Chapter 19 - Spiders stick Together
Hope everyone's staying safe out there. Sorry this update took so long, I've had major writers block for it and I had to make changes mid-writing for the next chapter to make sense.
Anyway, I'm not sure if I've done it before but I'll give more details on the upcoming sequel fic and you guys recommend any changes you wanna see. Figured it's fair.
We're reaching the endgame. Two or three more chapters and Two Spiders on a Web will be officially over
Like I said before I'm considering making the alternate Spider-focused ending it's own mini-fic. Still deciding whether it'll just be Spider Army vs Thanos' Army or we have the various Spiders having to gather the stones themselves.
Cause if it's the latter then I imagine the Soul Stone choice is gonna be rather difficult...
Chapter 19: Spiders stick Together
"You're lying."
It took Peter a second to realize he'd been the one to say it. The rebuttal sounded so low and angry that he almost didn't recognize his own voice. Shadowcat raised a brow, Gwen's friend flinched slightly while Murdock just continued to smile at him, but it was Gwen's reaction that made him pause. Her eyes were wide with shock and it was only then that he felt the deep, ugly scowl on his face. She'd never seen that look on him before.
"You're lying!" Peter said again, louder this time. He stomped over to where the former Kingpin stood and grabbed his shoulders in a vice grip. Peter forgot to hold himself back completely but the older man just continued to smirk down at him, "Gwen told me about you! You're a liar! You're just...you're saying all this because you want to frame him to get something out of it! Admit it!"
"And why would I frame him?" He laughed under his breath, "I have no criminal empire, as Ms. Stacy so very much assured. Framing Tony Stark gets me nothing since, last I checked, getting him arrested doesn't magically transfer Starktech to me or somehow change my predicament. I'm a dead man walking, Mr. Parker, and as hard as it may be to believe lying to frame your idol doesn't get me anything."
"Then why are you lying?" Peter shook him. Hard. The glasses were knocked off his face and exposed the pale gray eyes underneath, "Are you just...are you trying to hurt me like you hurt Gwen?"
This time his laugh was loud and open. Peter stepped back while Gwen's eyes narrowed hatefully behind him, "Forgive me for being rude, but I must ask again: why would I do that? I will fully admit that I hurt Ms. Stacy in the past, but we had prior history and I had a mad obsession with proving the inherent corruption of power. Who are you? Another naive teenager with far too much power who didn't do anything to me. I don't care enough to hurt you. What do I get for lying to you out of sheer spite? I've already told you that I owe you a debt, it's not my fault you don't like the answer."
"You...You're-"
"He's telling the truth," Gwen's friend rasped out, "I...I saw him once when they were...experimenting on me. I don't forget faces."
"But why would he do this?" Peter rounded him now, "What does he get out of this? If he's even the one who's doing this."
"I can answer that," Shadowcat said. So far she didn't look like she cared about anything happening in front of her, "Apparently Oscorp's been muscling out Starktech on a few crucial contracts. You might not know it but your precious Mr. Stark's been taking some hard hits. His tech's lagging behind and his PMC's been getting a lot of flack on Humans Rights violations. He needs a win and he figures that setting up Osborn and his kid is a two birds one stone thing. He discredits them and gets their contracts, putting him back on top."
"And Mr. Osborn made such an easy target," Murdock continued, "After all, he'd already turned over a dangerous serum to a terrorist organization and fought Spider-Woman chucking bombs at crowded apartments while wearing a Goblin suit. Who would believe that the supervillain who let his father bail him out of receiving any punishment was being framed by the billionaire playboy philanthropist?"
"So what, this was all some corporate war?" Gwen asked behind him incredulously, "All those people who almost got killed because some guy's ego couldn't take being second best and his net worth dropping? What the fuck?"
"Why are you acting like they're telling the truth?" Peter rounded on her. Of all the people to have doubts on these guys he'd have thought Gwen would be the top of the list.
"Hey I don't trust Murderdock or Shadowcat, but I do trust Harry. Why would he lie?"
"Because he tried to kill you and you're somehow okay with that?! I don't trust him and neither should you!" Peter regretted the words as soon as he said them. Gwen had told him that reluctantly and it was clear even now despite her saying she trusted him 100% that she was still hurt it happened; that he blamed her for what happened to their Peter. Gwen's mouth parted in shock and she shot him a look of clear and shocking hurt.
Peter wanted to take it all back and apologize, but when he opened his mouth nothing came. A few seconds of silence passed before he turned and ran, ignoring Gwen's call behind. He ran all the way down the street till he saw the train passing by on the station and webbed himself to it, uncaring of the fact that he wasn't wearing his costume at all and everyone could see him.
"Peter..." Gwen wanted to follow after him, but the sounds of Harry growling behind her put a stop to that idea. Taking a deep breath, she stomped to where her friend was sitting and let the symbiote clump up in her hands. She'd helped cure the people Harry infected last year - part of the reason her sentence was so short and Harry managed a plea deal - but it was hardly a good memory.
"Well now, that was a tad dramatic." Murderdock said behind her. She grit her teeth and didn't say anything, just focusing on Harry, "It appears I'm done here. I'll take my leave."
"Where the hell are you going?" Gwen asked before she could stop herself. She took her eyes off Harry and saw the red headed bastard pick up his dropped shades, "You know the Hand's still hunting you. Why not just give up and throw yourself to jail?"
"Why, Ms. Stacy, are you worried about me?" he asked in mock delight.
Gwen's scowl worsened and she turned back to Harry, "Hardly. I did my time, you should do yours."
"Ah, because it'd be the responsible thing to do? Because that's what you always default to." He chuckled softly, "Sorry to say, but not all of us are so principled. I made a deal with S.H.I.E.L.D to cut me loose and they did so knowing it put the guillotine above my neck. As odd as it might be to hear, some people would prefer to die on their own terms than the broken system that you cling to so badly. Or are you so willing to claim the laws impartiality when you were imprisoned out of fear?"
