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"Not." Felicia revealed a grin, taking enjoyment from Gwen's suffering. "Don't make that face. I learned your secret yesterday."
Gwen really wanted to punch Felicia in the face. "Dante told you—"
"No, dumbass." Felicia took out a mini tablet from her pocket and dropped onto the bed beside Gwen, going through the process of how she had matched Gwen with the masked vigilante. "It wasn't that hard."
Gwen was at a loss for words. She had thought, stupidly and naively, that she had been careful, but someone had recognized her just by matching her figure with Ghost Spider.
She had felt proud of all of her achievements, thinking no university student might be on par with her. It was just wishful thinking. Felicia wasn't any less talented than her.
"What happened after I was knocked out?"
She completely dropped the topic.
"I don't know, honestly." Felicia crossed her arms, and for the first time since entering, her playful mask slipped a little. "I didn't get to ask Silver. Her Royal Highness is too busy."
"What about Dante?"
"He… he is somewhere out there," Felicia said with a bleak sigh. "I don't know when he'll be back."
"Then how did I end up here?"
"It was me. Darling told me to get you and Ana to safety."
Four days ago she would have laughed in someone's face if they told her she would be working with a skull-faced mercenary who was a university student's "Darling."
Felicia started filling in the blanks. Emma and Psylocke may have helped after they were knocked out. When Felicia arrived, they were already under attack by two strong agents from some multi-government-backed organization. The thought of one organization being so powerful made her blood run cold.
'Wouldn't they already know my identity?'
The chances were, they already did.
Felicia suddenly pointed an accusatory finger at Gwen. "YOU are the reason I was forced to leave."
Gwen blinked. "But Amy was also there…"
"Dante doesn't care about her. He specifically said YOUR identity is sensitive. You are his priority."
Heat pricked at the back of her neck under the suit. She felt… grateful. And a little confused. Dante had chosen to yank her off the board rather than just waking her up. He had trusted Felicia because she already knew the secret.
Prioritizing her safety and secret should have been the bare minimum, given she had shown up at his call. Still, it was quite an unexpected gesture.
"I'm gonna need some compensation—" Felicia waved a hand in front of Gwen's face. "Hey, are you listening?"
Gwen realized she had gone quiet in her thoughts. "Felicia, you were so chill when we met in the cafe. What's got you on the edge now?
"I'm stressed," Felicia huffed, her bravado slipping a bit. "I haven't seen him since I left. He might've overdid it. God, he was already nose-bleeding when we were underground."
The worry in her voice wasn't dramatic. Gwen had heard that tone before, years of it actually, from her mother whenever her father took a big gang case and disappeared into the city for days. Her mother used to pace near the window, phone in hand, and telling Gwen everything was fine while she was stressed out of her mind.
'She really loves that crazy mercenary.'
Felicia turned to her with a helpless frown. "Are you making fun of me?"
"Erm… You're both his girlfriends? How does it work?"
Her brain still rebelled at the idea. In Gwen's world, poly-anything was a term she saw in online discourse or the occasional gossip piece about some billionaire director. She associated that type of arrangement with old money families, where marriages were business transactions. Felicia was a university student and Silver Sable was a literal queen. It didn't make sense for them to be in this relationship.
Felicia's gaze dropped to the floor, shoulders hunching like someone had taken a little air out of her. "I don't know, honestly… Gwen, how do I know if it's love or a moral obligation because he's helped me a ton?"
Gwen felt even more awkward. Her own dating relationship was a half-hearted high school relationship she had agreed on a whim. Her first boyfriend in high school broke up with her after his father died due to a case involving her father, George Stacy, before it became anything solid.
Compared to that, Felicia's situation felt like a complicated thesis on advanced emotions, and Gwen was still stuck at the fundamentals stage.
But Felicia was looking at her with something like hope in her eyes. Like Gwen might actually have an answer.
Gwen cleared her throat. "I wouldn't let a man carry me like that for 'moral obligation.' You might be experiencing Limerence, a term coined by psychologist Dorothy Tennov."
Felicia blinked in confusion. "Limerence what?"
"I'm not the best explainer, but I'll try my best, okay?" Gwen straightened her back, unconsciously shifting into her "honor student giving presentation" mode. "Limerence is a psychological term to describe an intense, involuntary state of romantic desire for another person, marked by obsession and emotional dependency."
Felicia gave her a blank look. "Can you be more vague than that?"
Gwen winced at the fair argument. "Uh, I'll go into some core characteristics. First is intrusive thoughts. The person occupies your mind constantly, even when you try not to think about them."
