said that when I got here, I had the antidote… what happened after that?"

"Well… after that, things seemed to improve. Whatever was in the original needle, the effects were reversed by the antidote. You came here saying that you'd had a run in with Eddie, and you managed to swipe it from him after catching him out." She explained.

"Here's the thing; in my version of events, I never got the antidote. I almost had it, but he stopped me and crushed it before I could get it. Then I came back here and… and it was too late to save you."

No matter how hard she tried, Gwen could find no logical explanation for the contradictions in their versions of events. The one that made the most sense was that he'd simply fallen asleep and dreamed the entire alternate version, but he hadn't. They'd both been present the entire time.

"So, the antidote really worked?" He prompted.

"It did, but… there may have been a catch." She answered. "That's what I was trying to tell you earlier."

Peter's eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat as Gwen pulled her lower lip between her teeth. He already knew that whatever it was she had to say was nothing good.

"What kind of catch?" He asked, unsure whether he really wanted to hear the answer. "I thought that would be the end of it."

"It was." She said, and her stare lingered on him. "But they said that whatever was in that first needle worked in a similar way to poison and since it was injected straight to the vein that…"

"That what?" He pressed, feeling the knots in his stomach tightening.

"They think that it may have already…" Gwen trailed off, searching for the right words. "... carried out its purpose."

"You don't mean-"

"From what they told me, it's too soon to tell but they're gonna come around again this evening to carry out a scan in order to confirm it." She explained, turning her head away as she failed to blink away the tears.

"That's what you were trying to tell me earlier?" He questioned.

"Mm-hmm." She hummed, not trusting herself to speak.

Peter swallowed, finding his chest getting heavier with each breath. Though he managed to pull himself together quickly and reached out, taking her hand in his.

"Hey, Gwen… look at me. Please." He pleaded.

Gwen exhaled slowly and then forced herself to look at him. "I'm sorry, Peter."

"For what?" He quizzed. "You didn't do anything, okay? None of this is your fault. Should you have come to Oscorp that night, probably not, but I wouldn't be here right now if you hadn't and I can't blame you for wanting me home safe. That doesn't make it your fault though. The only ones to be blamed for their actions are Eddie, and Venom, and let's not pretend like I'm innocent here either." Peter paused for a second and licked at his lips. "I've been so wrapped up in trying to bring an end to all of our problems that somewhere along the way, I forgot about everything else."

"It's not your fault either." She said quietly.

"You know what else?" He prompted.

"No, what?"

"In my version of events, I had so much doubt and you told me it'd be okay. I know it's kinda hard to believe, but I have hope because of you. Now I need you to hold onto that hope because somehow, even when all the odds are against us, it all works out in the end."

Though his words were confident, Peter felt anything but. He wasn't sure he believed it himself, but that wasn't what she needed to hear at that moment. With nothing left to say, he brought a hand up to her cheek and wiped away a fallen tear and pulled her into him, closing his eyes as her head came to rest on his shoulder.