Gwen grit her teeth and didn't say anything. Murdock gave her one last laugh and walked out, leaving the playground with just the three of them. Shadowcat sat on a nearby swing and started going back and forth, whistling to herself loudly with the same casual look she'd had since all of this started. Gwen did her best to ignore her and just focused on getting every trace of the serum out of Harry's system.
Eventually the scales receded and they both practically collapsed. Curing the serum wasn't hard but it was really exhausting. She felt like she'd been through a marathon without her powers, "Finally." Shadowcat scraped her feet across the ground to stop her swing and hopped up to her feet, "Give him here. Gotta get him back where he belongs."
Gwen stood in front of him protectively and narrowed her eyes, "Where are you taking him?"
Harry reached out and grabbed her left wrist, "Gwen's, it's fine-"
"Relax, Spider-Girlie. His daddy paid a pretty penny to get him back safe and sound and that's exactly what I'm doing." Gwen didn't budge. Shadowcat sighed, "Look, S.H.I.E.L.D wanted him cause they figured he was the Green Goblin but now they've got reasonable doubt. And Osborn cut another deal with em. Hell, who do you think got him out of that lab? Cause it sure wasn't you."
"That's cause you didn't fucking call me again after we got Tinkerer." Gwen snarled.
"Yeah, cause I had to kill people to save his scaly ass and I knew your poor little heart just couldn't take it," she snapped back mockingly, "Now give Jr. over here before I change my mind and decide I'll hand him over to S.H.I.E.L.D just to piss you off."
Gwen took a deep breath and, after a moment of hesitation, stepped aside and helped Harry up into a shaky stand. He pulled down his hood to expose his now-normal face and threw her a grateful smile, "Thanks again, Gwen..."
"No problem. You know you can always rely on me."
"Even when I don't deserve it." He laughed, soft and raspy, and looked to where Peter swung off to, "...He looked just like-"
"I know. He's Peter, but not our Peter. He's from another dimension." Harry looked at her like she grew another head and she sighed, "Yeah, I can cross dimensions. No, this really isn't the time to explain. Just...get better, okay? We can talk when you're better and we can deal with
"What, you don't think your boyfriend's right about the guy running a PMC isn't squeaky clean?" Shadowcat asked mockingly. Gwen didn't reply and started to walk away, "You know your boyfriend's being an idiot, righ-"
She turned back and shot a web that covered the lower half of the mercenary's face, "Say another word and the next one's going down your throat," she said, her voice eerily calm.
Shadowcat raised a brow again and the web suddenly flopped past her face down to the dirt, "You know that threat doesn't work when I can just do that, right? I survived a nuke going off on top of me, I ain't scared of New York's mascot." She scoffed, "Besides, you might wanna go after your boyfriend before we get into a pissing match. Don't wanna have to tell him I stabbed his girlfriend in the throat. I actually kinda like him."
Gwen grit her teeth and made her way back to the city, shifting into her costume as she did. She swung and landed in a crouched position on a passing train and pulled the phone from her symbiote's pocket, "Come on, Peter..." No response. Gwen cursed under her breath and repeated the call only to get the voicemail again. She suppressed a scream and almost threw her phone away in frustration.
She tapped her portal watch and activated the tracker feature. The screen beeped for a few seconds before abruptly shutting off, "God damn it!" He must've disabled it somehow. And why did she expect any less? Guy was a whiz with tech."
She hopped off when the train stopped at the next station and swung around the city. Did he go to Stark? Possible, but if he did then there was no way she could just barge in on the front door. Still, it was the only lead she had. She swung over to Stark tower and landed on the open balcony. According to Peter this was where he and Mr. War Profiteer hung out.
The door to the lab opened and the man of the hour stepped out. Looking at him now - with his hair and goatee surprisingly messy and oil stains on his shirt - she found it hard to believe that he was the head of a PMC or that he'd been responsible for so much shit the past few weeks. Then again, she thought bitterly, Murdock didn't look like the piece of shit he really was.
"Hey. Bit late for a housecall, isn't?" She could tell from a mile off how wary his eyes looked when he saw her. Despite Peter's attempts this was the first time they'd met face to face, "You looking for Spider-Man? He ain't here."
"Oh?" Gwen asked back carefully. She couldn't just make accusations, could she? "I'm sorry, we were supposed to meet up half an hour ago and he didn't show. Figured that he was hanging around here again."
"Well, I haven't seen him." He smiled. Right now she sorely wished her spider-sense warned her of liars the same way Noir's and Mayday's did, "But I can give him a message if he passes by."
"Uh...no, I should probably just look for him. Sorry to bother you." She watched to the edge of the balcony and gripped the railings with both hands. She felt his eyes on her back, "...Hey, whatever happened to that shipment that got stolen?"
"Hm? Oh, never found." He sighed. Fake, "Roland's still peeved about it. Thinks it's his fault. And yours. Mostly yours." He laughed at that. Any other situation she might've laughed along with him but right now she had to grit her teeth to keep from shouting. Was Peter right? Was she letting her trust for Harry blind her to the fact that he could've been wrong? She definitely had no reason to trust Shadowcat or Murderdock.
"Oh, too bad. Well, good luck then-"
"Hold on." She turned around and was surprised by how much closer he was now. She didn't hear him at all, "Might be hitting somewhere a bit too personal, but you knew the Green Goblin." It wasn't a question. Gwen's eyes narrowed, thankfully hidden by her suit.
"Yeah...?"
"Well I hate to be 'that guy' but it seems a little obvious that this new guy's got a connection. Same bombs, same suit...kinda telling the world, isn't he?"
"Yeah..." Just a little bit too obvious. Almost like he was trying to draw attention to it.
"Seems like Osborn Jr's relapsed." The mask of her eyes narrowed dangerously and he held up his hands in a calming gesture, "Hey, I'm just telling it like how I see it. I mean he probably thinks he's invincible. You were stuck in the Raft for a year while he got off with a plea deal from old Normie and got to take a vacation in the Swiss alps. Guy might think he's invincible going through that."