Felicia's brow furrowed, then returned to Gwen as she gave another slow, heavy nod. Gwen could almost see her quietly replaying everything involving her "Darling."
"Idealization—you focus on the person's positives while minimizing or rationalizing flaws."
This one finally cracked through Felicia's composure. Her eyes went wide. "I don't idealize him!"
"You don't?" Gwen lifted an eyebrow, knowing she had hit the nail on the mark. "Then tell me something bad about him."
Felicia's mouth opened, then closed. Her gaze went distant, like she was looking through her memories. Gwen could see the gears in Felicia's head spinning like she had come across an unsolvable equation.
"If I have to say his flaws… it has to be his lust for more women—that's not right. He was avoiding me. I had to push myself on him…" Felicia chuckled awkwardly. "It should be his lack of care for himself. He'll put himself in danger for unnecessary stuff."
"That's not even a flaw." Gwen rolled her eyes. She had seen that same trait in herself, but Dante also unexpectedly had that. "Forget about this. The next sign is emotional volatility. A text or smile can cause euphoria, while silence can cause anxiety or despair."
Felicia's shoulders sagged under the weight of realization. "Me before I came here."
Gwen nodded with a sympathetic smile. She recognized that pattern in herself too when she waited for her dad's calls when he was on dangerous cases. Different relationships, same roller coaster.
"And fear of rejection. Just being rejected makes you feel… meaningless. Does that ring any bells?"
Felicia frowned, thinking harder now. When she finally looked at Gwen, there was a bitter, almost embarrassed look in her eyes. "When he pushed me away to have a private chat with you."
"Sorry," Gwen said quietly. "I didn't know it'd make you feel like that."
"It's fine. I was acting like a child and got him into big trouble." Felicia leaned back on her hands and sighed. "I guess Silver is also going through this limerence. I mean, she's even had sex when they only knew each other for like three days."
"Maybe. We can't say for sure." From what she had seen of Silver Sable, she didn't think of the lady to make hasty judgments. "It can also be Infatuation. It's when people who don't do emotional bonding feel like they are in love… But in reality, their passion is fueled by physical desire and fantasy."
"Physical desire?" Felicia tapped her chin thoughtfully, apparently completely unbothered by discussing Dante's sex life. "He always pushed me away when I tried to seduce him. He was also respectful when he saw me naked, and offered me his jacket to cover up. So I can say for sure ours isn't based on physical desire."
Gwen's mind screeched to a halt. "He saw you naked already?!"
"After the symbiote came off, I didn't have much covering my chest." Felicia waved it off like it wasn't anyone's fault. "Anyway, there is also a third woman. The final boss so to speak."
"What? He's involved with three women?"
Two had already pushed Gwen's common sense to the breaking point. Three snapped it. A small part of her wanted to slow clap for Dante's sheer audacity and the insanity required to juggle three women in a romantic relationship. Part of her was horrified. Part of her was impressed. Mostly she just wanted to send thoughts and prayers to everyone involved in this disaster.
"The last one is a goddess. She met him before either of us," Felicia said. "She acts like this old-style royal madam, quite dignified in a way. She is quite chill if you get past those parts."
"..."
"Silver is also great, you know? She sheds her blood in mercenary work to be the sole provider for her nation. She is more like a gang leader than a queen."
Gwen poked a finger at Felicia's waist. "Mind telling why I'm acting as your free therapist?"
Felicia burst into laughter. "I don't know! Maybe because I was dying to share it with someone who won't judge me? You're the closest to a friend I have of my age."
"We're close?" Gwen arched her brows. "I have spoken to you like a few times. We never ever talked in the University."
Gwen had only answered Felicia's invitation because of Harry's suggestion. He had thought she would make great friends with Felicia—or anyone at this point.
Felicia's smile turned teasing, mischievous. "I know your secret identity. So really, your only choice is to be friends with me, or I'll expose you~"
Gwen dropped her head back dramatically, staring at the ceiling. "Great. Two blackmailers now."
The only silver lining was that they weren't terrible people.
"Two beats one." Felicia patted Gwen's back. "Anyway, you might want to go back home before your Dad finds you missing."
Gwen's eyes widened. She quickly checked her phone to see it was almost five in the morning. Still plenty of time to sneak back into her house, pretend she had never left, maybe catch a power nap, and then go to morning lectures.
Just when she thought she was ready to leave, the door slowly creaked. A white-masked face poked through the crack.