"Maybe." Gwen was about to say something else when she saw it. A red and blue blur on the ceiling of the workshop, "I mean, I see your point," she said, trying to keep her voice level. Peter dropped from the ceiling and frantically waved at her. Keep going, he seemed to say, "But if Harry really is this New Goblin then he'd need tech and S.I.L.K is behind bars. There's no way he just found that stuff lying on the street."
"Who says he got it from the same guys?" His smile curled up in something different. He thought she'd fallen for the hook, "They don't have a monopoly on weapons. Not sure if you know this but a lot of corpos around here do make stuff that they don't exactly show off at tech conventions."
"Including yours." Couldn't make it look like she was buying into this too much. From behind him she saw Peter pull a USB out of his backpack and plug it into a nearby computer, "Look, even if I buy this - which I'm not saying I do - why would Norman Osborn fund his son turning into a Supervill? What does he get out of it? If it really is Harry wouldn't he be getting it from somebody else? Maybe even Starktech?"
"Me? Never happening. Apart from the fact that Goblic chic isn't my thing I've actually been moving out of the weapons game. Too much competition with Oscorp, Roxxon, Hammer Industries...wow, saying it out loud we make a lot of weapons."
"A bit too much if you ask me." Gwen said, letting herself be a little honest. Cause he was right, even if it was just lip service. People were scared of her (and Peter, cause even he wasn't immune to bad press) cause of her powers but no one said anything about Frank freaking Castle running around with a god damn laser gauntlet that Stark apparently equipped his death squads with.
"Point is I think you should be investigating the source." Peter finished up whatever he was doing and jumped to the ceiling out of sight with a slight thumbs up, "My advice? Check out Osborn. Think you'll find something useful."
"I...I'll think about it." Gwen nodded slowly while Peter snuck into a vent out of sight, "...Hey, maybe it's not my place to say but...thank you. Peter's really cheered up ever since you and him had your weird nerd thing. I mean I tried to get into the whole tech thing but it just...blew way over my head. I think it's good for him, having someone who he can talk to about this stuff."
"Well, don't tell him this, but I feel the same. Most people think I'm all cocktail parties and dresses but honestly nothing beats working up here in the old lab. He's...He's a good kid." Gwen raised a brow. It sounded...sincere, almost, "Anyway, gotta run. I've got a little something cooking up in the oven and I don't wanna burn this place down. Say hi to the kid for me."
"I-I will. See ya." She turned and jumped before he could interrupt again. She made sure she was out of sight before she pulled out her phone and saw there was a message, 'At the usual place.' That was it. No explanation, nothing. Gwen swallowed her frustration and swung the usual pathways back to their spot. All this time and he was already making a plan to see sneak into Stark's lab?
Peter was sitting at the edge of the roof when she arrived. His mask was off and his backpack was discarded haphazardly on a nearby vent. Any and all demands for an explanation died in her throat and she sat next to him, peeling off her own mask. They sat there in complete silence for minutes, just staring at the city below them.
She hated this, hated that she couldn't say anything to reassure him. She didn't know how to.
"I'm...I'm sorry for what I said before," Peter said softly. Gwen looked at him warily, "About your friend Harry. He's your friend and you trust him, that should be good enough for me-"
"No, no. You're not- I see your point." She sighed and looked ahead again, "I mean it's not like you're the only one who freaked out. Glory and Em Jay freaked out too when I told them about Harry. So...you have nothing to apologize for." She took a deep breath, "And...I think I owe you an apology. Maybe you're right that Stark's not the new Green Goblin. I mean I trust you and definitely don't trust Shadowcat or Murderdock so I should've listened to you first."
"But what if they're right. What if he really is doing all this cause of some defense contracts?"
"Is that why you busted in there?"
"Yeah. I mean, a part of me was just gonna confront him. Thought that maybe if he really was responsible he'd give a hint. But then I thought that was stupid." He laughed, soft and bitter, "Then I saw you swinging around and figured you were gonna barge in, so I snuck into the vent and...well, you saw it."
"Uh-huh. What was that about?"
"Hacked into his systems. He...He doesn't know about Karen so he didn't make any countermeasures for her. She helped me break through his firewalls and I downloaded as much as I could." He picked up the USB next to him and held it up carefully, "It'll take days to decrypt everything here even with Karen's help. And that's if there's even anything in here to decrypt. For all I know it's just research data."
"But you wouldn't have done this if you thought he was completely innocent." He swallowed and nodded slowly, "Peter...if he really is responsible, what are you gonna do?"
"I'll have to stop him. It's what heroes do." The way he said, so blank and devoid of emotion, felt like a punch in the gut, "I just...I don't know if I can do it. I've spent time with him, Gwen. I can't imagine he's this...secret mastermind who sets people up to die just to frame Mr. Osborn. Mr. Stark wouldn't-"
"He's not your Tony Stark." She grabbed the sides of his face and made him face her. His eyes were wide and they only got wider when she pressed their foreheads together so they could look each other in the eyes, "I...I know how hard it is to differentiate sometimes, but he's not him. He's not the man who spent five years mourning you or has an adorable little girl that made you cry."
"Gwen-"
"Cause believe me, I know. When Billy first recruited me and I saw just how many other Peters there were I almost had a breakdown. It was like the world was mocking me, trying to make me remember the best friend I lost. But they're not him and more than you are. I love you, and it's not because you're 'my' Peter. I love you because of who you are, and I know you care about the Tony Stark from your world but that doesn't mean this one's the same person, okay? So just remember that and-"
He suddenly leaned forward and kissed her. Gwen's eyes matched his wide-eyed look of shock before she eventually closed them and leaned in too. She'd been...alone for years. Sure there was the band and her dad, but she couldn't tell them everything. They wouldn't understand. They didn't fight villains on the daily, didn't get people looking at her in admiration or fear because of her powers. Peter did. He was Spider-Man, he was someone who fought to save his world till the bitter end.
But in just a few weeks they'd become practically inseparable. Sharing pizza, hanging out during and after patrols, talking about anything that passed their mind. She couldn't imagine what the past few months would've been like without him.
She didn't want to lose him, especially not because of Tony freaking Stark.
Eventually they both separated, each breathing heavily for a multitude of reasons. Peter wiped the wetness from the side of his mouth and tried to ignore the redness in his cheeks, "You're right," he said breathlessly, "I just...I missed Mr. Stark and the others so much that I had to find some way to deal with it. I-I'm not sure if that Murdock guy was telling the truth or what but if he was then...then I'll stop him."
"We'll stop him." Gwen tentatively reached her right hand out and put it on top of his left. His mouth finally curled up in a slight smile their fingers tangled together, "Remember, Spiders stick together. I don't care if it's Stark or that big purple asshole who thinks he's 'saving the universe' by being Mega Hitler, we'll stop them."
"But first we need to decrypt this." He (very reluctantly) scooted back for space and shook the USB, "And I don't think that laptop we have back home's gonna be able to do it."
"I could call S.H.I.E.L.D, but I don't like how they cut us out with Harry." She bit her lower lip, "I have an...old friend. I could ask her for a favor and she can get us access to a computer that should be able to handle that stuff."
"Old friend?"
"The Wasp. She was the one who made my costume and webshooters." Neither of which she used now cause of the symbiote. They were still in her closet gathering dust under a shitload of old band shirts and ripped jeans, "I mean it's been years since we talked, like ever since that fucked up prom. I'm not sure if she'll even take my call but I guess I could bring the costume and webshooters back, just say I'm returning them cause I have Venom. That might get us in."
"Are you sure? You seem like you don't wanna."
"It's not that. It's just...she wanted to help me prove my innocence after what happened with my Peter but I was jut so sad and angry that I shut her out. And yelled at her that I wasn't her pet project and she should mind her own fucking business." Peter winced sympathetically, "Yeah, it was bad. But we don't really have a choice now, not unless they're selling supercomputers on Ibay."
"You mean Ebay."
"Pretty sure I didn't, weirdo."
He smiled wider and Gwen felt the the urge to kiss him again. And she was about to when a portal suddenly opened next to them, "Konnichiwa!" The two of them jumped apart when Peni suddenly jumped through the portal with her mech. The bulbous screen displayed a smile which turned to a confused emoji when it saw them, "Oh, sorry, was I interrupting something."
"No, no! Totally cool!" Peter said a bit too quickly. The mech's emoji turned to a raised brow and then a cat smile. Ugh, it was giving her a headache "Just...uh, why'd you come here."
"Oh yeah." The cockpit opened sleekly and Peni stepped outside with an excited hop, "Well since neither of you were answering your watches I thought I should tell you. We're done with the first stage of preliminary testing and it was a success! Uh, kinda. Ant-Man turned into a teenager, then an old...then a baby." There was a moment of awkward silence, "But we turned him back to normal! And it proves that time travel works! "
"Yeah, on yourself. Please tell me our plan doesn't rely on a time machine that turns people into babies." Gwen facepalmed, "Okay, I know this might sound really weird coming from me but if you guys really do make a time machine why not just go back to when this Thanos guy's a baby then..." She made strangling motions with her hands. Peni looked horrified while Peter looked curious.
"You can't kill a baby!" Peni cried.
"That baby would've blown up half the universe! It's the going back in time to stop Hitler thing!" Gwen shot back.
"Well, it wouldn't matter even if you wanted to! Time travel doesn't work that way, even back in my dimension." Peni shook her head, "Whenever you change things in the past it doesn't affect your current present because if it could it would've already happened. What happens instead is that you create a whole new timeline because of the differences.
"So not Back to the Future rules?" Peter said, "I guess it makes sense. We've already that the multiverse exists so it'd be like if you went back and stopped Hitler you create a world where Hitler doesn't exist but in 'your' present/future Hitler still did his thing."
"Exactly!" Peni nodded eagerly.
"Alright, so do we have an ETA on when Pete can head back?" Gwen asked.
"Mmm, not sure. I'm working with Tony Stark to try and refine the quantum gate so it might take a while depending on how fast we can hit breakthroughs. Oh!" She pulled out another holodisc and handed it to him, "I told him that you got the first message and he recorded another. He also said he wanted you to reply and give those back cause they're expensive."
"Hahaha." Peter closed his eyes and laughed. It was the first genuine one she'd heard all night, "Thank you, Peni. For everything."
"It's no problem! Us Spiders help each other out!" She beamed up at him then climbed back to her mech and opened another portal. Both Peter and Gwen waved the goodbye and looked at one another in a comfortable silence.
"So...talk to your Wasp friend tomorrow?" Peter asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, should be good. I still have her number." She shrugged, trying to make herself look casual, "Wanna head home?"
"Lead the way, Gwen."
Like I said, changes were made. Originally Peter would've confronted Stark and then gotten his butt kicked before he was forced to leave. I avoided this since I couldn't find a way to justify Gwen not immediately going to Stark tower and derailing this idea. So now we've got a calmer chapter and I'll save the action for the climax.
As for the sequel fic, at the suggestion of some readers Gwen won't be the only Spider trapped in the MCU. So far current suggestions for the additional trapped Spiders are:
- Peni Parker
- Ultimate Jessica Drew
- Superior Spider-Man or Noir. Still debating.
- Mayday Parker
- Scarlet MJ (Mary Jane from Through the Looking Glass)
Alongside Gwen that leads to six trapped Spiders. To keep from bloating they'll just be side characters in the sequel and mainly used for some fun interaction stuff, especially since the majority of the story takes place in the Europe trip where only Gwen is present and the others stay behind. Should still allow for some entertainment in the New York segments, though.
If you guys don't like one of the choices then please suggest a replacement. It'll affect the early story since all the trapped Spiders (sans maybe Gwen who might live with Peter) will be living in the same apartment while trying to find a way back. SpOck will probably piss everyone off...
Question:
1. In the sequel fic should Gwen live in the same apartment as Peter and May or with the other Spiders? It'll affect the segments that will gain focus - romance for the former and more Spider shenanigans for the latter.