"Ghost Spider?" The green lenses on the mask widened before narrowing in suspicion. "What are you two plotting?"
"Ava!" Felicia shot up and arrived before the door in one blink. She yanked the door fully open, grabbed the woman in the white suit, and kicked the door shut. "Miss White Tiger, can you please tell us what happened over there? We're dying to know more."
Gwen was still staring in shock. Even with her enhanced reflexes, she had barely tracked Felicia's movement.
'Dante called her human. This is human for him?!'
She might have to adjust her definition for what "human" meant in his vocabulary.
Ava—White Tiger—slapped Felicia's hands away with an annoyed huff. "Only if you tell us what you were talking about."
"About Dante's three relationships," Gwen said honestly. "Can we get the information now?"
Ava snapped her head toward Gwen, the green lenses on her mask going wide. Felicia whipped around too, shooting Gwen a look that clearly screamed 'why did you say that?!'
Gwen realized she might have spoken something unnecessary in a hurry to get some answers.
"Ava, look," Felicia said softly, the tone of someone trying to appease a child. "Silver already knows."
Ava looked like she wasn't ready to believe Felicia. "There is no way she does."
"You can ask her yourself."
"I'm going to," Ava replied immediately. "I don't believe Sis would put herself through it. There must be something you aren't telling me." Her eyes sharpened, a faint green aura surrounding her. "What is Dante using to force you and Sis?"
Felicia's brows shot up."You're misunderstanding it, girl. There's nothing like that between us."
"It must be his power to kill people," Ava whispered, as if she hadn't heard Felicia at all. "I have experienced it, too. That pressure… it's quite scary."
Before Felicia could answer again, the door swung open.
Silver Sable showed up, her face framed by strands of messy silver hair. Those cold blue eyes only lingered on Gwen's face for a moment, and for a moment, she showed a look of surprise. Then she returned to indifference as if Ghost Spider's identity meant nothing to her.
"Ava, didn't I tell you to bring me Felicia?"
"Sis." Ava didn't answer the question. Instead, she moved forward and grabbed Silver's wrist. "Come with me."
Felicia shot Gwen an awkward little smile. "We'll talk later, Gwenie."
The door clicked shut as Felicia went to pursue the sisters.
Silence fell over the room.
'Did I just screw Dante?'
Gwen honestly had no clue. Rather than pondering over something she couldn't understand, she decided to fix the problem at hand. She put on her mask before someone else saw her face.
She crossed to the window and flipped the latch open. Before jumping out, she checked her web-fluid just in case. The small cartridge was barely above fifty percent.
She grimaced under the mask. The non-lethal method had consumed too much. She had no backup cartridges to refill her web-fluids. There was no way she could swing all the way back home.
'I'll have to sprint the last couple hundred meters.'
Just as she braced herself to slip out the window, a knock sounded on the door.
"Comrade Ghost Spider, are you still there?" That was Piotr with his unmistakable Russian accent.
"Just open it. Why are we knocking?"
"Even mercs need manners, Amy."
Gwen paused, listening to Piotr and Amy's muffled bickering outside the room.
She stepped away from the window and headed back to open the door.
Piotr's massive form towered over her. Amy stood beside him, arms crossed, and looking at Gwen with a bright grin.
She felt her mouth curve into a grin. These were people who, only a few hours ago, had been ready to die beside her. She never thought she would feel a sort of companionship with mercenaries.
'This is what happens when people confront dangers side by side.'
She nodded at them. "I'm glad you both are fine."
"Likewise, Ghost Spider." Piotr put a heavy hand on her shoulder, the sheer size of his palm almost covering it. "We ordered a lot of dishes. It would be nice to have you join us."
"Yeah, join us." Amy laughed, stepping closer and putting her hand on Gwen's other shoulder. "The big man will fill us in on what happened after we dozed out. Pete is saying we missed some A-grade drama."
Two sets of hopeful, earnest eyes looked at Gwen. They weren't Dante or Felicia, both of whom had a leverage over her identity. It was just an invite to a person they had fought together with.
Gwen hesitated for a heartbeat, doing the mental math for her father's likely wake-up time and everything else.
"I won't show my face," Gwen said. "And you're driving me to my block after this."
She would make it in time if she caught a ride over sprinting like a maniac on the street.
"Deal." Piotr nodded sincerely. "As for the ride, I'll let Amy handle it."
Amy grinned. "I won't say no if you wanna unmask yourself."
Gwen huffed a small laugh. She wasn't ready to let her different identities blur more than it already had. The mask had to stay.
***
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