Anyway, I'm not sure if I've done it before but I'll give more details on the upcoming sequel fic and you guys recommend any changes you wanna see. Figured it's fair.
We're reaching the endgame. Two or three more chapters and Two Spiders on a Web will be officially over
Like I said before I'm considering making the alternate Spider-focused ending it's own mini-fic. Still deciding whether it'll just be Spider Army vs Thanos' Army or we have the various Spiders having to gather the stones themselves.Cause if it's the latter then I imagine the Soul Stone choice is gonna be rather difficult...
Chapter 19: Spiders stick Together
"You're lying."
It took Peter a second to realize he'd been the one to say it. The rebuttal sounded so low and angry that he almost didn't recognize his own voice. Shadowcat raised a brow, Gwen's friend flinched slightly while Murdock just continued to smile at him, but it was Gwen's reaction that made him pause. Her eyes were wide with shock and it was only then that he felt the deep, ugly scowl on his face. She'd never seen that look on him before.
"You're lying!" Peter said again, louder this time. He stomped over to where the former Kingpin stood and grabbed his shoulders in a vice grip. Peter forgot to hold himself back completely but the older man just continued to smirk down at him, "Gwen told me about you! You're a liar! You're just...you're saying all this because you want to frame him to get something out of it! Admit it!"
"And why would I frame him?" He laughed under his breath, "I have no criminal empire, as Ms. Stacy so very much assured. Framing Tony Stark gets me nothing since, last I checked, getting him arrested doesn't magically transfer Starktech to me or somehow change my predicament. I'm a dead man walking, Mr. Parker, and as hard as it may be to believe lying to frame your idol doesn't get me anything."
"Then why are you lying?" Peter shook him. Hard. The glasses were knocked off his face and exposed the pale gray eyes underneath, "Are you just...are you trying to hurt me like you hurt Gwen?"
This time his laugh was loud and open. Peter stepped back while Gwen's eyes narrowed hatefully behind him, "Forgive me for being rude, but I must ask again: why would I do that? I will fully admit that I hurt Ms. Stacy in the past, but we had prior history and I had a mad obsession with proving the inherent corruption of power. Who are you? Another naive teenager with far too much power who didn't do anything to me. I don't care enough to hurt you. What do I get for lying to you out of sheer spite? I've already told you that I owe you a debt, it's not my fault you don't like the answer."
"You...You're-"
"He's telling the truth," Gwen's friend rasped out, "I...I saw him once when they were...experimenting on me. I don't forget faces."
"But why would he do this?" Peter rounded him now, "What does he get out of this? If he's even the one who's doing this."
"I can answer that," Shadowcat said. So far she didn't look like she cared about anything happening in front of her, "Apparently Oscorp's been muscling out Starktech on a few crucial contracts. You might not know it but your precious Mr. Stark's been taking some hard hits. His tech's lagging behind and his PMC's been getting a lot of flack on Humans Rights violations. He needs a win and he figures that setting up Osborn and his kid is a two birds one stone thing. He discredits them and gets their contracts, putting him back on top."
"And Mr. Osborn made such an easy target," Murdock continued, "After all, he'd already turned over a dangerous serum to a terrorist organization and fought Spider-Woman chucking bombs at crowded apartments while wearing a Goblin suit. Who would believe that the supervillain who let his father bail him out of receiving any punishment was being framed by the billionaire playboy philanthropist?"
"So what, this was all some corporate war?" Gwen asked behind him incredulously, "All those people who almost got killed because some guy's ego couldn't take being second best and his net worth dropping? What the fuck?"
"Why are you acting like they're telling the truth?" Peter rounded on her. Of all the people to have doubts on these guys he'd have thought Gwen would be the top of the list.
"Hey I don't trust Murderdock or Shadowcat, but I do trust Harry. Why would he lie?"
"Because he tried to kill you and you're somehow okay with that?! I don't trust him and neither should you!" Peter regretted the words as soon as he said them. Gwen had told him that reluctantly and it was clear even now despite her saying she trusted him 100% that she was still hurt it happened; that he blamed her for what happened to their Peter. Gwen's mouth parted in shock and she shot him a look of clear and shocking hurt.
Peter wanted to take it all back and apologize, but when he opened his mouth nothing came. A few seconds of silence passed before he turned and ran, ignoring Gwen's call behind. He ran all the way down the street till he saw the train passing by on the station and webbed himself to it, uncaring of the fact that he wasn't wearing his costume at all and everyone could see him.
"Peter..." Gwen wanted to follow after him, but the sounds of Harry growling behind her put a stop to that idea. Taking a deep breath, she stomped to where her friend was sitting and let the symbiote clump up in her hands. She'd helped cure the people Harry infected last year - part of the reason her sentence was so short and Harry managed a plea deal - but it was hardly a good memory.
"Well now, that was a tad dramatic." Murderdock said behind her. She grit her teeth and didn't say anything, just focusing on Harry, "It appears I'm done here. I'll take my leave."
"Where the hell are you going?" Gwen asked before she could stop herself. She took her eyes off Harry and saw the red headed bastard pick up his dropped shades, "You know the Hand's still hunting you. Why not just give up and throw yourself to jail?"
"Why, Ms. Stacy, are you worried about me?" he asked in mock delight.
Gwen's scowl worsened and she turned back to Harry, "Hardly. I did my time, you should do yours."
"Ah, because it'd be the responsible thing to do? Because that's what you always default to." He chuckled softly, "Sorry to say, but not all of us are so principled. I made a deal with S.H.I.E.L.D to cut me loose and they did so knowing it put the guillotine above my neck. As odd as it might be to hear, some people would prefer to die on their own terms than the broken system that you cling to so badly. Or are you so willing to claim the laws impartiality when you were imprisoned out of fear?"
Gwen grit her teeth and didn't say anything. Murdock gave her one last laugh and walked out, leaving the playground with just the three of them. Shadowcat sat on a nearby swing and started going back and forth, whistling to herself loudly with the same casual look she'd had since all of this started. Gwen did her best to ignore her and just focused on getting every trace of the serum out of Harry's system.
Eventually the scales receded and they both practically collapsed. Curing the serum wasn't hard but it was really exhausting. She felt like she'd been through a marathon without her powers, "Finally." Shadowcat scraped her feet across the ground to stop her swing and hopped up to her feet, "Give him here. Gotta get him back where he belongs."
Gwen stood in front of him protectively and narrowed her eyes, "Where are you taking him?"
Harry reached out and grabbed her left wrist, "Gwen's, it's fine-"
"Relax, Spider-Girlie. His daddy paid a pretty penny to get him back safe and sound and that's exactly what I'm doing." Gwen didn't budge. Shadowcat sighed, "Look, S.H.I.E.L.D wanted him cause they figured he was the Green Goblin but now they've got reasonable doubt. And Osborn cut another deal with em. Hell, who do you think got him out of that lab? Cause it sure wasn't you."
"That's cause you didn't fucking call me again after we got Tinkerer." Gwen snarled.
"Yeah, cause I had to kill people to save his scaly ass and I knew your poor little heart just couldn't take it," she snapped back mockingly, "Now give Jr. over here before I change my mind and decide I'll hand him over to S.H.I.E.L.D just to piss you off."
Gwen took a deep breath and, after a moment of hesitation, stepped aside and helped Harry up into a shaky stand. He pulled down his hood to expose his now-normal face and threw her a grateful smile, "Thanks again, Gwen..."
"No problem. You know you can always rely on me."
"Even when I don't deserve it." He laughed, soft and raspy, and looked to where Peter swung off to, "...He looked just like-"
"I know. He's Peter, but not our Peter. He's from another dimension." Harry looked at her like she grew another head and she sighed, "Yeah, I can cross dimensions. No, this really isn't the time to explain. Just...get better, okay? We can talk when you're better and we can deal with
"What, you don't think your boyfriend's right about the guy running a PMC isn't squeaky clean?" Shadowcat asked mockingly. Gwen didn't reply and started to walk away, "You know your boyfriend's being an idiot, righ-"
She turned back and shot a web that covered the lower half of the mercenary's face, "Say another word and the next one's going down your throat," she said, her voice eerily calm.
Shadowcat raised a brow again and the web suddenly flopped past her face down to the dirt, "You know that threat doesn't work when I can just do that, right? I survived a nuke going off on top of me, I ain't scared of New York's mascot." She scoffed, "Besides, you might wanna go after your boyfriend before we get into a pissing match. Don't wanna have to tell him I stabbed his girlfriend in the throat. I actually kinda like him."
Gwen grit her teeth and made her way back to the city, shifting into her costume as she did. She swung and landed in a crouched position on a passing train and pulled the phone from her symbiote's pocket, "Come on, Peter..." No response. Gwen cursed under her breath and repeated the call only to get the voicemail again. She suppressed a scream and almost threw her phone away in frustration.
She tapped her portal watch and activated the tracker feature. The screen beeped for a few seconds before abruptly shutting off, "God damn it!" He must've disabled it somehow. And why did she expect any less? Guy was a whiz with tech."
She hopped off when the train stopped at the next station and swung around the city. Did he go to Stark? Possible, but if he did then there was no way she could just barge in on the front door. Still, it was the only lead she had. She swung over to Stark tower and landed on the open balcony. According to Peter this was where he and Mr. War Profiteer hung out.
The door to the lab opened and the man of the hour stepped out. Looking at him now - with his hair and goatee surprisingly messy and oil stains on his shirt - she found it hard to believe that he was the head of a PMC or that he'd been responsible for so much shit the past few weeks. Then again, she thought bitterly, Murdock didn't look like the piece of shit he really was.
"Hey. Bit late for a housecall, isn't?" She could tell from a mile off how wary his eyes looked when he saw her. Despite Peter's attempts this was the first time they'd met face to face, "You looking for Spider-Man? He ain't here."
"Oh?" Gwen asked back carefully. She couldn't just make accusations, could she? "I'm sorry, we were supposed to meet up half an hour ago and he didn't show. Figured that he was hanging around here again."
"Well, I haven't seen him." He smiled. Right now she sorely wished her spider-sense warned her of liars the same way Noir's and Mayday's did, "But I can give him a message if he passes by."
"Uh...no, I should probably just look for him. Sorry to bother you." She watched to the edge of the balcony and gripped the railings with both hands. She felt his eyes on her back, "...Hey, whatever happened to that shipment that got stolen?"
"Hm? Oh, never found." He sighed. Fake, "Roland's still peeved about it. Thinks it's his fault. And yours. Mostly yours." He laughed at that. Any other situation she might've laughed along with him but right now she had to grit her teeth to keep from shouting. Was Peter right? Was she letting her trust for Harry blind her to the fact that he could've been wrong? She definitely had no reason to trust Shadowcat or Murderdock.
"Oh, too bad. Well, good luck then-"
"Hold on." She turned around and was surprised by how much closer he was now. She didn't hear him at all, "Might be hitting somewhere a bit too personal, but you knew the Green Goblin." It wasn't a question. Gwen's eyes narrowed, thankfully hidden by her suit.
"Yeah...?"
"Well I hate to be 'that guy' but it seems a little obvious that this new guy's got a connection. Same bombs, same suit...kinda telling the world, isn't he?"
"Yeah..." Just a little bit too obvious. Almost like he was trying to draw attention to it.
"Seems like Osborn Jr's relapsed." The mask of her eyes narrowed dangerously and he held up his hands in a calming gesture, "Hey, I'm just telling it like how I see it. I mean he probably thinks he's invincible. You were stuck in the Raft for a year while he got off with a plea deal from old Normie and got to take a vacation in the Swiss alps. Guy might think he's invincible going through that."
"Maybe." Gwen was about to say something else when she saw it. A red and blue blur on the ceiling of the workshop, "I mean, I see your point," she said, trying to keep her voice level. Peter dropped from the ceiling and frantically waved at her. Keep going, he seemed to say, "But if Harry really is this New Goblin then he'd need tech and S.I.L.K is behind bars. There's no way he just found that stuff lying on the street."
"Who says he got it from the same guys?" His smile curled up in something different. He thought she'd fallen for the hook, "They don't have a monopoly on weapons. Not sure if you know this but a lot of corpos around here do make stuff that they don't exactly show off at tech conventions."
"Including yours." Couldn't make it look like she was buying into this too much. From behind him she saw Peter pull a USB out of his backpack and plug it into a nearby computer, "Look, even if I buy this - which I'm not saying I do - why would Norman Osborn fund his son turning into a Supervill? What does he get out of it? If it really is Harry wouldn't he be getting it from somebody else? Maybe even Starktech?"
"Me? Never happening. Apart from the fact that Goblic chic isn't my thing I've actually been moving out of the weapons game. Too much competition with Oscorp, Roxxon, Hammer Industries...wow, saying it out loud we make a lot of weapons."
"A bit too much if you ask me." Gwen said, letting herself be a little honest. Cause he was right, even if it was just lip service. People were scared of her (and Peter, cause even he wasn't immune to bad press) cause of her powers but no one said anything about Frank freaking Castle running around with a god damn laser gauntlet that Stark apparently equipped his death squads with.
"Point is I think you should be investigating the source." Peter finished up whatever he was doing and jumped to the ceiling out of sight with a slight thumbs up, "My advice? Check out Osborn. Think you'll find something useful."
"I...I'll think about it." Gwen nodded slowly while Peter snuck into a vent out of sight, "...Hey, maybe it's not my place to say but...thank you. Peter's really cheered up ever since you and him had your weird nerd thing. I mean I tried to get into the whole tech thing but it just...blew way over my head. I think it's good for him, having someone who he can talk to about this stuff."
"Well, don't tell him this, but I feel the same. Most people think I'm all cocktail parties and dresses but honestly nothing beats working up here in the old lab. He's...He's a good kid." Gwen raised a brow. It sounded...sincere, almost, "Anyway, gotta run. I've got a little something cooking up in the oven and I don't wanna burn this place down. Say hi to the kid for me."
"I-I will. See ya." She turned and jumped before he could interrupt again. She made sure she was out of sight before she pulled out her phone and saw there was a message, 'At the usual place.' That was it. No explanation, nothing. Gwen swallowed her frustration and swung the usual pathways back to their spot. All this time and he was already making a plan to see sneak into Stark's lab?
Peter was sitting at the edge of the roof when she arrived. His mask was off and his backpack was discarded haphazardly on a nearby vent. Any and all demands for an explanation died in her throat and she sat next to him, peeling off her own mask. They sat there in complete silence for minutes, just staring at the city below them.
She hated this, hated that she couldn't say anything to reassure him. She didn't know how to.
"I'm...I'm sorry for what I said before," Peter said softly. Gwen looked at him warily, "About your friend Harry. He's your friend and you trust him, that should be good enough for me-"
"No, no. You're not- I see your point." She sighed and looked ahead again, "I mean it's not like you're the only one who freaked out. Glory and Em Jay freaked out too when I told them about Harry. So...you have nothing to apologize for." She took a deep breath, "And...I think I owe you an apology. Maybe you're right that Stark's not the new Green Goblin. I mean I trust you and definitely don't trust Shadowcat or Murderdock so I should've listened to you first."
"But what if they're right. What if he really is doing all this cause of some defense contracts?"
"Is that why you busted in there?"
"Yeah. I mean, a part of me was just gonna confront him. Thought that maybe if he really was responsible he'd give a hint. But then I thought that was stupid." He laughed, soft and bitter, "Then I saw you swinging around and figured you were gonna barge in, so I snuck into the vent and...well, you saw it."
"Uh-huh. What was that about?"
"Hacked into his systems. He...He doesn't know about Karen so he didn't make any countermeasures for her. She helped me break through his firewalls and I downloaded as much as I could." He picked up the USB next to him and held it up carefully, "It'll take days to decrypt everything here even with Karen's help. And that's if there's even anything in here to decrypt. For all I know it's just research data."
"But you wouldn't have done this if you thought he was completely innocent." He swallowed and nodded slowly, "Peter...if he really is responsible, what are you gonna do?"
"I'll have to stop him. It's what heroes do." The way he said, so blank and devoid of emotion, felt like a punch in the gut, "I just...I don't know if I can do it. I've spent time with him, Gwen. I can't imagine he's this...secret mastermind who sets people up to die just to frame Mr. Osborn. Mr. Stark wouldn't-"
"He's not your Tony Stark." She grabbed the sides of his face and made him face her. His eyes were wide and they only got wider when she pressed their foreheads together so they could look each other in the eyes, "I...I know how hard it is to differentiate sometimes, but he's not him. He's not the man who spent five years mourning you or has an adorable little girl that made you cry."
"Gwen-"
"Cause believe me, I know. When Billy first recruited me and I saw just how many other Peters there were I almost had a breakdown. It was like the world was mocking me, trying to make me remember the best friend I lost. But they're not him and more than you are. I love you, and it's not because you're 'my' Peter. I love you because of who you are, and I know you care about the Tony Stark from your world but that doesn't mean this one's the same person, okay? So just remember that and-"
He suddenly leaned forward and kissed her. Gwen's eyes matched his wide-eyed look of shock before she eventually closed them and leaned in too. She'd been...alone for years. Sure there was the band and her dad, but she couldn't tell them everything. They wouldn't understand. They didn't fight villains on the daily, didn't get people looking at her in admiration or fear because of her powers. Peter did. He was Spider-Man, he was someone who fought to save his world till the bitter end.
But in just a few weeks they'd become practically inseparable. Sharing pizza, hanging out during and after patrols, talking about anything that passed their mind. She couldn't imagine what the past few months would've been like without him.
She didn't want to lose him, especially not because of Tony freaking Stark.
Eventually they both separated, each breathing heavily for a multitude of reasons. Peter wiped the wetness from the side of his mouth and tried to ignore the redness in his cheeks, "You're right," he said breathlessly, "I just...I missed Mr. Stark and the others so much that I had to find some way to deal with it. I-I'm not sure if that Murdock guy was telling the truth or what but if he was then...then I'll stop him."
"We'll stop him." Gwen tentatively reached her right hand out and put it on top of his left. His mouth finally curled up in a slight smile their fingers tangled together, "Remember, Spiders stick together. I don't care if it's Stark or that big purple asshole who thinks he's 'saving the universe' by being Mega Hitler, we'll stop them."
"But first we need to decrypt this." He (very reluctantly) scooted back for space and shook the USB, "And I don't think that laptop we have back home's gonna be able to do it."
"I could call S.H.I.E.L.D, but I don't like how they cut us out with Harry." She bit her lower lip, "I have an...old friend. I could ask her for a favor and she can get us access to a computer that should be able to handle that stuff."
"Old friend?"
"The Wasp. She was the one who made my costume and webshooters." Neither of which she used now cause of the symbiote. They were still in her closet gathering dust under a shitload of old band shirts and ripped jeans, "I mean it's been years since we talked, like ever since that fucked up prom. I'm not sure if she'll even take my call but I guess I could bring the costume and webshooters back, just say I'm returning them cause I have Venom. That might get us in."
"Are you sure? You seem like you don't wanna."
"It's not that. It's just...she wanted to help me prove my innocence after what happened with my Peter but I was jut so sad and angry that I shut her out. And yelled at her that I wasn't her pet project and she should mind her own fucking business." Peter winced sympathetically, "Yeah, it was bad. But we don't really have a choice now, not unless they're selling supercomputers on Ibay."
"You mean Ebay."
"Pretty sure I didn't, weirdo."
He smiled wider and Gwen felt the the urge to kiss him again. And she was about to when a portal suddenly opened next to them, "Konnichiwa!" The two of them jumped apart when Peni suddenly jumped through the portal with her mech. The bulbous screen displayed a smile which turned to a confused emoji when it saw them, "Oh, sorry, was I interrupting something."
"No, no! Totally cool!" Peter said a bit too quickly. The mech's emoji turned to a raised brow and then a cat smile. Ugh, it was giving her a headache "Just...uh, why'd you come here."
"Oh yeah." The cockpit opened sleekly and Peni stepped outside with an excited hop, "Well since neither of you were answering your watches I thought I should tell you. We're done with the first stage of preliminary testing and it was a success! Uh, kinda. Ant-Man turned into a teenager, then an old...then a baby." There was a moment of awkward silence, "But we turned him back to normal! And it proves that time travel works! "
"Yeah, on yourself. Please tell me our plan doesn't rely on a time machine that turns people into babies." Gwen facepalmed, "Okay, I know this might sound really weird coming from me but if you guys really do make a time machine why not just go back to when this Thanos guy's a baby then..." She made strangling motions with her hands. Peni looked horrified while Peter looked curious.
"You can't kill a baby!" Peni cried.
"That baby would've blown up half the universe! It's the going back in time to stop Hitler thing!" Gwen shot back.
"Well, it wouldn't matter even if you wanted to! Time travel doesn't work that way, even back in my dimension." Peni shook her head, "Whenever you change things in the past it doesn't affect your current present because if it could it would've already happened. What happens instead is that you create a whole new timeline because of the differences.
"So not Back to the Future rules?" Peter said, "I guess it makes sense. We've already that the multiverse exists so it'd be like if you went back and stopped Hitler you create a world where Hitler doesn't exist but in 'your' present/future Hitler still did his thing."
"Exactly!" Peni nodded eagerly.
"Alright, so do we have an ETA on when Pete can head back?" Gwen asked.
"Mmm, not sure. I'm working with Tony Stark to try and refine the quantum gate so it might take a while depending on how fast we can hit breakthroughs. Oh!" She pulled out another holodisc and handed it to him, "I told him that you got the first message and he recorded another. He also said he wanted you to reply and give those back cause they're expensive."
"Hahaha." Peter closed his eyes and laughed. It was the first genuine one she'd heard all night, "Thank you, Peni. For everything."
"It's no problem! Us Spiders help each other out!" She beamed up at him then climbed back to her mech and opened another portal. Both Peter and Gwen waved the goodbye and looked at one another in a comfortable silence.
"So...talk to your Wasp friend tomorrow?" Peter asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, should be good. I still have her number." She shrugged, trying to make herself look casual, "Wanna head home?"
"Lead the way, Gwen."
Like I said, changes were made. Originally Peter would've confronted Stark and then gotten his butt kicked before he was forced to leave. I avoided this since I couldn't find a way to justify Gwen not immediately going to Stark tower and derailing this idea. So now we've got a calmer chapter and I'll save the action for the climax.
As for the sequel fic, at the suggestion of some readers Gwen won't be the only Spider trapped in the MCU. So far current suggestions for the additional trapped Spiders are:
- Peni Parker
- Ultimate Jessica Drew
- Superior Spider-Man or Noir. Still debating.
- Mayday Parker
- Scarlet MJ (Mary Jane from Through the Looking Glass)
Alongside Gwen that leads to six trapped Spiders. To keep from bloating they'll just be side characters in the sequel and mainly used for some fun interaction stuff, especially since the majority of the story takes place in the Europe trip where only Gwen is present and the others stay behind. Should still allow for some entertainment in the New York segments, though.
If you guys don't like one of the choices then please suggest a replacement. It'll affect the early story since all the trapped Spiders (sans maybe Gwen who might live with Peter) will be living in the same apartment while trying to find a way back. SpOck will probably piss everyone off...
Question:
1. In the sequel fic should Gwen live in the same apartment as Peter and May or with the other Spiders? It'll affect the segments that will gain focus - romance for the former and more Spider shenanigans for the latter.
